Happy Tuesday!! - Sister Gillett

December 17, 2013
Hey Family!!

Sorry that I worried you and I didn't write yesterday. Our p-days have been switched to Tuesdays for the rest of the month because we will be doing Facebook training on Mondays. That is the only day that the Family History Center is open to us and closed to the public. Yipee...We are back on Facebook. I can't really decide if I like it or not, but it is something inspired by the Lord. As soon as we get our ipads we will be spending an hour a day on Facebook. I have deactivated my previous account until after my mission so for now I will just be using my mission Facebook account.

We get our mail on pdays and Thursdays so it only takes a little while for us to get our mail.
GREAT NEWS!!! Ya remember that time that Sister J and I got a red light ticket... Our attorney won that case because the sun made it so that in the video you couldn't tell when the light turned red...SCORE!!! Tender mercy!! :) So now all we have to do is pay the attorney which is a LOT cheaper than paying the ticket :)

I had my first interview with President Bowen. It went really well and GUESS WHAT :) He said that Sister J and I get to stay together another transfer....I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!! Sister J is so awesome and we have so much fun together!!  I am so grateful we get to spend more time together!!

We did service this week putting up Christmas lights for a member... We got sunburned!! Who would have guessed that it was going to be 75 degrees in the middle of December while we put up Christmas lights haha :) We had fun while doing it though!

We were able to get our most progressing investigator to a baptism some elders in our zone had this weekend. She really enjoyed it and it increased her curiosity more so she had a lot of questions for us which is so awesome. The Spirit was so strong and powerful and she definitely felt it!

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday...They sure know how to throw parties here in Cali!! They had lots of different soups and stews and the best part... They had a hot chocolate bar!! It was awesome!!! They also had little crafts for the kids and a movie. The Bolsa Grande High School Chior came and sang some Christmas songs for us. They did a very beautiful job. Afterwards, Bishop and his family gave all 30 choir members a Book of Mormon...Go big or go home I guess haha :) We had a lot of less active and a few non members there so that was a great finding activity for us!

Our Bishop has given us an assignment to focus on one less active sister and one less active family. For the past few weeks we have been trying to visit the less active family with no luck...They are always home, but they never answer the door. So we just decided to leave little notes for them that have a little quote on them and a scripture. Guess what... On Sunday they came to church. Even the little things can encourage people to come back. Last week after the Christmas devotional we stopped by to see the less active sister. Just as we were walking up the stairs we could hear the Christmas devotional playing in her house. We got really excited to hear that she was watching it. We knocked..and knocked...and knocked with no luck. So we left her a note and asked her to call us. Later in the week she did and we were able to set up an appointment with her. She said that she didn't hear us knock because she had the tv up loud so that she could hear it downstairs in the craft room. She is such a sweet lady and we will be going back to visit her again soon.

On Sunday at church I heard the parable of the starfish. idk if you guys have ever heard it before so I will tell it to you.... Every morning after the tide goes back out there are starfish left of the beach. If they don't get back into the water they will die. There was a little boy walking a long the beach and gently picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the sea. A man walked up to the boy and said "What are you doing... There are thousands of starfish on this beach. You will never be able to save all of them. You will never make a difference." The little boy walked up to the next starfish picked it up threw it back into the sea and replied to the man "I made a difference for that one." As I related that to missionary work I am reminded that I can't help everyone, but I can make a difference for some. The Gospel is so amazing and it can change everyone's life. I know it is true and I love it so much!!

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week! See you soon!! :)

Love, Sister Gillett

First Week of Training - Hermana Gillett

December 16, 2013

 On Tuesday it was Out with the  Old ;) And in with the New! The new being Sister Y! She is from Lindon, Utah.  Before we were told who our companions would be, we had a trainer/trainee meeting. Everyone kept saying that she was going to be my companion, and I was sure hoping so. I could just tell she had energy and love and was excited to work hard and love the people. When they called her name I was waiting in anticipation for them to call mine, and... They did!!! I did this little hop-skippity-jump over to give her a hug cause I was just so excited!

  We are seeing so many blessings/MIRACLES from obedience that we can barely count them all, not to mention have time to write about them in our journals! Sister Y came well-trained from the MTC and we have been "breathing" obedience. It's such a relief to not have to worry about the little things so we can focus on the work. 

    I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to have Hermana Y here with me. She brings such a sweet spirit and a strong testimony. I have been very impressed with  her involvement in lessons, both Spanish and English. She has such a great desire to share her testimony, and each time that she does the spirit is brought into the room and all are edified. She has really taught me this week of the importance of conviction in the bearing of our testimonies. She  has so much desire and energy to do the work. It's been so nice to be able to work side-by-side and support and uplift one another. My prayers were definitely answered, and are still being answered daily. We have had a lot of fun together and are working really hard to get this area organized so we can get out and Hasten the Lord's Work.

      We had some of the best lessons of my mission so far in the past few days which I knew came because of obedience and desire to do the Lord's will. Miracle: A few weeks ago, Hermana R and I asked for permission to stop by the home of our recent convert's daughter on our way home from Tampa. She was not home, but her neighbor was outside. She started speaking Spanish to us and told us that the lady we were trying to contact wasn't home. It surprised us that she immediately spoke spanish to us as if she already knew that we spoke Spanish. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and asked if the Elders could come by and teach her and she willingly accepted. We also left a note on J's door explaining that we were trying to contact her and left a phone number. Later that evening we received a phone call from her. I was able to talk to her and was surprised at how open she was with sharing her feelings with me. She and her father haven't spoken in over 30 years due to divorce of her parents, and other circumstances. She then told us that it would take her time, but she is really praying to be able to forgive her Father for abandoning her. He is the only family she has left. This week, we received a message from her saying that she was planning to come this weekend. Yesterday, she told us she planned to come to his house at 6pm and asked for his address. We were able to meet her last night and she and her father were so happy to be reunited. They talked of how they weren't going to reflect on the past, but start a new chapter of life together. That was such a miracle! We were able to testify of the power of the Lord in bringing families together, and spoke of how we can be together forever through the blessings of the temple. On the other side of the spectrum, our Recent Convert (her father) was ordained yesterday and was so excited.  He has been reading and praying every day, attending family history classes, preparing for the temple, and has been involved in the church as frequently as he can. I have learned so much from him about obedience and faith. The Lord has truly blessed him in every aspect of his life, and I know he will bless all of us in the same manner as we are obedient, have faith, and follow him.

    I got a phone call from the AP's and Elder P said "I have some news and you're not going to like it..." I got all nervous like something really sad or bad had happened. He said "You are going to be on car-share" aka riding bikes every other week. I heaved a huge sigh of relief and laughed and said, "Geeze, you really scared me on that one! Biking? that's nothing!" I could tell he was really relieved too cause normally missionaries aren't so happy about hearing that. Yes, we are biking again and I'm excited. This time it won't be quite as hot so that's nice! Tell JoLee that between the speed I built up to here, and the altitude change of when I come home, I'm sure she will be able to keep up just fine ;) 

     Yes, I got my c-mas package, and the presents look SO cute under the little Charlie Brown C-mas tree that a member let us borrow. Thanks! I 'm so excited!

Sorry to hear G-ma Pen isn't doing well. she is in my prayers! We had a ward c-mas party and they recognized a 90  year old woman who was having her b-day that week. She is so tall, adn so beautiful! She is so poised and looks like porcelain. I can't even believe she is as old as she is, I think I have more wrinkles than she does. It's so cool to see. I was t hi nking about g-ma when I saw her and  you're right, we are so blessed with the knowledge of eternal families. What a great gift of the gospel that she has given to all of us as her posterity. 

Love you all have a great week!

Hermana Gillett

Awesome Week! - Sister Gillett

December 9, 2013

 

Hey everyone!!

Sounds like it has been a cold week in Utah for you! Maybe you got the storm we got here in Cali this week. It has been so cold! haha like 48 degrees. I guess that probably sounds really warm to you guys right now, but it has been really cold for us. I actually had to put on my rain coat this week and turn on the heat in the car. haha rough life!!

This week has been pretty awesome! Sorry I didnt write you much last week. We were running behind schedule and I honestly didnt have much to tell you because it was a really slow week because everyone was busy with Thanksgiving. Yesterday we got to teach primary. We taught the same age group that Carol and I taught this summer. It was so much fun! We had a blast!!! We got to teach them about how the pioneers showed their faith in Jesus Christ and we played games with them and of course singing time was still my favorite part. I just love primary songs!! They were working on singing the 12th and 13th article of faith. If you pass it off you get some juice so Sister J and I passed off the 12th article of faith just for fun! Primary is so much fun!!

