Miracles in Scotch Plains

Hello lovelies!

How is everyone doing? It's springtime, the sun is shining and the bees and spiders are back to torment me. ;) haahahaa! But you know what? It's all worth it! 

Monday:

We went to the Perth Amboy Beach! SOOOOO COOL! We played volleyball of course! I seriously love my zone! We have loads of fun together! It was especially funny because a man named Santiago(Dominican) came to the fence to watch us. The other team was struggling to get it together and every time the ball went in another direction or it smacked somebody in the face he was just roaring with laughter! It's the kind where they are uncontrollably laughing which then makes you laugh uncontrollably too! So awesome! 

Tuesday:

So today Sister Taggart, Mission President's Wife, went to our lessons with us! She helped us teach and just got to know us better. She is a powerhouse! I love that woman! We had two pretty neat experiences. The first with a recent convert named Dayvon who is 17 years old. We were talking about favorite scriptures and I started to share one of mine and he quoted it for me! He hasn't really been to church in awhile and isn't really reading the BOM so we were both shocked that he even knew that scripture! The second experience we had was with our sweet Dayana. She has been struggling lately with family stuff and so to be able to just sit and listen to her pray and pour out her feelings and gratitude to God was incredible. The spirit was so strong to the point of all of us just bawling together. Great comfort was there that night.

Wednesday:

So we were in Edison and decided that we were gonna do some contacting at the Menlo Mall. We met two awesome people and gave them both a BOM and they are allowing us to follow up with them this coming week.

Thursday:

Something that my companion and I have made a goal for the both of us this week is Humility. I think it finally hit the both of us today. We both just need to have a better understanding of each other. It was a real eye opener. We are just fine now, but if I could give any advice it would be this:

Don't pray for humility! Hahaha just kidding! But seriously, If you are going to pray for humility, you better be willing to work on it! Don't just throw your hands up in the air when it seems unfair...hello....YOU ASKED FOR IT! I love my companion. She is a real strength to me. Yes we are both different, but it's through those differences that together we can get this work done! 

Friday:

So today was a day of insane miracles! The first...was running into Sister Peck, Relief Society Pres, and her nonmember friend on the street as we were about to go contacting. She took us out to lunch, which allowed us to be able to not only visit with her...but also visit with her friend Craig! He has accepted to read the BOM and gave us his number so that we can follow up! Ah! Next we met a woman named Donka...I think...we couldn't really understand her...who we showed three pass along cards that had three different questions and asked her to pick a card any card. She chose the one that had this question: "What brings you the most joy in life?" She started bawling and said Christianity and bore her testimony. She also took a BOM. Jose Maria was our next person. We were crossing the street and my comp said, "Oh! I know that Asian guy!" So we walked up to him and she asked, "Do you remember us?" and he said, "No English." So then she asked, "Spanish?" I remember looking at her like,"Are you kidding me? This man is clearly Asian! Why on earth would his language be Spanish?" And the he nodded his head yes. WHAT?! I was so shocked and excited at the same time! I had my one Spanish BOM with me and I was so ready to get to know him and  testify of this incredible book! He accepted to read it and said he would meet with the Elders who I had to turn him over to. LOVE HIM! 

Saturday:

So we had a movie night tonight with members and investigators who we didn't even know were coming! We watched 17 Miracles. Bawled like a baby, but what's new? Hahaha anyway, the coolest thing about this though is that the investigator who we had no idea was coming is a friend of one of our members who is in our area. His name is Abraham. He was crying too and absolutely felt the spirit because afterwards asked my comp and I what time church started! YES! 

Sunday:

So a few weeks ago my comp and I were contacting and we met this kid named Alex who flagged us down. He asked my comp if she spoke Spanish and she said no and then pointed to me. Seriously word vomit just poured out of this kid's mouth he was so excited! I could've cried which I believe I did afterwards. Haha! He is from Guatemala and is 17 years old. He said that he was baptized there and when he moved to New Jersey 7 months ago he hasn't been able to find a church building close enough to his home. I was ecstatic! I asked him if I could get his number and have the Elders call him and arrange a ride with a member and such and he gave it to me. He then asked if I had a BOM that I could give him because he said that he's not allowed to have his phone out at work and just wants to be able to read the book while he's there. So I had my one book and gave it to him. I called the Elders immediately after I spoke to him and just prayed and hoped something would happen. I asked the Elders later on if they got in contact with Alex and they said he didn't answer. I was so sad because the spirit that I felt while this kid was talking to me was soooo strong! Anyway, I was talking to someone today at church and got a tap on the shoulder. I turned around and there was ALEX! What in the world? I asked him how he got here and he said he used his GPS. I don't know if he walked or got a ride from his sister...but...WOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOW! I called the Elders immediately and told them they had to get to the church ASAP! Haha luckily they were already on their way when I called so that they could take Alex under their wings and get him comfortable with the Spanish ward.

There can be miracles when you believe. I love you all! This week I invite you to pray and ask Heavenly Father for help on something you feel like you need to work on and then take it on with determination in bettering your life!  

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Arevalo (:

 Perth Amboy Beach

 Lunch with Sister Peck

 Uprooted tree at Watchung Reservoir and Sister Hale 

THE HOLY GHOST IS KEY!

Hello lovelies!

This is definitely going to be a short email, but I love you all and your constant support!

