Una Semana Mas para Brillar! October 24, 2016

Man, this doesn't even feel real right now. This is my last week to work my Heart out!

With " All of my heart, might, mind, and strength." Doctrine and Covenants 4: 2

Wow, this week has just been speeding by!
We had a crazy week. So sorry I didn't write y'all last Monday and I did on Thursday because of Columbus day and then we had mission Tour on Tuesday.

Elder Keetch of the Seventy and His wife (they are from Pleasant Grove and live in Highland area)

came and spoke to us. They are so awesome and ill probably see them around when I return home:) Those from Pleasant Grove, y'all know Taco Amigo? His parents own it... pretty cool:)

Sister Keetch spoke about

1. A knowledge and a Love for God 2. A knowledge of and Love for the Scriptures. 3. An Increased Love for Parents 4. A love for the people among whom you labor 5. Appreciation for Hard work 6. Assurance that the inspiration of the Holy Ghost is guiding you always 7. Understanding importance of team work! 8. Value of personal virtue 9. Faith to Act! 10. the humility to pray.

It was so good:)

And Elder Keetch talked about Ether 2:14 and how The Lord sometimes asks us, " how are you going to do it?" He wants us to figure it out. He has given us a mind and the ability to think for a reason. The Lord Trusts us and lets us figure it out for ourselves!

It was such a good meeting. And then we went on Exchanges! It was super crazy! We were out of our area for too long:/ But it works out!

A less-active met with the Branch President yesterday because he is preparing to receive the Aaronic Priesthood! We are so excited for him. And also another Less-active family came to church and they are working on becoming more active! They are the cutest little Spanish family and their daughter is getting baptized this Saturday! We are very excited.

I gave a talk in church yesterday and Our investigator who is preparing to be baptized and working through some things came. He said he cried when I shared my testimony:( He will get baptized one day. I probably will miss it but all that matters is that he is truly preparing to make that sacred covenant with out Heavenly Father. He truly is working so hard and he has changed so much!

We can get back in contact with Darvy! We are hoping everything has worked out between him and his wife and that we can start teaching again but ill let y'all know more next week!

Also, we are praying that Priscilla will be able to go to the Temple this Saturday to do baptisms for the dead for the first time! She is so excited to do her mothers name!

Man, good things are happening. We had 9 new investigators last week that we are working on to progress in the Gospel!

I spoke this past sunday about how the Gospel has influenced my life and my mission. I cried literally the entire time!

2 Nephi 31:13

Sorry not much time! I love y'all!

Got to see sister Rosenvall and Aviles!! At mission tour

Mission Tour with Elder Von G Keetch (of the Seventy) and Sister Bernice Keetch

See ya'll in 2 days (October 17, 2016 sent October 26, 2016)

Ya.... just realized that my last letter didn't send and was still in the Drafts... I am so sorry.

Wow. This has just been a rollercoaster of emotions this week. My Heart is just tearing apart into two different directions. At least that is what it feels like. I have come to love everyone here as family. They each mean so much to me! Everyone that we are teaching, it has been so hard to say good bye. But I just have to tell myself that it ain't a good bye, it's just a see you later.

The baptism that we had on Saturday was so beautiful:) Angelica is such a sweet heart and she was so excited to be baptized. This was such a good thing for their family as they are striving to be more active in the church. Their next goal is to get sealed together in the temple as a family:) Such a beautiful thing and I will be there.

It is such a blessing that I just live 17 hours away and that we have technology so that we can keep in touch:)

Priscilla has received her Temple Recommend! We are so excited for her! We didn't find time to go to the temple with her this week but that was just fine. All that matters is that she has a date to go and that she goes:) That will be such an amazing day! She says she will Skype me the day she goes and tell me all of the amazing and beautiful feelings that she will feel when she has that wonderful opportunity to do that baptism for her mother. Wow. The Gospel is just so true.

