1/30/17

The girl who cried transfers. (this is actually a good e-mail.)

WHAT A WEEK IN THE CALIFORNIA FRESNO MISSION.

Seriously so much has happened.....

but let's move past the helping a Nigerian woman with a bloody nose and low key killing ourselves with a sad attempt at sprints and get to the important stuff.

So this is a ginormous deal....

President Nelson like the President Nelson came to the CFM this week. A man whom God has called to declare His word to all nations as a special witness came to talk with us. Wow. It was so incredible. The entire mission came together and President Nelson and Elder Cook and Elder Dorius  and their wives and President and Sister Clark shook everyone's hand. His exact words to me were, 'Good morning, Sister Rendon.' Wow, what a pleasure that was.

Then they addressed us as a mission.... a lot of the discussion was on agency and unity in companionships...mission companionships and the eternal type. 😲 Sister Murray and I have been together for six months so we almost qualify for both.

Then President Nelson allowed us to have a question and answer session. An Elder asked about the best way to introduce the gospel to someone and President Nelson drew on his experience as an actual physician to help us as spiritual physicians. As a doctor the first person that you ask a patient is where their pain is. As a missionary the first thing you need to know about an investigator to teach to their needs is... where their pain is. Medicine is a miracle, but is imperfect. The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a miracle, and it is a perfect one. Their will always be a gospel solution to heal pain...no matter where it is. It may not be the an answer that you want and it may not be an answer that is easy and a lot of times the answer won't be immediate. However, there will always be an answer and it will always heal a person's pain.

Also in regards to the title of this e-mail.

(my mother has been begging me to do that for months)

I AM BEING TRANSFERED.

Which in case you need a re-cap I was already transferred once from the Shepherd/Dry Creek wards and then went back three weeks later...along with the Mountain View/Orchard View wards. So I've already cried transfers once. lol. So the members are either taking it really seriously...for example Bishop Callister...who actually announced the transfer from the pulpit and added a surprise opportunity for me to give a little mini farewell testimony to the ward...and Sister Relitz who came to me with a wave of emotion admitting her desire for me to marry her son......Or the members are taking it really not seriously.....like the Walkers...whom if you remember threw me a little party complete with a human tunnel to run through last time I was transferred...and this time simply shrugged and said..."You'll be back." No in-betweens around here.

Sister Murray and I did not take the news well. Seriously who in the history of ever has been with the same person like literally without leaving sight for six months.....what. After we received the call we quite literally spent fifteen minutes being anything but patient, kind, praise-worthy, submissive, meek, humble....and then we spent the next fifteen minutes in a companionship prayer apologizing for all of those things and attempting to repent.

but HEY HEY

I am being doubled into the King's Canyon ward.....with a new missionary from the MTC.

Super intimidating. If you need a visual of how I feel on the inside picture this little tiny human who has received this assignment to eat a meatball the size of a house. Also all missionaries every where just received a new schedule that changes a whole lot of things about key indicators and planning.

                                                                                    January 23, 2017

GOOD MORNING AMERICA. 

This week was filled to the brim with great stuff....and oranges which are also great. 

On the real...I have probably consumed more oranges in the last week than I have in my whole entire life.
They are delicious and just make me love California even more. 

Fun fact......about 70% of America's produce comes from the Central Valley so every time you bite into a big juicy pear....think of me. I chose a pear because ya'll probably don't bite into those often and I really don't want to be a distraction in anyone's life. (Also that statistic about America's produce could be super wrong)

More fun facts....

1. Sister Murray and I have been together so much that I'm starting to speak the way that she does and (this is shocking) she is starting to write the way I write. That is insane. 

2. Elder Vawdrey says hello and that he rules. 

3. The computers are super weird..so we can't send pictures..but we are still making that video. 

4. Sister Murray and I discovered this week that we are awful at moving people. 

5. We also were the beneficiaries of the worst break-up line of all time......"we had a long talk as a family and discovered that the LDS church is not for us at this time"

NEWS FLASH: the gospel of Jesus Christ is literally for everyone at literally all times in your life. I beg you to prove me wrong...because you can't. Anyway...this family has had seeds planted, and nourished, and I pray that one day they will prepare themselves to be harvested.  

