25 May 2015

Hello all! How are you doing?  I sure do hope everything is going well for you. 

This week was so great! We had a mission conference last Wednesday,  in preparation for the technology we will be receiving here in the next couple of weeks. Elder Allen and Elder Evans from the 70 were there. Their focus was not the technology we are going to receive, but rather on the doctrine, and how this technology is going to be another tool for us to use in missionary work. I am so excited. So many more things will be easier and more effective. 

One thing that they said really stuck out to me. He quoted Elder Bendar saying, " if you always do what you have always done,  you will akwats always get what you have always got." In other words, if you want a different result, you need do do something different. It was such a wonderful conference. 

last night, we received our transfer information. I will be staying here in Eagle Pass , and will be receiving a new companion.  Sister Collins will be leaving. She is such a wonderful missionary, and will do great things wherever she goes.

I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week.

love, Hermana Dean

18 Mayo 2015

Hola!!

This last week has been so great! I just love being a missionary. So far this has been the best decision of my life. I was listening to a talk .. I don't remember who gave it, but he talked about his mission being the best decision for his life. That is what I want to make of my mission. I know it won't necessarily be the best decision of my life, but it should and I want it to be the best decision for my life. 

This week has been full of miracles. We met Sophie while walking down the street to another lady. Sophie told us she saw us the other day, and wanted to talk to us. She told us she wants to start going to church again. She gave us her address, and we set up an appointment to go see her. The next day, we went over and talked with her about her life, and all that fun stuff. She said she wants to know what she needs to do in order to be baptized. wow! She said she wants to be baptized on June 6. She also came to church yesterday, and loved it. She said it felt so good and she is super excited for next week. I love her so much! She is so sweet, and so excited to learn about the Gospel.

I love you all so much!!

Love, Hermana Dean

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11 May 2015

Hello!!

My goodness. I just love the mission!!! It is so great. I love it!!

This week, Hermana Collins and I started reading the Book of Mormon again-- in Spanish this time. We read 15 minutes every morning out of it. 

I just LOVE the Book of Mormon. It really was written for our day. Every time I read it, it applies to something that I have going on. Before starting it again, I had just finished reading The Fourth Missionary talk. If you have not read this yet, I would recommend it!!! It is so great. I have such a stronger desire to do my best on the mission- to give everything to the Lord: My whole heart, mind, might, and strength, not just part of it. 

I just love being here. I love all of you and all that you do. 

I love you!

Love, Hermana Dean

I was cracking up. So funny!

I have to admit... Sometimes the sunsets here are better than Clearfield's..... :)

Día de las Madres!! :)

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May the 4th .. Be with you

Hello!! How are you all doing?? I hope all is well. I can't believe it is May already!! This year is flying by so fast. 

This week was super great. Everyone is doing well, and progressing. So great!

Have I said how much I love being a missionary? I really do love it. Choosing to serve a mission has been one of the best decisions I have made so far in my life. I absolutely love being here, meeting new people, and sharing messages of Jesus Christ with them. It really is an amazing experience. 

I love you all!

Love, Hermana Dean

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27 April 2015

Hola Familia!! :) Como están?

I cannot believe it is almost May!! April has flown by so fast. Really, this whole year has just flown right by.

I hope you are all doing well. This week was really great! We met a lot of really great people, and are working with others, as well. 

This week, during some of my study time, I made goals and plans for myself-- in two different groups: One for mission goals, and the other for the life after I return home. It was really neat. I would invite you all to do that. If you're not on a mission, then just for your life right now. What do you want to accomplish in 5 years? 10? What kind of person do you want to be? How are you going to get to that point? Set some goals and make some plans. Do you what you need to in order to fulfill those plans. 

I love you all! I hope you are all doing well, doing great things.

Love, Hermana Dean

Super pretty Texas sunsets

Río Grande, Looking at Mexico

Tamales!!

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20 April 2015

Hola familia y amigos!

This week was so amazing!

The weather here is super back and forth. It rained and rained earlier this week. There were some thunder storms, also. The last couple of nights, there have been some crazy silent lightning storms. We had a pretty awesome view of them from our apartment.

Also, we were able to meet with Ruben a couple of times. He is so wonderful! He is planning on getting baptized this coming Saturday! Hooray! We are so excited for him. His understanding of what we have taught is amazing. In Gospel Principles, he helped explain to another investigator why we need both the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and what the Book of Mormon is, where it came from, and how it can help us. So wonderful!

I just love serving as a full time missionary. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. I'm so excited for the rest of my mission, and to be a forever missionary.

Thank you all for your love, support, prayers, everything!

Love you!

-Hermana Dean






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13 April 2015

Hola amigos y familia! Me voy a quedar aquí en eagle pass!

This week was so great!! Ruben is just amazing, as are Thomas y su familia.

Flor y Esperanza came to mutual on Wednesday, and they just loved it so much.

With Ruben, we talked a little bit about baptism, and answered some questions he had. He completely understands baptism now, which is great! He also read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, and applied it to his life. So great! He is such an amazing person. I am so excited for him. He can see the changes in his life that have happened, and yearns for the happiness this gospel brings.

I hope you all are doing well!

Happy Happy Birthday to cute little Bryleigh!! I love you so much.

Love you all!!

Love, Hermana Dean

Peep wars!! .. We didn't have any toothpicks.. so Plastic forks seemed like the next best thing....

Ruben's roses!

Ruben!! Hoorah!

Yo y Hermana Collins

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6 April 2015

Hello!! Happy Easter to you all!

How did you enjoy General Conference? I just loved it so much. It is my most favorite weekend of the year! So great. 

I know what was said by the speakers in General Conference is what the Lord needs us to hear. What He needs us to apply into our lives, so that we may become better than we are. All of the talks were so amazing. Which ones were your favorites?

