Week 50 pics

Week 50

Hola Hermosos! This week was amazing and I loved every second of it! Well we started out this week by going to Denver for a training on how to be a Sister training Leader, Which is great because I have no idea what i am doing yet! Hahah! I loved the training because they talked about how the most important thing that I could ever do, is to help the Sisters see that they are children of God! I think that that is a really important, basic principle of the Gospel that a lot of time gets over looked. But i know that when we feel our heavenly Fathers love and when we see his vision of who he wants us to become, there is nothing that can stop us! The opposite of faith is doubt, and i know that that includes having faith in ourselves, that through Jesus Christ our weaknesses can become strengths. 
Sorry i got cut off in the middle! As I was saying...... I am really grateful for this training that we had. Also this week we had a really interesting lesson with our investigator Dan. Dan has a photographic memory, and basically has the Bible memorized. And he read the entire Book of Mormon, in one week! He is so smart! So we were having our lesson and answering his questions about the Book of Mormon, and honestly we knew some, but others just could not be answered. And so that is why i decided to name my email I dont know everything, but i know enough. Because it was one of the most humbling experiences in my life to just say, "Dan, I honestly dont know, but I will tell you what i do know..." And to bear sincere simple testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. I know that we are called in our weakness for a reason. One of my favorite things about President Brigham young, is that he studied the Book of Mormon and investigated the church for 2 years he says at the end of his conversion....."If all the talent, tact, wisdom, and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon, and had declared, in the most exalted of earthly eloquence, the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like the smoke which arises only to vanish away. But when I saw a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking, who could only say, 'I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,' the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminated my understanding, and light, glory, and immortality were before me. I was

encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony of the man was true.... My own judgment, natural endowments, and education bowed to this simple, but mighty testimony.

I LOVE THIS STORY! Because I know that it is true that the most powerful tool that we have as missionaries is our simple testimony! Also this week we got the oppurtunity from Bishop Webb to do a member missionary Fireside the 3rd hour of church for the 5th sunday! It was great! And a lot of the members are starting to see the importance of not sleeping through the Restoration and not only maintaining the church but helping it to grow! It has been great to see the faith of the members grow! We have had 3 families come up to us and tell us that they have prayed about a name and that they are going to invite them to a family home evening and then invite us! As missionaries we cannot do it without the members! The members are so important! And i know that you all make a huge difference! Just by having a member involved, instead of baptizing 1 out of 1000 people we can baptize 640 out of 1000! so I actually wanted to give each of you the same commitment! I want to invite you all to change someones life and to be someones angel! And to pray and fast to know which friend you need to invite and tell the missionaries about them! Their is a promise that those people will thank you for the rest of their lives. They will come up and hug you in the Celestial kingdom! And i can testify that their is no greater happiness! I know that the Tams family comes from a tradition of hard work and a tradition of action! I love you all and i hope that you know that Heavenly Father has people prepared for you!!! Have a great week! 

CON AMOR, Hermana Tams💜💚💙❤

FOTOS:

1.Rainbow for my momma! You cant see it very well sorry!

2. Bambi!

Week 49 pics

Week 49

Hola!!!! Como estan? Ojala que todos tuvieron un buen dia de los pioneros!!!

 My week was great! I am still so grateful to be here in Vail for another transfer! It has been a great week! Well this week was crazy busy and crazy fun. We went to Hna Jazmins Baby Shower for dinner in our ward. And we got her baby a cute Sunday dress! We also obviously had Pioneer Day on Sunday. It was a really special meeting because the youth in our ward had just gotten back from Trek on Saturday! It was amazing to hear their testimonies and how it changed them. They all talked about how at first they felt like they didn't want to go and that they were complaining a lot. And they said that by the end they had loved every single experience! They shared really special stories about the pioneers. I love thinking about the pioneers and their legacy of Faith! But my favorite thing to ask myself is if I am depending on the pioneers and their Faith or if I am doing something today to keep that Faith going! Then we also had MLCs this week ( Missionary leadership Council). And i absolutely loved every second! I learned so much! We found out that for Zone conference I will be giving a training on Member Lessons. And my favorite training was by President Gifford. 

