Email #39 (Queen Creek, AZ)

May 19, 2014

Hola Hola Familia!!!

Everyone sounds like they're doing great! I hope you all know how much I LOVE YOU.... I always wonder how I got blessed with the best family in the world. I am one lucky missionary!

It has been quite a week!! It was filled with some teaching, awkward oym's (open your mouth), laughing, lots of speaking spanish, learning, and everything else that comes with missionary life!

We had Zone Conference this past week and it was pretty great! I just gotta say that President Nattress has got to be one of my favorite people in the world. This mission is so blessed to have him and his sweet wife. Whenever we get to see him, he always awakens my mind to how important my calling is as a missionary and the vitality of exact obedience to the Spirit. I've almost been out for 9 months now (WHAT THE???) and I did not fully understand this principle until this past week. I've never been disobedient by any means, luckily I was trained how to be obedient by one of the best missionaries around (Sis Chavarri), but I wasn't fully aware of the WHY until last week. It just kind of hit me. Exact obedience is how we qualify for blessings! There is a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that says "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world upon which all blessings are predicated-- And when we obtain any blessings of God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." How amazing is that?? When we receive any blessing from God, it is because of our OBEDIENCE! I love that. I am also realizing that obedience is what drives us missionaries to work and work hard. By our obedience, we are given the Spirit, and it is only through the Spirit that we can teach. I then think of all the people I have met here and come to love because of this beautiful opportunity to serve and teach by the Spirit. It all starts with obedience! And obedience starts with truly, fully and completely loving God! The only thing he has given us that he has no control over is our hearts, or our will. So will we decide to be obedient and wilfully give our hearts and will to Him, so we may be blessed according to His love and mercy? I hope so! I am really going to focus on that this week, because it is through exact obedience to the Spirit (meaning that if the Spirit prompts you to do something, you've got to have the courage to do it!) that we will see great blessings and MIRACLES! I am way excited to see the milagros that come from our efforts this week!

Okay Mom, here are answers to your questions:

1. My companion is awesome. She makes me laugh all the time. She's probably the humblest person I've ever known and she's even more go-with-the-flow than I am... hahaha we have a good time. Our teaching skills together are improving poco a poco. I just hope she realizes how awesome she is, because I feel like she doesn't see herself in that way! If she saw how great she was, she'd have a lot more confidence:) But we're doing really well. We haven't really encountered any issues. She does have Celiac disease (gluten) so that's really hard for her because her health isn't the best. But she hardly ever complains and I admire her a lot for that. She is great!

3. My planning is improving... haha I'm trying to keep more lists and write more things down so I remember things better. Thank goodness for our planners!!!

4. Am I still afraid of spiders?

 I guess I never told you about the time in the barn when I saw a scorpion in the bathroom... did I? I don't remember but Sister Hair was the one who caught it and eventually killed it. She's a brave soul. I've been doing a lot better with killing bugs though! Usually if they are not huge, I can kill them pretty easy, but there are some pretty scary spiders out here that I have yet to see so.... I'll let you know if I ever have to kill a black widow or something!:)

Alrighty, well I love you all!

Keep on being the best! Moroni 8:3

LES QUIERO!!!!

Hermana Emma Lattin

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Email #38 (Queen Creek, AZ)

May 12, 2014

Familia!!!

I cannot even tell you how AWESOME it was to be able to talk to all of you yesterday. Seriously, WHY ARE YOU THE BEST???? I was overwhelmed by the love I felt for each of you yesterday and want you to know that I love you more than you even know. Every single one of your prayers is felt and your love lifts me up every day. I couldn't believe how old everyone looks and every time I think about little Elle I get teary again. Seeing that sweet face for the first time is something I will never forget. It is crazy to think that she is my sister! She is so cute! I couldn't help but cry because I was just so happy to see her.

It was also a blessing for me to bear my testimony in Spanish. Thank you Dad, for asking me to do that. It made me realize, after seeing tears streaming down your face while I was talking about eternal families, yet again, that it doesn't matter what language you are speaking in, because it is the Spirit that testifies and carries the truth into the hearts that are open to hearing it! Hopefully my Spanish will be even better by the time I see you at Christmas:)

I am so blessed to have you as my eternal family. LES QUIERO MAS QUE PUEDAN IMAGINAR!!!

