ENGORDASTE??? uhhhh

 January 26, 2015

So highlight of the week: seeing my bestest friend Mariah Eames! Whose family lives here and she came with us to our lessons in Spanish and even tried to pray for us in Spanish! She leaves to the MTC on Wednesday and I am so excited for her because she is going to be the most incredible missionary that California has ever seen.

  We had a cool experience this week. We were tracting in the District- this huge apartment complex chuck full of Hispanics. We knocked on a door and a mom and a daughter were home. They let us come in and we started teaching them the Restoration. The daughter didn't participate much, and she looked kind of skeptical. At the end of the lesson, we asked her what she thought. And she totally opened up to us and started telling us her whole life story and how she really needed God in her life to get her through her depression. She said she would pray to know if the things we taught were true. We were so surprised because she thought she wasn't interested at all in what we were saying, but the Spirit in the lesson really touched her heart and even though we were complete strangers, she felt she could trust us.

  We also have recent converts here named Dayanara and Carlos. They're cousins and they got baptized 2 months ago. We started working on Personal Progress with Dayanara and she is so excited. She's also working on going to the temple soon. She's only 12, but she seems like a 16 year old because she's soo sassy. Hahaha. She feels like my annoying little sister (who I love to death). It makes me realize how sweet little Sydney is! Haha her and Dayanara are both 12, but they are like night and day.

  So, confession: I have gained a little weight this transfer- but I'm 90% sure it's muscle weight from all the biking up and down hills we do. That's possible, right? Haha maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better.  Along with theme, funny story that highlights one of the inherent characteristics of the Hispanic people. Haha. We went to knock on a formers door, and there was this huge family celebrating a birthday complete with tres leche cake (it's basically the most delicious thing ever) and lots of alcohol. So Cesar opens the door, who Hermana Miller was teaching a few months ago. The first thing out of his mouth: Hola Hermana, como esta? Engordaste? (Hi Hermana. How are you? Did you gain weight?) We were both standing there like, ummmmm excuse me? Haha. He meant it in a loving way, but americans do NOT take that kindly. And then they fed us tres leches cake and we were like Well, I wonder why we've gained all this weight! Whose fault is this? Ha Spanish speaking probs.

  Also, I learned a cool lesson this week about measuring my success by obedience. People have their agency, and as much as you'd like to, you can't force them to pray or read or come to church, even though you KNOW that it will bless their lives more than anything. Soo you just stand there, with doors being closed in your face time and time again. And it's frustrating because none of your investigators are progressing. But I've learned that if I'm being obedient to the T, then that is success! And with that in mind, everything is so much more joyful as I seek to put the will of the Lord first! Never forget the blessings of obedience. Like President Uchtdorf said, the commandments are like light posts that light our path of life.  

Love,

Hermana Webb

My best friend Mariah Eames teaching a lesson with us

WHAT UP LYNHOOD??

January 20, 2014

So the big surprise! I am now serving in Lynwood (aka Lynhood because it's a little sketch here). I'm in the Chennault Beach Branch and serving with Hermana Miller! Yay! I absolutely love the new area! Another surprise is that we are on bike! Well, half of the time. The other half, we are driving the swagger wagon (aka the van).

  We have had some crazy adventures here already together and I absolutely love all of our investigators! They're all my best friends. The coolest thing ever is- remember the Lopez family that I was teaching forever in Marysville? With the 3 kids who are my absolute favorite in the world? Well Lorraina's sister lives in this area and now I'm teaching her and her 3 kids!!!! Haha I almost died of happiness when I realized that.

 The new comp- Hermana Miller is from Utah and is 14 months into her mission! Lots of experience. We have a ton of fun together and are also just best of friends. We were out tracting this week, and we starting talking to this guy on the street and he says "If you are going to go that way, you better put your chastity belts on." Me and Hermana Miller both just look at each other like, who the heck is this guy?? Haha we died laughing. So yeah, I guess Lynwood has some "rough areas" but we are always very cautious with our ridiculous reflective safety vests on! Haha.

  So thank you for all your prayers for me this week! They WORKED! Heavenly Father helped me to feel very calm amidst all the change. There is so much peace to be had in the Gospel!

 -Hermana Webb

PS If you've never had Mexican hot chocolate with pan dulce, go to Walmart and buy some now. SO GOOD. Mexicans know whats up

Saying goodbye to my beloved Lake Stevens!! I'll be back soon!!

