Go Big Or Go Home, So I'm Going To Go Home Big!

Yeah, the title says it all. I'm gaining weight! But what's a missionary without a little extra "spiritual" fluff?" Ha, ha. My scripture motto currently is 2 Nephi 9:51. "... neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness." So yeah, I am living by that scripture! My companion and I are implementing ways to lose the weight, hopefully we're fruitful!

This week went by so fast. I know I say that all the time, but this week was especially fast. On Monday, after p-day, I felt so sick. We call the mission medical nurse, and she told us to go in early. I took some NyQuil and passed out. The next day was the worst! I woke up completely stuffed and had the croop cough. So we stayed home again and I just slept all day. It was nice to take a breather. My voice left me and I sounded like a man, but that's okay, because it's better now. 

On Wednesday I still wasn't feel well, but something told me that I needed to go out and proselyte, so we did. We ended up going to see a potentail investigator, but when we got there, she canceled on us. Instead of leaving, we felt we needed to stick around and street contact for an hour, so we did. We talked to quite a few people and toward the end of the hour, we came across a man named Freddy. He was sitting on his porch and we politely approached him and talked to him. He has one leg and leukemia, but he's the friendliest guy you'll ever meet! He loved our message and we ended up reading to him in 3 Nephi 11, when Christ visits the Nephites. He was so amazed and just kept saying that he knows it's all true! He said he desired our message for his wife, also. It was SUCH A MIRACLE. God totally led us to find him! Sister Robinson invited him to be baptized and he said yes! We're so happy. The only thing is that when we went back, he wasn't there and we haven't been able to get in contact with him. Will you all pray that we can find him again? He is so prepared, definitely the elect.

The rest of the week went by great. We love this work and are having the time of our lives!

Jade, our 11-year-old investigator we have been working with for A WHILE now is going to be baptized this Saturday! Her grandparents gave the okay and she is so excited. It was such a miracle and big things are happening!

On Sunday, Sister Robinson requested a blessing to help her continue to adjust to missionary life and to have confidence in her efforts. Three of our ward missionaires offered to give her one and so we all gathered for it. During the prayer, I opened my eyes and was overcome by the Spirit. I saw three WORTHY and FAITHFUL men place their hands on her head in unity with this amazing Priesthood power, the POWER of God, to bless her. I thought of the strength of the blessing and the power they possess to move a mountain if they had to. I lost it and started crying so hard. The church is so true and the Spirit testified that to me again, yesterday. It was quite the experience. Never before have I felt that magnitude of the Spirit and it was such a miracle to have been able to be a part of that.

I know the Church is true and that I'm a missionary and a part of a great work. It's a marvelous work. Never will I give up this experience and I will cherish it for the rest of my life and onto the eternities. Thank you for supporting me. Y'all make the world of a difference.

God is great. There is one faith, one God, one baptism.

Do all you can to find those who are ready to find the truth. How great shall be your joy.

Sister Sanchez

Dinner with the Tiltons!

Richard taking a selfie!

Peace signs with Elder Van Leuven and Brother Stillion.

I Love My Trainee!

Hello friends and family! How are y'all doing? I am doing so great, like overly great. I love the mission, the mission field, this calling, my trainee, EVERYTHING. The mission really allows you to learn how to love yourself, the Lord and others. It's the best thing in the world.

This week was pretty amazing. On Wednesday, Feb. 11 we had transfer meeting. I had to be there at 9 a.m. with all the other trainers that were going to be training this transfer. We got there and we entered the chapel and quietly studied until the new missionaries came in. President Brian K. Ashton, who leads our mission, conducted the meeting and we sang and prayed. Then he spoke a few words about being exactly obedient and how the Lord has picked out all of us trainers because he knows we're good, capable missionaries. Then after he spoke, he announced which missionaries would be with which trainers. My name was the first name called. "Sister Sanchez will be training Sister Robinson." I was so excited. I hugged her and we went into the Young Women's room to get to know each other. Turns out, she is from California! She's from the Central Valley town of Visalia. She actually worked as a nanny in San Jose for a year before her mission so she knows A LOT of the same people I do. It's pretty great and I feel right at home. She also went to BYU-I for a year, so we have that in common as well. It's been such a blessing to be her trainer! She's adjusting great and we laugh a lot, which is amazing. I can't wait to see what this transfer has in store for us!