The highlights of this week are:

Monday:

Started Dee Dee on her 7-Day Stop Smoking Program!

Tuesday:

Had an unexpected dinner at our part-family's house! It was Guatemalan and Argentinian food!

Wednesday:

Finally got my Tiwi card which means Hermana Arevalo can now drive the streets of New Jersey also we had an exchange that day and I got to stay in my area which meant I lead my area for a little bit without my comp! Super scary, but a very humbling experience! Also during our Zone Conference Sister Hale and I were awarded our favorite cereal for getting 3rd place out of all the missionaries in New Jersey based off of our role play video. SWEET! 

Thursday:

Read a talk by Elder Bednar called The Powers of Heaven. READ IT!

Friday:

Went to the church while Jovany had his baptismal interview! QUE LOCURA!!

Saturday:

JOVANY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!

Sunday:

I was asked to give a talk during sacrament meeting! My topic was How the Atonement applies to missionary work. BEST TOPIC EVER!  The Atonement applies to missionary work because missionary work is God's work. "To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." And the only way to do that is through Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

I'm so sorry that this is a very brief email, but I just want you to know to never lose faith....EVER! I invite you all to read Ether 12 and pray to know if what you read is true. I promise that as you do this, you will have a better understanding of how God works and why He does some of the things he does.

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Arevalo (:

Picture: Sister Hale, Alie, Jovany, Marchello, and yours truly.

April 4, 2016

I've never loved beans so much!

I am so sorry for the crazy short email last week! I literally had no time! Anyway, thank you all so much for all the love! I have an address for you all:

419 Park Ave.
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076

Monday:

So I played four square for the first time in like two weeks! I was in heaven! And you better believe I bought a rubber ball! Hahaha! Two miracles for the day: Jenny, a sweet little baptist lady was told by her her pastor to never speak to us again and to give us back the Book of Mormon. After that we decided to let things cool down for like a week and then we recalled her and she said that she had talked to her brother her and he told her not to give us back the book and so she allowed us to go and visit her after her surgery! Miracle number 2: This recent convert named Dayvon actually likes me! When I first met him he was having a bad day and just seemed uninterested and I felt like we were not connecting. When we were visiting with his grandma we were telling them that I wasn't going to be there the next day because of exchanges and he was like, "What?! We were just starting to get to know each other!" But we reassured him that it was just for a day! YES!

Tuesday:

Soooo exchanges happened which meant....SPANISH!!!! I had an incredible lesson with a less active! She says she is a wholehearted member, but refuses to go to church because she feels uncomfortable with the ward and says that they are hypocrites. I asked her, "So do you go to church for the members or for God?" BOLD! She tried to beat around the bush with me...wasn't going to happen though! Don't worry, the lesson ended on good terms! After that another less active member took us out to dinner. His name is Jose and he is PERUVIAN!! And you better believe he took us to a Peruvian restaurant! And then after that I got to meet a woman called Maria! She knows my mom's side of the family! And she's Dominican and she gave us DOMINICAN FOOD!!!! I didn't eat it then...but you better believe I was going to have it for breakfast!

Wednesday:

So had the Dominican food today...I almost cried! Mi comida!! We also did a role play video...took us about 30 tries but we finally got a somewhat decent one!

Thursday:

So today we went to this place called Ellis Island. It's basically like a Family History center, which explains part of my huge desire to do family history work! Check it out! I also had the opportunity to teach a lesson with two members in our ward. One is from Peru and the other is from El Salvador. We have this investigator named Luis who has been taught in English, but wanted a few questions answered in Spanish because he is really taking this seriously which I highly respect him for! This was such a spiritual lesson and I can't even explain it! We all knew that he knew this church is true...but his doubts and billions of questions and holding him back! He's sooooo close!!

Friday:

APRIL FOOLS!!

So today we got to meet a Dominican man named Brother Brito...He's really weird...he was trying to set up Sister Hale and I up with his sons....nope. Something else we did was visited Jenny and we shared a video with her called The Power of Hope. I absolutely love it and invite you all to watch it! We also tried to pull an April Fool's joke on the Elders but it ended up turning into missionary work! Backfire, but not...

Saturday:

CONFERENCE!!!

My favorite talk from the Saturday morning session was Elder Stevenson's talk! Beautiful way to explain the importance of the priesthood! My favorite Saturday afternoon talk was definitely Elder Bednar's. I love how he calls the Holy Ghost the 3rd member of the Godhead. I feel like a lot of the time we forget just how important he really is. Also we were finding and as we approached a house we heard screaming...I told my companion that I wasn't feeling quite right and she said that we should just knock on the door. Two minutes later these people started running down the street. We asked why they were running and they told us to turn around because the house behind us was on fire! We turned around and the house was spitting out smoke everywhere!!! Two seconds after that there were like 3 firetrucks trucking down the street! INSANEEEEE!

Sunday:

Conference once again was a killer! My favorite talk from the Sunday morning session was definitely D. Todd Christofferson's. My favorite talk from the sunday afternoon one was definitely Elder Holland's! "The first great truth is that God loves us."

I love you all so very much! I hope you all enjoyed conference and I hope you all are having so much fun! I invite you all to choose one of these talks from conference and see how you can apply it in your lives. New Jersey is a crazzzyy place, but it's my crazy place!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Arevalo (: