New Pics :)

 

This is a picture of Brother Rodriguez and his family.  He is the nice man that called Mav the other day and told him that Kylie is awesome and is doing great!!

 

 

 

 

This is Hermana Martinez.  She is one of the trainers and Kylie loves her.  She said that she is always so happy and so fun!

 

 

 

She looks so beautiful in this picture.  I love that she found a little Christmas Tree!  Cutest thing I have ever seen under a tree:)

 

Poor Kylie was very sad in this picture.  This is Hermana Maty and Hermana Karen.  They have helped Kylie a lot and have helped them teach lessons.  Kylie said these are two of the greatest people she has met there.  She was so sad because on Friday they moved and this is their goodbye picture :(

 

 

 

Okay here is the back story for this picture.  Every year at Christmas time my kids receive a gift and a letter from our family Christmas elf named "Shorty"  This is a tradition that has been going on since Maveric was 2 years old.  This year "Shorty" gave my kids the gift of giving.  He wrote them a letter and enclosed some money in it and asked them to use the money to do something for someone in need.  Kylie was able to take the money and buy all this stuff for a sweet sister named Berniece.  Berniece has recently separated from her husband and just barely started working.  She has very little and these things will be greatly appreciated.  Kylie and her companion, Hermana Cedillo, were able to go shopping and they found great deals.  On Wednesday morning a member is going to drive them to Berniece's house and they will be able to anonymously leave the gifts for her and her little family.  What a great gift our Christmas Elf was able to give to my sweet missionary.  Love it!!!!

 

Excited for Christmas :)

Hola Familia! 

I cant believe we are only 4 days away from Christmas! I am getting so excited to talk to you guys! This week was pretty interesting to say the least. haha. We had splits with our sister training leader and her companion and I was with hermana Martinez in her area and it was really fun! She is such a good missionary and is super fun and happy so we had a good time! The rest of the week we really struggled in finding our investigators. Everyone is on vacation and not in there houses so we have done a lot of walking and not finding anyone but I am trying to just stay positive haha. I love being a missionary and I love this time of year. Christmas is such a great time and the people that we do find are all so willing to listen because they as well can feel the Christmas spirit! I was really grateful for Brother Rodriguez for calling mav! It was super crazy knowing that he was on the phone with Mav and that I couldnt talk to him, haha but It really meant a lot to me that he called you guys! And that he just did it. We were just finishing the lunch and he asked if he could have the number to talk to our families and he asked if I could translate for him and I told him Mav speaks Spanish so he called him! The families here are awesome! They really care about us so much and are so loving! They also are so thankful for you guys as well! That is something I love! Everyone here is constantly praying for our families and it is awesome! I am getting so so excited for Thursday and I cant wait to "see" you guys! This week for us is going to be crazy haha and I am pretty sure we are going to eat like 20 meals a day! haha tonight we have a dinner appointment, tomorrow we will be in Tepic with President Wagner, Hermana Wagner, and other missionaries. Wednesday is when the people here celebrate Christmas so we have lunch at 2, a big dinner at 8, my companion is going to talk to her family. Then Thursday morning we have a breakfast appointment with a family in the ward, our district class and we are eating lunch with a family that is from California Thursday afternoon and they are going to make ham and turkey and everything! haha then friday we have splits again so it is going to be a crazy busy week and hopefully somewhere inbetween all of our appointments we can find time to teach people! haha but I love you guys so much and hope you all have an amazing week! Ill see you guys on Thursday!!(:

Love always,

Hermana Searle  

Pretty Girl!

 

She looks great!!  I cant wait to "see" her and talk to her on Christmas!!!

 

Guadalajara and Russel M Nelson :)

Hola Familia! 

What a great week(: I feel extremely blessed this week to have been able to meet Elder Russel M. Nelson and listen to him speak to us! This week we were so busy and it was a week that truly flew by! On Tuesday we had our district class which went really well! We were able to have Hna. Nayheli and Hna. Maty and Hno. Alan with us all day so we went on splits! I was with Hna. Nayheli and Hno. Alan and oh my... lets just say they are going to get married one day because they fight like a married couple ha it honestly was kinda a frustrating day but it helped me realize how important it is to really focus on what matters out here! They are both great, just get distracted really easily! haha on Wednesday we were able to work alot with the less actives! On Thursday we were able to teach Liliana and Rafael( with the cute little boy who is also named rafael!) and they are realy great! On Friday it was a day that was so crazy! we had the ward Christmas dinner and we had invited a lot of investigators and all day we were running around trying to make sure everyone had a ride and that everyone was good to go. we felt like noone was going to be there because of how crazy it all was but when we got there we had 5 Investigators, and about 8 less active members there which was great! It was a really good activity! Then Saturday at 2 in the morning we headed to Guadalajara! When we got there I got to see Hna.Newbold(: and well the entire mission was there and the other Guadaljara mission as well! We had to get flu shots which wasnt very fun haha but then we all got situated and Elder Nelson got there and he took the time to greet each and everyone of us (462 missionaries) and shake each of our hands and I honestly cant even explain how great it was! The spirit was so strong and to be able to shake the hand of one of the Apostoles of our Savior is something I will never forget! There were also 3 Elders of the 70 there and each talk was amazing! And when we sang the hymns the spirit was so so strong with all of the missionaries there and overall it was a day that was beyond amazing! Yesterday I got to talk in church and I was so nervous!! haha it was the first time I have given a talk in church since I left the CCM and our ward is really big! haha but all in all it went really well! After in our gospel principals class one of the investigators of the Elders asked me if I spake english and I told him yes and then he explained to me how he has been going to different churches and looking for answers and that he just cant find them but during my talk he could feel the spirit and it was such a strong testimony builder for me because I honestly didnt have the best talk and I wrote it on the way to church but I know without a doubt that I was an instrument in the Lords hands and it is such a blessing! It is amazing knowing that through the power of the spirit and through the atonemnent of our savior anything is possile! I really just feel extremely blessed this week and am loving being a missionary! We have some new investigators to find this week and I am trying to find the good in everyday even when noone wants to listen to us! haha but really I am loving the mission and I am so glad you guys are all doing so well! I cant believe we are only 10 days away from Christmas(: I hope that you guys have an amazing week! I love you all so much(: 

Love always,

Hermana Searle

Cute new pics :)

 

Yummy Chocolate cake :)

 

Yay they found a Christmas Tree!!