It just breaks my heart to leave those who are preparing so well for baptism! Y'all remember Darvy? He still keeps in touch which is good and I know that one day he will get baptized when the time is right. He needs and is searching for that happiness and he will find it with the Gospel:)

And Tracy is working hard towards his baptism even though he has no support from his family. He knows that it is true and he has changed so much from it! Our last meeting with him was last night and he talked about how much he has changed since he has been meeting with us. Wow. He knows how much Heavenly Father loves him and wants the best for him and he knows that this is the right way. It is so hard not to let a tear slide down my cheek. These people are amazing.

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a missionary for the Savior Jesus Christ and help him in his vineyard. I know with out a doubt that this Gospel is true. I know that the Savior Jesus Christ loves us so much that he gave his life for us upon the Cross. I know that the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ is real and it is meant to heal us and strengthen us. I have seen proof of this on my mission. But most importantly I have received a witness of it for myself that it is true by the Power of The Holy Ghost. It is true. And I can not deny that.

I know that Heavenly Father is helping us prepare to return back into his presence because he wants us all there. That is all that he wants. But we have to decide for ourselves if we are going to be there. Its our choice. He isn't going to take that away from us and he isn't going to force us. I LOVE this Gospel. I LOVE the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saint and I know that it is true!!!

I Will see y'all soon:) 2 Nephi 9: 54

"And now, My (brothers and sisters), I would speak unto you more; but on the morrow I will declare unto you the remainder of my words. Amen."

I love y'all so much! Continue to live the Gospel and share it with others daily! We have so many opportunities!

This is not the end of my missionary work.

Con amor- Hermana Russell

 Last brisket meal at Hodies BBQ with sister Washington:/ man im gonna miss brisket

Tracy, workin towards baptism!

Gonna miss the Baumart family! They are amazing! Their son leaves on his mission to Bolivia in December!

2nd to Last week in the Garden! October 12th 2016

Hello! 

Wow! So we had a pretty crazy week. We had a baptism scheduled on Saturday last week and he was so excited! But we were going through the baptismal questions and he is going to need a little more preparation which is perfectly fine:) Repentance is amazing and Heavenly Father sometimes takes time with us. Tracy is really working hard to overcome some Word of Wisdom issues and everything. 

He has been coming to church and working towards making that sacred covenant with our Heavenly Father. He got a little discouraged when we had to push back his baptismal date a bit but he knows its for the better!

Priscilla is working on going to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead! We are so excited! She has a calling in the Branch and she is loving it! She is going to help out with teaching in Relief Society!

Also, One of our new investigators came to church and brought her daughter! They are going to get baptized. Plus some less-actives are coming back to church and their 8 year old wants to be baptized:)

Another Returning less-active is making preparations to receive the Aaronic Priesthood!! He is so awesome and he is Tracy's cousin.... small world:)

Life is just awesome here:) We are teaching some other really amazing people but i dont have a whole lot of time!! I love y'all!! 

D&C 105:3 and 4- Unite with one another because it will be eternal!!

Chao and Love you ALL,

Hermana Russell

General Conference Miracles**** 10/3/16

Alright, we have had an awesome week:) There was a couple days where it got a little rough because our appointments feel through but you know what, with all that God has blessed us with, We can not complain:) That is how we notice all the Good God does for us as well. God is Good.

So as y'all know we had Conference on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend and I loved both sessions but Saturday was probably my favorite:) Answered many of my questions. What a blessing it was as well that it was all centered around missionary work! It was a great last General Conference to have as a missionary:)

Tracy is doing well. He is so prepared and we talked to him about moving his baptismal date forward. We committed him to pray about it and see what Heavenly Father thinks. We feel pretty good about it:) Hopefully he will be baptized not this week but the next. He is so ready. He is already doing missionary work with sharing the book of Mormon with his friends at work and with his family. And he is literally related to everyone in town. His cousin is actually a Returning Less-Active in the branch who is receiving the Aaronic Priesthood pretty soon here:) (sorry if I already told y'all that and I'm repeating myself)

But things are going pretty great. We are headed to the Temple on the 15th with Priscilla to do Baptisms for the dead for her first time! She is working on obtaining a Temple recommend.

We are working on finding others to teach as well! We have planned on doing a lot more contacting this week:) And I LOVE contacting. Especially in Dalhart because everyone is just so prepared here.

