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