 

Kylie emailed me this morning and asked if it was okay to go get a new outfit because Russell M Nelson is coming to talk to them his week :)

 

Here is a picture of the second outfit she bought today!  I think she is so adorable:)

Not a great week :(

Hola Familia! 

So I am glad to hear that you guys all had a great week! It sounds like things are going really well for you guys back home! I am glad that you guys are enjoying the holiday season! This week was a pretty rough week. We are having a really hard time with our investigators and the less actives because none of them are really progressing. This week we tried to find new investigators but are still kind of struggling. However, in our zone class the zone leaders told us that we needed to all say a prayer for at least 5 minutes before we slept thanking our Heavenly Father for all the blessings we have in our lives. And this is something that I have really tried to focus on this week, being thankful for the trials, and every blessing I have in my life. It is a lot easier to be happy when I think of all the blessings I have in my life. I know I have a lot to improve and I know if I just remember to do my best the Lord will do the rest. This week we are going to keep looking for new investigators, and more references from the members here. But some cool things are happening around here as well! Today I found out that one of the families from my area in Guadalajara got baptized and are preparing to go to the temple(: I was so happy to hear that! I know I only had a short time with them but they are such an awesome family and I am so happy for them(: This week we also get to go to Guadalajra because Russel M. Nelson is coming here(: I am so excited to be able to have the opportunity to listen to an apostole here! It will be really great! We also have a ward Christmas party this week, then on the 23rd we have a Christmas party in Tepic(its a place about 2 hours from Vallarta that is actually cold, yay!) with President and Hermana Wagner and missionaries from 2 other zones! And then on the 25th is Skype day!!(: There are a lot of great things happening this month!(: Oh, and one last cool experience! Today we should a lady the "El es la Dadiva" video and she told us that she was looking for something to show at the end of their acting out the birth of Christ in her daughters school! And she is going to use this video(: We were super stoked to hear that! haha but this week should be a good one! I hope that you guys have an amazing week! I love you all so much!!(: 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

Thanksgiving Lunch

                      This is her Thanksgiving meal that a member made for them on Thursday :)

The Ocean

She finally got to see the ocean :)  She said this is as close as they are allowed to get to it though.

7 months :)

Hola Familia! 

I am so glad to hear that you guys all had a good Thanksgiving and that you guys were able to spend it with most of the family! Everyone looked so cute and I loved the pictures! This week for us was a crazy week! We are still really thankful for all the help we have been recieving from Hna.Karen and her mom Maty! They come teach with us everyday and it is always so fun! But, they will be moving to Guadaljara on the 16th and it makes me so sad :( But they will still live in mission boundries so maybe one day I will be in their ward again(: haha this week we found some really good new investigators! Lucy and Fabiola! Fabiola is one of hna.Matys friends from work and she is so prepared to recieve the gospel! The only problem is she has the biggest dog that literally barks 24/7 and anytime we have tried to teach in the past he has been horrible and we couldnt hear or talk ha but this week we were able to teach her and her dog was quiet the entire time! It truly was a miracle(: She really wants us to teach her husband as well and this week we will be visiting him! Lucy is another new investigator who we found when we were looking for her brother-in-law! She is really awesome! She is catholic but doesnt really go to church. She said she is a believer but not firm in her religion! She loves listening about the gospel and wants us to teach her more! I feel like she will realy progress! She also has 3 little kids that are adorable! haha But Thanksgiving here was great! We ate with the Romero family and they are one of the greatest families! On Thanksgiving I read the card from mom and cried because honestly I am just so blessed! And this year I really got to realize it more than ever! However, something really sad happened this week. On Saturday night we got a phone call and Hna.Cedillos Grandpa passed away :( It is so sad and I really dont even know how to help her, but if you guys could please keep her in your prayers that would be awesome! I know that through the power of prayer and the love our Savior has for her she will be okay! But its still hard! But, I cant believe we are already in December! Time goes by so fast! and i cant believe I have 7 months here! It is so crazy! But this week I invite you guys to watch the video "He is the gift" We as missionaries are working on helping others see this video to really feel the Christmas spirit and to rememnber why we have this Holiday! So I hope you guys can do the same! I hope you guys have a great week! I love you all so much! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

More pics :)

 

 

Yay!!  She finally got the package we sent her (twice)  We sent it once and it got returned so we sent it again.  Who knew it would cost $140 to send her fishy crackers and fruit snacks.  HaHa!!

 

This little guy is one of her buddies.  He sat by her the other day and kept taking everything out of her bag just so he could put it back in.

 

One of the members wanted them to feel a little closer to home so she made them a Thanksgiving Dinner.  Apparently an Elder from St. George told her the wrong date so they had it a week early :)

Finally Got Her Package :)

Hola Familia! 

First off, thank you guys so much for the package! It really was the best thing ever to recieve! I loved the pictures and the letters so much, and it was so great to eat fruit snacks again, and have some new music!(: haha so really thank you guys a ton! This week was really great! On Thursday we had a thanksgiving lunch! A sister in our ward wanted the missionaries here from the US to feel like we were closer to home so she made us a big thanksgiving feast, turkey and all. haha. It was super nice of her and it really meant a lot to me! The funny thing is she asked an elder from St.George what day thanksgiving is and he said the 3rd Thursday of november haha so we had it a little early! But it was great! We also had Zone conference and it was so amazing! I love Zone conference! The spirit is always so strong and we always learn so much! President Wagner and Sister Wagner really are such great examples to me and they really try to make us feel like we are part of their family! They take really good care of us out here! Things here are going really well and I am so so happy because I will be spending Christmas in this area (: I was really nervous that I would be transfered before Christmas but I will be here till at least January 5th! (: Im really glad I will get to be spending Christmas here because I love this ward so much, and Hermana Cedillo and I have been blasting the Christmas hymns for the past month hahahaha so really it would just be horrible to have been transfered to a new ward with a new companion for Holidays! But this week we really want to focus on finding some new investigators! We have a lot of work to do here but things are going well! Something really exciting is the Romeros are doing everything to get ready to go be sealed in the Temple on the 20th of December! It is really cool being a part of their preperation and seeing them grow closer to our Heveanly Father! We have a great week ahead of us here! Thank you guys again for the package! It truly meant the world to me! I hope you guys have an amazing Thanksgiving! I love you guys so much and am so thankful to have you guys as my family! (:

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

More pics :)

 

Baptism of Francisco :)

 

Beautiful Girls!

