Last week of the transfer!

Hola Todos!

Todo esta bien en la area de Lake Travis!  I can't believe it's the last week of this transfer!  It's been another wonderful week here and I just love this area!  It's feelin pretty warm out here about 85 degrees this week, and we've been walking a lot.  It definitely doesn't feel like the middle of February!  First, our lesson with Carrie went well last Monday.  We were able to talk to her more about the Apostasy from the Book Of Mormon (1 Nephi chapters 12-14).  She seemed to understand and was glad we were able to read from the Book of Mormon with her.  We found out that she is moving soon so that is sad news to us, but good that we will be able to refer her to the missionaries where she is moving to so they can continue to teach her!

We were able to have a lesson over the phone this week with Jonathan and he had some good questions and concerns that we were able to discuss with him and help him better understand.  It was a really good lesson and the spirit was present and was able to teach and testify to him that what we were saying is true because he kept telling us that it all made sense.  I've been trying to be more focused on the spirit lately because sometimes I catch myself teaching what I know instead of letting the spirit be the teacher.  I'm learning how to better teach people, not lessons, which has been a good thing considering that's something we've been focusing on lately as a mission. 

We did lots of service this week! On Tuesday we went over to one of the members' homes and helped them paint their house.  I was super sore the next day but it was worth it because he said his wife was so happy when she got home to have a finished house!  That made us happy!  That day we found out that Staci Dunson needed help cleaning her house.  She is a less active in our ward and her husband (Troy) is a non-member that we've been teaching.  We were able to go help her and spend a good couple hours at her house (we got a picture of us and our Texas attire).  They are feeding us dinner this week so hopefully we will have the opportunity to teach them more and hopefully get them to come to church with us!  

On Friday we were able to go to the Central Texas Food Bank and we were there from 1:30-4:30pm dicing onions.  Let me tell ya I've never diced onions before but I'm pretty good at it now!  That was fun and there were a lot of tears.  Most of the missionaries in our Zone came and we had a contest to see who would end up crying the most and I'm pretty sure I won!  Also that night we had a lesson with one of the Less active families in our ward.  That lesson was amazing!  We had originally planned on teaching them something completely different then what we ended up teaching them.  When we got to their home we felt the spirit prompt us to not teach what we had planned.  We ended up teaching them about Temples and Family history work.  We found out they had not been to the temple yet but want to prepare to go (miracle)!  I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and for the promptings that I receive daily.  I have seen miracles and been blessed because of it.  

One more thing that happened this week that I want to share with y'all happened on Saturday.  We had no set appointments so we decided to go to one of the trailer parks in our area, which we had never been to because its far away, and try to find people to teach that might be outside because it was such a nice day!  We were there for quite awhile, and let me tell you, I haven't spoken that much Spanish in months!  It was great!  The gift of tongues is real!  I was able to teach Sister Loveridge some things that she could say to the people there too!  It was a really good day and we found people to teach and hopefully go back to this week and share more! 

I would like to end by sharing with y'all this question I've pondered this past week.  The question is "how can we better recognize those subtle thoughts and feelings (promptings) of the Holy Ghost throughout our daily lives?"  The spirit is always there to help lead and guide us. The spirit speaks to us quietly, through our feelings as well as in our mind.  

President Boyd K. Packer taught, “The voice of the Spirit is described in the scriptures as being neither loud nor harsh. It is not a voice of thunder, neither a voice of a great tumultuous noise. But rather, a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it can pierce even to the very soul and cause the heart to burn (3 Ne 11:3; Hel 5:30; D&C 85:6–7)" 

“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand.  Rather it whispers.  It can be so quiet that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all.  Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed.  But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening and say in our manner and expression, like Samuel of ancient times, Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth (1 Sam. 3:10.) (“The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, Jan. 1983, 53)."

