San Diego ... I love you! 8-11-2015

Ok, how am I already going back to Temple Square? (scheduled for Aug. 18)

I LOVE San Diego and I love the ward we're in and I love my companion and I feel like I'm finally settling in and I am just going to cry my eyes out next week, I know it.

 So, I probably will not be sending any photos of my departure. 

I have just arrived at the conclusion that being a missionary just prepares you for life because the minute you get comfortable and feel like you semi know what you're doing, everythinggg changes. Anyways, I am so sorry for starting this email off on not the most positive foot. 

 I heard the greatest quote this week from a sister at the Battalion. She said, 

"When I have days that are just bad, it's obviously not my day, and so I need to make it someone else's day!"

 I thought that was the cutest thing in the world! There are lots of days that I would say "aren't my day" and I think God does that on purpose so that way I can make it someone else's day and just forget about myself and focus on them. So my little invitation to everyone is, when it's not your day, make it someone else's:)

This week has been so great. We put Bella on date for Aug. 29th!! I'm hoping that I'll be able to Skype our 3 investigator's baptisms from Temple Square.They all just have such a huge piece of my heart. 

It's been such a fast week because we have been at the Battalion so much, we did a full 12 hour shift there on Friday (usually it's just 6) so we haven't had a ton of time in our area and I used to really struggle trying to figure out why I needed to be at the Battalion because I just wanted to be in our area so bad. 

These past couple weeks, I have just grown to love the Mormon Battalion so much more. You can just say the script over and over each tour, or you can really make it apart of you and help the guests feel the power behind the faith of these men. 

 I really feel like Heavenly Father has been helping me so much because people on my tours have been giving me referrals of their friends that they want to send missionaries to and it's perfect because I'll be able to call and teach them and send them local missionaries when I get back to Temple Square! 

Also, on Sunday we had one of the biggest answers to prayer happen. So, our ward council decides the topic for each sacrament meeting like 3 months in advance, and they choose the topic based off Conference talks. 

 We have an investigator who has been learning about the church for almost a year and we just started teaching her again about a month ago. She comes to church every Sunday and we've talked a lot about baptism and she knows the church is true but she just feels so worried about being a hypocrite and not being able to keep certain commandments perfectly for the rest of her life. 

 The sacrament meeting was on President Dieter Uchtdorf's talk 'Come, Join with Us' and everyone talked about how we are all just imperfect, hypocritical people who do our best to follow our Savior, but need Him to make up the difference. 

 IT WAS PERFECT! 

 She came up to us after the meeting and was like, "Ok, do you two tell the speakers what to talk on?" We all just laughed so hard and then talked about how God really does know what she needs and how it's OK to not be perfect -

we just need to try. 

 

I love being a missionary! 

I'm excited to go back to SLC 

but San Diego really is the greatest.

Love you all! 

Sister Helton

The sacrament is essential 8-4-2015

Hi!

This week has been amazing. So much has happened! I love my companion. So on Wednesday, we stopped by this family who we added last week and we were knocking and knocking on their door and no answer. So I kept knocking and I noticed that Sister Stirland was like dead silent and so I looked over at her and she was just praying her heart out, but still, they didn't answer the door. 

 As we were walking away I asked her what she was praying for and she was like, "I just was praying that we would be able to see them tonight." 

 So we were about to leave and I was backing her out of the parking space and I looked over and this guy on the sidewalk waved at me! I did a double take and it was the member who had referred the family to us walking with the family who's door we had been knocking on! They had just come back from a neighborhood bbq. So we ran over and started talking to them and it was just so amazing. The power of prayer is so real. Sometimes I think I forget that all I have to do is ask Heavenly Father and he really will help us with anything. 

Wearing my birthday outfit Aug. 4 - I'm 20!

On Saturday, we were on exchanges. I went with Sister Anderson out to our area and we went to an ASL baptism! 2 elders in our district teach in American Sign Language and asked us to teach the restoration at the baptism. It was such a sweet experience. As we spoke, they signed and the spirit was just so strong. There really is one universal language that everyone can understand and it's the Spirit.

Then, on Sunday we added someone! It was such a miracle. We have been praying and praying to find new people to teach because Marcus and Daniela are getting baptized in 3 weeks. 

 We added the cutest little 9 year old. His whole family are members but his parents aren't active. He's been taught by missionaries before but we just really felt like we should stop by and get to know their family. 

 We went over and taught the restoration and the little boy at the end whispered in his mom's ear and said he wanted us to keep teaching him!! 