Darvy contacted us Saturday night and asked if he could come to church. We said, "well I mean, if you really want to...." No im totally kidding. We jumped up and down and said, "yes! Of course you can come to church with us!" But in a professional way don't worry:) We were so excited and it was perfect because it was General Conference Weekend so he got to see the First session of the Sunday session and oh my goodness, it hit him hard. He has been really struggling with home life and Elder Nelsons talk just hit him. He tried hard to hold back tears but we still saw them:) He is so awesome. He has such a desire to learn more about the church and be baptized but he has to figure everything out with his family. He is working on finding another place to live. Please say some prayers for him:)

Also some of our Spanish Less-actives came and watched conference with us at the church:) they are so cute and they had their ear phones and listened from their iphones. So grateful for technology.

Conference:

 

The things that really stuck out to me in Conference was J Devn Cornish when he was talking about how "All the Lord expects of us is to try, but we have to really try!" Heavenly Father isn't going to sit back and just give us everything. He wants us to learn and to grow because he loves us:) Isn't that what we all want for our own children??

There is a quote that comes to mind by Thomas S Monson I think it is? But he said, "The only time He is disappointed with us is when we stop trying and don't give our best effort." That is so true and I might have already share that but I just love that quote.

And when Elder Bassett was talking about how "The Holy Ghost aids in our Spiritual Growth". Let him Help you:) Just listen to his promptings. That is what he is there for:)

 

I just love conference! Especially when we got to stand up and sing "Called to Serve!" so emotional. Cant wait for the next conference:)

 

BTw, we have mission tour this week so ill let y'all know how it goes!

Lots of love,

Hermana Russell

Went to Mazios after first session on Saturday:)

Zone Training

Life is Great :) September 26, 2016

I am so grateful to be a missionary! God has shown us so many amazing miracles this week! We of course had a great time at Zone Conference. Our leaders are very inspired.

I of course had to bare my testimony because this is my last transfer which did not go well. I was crying so hard that I'm positive they had no Idea what I was saying. I probably sounded like Dory off of Finding Nemo when she is attempting to communicate with the wale. Owe well, at least they felt how much I love being a missionary. And how lucky all of them are that they get to be a missionary for however long they have left. I hope every missionary is using their time wisely because it is short. Jacob 7:28. It goes like a dream. Literally.

But man, our investigators are doing great. One of our investigators is getting baptized on the 29th but he is progressing so well so we are going to move it forward a couple weeks. He is awesome!! He prayed about the Prophet Joseph Smith and he received an answer in a way I have never heard of. He said that he was woken up by someone @ 3 am in the morning and he is pretty sure it was his mother who has past away. He says that he felt so good and that Joseph was truly called as a prophet. We know and he knows that his family is helping him on the other side to come to know the truth! We explained that we can do his family names in the Temple and what an amazing day that will be:) We taught him about the Word of Wisdom at the Wright's home last night and he has fully committed to give up Chewing Tobacco (which is not easy.) and to give up drinking Tea. He has no problems with the other ones. He is so committed! He has told all of his family about his baptism and he is really excited. He thanks us every lesson for helping him to change his life. But its not us, it is Our Heavenly Father:) What a miracle it is to see this change in him. We tell others about His baptismal date and its a small town so everyone knows who he is and they are all shocked! He used to be a Saul. He was very angry at God but he has totally changed his life around! He has an amazing and tear jerking story and he is going to be such a great member of Christ's Church. we am so excited for him!

Oh and we have to take a break teaching Darvy because he needs to work some things out with his family but then we will get to start teaching him again:) He is still working to finish the Book of Mormon. Something has been trying to keep him from reading and he can feel it.

We have some other people and Families that we are working with whom a member referred us too. Miracles come when you work with members in the missionary work. Its not the members helping the missionaries with the work its the Missionaries helping the members with their missionary work! That's how God has made it to be and when you do it his way, it works out a whole lot better:) We are so excited to continue to help the Dalhart Branch!

We love our amazing family that is here.