In answer to the question, “How do we better recognize the promptings of the Spirit?” I found in Preach My Gospel that President Gordon B. Hinckley read Moroni 7:13, 16–17 and then said, “That’s the test, when all is said and done. Does it persuade one to do good, to rise, to stand tall, to do the right thing, to be kind, to be generous? Then it is of the Spirit of God.  If it invites to do good, it is of God. If it inviteth to do evil, it is of the devil.  And if you are doing the right thing and if you are living the right way, you will know in your heart what the Spirit is saying to you.  You recognize the promptings of the Spirit by the fruits of the Spirit--that which enlighteneth, that which buildeth up, that which is positive and affirmative and uplifting and leads us to better thoughts and better words and better deeds is of the Spirit of God” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 260–61).  

I love y'all and I hope you have a wonderful week!! Be safe!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Mann

One year mark!!

Hola Y'all!!

    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

Jesus Christ is our Savior!

Hola y'all!

   Another great week here in the Lake Travis area!  So I have some sa
news and good news.  We found out that Macie Slane won't be able to be
baptized right now because her parents don't want her to right now.
They told her that she could keep meeting with us but that she has to
wait at least until she is 18 to make that decision.  She turns 18
this June so I have no doubt that she will one day be baptized and I'm
grateful that I get to be apart of teaching her and helping her gain
that knowledge of the importance of the gospel.
  Good news! Richard Mallard has a baptism date for February 11th! He
is doing so well!  I have loved seeing his testimony grow and
him coming to understand true repentance!  Hopefully we can help him
work towards that date!  If not hopefully it will be the weekend of
February the 25th!
  Brandon is doing well but has recently found out some sad news
about his best friend so please keep him in your prayers. He is
looking forward to going to the temple soon for the first time with
the youth in the ward!  Also last night we had a recent convert lesson
with him and somehow Patriarchal blessings was something that we
talked to him about.  I didn't realize while talking to him how much
it was spirit lead because he has been trying to see what he wants
to do about his future with a mission and all, but I know that will
help him in his life!  So he is thinking about getting that as well!
  This week we had a missionary training broadcast with our zone
up at the Convict Hill chapel.  It was amazing and I learned a lot
about my important role as a missionary!  Also there were some changes
that were announced in our daily missionary schedule giving us more
flexibility!  I am so excited because it's a lot nicer and easier to
get things done and it's also very helpful for us!
  It was Sister Loveridge's birthday this week and I got up at 1AM
and decorated our apartment and her bathroom! She was super surprised
when she got up early that morning around 4AM to go to the bathroom
and then came into our room and woke me up with a loud THANK YOU
SISTER!!  Love her!  We also had a miracle that day!  We went out finding
and we were walking and a man walked past us.  Both of us just said
hello and we just kept walking.  Then all the sudden Brandon came to
my mind and how we found him while street contacting and I thought to
myself 'have I learned anything?....turn around and go talk to that man!!'
So that's what I did!  I said, "Sir what is your name?"  He said,
"Johnathan, who are you?"  We introduced ourselves and about 25 minutes
later we had talked about a little bit of everything about our religion.

He was very open and said, "I'm 42 years old, is that to late for

me to join the church?"  Both Sister Loveridge and I said "NO".  He gave us

his number and we invited him to church this week!  We hope that we will

be able to stay in contact with him! Cross your fingers!  (Miracle).
  This week we ran into a rough situation that caused me to realize
how important baring my testimony to others is even when their hearts
are hardened and not willing to listen.  We knocked on a potential
investigators door and a woman named Janie answered.  She invited us
in and told her daughter Maddie to come join us (who was probably in
her mid 20's). Throughout our conversation with them we found out that
Maddie doesn't believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer
along with many other things.  She wasn't willing to listen to us and
annoyed that we were even there.  So I just bore my testimony to her
and we left.  I was saddened by this experience but happy to know
where my testimony stands!  I know that before the world was organized
our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Redeemer.
The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ made it possible for all of us
to return to live with our Heavenly Father again, and if we have faith
in Him, repent, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to
the end, we can receive forgiveness of our sins and enter and follow
the path that will lead us to eternal life in God’s presence (2 Nephi
31:13–21). I know this with all my heart!  I am a representative of our
Savior Jesus Christ and I will shout out my testimony to the world for
all to hear it!  I know these things and many other things to be true.