 He loves Star Wars and was comparing everything in our lesson to it. For example, the priesthood=the force. It was pretty funny. Sister Stirland and I both know nothing about Star Wars, so it'll be interesting to see what he comes up with and relates to the Plan of Salvation tomorrow. haha.

So this morning for personal study, I was studying the Sabbath day and the Sacrament. In "True to the Faith" it says that the sacrament is an essential part of our worship and our spiritual development. 

 When I read that I was kind of shocked. It says the sacrament is essential to our spiritual development. 

 It doesn't say it's probably a good idea to take the sacrament weekly, but says it is ESSENTIAL. 

 So after I read that I realized that I definitely don't understand the sacrament well enough. I've taken it every Sunday since I can remember and I've always known that you renew your baptismal covenant when you partake of it, but I feel like there's so much more to the sacrament than I ever thought. 

 I was just thinking about how beautiful it is that we pass the bread and water down the rows to one another and how at church, we really do go because we all need help. 

 We all need to be cleansed and receive strength from our Savior. In True to the Faith (I'm obsessed with this booklet btw) it also says, 

 "You do not need to be perfect in order to partake of the sacrament, but you should have a spirit of humility and repentance in your heart. As we approach the sacrament in the right way, it becomes a weekly opportunity for introspection, repentance, and rededication."

 I'm so excited to go to church this Sunday and really try to apply this! I'm grateful that Heavenly Father is so patient with me! I love this gospel and I'm so grateful that there is always something new to learn and new insights to gain. 

 Thank you for all your bday emails!:) Today has been the best day! Love you, love you!

Sister Helton 

I told them about our family tradition to start
each birthday with cake and ice cream on a birthday plate ...

So these wonderful Sisters woke me up with a 20th birthday surprise!

Who does God want me to become? 7-25-2015

Today is my 11 month mark, can you believe it? It feels like just yesterday I was in the MTC creating all these ideas in my mind of how my mission would be. On Sunday, there was a quote shared in sacrament meeting that really hit me. Dallin H. Oaks said: 

"In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something."

 I've been thinking a lot about this these past few days and just really asking God who He wants me to become and whether or not my decisions are getting me there. This quote just really summed up the gospel for me! 

 I love the idea of becoming and being better today than you were yesterday. 

 I've also been thinking a lot about why I was called to serve at Mormon Battalion historic site. It's sooo different than Temple Square but it's different in all the right ways. 

 Something that has always really stood out to me about our little Battalion's 2,000 mile march is the promise that Brigham Young gave the men. 

 He told them if they stayed humble and prayed every single day, that they would never fight in a single battle. The march that these men made was incredibly difficult. They went through so much. But they never did have to fight. 

 The promise Brigham Young gave the men is the same promise that God gives to each of us in our lives. He's given us a Savior who has already paved the way before us and shown us the path back to God. If we follow that path, we will still have trials. We will go through a lot of difficult things, but when we follow Christ, we can be completely certain that we will live with God again and that we will be with our families forever. 

 I just love being a missionary. The other day Sister Stirland and I were just talking about how amazing it is. We literally just get to talk to people about God every single day and see miracles that come into people's lives from following their Savior. 

 Sharing the Gospel is so simple. I've discovered that little invitations is really all we have to do. When members in our ward give talks in sacrament, we always call them and invite them to invite a friend to hear their talk or a family member who isn't active and we had a member bring 3 people to church! 

 I love that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel for everyone. No matter who we are, no matter what we've done, the Gospel applies to us individually.

 God just has such a perfect plan. 

 It has been such a great week! My time in San Diego is just flying by. I only have 2 more pdays here left!!

Love you so much,

Sister Helton

Nothing to lose and everything to gain 7-21-2015

Hello my favorites:)

 This week has been amazing. We have been working with the most incredible people. Two of our investigators are getting ready for their baptism!! 

  So we taught the law of chastity and the Word of Wisdom last night and it was actually one of the greatest lessons I've ever had the privilege to be a part of. We brought a member with us, Sister Beehn, and she was exactly who we needed at our lesson. We texted her last minute to come to our lesson and it worked out perfectly.

 In the lesson, she shared her testimony so powerfully. 

 She just said: 

 "You have to choose whose side you're on. There's only 2 sides. There's right and wrong. Good and bad. Which team do you play for?"

 It just brought me back to the basics when she said that. So much of the time I over-complicate things or justify whether or not something is good or bad. 