Wasn't the Christmas Devotional last night awesome!! Definitely different than it was before. Doesn't the First Presidentcy normally speak? It was great to hear all of the speakers and I thought it was really cool to see their focus on giving service for Christmas. I think that is awesome that you guys are giving so much service pushing snow for everyone. Way to go!! Keep up the good work! After the devotional Sister J and I drove around and looked at as many Christmas lights as we could on our way to our next appointment. Did you guys go look at Christmas lights too? Sister J also has a really awesome Josh Groban Christmas CD so we listened to that as we drove around. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! Here in California people actually decorate the trees in their yard with lights and ornaments. That would not last for one second in Utah with all the snow and wind you guys get! haha

Every 3 months in our mission all of the Sister Missionaries get together and have lunch and then President and Sister Bowen do a little devotional for us. It was really fun to be able to meet a lot of new Sisters and hear about how missionary work is going in their areas. So that was a lot of fun for us.

Here is a cool tender mercy... There is a senior missionary couple who lives in our apartment complex and they know that I have diabetes because he does too. While we were at sister's lunch he came up to me and asked if we payed for my insulin or if our insurance paid for it. I told him, and he said Well I have some insulin for you! I guess he has met a lady who is very well off because she use to work in Hollywood and she gives him the insulin that he needs. He had a bunch of extra insulin so he gave me a 3 month supply...WOW!!! What a tender mercy!

This week we did splits with the Samoan Sisters again. We all picked out a street to tract and then we both took opposite sides and knocked our little hearts out. No one was answering/ no one was interested in talking to us. We only had a few minutes left until we needed to meet back up at our car so we decided to knock on one more door. A sweet lady answered the door and after a second she said "oh, sisters you scared me...Come in." Sister N and I have never met or seen this lady before but she was so kind and welcomed us in. She lives in her friends back yard in a little storage shed that has been remodeled to look more like a home. She was so sweet and we shared a quick message with her. Afterwards she started to cry and she said "I dont know how you found me or who sent you here , but tell them thank you, I really needed that message today." We told her that we had no idea that she lived there and the only person that sent us to her was her loving Heavenly Father. I know that the Lord guides our path everyday and it was so awesome to witness that again. Her strength and humility really strengthened my testimony. She is a very dedicated member of the church. She loves the book of mormon and when we walked in she picked up a pillow off of the floor because she had left it there from her morning prayers. You could tell she prays a lot to her Heavenly Father and that through her prayers she knows the church is true and she knows that she is a daughter of God. It was so neat to have that experience!

This week I got to try Vietnamese food. It was called Pho. It was rice noodles with brothe and veggies and sweet and sour sauce. It was really interesting. Pretty good, but defintely not my favorite!

On pdays we do our studies and then we wash our car, do our grocery shopping, eat lunch, email, and then go to zone activity. Before we know it, it is over!! Pdays go so fast!!
Have a great week! Love you lots!! Stay warm!!

Love, Sister Gillett

Out with the Old, In with the New - Hermana Gillett

December 9, 2013

 

Snow? what's snow? Do you mean sand? We have a lot of that and SUNSHINE around here. What does 17 degrees feel like? It has only been 95 degrees here. haha That is so cool! How much snow do you have now?

I hope you all had a great week and enjoyed The Christmas Devotional last night. Wasn't that neat? Did it used to be longer? I swear when I was a kid that it was like 2 hours or something because it always seemed to drag... Of course I'm sure that had nothing to do with being excited to drive around and look at Christmas lights and listen to Christmas music afterwards. It is really interesting because our mission President just met with Elder Perry and they talked of how important it is that we start utilizing technology to its fullest. It was cool to see how even the First Presidency is setting that example. It really enhanced Elder Nelson's talk, and it was so fun to see all of those CUTE primary children singing "I'm trying to be like Jesus" which also happens to be my FAVORITE primary song. That was probably my favorite part :) The spirit was SO strong. I love the focus that is put on children at Christmas time and how if we can only see the world through a child's eyes and be like a child, THEN will we truly come to understand the true meaning of Christmas. It always gives me chills to hear them pray for the missionaries. I remember Mom

telling me to remember how much we are prayed for each day, and that has brought me a lot of strength throughout my mission. Thanks! :)

This week was crazy and I think we were in Tampa more than Brandon, but it was a very successful week. We had meetings for my companion to help her prepare for the after-mission life. She leaves tomorrow. We had exchanges with some sisters that we are over in Tampa and I  got to go to the YSA ward with her there. That was pretty awesome! I miss college... but wouldn't trade this mission experience for anything!  I was reminded of how grateful I am to live in Utah where people at least believe in God. It was sad how many "athiests" there were among the college students. We are going to have to work even harder to change that! WE also had our Mission Leadership Conference MLC on Friday in Bradenton. It was a great training and I always learn so much. I am excited to take it back to the sisters and continue to learn from them. After the meeting, we were in a big van with other missionaries that was going to take us back to where our car was parked in Brandon (they picked us up on the way to Bradenton from Tampa.) However, President Cusick got a phone call from someone named Donny and they said they had 1000 extra tickets to his concert. Next thing we knew, we were headed to Tampa for a Donny and Marie Osmond Christmas concert. haha Let's just say that I didn't realize how much I've become in "missionary mode" when it comes to "worldly" things until then. It was a good concert, but kinda uncomfortable at parts too. It was a good reminder to me of what is really important in life and at the Christmas season. Forgetting ourselves and remembering Christ as we serve others.

Early Saturday morning (we got back late fri, so it wasn't too fun getting up, but we did anyway with bright, only slightly forced smiles on our faces. They quickly became permanent though :) ) we went to help C with her service project. It was so neat! It worked out perfectly too because they only had 1 Spanish  translator, so they ended up needing us a lot more than they thought :) They have a lot of  donated items-computers, washers and dryers, fridges, clothes, furniture, toys, etc that people donated. They put it all out in sections and people can go through and get what they want/need for their families for Christmas all for FREE! It was so rewarding to see so many smiles on their faces and tears as people were so grateful for those who helped make it possible for them to have a Christmas. We met the sweetest couple from Ecuador, and hope to be able to teach them soon, that is if we can find them... They lived just down the street, but we are going to try to see if we can figure out their address exactly. The event was a huge success and  huge blessing. At first their Pastor was a little hesitant that we were there as missionaries, but thanked us after and was appreciative of our help. It was such a neat experience. Cathy invited us over for this week, so I'm excited to take my new trainee OH! I found out that I'm training starting tomorrow! YIPPEEE!!!! Send prayers this way for the both of us PLEASE! :)

I hope you all have a great week and remember how much I LOVE YOU!!! I will be getting my trainee tomorrow (hence "out with the Old as my companion goes home, and in with the New missionary :) ), so please pray for her, and me! :) I am so excited to have that new missionary spirit back again and we are going to love the people here so much! I love you! Stay safe, happy , and healthy. You are in my prayers! XOXO

Hermana Gillett

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! - HERMANA GILLETT

December 2, 2013

Hey family!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! It sure sounds like you did with all the family and football and such. It's good to hear everyone made it out alive and happy :) Dad, What is Smith and Edwards? Have I really been gone THAT long!?! haha It sounds like you got the lights up, and that's awesome! I'm still waiting for the moment when I can get away with wearing a sweater here, but it hasn't happened yet. People are putting up lights and playing c-mas music, but it hasn't really hit that it's that season yet. We had one day where it was 40 this week and that was pretty cold. It is so different here because it is a wet cold, so it's not really COLD, but it stings! Hope you all enjoy that snow and tubing and hot cocoa for me! :)

We were at a less-active's house and she had decided to be "cool" (as she says) and bake us a pie. (she doesn't bake,so this was a big deal! She is so funny! :) ) So she takes out the pie and decided to have the oven self-clean. We start to teach her a lesson in the living room and after a few minutes, we start to see smoke coming from the kitchen. Long story short, after cutting the breaker, opening all the windows and doors to fan out the smoke, and wiping our eyes of the streams of tears caused by the smoke, we had a great lesson on prayer, and how the Lord protects us and always watches over us. Good memories. She is so awesome and has been progressing really well! 