  He showed us a video from the Missionary council, and it talked all about the legacy of Faith that we have to keep alive! He quoted Elder Uchdorf! And in the video it said "Are we sleeping through the Restoration?" AND I LOVED THAT QUOTE! Because when many people think about the Restoration, they think that it ended with Joseph Smith! But in the Standard of Truth it says, The standard of truth has been erected, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, and calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly and independent. till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear. Till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say "the work is done!" And in the video it talked about how the work is NOT done!!! Their are still those who have yet to hear our message! So this week, we have been asking every member this question, and i want to ask each of you the same question. "Are we maintaining the church, or are we helping to restore the church?" I know with all of my heart that their is still a lot of work to do. Whether that is Temple work, or family history work, or visiting teaching, or missionary work! IT DOESN'T MATTER! But as members each of us have to put our hands to the Plow and NOT LOOK BACK!! We need to be committed and we need to help Restore the church in every part of the world! I am so grateful for this training! And I am grateful for my little part that I get to have on my mission in this Restoration! And i pray that when i get home that I wont stop for a second! Because I know with all of my heart that this work is the most joyful work that I have ever done. It HAS changed me! I cant even describe the Joy I felt when our Family of 4 walked into church this family, all together and ready to listen and to be changed! I LOVE this work! And I love this family! i CAN NOT WAIT to see them in White!! 

 I am so thankful for the Pioneers example for me and for all of your examples as well I am thankful for the legacy of Faith that we do have in our family, and I pray that each of us will work hard to keep it going so that one day we WILL have No Empty Chairs! I love you all and i hope that you have a great week and that you work hard to do your part to Restore the Church! 

CON AMOR, Hermana Tams! 🌸🌻💙💚💜

FOTOS:

1. Sorry not a lot of pictures this week, i will do better next week! But here is all of the Sister training Leaders! 

Week 48 pics

Week 48

Hello everyone!!!! I guess i will start my email with my transfer News! We got news on Friday that I will be staying in Vail with Hermana Haycock! I am super excited because this is my longest time I have served in an area!!! I love the people here, and this week just solidified for me that I am supposed to be in this area! I also got called to be a Sister Training Leader in Vail! I am a little bit nervous because that means that I have to get over my public speaking fear! But I know that I will learn so much by giving trainings and serving the Sisters around me! I am excited to grow!!! 

   Hmmmmm.. Where to start this week... Well, This week we got free Slurpee's for 7-11!!! So that was a great thing that happened hahaha. Also we had a lot of miracles happen this week! On Saturday morning we were doing our daily planning and at the end we both just didn't feel right about our plans. So we prayed for some inspiration, and out of nowhere we felt like we needed to go to Red Cliffs, which is a little corner of our area! It is a little small town with about 50 people living there! So we decided to follow the prompting and we went! AND SO MANY MIRACLES HAPPENED! The first miracle we saw, is we were trekking up these dirt hills to knock these houses and we knocked this door and found these two 80 year old ladies named Angela and Christine. And, they are the cutest people i have ever met! they LOVED THE first vision, and Angela said that she has a son going to the Mormon church down in Utah! Then after that we went to go try a member of our ward who is less active named Brother Gleeson, and we ended up teaching his daughter Reina, who wants to take the lessons and be baptized! THEN... on the way back from Red Cliffs we stopped in Minturn and we felt inspired to knock a door. And this guy named Dan answered! And he is AWESOME! He basically has the Bible memorized and he actually UNDERSTANDS it! He asked us what our churches stance is on Heaven, because he said that he believes that there are Levels of Heaven!!

