Feliz Navidad! 

Espero que todos están bien y que tengan una semana muy bonita con regalos y fiestas y todo, pero espero que recuerdan la razón en lo cual tenemos navidad!!!! (CRISTO!!!) EL es la DÁDIVA!!!! (HE IS THE GIFT)

Hoy quiero compartirles mi testimonio. La misión es maravillosa. No cambiare nada de las coses que he aprendido aquí en la Misión. La misión no es fácil, pero como dijo un apostal, la misión no una experiencia fácil, porque la expiación no fue una experiencia fácil. Hace 14 meces, yo no sabía nada sobre Dios, ni Jesucristo. Pues, pensé que sabía algo, pensé que conocí el evangelio. Pero MAN was I wrong!!!! He aprendido como ser amorosa, como amar a otros aun cuando ellos no me aman. He aprendido como ser mas paciente, mas humilde, y como tener mas fe y como compartirlo con otros. He aprendido la importancia de ser obediente en todo tiempo. En los 14 meses que tengo en la misión, he tenido compañeras difíciles, he tenido MUCHAS enfermedades, enfermedades sin numero de hecho!! y he conocido muchas personas, muchas miembros, contactos, y he visto como el evangelio y Jesucristo puede cambiar las vidas de las personas. Cada día caminamos hasta cuando nuestros pies duelen, y están enchados. Cada día, hay personas quien nos dicen que estamos mal y que necesitamos buscar la verdad (y siempre reímos porque esta es la mensaje que nosotras estamos compartiendo!! Solo que ellos son los quien necesiten buscar la verdad… ) Pero cada dia puedo compartir mi testimonio y cada vez que lo comparto, puedo sentir la verdad de mis palabras. YO SE que estamos en la Iglesia verdadera. SE que Jesucristo pago por MIS pecados, y SE que el es mi Hermano y que el me ama. Yo estoy muy feliz porque tengo el evangelio en mi vida y también porque mi familia son miembros. Aun que no somos perfectos, se que tenemos la oportunidad para llegar a ser como Dios. Se que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios. Se que el Libro de Mormon es el libro mas correcto en toda la tierra. Se que si lo abrimos y leimos, podemos encontrar respuestas de cualquier problema y dificultad que tengamos. Amo mi Salvador, amo la obra misional. Se que las familias pueden llegar a ser eternas. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Con mucho Cariño,

Hermana Oliphant

 

And for those who only read English:

 

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all are well and have a nice week with gifts and parties and all, but I hope you remember the reason for which we have Christmas !!!! (CHRIST !!!) THIS is the gift !!!! (HE IS THE GIFT)

Today I want to share my testimony. The mission is wonderful. I would not change anything of what I have learned here in the Mission. The mission is not easy, but as an apostle said, the mission is not an easy experience because the atonement was not an easy experience. 14 months ago I knew nothing about God or Jesus Christ. Well, I thought I knew something, I thought I knew the gospel. But MAN was I wrong !!!! I learned how to be loving, and love others even if they do not love me. I learned how to be more patient, more humble, and how to have more faith and as share it with others. I have learned the importance of being obedient at all times. In the 14 months that I have in the mission, I had difficult colleagues, I have had MANY diseases, countless procedures done !! and I have met many, many members, contacts, and seen as gospel and Jesus Christ can change the lives of people. Every day we walked to when our feet hurt, and are tired. Every day, there are people who tell us that we are wrong and need to seek the truth (and always laugh because this is the message that we are sharing !! Only that they are the one who need to seek the truth ...) But every day I share my witness and every time I share, I can feel the truth of my words. I KNOW that we are in the true Church. And that Jesus Christ paid for MY sins and that He is my brother and He loves me. I am very happy because I have the gospel in my life and also because my family are members. Although we are not perfect,  we have the opportunity to become like God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know the Book of Mormon is the most correct book in all the land.  If we open it and we read, we can find answers to any problems and difficulties we have. I love my Savior, I love missionary work. I know that families can become eternal. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With much care,

Sister Oliphant

Hello! 