Thanksgiving was awesome! I had an awesome opportunity to go have dinner with N, the girl that I met in Washington D.C. We had a great talk about what Jaylen and I are doing as missionaries. She said she studied with the Elders at college a little, until semesters changed and they were transferred. She is very open, and we had some great gospel talks with her two grandmas as well. They are now Facebook friends and we are excited to continue to teach them. Her one grandma reminded me So much of Ma-key. It was really fun. I sure do miss you Ma-key! :) We also had dinner with a less-active family and it was AWESOME! There is just something about American food that isn't as appealing to me anymore as Hispanic food is... haha We had some delicious Thanksgiving dinner with them, after which we went to the Brandon Bishop's house. His wife was begging us to come, because they were empty-nesters. They are so funny and so sweet! Bishop is in the military (lots of people here are) and he reminds me a lot of Rand-they look a lot alike. His wife is probably the funniest person I've met. We had a quick 15 minute "taste-test" meal with them because we were stuffed and  had to get home on time. We ate literally ALL day, and my stomach still hasn't recovered, but it was definitely worth it. I am excited to see the blessings that come from those meals we had with those families as the progress :) 

Cool stories:

Yesterday R got up in fast and testimony meeting. He was so nervous, but was more grateful than nervous so he said he had to get up. So cute! So he bore his testimony and shared how thankful he was that he is a member of the church. He shared that the first day that he walked into the church he felt so much peace. He had been praying that he could get in contact with his daughter who he hadn't talked to in 30 years. When he was in church that first Sunday, he got a phone call and it was his daughter. He will never forget that experience, and reflects on it often to us as well. He also shared that he had been praying for some financial help. That month when he received his cable bill-$0. His gas bill $0. His electric bill $0. He wept tears of joy and gratitude and so many people were touched by his testimony. His stories of how the Lord has blessed him continue on and on. It was such a great reminder to me that when we take the time to Look at the blessings the Lord has given us, that we will see more and more miracles from His hands. 

This week has been SO full of exchanges with the sisters to help them succeed. We have some wonderful sisters and they are doing so great! I had the opportunity to go to Valrico to attend church with the sisters there. As we were sitting waiting for church to start, I looked in the hall and saw someone who looked familiar. I realized that they weren't, so I just turned around again. A few seconds later, there was a tap on my shoulder and this younger couple introduced me to W and her son O. They came and sat by me and church started right after that. After sacrament, I found out that they are not members. Her fiance is a member in Jamiaca (where she is from too) and he had been teaching her all about the church through Skype. He was able to look online and find her a church where she could come. She said "I am here to find out how I can get baptized and go the the temple." WOW!! Talk about a missionarie's wishes coming true! haha She  said that he told her that she would  find missionaries who could teach her and would get her a free "mormon book". In Sunday School and Relief Society she participated like she had been a member for years. Someone asked her after hearing a response, "How long have you been a member". That happened more than once. She is SO ready and the missionaries set a time to see her today. Such a tender mercy! Her son also participated just as eagerly in Young Men's. He turns 12 today! :) He came to meet his mom after sacrament and said "Can we  PLEASE come back on Wednesday"? (Mutual) She was so happy that he was happy and said "of course we can! Such a neat experience!!! 

I have been learning and growing so much in the past few weeks, in ways I can't explain. I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for all the blessing that he gives me each day. I need to do better at writing down all the miracles I see, because I know how much more power comes from recognizing the Lord's hand.  I hope you all had a great week and continue to have a wonderful week and enjoy the holidays. Love you lots!!!! 

Hermana Gillett

Officially NOT a seafood girl!!

December 2, 2013 - Sister Jacie Gillett

Hey Family!!

It sounds like you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so glad that no one got injured during family football. It can get pretty intense! We played football for a pday activity last week and it was a lot of fun! Sister J and I are the only sisters in the zone so it can get pretty rough, but it is always way fun!!

Thanksgiving for us was really awesome!! We went out to breakfast with out district and then we played games and ate with an awesome family in the ward. Definitely a different experience than being at home but I loved it!! Lots of food and lots of laughter! That is the way it should always be!

This week we had a member dinner at a seafood restaurant... I am officially not a seafood girl!!!! Baby octopus...The whole body...NASTY!!!! Snail...Slimy. Clam... it's alright. Squid... Tough and nasty!!! Thank goodness they had some good orange chicken. I am sure that is what filled me up!! I felt like I was in a foreign country in that restaurant!

Sister J and I will be staying in this area for sure. We love the area! We are still working with a lot of less actives and inviting them to come back. Since you have the Christmas parties coming up soon you should definitely invite friends to come with!! :)

Sorry I dont have much time to write! I love you all so much and I hope that you all have a great week!! Thanks for all you do for me!

Love, Sister Gillett :)

So Many Blessings!! (Hermana Gillett)

November 25, 2013

Hello Hello!!!

I want you all to know that I wore a jacket for the first time this morning. I was really hoping it was cold enough for that, but not quite. 74 just isn't cold enough yet. I tried... haha

   First of all THANK YOU so much for that Thanksgiving package! My companion and I came home SO tired that night and it really brightened up our day. We had a lot of fun blowing up and popping the balloons. Ma-key, thank you So much for the Christmas present! I have loved spoiling other sister missionaries with surprise ice cream trips and such while we have been on exchanges, to remind them that they are loved too and should relax and enjoy the work :) 

    So on Wednesday I was able to meet C for lunch. How neat is that!?! We had a great time talking, and don't worry Mom, I was able to explain to her all of those things that you were talking about in your letter. She didn't understand it all, but she has a great curiosity about the church and knows how great it is. I attribute her good attitude to the church to Dad. Thanks for being such a great example Dad. Isn't it amazing to be able to see just how far your example really does go in touching the lives of others? We are going to be meeting with her again soon, and helping her with a big service project that she is doing the first week of December. We are really excited to teach her more about what we believe. I also friended her on facebook so I have been sending her little mormon messages and such to help her understand along the way when we don't have time for face-to-face contact. That has been such a blessing! 

    So R, found out early last week that he is going to be moving in with some family so that he doesn't have to worry about being lonely anymore. However, he would not go until he had been baptized, yet he was planning to leave before teh 30th which was his original date. We were able to switch some things around and we had the wonderful opportunity to attend  R's baptism yesterday. It is such a blessing to see someone change so much, and have such a desire to continue faithful so that he can attend the temple and eventually be sealed to his wife for time and all eternity. The gospel has brought him so much peace and there's not a day that goes by that he's not reading from The Book of Mormon to find that rejuvenation and comfort that he so needs through this difficult time in his life.I hope that we can all learn from his example and remember just how important it is to have daily scripture study so that we too can feast upon the words of Christ and be filled. The spirit was so strong at his baptism! Although they had to try to baptize him 3 times, it finally worked after one of the Elders, Elder C. was so great to run and change into white in order to help Bro. P baptize him. With his age, bad back, and knees, it was a little more difficult, but they finally got it. There were SO many ward members there to support him and he was so grateful for all of that love. We had everyone at the baptism write on these Stars and we are putting together a photo book with all of the notes for him to take with him. He is SO excited to go there and find the church. It's such a blessing that the church is the same everywhere you go! We are communicating with the bishop and missionaries there to start with him where we left off. It will be such a great experience for him!

    This morning I was studying from Luke 17. In it it talks of "losing ourselves so we can find ourselves". I learned so many great lessons from studying this chapter, especially about gratitude and wish I had more time to relate them, especially this holiday week. However, I encourage you to read it and learn for yourselves. My invitation to you, that I also took upon myself to do this week, especially this week of thanksgiving: During your prayers throughout the week, focus only on giving thanks instead of asking for what we need. I have done this just a few times now and I have already been blessed with more faith and gratitude and have recognized so many more blessings already today. I love you all and I hope you have a great week! I am so grateful for all of you and for your love and support. I love you and pray for you always. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hermana Gillett

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! (Sister Gillett)

November 25, 2013

Hey Family!

It was so good to hear from y'all today :) I love email time so much!! Pdays are always awesome!!! It has been another great week. I have seen the Lord's hand time and time again in this work. I started keeping a miracle journal this week and already I love looking back on it and seeing all the miracles and tender mercies!! I think it would be awesome if you guys could start a miracle journal so that you can see all the miracles you are receiving while Jae and i are serving :)

Thank you so much for that AWESOME Thanksgiving package!! It was so awesome. Thanks MaKey for the suprise in the balloons!! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family who loves and supports me. You guys are THE BEST!!! Thanks so much for feeding the missionaries because we have seen the blessings here in ABUNDANCE!!!! We had a dinner appointment everyday last week and we have them everyday this week too!! Wow... we even had two dinner appointments last night... We were so stuffed!!! I guess that is just preping us for Thanksgiving this week. I hope that you all enjoy your time with the family. Sounds like it is going to be lots of fun!!