    I have NEVER heard a non-member say that! so we taught him the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon, and we got a return appointment. Then my favorite miracle that happened this week happened with our investigators Angelica, Geraldine, and Cesar. We were teaching the Restoration, and we had just finished the first Vision, and we looked up and the whole family was just in tears. And we asked them how they felt, and Cesar said that he had recently been in a coma for 2 days. And at the end right before he woke up he remembered hearing a voice saying that there was more for him to do and then he saw a light. And he told us that the light that he saw was the light that is in the picture with Joseph Smith. After this day of miracles I have a FIRM testimony that we NEED to listen to promptings. Because if we hadn't gone to red cliffs and changed our plans, we wouldn't have met any of these prepared people! And I know that There are people prepared to listen to our message, but as a missionary we need to be ready to be guided and to listen! I know that I am supposed to be in Vail to work with these amazing people! And I know with all of my heart that these people are ready to except this message and be baptized and enter into the kingdom of God! 

     I LOVE THIS WORK! I wish I could express how much my mission has meant to me, and I wish I could express the Joy that it has brought me to help others KNOW their Savior! But, it truly is indescribable! I am so BLESSED to be where I am!!! I love you all so much! I wanted to finish my email with something that our Mission President sent us in his email! He said this is his desire for us.... “Yes, we want both converted missionaries and many baptisms. But most of all, we want the grandchildren of your missionaries, and the grandchildren of those whom your missionaries baptize, to be endowed and sealed in the temple. We want multi-generational families of faith. God wants His children to return to Him, converted, endowed, and sealed as families.” Elder Russell M. Nelson

 I hope and pray that I can be so converted that I can keep this Legacy of Faith in my family! 

Love you all, have a great week!!!

Hermana Tams🌻🌸

FOTOS:

1.FREE 7-11 slurpees!

2.Oh yeah! We had a Semi annual mission cleaning day and we found a random compartment of weird elder stuff! Here is there ritual stick! 

3.AND ALL OF THEIR TIES!!!!

4.Red Cliffs! 

Week 47 pics

Week 47

Hola Hermosos! Feliz el 4 de Julio!! This week was a great week here in Vail! WE worked really hard and had a lot of fun! We started off the week Monday night by making Smores in our apartment! hahaha. We just stuck them over the stove and they turned out really yummy! And that night there were fireworks at the park in town that we were going to try to see from our window. But they were literally 2 cm. out of sight! SO we just ate some smores and sat in our beds hahah! Then Tuesday, the fourth of July, we went to the parade. We had this genius idea to get a huge bowl of candy and go around before the parade with some Pre-Parade Candy and pass out some Mormon.org cards. It actually was really fun, even though we probably looked creepy handing out candy to a bunch of kids hhaah! Then that day was so great because ALL of the Hispanics had that day off and they weren't really celebrating because they celebrate Mexican Independence day! So we got too find and teach a lot of people! And then for our dinner that night we went to a BBQ with the Brooks, Webbs, and Wickes! IT WAS SO GREAT TO GET AN AMERICAN HAMBURGER!!! I love Mexican food dont get me wrong, but after 11 months of Mexican food, my stomach was soo happy to eat a Burger! 

    Then on Wednesday we had Exchanges! It was my Sister training leaders last exchange before she goes home. And it was so great to learn from her and work hard. I love seeing missionaries that are about to go home, because you can just tell how they served there mission. It is the best thing in the world to see a missionary who has done all that they could have done to show their love to their Savior. It inspires me to be better. That night for the hour that we have before we go to bed, I just asked her what she had learned from each companion and from her mission in general! And it was great to hear her testimony. I hope and pray that I can continue to learn and grow. I truly want to be a completely different person when I get home! i Love this mission and all that it has taught me! i can not even express how much this experience has changed me! I LOVE THESE PEOPLE! I love what they have taught me and continue to teach me. There is just something sacred and special about being a missionary, and I want to make the most of every minute! 