Gonna miss my Hermana Gonzalez

MEET HERMANA MILLER!!

My WORST enemy. Haha.

Mexican hot chocolate and concha is LIFE. So good.

Next surprise: We're on BIKE!! With obnoxious vests and helmets!!

No worries-we also have the Swagger Wagon.
We drive this beauty half the time and bike the other half.

We have a gym to exercise every morning.

ADIOS SUNNYSIDE!!

January 12, 2014

Well folks, my first transfer!!!

The text from Elder Gressier this morning:

"Hey Hermana Webb, se va a trasladar manana. Por favor llegue a la oficina de la mission a las 3!"

My heart stopped when I saw that text!! I was not expecting to be transferred at all! Wow. So I won't know until tomorrow where I'm going or who my new companion will be. Which means y'all won't know until next Monday! Stay tuned!

It will be so hard to leave this area!! I love the people here with all of my heart and more! There are so many amazing people and I don't want to say bye, but I trust that the Lord has a plan for me and needs me somewhere else.

Today I'm reminded of this quote by President Uchtdorf that I LOVE:

"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable tous? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.
Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and whopromises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.
The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merelyinterruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.
How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."
I know that all the people I've met and taught here, all the relationships I've formed, are just the beginning of an eternal friendship (: 
Please keep me in your prayers this week!! Can't wait to report back next week on my new area and companion!!
-Hermana Webb
And just remember- Life is Cray Cray, but Jesus is the Way Way...hahaha favorite sign ever! Had to take a picture as we drove past.

Carla and Ignacio got MARRIED! Yaay! One step closer to baptism!

FELIZ ANO NUEVO

January 5, 2014

Happy New Year Everyone! :D

This year is pretty special because I will be a missionary the whole year! And at the end of the year, I will be finishing my mission so this year is a pretty important one! I've made lots of goals and am excited to dedicate all I got to the Lord!

Funny story, soo this week we found lots of new families to teach! And one is a single mom named Dolores, and her 4 kids. We started teaching their family and at first, the 14-year-old son was laying face-down on the couch, pretending to be asleep or something. We start talking about our role as missionaries and all of the sudden, the 14-year-old pops up and he's like "Hey- I have a friend whos a Mormon and his brother is a missionary just like you guys!" So he starts asking us all these questions about what we do. We were also talking about fasting and prayer with his mom and he asked us about that. We explained that we don't eat or drink for two meals once a month so we can feel the Spirit stronger when we're not focused on what our body needs. He says "So you guys starve? I don't think I could do that!" Haha. He thinks about it for another few minutes then says "Is that why all Mormons are so skinny??" Hahahaha I died laughing. This family is a gem!

All of our recent converts to the church are doing great! Avelino is on fire- he called us on Saturday sooo happy and told us he had read the Bible for 3 hours that morning, had lunch, then read the Book of Mormon for the next 2 hours and was about to watch a movie about Jesus Christ! He just can't get enough of the gospel and I love it!

Edgar, who got baptized about 6 months again, is doing awesome too! We went over and tried to set some new years goals with him. But he's like, no I like to live one day at a time- soy flojo. (I'm lazy). But Sunday rolls around, and it was a testimony meeting and Edgar gets up there and gives such a beautiful testimony! I almost started crying! He says the Hermanas tried to make me set goals, and I decided to set 3- rely on my faith in Jesus Christ, become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and endure to the end in righteousness! My mouth was hanging open! Haha. He had set 3 beautiful goals all on his own. I was so proud of him!!

So the work continues! We've had a lot of fun this week searching Lake Stevens for Hispancs and we found about 4 families with a lot of potential and interest! We are so excited for all the new opportunities of a new year!  

Con amor,

Hermana Webb

Yummy, yummy mexican food

Lunch with Avelino

Most important part of my outfit every day

Christmas as a Missionary!!

December 29, 2014

 FELIZ NAVIDAD Y ANO NUEVO

Highlight of the week: 45 minutes of Skyping my beautiful family of course!!!! The best gift of Christmas ever as a missionary!! I had headphones in while I was Skyping and when I finished, I looked over at Hermana Gonzalez, and was like "Was I talking really loud?" She said "Oh my gosh Hermana, I'm pretty sure the next door neighbors could hear you! I've never heard you be so loud and excited!" Hahaha. Let's just say there was a lot of laughing, squealing, and tears involved in those 45 minutes. I'm sure every other missionary/families with missionaries out know exactly what I'm talking about.