I hope y'all have a wonderful week and stay safe!

Con Amor,
Hermana Mann

The Lord has a plan!!

Hola Yall!

  What a great week! Thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes!  It
was a memorable day! On Tuesday morning I woke up and Sister Loveridge
had made her homemade banana chocolate chip muffins for us for
breakfast, and then she put 20 sticky notes around our apartment for me
to find with nice things to say about me on them.  Then she sang
Happy birthday to me!  She's so sweet! Then Sister Jones and Sister
West called us and sang to me!  Love them!  We had our morning studies
and then headed to the food bank!  We went through a bunch of potatoes
and each of the sisters found potatoes that looked like hearts for me
so we took a picture!  Then all the volunteers sang to me (made
my day).  We headed to dinner at Nikki Powers house and she made me
my favorite dinner, chicken fettuccine alfredo, and they made me a
cake too!  That night we had two miracles!  We went over to Shei's house
(one of our investigators) gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon
and we invited him to read the introduction. He was so excited that we
came by and he's also excited to start reading it! Then we taught Macie
Slane that night the Plan of Salvation!  She is still doing really
well and hopefully she will continue to progress towards baptism on
Feb 11th!  She is 17 years old and from Korea, and she is the only child in
her family.  Her parents aren't members ether so we have planned to go
over to her house this week and try to get her family involved.  We
are excited for that!  We found her through a member.  She is our ward
mission leader's daughter's best friend.  It was a great day to
remember!
  Lots of Miracles happened this week but one I would love to share
with y'all is an experience I will never forget!  So a little back
story first.....I met Richard Mallard back in August when I first came into
this area.  He is a non member who is married to Tina Thai (a member
in the Lake Travis ward). They had us over for dinner a lot but
Richard was never really interested in listening to us.  He had
investigated the church a little while ago and then stopped because
some concerns came up and he decided not to continue.  But throughout
the time that I have been in this area he has opened up to us and
we've been able to teach him.  For the past couple of months he has
come every week to church and he's loved it.  When Brandon was first
investigating the church Richard helped him a lot.  He was being a
missionary to him and it was so weird to see him teach Brandon when
Richard wasn't even baptized.  Recently, a couple weeks ago, we invited
Richard to set a goal to be baptized and he said he just had
some things he wasn't sure about.  Just this past week they invited us
over for lunch to celebrate mine and Sister Loveridge's birthdays and
Richard said, "Sisters are y'all going to be here in February?" We said
that we would and asked him why?  And he said, 'I'm ready to be baptized!" 

I started crying!  What a miracle!!  He told us some more things of why he just

knows now that this is something he needs to do!  Wow the Lord truly does have a
plan for each of his children. We are working on a date for him to be
baptized and we are more than excited for him and his family!!!
  This week Brandon came out with us and it was great because he has
such a strong and powerful testimony!  He connected with a lot of
people that we met around his neighborhood!  He was able to share his
conversion experience with a couple of people and the spirit was
really strong.
  On Sunday the speakers talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
the one thing that stood out to me was the importance of enduring to
the end. Once we have entered the strait and narrow path by our faith
in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism and confirmation, we must exert
every effort to stay on the path. We do this by continuing to have
faith, repent every day, making commitments, and following the spirit.

2 Nephi 31:20 - Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in
Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of
all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word
of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye
shall have eternal life.

  I also read a story on the Holy Ghost this week in the January 2017
Ensign called "The Holy Ghost: Our Personal Guide" By Janice Porter
Hayes and I would like to share that with y'all.