One thing that Heavenly Father has done for me while I have been on a mission is that He has helped me to receive Spiritual Eyesight. It is something that has changed everything that I can see! And has helped me to see a whole new miraculous perspective on things. I feel as though when I entered into the field, Heavenly Father placed some glasses on my eyes that have taught me how to recognize the spirit and to follow his guidance. I will never take off these spiritual Glasses. Matt. 13:16
"Those who have felt the touch of the masters hand somehow can not explain the change which comes into their lives." -Thomas S. Monson

Chao and love you ALL,

Hermana Russell

It took Tracy (who is getting baptized the 29th) 8 hours to make this and he gave it to us. He is so awesome!

The Rojas's cut our hair! Mine was getting bad. They are the cutest little Mexican family:)

Life is Great! September 19, 2016

Man this week was crazy!

We picked up our trainee and we just have been working so hard!

We have lots of studying to do though. We do 1 hour 12 week, 1 hour my plan, 1 hour of Spanish. plus our 2 hours of morning studies. That is 5 hours everyone. We try to split it up so we don't go crazy:)

But its amazing how each of our investigators have just been progressing so well!

One of our awesome investigators who referred himself to the missionaries came to church and he wants to get baptized the 29th of October! But he is so ready so we will probably move his date forward. But it is all in Gods timing:)

Priscilla's baptism was just so amazing. So emotional and the spirit was just so strong! Then in Sacrament meeting she was confirmed with the Holy Ghost. Wow. I just can't believe how blessed we were to get to see her baptized and help her prepare for that covenant that she made with our Heavenly Father. But it is only the beginning. She is preparing to go to the temple October 15th! We are so excited for her and then when her family gets sealed next year! Wow. Before Priscilla got baptized we had one last lesson and we talked about Why baptism is important. D&C 20:37 This scripture describes Priscilla so well:) She is the most humble person I know and so willing to do everything the Lord asks her too. Priscilla is now able to enter into the Presence of our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for her and her decision to be baptized. She is a huge example of being humble. Also patience. She has been waiting for 7 years for this opportunity!

 We have a less active family who has been coming back to church and they are adorable! Their daughter who is 8 years old is preparing to be baptized as well. we are so excited! They are the cutest little Mexican family!

We are teaching English classes for our members and investigators who are trying to learn English. It is just the cutest thing. They are all the best and we have so much fun teaching that class!

Darvy is doing awesome! He has definitely been feeling y'all prayers so thank you so much! He went out of town and we were a little worried but now he is back and we are still teaching him. His family isn't a huge fan of us so we are just trying to figure out a way to meet them and show them that we aren't all that scary. They are the Baptists who have grown up with Anti-Mormon literature. So its been hard cracking that shell but we will keep praying and trying. Heavenly Father will prepare them for us:) Darvy has been trying to invite them to church and to come into the lessons. So little by little it will work!

I just love Dalhart! This work is absolutely amazing. Heavenly Father has shown us so many Miracles and I have been blessed with the best companions on the Planet! We get along so well:) We call ourselves, "Las Hermanitas Marvillosas!" Haha everyone comments on our awesome companionship. we have been blessed with an excellent Trainee! She came pre-trained! No joke. I am already learning so much from her. She is also a great teacher and just a great desire to be exactly obedient. What more could we ask for??

I just love you all and wish y'all success! Thank you so much for all the support y'all give me!!

Just remember,

"The only time He is disappointed with us is when we stop trying and don't give our best effort"

This is a very true statement. All Heavenly Father cares about is that we are at least trying to do our best. Don't give up! That is exactly what Satan wants you to do.

Love you all,

Hermana Russell

Our first night together!

Sorry I look horrible, We were just bawling. Priscilla' baptism!

Training Again!!! September 12, 2016

Alright y'all, God is sooo good because I get Sister Jackson as my companion and we are getting a new trainee!! Greenie!! We are so excited! I was so nervous with this being my last transfer and having to focus on getting things ready for home and focusing on the work but now its going to be so much easier because my real focus is going to be on my Trainee! It will be sister Tolvert?? Our mission president tried to spell it but he went to fast.
I want to make sure she learns how to be the most successful missionary! Sister Jackson and I are the Trainers that her parents have been praying for and this Last transfer is going to be filled with miracles and baptisms!!