Can you believe that a year ago from tomorrow I was diagnosed with diabetes...It feels like it has been so much longer than a year, but I am so grateful that I am able to manage my diabetes and have the supplies to do so! What a blessing that is in my life!

One of the miracles we saw this week was as we were going through the ward list and visiting less actives. We only had a few minutes so we hurried and picked a name in our area. We met a really nice couple who has been married for 5 years. She is from P and she wasnt able to get a visa until just recently so they have spent the last 4 years of their marriage separated. In September she was able to join him here. We shared a Book of Mormon story with them and asked them what goals they have for their lives. One of their goals is to be sealed in the temple. We promised them that if they came to church they would be able to progress towards going to the temple together... Guess what? They came to church this week and it was SO AWESOME!!!!!! Next step, temple prep!! :)

This week the Korean branch put on an AWESOME musical fireside. The talent that the Korean elders have is so AMAZING!!! One of the Elders played in the Utah Symphony and the other one is going to play in Carnagy Hall someday. When we meet together for district meeting every week the elder sits down at the piano and we all shout out hymns we want to hear him play. You can even choose two and he will mash them together on the spot. It is SO AMAZING and so beautiful. We had invited a few investigators to the fireside, but none of them came. We wanted to stay so bad because we knew it was going to be an awesome program but we werent' allowed stay unless we were able to get investigators there. ( If we dont have investigators or a responsibility at activities/firesides our mission president would rather have us out working/tracting instead) We were just about to leave when the Elders asked us to sing in the program. It was the EFY Medley of As Sisters in Zion and We'll Bring the World His Truth. We agreed and we ran through it one time with everyone and then sang it at the end of the program. It was so beautiful and I loved all of the music. I wish you guys could have heard it!!

The work here is going great! I love it so much!! I know that this the place that I am meant to be right now. I hope that you all have a great week and a great Thanksgiving... Have fun with family football :) Love you!!!

Love, Sister Gillett :)

95 degrees!!! (Jaelyn Gillett)

November 18, 2013
Hello from the state where it's 95 degrees at 10 in the morning in November! haha Crazy, right? It's been humid the past few days too. I was getting excited that it was cooling down, but I guess that time will come soon enough.

Miracles of the Week: 

 Remember when I went to Washington D.C. with Jaylen for National TARs? Well, one of the girls we met there was from Florida. We were able to talk to her about the church when we were there, and she seemed to have some interest. When she saw on fb that I was going on my mission, she sent me her address and her grandma's across the street and invited us over anytime. Well, on exchanges this past week I figured out that their area covers where she lives. I got out my address book and found her address, and sure enough, it was in their area. That night we went to her house and we found her dad home. It was actually a cold night, so we didn't talk too long outside, but I told him I was friends with his daughter Nicole and explained where we met. She is off at college-as I expected, but he then he said. Tell you what, You come over for Thanksgiving." She will be home then! So I was able to get permission from my mission President to go there for part of Thanksgiving Day! I am so excited and we will get her in contact with missionaries near her at her college, as well as to her parent and grandma! YAHOO! :) Updates to come... 

Also, the next day we came home for dinner and found a note in the door. It read "Jaelyn.  I was friends with your dad in high school. Your mom contacted me and told me you were in the area. I would love to get together if your schedule permits." She left a phone number. I called her and had a great chat with her. We are meeting for lunch this week and will see if we can spark some interest in her learning more. She left the note for me on the back of a flyer for a service project that she is doing for her church as it had her contact info on it. We will see what we can do. Pray that all will go well and she will have a desire to learn more! 

Oh, I finally got a flat stanley picture, with a cute mexican family here. Is there any particular pictures that you want with him? Do I need to send it back by a certain time? I'm trying to find a good place to take a pic... We are going to try to see the Manatee's, but they don't come out until December... 

Super cool Story with our investigator R. He is the one who lost his wife about a month ago. This past week we have had so much success and he has been taking leaps and strides in his progression in the gospel. It is so neat! We were a little nervous before our lesson on the Word of Wisdom because we knew he drank coffee and that is usually a super hard things for hispanics to overcome. We were talking about the blessing that can come when we are obedient to God's commandments and the health and strength we can gain through obeying the word of wisdom. When we talked about coffee, he didn't even blink. We were expecting some type of reaction from him. Instead he said "I only drink coffee in the mornings, and I never really liked it anyway. I can stop now, no problem. I'll just fix myself some hot chocolate tonight." haha We were both so in shock, we just looked at each other stunned, and then laughed. We LOVE R!   The member that was-with us- Hermana H.  also testified of the blessings she received from obeying the word of wisdom. she is a convert as well. She brought him over a special kind of hot chocolate the next day and he can't stop raving about it! haha He is so funny! In church yesterday the lesson was on what we just went over-the plan of salvation and how we can be blessed through temple ordinances. At our lesson later that night, he was so excited about being able to go to the temple. He couldn't stop talking about how the movie we watched on temples made him so excited to go and also to be baptized. After church, there was a baptism of a little boy in the ward. R. Stayed to watch the baptism with us. He was so excited to "see what's going to happen to me in a few weeks" and told us that he teared up and got goosebumps when he saw the little boy going under the water. He is inviting EVERYONE he knows to come to his baptism. So many people have tried to talk him out of it, but he is so strong and knows, but more importantly FEELS that it is true and it's what he is supposed to be doing. He says "I've made up my mind and No one is going to stop me!" And he means it! He has been disappointed in some people but says "It doesn't matter what anyone else says or thinks. What matters is what I think and what God thinks. This is between he and I." Now remember, until we came along, R. really hasn't had anything at all to do with religions since he was young. It is so neat to see his spirit change. He tells us each time we see him how when he feels down or starts thinking about his wife too much that he reads the Book of Mormon and he feels better and can sleep at night. It's got to the point where he will tell us something he was struggling with, and then he say "but I'm reading the book and it always helps". That has been such a testimony builder to me of the power of the Book of Mormon. It IS real, and this IS HIS work. R. has been a great example of someone who was prepared to hear the gospel and is just taking it all in! I am so excited to be able to come back in a year (hint, hint) and go through the temple with him to do the  ordinances so his wife can be baptized and sealed to him. We go to the genealogy class with him every week and that has been such a blessing. He remembers so much and he knows it's the Lord helping him because he is too old to remember much. In our lesson yesterday, the spirit was so strong. I can't help but think that Poppa is on the other side with his R's wife C, teaching her right along with us teaching him so they can be prepared to be together for the eternities. God's plan for us is so beautiful, and brings so much peace! I am so grateful to be able to witness miracles at his hands each and every day. 

I also received info from Hermana B, that one of my investigators-M is going to be baptized!!! I have NEVER felt the spirit so strong in a first lesson as I did with him. I am so excited and hope to hear more about that soon! 

Follow-up: How did the service go this week? Any good reports? 

This week I really focused on loving and serving my  companion. She had a hard day one day and I made her hot chocolate :) haha Oh, I also made a roast this week-my first time ever making one- and it turned out SUPER good! I'm becoming quite the Betty Crocker out here with all these great companions that I have that teach me (Hna Duong) or let me experiment and they eat it (Hermana Rood) haha We have been having a great time! Oh, I also had my first lobster here last week too. It was DELICIOUS!!!! Missing my hispanic food LOTs, but I'll start making that again soon cause we don't get it from people... I miss the spanish branch a ton too! i am still in culture shock with the 2 english wards I'm in, but well... let's just say that I pray A LOT! They are great wards and the work is going to take off here, but I just miss Spanish world... It's good motivation to really push myself in my spanish though. 

Well, I think that's all for the week. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. You are in my prayers!

XOXO,

La Hermana Gillett

A Great Week! (JacieGillett)

November 18, 2013

Hey Family!!

It sounds like you are having a great week. Sorry to hear that you lost the championship game, but i am sure it was an awesome game!! The snow sounds like no fun at all!! When we are visiting people at nights when it is like 62 degrees people always tell us to put on a jacket or something because it is freezing outside. haha Not when you are from utah!! Thanks so much for feeding the missionaries... Become the missionaries best friends and be there to offer support at anytime. Every investigator needs a fellowshipper and I have noticed that when we have a member present at the lesson it goes really well and the members are able to relate really well to the investigator. Be sure to tell them that you would love to go to a lesson with them sometime!!