We taught so much this week it was great. When I say so much I mean we taught six lessons this week.....which is a ton for this area. We found this woman named Xiaoli (shou lee) she is from China. Which is really cool....she definitely has recognized the spirit and says that she feels 'comfortable' when we pray with her.....she's great. These last few days have brought a ton of potential investigators. 

Also President interviews were this week and there is nothing I love more than President interviews...we received a training on teaching hard doctrine.....which was incredible..because it always is incredible to be trained by president. 

We've also been teaching a mission prep class to all the youth in the stake with the assistants. It's been super fun and it really makes me reflect on using my time wisely here. 

I love ya'll and hope that you are having a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Rendon

   Oh what a week. 

ATTENTION: SISTER MURRAY AND I ARE GOING TO MAKE A QUESTION AND ANSWER VIDEO (we know it's cheesy) WE MOST LIKELY HAVE LIMITED PREPARATION DAYS TOGETHER. SO IF YOU'VE EVER HAD A QUESTION ABOUT MY MISSION EXPERIENCE ASK IT NOW....SEND IT IN THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. Also this will only be fun if you participate...so please send questions....funny...spiritual....cultural...send em' all. 

It's rained so much here.....literally Jack (cutest 9 year old investigator) showed us a video of his neighbors kayaking in the middle of his COLD A SACK (this is me trying to hid my lack of spelling with some bad humor.) .......Anyway speaking of Jack...... Sister Murray and I love him. He has been being taught for over a year now but his mom isn't ready to allow him to be baptized....but good news Jack is amazing and last week we committed him to place a Book of Mormon...and he gave it to his mom...so hopefully she will start reading. Seriously Jack never ceases to amaze us...once we went over with a plan to teach him about fasting and before we even begin the lesson his mom tells us how he wanted to fast the night before..but he is underweight and so she didn't let him......anyway......what nine year old who is the only investigating member of the family has the faith to fast?!?!?! JACK KINNNISON...THAT'S WHO. He has an amazing testimony and I'm pretty sure he teaches us more than we teach him.  Also Jack told us about a dream he had of God running on a treadmill and all this rain was his sweat. goodness....I hope that is not how rain works. 

Also....BIG NEWS...we have an actual, real life, flesh and blood, PROGRESSING INVESTIGATOR. This literally hasn't happened since I've been here. Her name is Melissa and she has a sweet little baby. She's talked about how she finally feels like she knows who she is praying to.....which is huge. We are teaching her lesson three this week and it will go well. 

We also changed our oil at pep boys and pretended not to be sick all week...so that was great. 

I love being a missionary....I love the blessings that come from being a missionary...and there are oh so many!

*Pray for me to send better e-mails because I will admit this one is sort of lacking

                                                                                          


Hello. Hello. Hello.  

Dear everyone, 

Being a missionary is the greatest thing. 

Great things that happened this week. 

-So much rain. Also for a place that has been in a drought for the last decade they really don't have a clue how to handle rain and so the streets are mega-flooded.....so that makes for getting in and out of the car an adventure. 

-I laughed when I recognized that ladies and gentleman is the worlds version of Brothers and Sisters.....haha...I still think that's funny. 

We went to the temple. Super great. 

And for a super great highlight of the week...

I finished reading the Book of Mormon. 

Which made for a great personal study. After I finished reading it I was reflecting on how my testimony had grown since I started on July 27th and I wrote something that went like this. 

The last few months have me at a place that I can say from soooooo much personal experience that the Book of Mormon gives people what they need. 