We have the baptism for Pricilla this Saturday and the Whole Branch is so excited!! Some members didn't even know she wasn't a member, that is how well she helps out the branch. I can't wait till she receives a legit calling in the branch!! She is literally amazing everybody. Isaias and her have been waiting to take the sacrament for years. So they can take it worthily and in Relief Society Yesterday she tugged on my arm with tears in her eyes and said, "we get to take the sacrament next week!" My eyes just filled with joy and excitement with her. She truly understands the Atonement and the purpose of the sacrament.

Their Marriage went super well!! We had a lesson with Darvy so we missed the part were they got married:/ but we were able to go to the reception and congratulate them! Its funny because their family members who aren't members said," That was thee quickest marriage ceremony that we have ever experienced." (that's because that is only the pre-marriage ceremony. wait till the go to the temple) They are soooo excited for that day when they get to go to the temple!! I Will be there!!! We are going to the Temple with her the 14th of October to do baptisms for the dead. She is soooo excited to be able to go and do baptisms for her Mother:) It fills her eyes with excitement.

Also Darvy has been through a really rough time! Please pray for him that he will accept the Gospel!

Also God has blessed us with a new family to teach! They are absolutely amazing and I will fill y'all in next week!! Truly miracles right and left!

They got married!!

The church is true:)

Our last day just being to two of us! Sister Tolvert here we come!!

Last week of the Transfer:/ September 6, 2016

We get our Transfer calls this coming Saturday. How gross is that!  I am praying that Sister Jackson will be staying with me for my last transfer!  We have been working so hard in our area and we have seen the miracles that have come because of our hard work!

Y'all a prayer has been answered! We have been praying for this part member family that the Pricilla and Isaias will get married so that Pricilla can be baptized! And we prayed for that ALL last transfer and guess what.... they are getting married this Friday and then she will be baptized next Saturday!! We are soooooo Excited!!!  We love their family. We did family home Evening with them and didn't push them at all towards marriage of baptism or anything and we just left it all up to Gods will and His will is the best way:)  When she told us we literally were jumping up and down and screaming "Si, Si! Estamos muy emocionada!" She is literally so excited and so is her husband. he is born into the church and long story short they couldn't get married until now. God is so good. It is the right timing for them and how blessed are we to be able to be here for it. She has been waiting 7 years for this moment. We will send pictures next week for the wedding. She asks, "sisters, how soon after my baptism can I go to the temple to be baptized for my mother??" That question is like music to our ears. She has her temple date planned as well. Oct. 14th is the day. I will be here! They are also coming to General Conference next year in SLC with me:) The Gospel is true and it can bless us so much!

On sunday I am speaking on Charity and I am so grateful. Ive studied a lot about Charity and every time I learn a whole new thing. There is a difference between Love and Charity. With love we can also have hate. I think that's where, "Its a love/hate relationship" comes from. haha The Charity is the absolute pure love of Christ. The Highest amount of Love that you can give to someone. I challenge all of you to look to those you love and ask yourself how you can love them even more. And how you can show them that you have that love for them. 1 Cor. 12:8 and 2 "For with out Charity, we are NOTHING" Everything revolves around Charity:)

I still got to pray about it to see if that is what im really going to be talking about.

We also have 2 other baptisms coming up. Please pray that they will be just as prepared as Pricilla is! Love y'all! Have an amazing week! Don't every give up in the Lord, you just have to remember that it is all in his timing:)

If I get transferred before Pricilla's baptism I will just laugh. I don't think God is that mean. Its happened with almost all of my areas I just pray it doesn't happen in my last area!

Chao and Love you ALL,

Hermana Russell

One of our investigators Ginormous pumpkin! Its only just growing

Sorry I've been a stinker! 8/29/2016

Ok, I'm truly sorry for not telling y'all everything that is going on.  So the work in Dalhart is picking up.

