Miracles at the Sites!

Hello everyone!

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week. Transfers have come around again and I am saying goodbye to Sister Lucas, off to Guatemala she goes! I’ll be staying here in Rochester Spanish and Sister Ingersoll will be my new companion! I am very excited to be with Sister Ingersoll. She’s from Boise Idaho and lots of fun! This is also her last transfer, so it will be my pleasure to be her final companion. We are both Sister Training Leaders, so that should be lots of fun! 

Also Fernando came to the sites!!! He came on Wednesday but wasn’t able to hit everything before it closed so he came back on Saturday. Sister Lucas and I gave him a tour at the Grandin building and it was amazing. On Saturday he came back and the most amazing miracle occurred! A family from the Dominican Republic was at the Hill Cumorah at the same time he was and ran into him at the top of the Hill. Sister Lucas and I were serving at the Smith farm and got a call a Spanish tour was coming. We were slightly worried, because we knew Fernando was coming at the same time, then lo and behold they walk in together. It was one of the most amazing tours of my life, to watch this family just take Fernando under their wing and fellowship him, and share their testimonies with him. 

Another amazing miracle, we met Fernando’s Mom! He’d been slightly concerned about being baptized without her knowing, so we came to meet her and basically taught the first lesson. And Fernando taught with us. It was literally the most amazing thing ever. Needless to say, baptism is on the horizon. 

We continue to find new people and visit more and I am loving every single minute. I love you all and hope all is well!

Hermana Abreu

P.S About three weeks ago I gave a tour at the Smith Farm to James Dashner (a.k.a the author of the Maze Runner) and his family. I keep forgetting to mention that. But anyway, that was a thing 😅

1. Outside near the Book of Mormon at the Hill Cumorah 

2. Eating at Mission Leadership Council

3. All the sisters at Mission Leadership Council! 

Halloween at the Grandin!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the unannounced change of Pday. With it being Halloween they switched pdays so we could all be in by 6 today and not waste any proselyting time on other days. But on to the report of the week!

Ok, so lots happened this week, especially at the sites! With this being Sister Lucas's last week we're really relishing in all the time that we have there. The sites are also getting super slow so we talked to the top of the Hill Cumorah the other day and just read all the inscriptions and things on top. Very crazy that it's been a year now that I've been in New York, and reading everything it just kind of hit me all. These sites will always hold a special place in my heart.

Speaking of the sites, Fernando is coming to the sites!!! Over the past week we reviewed Fernando's baptism date with him and he's really felt it needs to be moved down, just because he wants to become more familiar with everything, and also he's not sure if he feels quite ready. Definitely understandable, and what better way to feel the Spirit and become familiar than at the sites? I'll keep you updated about how that goes, he's coming tomorrow :)

With it being Halloween, while at the Grandin building we participated in a trick or treating activity the town was putting on and stood outside and invited all the children to come in a eat some candy (and perhaps persuade them to take some tours ;) It was actually pretty cool because a woman came in with her kid and started looking around and said, "I've lived here my whole life and I've never been inside this building." Sister Rowley later gave her a tour and testified of the Book of Mormon and all that happened there. Just cool to see the small ways we can reach people :)

Sister Lucas and I also gave a tour to the most hilarious family from Ecuador. They came in pretty early in the day but said they were in a rush and needed to be on their way. So we gave them a pretty sad speedy tour, and then just an hour before closing, in they come again! They let us know they'd missed the deadline for where they needed to be and were staying in Palmyra another night, and they were ready for a spiritual experience! They just soaked everything in, making jokes all the while. It was magical.

The sites are magical, people are magical, the mission is magical! Hope you all have a very happy Halloween!!

Hermana Abreu

1. Going out with Emma Nielsen who has her call to Sweden 😲

2. Passing out candy at the Grandin

3. At the top of the very windy Hill Cumorah Sister Lucas’s last day there

4. With the family from Ecuador 

5. A quick video showing their humor 😜

Immediate Culture Shift!

Hello!

Well, things haven't exactly settled down since the mission tour. As President Evans would put it "we're being moved to the next level." It's amazing seeing all the attitudes of the different missionaries as "rules" get tighter, and faith becomes stronger.

Fernando is doing so well! This past week we had a stake conference with Elder Christensen of the Seventy which he attended, and then afterwards there was a Spanish lunch which Elder Christensen attended because he'd served as a mission president in Mexico before. Many Piedmont Branch memories came flooding back to me as people popped out giant bowls full of rice and mangu and other delicious things (and if I'm being honest, slightly made me tear up). I love being in a small little community like this where everyone cares about each other and can feel fellow shipped in their own language.

We had exchanges with the sisters who serve in Henrietta. For those who may not recall, Sister Larson was my Sister Training Leader back in Newark, and here we are in Rochester with the roles flipped. It was lots of fun and we talked to lots of people. Lately we've been chasing people down to be able to talk to them. And even if there are a lot of weird looks and awkward "no's" those simple "yes's" make all the difference.

I love you all lots and hope you know I'm praying for you! 