Literally from the first day when I found what I needed to start a mission committed to obedience when I read the testimony of Joseph Smith and read his testimony of obedience....the charges are so strict because the work is so important. (pg. xi)

All the way to this morning when I started my studies with a prayer to recognize what my spiritual gifts were and I opened to Moroni chapter ten and once again found what I needed (pg 530)...and literally every day in between....  some moments that stand out specifically to me................ when I pleaded with my Heavenly Father to give me an increased testimony of the Book of Mormon after I had walked out of a lesson with a woman who had spent the whole time seeking to destroy the testimony I had....and I opened the Book of Mormon and found what I needed in 2nd Nephi (pg 109) the rejection of the Book of Mormon from the 'learned' had been foretold. To the day's of frustration when I had spent weeks being told by the world that I was in an area with people who were not 'compelled to be humble' and when I turned to the Book of Mormon and found what I needed in Alma (pg 289)...I found what God had to say about people who are not 'compelled to be humble.' and even the time I found what I needed in Ether (pg 510) when I recognized that I wasn't the only disciple of Christ who had a hard time putting pen to paper or 'finger to keyboards' when I needed to write words about my missionary experience. 

I guess what I'm really trying to say people in a short,simple, powerful statement of truth is.....

THE BOOK OF MORMON GIVES PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEED. 

So if you're looking for something.....I know where to find it....it's somewhere right in between the blue cover of the Book of Mormon...who knows today it might be found right in the introduction. 

I love you all!!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              cs

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                     January 2, 2017










Happy New Year's. 

It's been another great week in the California Fresno Mission. 

There were multiple times that Sister Murray and I wished we could be at approximately fifteen places at once but hey that is much better than the alternative. 

There are SO many things to get done and I'm confident that each day is shorter than the last...but all is well in Zio(Shepherd/Dry Creek/Orchard View/Mountain View)n.

Thanks for all of the support in 2016 and here is to looking forward to a whole entire year of being a set-apart servant of the Lord. How blessed am I? 

so So SO blessed. 

I love you all and I hope that your setting goals and making plans is going well. If you need some help Preach my Gospel has a chapter about that. 

Preach My Gospel has a chapter about everything that's important. 

                                                                                    December 26, 2016

   

   

First of all...if ya'll think that just because I skype home...you don't have to e-mail me.....well that is LAME.  

(fun fact: once an investigator asked me if the world lame came about because the lamanites in the Book of Mormon are super lame.....haha no Chris.)

This was the GREATEST WEEK OF ALL TIME. 

EVENTFUL THINGS THAT HAPPENED. 

-I was on an exchange in the Gettysburg ward...and wow...the work is super different there. In the area(s) I've served in the most common professions are...doctors..and lawyers...and....policeman....anywho you get the point. In Gettysburg ward....a little less income takes place and by a little I mean quite a lot less. 

We met this man named 'killa will' anyway Sister Larsen and I are just trying to fulfill our purpose and inviting killa will to come unto Jesus Christ meanwhile 1 year old 'lil killa will' is trying to pull down his dad's pants and normal sized killa will is telling us that he doesn't believe that we don't smoke weed after we go to church. Which is actually a pretty common practice around here now because apparently they just made that legal. This was a new experience for me. 

Then around here they have these security doors....so when we knock on doors people can see us, but we can't see them. Anyway, we knock on this security door and the regular door behind it is wide open...and so we can hear this dog come running up and starts barking...then it starts coughing...then it starts throwing up.....and we just witnessed all the sounds...and the owner is clearly home but also clearly ignoring us...so we left him a picture of Jesus at the door so when he found the not-so-nice surprise his dog left him...his spirits would still be lifted. 

We also found these things on the ground that had fallen off of a tree that we thought were nuts...and so we ate them...they were not the kind of nuts you find in a trail mix. haha....

but we also found two new investigators...one of them was named Susan we taught her a lesson (this was Tuesday) and invited her to be baptized...she got super excited to be baptized and hang a picture up on the wall....and the Gettysburg Sisters are now trying to teach her...they set a baptismal date with her (on Friday)..but I guess now her mom isn't a big fan of her going to church....anyway just hoping that Susan will make her own decisions...she was born in 1954 by the way....

Exchanges are great...they truly do help you to be a better missionary. 

This Friday we had a 'Christmas devotional and holiday fun' which was super wonderful. We talked about not only the fact that Christ was born but the fact that he fulfilled his potential he truly 'increased in wisdom, and stature, and favour with God and man.' More than the fact that Christ was born, is the fact that he lived and he lived for you. If he had not taken that time to progress he would not have been able to fulfill the atonement and that would leave you and I with no hope. Which is why you and I were not placed on this Earth simply to learn about Jesus Christ...not just to worship him....or even adore him...but you and I were placed on this Earth to emulate him....which means the time is now for us to 'increase in wisdom and stature, and favour with God and man.' So when the time comes for us to fulfill our purpose...there will be hope and there will be success. 