So I have found a super cool tradition for Easter that I love and am going to do when I get home :) Cascarones. They are eggs with confetti inside. You save up eggshells over the months before Easter (cracking them so there is only a hole in the top). You dye them and fill them with confetti, and then glue tissue paper over the hole. Then on Easter, you surprise people and crack them on their heads! Super fun. I got Cascaron-ed a couple times yesterday. So great!

I love you all so much. I hope you were all able to watch and listen to General Conference. Study the talks through these next 6 months! I am going to! 

Love you!

Love, Hermana Dean

 Eagle pass sure has BEAUTIFUL flowers.

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30 March 2015

Hello!! Happy Spring to you all!! I think the sun has finally come out to stay. This last month or so, it has been pretty off and on. One day or two would be super warm, the next would be rainy and cold. Hmm. Texas. Make up your mind! Silly silly. Well. This week was SUPER! It always is. I learn so much each week, well, each day! Whether it is things in Spanish or things of the gospel, or how to be a better missionary/teacher... or a combination of all of it. :) I learn something, and hopefully change for the better.

Today is my compañera's birthday!! Hooray!! She is the big 2-0 now. Hooray! And, it's p-day too! So we had a super fun, and tiring day. We went down by la frontera, in the big grass field, and played soccer and speedball. I definitely do not have the coordination needed for soccer. But that is okay! It was still super fun.

This week was SO amazing. We had zone conference, and it was all in Spanish!!! So cool. I love hearing President speak, but hearing him speak and teach in Spanish is so awesome! He has such an amazing spirit about him. Gah. I just love it so much.

I just love being here! Coming on a mission truly has been one of the best decisions I've made. Yes, it took a little prodding and pushing from on High to get me here... But here I am! I've seen so many changes come into my life, and I love it! I don't ever want to be the person I was before. I want to continually change, to strive to be better, and through Christ, I can. Through Him, all things are possible.

Go to HeLives.mormon.org, and share with your friends! or in spanish, ElVive.mormon.org. It is such a beautiful video, and truly reminds us of all the possibilities we have in this life, because Christ Lives.

I love you so much!! Thank you for all you do. 

Love, Hermana Dean

Corn on the Cob was 2/$1 at HEB! So yummy!!

It said 90 degrees... but then as I was trying to take a picture, it cooled to 88. Lol. Still hot, but not as bad!

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23 March 2015

Hello everyone!!

This week was so fantastic! I know, I say that about every week, but it is so true! I cannot believe how fast March is flying by. So much happened this week. It feels like so long ago already.

We were able to teach a lot of lessons this week. I'm so excited for the people we are teaching. They really are the best!

There is this one family, Victor, his wife and kids. His wife is Catholica, but he is really interested in what we have to teach him. We met with him last night, and read a little from the Book of Mormon. It definitely seemed he recognized it as the word of God. I'm really excited to see how it goes with him, and his wife and kids. They are such sweethearts!

Earlier this week, there was a CRAZY rainstorm. The rain drops were like the size of golf balls. We got SOAKED. It was so great. I wish I would have taken a picture. Oh well :)

Friday, we had a Zone Conference, and took the Spanish Test. I passed Tier 2!! Finally! I'm super excited. Now for Tier 3. It's gonna be great.

Also at the Zone Conference, Elder Frampton gave a training on how we can serve better. We read in D&C 4 that we should serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength...  ( This is one verse where I like the Spanish translation better. Instead of might, it says "alma" which means soul. )

The challenge he gave us was to find things in our lives that are hindering us from serving the Lord with all our heart, might(soul), mind, and strength. I made some personal goals of how to better myself, and I am super excited to see the outcomes.

Sunday was our District Conference. (like Stake Conference, but we are a District, not a Stake)

It was so amazing. The theme was "Tell Me The Stories of Jesus". The speakers talked about how we need to read and learn from the Stories of Jesus, so we can better emulate Him, and better help those around us learn about Him.

President Slaughter also spoke about one of the stories of Jesus. This one happens to be my favorite :) The calming of the tempest, found in Mark 4. The Apostles and Christ were in a ship, when a storm began. The apostles began to fear, and woke Christ, saying, "carest thou not that we perish?" They feared, and forgot that Christ is the maker of Heaven and earth. His response was, "Peace, Be Still". After He said this, the waves stopped, and the wind ceased. President commented, perhaps Christ was also speaking to the apostles when He said, "Peace, be still".

Sometimes, we may feel like we live in a world that is a storm-tossed sea. There may be hardships and trials, and we feel like we will perish. We cry out, "carest thou not that we perish?" or "don't you care about me?" We have moments of doubt. We forget that we fought in the pre-existence for these trials and hardships. We wanted this. We need to remember that. Peace, be still.

President also told us of a sign that is in the institute building in San Antonio. It says, "if you can't find 20 minutes to read your scriptures, then find an hour."

It is so true. President said, "If you can't find 20 minutes to commune with the heavens, then your life is out of order." Sometimes we need to re-prioritize our lives, and make room for Christ.

The Lord's response time is immediate. What is ours? When He knocks, do we answer? When He leads, do we follow? When he commands, do we obey? 

President closed with this: "The Lord knows more than we could ever imagine. Peace, be still. Trust. Have faith. Realize He knows more."

I love you all so much! I am so very excited for General Conference in 2 weeks! I hope you all are planning on watching it :) I most definitely am. What a privilege it is to hear the words of the Prophets!

I love you all so much!!

Love, Hermana Dean

We had sooooo many Mangos with Ruben! They were so yummy. Also, the best Chile I've ever had!

Super pretty sunsets

Gorgeous Sunday!

Weirdest Rooster of my life!

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