It's been another great week here in the Lake Travis area! I can't
believe this week I will hit my year mark of being in the great Texas
San Antonio Mission! ONE YEAR!!! I remember when the morning of February
10th 2016 finally came! As I got ready to enter the M.T.C. I had a flood of
emotions come over me. I was so excited that I couldn't even eat
breakfast that morning! I finished packing everything up and we drove
to Provo. That was the fastest hour that I have ever experienced. I
cherished every last minute that I could with my siblings because I
imagined how much they would all grow up by time I would see
them again. The last few moments with my family were bittersweet. We
took a few quick pictures at the Provo Temple and then I had to say
goodbye to the most special people to me. I hugged everyone so tight
and was ready for this new adventure. I remember all of them saying,
"Love you Lyss" as I got out of our car, and I waved goodbye to my mom
and said "I love you" on that cold February morning and was crying my
eyeballs out when I looked away because I had no idea what I was just
about to get myself into. I immediately stopped crying right as I
opened that M.T.C. door because I felt the Spirit tell me that it was
ok and that this was going to change my life. I received my name tag
that read, "Hermana Mann" and placed it on the left side of my jacket
that I was wearing. I have worn the name of my Savior Jesus Christ on
my chest for a whole year now and I couldn't be any happier. I have
never looked back on my decision to serve a mission. This has been the
best, but the fastest year of my whole life. I will forever be
grateful for this experience that I've been able to have and I cannot
wait for the next 6 months! I know that God will continue to prepare
people in my path to receive the message of the Restoration. I know
that it won't always be easy, but I know that my Heavenly Father will
always be there for me no matter what. I have seen many lives change
because of Jesus Christ. I met Ashley Pineda while in my first area,
Round Rock, who was apart of a part-member family, and was able to
teach her. And later after I left to go to my second area I heard she was
getting baptized and I was able to Skype with her right before the ordinance!
I met RJ while biking in Lockhart and stopped to ask him for
directions and found out he was interested in learning more about our
church. Soon after meeting with him he was baptized and is still
active in the church and doing well! In October we met Brandon, who
read the introduction to the Book of Mormon right after we gave it to
him. Three weeks later after seeing him overcome a lot of things and
come to know for himself that the church was true he was baptized and
is doing so well! Over the period of time that I've been in the Lake
Travis area I've been able to teach Richard, and in a couple weeks he
will be baptized as well. I've been able to see each of these children
of God come to understand the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and enter the waters of baptism and make important and special
covenants with our Heavenly Father. What a blessing. I love my
mission! Something that I've come to learn is to enjoy every second of
my mission because I can never get this time back. Thank you to all of
my parents, family, friends, and church leaders who have helped me get
to this point in my life.
We have seen many miracles this week! Richard doesn't have a set
baptism date yet but hopefully it will be sometime in the beginning of
March! He will be out of town for a little while but we are anxious to
see him in a couple weeks!
This week we had Zone Conference and I always feel like I learn so
much when I get to attend these meetings. We learned a lot about the
importance of the Holy Ghost while teaching and what his role is in
our lives. As I was studying this week I came across a talk that was
given in General Conference called "The Holy Ghost" by Elder Robert D.
Hales. I would invite all of you to go read that talk!
I had exchanges this week with the wonderful Sister West who came
into the Lake Travis area with me and we saw many miracles together.
We walked a lot in the rain and Brandon was able to come out with us
(what a trooper) and share his testimony with those whom we came in
contact with! We met a woman named Kimberly who was walking her
dog and was very nice to us, and said we could come by this week and
teach her more about the Plan of Salvation!
We had a wonderful lesson with Jonathan this week (our investigator
that we met last week on Sister Loveridge's birthday). Brandon came to
the lesson with us and we taught him the restoration and emphasized
the Book of Mormon. He made a funny comment to us and said he didn't
know if he could join the church because he didn't want to have to
change his first name to brother (he said he wasn't ready for that
kind of commitment). We died laughing and had to explain that better to
him and he understood and just laughed with us. Hopefully he will
continue to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us!
We have a lesson tonight with Carrie Phillips another one of our new
investigators and hopefully it will go well! She has met with
missionaries in the past but wasn't ready and now, a couple years
later, she is open to learning again. Way to go past missionaries
who planted a seed in her heart!