The first week I got here we were out contacting and we ran into this guy named Darvy. He looked at us like, you've got to be kidding me. I don't want to hear squat of what you say. We were as positive as we could be but really fearful of him being really mean. He came over slowly and said, "listen y'all, I don't know why I'm even talking to y'all but something is telling me that I should" we helped him recognize that that was the spirit and we gave him a book of Mormon to read and explained a little bit about it. We set up a return appointment to follow up on his reading. He read half of the Book of Mormon! At the moment he is in 3 Nephi 30. Probably farther by now.

He recognized that ever since he started reading he has felt like something does not want him reading it and there have been crazy things happening in his life. Man he is just so Golden. He told us at our last appointment, "Sisters, I believe this book is true. I feel so good when I read it. Why don't people open their eyes and see what this book is truly about?" He is so legit. He is getting baptized on September 17th! Well, we will probably have to push it back because he is trying to overcome word of wisdom problems. Please keep him in your prayers!!

Also, Eve has a baptismal date for the 24th! she is super legit, too!  I will tell her story next week! Love y'all! Just remember that life Is way too short so never waste time for anything!!

Have a great week!

BTW, taught Gospel Doctrines in Spanish last week. I was super worried but the gift of tongues was real!

Cutest old man ever. Wood.

Our investigator Raymond and his sister made us yummy Cuban food!

Ya'll I'm so sorry August 22, 2016

Ugh. I swear time is getting shorter and shorter every day!!! I ran out of time.

So Darvy has a baptismal Date for the 17th of September and Falicia and her family are gonna get baptized and we are setting a date for them today!

A part member family we are doing family home evening with which is awesome! They just got to get their marriage license and then percilla is getting baptized.

Woot Woot! Love the Mission!

Have a great week!

Me amo todo sobre el mision!

I will write more next week!

Stake Conference was awesome! We all Translated for it! I got to translate with my baby! Hermana Wimmer

Zone Training

From Sister Sadie Hughes letters:

Ran out of time! August 15, 2016

I am so sorry Y'all but I ran out of time! Here are some pictures and scriptures to keep you busy until I can email next week and update y'all on everything!! Dalhart is going to be harvested soon!

D&C 130:19  Stay in School!!

Cant believe school is starting up! Good luck everyone!!!

Love,
Sister Russell

Sister Jackson hit her 1 year mark! We celebrated and went to Sonic!

Exchanges!!

Zone Training!!

I Love Dalhart!! August 8, 2016

I love this area so much!! It is the best thing ever!! I'm so excited for ending my mission here.

We were out contacting when we came up to this guy named Darvy. At first he did not want to talk to us but something told him to. He came up to us and said, "look, I don't know why I'm talking to you but here I am." And we taught him about the Book of Mormon and we set up a return appointment. He is super Legit! We went to have our appointment the next day and he has lots of great questions. He says, "so I made some not so good choices in the past and I was in prison for a bit and I have lots of time to read the whole bible. I read it and then prayed about it and knew it was truly the word of God. Can I do the same with the book of Mormon?" We said, "uhhh Yes!!"

He is super Legit. We are meeting with him again on Wednesday and he asked to give him a whole week to read the book of Mormon and we will follow-up then. we are praying he receives a spiritual witness that it is true!! I just felt soo good about him from the very beginning. I just pray his wife and kids will be supportive of him.

There are lots of people here who are in line for Baptism. They are so prepared they just got to take that step of entering into the water. We are going to help them with that. Dalhart seriously has so much potential!

So There was the XIT this past week. K, this is HUGE in Dalhart. Everyone in town goes. So some awesome members set it up where we could help out in it. We helped the Baptist church with the watermelon feed and then the next day the Methodist church with the pork chops and then the next day the catholic church with the barbeque. The food is all free so everyone was there. They were soooooo grateful we came and helped out!! The Baptist church asked us to help them pass out candy on their float in the Parade. So that was really fun.

We also got permission to see the rodeo and it was great because during the rodeo, God placed Francisco in our path. He came by himself because his family is all in Mexico. He is here for work. But we are pumped to teach him until he goes back to mexico!! he only speaks Spanish so I did all the talking because sister Jackson is an English sister. I taught about the Book of Mormon and the restoration and he is interested. He immediately gave us his address and number.

We received a lot of new investigators this week and we are teaching a ton of Spanish!!