So we met a man this week who is not a member, but he LOVES to do his family history and he know so much. It is AWESOME!!! So we decided to ask him to help us with our family history and hopefully we would be able to soften his heart enough through this to introduce him to the church more. I hope it works out. Is there anyone in particular who you would like us to do some research on? Let me know ASAP please cuz we will hopefully be starting it this week with him.

My mission has been a time of "firsts." This week we experienced our first earthquake!!!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just a baby earthquake but it was so solid ;) We were laying down watching training videos when all the sudden it felt like a truck hit the building and then a big ripple went through out apartment. I was laying down on my stomach so it literally felt like i was doing the worm. haha it was so cool!!!! Definitely an experience to remember!!

Sister J and I have finally come up with our companionship motto. it comes from a song called Be Still by the Killers. The lead singer is actually a mormon and he has a mormon message that we love to watch during mormon.org time. Anyway, our motto is "Rise up like the sun and labor 'til the work is done." I love it so much and we literally do that every day. The sun is normally rising around exercise time and we labor everyday until the work is done and then we do it again the next day.Missionary work is the BEST!!! Sometimes I feel like I am on vacation in beautiful california because I enjoy the weather, the area, and I love to teach others about their purpose on earth and how we can make them more happy!!

It is crazy to think that I have already finished my first transfer... where has the time gone. I am so glad that I get to stay in this area for another transfer and be with Sister J longer. She is THE BEST!!!!!

One of the miracles that I saw this week was when we went to visit our investigator A. She is awesome. Her family just moved into the area. She is just a few years older than me and she is so prepared to hear this message. When we visited her we got to know her more and she was talking to us about her family. After we met her for the first time her family asked her about us. She said "Oh, those girls. They are my mormon homies. They said they will come back again." Her family didn't believe that we would come back...but we did!!! haha I think they were all in shock. She invited us over this week to meet her friends and roast mallows. We agreed as long as we could share a gospel message with everyone. It is going to be an awesome experience to teach the restoration them. I can't wait!!!

Another miracle we have seen was when we were going through our ward list a few weeks ago and trying to visit a few members each day. We visited a middle aged man who hadn't been active in years...all he really needed to know what where and when church was... By small and simple things are great things brough to pass. He has been to church the last two weeks and it has been SO AWESOME to see him there.

Going along with what Jae was talking about this week about keeping the commandments and the word of wisdom. Some people look at our church and decide not to join because there are too many things that we cannot do. But really by keeping the commandments we have more agency than those who dont keep the commandments. Things that are addictive take away your agency and your right to choose. I thought that was a pretty cool view on it!

Well, I love y'all and I hope that you have an awesome week. I love getting all of your letters/emails!! Keep up the good missioanry work!!! Alway remember that "it is our most important duty to preach the gospel." Did you make a family mission plan yet? If not, be sure to do so soon!! Love and miss you lots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Sister Gillett :)

Speaking Samoan this week!

November 12, 2013 - from Sister Gillett

Hey family!!!

This week we were tracting a street in the middle of the day and no one was home/no one was answering their door. We knocked the whole culdesac and when we came back to our car I noticed a guy come out of his house and then go back in. We had previously knocked on the door but no one answered.  I suggested to Sister Jensen that we should go and try that house again. She was a little resistant but we decided to do it anyways. A young man named M answered the door and he was pretty interested in learning more. He told us that he normally isn't home at that time but to day his class was canceled. Definitely not a coincidence!!!! We were able to read the Book of Mormon with him and he accepted a copy and said he would read it. We will be going back later this week to see how things are going! :)

We had a little meeting with Sister B all about the mission president conferences she and president had been attending. In this training she said that Elder Ballard told them that "1/3 of the world is ready to hear the gospel. When you find with faith you will find that 1/3. When you find with out faith you find the other 2/3." :) So this week Sister J and I have been trying really hard to increase our faith to find. Elder Ballard has also said that you can find 10 new people a day!! So if an Apostle of the Lord says we can do it, we can do it!! Our goal every day is to find 10 new investigators. It is hard, and we haven't achieved it yet, but with God all things are possible. Setting this goal has really been an act of faith for me. But there is no better way to strengthen my faith than to act!!

This weekend there has been a lot of focus on Veteran's day. The ward I serve in put on a Veteran's Day program on Saturday and it was really neat to hear some of their stories and have people of different faiths come to our church for the program. It was an awesome finding activity!! I am so grateful for all the men and women who are brave enough to leave their families for a time and go to war to protect our country. It takes a lot of courage to put your life on the line to protect something that you love. I am so grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy because of the men and women who have fought to let us have these rights. I am also grateful for our ultimate hero, Jesus Christ who died for us. because he died for us we can enjoy freedoms from guilt, pain, mistakes, sins, regrets, and so many other things. I know that the atonement is real and it can bless us so much as we are willing and humble to come unto Christ and change to become more like him. As we feel of this redemptive power we will have experiences like Nephi when he says "awake my soul, no longer droop in sin... Rejoice o my heart... O Lord, I will praise thy name forever;yea my soul will rejoice in thee, my God and the rock of my salvation."

We have been spending some time working on our family history and making our pedigree charts that we can show to others to encourage them to do their family history work. A lot of people here ask me where my last name comes from...Where does it come from?? England? I was able to trace it back to England when it use to be spelt Gilot. Interesting!! There are also a few stories of our ancestors on familysearch.org. I looked at stories from Emer Harris and the biographys he has are pretty cool! You have probably told me this before but I didnt realize his name is in D&C 75 when he received his mission call. I thought that was pretty cool!!

Today I am on exchanges with Sister T. She is from Hawaii and she is in the Samoan program here. She taught me a little bit of Samoan this morning during language study and it was so much fun!! Ou te iloa e moni lenei talalelei. Ou te iloa e moni le Tusi a Mamona. Ou te iloa o losefa samita o se perofeta moni a le atua. I le suafa o Iesu Keriso, Amene. :) That means that I know that the gospel is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Hopefully she wont make me bear my testimony in Samoan today during a lesson, but it would be way funny if she did!! She also taught me how to pray in Samoan :) Lo matou Tama o i le lagi, Matou te faafetai mo lenei aso. Matou te faafetai mo le avanoa e feiloa'i ma lenei. Matou te ole atu mo lou alofa. Matou te ole atu mo saogalemu. Matou te ole atu mo faamanuia lenei aiga. Matou te alolofa ia te oe. i le suafa o Iesu Keriso Amene. It has been a fun morning and i am so excited to see what is in store for us today as we go out to teach lessons in Samoan :)

Funny story for you. We received a headquater referral and the name said A B. So we went to the address and we asked if A was home. The guy looked really confused and said this is the A residence... I guess on headquarter referrals they put the last name first so we really should have been asking if B was home! haha we had a good laugh about it!!

sorry this is so scattered. I love you guys so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week!!

Love, Sister Gillett

"Be Anxiously Engaged"

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Sorry, I don't have too much time to write this week as I have a lot of other things to report to President and such, but I will try to get in what I can... There are so many new changes happening. It is so exciting! I wish I had time to get it all in!

Miracles:There is an older man here that we are teaching. I remember hearing in the MTC that "if you take care of others loved ones, Others will take care of yours". This sweet old man just lost his wife about 3 weeks ago. It is still really hard on him , and amidst all of that he had to move apartments. We have been doing service for him and he really enjoys our visits. He reads from the Book of Mormon every night and tells everyone about church and invites them to come, and is attending family history classes. We set a baptismal date with him yesterday as well for the end of this month. But as neat as that is, that's not the best part for me. As we were doing service for him, I couldn't help but think of Ma-key and the emotions she went through, as we all did with Poppa. I saw R going through that same mourning process here and it gave me a greater desire to serve him, knowing that "if I take care of him, others will take care of mine". This morning I received a letter from my mom telling me how happy my Ma-Key is because she finally found a friend close to her age that moved in next door.This was such a testimony to me that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and will take care of me and those I love. 