-Hermana Abreu

1. Our district during the mission tour walking back from the grove
2. The Spanish lunch 😊
3. The lovely sisters we went on exchanges with
4. Saying goodbye to the Bergstrom’s, one of our favorite senior couples 

A Year In The Life

The first week of the transfer has been filled with site time! The

purpose of the Caterina complex last transfer was to be able to cover

the sites and have area time, so this transfer being half and half

again our area time has been cut down by well...half. Though it at

first doesn't seem like the optimal circumstances, it actually really

helps our area because it makes the time that we do have all the more

valuable, and when we are there it's go, go, go!

I also really very much love the sites, and though it's rough working

with less area time,  I can't help but smile every time we drive into

Palmyra. There is such a Spirit and peace that exists there. Lately I

was able to give a tour to a less active family the Elders in our Ward

we're visiting and though I'm not the perfect teacher, the Spirit is.

Reciting the words of the First Vision overlooking the sacred grove

will never cease to amaze me. Also super cool things happen like

President Uchtdorf mentioning his church history trip in a General

Conference as you sit at the Smith Farm watching him reference the

place where you are.

Speaking of General Conference, definitely one of my most favorite

sessions. The Saturday session we were at the Smith Farm and there

were still tours so we didn't get all of it in, but I'm very excited

to look back on what we missed. I'm also very excited to look back on

the sessions I did see on Sunday. Our investigator Fernando came to

the first session and soaked everything in. Fernando is just the best.

He's from Puerto Rico. Every time we visit with him he gives us

cookies and water. He has such a desire to understand and learn more.

Sister Evans came to one of our lessons with him and the Spirit was so

strong. We're excited for him :)

This past week was also my year mark. We were serving at the Hill

Cumorah so we walked to the top of the Hill and reminisced. It has

been one crazy year, and it's even crazier to think it was a whole

year ago that I entered the MTC. I've loved every minute,  the good,

the bad, the ugly, and the very very amazing. I know what is ahead

will provide even more direction and light and I am very excited for

whatever the Lord has in store.

Know I pray for all of you and hope all is well!

Hermana Abreu

1. One year on top of the Hill Cumorah

2. Sister Lucas and I got ice cream to celebrate :)

3. A picture from last week when we said goodbye to Sister Searle and

Sister Redden. Also saying bye to Lucy, the famous mission van that we

used all this last transfer because of the amount of sisters in

Rochester

4. Josephine's out of the hospital so we visited her last week so

Sister Searle could say bye. We definitely love her lots!

5. Going to the waterfall in Rochester today for Pday!

Hill to Home and the Death of Caterina

Transfers have come around again and Sister Lucas and I are staying in

Rochester Spanish, though our wonderful companion Sister Searle will

be leaving us. She's going to Farmington/Macedon, a.k.a Palmyra area.

The Caterina complex has died, so we're going back to being half and

half. There's lots of mixed feelings that's for sure, but I know this

transfer there are going to be so many miracles. Just crazy to think

this is Sister Lucas's last transfer, so we're for sure going to make

it the best one!

This past week was the 190th anniversary of the day Joseph Smith

received the plates on September 22nd a.k.a Plates Day. So in

celebration all of us sisters woke up super early and came together

and walked from the top of the Hill Cumorah to the Frame Home at the

Joseph Smith farm, the same path he took bringing the plates home so

many years ago. It's called the Hill to Home challenge and was

something I'd heard about my whole mission. We each carried two

different twenty five pound weights and passed them around to each

other as we walked. It was very exhilarating pretending to be Joseph.

Though, unlike Joseph we got to celebrate to a pancake breakfast in

the basement of the welcome center. We're slightly spoiled.

Josephine is slowly starting to understand more and more. It's always

been a struggle helping her understand the Restoration, but recently

when a friend of hers warned her of the "dangers of meeting with us",

Josephine testified of the Book of Mormon. It's a slow process, but

she's coming to understand. She's out of the hospital now, so her

health and well being is always in our prayers.

Being a missionary in Rochester with so many Puerto Ricans we've heard

a good deal about all of the natural disasters going on and it truly

is devastating. We also teach a good deal of people who come from

broken homes. I've found myself pondering about what really makes

people want to change their lives, and it's when they feel a need or a

motivation for something they don't have, or want. That motivation is

normally through love. And not a lot of people here have felt any kind

of true love in their lives. But I feel of God's love for them, every

single person we come in contact with truly is a child of God, and

when they understand that, it changes everything. Our role as

missionaries is to help them receive that understanding, and we will

keep trying and keep moving.

I love you all!! Sincerely, thank you for all the support and love!

Have a great week!

1. The daughter of the Wilson family, one of the members in the Ward.

She loved that I had a flower dress so she switched outfits so that

she would match ☺️

2. Sister Lucas and I riding bikes. Being in a walking/bus area we'd

been avoiding it all transfer but one day there was just too much to

do, so we had no choice. I loved every minute!

3. At the top of the Hill!

4. At the frame Home! (sorry, they're both slightly blurry)