I'm HERE!!

Hola everyone!

I made it to TEXAS!!  I've only been here for 4 days but so much has happened and I'm keeping super busy!!  I got here on Wednesday last week and the first thing we did was go to the Alamo in Downtown San Antonio and we were told the story of the significance of the Alamo.  There was this line that was engraved on the ground that all of us missionaries stepped over to signify that we were all in and ready to go to work. Then we were handed some Books of Mormon and were told to go place them along with some pass along cards.  It was a lot of fun and I was super ready to get out and get to work.  I was able to give out my first Book of Mormon!!  It made me so happy!  Then we went back to our Mission President's house and had some Texas BBQ..........mmmmmm!  It was so yummy!  We stayed at some of the sister's apartment's that night.  Then the next day we met our trainers and got to work.  I'm in a trio with Sister Shepherd and Sister Newman.  Sister Shepherd is from Tooele Utah and Sister Newman is from Bountiful Utah.  I'm surprised we never met each other considering we lived so close.  They are such amazing sisters and they have such strong testimonies of this gospel.  We are serving in Austin Texas in Palm Valley.  The Spanish culture is big down her and people talk so fast it's hard to keep up, but that's ok the Spanish will come in time.  The weather is awesome!!  Its hot  and humid here but I love it!  It's so BEAUTIFUL and so green and there are a lot of trees.  We went to our Condo and my trainer said it's the nicest place she's ever stayed in and she has been serving for about 14 months so we are lucky:)  We got our I-pads and bikes that day and then got to work.  We started proselyting around our area and began teaching people.  The people here are so nice!!  We are in a Spanish Branch and on Sunday I got up and bore my testimony in Spanish.  That was nerve racking but it was great!!  There is not a lot of people in our branch, which is way different from back home. We have been able to go to 2 baptisms so far and those were both amazing to witness.  It's so awesome to see these people change there lives and come unto Christ and repent and be baptized.  We had dinner last night for Easter with some of the members in our ward.  We had some BBQ with rice and beans.  The Spanish people are amazing cooks!  So far it's been really fun!  Hard work and sometimes stressful, but I love it out here and I love sharing this gospel with such amazing people!  I know that this gospel is so true!  I love being the Lord's missionary!  I know that Joseph Smith restored this true church for us today!  God has a plan for each and every one of us!  I challenge y'all to continually read your scriptures daily.  I have found so many answers to my prayers through reading them.  Pray often, serve everyone, and most importantly LOVE everyone!

Con Amor,

Hermana Mann

She is in TEXAS!!

Alyssa arrived safely in San Antonio, TX this past Weds afternoon.  I have already received pictures and messages from the Mission President and his wife.  You can see from the pictures that Alyssa is all smiles.  We have been told that she has two companions and her first area she will be serving in is Palm Valley B.  If you would like to send letters to her, the address for her first apartment is below.  They said to make sure you put her full name as there may be others that have the same last name.

 

Address:

Hermana Alyssa Jade Mann

2410 Great Oaks Drive #702

Round Rock, TX 78681 

Last day in the MTC!!

Hola Everyone!

Wow! Time has flown by!  Its been a crazy busy week finishing up at the MTC.  We had infield orientation and I learned a lot from that!  We practiced a lot of different situations in contacting investigators and learned more about our purpose as missionaries. I also got to watch the Provo City Center Temple Dedication. I'm so grateful for temples and the work that we get to do within them.  I know it's the Lord's house, God walks those halls, and the priesthood power within those walls is truly the power of God. I want to share something with you all. President Henry B. Eyring said that if we ask in prayer to be able to see God's influence in our lives we will recognize his love and blessings every day.  When he notices blessings from God, he writes them down in his journal.  Susan Bednar said "I've tried that, and I know that the Lord truly does bless us personally.  That He truly is there for us.  Whether it's a smile from someone, or someone who offers to help, God sends us little love notes every single day.  We just have to pray to see them and look for them".  I can testify that God cares about us. He knows exactly when to send us those love notes.  One more thing, as we are coming up on this beautiful Easter season I would like us all to remember, Jesus not only knows about our concerns, struggles, and pain, He also experienced them so He would know how to help us.  Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so!  Jeffrey R. Holland reminds us, "Truly the redeemer of us all said: "I will not leave you comfortless, my Father and I will come to you and abide with you." I hope you all can remember that.  I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He died for me so that I could one day return to live with my Father in Heaven again.  I have learned so much about Christ's Atonement and what he truly did for me!  I'm so excited to head to TEXAS tomorrow!!  I miss you all and love the emails and letters that you send.  My testimony grows each and every day and I can't wait to share this TRUE gospel with others!

Con Amor,

Hermana Mann

Last WEEK at the MTC!!

Hola everyone!