Something to read and apply for the week. I was listening to this when I got ready this morning and it really hit me strong, so I want to send it on. It's a conference talk by Elder Ballard "Be Anxiously Engaged" from  Oct 2012. I encourage you to do his challenge, so simple, yet with such far-reaching effects. Hopefully we will be able to share experiences we've had with it in the next week with one another.  http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/be-anxiously-engaged

I love you! Thank you so much for your love before, now, and forever. It really means so much to me. I truly have been born of goodly parents and I realize more and more each day how grateful I am for how you raised me. All the companions I've had and a lot of people I meet aren't so fortunate. Thank you for your love and support. It means so much to me!

XOXO

La Hermana Jaelyn Gillett

I finally got transferred!

November 4, 2013 - By Hermana Jaelyn Gillett

Hello Everyone!

Yes, I finally got transfered, and it was SO SO SO hard to leave. It's my home here in Florida...I only cried a little, cause I know I am leaving it in good hands with Hermana D. I miss her SO much! She was such a wonderful companion and we got things DONE, having SO much FUN along the way. Just like it's supposed to be :) I am now just below Tampa (we have a part of Tampa in our area) and it's been pretty good. We cover 2 english wards and that is SO weird! I REALLY miss my Spanish Branch... I just really miss Spanish and my people! It is good motivation for me though, cause it really helps me focus on speaking it more so that I can keep it up. One of the first nights that I was here we went to a RS Activity and one of the hispanic members told me that I wasn't going to improve my spanish here be cause it's all english... So sad! I will continue to talk to her in Spanish and EVERYONE else I possibly can so that I can improve my spanish. Especially my accent. It could be worse, but it's not very good. Any advice from you Spanish Speakers??? 

   Cool Story from Transfer meetings! So we couldn't find anyone to help us bring luggage back for the 2 new sisters that we knew were coming. The night  before I remembered that J our Recent Convert (who btw was confirmed yesterday, so he is officially a member of the church, yeah!!! :D ) can choose where he works on what days. We called him up and he said he would go work and whenever we needed his  help, he would bring his truck over to help us. He is the best! Then, it gets even better. J has an awesome story of how he found the missionaries. J was working-he puts in vinyl and such in apartments. He was going to knock on the door of the apt he was going to work on next, but accidentally knocked on the wrong door. The missionaries there ended up answering the door and there gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church. These were English elders and J doesn't really speak English, but by a great miracle they understood each other :) They invited him to church and he said he would love to come (he had been searching for a while now), but he couldn't because he lived in. They got excited and told him we have missionaries there too! They got his information and in the next few minutes sent it to the Spanish sisters in their area who sent it to us. We called him that day and set up an appointment for the next day. 3 months later he was baptized! How neat! BUT, it gets even better! So J came to help us at that transfer meeting and those 2 Elders that initially contacted him were there. We took J to them and introduced them. They were so excited to see him again. You should have seen their faces and excitement when he told them he had been baptized 2 days before. That was such a sweet moment and really reminded me of the importance of sharing the gospel with EVERYONE and not being afraid to open our mouths. They so easily could have said "wrong door, sorry" or, "we don't speak Spanish", but they remembered they were on the Lord's errand and doing His work and that made all the difference. 

My goal for this transfer is to love Hermana R, more that anyone has ever loved her before. I really want to help her see the miracles that come from working hard and being obedient. I want her to have the best last transfer so she can go home with no regrets. Hermana R mentioned she wants to work on her exercises, so I am coming  up with an exercise program for us to do each morning, as well as good hearty meals, so I am really excited to get started. Believe it or not, I'm actually getting quite good at those things. ;) Those little things like exercise and eating right really help get me where I need to be to accomplish all that I need to each day.  It has been a little bit of a struggle coming from an area where I knew everything and everyone and just had the best, most successful weeks of my mission to an area where the work is struggling and I don' t know the people or the area. However, it's nothing I can't handle and it's been good motivation for me to really dive in and get involved in the work and loving the people. This transfer I am really focusing on demonstrating charity. I have a great vision of what this area can become, and I am so excited to get there!, I am also being very careful not to over-step my bounds as the new missionary in this area, as that never goes over well. Hermana D really taught me a lot about being organized and effective in order to see progress and that we did. I really want to implement a lot of those things here, and am working on it, checking my intentions along the way to ensure they are pure and that it's not my pride coming in. Only in that way will it work out clearly and effectively. I don't know if you saw the CES devotional given last night by Elder Osguthorpe, but it was SO amazing! It was exactly what I needed, and I know it applies to all of us. If you haven't already, I encourage you to watch/read it. It was so great!

This week we went on exchanges with Sisters J and F. I was with Sister F in her area and we had a wonderful experience.  Yep, first day, and we went on exchanges! haha We were able to teach some great lessons. She is a wonderful missionary and is very prepared. I learned a lot of fun object lessons from her that I was able to implement and they were really powerful. While on bike, we talked to EVERYONE! I even found 3 new potential investigators for my area! It was so great! A referral they had given to us was not home when we tried to stop by since we were on our way in to the trailer park to visit some other investigators. However, just as we stopped on our way out to fix something, they pulled in and were so accepting and loving and invited us to come back. The whole day was so uplifting and I learned so much about the results of a positive, hard-working attitude. We also stopped by a little tienda on the way home where some hispanic women were working. We hadn't had dinner yet, so decided to stop there and have dinner. It was so delicious! We had a great talk with the 2 ladies working there and are excited to go back and teach them!

My time is almost up, but one more miracle:

So there is this girl that I met when I went to DC with J. When she found out I was coming here on my mission she sent me her address. S he lives in Ruskin Fl. Now that I am an SLT here, I actually cover that area on exchanges. We have plans to go and contact her and her family and grandma t his transfer and I am so excited!!!! :) MIRACLES!!!! I know I have been sent to this specific area for a specific purposes, and I am so grateful for the wonderful opportunity I have to be an instrument in the Lord's hands each and every second of every day. I love you and hope you have a great week! sorry this is jumbled, in a hurry as always. That's the definition of "hastening" the work, right? haha 

OH! another highlight: We are going to have fb in the next few weeks as leaders, and for us leaders for the trial runs, we are getting IPads (called tablets so we don't "support apple" only) in the next few weeks too. So exciting. The work is progressing and it's so great! So many blessings! 

I love you all!

Hermana Gillett

What a wonderful week it has been!!

November 4, 2013 - from Sister Jacie Gillett

Hola Familia,

Buenos tardes! Como esta? Somos representantes de Jesus Christo. Cree en Jesus Christo?

Well, how is my spanish coming? That's about all I know how to do at doors. Sister J has been helping me practice the basics so that when we do run into Spanish speaking homes we can talk about Jesus Christ instead of just walking away and sending the Spanish missionaries. It counts every time we plant a seed!!

WOW!!! What a wonderful week it has been!! I feel like I say that every week but this one have been AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! We see so many miracles daily and I love it!! Here is a story especially for Jenson...Flat Stanly helped us to be in the right place at the right time!! So a few weeks ago on Sunday we were tracting and we ran into a man named J. He was just leaving so we gave him a mormon.org card and he said we could come back anytime to visit with him more about the gospel. We stopped by a couple of times and we were never able to catch him because he worked a lot but we were able to cross paths with him again. coincidence... I think not!! We began teaching him some basic doctrine and about the Book of Mormon. He started asking us what our purpose was as missionaries and what we expected from him as we taught him. Normally we tell our investigators our purpose and then see what they expect from us. He must have been really in tune with the spirit. The spirit in our discussion was so powerful. At the end, he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and without us even asking him to read it  he committed himself to read it!!!! WOAH!!! WHERE DID THIS GUY COME FROM???  The Lord has really prepared his heart and he is so ready to become more perfected in Jesus Christ. So, here is where Flat Stanly comes in. After we had met him for the first time on Sunday, the next day we had plans to go take pictures with Flat Stanly. It took two attempts because the first time I had accidentally forgot Flat Stanly at the apartment so we had to go back and get him and then go back. Well it just so happened that as we were walking back for the second time, J drove past us and thought "those are the girls that talked with me about Jesus last night." Which again sparked thought about learning more from us. The Lord works in mysterious ways but I know that I accidentally left Flat Stanley home the first time for a reason and now, we know why. Wow!! How cool is that!!