 Every single one of us is born with the light of Christ; we just need to decide which side we are on.

 So, we're teaching this other family. I love them soooo much. We're working with 5 of the kids. One of them is superrr into science and the whole family is struggling with believing in Christ as the literal son of God. I've been thinking about them a lot and yesterday this scripture just popped into my head!

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.  - Mosiah 4:9

 There are so many things that I don't comprehend. haha. But, the beautiful thing is that I know how I feel about this Gospel. You have nothing to lose and absolutely everything to gain by believing in God and striving to follow Jesus Christ's example. We don't have to have a perfect knowledge. Sometimes I forget that and get stressed for no reason. We just have to believe in God and trust in His perfect plan for us with Christ at the center of it all.

 I love love love being a missionary. I can't even believe it'll be 11 months next week. 

 This morning we went to the temple. I love the peace that's there. I've really never felt that in any other place. 

 Miss you so much and I still can't believe we're moving. (Mom, I seriously started tearing up when I read that email.) But I know you're doing what you should do! I miss our family and I pray for ya every day!

Xoxox

Sister Helton

No longer Hermana Helton 7-14-2015

Hi!

 SO, I have my new companion. Her name is Sister Stirland and she is the sweetest. 

Sister Stirland from Highland, Utah

She's from Highland, Utah, and she just got done being trained so she's in her 3rd transfer and I am just learning so much from her. 

 I am back to English work and it is sooo different than Spanish! There were 4 companionships of missionaries in our Spanish ward and Sis Stirland and I are the only missionaries in our ward now. I am loving it so much though! We have the greatest members.

 Our week has been pretty crazy. We only got about 6 hours in our area this week but surprisingly, we were able to find 3 new investigators! We got our online area book yesterday and so we have to transfer everything over to that program which is going to take about 3 weeks but it'll be so nice to have everything about our area on our Ipads. 

 Because Sister Stirland and I are the only missionaries in our ward, we also get fed A TON. We have had double dinners 3 times this past week. It was so painful but we are recovering.  Saturday was the best day by far this week. We had an investigator from the YSA ward get transferred over to us and she has been investigating the church for about 6 months. She is amazing. It was such a struggle helping investigators get to church last transfer but this Sunday we had 3 people! I'm so excited to be in this area and just find more people to teach and help come closer to Christ. 

 Last night, we got to teach a lesson at one of our members homes! A few couples in our ward do what they call "Empty Nesters" every month and they just have a little dinner and sit out on their patio and we give the lesson. So we talked about the talk, "Is It Still Wonderful to You?" by Gerald Causse from last general conference. 

 It talks all about how sometimes when we've had the gospel in our lives for an extended period of time, we sometimes forget to take the time to marvel at how incredible the Restoration, our Savior's Atonement, the principles of the gospel, etc., are. 

 It was a good reminder to me to not get too busy and caught up in everything that needs to be done and just take time to notice all of the little miracles that God gives me every single day and take the time to marvel at how aware and present God is in my life. 

Things are sooo busy here! I can't believe I only have 5 weeks left in San Diego. The Mormon Battalion is the greatest. If anyone is in San Diego in the coming weeks let me know :)

Love ya!

Sister (No longer Hermana:( ) Helton

Which church of all the churches is Christ's 6-30-2015

Ok. I know I say this every week but, this week we really had miracles. 

  So, on Wednesday we went and saw our investigator Elvia. We were hoping that she would remember our appointment with her and when we showed up she said, "Sisters, you're 5 minutes late, I thought you weren't coming!" 
  We felt so bad but she let us in and she had cut up tons of sandia (watermelon) for us to eat. We sat down and started talking and she says, "I went to that thing you invited me to on Sunday." 
  Sister Martindale and I looked at each other and we're like, "The fireside??" 
  She was like, "Yes, I came about 15 minutes late and I looked for both of you but I couldn't remember what you looked like and all the missionaries at the front looked the same to me" haha. It was such a miracle! She said that she really, really liked it. Except everyone when the fireside was over kept calling her "hermana" and asking her how she was. She was like, " I am not your hermana yet!" It was pretty funny.