It was a very spiritual Christmas devotional.....and then we had some holiday fun after that. 

Which is code word for playing bingo and minute-to-win-it games with half of the mission....bad news I left the Fresno North Zone down in the candy cane fishing....zone leaders were real upset...but then I was able to redeem myself in the ornament tail game....which means all is well.....there are probably a lot of pictures on the mission's blog!

Then we had Christmas.......we spent a lot of time...with a lot of families that I love.....the Walkers...the Mederos family and the CLEVELANDS. 

I LOVE THE CLEVELAND/PARKER FAMILY. 

I've talked about them before but basically Grandma Betty is a literal legend around here and has the richest posterity of all time. 

Seriously, one of her sons just returned from being a mission president, one of her sons just left to be a mission president, one of her grandsons is a ward mission leader in the other stake and he's the greatest...we talked about what he could name his baby, another grandson is one of our ward mission leaders...we talked about what he could potentially name his next baby..I suggested Sister Rendon Parker.....haha....anyway I can seriously not say enough about how incredible this family is...I adore every single one of them...and after we had Christmas dinner we came together and sang Christmas hymns and talked about the birth of Christ and to close the meeting her son that just returned from serving as Mission President in Indianapolis invited Sister Murray and I to share our testimonies with the family and then asked me to close the evening with the prayer....which I quite literally felt was an honor. I truly just could not thank the Lord enough for the example this family is to me....I PROMISE THAT THE GOSPEL BLESSES FAMILIES. 

ANYWAY....

As you consider new year's resolutions...you might consider what will help you to more fully enable you to emulate Jesus Christ...because that truly is the purpose of life. [

Love ya'll! 

A LITTLE NOTE FROM SISTER MURRAY

-Dear Sister Rendon's family, 

we've been together for quite some time now, so I'm basically part of your family now... I know your daughter, and I know that she loves being a missionary for the Lord. She has righteous desires and she works hard to accomplish her goals. She's taught me so much about hard work and dedication. She's easy to love and fun to be around. The ward members here adore her! and so do I! Thanks for sharing her with me! Love you!!!! oh yeah, Vicki, thanks so much for all the Christmas gifts! 

                                                                                                    Dec 19, 2016

                                        

  

                                              

oh my goodness. This week I have literally felt all the emotions in the dictionary and then 25 more added on top of that. 

^^^^^ An Elder just read this sentence and made me feel so dramatic, but I'm not retracting the statement. 

That is in fact true. 

For example...We had a great lesson with a man named Danny who is super awesome..last time we were with him we left him a commitment to read Enos and he read it twice to understand it. I LOVE COMMITMENT-KEEPING PEOPLE. 

So then we asked him to come to church and he was like definitely...you should ask my neighbor if they want to go...tell them I can give them a ride. WHAT. 

ANYWAY. Sacrament meeting I was literally at the edge of my seat the whole time. LITERALLY. I have never been so literal in my life. Anywho Danny unfortunately wasn't able to make it...but I STILL HAVE FAITH. no worries. 

Other events that occurred. 

I was companions with Sister Whitney for a couple of days and that was super awesome. We tried to take a picture to commemorate the event but it obviously wasn't a success. 

Anywho....I'm being well taken care of around here. 

seriously extra well. 

Our wards are amazing. 

And after I was feeling one of the many emotions previously mentioned after a particularly spiritual relief society meeting in the Dry Creek ward a Sister gets up and starts talking about special sisters in the ward...turns out she was talking about Sister Murray and I. What....literally I am in awe over the Christ-like characteristics found in these ward members. THEY GAVE US THIS GINORMOUS STOCKINGS. 

literally the size of me. -please excuse the super blurry picture....just to emphasize how giant it is. 

ALL IS WELL. 

I LOVE YOU. 

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS. 

SERIOUSLY I'LL BE PRAYING FOR YOU.