Miracle #2 this week. Around 2 weeks ago we had just enough time to knock on one more door before we called it a day. Our plans were to tract B street so we tried to find it. We couldn't find it on the map and I was honestly just thinking of stopping where we were and knocking on a door. Eventually we found the street and when we came around the corner Sister J and I both had the impression to go to the second house. We did and we met a girl named K. she has previously dated a mormon boy, she knew the bishop's family, and she had been to church a few times and she really enjoyed it. We were able to get her contact information and she told us the best time for her was on weekends. So  we went to do a sneak attack because she wasn't answering our texts. Turns out, she moved. However, we met a really cute and enthusiastic girl. She is about our age and she had just moved in with her family. We started talking with her about Jesus Christ and asked her how He has influenced her life. She told us that Jesus has really helped her through the passing away of her dad when she was younger... What a better thing to testify of than eternal families!! As we told her that she could be with her family and especially her dad forever you could see her countenance change. She wanted to learn more of the knowledge we could share wth her. We are so excited to go back and teach this truth to her family.

Miracle #3. After we had visited, we were planning on going to visit a member and give them a Book of Mormon invitation. The members weren't home, so we were headed to our back up plan. As we drove past the church their was a beautiful reception going on. I had the feeling to go in and see if we could give service in any way. I brushed off the feeling, but Sister J said, turn around. I thought I was just going the wrong way so I did and then she had me pull into the church parking lot. We had no idea who the reception was for, but we were both receiving the prompting to go in so we "had to go to the bathroom" As we made our way to the bathroom we passed the kitchen and a lady flagged us down. We went in to see if we could give service and help them clean up. She told us they didn't need anything and then handed us big bags of food. What a tender mercy that was for us because first, we didn't have dinner plans for Sunday night and two, we didn't really have much to eat because it was the end of the month and pday wasn't until the Monday. We were able to help clear off some tables before we had to leave. We were also able to run into the Ward Missionary Leader and his wife and tell him about the experience we had just had. I love strengthening the members by sharing with them the miracles we are seeing each day.

Miracle #4. Last night we went to go and visit a young man named G. He is 15, he really likes sports, and his grandparents  are really pressuring him to learn more about God. He had missed his appointment with us on Saturday morning so we just stopped by to visit a little bit. We were able to really focus on helping him to know that there is a God and that God love him and that he is God's son. It was a really powerful lesson. We asked him if learning more about the gospel was something that he desired. He said there is a part of me that really wants to learn more, but the other part says that I really don't have time to learn more because of school and sports. he then asked us What do you think I should do? We avoided his question and helped him to understand that we can't make that decision for him. He needed to know for himself. We told him that the only way he could know what to do was through praying to God. We then invited him to pray with us right then to know what he should to, to know that there is a God, that he is a son of God, and that God loves him. I guess we didn't explain that we wanted it to be a vocal prayer, but we knelt and we each said personal prayers. As I looked at his face as he prayed to know, I knew that he was talking with God with real intent. It was such a beautiful and a sacred moment for him and for us to witness. You could tell that he took talking with God very seriously. After our prayers, Sister J and I had decided to let him break the silence, so that he had some time to just think and ponder and feel the power of the Holy Ghost working in him. So we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally he said "ya, you guys should come back." WOW!!! He received his answer right there of what he should do. We can't wait to help him learn more about his Heavenly Father's love for him!!

I have been officially cleared to drive a car here... Bittersweet feelings about it. I hate traffic, I hate stop lights, I hate drivers.... I just hate everything about driving the the city. I am only driving because I love my companion and she has been driving everyday for 9 months so she really needs a break. It is also really helping me to learn the area better which is a huge blessing! Please keep me in your prayers that we will continue to drive safely!!

I love you all so much and I am so grateful that our family is together forever. I thank the Lord each day for all my tender mercies!! I know that Poppa is here being my guiding star and helping me to see the silver lining in the clouds. He is the angel that goes before me to prepare the way. I am so grateful for my opportunity to serve here. I love our investigators, and the ward members. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I know He loves each one of us!! Have a great week!! I love you all!!!

Love, Sister Gillett

An amazing week full of Miracles!!

October 28, 2013 -Sister Gillett

Hey Family!!!

It was so good to hear from all of you today! Pdays are THE BEST!!! I sent Flat Stanley home to you today with some letters.  Sounds like it has been another week in the real world for you guys. Good luck with football and everything. That is so awesome that the Panguitch Cross Country team did so awesome again this year.

Well, I agree with Jaelyn. This week has been amazing and so full of miracles!! I guess that is what comes from attending the temple! The day after we attended the temple we had a busy day ahead of us with 5 appointments lined up. Usually half of our appointments fall through and we have to resort to our backup plans instead but that day NONE of our appointments fell through! WOW!!! What an amazing blessing!! We were able to teach all that we had prepared and it went really well. Our last appointment was my first golden appointment and it was SO AMAZING!!!! We had been teaching a lady named M and she has stage 4 liver cancer. They did surgery on it but there is cancer by her artery so they were not able to remove all of it. We went over to visit her while she was recovering and we met her son and grandson who are both the same age. As we shared Alma 26:11-12 with them we asked the boys if they would like to learn more. They both agreed and we set up and appointment for Wednesday. As we began teaching them we asked them what their expectations were for learning from us. They said that they just want to build a relationship with God and find comfort in Him as they go through this hard time with their family. Holy cow!! What teenager boys have the desire to do that?!? I was so shocked and I knew that was an answer to our prayers that we would be able to find the people that God has prepared for us. What a tender mercy!! We are so excited to continue teaching them and help them build that relationship with God because the Gospel can really bring them so much comfort into their lives!! They are so ready!

On friday we had zone conference and Elder Ellis of the 70 came with his wife and spoke to us. It was so powerful and so amazing. We talked a lot about the different levels of faith and how we can increase our faith by exercising it. We also watched a clip on the atonement that was so powerful!! It talked a lot about how Jesus Christ was the only perfect missionary that will ever walk upon the earth. Missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Why should missionary work be easy for us if it was hard for the Savior. The Savior was rejected and despised of man and eventually killed to fulfill the plan. He feels the pain we feel when we have to drop an investigator that isn't progressing. He feels our pain when we get doors slammed in our faces. He feels all of that because He experienced them all for himself! However, he was diligent and faithful to the end. He drank the bitter cup for us. They said in conference "in life when the bitter cup comes and it does not pass, drink it."

I was asked to speak in church on Sunday and I chose to speak on Christlike attributes and Missionary Work. The only way that we can obtain the Christlike attributes is through the grace of Christ. We all know that we can do better at being more Christlike but we also realize that we will never be perfect at it. That is where Christ's grace comes to fill in the gaps and help us to become more like Him. What an amazing blessing the enabling power the atonement of Jesus Christ is in our lives. I am so grateful for it and for the opportunity that we have to strive to become more like Christ. I love my Savior and his great sacrifice on behalf of all mankind. What a great message of comfort and peace we have to share with His children that through him all that is unfair about life will be made right!

Well I love all you guys and I hope this email finds you well!! Have a great week!! Love ya!!

Love, Sister Gillett :)

BEST WEEK YET!!! - Hermana Gillett

October 28, 2013

Buonos Dias!

Esperamos que todo esta bien con ustedes y que estan feliz :)

This has officially been the BEST week of my mission! This whole transfer has been such an amazing one and Hermana D and I have loved every second of it! There are days when we are so happy that we feel like our hearts are going to EXPLODE with all the joy and excitement we feel each and every day as we share the gospel and have the opportunity to work with such wonderful people here in Largo.   

   We started off the week with a GREAT start and had 2 member present dinner lessons on Monday in the course of 3 hours. We were SO full, but it was SO worth it! :) We average 2 member presents a week usually, so it was definitely a MIRACLE! By the end of the week we came out with 6!!!!!!!!!!!! That probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you all, but it means the world to us! :) The best part was-the members invited our investigators to there homes. We didn't have to coordinate anything, we were just invited. That is just how the work is supposed to be, and THAT is how people become CONVERTED members, THROUGH the members! I have SUCH a strong testimony of the power of members in missionary work. The past 8 months that I have been in this area we have been trying to get our members involved in the work. Now they are! First we had to start with showing them that if they don't have "friends" that we can teach (which is a lie-EVERYONE knows someone who doesn't have the gospel in their lives, or who is less-active and needs to be brought back into the fold. Remember as was said in Conference over and over again "It's not our place to judge if someone is ready to receive the gospel, but it's our job to invite EVERYONE") we told them we had investigators that we needed them to fellowship. As they have done that their confidence in themselves as "member missionaries" grew, they helped our investigators to progress to baptism and feel like they have a part in the church (this is HUGE in conversion), and they themselves had the courage to invite their friends over and they trusted us enough with their friends that we are now teaching them. Our investigator pool skyrocketed! Even better than that, on  Tuesday we had my favorite family N and J invite us over for dinner. They also invited her 2 best friends and their families. We had a great time with them and shared what we do as missionaries and what we believe. Then on Friday they all came to the ward Halloween Party with their families, and now want to learn more and start coming to church! We had more investigators than members from our branch at that party, and we had 5 investigators at church compared to our usual 1. We also had a less-active we have been working with for months come back to church on Sunday as well. Our other less-active couple just found out that she is pregnant!!! :) And we are still teaching both of their best friends-one of which we should set a baptismal date with this week. He is already sharing the gospel with his family and just found out that his roommate is a less-active member, so they are going to start coming back together! YAY!
On top of that, J was baptized on Sunday and they were all able to come and see how we do baptisms in the church. The spirit was wonderful, and all were edified.