I translated for Sacrament meeting for our Spanish members. We have a cute little branch and some awesome members!

Hope y'all have a successful week!

Acts 10:38

Love, 

Sister Russell

member made a welcome cookie

Happy Birthday Sister Jackson!!

Dalhart, Tx here I come! August 1, 2016

So we got transfer calls on Saturday evening and I am being sent to Dalhart, Tx. All I've heard is that it reeks of cows🐮🐄 and it gets super cold in the winter.  Good thing I leave in October. That's all I've heard about it. So should be interesting.  My heart just broke when I thought of having to leave Childress. I love this place sooooo much!! I feel like a piece of me is just being ripped away from me. I am definitely coming back to visit and hope my mission president will allow me to go to the baptisms coming up here!

I am very excited for this new adventure that God has put me in but Man, I am gonna miss Childress!

Skylar is getting baptized this coming Sunday:(   I'm so sad I have to miss it! But it's all good. There is a reason for everything. I just cried and cried on Sunday because a lot of our investigators came and I had to say good bye to all of them. The worst feeling ever. You just get so close with these people.

In my talk yesterday I talked about how the Repentance Process helps us endure to the end!

I was so grateful to be able to speak on this topic. I feel like every time I have had to speak it has been on repentance.... hmmm maybe God is trying to tell me something.

A quote I shared in my talk, "God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying." -Elder Dale G. Renlund

That is truly all that God cares about. How we are changing and becoming better. All he wants us to do when we are in the deep pit of Pain, is to get up and try again! He has given us the Atonement in order for us to do so.
Mosiah 26: 29 and 30
Repent and Go Forward
It is that simple:)

I am so grateful for repentance. With out it I wouldn't be who I am today. I have changed a lot and continue on changing. @ times it is really hard to change (like me having to change areas) but once we allow it to happen then we look back and see how it was so needed. As we continue to Repent and Change, then we will continue to Have Eternal Joy! I love you all!
Love,
Hermana Russell

We rode a ridding mower to mow the Wyatt's yard:) Yeeeeee haww!!!

This is Skylar trying on her suit for Sunday:) She is awesome. She is the first in her family to get baptized and her family will follow:)

This is Maddi and Alex. They will be driving me to Lubbock tomorrow for exchanges:)

Bro. White has to use these to read because of his bad eye sight. I thought they were hilarious.

Bro. White

gonna miss our awesome District. Missing the zone leaders in this picture. But My district leader is now my Zone leader.

Repentence!! July 25, 2016

Alright well Shari Whitten didn't get baptized this week because she relapsed on drugs and smoking but she isn't giving up!  When she told us she wasn't getting baptized and we were pretty content and just focusing on keeping in contact with her and supporting her because she probably feels horrible!  But when she told us how she just feels like Satan is really trying hard on her and she feels that every time she tries to get closer to God, Satan just full on attacks.  I broke down crying because i just wanted to be there for her and protect her but I can't. I have to let God protect her and help her to learn and grow. That was probably the hardest thing for me. You get so attached to these people because you love them so much but then they get hurt and then you get hurt as well.

I was talking to our Sister Training Leaders about it and they helped me to think of how God feels towards us. When we do something wrong or we get hurt he is there weeping with us. He just has SO much love for us. Love Hurts. We are meeting with Shari on tuesday and just starting over. That is the blessing of Repentance:) It will make her stronger in the end. She truly knows the power of repentance.

I'm probably not explaining myself very well because every time I think of Satan trying to keep her from her happiness it gets to me. I know that Satan's power is strong but Gods power is a whole lot stronger! God has a plan for each and every one of us.

We set another baptismal date with Skylar! She is getting baptized the 7th of August

and then Maria (a new investigator) is getting baptized on the 11th of September! She is so awesome! Maria has been led to God to our church and she knows it is true. She is already sharing it with others and we have been teaching her for about a week.

We also met some steller new investigators!

We went to visit 2 of them yesterday and it was one of them's birthday and they were having a family party! They are a Hispanic family so they have the best parties! They invited us in and we met everyone and they wanted to feed us and give us water but we had to go:/ it was sad but we are going to convert their whole family!! It reminded me of my spanish areas. I LOVE Latinos! They are the sweetest people on earth! We are so pumped to teach them.