 

Having fun playing a little basketball on Pday!

 

Silly girls :)

 

Basketball !!

Baptism :)

Hola Familia! 

This week was so crazy, but so great!! (: On Tuesday we had district class and it was really great. We had a lot of help from the members this week and they really brought the spirit into the lessons! We were able to teach Lidia again and I really think she will progress! The days during the week were pretty normal but the weekend was one for the books! haha. A few weeks ago we had gone to teach a young man who is in a branch where there arent missionaries and he has been recieving the lessons over the phone for a year, we didnt think we were going to be able to finish teaching him because it is a 3 hour drive to where he lives but on Saturday the branch president and his family brought Francisco, the young man, here for us to teach him. He had already gone to church 5 times so all he needed was the lessons to be baptized so we taught him all of the lessons and then he had his interview and was baptized all in the same day! It was so crazy because he didnt even know he would be getting baptized in the same day as all his lessons so we didnt have anything planned but with the help from the members, and our zone and district leaders we found everything we needed and were able to put together a baptismal service that really was so spiritual. Elder Christensen and Elder Hernandez both gave talks and then a brother from another ward played his gutiar and sang Grand Eres Tu ( how great thou art) and sang and it was amazing and then in the end Fransisco bore his testimony and his faith is amazing! It was so cool to be a part of his day and I felt so blessed to be able to teach him. On Sunday we were able to find some inactive members who never would let us teach before and they were so willing to listen and recieve the gospel in their houses again. There is a brother in the ward who served part of his mission, came home early and hasnt been to church much since and he is about 35 years old and normally when we teach his mom and his brother he leaves but yesterday he sat and talked with us and talked about his mission and it truly was amazing! We have a lot to work to do with him but I truly believe slowly he will come back to the church! I loved this week so much, and today we got to play basketball with some other sister missionaries and the youth from their ward and it was a blast! I am loving everything out here! We have transfers next week and I am hoping I dont get transfered but we will see what happens! haha I am so glad all is well back home! I love you guys so much! Have an amazing week(: 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

A few new pics:)

 

This kid is Kylie's buddy :)  They even have a secret handshake!!

 

If you look closely enough you will see Hermana Searle standing by the green "a"

 

Beautiful Hermanas

Cavity free :)

Hola Familia!

What a week! haha so everything ended up well with the dentist and I now have cavity and retainer free teeth! haha. But this week was really great! We are really starting to see some progress with the ward here and it has been really great! We have some really strong members here who really want to help teach the investigators! It is really great to have their support! This week we had a really cool experience, we were looking for one of our investigators, but she wasnt home but her son answered the door and as my companion was talking to him a man asked if we had a book or a pamphlet that he could read So i started talkingto him and explaining that we are missionaries and everything and we had a member with us and she shared her testimony with him and we gave him a Book Of Mormon and set up an appointment with him and then he asked if he could go to church and we of course said yes and he came to church with us yesterday!! It was so cool because people dont usualley come up to us and ask to go to church or anything but it was such a cool experience and we really think he will progress! This week we also had some really good lessons with Guadalupe and her mom Juana. Guadalupe is a lady who really understands the scriptures and she told us that the Book Of Mormon was the answer to her prayers! She accepted a Baptism date for the 13th of December and we are really excited to teach her! This week we also were able to teach Edith and she too will be progressing she is really great and so are her kids. We had breakfast with them the other day and I gave her kids an English lesson and they are just a really awesome family! But her husband lives in Seattle and she hasnt heard from him for 2 weeks so she is really worried but it all has helped her come closer to our Heavenly Father! We have a lot of work to do with them still and hope to help them out and hopefully they will be baptized soon! Things are so great here and the weather is even getting better too! I am loving being here and I am so glad all is well back home! I love you guys so much and I hope you all have a great week!

Love always,

Hermana Searle

 

 

 

She said "So, for Halloween this year I decided to dress like a hippie..."

 

Then I decided "no, I will just be a missionary"

 

 

HaHa!  I love this girl so much!!!!!!!

 

So, apparently this is Kylie's bedroom.  Wow, its quite a bit different than what she had at college or at home.  I cant explain how I felt when I saw this picture.  I guess it was a reality check for me of just how simple life is for her right now.  I asked her if she wants blankets and she said no.  She is content with how things are. We really take for granted all the worldly possessions we have.  Today she said she wishes she could do more for the people in Mexico.  She is impressed with how humble they are and with how they live.

6 months :)Hola Familia!!

Hola Familia!!

6 months has FLOWN by! I seriously cant believe this past week I hit my 6 month mark! This week was so great! I was a little stressed and overwhelmed the first couple days this week but it truly ended up being a great week! On Wednesday we had members from the ward with us the entire day and the spirit was so strong. It was so amazing. One of the members, her name is Aby, is 18 and considering serving on a mission and it was really cool working with her. We also have a really great investigator right now, her name is Lizbeth. She is 16, and reminds me so much of books. She is such a sweet girl and just wants everyone to be happy. Her mom is a member but hasnt gone to church for years. But Liz wanted the lessons so we started teaching her and she will be getting baptized in December if all goes as planned. She went to church with us on Sunday and it was so great! She loved it and is excited to have met some girls in young womens and to be attending church! It is really cool watching her progress! And, she even was ready to go to church at 7 in the morning! so that was great! haha. This week was Halloween and it was weird being in a different country haha but they celebrate it here, but not like home. There were a few little kids trick or treating but not a lot. And the Older kids all go to a part of Vallarta where a lot of Americans live that always give out money haha so that was funny to me. But this week really was so great! A lot of our investigators are seeing so many blessings in their lives right now and it is such a testimony builder for them and for us! I love being out here on my mission and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be out here! This week we have a lot of really great lessons planned and we have a lot of members that will be teaching with us! And, the weather is finally good! It is still hot but not miserably hot and it has been cloudy all week which has been fabulous! I hope that you guys have a great week! I love you all so much!

Love always,

Hermana Searle  

My cute girl:)

 

Ky sent me this picture today to show me that she really is happy :)

 

Beautiful Hermanas:)

 

She titled this "My Favorite Hermanas"

 

Not much to say :(

Hola Familia!!