Not to mention four days into her mission she had a baptism! Richard was baptized on Saturday, Feb. 14. It was really special to see him enter the waters of baptism and that his cousin, Jon, our recent convert, had the opportunity to baptize him! It was such a special moment to see all the progression those two have made and to feel the change that they will make in their near future. It was amazing! Bishop spoke at the baptism and shared an amazing spiritual thought about the validity of the Book of Mormon, which touched my heart and all the hearts of those listening. John Teate and Jade, two of our other investigators, came to the baptism and I could tell they thoroughly enjoyed it. Jade tuned to us and asked, "Can I be baptized tomorrow?" Ha, ha. She's 12! I told her she would have to wait a little longer but that it can happen soon! Her date is now set for Feb. 28! She's set on that date! We're being so blessed! 

The Lord is blessing us so much! We're working so hard and reaping the rewards of our efforts. The field is SO WHITE and we're so prepared to harvest it. I love this work! I love my Savior.

Funny story! As we were preparing the baptismal font, we found a GIGANTIC cockroach in the font! We both screamed! Ha, ha. It was so funny. I ended up catching it in a Ziploc bag and we named it Ricky. Ha, ha. It was so funny because we both almost peed our pants from the scare. We hate cockroaches!! Texas is the home of the big ones, too! AHHHHH.

Love you guys, WITH ALL MY HEART.

Sister Sanchez

Address: 2223 W. Bay Area Blvd.

Webster, TX. 77598 Apt #2213

Richard is baptized! 

My new companion is Sis. Robinson! 

My new companion and trainee is Sis. Robinson! 

Fishers of Men

This week has gone by so fast to the point where I have no idea what day was what day! Ha, ha. 

Richard is doing so well. He's such a huge blessing to us and he's ready for his baptism! He will be baptized this Saturday, Valentine's Day and his birthday at 2 p.m.! It's going to be a great day and then he'll receive the Holy Ghost the next Sunday. He's so involved in Young Single Adults (YSA) and church activities. It's great. He has come to all of them and he loves it a lot! We're so blessed to have found him through our recent converts. God works in mysterious ways, but it all works out so perfect in the end.

We went to the temple on Saturday with the youth! And we invited Shevyn, our recent convert, to come! It was her first time going to do baptisms for the dead and she was definitely nervous, but we calmed her down and explained things a little bit better to help her feel prepared. The whole experience was amazing. She was baptized for a close member of her family that she had been worried about since their death. She felt relief and after the baptisms, a member of the temple presidency came and spoke to us about the opportunity we just gave to those on the other side of the veil and how they will cherish and remember our names for the rest of their lives.

When we meet those we have done the work for at the temple, they will know EXACTLY who we are and they will thank us for saving them. It really hit home as I was listening to him saying that and I thought of my grandfather, Mario Hipólito Sánchez. I remember the day my little brother went and did his baptism in the Oakland Temple and I couldn't help but weep right after. I received the ultimate confirmation that he accepted the Gospel and I was overjoyed. I miss him so much, but I'm so thankful that he's happy. I'm grateful for the opportunity we have in Christ's Gospel to do work for the dead and to help them achieve the necessary ordinances to save them. We are saviors. 

I love being a missionary. Every time I think about it, I cry because it's the biggest blessing in my life. I feel like my life was saved because I decided to serve a mission. Not that I was going down the wrong path, or anything, but because I have been spiritually saved from decisions I would've previously made before the mission that were most likely not God's will. I feel changed and I KNOW, without a doubt, that the mission is the best place for me. It's hard, I'm tired, but who cares. It's not for me, it's for others. I feel that I have been placed here and it's a miracle to know that I'm serving a mission.

I fought the decision to serve a mission a lot before I came out because I didn't think it was for me, but to be honest, something I've realized is that the mission is FOR EVERYONE. Everyone needs to receive the blessings that come from serving the Lord and being a part of the greatest work there ever was. 

I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. They are my best friends.

P.S. I've been called as a Trainer and Sister Training Leader! Crazy stuff, but I know there's a reason for it. I'm excited for the stories we'll share together as trainer and trainee.

KEEP PUSHING THROUGH! You can do hard things!

Love you all,

Hermana Sanchez

CHIPOTLE!

Gina and Sister Millard!

Richard again!

Richard! He gets baptized this weekend!

Work Hard, Play Hard!

This week was so fun! We worked so hard and there were points when we were SO EXHAUSTED, but we just kept going. That's when you see all the miracles! It's been warming up in Texas! The weather is just like California, so I am definitely at home! But not for long, come March or April, the humidity will hit us! Not looking forward to that, but maybe Heavenly Father will bless us more for the suffering of the heat? You never know! 