  "By the time my uncle Ken Porter was 19 years old, he had flown
more than 50 missions in Europe as a tail gunner on a B-17 for the
U.S. military. Of all his World War II experiences, one of my
favorites is his story of the first all-black fighter group, known to
history as the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen often acted as
escorts for Ken and his bombing group, assigned to keep them as safe
as possible and giving aid when needed. Their help was never more
valued than during one hazardous mission over Hungary when things went
badly and my uncle’s plane was hit by flak from head to tail, knocking
off the nose cone, damaging two of the engines, and wounding most of
the crew. In an attempt to stay in the air, they discarded most of
their guns, ammo, and anything else they could find. Even so, their
situation became dire until at last they were able to make radio
contact with the Tuskegee Airmen. “Where are you boys?” one of my
uncle’s crewmen asked. “We can’t see you.”  Within seconds of his
call, the answer came reassuringly back: “Don’t worry, fellas. You
can’t see us, but we sure enough can see you!” With that, the Tuskegee
Airmen flew in to help my uncle, his crew, and their damaged B-17 to
safety. In recalling that story, I’ve often thought how we also have a
guide in our lives. While the Savior was gathered with His Apostles
before His Crucifixion, He told them, “And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever” (John 14:16). This Comforter was also meant for us. With the
Holy Ghost to guide us, our life’s journey will be safer and more
sure, bringing us to where the Lord wants us to go.

    This brings me to wonder more about the power of the Holy Ghost
and what his purpose is, and how he can help lead and guide us to act upon
his promptings in our efforts to do missionary work.  We see what people

need and we can be there to help guide them.
Elder M. Russell Ballard states, "We need not apologize for our beliefs
nor back down from that which we know to be true. But we can share it
in a spirit of loving understanding--boldly and confidently, with an
eye single to the glory of God--without pressuring our listeners or
feeling that we have failed in our duty if they do not immediately
accept what we believe.
    When we have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, we can then do
simple things to help bring better understanding of the gospel into
the lives of the less-active members of the Church as well as those
who are not of our faith. There is no need for any new program to do
this. We don’t need a handbook or a calling or a training meeting. The
only need is for good members of the Church to learn to rely upon the
power of the Holy Ghost and, with this power, reach out and touch the
lives of our Father’s children. There is no greater service we can
render than sharing our personal testimonies with those who lack an
understanding of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

    So, brothers and sisters, are we ready to do something?  Can each
one of us resolve today to increase our personal spiritual preparation
by seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost and then, with His power as
our companion, bless more of our Father’s children with understanding
and knowledge that the Church is true?"

  I know that the Savior lives and He will bless each one of us if we
will do all that we can to move this great work of His Church forward.
He can help us and he is willing to help us have the strength we need
to say what we need to say as we act on the spiritual promptings that
we receive through the Holy Ghost.  He is there to look out for us and
lead us when we are flying blindly. I love y'all and hope you have a
wonderful week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Mann

P.S.  If you can see it, the potatoes in the last picture spell Loveridge and Mann :)

Birthday Week!!

Howdy y'all! 

What a crazy busy week! The weather has been up and down, hot, cold and very humid!  It's been raining a lot too with fog, lightning and thunder storms!  We almost got hit by a car 2 different times this week but luckily we are safe.  It's my birthday tomorrow and my companion Sister Loveridge's birthday is next week!  It will be fun to be able to celebrate together! 

To start out the week Sister Jones was able to come into our area on Monday and do exchanges with us!  It was great to be able to learn from her and for her to spend time in our area! She continues to show great missionary skills and has a bold and strong testimony about the gospel!  I'm so glad to know her and to consider her a close friend.  It's been a great journey being able to serve here together in this mission with her!

For P-day last week one of our members was so kind to take us Downtown to the Capital in Austin!  It was a lot of fun and we were able to explore a little bit while we were down there and she took us to lunch at one of the food places that's only in Austin!  I definitely understand the moto "Keep Austin Weird" now.  You will just have to go to Downtown to know what I mean! 