I know we just talked yesterday so I just wanted to give a little thought that has been on my mind recently--especially with Mother's Day yesterday. It's the story of the 2000 stripling warriors and it's in Alma 56 and verses 47 and 48 say:

"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death... yea they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it." The faith and wisdom of their mothers is what saved these young soldiers. Because their mothers had taught them to put their faith and trust in God, they were preserved by His hand. I know that this principle applies to mothers today, not in just a physical sense, but a spiritual one as well. It is the love, knowledge, faith and support of a mother that gives her children the means to understand and apply the gospel in one's life. Where would I be without my wonderful, loving, hysterical, sometimes-crazy mother? I don't know, but I sure don't want to find out! Thank you, Mom, for EVERYTHING!

May we always remember the importance and value of mothers, and the divine stewardship they have as co-creators with God himself to bring His children into this world and help them on the path back to him. There is no greater call than being a mother!!!

Answers to your questions:

1. Yes, I play soccer every morning at 5:30 a.m.

Soccer is the best! It's not as hard after doing it for a while, your body gets used to it. I've discovered that I'm a lot more awake during the day if I have a good workout in the morning rather than just sitting around "stretching"...:) haha

2. Yeah, the missionaries ran the entire sacrament meeting yesterday at church. That was the first time in our ward that Obispo asked any missionary in the ward to speak! It was pretty cool!

3. After our Mother’s Day call, we went and visited an investigator (Mirsa), and then we went back to eat at the Abreu house. The Abreus are the best! If we're allowed to have favorite families on the mission, they are one of them, along with the Garcias!!

4. Yes, we always have appointments on Sunday nights. Usually our ward members don't work on Sundays, and if they do, they usually end up going inactive for a little bit which is really unfortunate. A lot of our work right now actually is with less actives in our ward which is great! We love making those visits.

And I am glad you like my mission motto that I shared with Sammi: It's true. 

“If it's not awkward it's not a mission!” I am reminded of that every day:) hahaha

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! Have an amazing, crazy and fantastic week. Thank you for your prayers and I'll let you know how finding a family to teach goes this week. 

We must discover the FAITH to FIND!:)

Les quiero TANTO,

Hermana Lattin

Eliana's first picture with Hermana Lattin

Definitely some happy tears when Emma first saw Elle

sisters chatting!

Best Mother's Day Gift EVER

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Email #37 (Queen Creek, AZ)

May 5, 2014

Hola Familia!

My new companion is awesome!!! Her name is Hermana Woolstenhulme (it's a crack up to listen to the members of our ward try to sound that out... hahaha) and she is from Salt Lake City, UT. She went to the one and only East High (yes-that East High, the one in High School Musical... WILDCATS, GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!!!). She is probably one of the sweetest people in the entire world and wayyyy laid back and chill. She has been out for 11 months and her Spanish is way good. She wouldn't tell you that because she is super humble, but it's a lot better that what she gives herself credit for! She is pretty quiet and soft-spoken, but she is a great teacher so it works out really well because sometimes I get carried away blabbing and she brings it right back in with the Spirit. We're still just in the beginning phases of our companionship, so sometimes it's a teensy bit awkward just because we don't know each other, but we'll get through it. Something I realized is that leading an area is HARD. I am not the most decisive nor the most organized person (both Sister C and Sister B were SUPER good at that), therefore sometimes I have a difficult time taking charge and doing things effectively as possible. It's definitely a weakness that has been brought to light because Sister W is very soft-spoken and easy going... and I'm pretty chill too, so I'm always fine with taking the backseat and letting other people handle the situation when it comes to organizing something. But because Hermana W is new to the area, I am the one who has to know what's going on and I have to be the one to make the decisions... it's stressful (aka weekly and nightly planning) and it's good that I'm seeing that now so I can learn how to work through it!

And yes we are living with Sister A and Sister H still. They are hysterical. I love them.

 Sister Chavarri was transferred to the Spanish branch:(:(:( gahhhhh it's so sad. It's such a strange thing not seeing her on a day to day basis. But she emailed me today and she's doing good, and I know that she's where the Lord needs her to be. She'll definitely be a HUGE blessing to the branch. She's the best. I'm excited for you to meet her in person one day:) I'm still holding on to the hope that we'll be comps again someday!

Now onto our mission work. Vanessa is as golden as ever! Unfortunately she did not make it to church this past sunday so she can't be baptized this coming Saturday (you have to go to church at least twice before you are baptized, and she's only been once within the past few months). But not to worry, we're seeing her tonight and putting her right back on date for the 17th.