We just have been doing great as always:) Please, Please keep Shari in your prayers. She is so close to baptism but Satan is really trying her. We shared the verse in 3 Nephi 18:18. We have to always be watchful and pray always or God can't protect us from the temptations of Satan. Prayer is soooo important!

Say your prayers everyday, morning and night so that you can have that protection from our Heavenly Father:)

I know that this church is true with all of my Heart. I have had come in contact with many people with Anti- Mormon feelings and it is so sad. This is the true restored church on the earth and they are letting one little thing hold them back from that truth. All you have to do is Pray. It is the most simple thing in the world. But yet, a lot cant do it. 

I'm giving a talk next week, again. Actually going to be speaking on repentance:) Also, transfer calls are this saturday. Pretty sure I'm staying!

Almost forgot. They don't celebrate pioneer day a whole lot here in texas.

Love, 

Sister Rachel Russell

What a beautiful Sunset! We get the best here in Texas!

Bro. White and his daughter Jo jo let us to our laundry at their house every Monday. He is the sweetest man on this earth!

Miracles are happening!!! 7/18/16

OH my goodness. Shari Whitten is getting baptized this sunday!! We are so excited for her and she is just working so hard! She has overcome her smoking and she just tries to be better every day! The branch helped her to move into her home Sunday, and she was just tuckered out Sunday morning. We called her and she said she wasn't going to make it to church and we were really nervous. Satan is going to do everything he can to keep her from getting baptized and joining the church. She recognized that after we got off the phone with her and she drove to church right then! She didn't have any gas in her car and her gas light was on but she new that God would help her so she could make it to church:) and she made it! She came after the sacrament but she made it and i just started crying when she walked in and sat right next to us. 

When she told us she wasn't coming I was so bummed! I was just questioning God like, "why isn't she here? she is getting baptized next week!" and I just prayed my heart out during the sacrament that she would make it. I had the faith that she would. And then this darling family in the stake was visiting the branch and their whole family sang in sacrament. They sang, "Heavenly Father are you really there?" and at that moment, Shari came in and sat by us. I was just bawling. I know that Heavenly Father truly answers our prayers! He Loves us and he wants us to know that he will always be there for us we just have to reach out to him. Mormon 9:27

"Doubt NOT but be 

believing."

We are so excited for Shari and her baptism. She has really worked hard for this and she is ready. After she is baptized she wants to go to the temple and do family history work for her family and be baptized for those who are waiting. She is amazing and we can't wait till sunday. I'll tell you how it goes. Hopefully I can control my crying. Probably wont be able to but oh well.

Cristy Hope is supposed to get baptized on the 31st but she didn't make it to church yesterday so we have to push her back a little bit. She needs the extra preparation anyways:) So it will be good.

Also Nathan is really struggling with gaining a confirmation from the spirit that these things are true. He knows that its right and its going to be hard because he grew up with a really harsh life style. But he needs to understand that he is never going to want to turn back once he gains that spiritual knowledge and experiences the joy that comes from living the Gospel. Please keep him in your prayers. We are going to have to set another date for him.

It is truly amazing how the Lord works. After Shari's interview sister Jaussi took us all out to eat at a Thai restaurant. Which was super good. But shari opened up her fortune and guess what it said, "You will make a change for the better." We were all just filled with the spirit.

Brothers and Sisters, this church is true. I know it because I've studied it, prayed about it, and lived it! I am the happiest that i can ever be!

We go to a bible study and they are just all so confused in there and its so sad. God has given us prophets, the Book of Mormon, and much more so that we aren't confused. We are going to share things about the Book of Mormon and the restored truths. They are all mostly baptists so we pray we don't get kicked out;) Hope y'all have a great week! We will as well:)

Oh btw, members gave Shari some gas money so she could make it home don't worry....

exchanges with the STL's in pampa!

Sister Espinosa and I reunited! Such a blast!

Love these girls<3

 wicked storms down here in Childress! yes I took this sweet pic thank you.....

Got to go to the temple with recent convert brad!