    Which reminds me of my favorite part of this week! Me and my companion were just praying about our area and what we need to do, because all of our people are really struggling with keeping commitments! And we decided that we needed to find the elect! I have found on my mission that their are two types of missionaries those who WORRY, because it isn't going how they wanted , but then their are missionaries who WORK! That is the missionary that I am trying to be, the type that works as hard as they can and they don't worry or doubt, because they have faith and trust in the Lord. SO we were at an 8 pm with a member. And he said something that I love, he said sometimes to have success we have to go out and work as hard as we possible can so that we can show the lord our willingness. He shared on his mission how him and this companion would fly down staircases and run to apartment buildings. And he said that he would always start every door approach with "Hi me and my companion are missionaries for Jesus Christ...." AND I LOVE THAT!!! Because it is true we are missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but more importantly.. WE are missionaries for JESUS CHRIST! WE saw so much success this week, and I have worked harder this week than my whole mission! That member committed us to teach 50 lessons! Which isn't a lot in foreign countries but in the states it is A TON!!!! And I am so overjoyed to say that we hit our goal and we talked to everyone! The most important thing I learned this week is how important it is to share the gospel with everyone!!! Everyone needs to hear about forever families, and about there Savior and his Atonement! I LOVE THIS GOSPEL! I love my mission! I am beyond grateful for every minute! I hope you all know how important it is to be a missionary! Even though you don't have a badge that doesn't stop you from being a missionary! I hope that you will talk to everyone in your lives about this beautiful message! I can promise you when you share your testimony it grows!!! LES QUIERO! Gracias por todo lo que hacen para mi! 

LOVE< Hermana Tams❤💙🌸🌻🎆🎆

FOTOS:

1. 2. and 3. Views from the gondola last Monday.

4. A mound of snow, STILL HERE! Only in the rocky mountains!

Week 46 pics

Week 46

This week was so great! And I am so sorry but i don't have a whole lot of time to tell you about it! We had Paige at church again. And really worked this week on finding the elect! And we found a lot of amazing people! For P day today we also had a picnic with Paige and Then she got us free tickets to the Gondola to ride up this ski lift thing and see all of VAIL! It was absolutely beautiful! It was a really great week with a Lot of work to do! We are excited because for the parade tomorrow we got candy to pass out with Mormon.org cards! Love you all I apologize for my extremely short email!

Week 45 pics

Week 45

Hola Hermosos! Como estan? This week was absolutely amazing! I absolutely loved our Zone Conference! President Gifford shared his miracle in his recovery, and how we need to focus on the miracles. And speak about miracles and think about miracles, and have faith that miracles will happen! I loved all of the trainings. One of my favorite quotes was one that Sister Gifford shared she said "She said she would so she did." And she talked about how that was integrity. I know that when I accepted my mission call i said that I would, and now I get to take that action, and have the integrity to live my mission to my fullest! This week I was reminded of a story in a letter that my dad sent me. He said " Their was once an African school teacher, and at the end of the year all of her students had a tradition to give her a gift. And she noticed one of these gifts was a big beautiful shell. This concerned her because she knew that the only place you could get these shells., is by taking a dangerous walk on the side of a cliff to this beach. So after school she stopped the kid that gave her this shell, and expressed her concern that he would go to all of that work for that shell. And the kid replied to her something she would never forget. he said "The treacherous walk was part of my gift." My dad continued to tell me that my gift to the Savior is not my baptisms and it is not any of my success, but my gift to the Savior is the whole entire journey. The good and the bad. I know that my gift to the savior hasn't always been easy to give, but I am so thankful for every experience that i have had and will continue to have. And I know that my Faith, obedience, and diligence, is a huge part of my gift to the savior. I am so thankful for the challenge we got in Zone Conference from President Gifford,  to study these attributes and to pray and ponder about how i can better apply them. As i have studied Faith, I found that the opposite of Faith is fear and doubt. 

   It is amazing to me how much Satan tries to use Doubt and fear as tools to discourage missionaries! I have always loved my whole mission the quote from the Riccardi letter, he would always wake up and get ready and stand in front of the mirror each morning and say "I fear no man! I know that when we have absolute Faith in the promises of God that we fear no man and we go forth with faith! You can never be too bold when you are bold with love! I also know that the only things we need to do to be a successful missionary is have Faith, Be obedient and diligent! I have seen that over and over again on my mission. That when we show the Savior our Faith and our Desire to do his will he blesses us more than we can imagine. So that is Something I have been working a lot on this week is applying those attributes to my life! 

