The Best Way To Exercise......

I'm not sure if you've ever heard of fear-induced exercising tactics, but they work. You may have stumbled across a YouTube video a couple years ago where you watched a mother sprint for her supposedly stolen child. You may have been panicked for a couple minutes, until you skipped towards the end to find that it was a paid stunt all along. I would like to share a similar story with y'all today. 

On Tuesday, we parked our car in a parking garage and headed to our dinner. However, when we got to their door, they asked us where we parked the car. Apparently, for the past couple weeks peoples cars had been towed within 20 minutes after parking in the wrong place. Well. Haha. To quickly move our car, we raced back to the garage. And well the race didn't end there, we ran every.single.floor. of that wonderfully inclined, 6-level, parking garage to find our car. When we reached the top, we chose to take the elevator down to the first floor. When the doors opened, there was Robbie, our car. You can imagine our happiness. 

Okay, but on a serious note, this week was amazing. We were able to teach the  Rios family again and everytime we're there you can just feel God's love for them. This family really does have so much potential. Carlos' kids, luis and Ellie, are also sooo cute. For thirty minutes they asked us about the Book of Mormon and what our purpose was on Earth. The curiosity and the urgency they had for each one of those questions to be answered reminded me that I too needed to have the same diligence. 

Something that I've really tried to study this week in preparation for Christmas has been Gratitude and leadership. Gratitude for our Savior' birth, and leadership to learn more about His character. I read a talk earlier in the week by Liz Wiseman titled that determined the difference between leader multipliers and diminishers. She specifically targeted three types of leader diminishers: the rescuer, the idea guy, and the pace setter. The rescuer although helps people temporarily, leads people rather helpless in the end. The idea guy, while thinking that he stimulates ideas, ends up chasing his own and shutting others down. And the pace setter although leading by example, may set an unrealistic expectation for his followers. I saw myself in each one of those, and it was kind of a moment to be like wow how does Jesus Christ lead so perfectly?

Then I went back to my first principle. Gratitude. He knows our divine potential that each of us has been given, and is fully confident that we'll be able to reach it. However, in order to even first start that journey he would need to teach us how to be grateful. A quote by Epictetus, a Greek philosopher, said "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has". Gratitude will help us recognize the confidence of our Heavenly Father in us as well as in other people. It really is such a divine principle.

I hope all of you have an amazing week and remember Christ as we celebrate his birth THIS WEDNESDAY. Thank you all for the support. If there's anything I can do, please dont hesitate to send me an email.

Love,

Hermana Pulver 

Gratitude

Hey y'all! 

This week was so amazing. And I think for my weekly Im going to write a couple things I am grateful for :))

1. Friends from the mission. Everyone that I've met, companions, leaders or members that have inspired me.

2. Teaching the Gospel. Last week we were able to teach Carlos and his family again and I loved every minute. Teaching simple, but profound truths that can change people's lives 

3. Being reassigned to Georgia. I love it here. Everyday I walk out of my apartment grateful to be serving in Magnolia. 

4.Small precious moments that I'll cherish forever.

- walking into the daycare to visit Sister Bassford and seeing Charlotte, her 12 year old daughter jumping up and down from excitement to see us.

- Being invited over to the Estradas house to find a table neatly set and music from the mormon tabernacle choir playing in the background.

- Teaching English and helping other people build their capacity.

- Running up to say hi to my old comp, Sara, on Sunday. I think that was the fastest sprint of my mission haha.

- getting interrupted halfway through a lesson only to be asked the question if we were capable of praying over hair. That was interesting. 

I love being a missionary. I can't believe I only have 11 weeks more of wearing the tag, but I'm determined to give it my all. Thank you for all of your support. I hope you have an amazing week!

Hermana Pulver

Finding The Unexpected....

Hey y'all! 

Sorry it's been awhile since I emailed, it's been a little crazy. Transfer calls were yesterday and it looks like Sister Marks and I are staying in Magnolia together for one more transfer! I'm really happy to be able to spend Christmas with the members here. I've really come to love this ward so much.  