It was a great week to be a missionary! We got to share Christmas joy with so many people, and like we all know, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear! It was a tradition in my family to make treats and go caroling and drop off the treats to all of our friends on Christmas Eve. I remember doing that year after year, so of course I made my companion join in on the tradition this year! We went to the senior citizen center and sang Christmas songs with them during our exercise class, we made cookies and dropped them off and sang to our investigator and member families. It was so fun and I got to carry on the tradition with a new twist! (:

Another couple of highlights of the week include when we were tracting and knocked on this Hispanic guy's door (you could tell because there were like 20 cars outside haha) and he opens the door and we start talking to him and asking him about his beliefs. Like 2 minutes into the conversation, he's like Hey are you guys married? Nooo...He said You know I have 2 brothers and they are both young and live around here. This guy literally spent like 10 minutes trying to convince us to marry his brother. Hahaha. We were dying!! He's like hey I could set up a dinner so you guys could meet. I mean after your mission, you'll need to find someone, right?

Also, on Saturday night, we had an hour left and decided to go tracting around our apartment and just walk. So we start out and it starts pouring rain! Not that it's anything unusual in Washington, but man, it was cold!! I was so wet! I felt like I had just taken a shower. We walked up to this apartment where there was more light and Hermana Gonzalez looks at me and says "Wow. You look terrible!" Hahahaha. Yeah Hispanics can be kind of blunt. But it was a good experience. Makes ya tough (; And veryyyy grateful for the car you have!

Update on the people we are teaching- we found a new person who lives just down the street from us. His name is Adalberto (took me about a week to learn how to say his name correctly haha). He is an angel!! He asked if he could meet us at the church building for our lesson..umm YES! And then he asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon and is so genuinely interested in changing his life around and receiving the blessings of the restored gospel. So he is working towards baptism right now and is just awesome!

So family- since you told me to write longer letters during the Skype call, here ya go!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

May we all take some time to think about the changes we went to see in ourselves this year and work towards a deeper conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ!

-Hermana Webb

Christmas morning with our neighbor/grandma Judy

Opening Christmas packages

Matching jackets from Avelino!! Haha!!

Christmas with the Sotos!!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

December 22, 2014

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!

Sorry I literally have NO time today, but to say have a wonderful Christmas!! Enjoy this special time with family and friends, all focused for a day on the joyful birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

-Hermana Webb

And...Merry Christmas from my district in our absolute ugliest sweaters! :D

Me and Elena. I've adopted her as my little sis for now.

Newest member of our branch. Sooo adorable.

The Soto Family-where we will be for Christmas

#10DAYcountdown

December 15, 2014

Christmas time= Happy time for Hermana Webb! There is so much joy in the Christmas season and I have been so happy! Seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations everywhere we go, and there's so many opportunities to serve (I've basically been begging everyone to let me help them decorate/cut down their Christmas tree! ha) and of course, most importantly, to remind them of the true Reason for the Season. The birth of the Savior of the World. The Prince of Peace. King of Kings. And the perfect example for us to follow. 

We are starting to teach a new family. The dad is the brother of Rafael Salcedo, a non-member married to a member who loves everything about church, just doesn't have the desire to be baptized. So we've started teaching his brother- Alejandro and his wife and son this week. And after one lesson and an invitation to come to church, they showed up on Sunday with a Book of Mormon in hand!!! We had not even taught them about the Book of Mormon yet, but there it was in Alejandro's hand! Haha. My vision is that this family is baptized, and when Rafael sees this, he will be baptized too!!

The Ramirez-Lopez family is doing good. Lorena, Juli, and Ivet came to church. And they brought their grandma, aunt, and all her kids! It was the fullest I've seen our little branch in a long time. Lorena has expressed to us so many times how much she loves this Gospel. She tells us how many good changes she has seen in her family. They all asked for a blessing after church, and I think we all received a lot of peace that Heavenly Father is very aware of their circumstances and is willing to help in every way.

I love you all! Can't wait to talk to my beautiful family in 10 days!! Always remember that we are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father, who loves us. Even in the saddest times, we can find peace through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Pray and search for His presence to be with you this Christmas season.

-Hermana Webb

And hey, remember there's always a rainbow on the other side.... ha

Hermana Martinez! She is the best! We went on exchanges this week.

Our awesome neighbors window!!