Well this week flew by!! We had splits two days this week and were able to go to a different area yesterday! The splits went really well because one day I was with Hermana Ford who is also from Utah and the other I was with Hermana Santana!!(: It was so fun working with her again and seeing how much we have both progressed these last two months! We found some really great investigators this week and 3 of them have baptism dates! We also are seeing a lot of progress with the less active members and so many of them  are coming back to church and it is so great! We are trying to bring more unity to the ward here and I feel like it will really help the work in all aspects. Yesterday we were able to go to a small town with about 10 members because there is a young kid who wants the lessons. He found the church website when he was looking for music and he put his information in the website and has been recieving the lessons over the phone for the past year!! It is such a crazy story! We will hopefully be able to teach him and help him be ready to be baptized! It is cool to see how much faith he has! We have a lot of really good things planned this week, and will hopefully see a lot of progress! I am glad to hear all is well back home! I love you guys so much! I hope that you guys have another great week! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

New Shoes :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute Hermana Searle emailed on Monday and asked if she could spend a little money.  We of course told her yes.  She was so excited because she got these cute new shoes.  It was actually really awesome to have her ask me a "normal" question.  You know "Mom, can I have some money?"  HaHa!  I love her so much and I think she is the cutest thing ever:)

Hola:)

Hola Familia!

Well this week was something else! It has actually been pretty stressful because well my companion doesnt know anything about the area, or any of the people so I have had to do a lot of work on my own. But she is trying hard to learn the people to be able to help! But this week we were able to find some really good new investigators! We found Nedy, and she is Golden!! She was sitting outside of her house one night and we contacted her and she was really interested! We said a prayer with her and set up another appointment. We had our appointment with her yesterday and as we were explaining the book of mormon she told us that she has one! Which here that is a miracle, because EVERYONE is catholic!! But she really does have one she has the Book of Mormon with D&C and the pearl of great price and she reads it!!! It was such a great experience! She told us its hard for her to understand but she always feels at peace when she reads it and she wants to understand it! She also has a hymn book and other books from the church that her dad had given to her a couple years ago! She really is so great and I am so glad we found her! She is going through some rough things right now and said that before we contacted her she was just praying to find the answer and then we showed up! So it was overall a great experience! That was the highlight for the week! And we will be teaching her again tomorrow (: The hard part of the week was we had to stop teaching one of our investigators :( She is a 14 year old who wants nothing but to understand the gospel and her parents wont let her recieve the lessons but she asked if she can still read the book of mormon even if she isnt getting the lessons and of course we told her yes! I hope that her time to recieve the fullness of the Gospel is soon! She will be a great member of the church one day! But overall things are progressing here and we have a good week ahead of us! I am so glad to hear everyone back home is well! I love you guys so much! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

 

 

 

Short Email :(

Hola Familia! 

So this week I dont have hardly anytime but I just wanted to let you all know that I will be staying in Vallarta! I am with Hermana Cedillo, she has about 3 months more than me in the mission and she seems really great! This week was really good, but kind of sad! It was hard seeing sister Zepeda leave because we really were such good friends! But she is coming back to visit in Novemeber so yay! haha we found some really good new investigators this week! And hope to see them progress! I really dont have much to say for this week but I am doing great and so happy to be here in Vallarta still! It will be a little hard cause I am the only one who knows the area and I dont even know it very well but with our map and the members I am sure we will be fine(: haha I love you guys so much! Sorry this is so short! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

A couple new pics :)

Here are 2 new pictures that she sent today:)

 

 

Conference :)

Hola familia! 

Wasnt conference just amazing?? It was definitley the best weekend of my entire mission! It is such a blessing to have a prophet who is called of God with his aposotles to guide us and direct us in this world that is so difficult to live in! I loved every minute of conference and was really sad when it ended! But what was everyones favorite talks?? I dont think I can choose just one favorite one, but I do have to say that Elder Bednars was amazing!! It was so great how he adressed all the people who arent members of the church to truly explain, in a way only a man called of God could do, the reason why we as members of this church are so eager to share it! As a missionary I guess I just related alot more to the reasoning because I am sharing the gospel all day everyday, but it was a powerful message! I also really liked the talk given by M. Russell Ballard! It is so true how we need to "Stay in the boat!" Overall conference was so amazing! It was a really cool experience watching conference as a missionary! And, I got to watch it in English (: haha but when people gave their talks in Spanish, we switched it to the Spanish channel! I also thought that was such a cool thing! I loved that people were able to give their messages in their native language! Such a great addition to conference! This week for us has been good! We had our interviews with President Wagner on Friday and it was really good! I am lucky to have him as my missionary President! And hermana Wagner is great too! They take really good care of us out here! We then had splits, and I was with Hermana Ibanez!  We got to Guadaljara the same day but since she is from Mexico she was only in the CCM for 2 weeks so I have more time than her as a missionary and that was such a weird feeling! haha I think it was the first time my entire mission I didnt feel super new! Which I shouldnt feel new cause I have 5 months in the mission haha but yeah! It was a really good day with her! And then Hermana Zepeda and I have been pretty frustrated because we are having a really hard time with investigators so President Wagner told us to street contact at least 100 people each day and we wont be discouraged! And it works!!!! On Friday it was 101 and Saturday we contacted 106 people and yesterday it wasnt quite as many but we contacted 65 people! It is amazing how different it feels when we literally invite every single person we see to come unto Christ! And it makes for funny stories too! haha I will share one, We decided we would contact a bus, and I was going to do it( talk about scary!) So we get on the bus and I ask the driver if i can share something with the people on there and he says yes So, I say that we are missionaries and all that jazz and hermana zepeda explains that we will give people cards with an internet page on the back that they can look at. And this was the first time I contacted a bus and it was soooo funny because the bus driver was crazy and we about fell like 500 times but my bus surfing skills i learned from all the cross-country trips paid off haha needless to say we enjoyed looking like fools and i learned how to yell in spanish! haha so yeah that was good! We have found some new investigators that we will be teaching this week! And sadly, this is Hna.Zepedas last week in the mission! But we will make it the best one yet! I am so glad you were all able to enjoy conference and had a great week! I love you guys so much! Thanks for everything!! (: 

love always,

Hermana Searle 

Rough Week :(

Hola Familia!! 