We went to the food bank again and were able to serve in the kitchen this time!  We put meals together, packaged, and labeled them!  We were very busy and the time went by too fast! I love being able to serve there with our whole zone each week.  After we were able to go to dinner at Tina Thai's house and she invited Brandon and one of our other investigators (Berlin) to come!  Tina's mom and brother were there too and they were visiting from Vietnam so they didn't speak any English, but they taught us a little bit of Vietnamese!  We were able to invite Berlin to church this week and she came!  She had a really good experience and in Relief Society the lesson was on the Restoration (miracle).  We watched the video and Berlin loved it and she took notes!  She is meeting again with us on Saturday! 

This week we spent a lot of time walking and talking to a lot of people!  We received a lot of referrals and were able to teach some people (miracle). One day while we were going to contact a potential investigator we knocked on their door and it was an Indian family that opened up to us.  They let us teach them and said that we could come back again this week!  We hope that they will be home!  Right now we are teaching a Brazilian family, a Romanian family, and now hopefully an Indian family this week (lots of diversity) we are excited!  The work is progressing in this area and miracles are being seen every day!  The Lord is truly preparing people for me and Sister Loveridge to meet! 

Brandon is still doing so well!  He continues to impress us throughout the week with his progression in the Gospel!  He recently talked about maybe going on a mission in a year (WOW)!  He is truly amazing and I just love seeing him grow! 

This transfer one of my goals is to work on developing Christlike attributes and the one I chose to work on is patience.  I read an article recently on Youth.lds.org about patience and a lot of things stuck out to me.  The title of the article was  "How to be Patient" and in it it states, "Patience is not just enduring.  It is enduring well!  Patience isn’t merely waiting.  Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed.  Patience means staying with something until the end. It means delaying immediate gratification for future blessings. It means reining in anger and holding back the unkind words. 

Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19). Ultimately, patience means being “firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord” (1 Nephi 2:10) every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so.  The work of patience boils down to this: keep the commandments; trust in God, our Heavenly Father; serve Him with meekness and Christlike love; exercise faith and hope in the Savior; and never give up. The lessons we learn from patience will cultivate our character, lift our lives, and heighten our happiness. They will help us to become faithful disciples of our Master, Jesus Christ."

        I know that it is important for all of us to develop the attribute of patience and to endure well our trials and things that come into our path that aren't expected!  I know the Lord will guide us and keep us on the right path and he is waiting to bless us for our efforts!  I love y'all and I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Mann 

11 MONTHS, TRANSFERS!

Hola Todos!