Maybelin, Ariel and Brian are doing great! Still haven't come to church yet... but it will happen! We taught them about keeping the Sabbath day holy this past week, so hopefully they will use their agency and come unto Christ through attending church!:) Thank you so much for your prayers. Vanessa especially needs the prayers. She works crazy hours and is extremely exhausted and stressed a lot of the time. 

Can’t wait to talk to you on Mother’s Day!!

Hermana Lattin

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Email #36 (Queen Creek, AZ)

April 28, 2014

Sidenote: This is Emma’s reaction when she read the email that Michelle’s Scott’s mom was baptized on Sunday, April 27.

Michelle is Emma’s best friend from High School who was  baptized in 2011 and is now serving a mission in Peru.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am crying in the library right now and I don't even care. I am so happy for Kathie. She is amazing and has so much faith. I know without a doubt that the step she just took will be the best thing she has ever done in her life and will bring her more joy than she can even imagine. I just can't stop smiling and thinking about how amazing Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ are. They truly make miracles happen. AH!!! KATHIE IS THE BEST!!!!

This is a testament to me of a few things: 

1) Heavenly Father knows and loves us perfectly.

2) Jesus Christ is our Savior and his atonement heals broken hearts and wounded souls.

3) The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us more joy and light in this life than anything in the world. It is the straight and narrow path to salvation.

4) There truly are people in the world who have been prepared by the Lord to hear and accept the Gospel. How blessed are we to be part of this amazing work!!!

Everything about this week, se fue de mi mente... let me pull myself together (haha)

Well, first and foremost, we got transfer calls this morning. I am staying in my area and Sister Bukoskie is leaving. I will get a new companion on Wednesday. Sister Bukoskie is very sad about leaving, but I know the Lord needs her somewhere else blessing other people. I'm a living testament of that! I am really grateful for the two transfers I had with her, because I have grown so much these past twelve weeks and learned more than I have ever in my life  thanks to her. She will be great wherever she goes and whomever she is with. And chances are, we'll wind up together again.

Also, do your remember Vanessa? Well, this past week she texted us and asked if we could come over!!!! Milagro!!! We did and we are teaching her again AND she wants to be baptized the 10th of May!!! She is amazing. She went through a really difficult time these past 3 months, and had a lot of severe health issues, both physical and emotional. But through all of it, she decided to put her faith in God and move forward to get married to Francisco and be baptized. She came to church yesterday and she was SO cute! She felt that every talk that was given was meant for her to hear and she just looked so happy to be there. She is someone that I know without a doubt I was supposed to meet here in Queen Creek. I'll have to give you more of her background story another time... bottom line is that she is amazing. And Heavenly Father is amazing.

We had interviews with President Nattress this week! That was really awesome. He’s just the best.

I still can't stop smiling. I wish I could see Michelle's face right now!

Sorry this is so short!

Les quiero muchisimo!!! Hope your week is amazing!!

Hermana Lattin

P.S. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE ALL YOUR SHINING FACES IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!!!

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Email #35 (Queen Creek, AZ)

April 21, 2014

HOLA!!!

Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (this could go on forevever) oooooooooo much for the Easter package! I will admit I have already eaten half of the candy... Let's just say that it's a good thing I'll have plenty of time to exercise when I get home:) I am SO grateful for all the new shirts and the new skirt. I love the blue shirt especially! All of them are going to be perfecto for summer here. Nice and light and they'll go with everything I have! I'm so excited. Anyways you are the BEST! And each of your letters were awesome as well! Thank you for sharing your testimonies of Jesus Christ with me. You are all amazing.

This week has been a good one. Easter was fantastic! I should have you know that we (the sister missionaries) sang in church yesterday! We sang Nearer my God to Thee in spanish (Mas Cerca Dios de Ti). It went great! I was extremely nervous because I had a little solo and I haven't sang a solo in a long, long time. But I just kept on thinking of all those times we used to sing together and somehow convinced myself that I'd be just fine. And it did go fine. More than fine! Another comfort is that our ward is pretty tone deaf so if we did mess up, they wouldn't know the difference:)

We found a few new investigators this past week, Ray and Alex, who are in a part member family and Osvaldo and Rafael. We are going to teach them again this week so I'll let you know if there is any progress with them next week. Yadira is doing well. We have a slight problem because despite her interest, she doesn't feel very comfortable with us coming over to teach her at her house because her mom is super SUPER Catholic and isn't very supportive of us teaching her. We're going to see if we can teach her either at the church building or a member’s house this week so we can work it out. We'll let you know how that goes. Other news, Maybelin, Brian and Ariel went to the Easter Pageant and loved it!!! I LOVE THEM. They just need to come to church and they'll be able to see and feel the spirit of the Restored Gospel.