Oh my goodness it sounds like you guys had quite the week!! This week her was actually kinda tough. We had to drop 4 of our investigators because they just werent progressing and it was really sad. We have been kind of discouraged this week but we did find 8 new investigators that we will be meeting with them again with in the next few days! So hopefully that goes well!! (: The best part of this week was we got to teach Raul, he is 8 and his parents are less active members. He was baptized on Saturday and was a baptism of the ward but our ward mission leader asked us to teach him all the lessons before his baptism! And lets just say 8 year olds dont like listening to lessons for 2 hours each day. haha but dont worry we got creative and played games like Simon Says and wrote directions he had to follow to get back to his house and stuff like that to explain the gospel principles and he had a blast! haha but the best part was we were explaining keeping the sabath day holy so we gave him 7 instructions, and all of the first 6 he had to do like jumping jacks, running in place, push ups, and all sorts of stuff then the 7th he got to rest and read a scripture about keeping the sabbath day holy and he decided he liked the idea of having a day of rest. haha but it was really good! And his dad was able to baptize and confirm him so overall it was a really great experience! We also had the womens conference and it was really good, at least what I understood was good! I really enjoyed it! And I am very excited for conference this upcoming weekend! I am definitley ready to listen to the prophet  and apostoles and other leaders of the church (: Im sorry this is kinda short this week, we really just had a lot of days of looking for people who werent home. ha but I hope that you guys have another great week! I love you all so much! 

Love Always,

Hermana Searle 

A few pictures !!

 

Stake Conference

 

Ky and Hermana Zepeda

 

We don't know who this is but they sure look happy :)

 

 

I love when we get pictures!  I miss her so much.  It is so good to see her cute face:)

Another great week!

Hola Familia!
So this week was really good!! On Tuesday we had our district class and then had a practice for a song we would be singing in Stake conference! haha It went well and there are about 36 missionaries here in Puerto Vallarta! It is super crazy! haha we had a lot of good lessons this week as well! We finally were able to teach one of our new Investigators! Her name is Erika and she is awesome!! Her story of how she found out about the church is pretty great! She works with one of the members here and one day had hymns playing on her phone so the member heard them so he was all " Oh so i guess I am safe to call you sister?" And she was all, "Well im not a member I just love the Hymns." So he contacted Hermana Zepeda before I got here and finally we were able to teach her! She is so great! The spirit was so strong in the lesson and I just know she will progress! She was talking about how she has always been looking for the guidance of the Lord in her life and she feels like she has found it through the hymns she has heard and the things we were teaching her! It is so cool to see people be so strong and have such a strong tesatimony of our Savior before they even get baptized into his church! We also were able to meet with a recent convert this week! His name is Alan and he got baptized 6 months ago! He just moved here to live with his mom, because he was living with his dad, and he wants us to teach her! He is so happy and excited to be a member of the church and in 6 months can submit his papers for the mission! We have a Family Home Evening tonight with him and his mom! So that should be really good! We also had Stake Conference this week and it was amazing! President and Sister Wagner were there and I just love when we get to hear them speak! THe whole conference was just amazing! Of course there was a lot of talk about missionary work and a lot about how the members can be apart of this work! And it was just a really good conference! It got me even more excited for General Conference in a couple weeks! The weather here has been super bipolar this week haha and it will be super nice in the mornings than super hot in the afternoon then cold at night haha so thats been fun! And the only hard thing we have had this week is our phone broke... And it is nearly impossible to talk to members and our leaders without a phone! ha we have the sim card so anytime we are with people we ask if we can switch the sim cards and borrow their phone ha its kinda crazy and we will probably be without a phone until Oct. 3rd! But all is well! haha we are getting really good at walking really fast from house to house to hopefully have time to find members! But really I am so happy here in Vallarta! I love it here and me and Hermana Zepeda are such good friends! I am already getting sad that she is leaving so soon! But I feel blessed to have the chance to work with her! I am learning so much and she is even doing some training stuff with me so I can feel more prepared when I get a new companion! Things here are going so great and I am so happy! Also, I am super glad things back home seem to be going great as well! (: I love you guys so much!
Love always,
Hermana Searle

Transferred? Again? What?

Hola Familia!!

So this week has been beyond crazy and sooo long! haha on  Tuesday morning at about 7 we got a call saying I would be getting transfered again and that I would be with Hermana Zepeda in Puerto Vallarta! So on Tuesday night I had to go to the  mission offices and meet my new companion and see what was going on! So Hna. Zepeda was training Hna.Jackman who got her 6 weeks after I did, but then Hna. jackman got super sick and had been going to doctors here for about 3 weeks and no one could figure out what was wrong with her :( So sadly she had to return back to the states to hopefully get some answers and get healthy again. Tuesday night was really sad. She just was crying, and crying and I didnt know what to do for her! But she told Hna. Zepeda that she is doing a Little better and will be getting things all figured out this week! But please keep her in your guys prayers! She wants to be out here serving so bad and it was so sad how sad she was! e slept in the mission offices on Tuesday night then on Wednesday morning we had to go to the bus station and come to my 3rd área in the 3 months that i have been in the mission field! haha but in the bus station we had to wait 2 hours for our bus so we spent the best 10 pesos of our lives and got massages in a massage chair! And were then in a bus for about 5 hours!  Hna. Zepeda is awesome! She only has 4 weeks left in her mission and she is such a great missionary! She studied at byu for a year and a half before the mission so she is fluent in english (yay!) and she is so fun! This week has been super super long but it is going well! My new aea is Puerto Vallarta and it is gorgeous here! But it is as hot as Manzanillo haha so I sadly only got 8 days of perfect weather! haha But we have a lot of work to do here because there was about 3 weeks that Hna. Jackman and Hna. Zepeda couldnt do anything at all. So this week I dont have a ton of exciting stories about my área, and I am still just trying to get used to things but I honestly feel like this is exactly where I need to be. i was sad at first to be getting transfered again but I just feel like there are a lot of things I need to do here in this área! Alos, something super cool! On Tuesday night the Assistants were doing splits with my old zone leaders and so they were in the mission offices when I got there and ... Jose is going to get baptized and then Baptize Rosa!!!! (: I was so happy to hear that! I cant wait for them to be baptized and then a year from now be sealed in the temple as a family (: That is the best thing about being a missionary! I have this time to help people understand that they can have eternal families (: It is the best! I am glad to hear things are going pretty well back home! I hope that you guys have a great week! I love you!

