Temple and dog bite! October 21, 2013

Familia!!

This week was great!! I cant really explain in too much detail what happened because I dont remember too well :) However, I do know that it was great and flew by super fast! My companion and I are doing great, working hard to bring more souls unto Christ. We are working a lot with less active members of the church who have fallen away for some reason or another and helping them to return. It is beautiful to remind these members of the testimony that they once had and help them to use the Atonement of Christ in their lives to come back. Also, something that is really special is that the less actives we are working with also want their family members to join them to be able to go to the temple to be sealed as eternal families. It is beautiful. :)

To top off having super great, spiritual lessons this week, we also were able to go to the temple last friday as a zone! We had to wake up super early to go to Lima from Cañete, but it was definitely worth it. I was able to gain another testimony of the truthfulness of this work and the truthfulness of this church that it really is directed by Jesus Christ himself. The temple literally is the house of God, and one can feel His spirit so strongly it is impossible to deny. I love it! :) I am just so happy here serving the Lord and helping others to feel this happiness that I feel as well :)

To finish off the week, I was bitten by a dog! Haha. It was just a tiny little bugger who got mad for a bit and decided to bite my leg. It doesnt look that bad in the photo and it was small but it definitely hurt a bit. I love it. More stories to tell when I get home :)

I love you all and hope your week is great! Dont forget to pray :)

Con mucho amor siempre,

Hermana Elisheva Ali

Cucaracha! October 14, 2013

Buena Semana mi querida familia!!!

I hope you all had a good week and aer now ready for another good one :) Not a whole lot of events happened this week. They actually all happened last week and I forgot to mention them because I was excited about  General Conference :)

About two weeks ago we moved apartments! We are now living with a less active member who is wonderful and is starting to come back to church and get a testimony again. Her name is Blanca and she is basically our mom here. The only downside is that sometimes there is no water so we get to shower with a bucket! It is a very fun experience :) Also, my companion Hna Chumbes, who was here waiting for her visa got called to Argentina last monday last minute and now we are in a duo, Hna Ojeda and I. It is very starnge being back in a duo, but we are loving it and are working hard.

Also, as you can see from the picture, this week we found a huge cockroach in our house! So we killed it kindly and took a picture :) Other than these exciting events, not too much happened. We are working and finding souls to teach and Heavenly father has blessed us with incredible people who are really ready to change and who have desires to know Jesus Christ. There are miracles every day and truly this work is incredible!

This morning in my personal study, I was studying about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I found a scripture that I really loved. It is found in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah. There is a specific phrase that says, ¨By His stripes, we are healed¨. However ill we may be, however lost we feel, however sad we are, Jesus Christ can understand what we are going through because He suffered everything, even more than death. Through Him, through His sacrifice, we can be healed. All we need to do is rely on Him and trust in the healing and enabling power of His Atonement, do our part repenting daily and we will be saved.

I love you all and I hope you can all remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ this week.

Con mucho amor siempre,

Hermana Elisheva Ali :)

Conference! October 7, 2013

WOW! What an amazing weekend! I really hope that you were able to make at least a little sacrifice to be able to watch part of General Conference! I know without a doubt in my heart that I am in the Lord´s work. The church that I am representing is Jesus Christ´s church here on the earth. I received another witness this weekend watching and listening to the Prophet and his twelve apostles. :)

Our mission president, President Douglas last week made us a promise that if our investigators ( the people that we are teaching) went to conference with the desire to know if these men were called of God, they would gain a testimony. That is exactly what happened!! 

We had a really special experience last night! We have been teaching a family, Jesus, Selinda, and their son Cristian who are wonderful! They have been struggling, especially Selinda to receive an answer to their prayers to be able to know if this is the true church and if the Book of Mormon is true. We extended thie invitation that President Douglas gave us to Selinda and that night we had a lesson with her. We taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we talked about living day Prophets and Apostles. It was one of the most powerful lessons that I have had in my mission :) The spirit testifies super powerfully and she said that she was able to feel that they were called of God, the the Book of Mormon is true. She felt it through the Holy Ghost. It was great! The spirit really does testify to those who are ready and willing to accept the will of God.

I learned a whole lot a wonderful doctrines this conference but the thing that stood out to me the most was how much they metioned ¨protection¨. In our world there is so much confusion, so much evil, so many temptations and so much stuff happening that our spirit really is at risk. However, if we strengthen ourselves personally through daily repentance, prayer, reading the scriptures and attending church-the promise is that we WILL be protected from all these things. Our testimony will be strengthened, being led to complete conversion and our will will be the will of the Father. We will live His doctrine and we will be eternally happy.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple and perfect. Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. It is the way, and there is no other way, nor name given under the heavens by which a man can be saved in the kingdom of God.

I love you all and I pray for you daily. Apply the Doctine of Jesus Christ and you will be happier than you could possible imagine.

Con mucho amor siempre,

Hermana Elisheva Sylvia Ali :)

Baptism! September 30, 2013

September 30

Buena Semana Familia!!

Well, this week was a short one because transfers were last week and the Pdays were changed a tad, but the news of the week is the baptism that we had!! Maria and Remy. (Attached is a picture :)

It was a wonderful experience! They are incredible and we just love them so much! The spirit in the baptismal service was super strong and it was a special experience. They were both super calm, with the biggest smiles ever on their faces! The next day ( Sunday) was their confirmation and something even sweeter happened. Remy was confirmed a member first and received the gift of the Holy Ghost and then came down again to sit with us. Then he told his mom that she needed to get up there as fast as possible because it was a beautiful feeling :)

I love this Gospel so much! The joy that was felt yesterday in church was incredible and undeniable. :) I love seeing peoples lives change, I love seeing them happy and I know that this work is so true!

Also, this upcoming weekend is General Conference!! I am super excited. We have the chance to listen to the Prophet and the twelve apostles. It is  and will be a super special weekend and I encourage all of you to watch at least one of the sessions! You wont regret it. :)

You can find it at lds.org :)

I love you all! Have a good week!

Con mucho amor siempre,

Hermana Elisheva Ali

PS We also went to the mercado last week and found some shaved cow heads. So we took a picture :) I love Peru!

Miracles! September 25, 2013

Buenos dias familia mia!!!

Well, I have some wonderful news, there was no transfer this past weekend!! The three of us (Hna Chumbes, Hna Ojeda, and I) are still in a trio and we are still here in Mala II in Cañete. I love it! The three of us are super happy and we are planning on working super hard for these next 6 weeks! :)

This week not a lot of super big stuff happened to inform you about, BUT a lot of little miracles that we are seeing come to pass. It is incredible to see the hand of the Lord in every aspect of this work. I know  without a doubt that this is His work that I am in. :)

This morning, in my personal study, I found something that I have really been seeing these past couple of weeks and of which I am gaining a stronger and stronger testimony of every day....the importance of families in the Plan of Salvation. It is crazy!

President Thomas S Monson gave a talk in April of 2012 that talks about the race of life. He talks about how we need to focus on the important things that we can bring with us into the next life, such as family relationships. Heavenly Father has given us the opportunity to live with those who we love after death but we need to be obedient to His commandments and endure to the end to be able to reach it. We are children of Him and He wants us to build treasures in heaven, not here in the earth. Temporal things, temporal momentary happiness can sometimes make us doubt in the things that we know or can make us think that this life is what is important. However, we need to remember that this life is important to prepare us for the after life.

You all should look up this talk. It is great. :)

I know it is true. I know we can have eternal happiness. We just need to strive for it. :)

Love you all!

Con mucho amor siempre,

Hermana Elisheva Ali


PS We found some cows in the street :) I love Peru!