There are a few really special experiences that I'll have to write you about, just further evidence to me that my Heavenly Father knows me and loves me more than I can even comprehend. Outside of those realizations, Mom, I wanted to let you know I was really touched by your experience with charity and love and recognizing all your weaknesses. It brought to my attention (once again) how hard Heavenly Father is trying to teach me more about these Christ-like attributes, but because of my natural man and my lack of humility, in the moment of deciding to be loving and charitable, I pass by the opportunity to grow in those attributes because I instead allow myself to become frustrated, annoyed or even a little angry... I am great at keeping that stuff inside, but it almost worsens the situation when I do keep it inside, because it continues to escalate without even being provoked. I've really been thinking lately as to how hard the Lord has been trying to help me grow, and so much of the time I cannot see past my own weaknesses of frustration and pride to choose to change. I know it's a slow, poco a poco, process in becoming more like Christ, but it has come to the forefront of my mind that especially these past few weeks I have not been taking full advantage of this time to learn and grow. Instead I have often allowed Satan to get the best of me and my thoughts when I am struggling with something. Heavenly Father has not spared me anything in showing my weaknesses unto me. But, luckily, there is a beautiful promise in Ether 12:27 that gives me hope despite my imperfection. It says "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong." Now that He has shown me my weaknesses, I am going to do everything I can to allow the Lord to make me, a weak and imperfect thing, become strong in his hands. We are all imperfect and weak, we all have things that we need to better in order to become more like Christ. And the only thing that can and will transform our weaknesses into strengths is the mighty work and power of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without it, I would be nothing. I would have no hope of being cleansed from my sins and one day living in the presence of my Heavenly Father with my family forever. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that it is through Him that we have the opportunity and privilege to better ourselves and allow him to "make weak things become strong".

That was my big realization within the past few days. I'll let you know how it goes in the next few weeks!

Mom here are las respuestas de tus preguntas!

1. Transfers are next Wednesday! I honestly don't even know what's going to happen... I have a feeling we're going to be seeing some big changes with Spanish work though... A ver! I'll go where He wants me to go and I'll stay where He wants me to stay:)

2. Yes, all of our Sunday meetings are in Spanish! I understand everything just fine. My ability to understand (especially gospel language) has really improved. I understand just about everything, and if I don't understand every word, I get most of it and can assume what that unknown word is because of context. I LOVE ESPANOL! I still have a ways to go but it's definitely improving!

Okay, well my time is running out. LES QUIERO MUCHISIMO!!!! Have a fantastic week and remember Moroni 8:3:)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Emma Lattin

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Email #34 (Queen Creek, AZ)

April 14, 2013

Hola hola!!

Yes, it's true, the summer heat is starting! I was a sweaty mess on Thursday... then we contacted this house with 10 cats sitting on the front porch so I probably smelled pretty bad too. But that's okay! When you're out working hard, doing the Lord's work, and you've got a sweaty, red face to show it, it's awesome! Haha I love it. We had exchanges this past week and it was great! Sister Anderson, our Sister training leader is the best! I love her.

So the one story I want to share from this week is about our new investigator that we found last night! Her name is Yadira and she is 14. Her dad and older sister are Mormon, but her mom is strong Catholic, although her mom doesn't go to church. 

Yadira has been stuck in the middle of these two religions her whole life and is confused about which one she should join, OR if she should join one at all. She was a media referral from the Mesa temple visitor’s center, so we went to visit her a while ago but she wasn't there. Then, we went there last night and we come down the street and Sister B. had the wrong address number written in her planner... so we awkwardly pull up in front of this house with people (who were obviously hispanic) in the driveway to try and figure things out, long story short-we were confused, were about to drive away but instead got out of the car to talk to these people and lo and behold it was HER! It was Yadira and right there in the driveway, we taught her a lesson on the Restoration and she wants to be baptized May 10th! It was AMAZING! The temple open house really made an impact on her. She felt the spirit there. We are so blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father, who despite our weaknesses blesses us with magnificent miracles everyday so we can be instruments in bringing souls back to him.