Love,

Hermana Searle

So far so good :)

Hola Familia! 

So, first off being in Guadaljara is sooo different than Santiago! haha there are so many people here! It is so fun! It is so different being in the city than in a little town! This week has been really good! It is hard trying know where stuff is in a new area but we are doing pretty well! Being in a trio is surprisingly really good! So far no one has felt too left out and it is nice that one of my companions speaks English(: haha. This week we had some really good lessons! There is one family that has attended church 3 times and want to be baptized their baptism date is set for the 27th of this month! The only bad thing is we might have to change it because the husband will be out of town until the middle of October. So that is sad. But the members here are pretty great! They always have people they want us to teach so that is good! It is hard to find new investigators here because no one that we contact in the street wants to listen to our message so that is a little hard. We also have an investigator that turns 17 next month but his mom wont let him get baptized until he is 18 so we are hoping with the power of prayer and hard work we can get her permission for him to be baptized! I feel like not a lot happened this week so I am not sure what to write. haha but something funny... So last night when we were planning everything we were going to do today we were all super stressed because we didnt think we would have time to do everything we needed to do.. So we decided we would clean our house at 6:30 in the morning so that we would have more time during the day. Well, we woke up at 6:30, cleaned as fast as we could, got ready super fast( so needless to say we dont look our best today) studied, did laundry, bought groceries, and ate lunch and finish it all like an hour and half before we needed to haha and it might not sound funny to anyone but we just had to laugh because we really were so worried last night haha and stressed that we werent going to have time to do everything! haha but really this week was good! I love my companions and I am learning so much here! It is so nice being done with my training and to have the chance to work with new companions! I am glad things back home are going well! I love you guys so much!! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

Cambios (I think this means transfers)

> Hola Familia!
> What a week it has been!! So to start on Tuesday we found out that Rosa and Jose, the parents of Marina and Rosario, would be getting married on Friday which means they would be one step closer to baptism..yay(: and we were so excited about that! On Wednesday we were in Colima on Wednesday for a conference with Elder Piper, from the 70, and it was AMAZING! We talked about how missionary work is the work of Salvation and all the things we need to do as missionaries, and as members of the church, to help others to come unto Christ! I learned soo much I have about 10 pages of notes I can share with you all in 14 months! haha But on Wednesday night we had no power, and it was sooo hot and so miserable but we got it all figured out by the next morning. The contract for the power expired and the owner of the house was supposed to renew it and didnt but he went and did it on Thursday! On Thursday we found a family that everyone but the youngest daughter is a member, they were in my Zone leaders first area and they then lived in the US for awhile. They are a really great family and want to be strong in the church and be good examples to their daughter as she prepares for baptism! On Friday we had the wedding of Jose and Rosa, and it was in a courthouse type thing and I got to be a witness(: I didnt know it was possible to be a witness for a wedding in a country i dont have citizenship in but it was really cool! They were so happy to finally be married, and now all they need to do to be baptized is have their interviews! They will most likely be baptized on Saturday (: Then on Saturday Hermana Fragoso was in Guadaljara and I was with Hermana Vera and Hermana Girardelli! It was a really good day and we had some really good lessons! Yesterday was super long, we were anxiously waiting for the call about cambios and were so nervous! We ate lunch with almost everyone in the ward and we were all guessing what the changes would be! At 5 we were in a lesson with Petra, she is a less active, and her siter, mom and husband Victor, who is an investigator, and we got the phone call! We then found out that I would be being sent to Guadalajara, but the assistants forgot to say who my companion was! Honestly, I was really sad, and Cambios are super hard. haha I started crying and the rest of the night was honestly pretty sad. The youth had an activity in the church so we went so i could say bye to all of them and their parents that were there. In the church Hna. Krishna, she is the district presidents wife and she teaches English here, came up to me and was crying and gave me a hug and was super sweet and told me how now not only do i have my family back home to support me but I have my family in Manzanillo as well. She told me I just need to keep working hard and I will change lives like I did in my other area. Her daughter Kaori, who is 13 or 14, was also so sad and we all just hugged and cried and it was super hard. Jose told me that I will always be in their hearts and a part of their lives because i signed their wedding papers(: It is super hard saying bye but I am super excited to be here in Guadaljara! My area is Providence 2 and my zone is Union! i am in a trio with Hermana Arellano and Hermana Huchendorf! I am excited for this new part of my mission and I am excited to be in a trio! I am so glad all is well back home! Everyone sounds great! I hope you guys have a great week!! I love you all so much!
> Love always,
> Hermana Searle

She loves her dad:)

Hola Familia!

First off, Thank you so so so much for the package!!!(: I got it on Wednesday and it made my week! I also got a letter from dad, books and Abbey morrison! So thank you all so much! It was so good to get actual letters and american candy (: haha but this week was pretty good! We had zone conference and it was so good! Like amazing! Honestly, President Wagner and Hermana Wagner are such amazing people and I am glad i get to be serving here when they are here! As a mission we have really been focusing on understanding the atonement and what it really means to repent for our sins, and what it means for our investigators to make covenants such as baptism. President wagner had us do a lot of practices and showed us how to use the scriptures and how to better follow the spirit. Sometimes I feel as though I need to talk a lot to be able to help our investigators learn but in reality the spirit is more powerful than anything, and the scriptures explain better than I ever can what they need to understand. We also learned that, continual repentance isnt enough to be keeping our baptismal covenant. If we just continually repent we only have done things that added to the suffering of our Savior. to keep our baptismal covenant we need to make permenant changes in our lives so that we can become more like Christ. We also talk a lot about enduring to the end, and the end isnt just when we  die, its enduring until we are as christ was! This really was such a good conference and I know I personally have a lot to work on before I can be as Christ was and it is a really big responsability but it is also such a blessing that we have the chance to do that, and that we always have the help of our Savior! He knows everything we are feeling at all times and is always ready to help us if we can just pray In faith, and in his name to our Heavenly Father! Also this week I got to work with Hermana Giradelli for a day! She is from California and has about 9 months in the mission and she is awesome! Everyone thinks we are twins or sisters because well we are both white with blonde hair and blue eyes and look like we dont belong here, but I really learned a lot from her! We taught some really good lessons and the spirit was so strong! We taught an inactive member about the priesthood and she had asked if i could share an experience so i just talked about how having a dad who is a worthy priesthood holder has always been such a blessing in my life, and I of course got emotional but it was so great! The hermana, her name is silvia, wants to get back to church and she was so happy and greatful that we were able to visit her! We also taught an investigator whose wife is a member but he isnt. His wife is a recent convert, and sadly she has cancer, but her and her husband are so strong! He has a baptism date set for the 30th of this month. but they have to go to Guadaljara for her cancer treatment but I know that God will bless them in this time as he strives to follow the example of our savior. I hope that Hermana Giradelli can keep me updated on their progress! But as for my area, we had one really solid investigator who we thought for sure would get baptized, but he decided he doesnt want lessons anymore because he doesnt want to live the word of wisdom, or the law of chastity. And it was really hard because we cant make him change but i hope and pray one day he will accept the gospel! This upcoming wednesday we will be in Colima for a conference type thing which means I get to see Hermana Newbold!!! (: (: I am super happy about that! This week is also the last week of my training and the last week of this transfer so next week I might be in a new area! But i hope you guys have an amazing week! I love you all so much! Thank you again for the package and letters (: You guys are the best! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