  And we have seen amazing success this week, because of it! I want to start talking about my week by talking about our investigator Paige! I love that girl with all of my heart, and i know that our Heavenly Father loves her because of the choices she is making to come closer to him! She came to church for the third time this week, and she brought her usual notebook to take down notes, and she told us at her lesson this week that she is still in 2nd Nephi because she has re-read it 4 times. I didn't tell her this but I thought to myself "Good Luck, General authorities probably don't quite get all of 2nd nephi yet! hahah"  But she is amazing! And this weekend we are going with her to a road trip to the Sister in our districts baptism, I hope that this baptism can prepare her for her baptism! I know that the spirit is going to be so strong! BOTTOM LINE IS....I LOVE PAIGE!!!   

  We also had some great experiences finding this week! Our mission motto is " WE have faith that the lord is preparing people to receive us and the restored gospel. He will either lead us to them or them to us." And that is exactly what happened this week! We found a women who had just lost her son that week and needed to hear the Plan of Salvation, and we found a women who just had her trailer blow up on her and needed to move and know that her Heavenly Father loves her DESPITE the trials! I know with all of my heart, that Heavenly Father knows exactly where the Elect are in our areas! We just need to be worthy to be led by the spirit and find them! I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, i know that this is their work and I am just an instrument in their hands! i hope and pray I can be better each and every day, and show my Savior how much I love him!

I LOVE you all so much! Thank you for all of your support! I hope that you are looking at your own personal faith, obedience, and diligence to the lord and looking for ways to improve! Have a great week! I love you all! 

Love, Hermana Tams💞🌻🌸💙

FOTOS:

1. Me getting to See Becky! It was so great seeing someone from home!

2. Beautiful Colorado River!

3. Some rock concert they were setting up at the park! We could here it all the way from our appartment going until 10!

4. Rocky mountains!~

Week 44 pics

Week 44

Hola Familia!!!!

   Ojala que todos tuvieron un bueno Dia de los Padres!!!! I want to tell my dad, (late) Happy Fathers DAY!!! I love you so much pops, and I am so thankful for the example you have been to me, I wouldn't be out on my mission if it weren't for my Dad! I also want to thank my heavenly Father this fathers Day for everything that he does for me. I have realized so much more on my mission, who our Heavenly Father is. I am so thankful for his tender mercies and his hand in the missionary work! I can not thank him enough! I just hope that through my mission i can show him a small part of my gratitude and love! 

    Well this week was a great week, but honestly nothing out of the ordinary happened so it is hard to update you all! We did have a great District Meeting this Thursday. The training that we had was on prayer. I LOVED IT, Because i know that nothing can happen in missionary work, until we pray. For the MISSIONARIES, MEMBERS, and INVESTIGATORS. I have seen over and over again, that when we ask with a sincere heart and real intent, that that is when miracles happen. But I know that we have to ASK! We truly do have to take that action. So we were driving home from District Meeting talking about the training, and thinking about what we could do, to act and show our willingness. So we came up with this sacrifice that we could do. We decided that we were going to wake up every day at 6 AM instead of 630 and that we were going o have an extra hour of Companionship study. It has been great, REALLY HARD, Because for those of you who know me you know that I am really bad at waking up! But we have seen so many miracles from it, our lessons are more in sync and more prepared, so we can definitely feel the spirit more when we testify! The BEST feeling in the entire world is when you testify, and the spirit is there telling the people that the message is true! It is my favorite thing to do! Because I know that testimonies are POWERFUL! It is so true that the only way that we can receive a sincere testimony, if these things are true, is if we pray! We cannot know by any other source than from our Heavenly Father! SO I truly do encourage all of you this week to make your prayers more sincere, and to counsel with the lord in all your doings. There is this scripture that i like a lot in Alma 37:36-37 it says.....36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whither soever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