  Also, we got a referral this week from the Arabic speaking elders in our mission and so we went to go contact it. So, we knock on the door and this man answers and we asked him if his name was George. 
  He said no that's my brother. So we just started talking to him for a few minutes and said we'd try to stop by the next day to catch George and invited him to sit in on our lesson the next day.
   He said he would listen to what we had to say and so we went back on Saturday. 
  So we knock on the door and the same guy answers and we ask for George and he said he wasn't there. Then he pauses and just says, "Ok, so what exactly do you both do??" 
  So we told him and he goes, "You know it's actually really interesting, I've been thinking about going back to church but I have no idea which one I should go to, there's so many out there."
  We were just able to explain to him that that is really what we can help him find: which church of all the churches is Christ's. 

  Saturday we went to dinner with Jackie and Wilbur at their mom's restaurant (that's the pic I sent) and oh my goodness, literally the best fish taco's I've ever had. Sister Martindale hates fish and she loved these tacos. They put this like chipotle sauce on them and the flavors just go together perfectly. 

The best fish tacos ever!

  This week has just been amazing. I can't believe I've already been here for almost 6 weeks. Next week I find out who my new companion is and whether or not I'm staying Spanish so I'll keep you updated!
   I'm praying Sister Martindale and I stay together because we're getting so close with the ward and just finding so many new families and people to teach!! 
  But she'll probably train a new missionary and I have no idea what's happening to me but whatever happens will be exactly what needs to happen. Love you all!! I'm keeping Wenatchee in my prayers. 

Have the best week,

Hermana Helton

Giving a little drink of water 7-7-2015

So, I find out tomorrow who my new comp is! We got a call today and all I know is that Sister Martindale and I aren't together. I'm also speculating that I won't be Spanish-speaking anymore. ... I have mixed feelings. 

  I would love to stay Spanish because our ward is amazing and we are teaching incredible people and we've just gotten so close to so many of the families here. 

  But, also, it would be really nice to understand everything that people are saying and feel like I'm contributing more when we have first contacts. I'll let you know next week what language I'm speaking and who my new companion is! :)  I seriously cannot believe it's already been a whole transfer. 

This week was so sweet, though. We had one of the craziest things happen. So, we come to the Battalion and Sister Vasi was like, "Sisters! I have a new investigator for you!" 

  This guy and his girlfriend had come to the Battalion, taken a tour, and given her all their info. and said they wanted to meet with missionaries. Sister Martindale and I got so excited and then we looked at the address the guy gave us. ... We recognized it as this house that we had knocked on before but we weren't exactly sure and so we went by on Wednesday and it is was the same house where we had talked to this guy who reallyyyy wasn't interested.

  We were literally shocked because we were so bold at this door contact ... like very persistent. Then it ended up that this is the same guy who came to the Battalion and literally gave us his email, phone number and address! We've only gone by twice and he hasn't been home but it was just a miracle. I'll let you know what happens.

Then on Friday we had the best day. I was craving fish tacos and so we went to Leonor's restaurant and got food. We had a little lesson with her and then we went over to Jackie and Wilbert's! After our lesson with them, Jackie was like, "So what are you sisters doing for the rest of the night?" 

  We had 2 other people we were going to go see and so we told her that and she was like "Oh. I was going to see if you wanted to help me make cupcakes for our 4th of July family bbq tomorrow." 

  







We literally always ask if there's anything we can help her with and she usually says "nothing" - and so we changed our plans and made a ton of hamburger cupcakes with her!   They sound disgusting, but we made vanilla cupcakes for the bun and then little brownie bite things for the patty and then dyed frosting red and yellow for the ketchup and cheese and then dyed coconut green for the lettuce (She got it off Pinterest - obvs.) They were so cute and actually tasted really good, too. 

Fourth of the July was the best day, too. We had temple shift from 10am-3pm and we had to be in our apartment by 6pm so we went out to our area and heart attacked all the auxiliaries houses in our barrio and gave them cookies! 

  Also, we had a big bbq at the Battalion and got to sit on the roof and watch fireworks.

  Then Sunday was our miracle day! 

 We were walking by Elvia's and weren't planning on seeing her but we saw her husband in the front yard and so we asked if she was home and she was! We had an incredible lesson. She told us that she feels like she's "thirsting for God" and every time we come over it's like she gets a little drink of water. We almost cried. 

Last night I said bye to everyone. The Sanchez family I will miss so much. They are so special. Carolina can understand a little English and I can only understand a little Spanish but somehow we just love each other so much! And her daughters, Leslie and Brianna, are just sweeter than sweet. I feel so blessed to have served in this area. Missionary work is just the best. 

I can't wait to see what this next transfer will bring! Can you believe I'm in my 8th?? Crazy.

Love you so much!

Hermana Helton