It has been a wonderful week and I'm excited for this upcoming week
and know the Lord is preparing people for us to meet! The Lord loves
all of you and so do I! Have a wonderful week and be safe!
Con Amor,
Hermana Mann
emotions come over me. I was so excited that I couldn't even eat
breakfast that morning! I finished packing everything up and we drove
to Provo. That was the fastest hour that I have ever experienced. I
cherished every last minute that I could with my siblings because I
imagined how much they would all grow up by time I would see
them again. The last few moments with my family were bittersweet. We
took a few quick pictures at the Provo Temple and then I had to say
goodbye to the most special people to me. I hugged everyone so tight
and was ready for this new adventure. I remember all of them saying,
"Love you Lyss" as I got out of our car, and I waved goodbye to my mom
and said "I love you" on that cold February morning and was crying my
eyeballs out when I looked away because I had no idea what I was just
about to get myself into. I immediately stopped crying right as I
opened that M.T.C. door because I felt the Spirit tell me that it was
ok and that this was going to change my life. I received my name tag
that read, "Hermana Mann" and placed it on the left side of my jacket
that I was wearing. I have worn the name of my Savior Jesus Christ on
my chest for a whole year now and I couldn't be any happier. I have
never looked back on my decision to serve a mission. This has been the
best, but the fastest year of my whole life. I will forever be
grateful for this experience that I've been able to have and I cannot
wait for the next 6 months! I know that God will continue to prepare
people in my path to receive the message of the Restoration. I know
that it won't always be easy, but I know that my Heavenly Father will
always be there for me no matter what. I have seen many lives change
because of Jesus Christ. I met Ashley Pineda while in my first area,
Round Rock, who was apart of a part-member family, and was able to
teach her. And later after I left to go to my second area I heard she was
getting baptized and I was able to Skype with her right before the ordinance!
I met RJ while biking in Lockhart and stopped to ask him for
directions and found out he was interested in learning more about our
church. Soon after meeting with him he was baptized and is still
active in the church and doing well! In October we met Brandon, who
read the introduction to the Book of Mormon right after we gave it to
him. Three weeks later after seeing him overcome a lot of things and
come to know for himself that the church was true he was baptized and
is doing so well! Over the period of time that I've been in the Lake
Travis area I've been able to teach Richard, and in a couple weeks he
will be baptized as well. I've been able to see each of these children
of God come to understand the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and enter the waters of baptism and make important and special
covenants with our Heavenly Father. What a blessing. I love my
mission! Something that I've come to learn is to enjoy every second of
my mission because I can never get this time back. Thank you to all of
my parents, family, friends, and church leaders who have helped me get
to this point in my life.
We have seen many miracles this week! Richard doesn't have a set
baptism date yet but hopefully it will be sometime in the beginning of
March! He will be out of town for a little while but we are anxious to
see him in a couple weeks!
This week we had Zone Conference and I always feel like I learn so
much when I get to attend these meetings. We learned a lot about the
importance of the Holy Ghost while teaching and what his role is in
our lives. As I was studying this week I came across a talk that was
given in General Conference called "The Holy Ghost" by Elder Robert D.
Hales. I would invite all of you to go read that talk!
I had exchanges this week with the wonderful Sister West who came
into the Lake Travis area with me and we saw many miracles together.
We walked a lot in the rain and Brandon was able to come out with us
(what a trooper) and share his testimony with those whom we came in
contact with! We met a woman named Kimberly who was walking her
dog and was very nice to us, and said we could come by this week and
teach her more about the Plan of Salvation!
We had a wonderful lesson with Jonathan this week (our investigator
that we met last week on Sister Loveridge's birthday). Brandon came to
the lesson with us and we taught him the restoration and emphasized
the Book of Mormon. He made a funny comment to us and said he didn't
know if he could join the church because he didn't want to have to
change his first name to brother (he said he wasn't ready for that
kind of commitment). We died laughing and had to explain that better to
him and he understood and just laughed with us. Hopefully he will
continue to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us!
We have a lesson tonight with Carrie Phillips another one of our new
investigators and hopefully it will go well! She has met with
missionaries in the past but wasn't ready and now, a couple years
later, she is open to learning again. Way to go past missionaries
who planted a seed in her heart!
It has been a wonderful week and I'm excited for this upcoming week
and know the Lord is preparing people for us to meet! The Lord loves
all of you and so do I! Have a wonderful week and be safe!
Con Amor,
Hermana Mann
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