Doing great!

Hola Familia! 

So this week was crazy fast! On Tuesday we had our district class like usual and spent most of the day looking for references. Sadly, we didnt find very many of them. But on Wednesday we had a really good day! We found a new investigator a couple of weeks ago and he wanted us to come teach him and his wife, his name is Armando and her name is Teresa and they have 4 kids, well she has 2 from another marriage, he has 1 from another marriage and they have 1 together. And we only met one of their kids but they really are a great family. They are super christian but want a change. They actually have a lot of marriage problems right now but you can just tell how much they really love each other. they both know they have things they need to change for their family and they seem to understand that the gospel is going to help them more than anything else! They are so nice to us too, they want our help and are the first people we have found that really seem to want to change because they understand it is what God wants. We have another lesson with them on Wednesday so hopefully it goes well! We were with Hermana Rodriguez and Hermana Santana Friday and Saturday and it was really good! I got to teach with Hermana Rodriguez and we had a really good day! we were able to find some of the references they had recieved and were able to teach some really good lessons! On Saturday and Sunday was stake, well district, conference and since we are in branches here President wagner is the President of not only the mission, but the branches as well. him and Hermana Wagner came to it and the conference was really really good! Everyone that spoke just really brought the spirit! I loved it! But, it definitley made me want it to be October for General Conference! But we also have our mission zone conference this week so that will be good! We had a really funny experience this week, hahaha. One day we were getting ready to leave our house and we get outside and it started POURING!! and usually when it starts pouring it is cloudy most the day with tons of puddles in the street so my companion was all. " i have 2 pairs of rain boots lets go get them." So we go change into rain boots get umbrellas and rain jackets and head back outside.. 2 minutes later it stops raining and the sun comes out so here we are walking through Mexico in rainboots and jackets when the sun is shining and its super hot! haha luckily we had other shoes in our bags and a member let us leave the boots at our house haha but everyone was looking at us like we were crazy because they were all in shorts, tank tops and sandals! haha but it was fun! We have a lot of good lessons planned for this week and hopefully all will go as planned! I am so glad everyone back home is doing well! I cant believe summer is over! And all the kids are starting school again and that books will be a Junior!! Crazy crazy! But I hope you guys have a great week! I love you all so much! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle

Another week :)

Hola Familia!

Well this week was really good! It was super long though because all week I was so anxious to see if Grayson had been born! haha. But this week was good! On Tuesday we were with Hermana Smith and Hermana Cruz and for about 3 hours it was just me and Hermana Smith and a member from her ward and our companions were in a different part of their area and oh my haha. There is a reason they dont have two americans as companions here!! haha. But it was good we had some really good lessons! we also spent a lot of time this week getting ready for the play we had to do yesterday and that was interesting! haha lets just say when you put 20 missionaries together to come up with a play it is quite a disaster! But we pulled it off and the district president was happy with it and all went well! haha This week we had a lesson that was really interesting to say the least. it was with the family that is of no religion but they study the bible and want to find the right religion. We were teaching the mom about the Book of Mormon and she had 10000 questions. Which were all really interesting. We answered all of them with scriptures and were feeling so great about the lesson, at one point I was bearing my testimony of the Book of Mormon and then my companion did as well and the spirit was soo strong and she was really thinking about what we had said and I thought for sure she was going to accept what we were saying and then her husband came outside and he had 100000 more questions and then his wife wasnt so sure about what we had said and it went downhill from there, but we really answered all their questions with scriptures in the bible about the book of mormon and testified with all we had and went on our way, it was kinda sad because we dont really know what we will do at this point with them but it was good as well. We also had a new investigator in church who we had contacted over a month ago in a park and he remembered where the church was and came and had read so much of the book of mormon we gave him and wants lessons in the church so we were super happy about that!(: The work here is going really well and we have some really good new investigators! I am glad you all had a good week! I cant believe summer is almost over! And Books will be starting her Junior year!! But I hope you guys have another good week! I love and miss you all! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

The Power of Prayer :)

Hola familia!

Well this week has gone by super fast, and nothing too crazy has happened. But on Tuesday I was in a trio all day because my companion was at a training in Guadalajara! We had to be to central, a bus station that is about 40 minutes from our house, at 6 in the morning so that wasnt the funnest haha. But being with the other hermanas was good! After when Hermana Fragoso got back we took another bus to go back to our house and it was the wrong bus!! haha So we were super lost and didnt really know what to do so we called our district leader and he told us to pray and be super careful and call the zone leaders and ask if they knew the area we were in. So we went and prayed and it was the first time since I have been here that i was scared, which is a blessing because sometimes it is kinda sketchy here. But we called the zone leaders and they told us to pray and find bus 2 and that they would pray for us too so we waited for what seemed like FOREVER and finally a bus came and now our only worry was getting back to our house before 9:30 but we got home at 9:30 without any problems! So that was such a blessing! I love knowing I can pray anytime i need anything and i will be watched over and protected! The rest of the week was really good! We have found some really really good new investigators!! We have 3 new families to teach that are just so ready to recieve the gospel! One of the families is the Perez family, they dont have a religion but they study the bible together every day as a family and have been searching for the right religion for the past 2 years and havent liked any church they have gone too because they have felt as though none of them are correct. Basically the perfect investigators! we are really looking forward to teaching them more(: Also, we have a neighbor who is one of our investigators and sells fruit and the other day we were talking to her at her little fruit cart and a man came to buy fruit and started asking about the church and he had had problems with alcohol for years but his friend always talked to him about how bad it is and talked to him about the bible so he started to go to AA classes and hasnt drank for like 2 years and he as well is looking for a church. So we explained that we are missionaries and explained a little bit about the gospel and the book of mormon and  gave him a book of mormon and he almost cried because he was so happy. It was such a neat experience! I love being able to teach people about the gospel and the book of mormon and just being a missionary is so amazing! We had a crazy thunderstorm the other night and it has been miserably hot since but things are going really well here! we have a play thing we are doing for all the members in the district next week and it hopefully will go well! I cant believe it has been 3 months since i left! It keeps going faster and faster! I am so glad all is well back home! Im sad the baby hasnt come yet!! But i am sure by next week he will be here! I love you guys so much! 