Navidad in Zanatepec!

December in Mexico is HOT! In the mornings it's been a little cold when we take our FREEZING cold showers! I think that will have to be our snow for this year... :) 

We are going to call home on Christmas!! I will let you know what hour we can the next week because we forgot to ask our branch president what time we can use his computer. But 25th works for us! 

So My new companion is Hermana Humphrey. She is from SANDY, Utah and has 11 months in the mission. She is sooooo wonderful!!! She started in Tapachula and then went to Huitepec (my 1st area) and now is here with me! It's been fun to be with an American again and we have been really trying to only speak Spanish! Honestly we don't speak English!  She used to work with Kaitlyn Ortega.  It's a small world, right?

I haven't gotten any packages or letters recently, and you haven't received mine either, right? I don't know what's up with that! Hopefully I will get something this Thursday because we are having our Christmas get together with President George and all of the missionaries in Arriaga and Chahuites. I'll keep my fingers crossed that something has come through! 

We have been really focusing on teaching about Christ the last few weeks. Every lesson we have tried to share scriptures about him and his birth and his life. I like using Mosiah 3. We are sharing it with everyone: members, less active members and non members. We are trying to find los escojidos para bautizar en esta cambio. Se que el Señor tiene personas preparadas para escuchar el Evangeio, solo nesecitamos encontrarlos! Estamos usando mucho Él es la Dadiva, y me encanta esta Mensaje Mormon. Veanlo! Es muy bonita!! (Dad's translation--We are trying to find people who will want to make this change and be baptized.  I know the Lord has prepared people to hear this important message we have prepared for them.  We are using "He is the Gift",  and I love this Mormon Message. Watch it!  It is very nice!)  oops.. I didn't mean to write in Spanish! Ask Dad to translate because I don't have time to write it again. 

 

 We drank out of a coconut!!! It was my first time drinking coco juice straight from the coco!!!

We had 3 investigators in church with us yesterday and they all came alone! Hopefully they will keep progressing! We are having to leave others because they won't make time to go to church. It can be frustrating. It's like JUST go to church, one time, and you will know it's true!!!!!!!!!!! But they don't listen. That is how we know if they are ready or not, if they listen. I hope that this week we find a family to teach. We are sure praying and looking for that one family who just is LOOKING for the truth! I know that anything is possible with help from the Lord. I LOVE this gospel and I love having my Savior's help in everything I do. I love my Father in Heaven. I am so thankful for the blessings I have been sent. I am so thankful for my family.  You all mean the world to me! 

Love 

 

Hermana Oliphant

Tlyudas!

P.S.I love you all!!!!

OH and I forgot to remind you, watch the movie he is the gift (El es la Dadiva) (The Mormon Message)

We are sharing that with everyone here.  And you can all be working on what gift you are going to give the Lord!!!!! I love you and will talk to you next week!!!

​

Me encanta pina!

I have so much I could say but I really just keep running out of time to say it all!

Well this week was super long but we worked super hard!!!! Again, we came home tired and wanted to go straight to bed... After we did our planning :)

We have 10 people with a baptism date as of right now, but all of them need to get to church first! We will be working with them EVERYDAY! 

Hermana Diaz and I have realized the importance of just work work work and nothing else. We have come to really know the truth in the statement, forget  yourself and go to work. It goes by faster, and the pains go away if you just think about the other people and how you can help them. How you can help them get to baptism and then to the temple with their families!! 

I am so thankful that I had this wonderful opportunity to work and help train Hermana Diaz. She is wonderful and I have learned so much from her. I am so sad that she is going back to her other area tomorrow, but at least we are still going to be in the same Branch!!!!! :) Yes, we had transfers, Hermana Park is going to Tuxtla and I am receiving a new companion.... I have heard she is American and has about 1 year in the mission. How exciting, right?! I will be meeting her tomorrow when I go pick her up at the bus station in Arriaga. ( 2 hours from here!) 

