Week 10 pics

Week 10

Another amazing week in the best place in the world!! (besides utah) #foreveraute #homegrown. I swear every week of a mission gets better and better and crazier and crazier! I want to start out by telling you about the hilarious things that happened this week. First off, me and Hermana Cardosa are now walking missionaries or busing missionaries. Hahahah and our first bus ride that we went to take we had no idea how to work the bus. You know me I have absolutely no sense of direction or street smarts and Hermana Cardosa is WORSE than me. So we hopped on the bus expecting to go from Eagle to Gypsum like a ten minute drive, and we ended up in Edwards like 30 minutes away hahahah! We were so confused it started turning on to the I-70 and we were like woah hold on a second..... We ended up at the bus stop for like an hour trying to find our way home, and the whole time we were sinners because we were out of our area! Another funny thing was when we had to go to district meeting and it was the one time we got permission to use our car and it died on us. It would not start at all so we had our swedish apartment manager help us. Then when we were giving a training in district meeting and i let that slip that we drove to edwards hahahah, and it just so happened that the zone leader was there... OOPS hahahah! Another funny thing that happened was this investigator named Rueben opened up the door and said "What if i dont want to be mormon?" And then at the end of the lesson he had a baptismal date! Hahahah the lord is so amazing, but more on that later. We also had a few hilarious times when we had to walk for five minutes at night, and out of no where we saw a big blow up raptor. These two guys were walking to the gas station in it for some reason and they scared us so bad!!! My comp carries pepper spray in her purse because she has california paranoia, and i swear she almost sprayed him in the face. Last one we got ambushed by deers at the park, they literally just three of them charged at us in the park, they were so close it was crazy! Okay now on a more spiritual note, I cannot believe the blessings we saw from this week!! I say this every week I know but honestly I have never, EVER noticed more in my life the tender mercies of he lord. Our training this week at district meeting pretty much sums it up, but we gave a training on the talk "Be ambitious for Christ", that was given in conference. it says "Being ambitious for Christ means being motivated, focused, and dedicated to His work".  I love that sentence and it made me think of the ricarrdi letter. It talks about him having hard areas and praying an angry prayer to the lord and this is the answer that he gets. “Elder Humphrey, I am here. I know who you are. I sent you to those neighborhoods, the very ones where you experienced nothing but rejection. I prompted your changes in direction to even more difficult neighborhoods. I know where each of the elect in your area resides. I know their names. I could send you to those addresses only, and save you the time and sacrifice looking for them. BUT ELDER HUMPHREY, WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT SERVE YOU? The mission experience is to do what you are told, when you are told, to go where you are asked, and know that the blessing comes from enduring what I ask of you. This is not about you; it is about opening your mouth at all times in all places. Doing my will without thought to the end result or consequence… this is what serving a mission is.

I ABSOLUTELY love this! I feel like on a mission your main goal is to just go where you are supposed to go and say what you are supposed to say and endure what you are supposed to endure. This week we endured a lot but we did it with the Ambition for Christ and that is what made all the difference. We rode to edwards and instead of complaining we sang hymns and taught a lady on the bus. And then I taught a lesson where i didnt understand any spanish and I felt like i couldnt help them, but instead of focusing on myself i ried to focus on her. And we walked really late in the wind but instead of complaining we had the ambition for christ and we walked on for our investigator and made it fun. I know everyone says dont tell the bad things that happened of the week but I feel like you need to know the bad so that you can appreciate the good! And I dont tell you these things to make you sad or to say that I endured it well. I tell you all of this so that you can know that the lord blesses his missionaries who are faithful to him. Because we had a positive attitude this week and were worthy the lord touched the hearts of the people and we had great success! After all of that we ended up this week hitting our 20 lessons and getting 2 people with a baptismal date!❤ I know that without the Savior and the enabling powere of the atonement, NOTHING on a mission or in life is possible. Every person we teach and every seed we plant makes me happier and happier. The lord is so merciful and I know that he knows exactly what every one of us is going through. But it is like my dad told me last week "Your gift to the savior on your mission is not the baptisms but it is the whole journey!" I could not be more excited to give this time to the lord and to serve him with all my heart and have the Ambition for Christ always! Every week gets better and better, thankyou for your prayers and your examples to me of who I want to be! Estoy agradeceda por el amor de Dios y su Hijo JesuCristo. Estoy muy feliz y muy emocianada continuar mi mision y tener exito en la obra misional! Yo se que esta mision es acerca de teniendo el Espiritu y siempre confiendo en Dios y JesuCristo. 

Te Amo!!💜❤💙💞

Love siempre, Hermana Tams

  

Week 9 pics

Week 9

Well this week was amazing as always! I still can not get over how beautiful Colorado is and how blessed I am to be here. Lets start with the amazing people we got to teach this week! We tried for the goal for 20 restoration lessons, and we almost made it hahah. We got 17 but I am still proud because man was that hard. Especially for me because I can be so awkward, so finding a way to try and go up to somebody out of the blue was hard hahaha. My companion would laugh at me for the first couple of tries because I would knock on the door and say hey how are you and forget what to say next haahah! She would introduce us, and it was just hard at first hahaha! BUT by the end of this week my companion was laughing at me because I rolled down the window in the middle of driving and handed a resto pamphlet out the car window. I do not know how I finally got some nerve, but I do know that through the lord we are so blessed! So this week we got the opportunity to teach all sorts of people. We had like three Jehovah's witnesses, A million Catholics, and I even met a few Atheists. We had a lot of amazing lessons and experiences this week. This week was definatley a growing week for me personally! We started out on Monday after emailing with teaching a less active member named Brother White. He is really old and sweet and he has so much dedication to reading the Book of Mormon. I say this because he is blind.... HE READS THE ENTIRE BOOK OF MORMON IN BRAIL!! Man, after I realized this I really thought twice about the times that we say to ourselves I'm  too tired to read or I have too much going on. Because we have it so easy he reads a chapter in an hour that we can read in 2 minutes.... He is amazing and we are really trying to work with him to get him back to church so please send your prayers his way!  After that lesson we went to Eagle Diner here. Which is adorable!! I LOVE LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN!  The next day we did heart attacks for members that are struggling or just because hahah! And this day was an amazing tracting day. We knocked a whole apartment #lastfloorlastdoor #Elderuchdorfstalk #womensconference. I have a new love for tracting and i have decided its not about me. I know that before I would get scared about being awkward or about my Spanish. But this week I figured out that it is about Heavenly Fathers Children. It is about going wherever the lord needs me. My new motto is "I fear no man" hahah. I got it off of this amazing story called the Ricarrdi Letter, PLEASE go and read this!! IT IS AMAZING. I decided my goal is to become a riccardi missionary. We have tracted a lot this week and it is amazing how many people have not even heard this marvelous message. Wednesday we had some more tracting and we found some awesome people. It is funny because I actually am starting to feel blessed to be Spanish speaking hahah. Im not going to lie you say I have a message of Jesus Christ and they just invite you right in they are amazing, and then when we do get white people...... Im not going to lie sometimes they don't respond as well ahah! But me and my companions goal is to baptize a white person! On Thursday we had our first Zone conference and it was amazing! We had training's by Elder souraus and Elder Wall the Zine leaders, and Sister Hiatt the sister training leader. The whole training's were basically on discernment. LIKE AMMON!! Read Alma 18 and you will understand how to be a missionary hahah! It was all about how to ask inspired questions so that our investigators can gain a testimony! I am so grateful for the people i serve with, they inspire me everyday. Especially my trainer, she inspires me to be bold and to love the people. She teaches me more and more every day! Then on Friday was our miracle for the week. We had fasted all of Thursday for our investigators and especially for Lorena, we prayed that she would get a spiritual prompting, because she was struggling to call us and with baptism. Then on Friday she texted us and told us she wanted to meet us and have a lesson! Our lesson went so well and she is now committed to learn again. After that a girl we surveyed Lynnae called us and said that she wanted to meet with us soon. AND GUESS WHAT SHES WHITE!! hahahah. I know that the lord answers our prayers every day. Whenever I am sad or discouraged I can literally feel him lifting my burdens like in ALMA 26:27 I know that when we have patience in our afflictions he gives us success. Saturday we had exchanges with the sister training leader. So i went to Rifle with her. And she Is amazing!! She only has 2 months left on her mission and she is so inspiring, she gave me some amazing advice after and told me to work on my accent ahahah! Everyone here says I have a country Utah accent! I don't even know what that means??? Then on Sunday it was the temple dedication for the Fort Collins temple. It was so good. Uchdorf led it and there were some really good talks about temples and doing missionary work and family work. I just have had an amazing week. I have grown a lot this week and learned a lot!! I am so thankful for this experience and to you all for helping me get there!! I know that if I go where I am meant to go and do what I am meant to do I will have success. And if I don't convert millions it is fine, because I am converting myself everyday! Love you all!!! Have a fabulous week, and good luck in rainy Utah ahahah! It has been in the 70s all week here!! Te Amo!! Tienen un marvolisa semana. Siempre recorden como mucho jesucristo ayuda ustedes cada dia!! 

Love Siempre, Hermana Tams/ Hermana Ricarrdi/ Ammon! 😂😘💞💙💜❤

Week 8 pics

Week 8

Well this week was amazing just like every week! Eagle es la mejor lugar en el mundo!! Every day i am here the more i love it! So here is the rundown of what happened this week! Monday after emailing we did laundry and wrote cards! We also got to go to the store and we got comp unity Halloween earrings and socks!! They are so cool, my comp is hilarious she wants to wear them everyday because she loves Halloween, and everyone always is weirded out by it hahah! That night we did a simple supper service at a Methodist church! It was funny because we got lost and ended up going into a christian church, and asking for directions. This lady in there was like "Since you are already here you can just stay here!" She was trying to convert us and afterwards Hermana Cardosa was like "no what is she thinking that is our job!" After the service project we had an appointment with our investigator Maritza Campos. She is an amazing lady she actually has a return missionary as a daughter and has been taking the lessons a lot but she never really took them seriously until after she got diagnosed with cancer. She has had cancer for about 6 months and they tell her she does not have much time left. She told us her story and how hard it has been to think about how little time she has left. Her daughter just got engaged and she is afraid she is going to miss the wedding. She was in tears ,and so of course I was too. I just had such a prompting in my head to tell her that she is loved and that her savior  loves her and is helping her through this hard time. I felt the saviors love for her immediately and for the first time the Spanish just came. She is an amazing lady and i know that this gospel will help her so much. We challenged her to pray about the gospel and read a chapter in the book of Mormon. My companion promised her that she would receive an answer. I am blessed to meet people like this sweet lady. Tuesday we had train the trainers all the way in grand junction haahah! Which means we woke up at 430 and drove two hours to get there! But it was amazing they talked about how to adjust to missionary life, and how to use DISCERNMENT! I love this word, I am working so hard to try and be like Ammon in Alma 18 and ask inspired questions. This meeting got me inspired to say the least.😂 Afterwards that night we had a lesson with lorena, who went to conference! It was great and she is really progressing. Wednesday and Thursday we did a lot of OYM! Which basically means opening your mouth to everyone you see! We taught a lot of the plan of salvation, which i really took for granted before my mission. But i have met so many people here who have lost thee parents, or lost their son, and they are literally searching for the answer of where they are. And through this marvelous church we have those answers. It is amazing to me how great the latinas are here, they are so open to learning. Friday was more lessons and we had an amazing dinner at the Hendersons where they fed us MASHED POTATOES AND GRAVY!!! Can you believe it!❤💞 I'm not going to lie to you guys Friday and Saturday is when this week became a little hard, BUT I am always blessed after it is hard with tender mercies. It was hard because that day we just had lessons where people weren't progressing or didn't want to keep commitments. We were feeling down and sad. But then on Sunday we had Stake conference and they talked about being spiritually prepared and trying to give our all. And afterwards we had a meeting with brother wait. Which guess where he served his mission.................. That's right Mexico city South Mission! I was almost in tears hahaah... He told us to just keep going and just keep on opening our mouths and he challenged us to do 20 resto lessons this week. SO we ARE doing 20 resto lessons this week hahah! I juat got so inspired and i know that that is my heavenly father telling me, its okay pick yourself up an keep going! (or get up and win the race) Ever since me and my companion are trying harder than ever and praying more than ever! SUNDAYS ARE AWESOME! Yesterday we had p day and the very first thing that happened is we went to the library and it was closed! It was a bummer but then we had our first resto lesson with Lynae. She is 21 with bright red hair and she is a nanny. It was actually a miracle she was there because it was her first day on the job at the park! She struggles with her brother who is kind of struggling to do good right now! We got a return appointment with her and she is amazing!! Then afterwards we did my comps hair and i got to be a hair stylist again!! We did a caramel ombre and she loves it!! This week has been amazing and i am blessed to be here. I cannot even count all my blessings, I am blessed for my companion and the members here, I am blessed for my cute family and there advice every week, I am thankful for warm clothes and my quilt from my grammy, I am thankful for the love of god and his tender mercies, and i am thankful for the investigators here! Esta es la mejor experiencia. Estoy muy agradecida por mi familia, y por la opurtunidad ser aqui progresar y aprender cada dia!! 

I love you all so much!!!

TE AMO!

Love siempre Hermana Tams!❤💜💙💞

Week 6 and Week 7 pics

 Anna's new comp Hermana Cardosa

's

Hanging Lake

Week 6 and Week 7

Hola FIRST week in Colorado!! Wow Colorado is breathtaking! I will send you a million pictures but it is like a painting it doesn't even look real. So I will start at the beginning from when i talked to you last! The last week at the MTC was so good it is so bitter sweet saying goodbye, But It was a spiritual week and we all knew that we were ready to be in the field. It was amazing the last week we did a musical number with our district and we sang be still my soul in sacrament. It was also sacrament meeting and i shared part of Uchdorfs talk in womens conference about faith! That talk was amazing!!! I also shared about how i know that a mission isn't going to be easy because salvation isn't easy. I know that the Savior suffered so much for us and if we are going to declare HIS truth and share His gospel and be HIS missionary we cant expect to have it be easy, we will have to experience a little bit of what the savior went through for us. And only A LITTLE! I always think back to that and remember that if ever it gets hard the Savior knows EXACTLY what we are feeling. That night leaving the MTC all of my house mates went in the family room and packed and talked about how excited we were. When i left and they were weighing in my bags all of them were literally at the max weight they could be! Hahahah and i still had to wear my rain boots when it was so nice outside! When we got to the mission home we did an orientation and got to eat dinner! American food is GREAT!!! Then we got to spend the night in a hotel, i felt like a queen hahahah! That morning when we woke up we got our calls of where we would be for 6 weeks or maybe more!! I got assigned to Eagle County which covers Eagle and Gypsum. and my companion is Hermana Cardosa! Wow this was a divine place to be serving! I have loved every minute of being here! So i will tell you a little bit about my area and then my companion. My area is so beautiful! It is these two small towns with cute diners and a million farms. The ward here is just one ward, it is kind of weird because it is half Spanish and half English speaking. They are together for sacrament and have the sisters transalate (So good luck to me hahahah) But honestly all of the people here are so nice and there are a lot more Spanish speakers than i thought! ALL of our investigators are Spanish speakers with like one who is english. My trainer is Hermana Cardosa and she is amazing! She is from Fontana, California and has been out on her mission for 6 months. She has served before this only in Denver. So we are WHITE WASHING the area!!!! Which basically means neither one of us has been here before so we get lost a lot and we just are trying to start fresh and figure out our lives hahah! But i could not have asked for a better trainer, she is always patient and encouraging and she also speaks fluent Spanish and English so i lucked out! She is latina and her mom and dad are converts from mexico so she has just grown up knowing Spanish! Some miracles that have happened this week in eagle Valley are A LOT!! My first day here on our first dinner meal we met the Lundeberg family! And the very first thing she asked when i walked through the door was where i was from and she was from the exact same place. Which is not a coincidence because no one is from Pleasant View, She literally went to Lomond View. It just reassured me my first day that this is where i am supposed to be! The members here are amazing and so kind, they literally give us referrals without us asking sometimes! This week during conference another miracle happened if you can believe it. We have this investigator named Lorena who is fairly new, she has had a lot of struggles in her life and wants a spiritual change. We invited her to the afternoon session of conference and she said she would come. Then while at the session she texted us and told us that she couldn't and that it was getting late and she was busy. WE WERE SO SAD!! But then i watched Bednars talk which was my absolute favorite in conference. I don't remember exactly what he said but he was talking about believing and that it is more than having faith in him, it is having faith in His timing and giving up your priorities! Then literally 5 minutes later Lorena walked in and sat down to watch conference! I know that, that was a lesson i needed and an answer i needed! Overall this week has been so good, it has been hard like it is every week. But it is always a good hard, it feels good to be working so hard and caring so much that i pass out at the end of the night! Being a real missionary and teaching real people is amazing. With every lesson i have more love for these people and a stronger desire to be better and to give them this wonderful gift! I am so thankful for all of your love this week, through grammy paulas quilt, or through Juliannes care package of goodies, and ESPECIALLY Through all of your prayers! I love you guys so much and i want you to know that i have never been so happy and i am well taken care of! I have a mom and dad here and some grandparents and my companions ALWAYS remind me of my siblings! So far this companion is A molly and a little bit of Sam hahahah! I am blessed to be in this beautiful place surrounded by amazing people! We went to hanging lake today and i was just reminded again how Beautiful it is here!! I love you guys and I am so excited to be able to teach these amazing people through the spirit! 

LOVE SIEMPRE< Hermana Tams>