    It's been a busy, full week, and we've been accomplishing much!  There
is a lot I want to share in this email that I am excited to write
about.  First, transfer calls came this morning and both Sister
Loveridge and I are staying in the Lake Travis area!  This is my 5th transfer
here and I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us!  I can't
believe tomorrow I will hit my 11 month mark of being out here in the
best mission in the world!
    We were able to go to the food bank again this week and at the end
they gathered all the volunteers so they could tell us the amount of
meals that we put together (4,035 meals).  That definitely made me feel
good, and it is always so much fun to get to work with the people there
and also the other missionaries in our zone.
    Last week I wrote in my email about Staci Dunson and her husband Troy,
who is a non-member, and how we had planned to eat dinner with them
this week, and we did!  It was a great experience and we were able to
leave a restoration pamphlet with them to read together as a couple.
We are so happy that Troy is opening up to us, we hope to be able to
go back again this week on Tuesday!  Also last week there were a few
new investigators that we found and were able to go back and teach
them this week.  We aren't sure how interested they all are, but we
have been hoping and praying they will continue to have an open heart
and mind.  The Lord is preparing people for us to meet and this week
we were able to see many miracles.  On Wednesday we got a call from
Caroline Storm (our ward mission leader's daughter) and she told us one
of her friends from school wanted to meet with us and start learning
more.  Her friends name is Macie Slane and she has been coming to
church with Caroline for a couple weeks.  We were able to meet with
her this Saturday and we taught her the restoration and invited her to
be baptized and she said YES!  She told us she wanted to learn more so
that she could be baptized, and she told us she really loves coming to
church!  We are excited for her and hope and pray everything will work
out with that.
    I had exchanges with Sister Jones' companion Sister West on
Wednesday!  She is an amazing missionary and I love getting the
opportunity to watch her continue to learn and grow. She just finished
her 12 week training in the mission.  She has such a good spirit about
her and has a strong testimony and she loves everyone she meets!  I
had a good experience with her and we were able to learn together. We
met a woman named Liliana who has twin boys and she let us share a
message with her!  Sister Loveridge and I are planning to go back to
her house this week and give her a Book of Mormon!
    We had dinner with Tina Thai this week and she invited her non-member
friend Berlin to eat with us.  Berlin has been going through a lot in
her life and she was able to talk with us, and as we were about to
leave I had a strong feeling to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon.
So I did, and as I handed it to her I testified to her how much that
book has changed my life and has answered every question I have ever
had.  She thanked us and later the next day Tina told us Berlin wanted
to meet with us again and that she is excited to talk with us!  We have
dinner with Tina, her family, and Berlin this week!
    During District meeting our District leader Elder Grover talked about
the Book of Mormon and how we can help our investigators know and
understand that it can answer every question that they have and I
thought it was very inspired given the experience I had just had with
Berlin the night before!
    On Sunday morning before church during personal study I was able to
finish reading The Book of Mormon all the way through while being on
my mission, and at church I went up and bore my testimony about the
truthfulness of it.  I have been studying more about the Book of
Mormon this week and I read a talk called  "There Is Power In The
Book" By Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. Of the Seventy (October 2016
General Conference). I would invite all of you to go read this talk.
It is very powerful and it is one of my favorite talks from General
Conference on the Book of Mormon and the power that is has. I like how
he says "Some people have such a powerful experience with the Book of
Mormon the first time they open it, but for others the witness of the
truthfulness comes more gradually as they read and pray about it.
Whether our testimony of the Book of Mormon comes the first time we
open it or over a period of time, it will influence us all of our days
if we continue to read it and apply its teachings."

I have seen this in my life as I read the Book of Mormon every day.  I'm

not sure exactly the experience I had of receiving a witness that it was true.
But every time I read it I feel the spirit testify to me of its
truthfulness! I love the Book of Mormon!!  Brandon also got up and
bore his testimony and shared an experience he had this week with his
sister who lives in England.  He was talking to her over the phone and
during their conversation he was able to share his conversion
experience with her and he said it was a very spiritual experience for
him!  He is an amazing missionary!!  I'm excited to continue to see him
grow!  He's so amazing!!

Well I hope y'all have a great week! I am off to see the Capital in
Downtown Austin for p-day!!  Stay safe love y'all!!

Con Amor,
Hermana Mann

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Howdy y'all!