Between the members and our investigators, the work is progressing so well here! It has been such a blessing for me to be able to see this area grow and really catch the spirit of missionary work.

Yesterday during sacrament meeting, our branch president stood to give his talk and thanked me specifically for all of our hard work and dedication in the area. That is SO unusual for him to do, and really meant a lot to me to hear that from him. His sweet words brought me to tears (and I haven't cried yet this transfer! ;) hehe ) He continued his talk and compared our work as missionaries to stories in the Book of Mormon and how we need to be humble and not stiff-necked. I really appreciated all of his kind words. After the meeting, he told me he was sad to see me go, but that he wasn't because he knew I would be back sometime soon- he was going to send in his requests to President Cusick. Honestly, I know that this work here didn't progress because of me. I had a great trainer who taught me to work hard and never give up. When people try to stop your work from progressing,  you just "look up" and keep on pushing through. She taught me to be strong, physically, mentally, and spiritually. My companion now taught me how to truly love people and to see everyone as Christ see's them, PERFECT! And to love them through anything. The Lord has blessed us so much in this area as we have been diligent and sought to do His will "at all times, in all things, and in all places". Hermana D and I find ourselves looking and each other while laughing and saying "Yeah! The mission really IS supposed to be this fun!" We have been so blessed each and every day!

It is such a privilege to have the Lord's hand in our lives guiding us and directing our every step. It's very humbling to know that he trusts me with his precious children here in this area, with the little spanish I know.  I can testify that the Lord truly does love each and every one of us, and he has a work for each of us to do. If the missionaries there haven't reached out to you, reach out to them and give them  your hands to love and support the investigators/less-actives that they have. There is NO greater happiness to be found than in sharing the gospel with those you love. You help them grow and you grow so much yourself. It IS the work of the Lord, and we are promised numerous times in the scriptures- more blessings in sharing the gospel than by any other means. AH! The work of the Lord is SO wonderful and it is indeed being hastened!!!

Oh, I almost forgot, lol. I am being transferred! :( I don't' know where I'm going until tomorrow, so if you need to send me anything, send it to the office and they will fwd it to me. The girls here in my apt will also fwd anything to me as well Hermana D is staying here and training 2 new people. She will have her hands full, but will be wonderful! They are opening up another Spanish area here again-Sisters too. YEAH! I kinda have a feeling that I might stay in the area as they are opening that and also a Z in H (all within our stake on the peninsula), but they didn't say I was opening, so who knows. Maybe that's cause it's already my area. That's be super funny if I ended up just moving north or south of here though, especially cause we took SO many pictures and said SO many goodbyes (well, not goodbyes cause I don't believe in that, only "see ya laters") with everyone yesterday. I will attach some. It was so fun! I LOVE it here and I am SO sad to leave, but I know I am leaving the area in great hands, and I can't wait to hear how things continue to progress.

I love you all and hope you have a GREAT week! Remember to get in daily scripture study and prayer. Without those 2 strings, every thing else comes unwoven. They bring such strength and power to our everyday lives and help prepare us for the opportunity that the Lord WILL provide us to share the gospel each day. I love you!!!

Hermana  Gillett

October 22, 2013 - From Sister Gillett

Hey Family!!!

Sorry I am a day late to emailing. I really didn’t mean to make you wait!! Today is our pday because we got to go to the Newport Beach Temple this morning for the 7 am session. Early morning, but it was 100% worth it!!! It is really only 15 minutes from here but just outside of the mission. The temple is so gorgeous and hopefully I will be able to send you some pics in the mail this week. Sorry my pics were so large last week. I don’t know how i did that!!

This week has been awesome!! We did service at a members house and we were helping a lady clean out her garage...Guess what we came across?!? A POGO STICK!!!! I still got the skill, no hands and all. haha It was way fun!!

Have I ever told y'all how weird the grass is here? It is not real grass no matter how many times the California people want to tell me otherwise. It is like a mixture of golf course grass and real grass and it feels spongy to walk on. So weird, but maybe I just really like my Utah grass!!

Teaching is going pretty great here. I am starting to get the hang of it. Tracting is a little difficult for me because you never know who is going to be behind the door or what they are going to say. Yesterday while we were out doing "5-alive" because if our appointment isn’t home we knock on 5 doors in their area before we leave. Anyway... we had stopped at 2 houses and no one wanted to listen to our message and we started to talk to a guy who was working on something in his garage. He said he wasn't interested either but as I walked away from his home I couldn't help but think I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! And it wasn’t even sarcastic at all. I just felt so much love for the people we had just met and I didn't even know them and they didn't want to listen. I know that that was my Heavenly Father helping me to realize that the work I do is important to him and he loves me just as much as he loves all those people who have turned down listening to our message. It really is so true that someone has to come in contact with missionaries or members at least 7 times before they are ready to listen.

The ward here is small yet strong and I love all the members here and I am so grateful for their sacrifices to feed us even if they don’t have a lot. I know that they are blessed from this sacrifice. Some families we teach here really make me grateful for my own. There are a lot of problems with drugs, single parents, and contention. Thanks so much for raising us in the Gospel and for helping us to realize the blessings the gospel brings us. Thanks for teaching me the power of prayer and for all the many fundamentals you taught me to help me build my faith. Thanks for the spirit of love that made home a place i wanted to be and not a place of contention. I am so grateful that our family can enjoy the blessings that come from the gospel, especially that we can all be together for all eternity. What a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father!!

The work here is slow but Sister Jensen and I have faith to find and the faith to act. The Lord will bless us for our efforts very soon!! Sister Jensen says that Heavenly Father is testing our faith right now and since we are working hard he will bless us with so many people to teach. She helped me apply Ether 12:14 to our companionship. "Behold, it was the faith of Sister Jensen and Sister Gillett that wrought the change upon the people of the Garden Grove 4th ward South, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost." It is through our faith that we will be able to find, teach, and convert. But we have to exercise our faith and work hard in order to reap the reward. No work will ever be done if we just sit in our apartment.

One of my favorite Book of Mormon messages we have shared this week is about the life of Nephi. Just like Nephi we have many trials and afflictions. In 1 Nephi 1:1 he says "having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord." Right at the beginning he tells us of his hard times yet he realized that those hard times are blessings from God that have helped him to be the person he is today. His family leaves and wanders in the wilderness for 8 years!! I wouldn't be a happy camper about that one. Especially leaving their nice home and all their riches to go live in a tent somewhere. They starved and Nephi had a broken bow. Their wives had children in the wilderness. His brothers sought his life. He was asked by God to kill a man and he obeyed. He was mocked by his brothers when he was building a ship. He was tied up by his brothers and their ship almost sank. His afflictions could go on forever, but what amazing faith Nephi had!!! I love in 1 Nephi 1: 20 where he says I, Nephi will show unto you that the tender mercies of the lord are over all those whom he hath chosen because of their faith. I wish I could have the faith of Nephi. I guess that can be something to work for!

I love my companion so much and she is such an awesome example to me. Sometimes she gets so excited to go to appointments we literally run to them. She has a great light about her and you can tell that her heart is full of love for everyone!! She has really helped me to learn and study according to my investigators needs which has really been a struggle for me so far but I will get the hang of it. She has been out for 9 months and she says she thinks she saw Jae in the MTC. Who knows :)

California is so beautiful. I love watching fireworks whenever we want!! I love the sunshine and the warmth here!! It is just so gorgeous. I don’t miss the cold at all!!

I love y'all and I hope you have a great week!! It is so good to hear that things are all going well at home. Have a great week and I will talk to you on Monday!!!

Love, Sister Gillett :) :)