We did a lot this week. My favorite was seeing our investigator named Richard come to a baptism the Friendswood 1st elders had and he enjoyed it. We talked to him about his baptism and asked him to bear his testimony. It was a simple testimony, but just as powerful. He said that to say this feels right, would be an understatement, but he said it just feels like it's exactly what he needs. He's progressing so well. We're set for his baptism on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. We're so excited. He's so excited and he'll have the support at home because he lives with our other recent converts, Jon and Kim! Such a blessing. 

We definitely saw a huge miracle this week as we were riding our bikes. We dedicated two hours and two days to ride our bikes just to find people to teach. We rode around a bunch of neighborhoods and Heavenly Father blessed us to find about four prepared people who are willing to listen to our message! It was so awesome! We know that as we strive to talk to everyone we see, that Heavenly Father will place prepared people in our paths because he trusts that we will talk to them. We're so sore from so much bike riding, but it was so worth it!

We saw Susan this week, Brother Berkley's wife, and we dyed her hair! She wanted to get the gray hair out so we volunteered to come over and dye her hair an auburn brown color. She is seriously the nicest person ever and is always willing to let us in. We're hoping to continue teaching and seeing her at church. We can tell this is something she's interested in, so please pray for her and her husband! Please ask Heavenly Father for help so they will continue to progress.

Sister Millard and I have been having so much fun. Some of the most fun I have had my whole mission! We're always laughing and when we get too serious, we find something to laugh about so we snap out of it! The mission is to be enjoyed. Richard makes us laugh so much, he's hilarious. We were playing the piano the other day, and Richard comes in and starts dancing out of nowhere! He was dancing so much that he ended up falling over and we all just laughed together, ha, ha. Even at night when we're about to go to bed, we just talk about our day and all the funny things that happened and laugh about them. We never get too stressed because the work is hard, but it's more bearable when you laugh. 

We have a huge temple trip planned for this upcoming Saturday with all of our recent converts! Jon, Kim, Shevyn, and Brayden! It's going to be a blast. We're going with the youth and we're going to do baptisms. We're so excited to take Shevyn and Brayden for their first time! Woooooo! And anytime we get to go to the temple, we take full advantage of it! 

My talk went well, Dad. Really well! I spoke about Linda, and our baptism in Kemah, and I talked about you and Mom being converts. I also talked about the fear we feel to share the Gospel and then related that to the First Vision when Joseph was overcome by Satan but didn't give up and right when he felt like he was going to be doomed to utter destruction ... "I saw a pillar of light ... ." it was awesome. I felt so good after my talk and everyone told me they loved it! Some even asked for a copy ... and I really had nothing written down ... ha, ha, oops!! I'M SO PROUD of Mom! She's amazing and I'm happy that she now has something to keep her more occupied, although staying at home is a full-time job in and of itself. Ha, ha. How's it all working out? 

YESTERDAY at church, I was going to our Gospel Principles class with Sister Millard and a member ran over to us and said they needed us to speak Spanish for some people that didn't speak English ... I was like ... okay? I wonder who it is? Turns out, they JUST got here from PERU! One week ago and they're looking for the Spanish branch! Their son, Diego, is 20 and his English is great! He just got here, too, and will be attending the English ward because he wants to practice! I LOVED talking to them, their accent is TOTALLY Peruvian. They say "¿Qué tal?" ha, ha, I haven't heard people here say that in a long time! It made me miss my Dad! And miss Peru! It was really awesome! Hermana Millard translated the Gospel Principles class for them. Her Spanish is so great and it's getting better everyday! 

Thanks for keeping our investigators in your prayers! They're all doing well and progressing how they should be. We achieved 46 baptisms as a mission in January. Not the goal of 60 that we were hoping to get, but it was still good. President said that he is really proud of us for all our hard work and that if we are even more exactly obedient, we can see even more miracles. We have a goal for 50 baptisms in February and 12 baptisms for our zone. Will y'all pray to help us achieve that goal? Thank you so much. I LOVE YOU ALL. Please, send me letters! I love to hear from y'all and see how you're doing.

WITH MUCHO LOVE,

Sister Sanchez

Sister Millard cut her tights so I could ride my bike and have something under my skirt!

Sunny days!

We dyed Susan's Hair!

Too much fun with my awesome companion!

Finding people on bikes!

MATAGORDA!