Okay answers to your questions mom:

1. The Easter Pageant is amazing!!! We got to help with it on the Spanish night this past Saturday and it was so fun! We also got to stay and watch and it is truly an inspired production. Put that on our family bucket list because it is amazing!

2. I love the new temple movie! I love how emotionally profound it is and how it presents a different perspective and feel than the other one. So cool.

3. Concha and Rene are doing awesome!! Every time I see Concha she gets really excited and gives me a big hug and says "MI GUERA!!!" It's great. They are getting married in May and are set for May 31st to get baptized!!! I'm so excited for them.

4. We are still working with Maybelin and Ariel. They said they are planning on coming to church this Sunday so we're really praying that they'll come! 

Oh, and we couldn't get a hold of Mirsa all last week, so we don't know what's going on, but I trust that, as always, Heavenly Father is continuing to work miracles with her and giving her the strength to move on from Paco (el gato) and find joy and happiness in the Gospel! I'll give you more updates on her after we see her again.

I was SO sad about Isabel moving. But that's just part of the missionary life. You get pretty good at saying goodbye to people, both planned and unplanned. 

Okay, well I love you all so much! Can't wait to hear from you again next week:) Moroni 8:3!:)

LES QUIERO MUCHISIMO!!!

Hermana Lattin

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Email #33 (Queen Creek, AZ)

April 7, 2014

Hola, familia!!

Sounds like it was a fun week getting back into the swing of things:) haha the week after spring break is always a little rough. I am so sorry I am emailing so late. We got haircuts today, so we got to the library pretty late. Mom, we went to this lady in Sister Adam and Hibbard’s ward and she did it for free! I just got all my split ends off... it was pretty bad!

 Anyways, WASN'T GENERAL CONFERENCE AMAZING???

 I don't think conference has ever gone by so fast. Why is it that time flies when you're having fun? It's so frustrating. I wanted it to keep going, and I was so sad when it was over. That's what happens when you're a missionary, I guess... everything you look forward to is spiritual (or at least it should be;)), and so General Conference is like a fiesta espiritual!!!  Needless to say, I loved it. My favorite was President Uchtorf's talk! I love the idea of gratitude being a disposition, or state of mind, rather than something that is conditional upon whether or not life is going smoothly. Definitely interesting to think about.  Elder Bendar's was amazing as well, and Elder Ballard's, Elder Hollands, Elder Scott's, President Monson's, ALL OF THEM! They were all so good. I enjoyed President Monson's message about love being the pure love of Christ. As disciples of Christ, he is our Exemplar of everything, and especially in the way he loved everyone and anyone. It makes me think of all the things that keep us from loving others: fear, judgment, pride, etc, and how often we let those things form barriers between us and others, with holding us from accomplishing God's greatest two commandments. What can we do to break down those barriers so we can recognize and take all those opportunities we have to love others every day? I think the first step is seeing every person for who they truly are: A child of God! Thoughts on that? Anyways, conference was amazing! I'm glad you all enjoyed it. I can't wait to re-read them in the Ensign!:)

So this week was a fun one! It went by ridiculously fast... I hardly had time to blink before sitting at this computer again to email you!:) We had a lot of awesome lessons with great investigators. The biggest and most prominent was probably with Mirsa, but the information that went along with that lesson is a little too sensitive to send via email, so I'll write it in a letter home today really quick before P-day is through. Keep on praying for Maybelin because she is still struggling to see and understand the importance of there being one true church. Although she loves having us over, she isn't progressing much, because she has closed her heart to the truth that is essentially sitting right in front of her. After we watched the Joseph Smith movie with her and Ariel, I was feeling the Spirit very strong and thought for sure that they could feel it too... but neither of them were as moved as I was, and it was a tad awkward. I haven't felt that frustrated with an investigator ever I don't think. It wasn't that I was angry, it was more because I just love Maybelin so much and it is difficult to sit and watch her not recognize the truth. Definitely pray for her. Also we met with Isabel and are hoping to help her progress toward baptism sometime this month!:) Pray that she will feel a need to be baptized and feel the Spirit testify of the truth.

I love you all so so so much!

Have a fantastic week!

Hermana Lattin

My companion and I asked this lady outside of Walmart if she needed help. All she told us we could do was bring her cart back in. I  thoroughly enjoyed that!

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