Love always,

Hermana Searle 

Doing well!!

Hola(:

Time is FLYING! First off I am finally more than halfway through my training! yay! and I cant believe it is monday again! This week was pretty good! Honestly nothing too crazy or exciting happened but i will tell you guys all about it anyway! On Tuesday we had our district class, and we got new mattresses and a book shelf so that was exciting! But the Hermano delivered it, his daughter is in the mission here!!! It was the saddest thing he had stuff for her and she had stuff for her family so he had to wait outside the church while we went into the church and got the stuff from her and it was so sad that her dad was here and she couldnt say hi to him. My companion and I both cried because we felt so sad for them. But she goes home in 4 months and was perfectly fine!  But on Wednesday we had a lot of lessons with members which was really good! The member that was with us is Hermana Sonia and she is a returned missionary and she is so funny!! haha She was so helpful because she literally talks to everyone, and cant start conversations in the most random ways! But she was so helpful and has such a strong testimony and knows all the lessons so it was great! But it was also one of the funniest days... First we were looking for a reference we recieved from the Elders and while looking we asked some people if they knew where they lived and we still dont know if the person was a guy, or a girl, and Hermana Sonia thought it was the funniest thing! And then after our last lesson we had like 30 minutes before we had to be in our house so she decided that i needed to eat tacos so we go buy tacos and this guy comes to the place and starts rapping, and rapped about everyone in the place and rapped about my eyes being the color of heavan and Hermana Sonia also thought this was soooo funny haha it is something that you kinda had to be there for it to be funny, but yeah wednesday was a good day! Thursday was good too! We are looking for a new house because ours is just interesting to say the least and we thought we found the perfect one, but other people that live here told us not to rent it because when it rains the house floods.. haha so we have to keep looking! But yesterday we had 2 new investigators in church and they are the daughters of some less active members and they were so happy that they got to go to church! So I think they will progress really well, right now their baptism date is set for the 30th of this month! So hopefully all goes as planned! It sounds like you guys had a great weekend! I am so glad all is well back home! I love you guys so much! Have a great week! (: 

love always,

Hermana Searle 

Pics :)

 

Baptism of Rosario and Marina

 

Another pic from Baptism :)

 

Hermana Searle and Hermana Santana

 

They found a random mirror on someones front door so of course they stopped to take a picture.  They wanted another one because this is so blurry but as soon as they went to take it someone walked out of the door.  I guess it was pretty funny!!!!

 

They still don't love early mornings!!

She's doing great!

Hola! 

Well this week was so fast, and so good! On Tuesday we had our district classes and then I was in a trio Tuesday from like 2pm- Wednesday at like 10am! It was so great. The best thing about Hermana Fragoso being the training leader for the Hermanas in our Zone is I get to go with other Hermanas 3 times each transfer and it is always cool to learn from them and meet their investigators! On Wednesday after we were all back with our companions we just had our normal lessons.On thursday we had weekly planning in the morning and after had lessons with Rosario and Marina who were getting ready for their baptism! The lessons with them are always really good! On Friday we decided we would try and teach one of our investigators who we havent been able to find for the past couple weeks. The first two times we had taught her we just thought she was going to progress so quickly but then after that anytime we went to teach her no one answered the door so we figured she didnt want more lessons. But during weekly planning we just felt like we needed to plan for her this week. So on Friday morning we went to her house and the door was open and she was happy to see us! She is 8 months pregnant and had been in the hospital because they were afraid her baby was going to be born early, but all is well and she should have the baby in about a month! She told us she really liked what she had read in the Book of Mormon and was glad we came back. She is super catholic so we figured it would be really hard to teach her but she just takes everything we say and really thinks about it! She has so much Faith in God and wants to know all she can about the Book of Mormon and how she can be closer to her Heavenly Father! So she accepted a baptismal date and when she said the closing prayer the spirit was so strong! Her neighbor was there as well and she accepted a baptism date and asked for a Book of Mormon(: On Saturday we had the baptism of Rosario and Marina(: It was soooo great! They were so happy and just it is indescribable! After they were baptized they had time to share their testimonies with those that were there and Marina is 11, and she has such a strong testimony of how much the gospel changed her life and her family. It was just so great! Yesterday they were confirmed and said they just have so much peace and happiness in their lives! We had a really interesting lesson yesterday...haha. After church we decided to go and teach The Alcaraz family. The parents are less active members and the two daughters want to be baptized.. Well they sell pirated movies, in front of a Catholic Church, and yesterday just so happened to be a big ceremony for the church and they had a parade where all the people were dancing. And the dance is like a cultural dance for Mexico that goes wayyyyy back in time and they do this dance to give thanks to The Virgin Mary when they recieve blessing, and they set off fireworks all day and it is just quite interesting to say the least. So just picture 2 LDS missionaries trying to teach investigators with illegal movies and the parade of another religion... It was something else!! My companion and I couldnt help but laugh after because of how not ideal of an enviroment it was. But the dad has a really strong testimony and knows he needs the gospel for him and his daughters, so that was good! This week we really want to find some new investigators and work on getting them to church! So hopefully all works out well! I am so glad you guys are doing so great I love and miss you guys so much!! I hope you have a great week (: 

Love Always,

Hermana Searle