I am so thankful for the gift that we have to pray!!! A few other small things that happened this week, were... We made homemade oreo ice cream that was fun! I totally schooled my companion in a game of HORSE today! hahaha. And this Saturday we are getting ready to do a ward activity. We are doing a ward Movie Night and watching 17 miracles, and we have committed everyone to invite 3 friends. So we are pretty excited to see what comes of it! Hopefully we can find the elect there! I love you all and I hope you know how much each and every one of you mean to me! I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve a mission and to be obedient and sacrifice and keep on growing and learning everyday! I hope and pray that when i get off o0f that plane and come back home, that i can say that I am a completely changed person, and that this mission and my Savior changed me! I am so thankful for every day and I never want my mission to end. i decided that i am going to be like Mosiahs sons and serve for 9 years! Love you all so much have a great week, and I will see you in 9 years! 

FOTOS:

1. 2. and 3. Beautiful views! 

2. Me and Hermana Haycock

Week 43 Pics

Week 43

Well I can not even tell you how excited I am to be able to serve in Vail again! I think I officially have my favorite area! I love this place with all of my heart! Th reason I love it so much isnt even for the place though, even though it is beautiful. But the reason i love it is because of the amazing people that are here! This week! I started off the week on Tuesday by waking up at 3 am and driving to denver! That was quite the experience! I havent been in a big city for a looong time! Poor Hermana Garcia, I think she thought that we were going to die, I forgot how to drive in a big city, and I didnt really know how to drive in a big city too much in the first place! If I ever do serve in Denver it should be interesting, I am praying I can stay out West my whole mission though, we will see! Then I picked up my new companion Hermana Haycock and said goodbye to Hermana Garcia! I truly am going to miss Hermana Garcia I learned a lot from her and we had so much fun doing missionary work together in Vail! BUt I am super excited to be working with hermana Haycock. She is from Grantsville, so from my the beloved state of Utah! And she likes to play soccer and the violin! And my favorite thing about her is that she is a hard worker. It has been great working with her in Vail! 

    So this week we saw A lot of people and got some great new investigators! On Saturday we had like no appointments because everyone was at these Go Pro Mountain Games in Vail. But that is okay because we did some great tracting and found some great people! I am especially excited because we found this girl named Ruth and she actually was taking the lessons in Puerto Rico when she moved here! I love when Heavenly Father leads us to those who are ready it is my favorite thing! We also had an amazing miracle happen this week with Paige Romery. We had a lesson about the plan of Salvation and we ended up talking about how the only way you can get a testimony and know something for yourself,  is through the spirit and by asking god. So Paige knelt down and gave the most sincere prayer i have ever heard on my mission. And the spirit was so strong. Immediately after the prayer I asked her how she felt and she said that she felt like she knew the path she needed to take for her life. And we asked her what that path was and she said "I need to join the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." And so we both were shocked and gave her a baptismal date right then and there. I am so happy for her and that she has made the decision to follow Jesus Christ and Know her Savior more fully!  And she also came to church this week again, and she loved all of the lessons (especially the Word of Wisdom). She said that if everyone lived the Word of Wisdom the world would just be a better place. (I thought that was an amazing unusual thing to hear in Marijuana smoking Colorado.) Also at church me and hermana Haycock were asked to give talks. And the topic was on how we can know Our Savior. I loved giving this talk, because honestly i can not imagine a better place to know your Savior than on your mission. 

     And this Sunday Gael got confirmed. I was honestly in tears listening to his confirmation. That amazing kid has come so far, and he knows his Savior now. I love helping others to know their Savior. And his confirmation blessing was truly inspired and guided by the spirit. it was exactly what he needed to hear! I can not wait to go to his mission farewell someday! ( he thinks he is going to Australia!) 

   That is about all of the updates for this week! Just know that I am truly happier than i have ever been! I LOVE THESE PEOPLE HERE!!! I am thankful for all of your support. Thank you for always helping me and introducing me to the Savior through your examples! Do something this week to introduce someone else to the Savior! I love you all so much! Have a great week!!!

FOTOS:

1. Lionshead Village in Vail

2. Fanciest shopping center in the world

3. Fancy rock they were selling for a million dollars!

4.The ski mountain in Summer!