 

With those who we've been teaching it's been hard yet good. Our miracle, Janet, the one who found us at church chose to temporarily drop us only after two weeks of missionary lessons. This was really difficult for the both of us as we had a really close relationship with her. I was very confused when we had to let her go, the way she was led to us just really was inspired by God. I didnt understand how if God had led us to her with so much work, why she was so quick to walk away for a moment. 

 As I was talking to a friend about this frustration, she told me that maybe our role was to see the miracle. At first, I was a little hesitant to accept her perspective as I believed no one really "deserves" miracles. However, now that I've had a couple of days to think on it, I think this experience just supported what I learned when I first saw the miracle. We are never in charge of God's work. God allows us to see miracles, but doesn't control the agency of others. When we do participate in the miracles of his work, we are blessed to see others aligning their will with his. Despite the heartbreak, I will always remember the excitement I felt when I met her, and how strong the spirit was when she walked in. Gods work is something that will not stop. He's preparing people now so that later they can recognize his word. :)) 

 

Speaking of which, we ran into Veronica! She's a young woman from Venezuela that was previously taking the lessons back in March and reached out to us! Our first lesson was incredible. We brought up baptism and she didnt even flinch. Hopefully shell be able to be baptized later this December or January. We are super excited! 

Thank you for all your support and emails. If y'all could, please pray for Janet, liset and camila. :)) 

 

Love, 

Hermana Pulver 

Miracles

Hey!

Another two weeks have gone by, and it's crazy. This transfer has been hard, yet so miracle filled. Everyday I have seen the Lord guide us to those who are ready to receive his word.

About a week ago, we were teaching Lisset, a young woman from Venezuela. About four years ago, she chose to come to the United States for a better future for her daughter, Camila. However, while she has been here, she's struggled to know her purpose. Usually, for the first lesson we teach the restoration, yet for some reason we chose to teach about the plan of salvation. After reading about the fall and how we were all responsible for our own sins, she started to become really curious. She then asked us if babies could sin. When we told her that Christ had atoned for the sins of young children, her whole demeanor changed and she started to tear up. She explained that her daughter was born out of matrimony, and believed that she brought a sinner into the world. With a smile, she explained that she had carried this burden for twelve years and now she could finally let it go. Simple truths are so powerful. Sometimes I forget the power the doctrine of Christ can have in each of our lives. This appointment was a good reminder of that. 

Another miracle we had was meeting Carlos and his family. On Wednesday, we had plans to go over and teach Leonarda. She was running a bit late though so we had to sit outside by the parking lot. While we were waiting, a man approached us and started speaking to us in Spanish. Within those 10 minutes, Leonarda pulled up and her daughter, julia, ran up to give me a hug. When Carlos saw that we were friends with his neighbors he pointed to the second floor of the apartment complex and invited us over for the next Monday. I was shocked. We were complete strangers, yet he was so willing to invite us into his home. He has a family of four, and explained to us how willing he is to learn about what missionaries do. Guys. This doesn't happen.

And we had another crazy moment too. A couple days ago, we received a referral. We called him, but he didn't answer and we didn't really think to much more of it until we received a call from the mission office. The referral secretary asked us to contact him again, and so we did but this time he answered. Javier, explained that he had been looking for a church for awhile and he wanted to improve his relationship with God. He even went a step further and said that he'd see us at church next Sunday. Wow.

Another miracle! Okay so on Saturday we went over to go teach Lucy and her family English classes right? Well at the end of the lesson we just got straight to business and asked them if they had any interest in learning more about the book of Mormon and improving their relationship with God. Lucy was the first to say yes- and since then has read the first couple pages in the book. But wait there's more. Haha just as we were about to leave she pulls out this BIG cake. And it means a lot guys. Their family lives in rather humble circumstances. On the cake both my name and sister Marks name was written. So freakin cute. And when they handed out the paper plates, our names were also written on the back. I died. These people are so giving.

I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to serve here. I truly have come to love the people of Georgia. 

Have an amazing week,

Hermana Pulver