I can't believe I'm down to the last week at the MTC already!  I got my flight plans a couple days ago and I leave next Wednesday really early in the morning.  I'm supper excited!  This past week we have been reviewing a lot.  Going over a lot of the Gospel Doctrine and reviewing all of the Spanish we've learned so far.  My companion and I taught our investigator for the last time on Friday and that was so hard to say goodbye to him.  I've grown such a love for him and I love seeing him so happy as he continues to grow a love for this gospel and gain his own testimony!  He gave me his email so we could stay in touch:)  My companion and I taught each other and it was such a cool experience. I had been praying about something and the scripture she shared with me was the exact answer I needed to hear.  Its amazing how revelation through the spirit works, and the same experience happened to her.  I have learned that if we constantly strive to keep that spirit, then we will be able to teach our investigators what they need to hear.  Yesterday we were able to hear from Jorge F. Zeballos of the seventy and there were 3 things he said that stuck out to me.  He said "Its not enough for them to just know the facts, they need to feel the truth of our message, and they need to make the decision themselves to make the change in there life.  Our commitments and verification is essential to there conversion.  If we don't commit them and follow up it's like starting a journey without finishing it. Without action the commitment is hollow.  Last but not least this Gospel is a Gospel of Love.  Everyone is a son/daughter of God....treat them like so!  Your attitude can change everything.  The way you smile and act around people influences them!  I challenge you all to smile everyday!"  God loves everyone no matter what!!  I love being a missionary and I can't wait to get to Texas next week!!!  This Gospel is True!!  I can't deny it!  I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that he restored this gospel on the earth for us today!  Without it I don't know where I would be!!  I love you all! 

Love, 

Hermana Mann

ONE MONTH ALREADY!!

HOLA EVERYONE!!!

I can't believe it's been one month already!! Time flies when your having fun:)  This past week has been super busy and a lot has happened! So my companion and I have started our Skype lessons and we Skyped a member who lives in San Antonio Texas!! Cool fact about that is we became friends on Facebook before I came on my mission because she found out that I was heading there.  Also she knows one of my soccer friends (Bailey Jones).  Her niece grew up with Bailey so she immediately knew who I was and got super excited!  I'm learning so much stuff and Spanish is going well.  I'm starting to forget how to say things in English sometimes and it's super weird because I never thought that could happen (ha ha).  So I want to share an amazing experience that happened on Thursday this past week that I will never forget!  My companion and I were teaching our real investigator here and we had such a good spiritual lesson, and we talked so much, and shared many experiences that we've had in our lives, and by the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized and he said YES!!  I can't even begin to describe how happy and awesome that lesson went, and it wasn't what we had planned to teach him but the spirit took over and I love when that happens!  Sadly my companion and I won't be here when he gets baptized but I can't wait for him to get to do that!! I have seen him grow spiritually every time we talk/teach him.  I have realized that I am the tool in teaching lessons.  The spirit is the teacher and as much as we can teach him things he has to feel that spirit and do the things we challenge him to do in order for him to know for himself  the truth of what we are teaching him, and I have seen that happen.  I've seen him really search and find those answers to the questions that he has.  I can't even begin to tell you all how much my testimony has grown over the past couple weeks.  Just being at the MTC I've learned so many things.  I've learned that I don't know everything about this gospel but as I study Preach My Gospel and my Scriptures I grow to learn more about Jesus Christ's Church and I have grown to become closer to my Savior.  I know that Joseph Smith Restored this Gospel on the earth today! Its so important for us to be obedient and to follow the commandments and Christ's example.   I love being a missionary and I can't wait to be in TEXAS in two weeks!  I love you all and love your emails and letters!  I love this gospel and can't deny it! En el nobre de jesucristo amen!

LOVE 

Hermana Mann

3rd WEEK ALREADY!!

Hola EVERYONE!

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks in the MTC already! I'm kind of starting to loose track of what days are which (ha ha).  Every day is pretty much the same, besides P-Day and Sundays of course.  We are learning a lot more Spanish every day and we teach 5 lessons each day.  We teach both our language and Gospel Doctrine teachers and then we teach 2 lessons to two different LDS members, and then we teach a real investigator!  Each lesson is so unique and different and all in Spanish now!  Its amazing how my companion and I will study and plan a lesson and go through them a million times and then when we go to teach the Spirit takes over and we sometimes teach something completely different, I love it!!  And something always pops in my head of what I studied that morning in personal or companion study that I can share with who we are teaching.  My companion and I love teaching a real investigator!  Its different when we teach him than any of the other people we teach.  Not that we don't love teaching them too!  He is such a sweet old man and he knows so much already! We just taught him about eternal families yesterday and it was such a spiritual lesson.  He loves his family so much and wants to be able to see them again!  He got so excited when we explained that he could!  I wrote my first talk in Spanish this past Sunday on exact obedience!  Every Sunday all of the missionaries in our branch have to prepare a talk just in case we get called up to speak and we have a different topic every week.  I haven't gotten called up yet but my companion spoke our first week here.  Every Sunday and Tuesday night a General Authority or Apostle comes and speaks to the missionaries!  I look forward to those days because I love hearing from them.  I'm still in the choir so we get to sing for them at those devotionals every week.  Every day is so busy and filled with lots of great experiences and I would love to go on and on and tell you all everything, but there's not enough time. I would like to share something Elder Brent H. Nielson of the 70 spoke to us yesterday about, and what he said will always be with me, he said "Those whom the lord calls He QUALIFIES"  I love that!! I would like to bear a simple but true testimony....Yo se que el evangelio restaurado mediante Jose Smith. Yo se que El Lebro De Mormon es vardadero! Yo testifico Dios amor nosotros.  Yo se que oracion es imortante en mi vida. Yo amor el evangelio y yo siento feliz ser missionara.  Yo sentir el espiritu mucho cada dia en el nombre de jesucristo amen! I love and miss you all so much!  Thank you for all your emails and letters!  It really makes my day to here from you all!!  Stay STRONG in all you do and know that Heavenly father is ALWAYS with you!! 

Love,

Hermana Mann