Tuesday, April 1, 2014

April 1st letters to Dad and Mom



April 1, 2014

Hi daddy!
I love you!
The drive was about an hour and a half. My companion and I went to Chimaltenango and met up with the training sisters and I stayed while one of them went back to Sololá with my companion to work. I stayed overnight in Chimaltenango and the next day, we came back to Sololá. It was refreshing to work out of Sololá. Don`t get me wrong - I love Sololá. But it was nice to see and meet new people and contact there and teach different people.
We didn`t get 400 baptisms this month - 323 was the final number. But we saw miracles - our two baptisms were miracles and we`re infinitely grateful for them. Our retention usually is good. As a mission, it`s been a little lower than usual, but it`s pretty good. We work without converts and help them a lot to stay in the church.
We`ll be watching conference in the chapel in Sololá. It`ll be live, I think. I`m still confused with the whole time change, but it`ll be good. Not a lot of members have computers in their house or internet, so they go to the chapel to watch conference.
The weather has started to get hot here in Sololá. [It is] A little chilly at night, but not overly cold. The summer is right now. And in May starts the rainy season. there are a lot of tourists, but most of them are in Panajachel [one of the hotel communities on the shore of lake Atitlan.]. Very few are in Sololá and when there are, I try to contact them in English (it`s really hard for me to contact in English, but it`s getting better). We don`t teach by the lake - we just go there for some p-days as a district. it`s about 40-50 minutes from Sololá to get to the lake where the pictures are.
The cookies were really good. We used M and Ms because we couldn`t find chocolate chips, but they were still really good. But not like how you make them, but good. :)
Two weeks ago, I met someone in Sololá from school (BYU). It was so funny - we had just gotten the keys to the chapel and were walking to go to the chapel. One of the members was walking and I saw a really tall white guy walking next to her and we looked at each other and said, "I know you!" his name`s Sean and he lived in Glenwood while I was there. It was so funny. And weird. Thousands of miles away from the States and he was there. It was really weird.
Conference will be excellent this weekend, as always. I`m looking forward to it. I always like to go into conference with three questions that I have to have them be answered during conference. I`ve only been doing it for three years, but it really helps me listen for what the Lord wants of me and wants me to change and become better.
I finished John in the New Testament today. I love the last chapter of John and the talk that Elder Holland gave about it, about "feeding the sheep" of Christ. We need to help those around us. We need to be missionaries and home teachers and visiting teachers and faithful members of the Church that lift other people up and help them with their burdens (Mosiah 18:8-10). We need to bring this Gospel to the whole world and teach by the Spirit and help others recognize the Spirit and follow the Spirit. I love this work and am excited that we`re planting seeds in the hearts of the children of men. We might not see the fruits now, but later, the fruits of our labors will be seen.
I love you, dad. i pray for you and mom and our family every day.
Con  MUCHO amor,
Hermana Conover

April 1, 2014

Hi momma!
I love you!
Your talents never cease to amaze me. That cake must have been great.
I got an email from Laura saying that they`re moving to New York. And that the road trip for the "girls" in the family is going to happen - when is it? Just curious.
And thanks for signing in to all of the accounts. The Amazon account has always been weird, so don`t worry about it.
Two weeks ago, I met someone in Sololá from school (BYU). It was so funny - we had just gotten the keys to the chapel and were walking to go to the chapel. One of the members was walking and I saw a really tall white guy walking next to her and we looked at each other and said, "I know you!" his name`s Sean and he lived in Glenwood while I was there. It was so funny. And weird. Thousands of miles away from the States and he was there. It was really weird.
Well, this week we`re still working hard here in Sololá. [We are] Working to find new investigators to teach and to help accept this Gospel. At times, the work is a little rough, but we push forward and press forward and do a little bit more to find people to teach. 
This week we finished Ether and started Moroni. It`s astounding how quickly the Jaredite nation prospered, fell, prospered again, and fell again to destruction. But Ether didn`t lose hope. Or Moroni, like when he wrote Ether 12 and his civilization was falling into ruin, as well. I also finished John today in the new Testament and I love chapter 21 (last chapter of John) and how Christ kept saying, "feed my sheep" (I kept thinking about Elder Holland`s talk). It`s important that as members and as missionaries that we find the people that are ready and help them accept this Gospel and to plant seeds with everyone else. And as members, to help less actives or inactives come back to the Church. They made covenants with the Lord that they need to honor, as well.
The Atonement is a grand gift that God has given to us, and it`s true - we need to revel in this gift. Through it, we can change for the better and better ourselves every day. And we can be forgiven of things that we have done wrong. It`s a grand gift, it`s true. I read the prayer of Jesus Christ when he was performing the Atonement this week in John and it`s so powerful. We need to recognize the potential that we have a take part of the Atonement.
Life and missionary work isn`t easy, but "salvation isn`t a cheap experience" (Elder Holland). It`s worth it - all the problems and all the difficulties. Just remember that we decided to come here to have these experiences.
And we had district conference this weekend and it was really uplifting and centered on missionary work and going to the Temple. It was really good.
Oh - and yesterday for p_day, it was with the zone and we played kickball and frisbee. And ate pizza. It was the best p.day I`ve had in the mission. it was fantastic.
I`m looking forward to Conference this weekend. Like Elder Hales said in the last conference, if we listen, we`ll hear the Lord`s voice in the talks and hear what He wants us to do.
Well, I love you - I pray for you and our family every day. I love you!
con MUCHO amor,
hermana Conover

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