    This week is the last week of the transfer!  It's crazy how fast time
is going by!  It's been a wonderful year and I'm excited to see what 2017
has in store for me!  What a week it's been!  Sister Loveridge got her
cast off on Thursday and I caught Cedar Fever (allergies) and it's not
been pretty.  I hear it's supposed to last all through the month of
January so I'm trying to get it under control as quickly as possible so
it doesn't enable me from doing things.  All of the members have been
so kind in taking care of me and making sure I will survive!  A lot of
people say it's the worst it has ever gotten here in Austin with
allergies so I'm trying to hang in there.
    We had a wonderful week full of many events including more service!  A
couple miracles happened that I would like to share with y'all.  First
we went and visited Staci Dunson this week (she is less active), she
has only been a convert for 5 years and she was baptized in Round Rock
(my first area).  We went over to teach her and her husband Troy was
home (who is a non member) and he came and sat in with us while we
visited and taught them.  After, Staci told us her husband had never
wanted to come sit in with her while the missionaries were there.  She
said he had always sent them away when they would knock on their door.
But for some reason his heart was softened that day and he listened
(miracle). Staci later texted us telling us that Troy was glad he had
met us and wants us to come over for dinner this week (Yay)!  Another
miracle happened when we went out finding this week and as we went by
potential investigators we decided to knock on their neighbors doors and
we were able to teach 5 lessons one day to people we found on our own
(miracle), and all 5 of those people wanted us to come back this week
and teach them more, so hopefully their doors will again be opened
(cross your fingers)!  Last miracle I want to share happened on Friday
this week.  We went to stop by a nail salon where one of our members
wanted us to get something from her and she told us to go to the store next
door to talk to the young man who works there.  The store next door
was a smoke shop and so we were a little hesitant to go in there but I
said, "well let's do it!" and Sister Loveridge followed me in there and I
greeted the young man. About a half hour later after sharing the
message of the restoration with him we gave him a copy of the Book of
Mormon and invited him to read the introduction on his own time.  We
found out that he doesn't live in our area but we hope to be able to
refer him to the other sisters who are serving in his area where he
lives (miracle).
    We went and did more service at the Central Texas Food bank this week
and helped in the warehouse (which consisted of organizing food).  I
still love being able to go and do that twice a week!
    On Thursday we had a big party at Brother Storms house (our ward
mission leader) and all of our Gospel Principles class showed up, and
some of the investigators that we invited, some less actives, and
Brandon our recent convert!  It was so much fun!  We had fajitas for
dinner which were yummy!
    Sunday (New Years Day) was Collin Christiansen's mission farewell and
guess who else gave a talk that day!?  Brandon!! He spoke on faith and
how having faith has impacted his life.  He did it all from the spirit
and all he had written down were a couple of points he wanted to talk
about (AMAZING)!  It was his first talk and he did a great job! I can't explain in
words how amazing, prepared he was and how much he is progressing!

I read a story this week in the Ensign that I would like to share with
y'all.  It's called "Smiling to the blind" by Mamie Salas.
    In the dark of the night, I sat rocking my new baby until she fell
back asleep. She was about six weeks old, and I had been anticipating
her first smile to come any day. I loved those moments when I could
cuddle quietly in the dark with her but realized that while I spent
every waking moment watching carefully for that smile, if she happened
to smile right now, with only minimal light in the room, I would miss
the moment I so wanted to have with her. All of my waiting and
anticipation would be wasted if I did not see her smile--she would be
smiling to my blindness.  I began pondering how easily we can find
ourselves in similar positions throughout our lives. We often hear of
experiences shared by those who have received great blessings in their
lives. We hear of miracles that defied the odds. We hear of money
showing up when people were down to their last dollar. We hear of
angelic ministrations to those who had lost all hope. As we listen to
these stories, some of us may reflect on our own trials and wonder,
Where are our miracles? Where are our angels?  The real question isn’t
why they aren’t there, but why we don’t see them. How often do we
anticipate miracles but neglect to open our eyes to those that come?
How often do we look to the future, anticipating great blessings and
brighter days, but fail to appreciate the beauty in our lives today?
Through my trials, I have come to realize that our loving Heavenly
Father is always with us. He loves us and wants us to be happy. His
comfort is always available to us, but we have to actively seek that
comfort and be willing to accept it.  Most of the time, answers to
prayers don’t come with fanfare. Comfort during times of trial comes
in the form of a meal delivered by a caring neighbor, a late-night
phone call from a loving father who felt the need to check on his
daughter, or a compliment from a stranger at the grocery store.  “Let
him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon
the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his
ears opened that he may hear;  “For my Spirit is sent forth into the
world to enlighten the humble and contrite” (D&C 136:32–33).  Like a
new mother waiting in a dark room for her child to smile, we will not
notice when Heavenly Father smiles upon us and sends His blessings
unless our eyes are open. We need to let our faith in Him light the
darkness around us.

I hope y'all enjoy a great week!!  May this year be full of many
wonderful new and great adventures! I love y'all con todo mi corazón!

Con amor,
Hermana Mann