Hermana Diaz and I have been seeing how the blessings come after the trials. We worked really hard all week to find people and invite them to church and only had 1 investigator show up :( we were a little sad because we wanted to reach all of our goals and one of them is to have at least 4 people in church with us every week... we only had 1. But then in the afternoon, we found a whole bunch of new people who are really interested in the gospel. One of them has even been to church before! And we had been teaching his wife for a few weeks. They both accepted the baptism invitation and are going to come to church next week! Another investigator has been to church 3 times before with the Elders and wants us to come back and teach her again!!! 

We are focusing on the message of El es la Dadiva (look for it on LDS.org, it's a huge hit!) and are sharing the message with everyone. As a mission, we have been given a goal. As a mission we are going to baptize 400 people this transfer, which is 4 people each area. Usually we are baptizing less than 300 each transfer. We are doing this as a gift for our Savior Jesus Christ. What are you all going to give him this year? I challenge you to watch this short video ( I don't know what it's called in English) and then decide what gift you will give Jesus and you can tell me at Christmas! SPEAKING OF CHRISTMAS... it's that time again!! to talk on skype!!!! We can talk any day between 21 and 29 of December. What day works best for you all so that everyone can be there? Let me know and we will talk to our branch president; he is letting us use his house :) 

I am so excited every day to watch people grow and progress, M is going to the temple this Saturday with the other members of the ward. I LOVE seeing the glow that he has in his eyes, and his wife is really changing also; they are all growing so much closer to Christ.

Well I really am out of time. I am going to try to send a few pictures. I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!!!!!!! 

Pray for us to find and teach the 4 people who want to be baptized to reach our goal! I LOVE YOU!

I  AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR THE REUNION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WAHOO!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Oliphant

tan lines... and .... my hammac!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE hearing from you every week! And I agree, Mom, the time is FLYING by!!!

It looks like you all had a blast on Thanksgiving!!! We didn't do anything super fun; well I went to Juichitan for the last time (to see the doctor), so I guess that was a fun little ´break´. I got some pretty neat stuff that you will all be able to see in 4 months! :) hahaha or maybe I will tell about some of them at Christmas.... :) 

 All of the boys have changed so much!!! STOP GROWING UP!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Well, this week we worked super hard. Every night we came home soooo tired and basically just fell asleep. I didn't and don't know the area really well--the streets and everything--so it has been a fun adventure to try and find places, but we have taken advantage of this and contacted SOOO many people! Yesterday we were 6 lessons short of reaching our mission goal, and so we spent the whole afternoon looking for people to teach, and were seriously guided by the Spirit to some wonderful people!!! We reached our goal and found some new people who are interested in learning!!!

We had 5 people make it to church with us, and are starting to get a lot of help from the members here. Hermana M and her husband picked up 4 of them!!! and we went by another investigator's house and he was ready to go! I am so thankful for the blessings that come when we do what the Lord asks! Hermana Diaz is such a delight! I love working with her; we have our differences, but she is so wonderful and honestly we have the best study sessions together!!!!!! 

 

 from my study this morning.... Alma 29!!!!!!!

I am so thankful to be a missionary!! I am sad honestly that I only have 3 transfers left... I am going to be home soooo soon!!!!!! I hope to go home different then I was when I started my mission. I hope to be an instrument in God's hands always!!!!!!!!!! 

Thank you for all of the support that you send. Thank you for your prayers for me, for my investigators, and for my companions. I LOVE the power we receive when we pray. I love each of you sooo much!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damon, I LOVE you no matter what! Thanks for helping Mom out!

Ammon, I hope you have so much success in your play!!!!

Lincoln, I cant believe you already had another birthday.. I didn't see you for any of your year 14.... oh well!!! 15 is better anyways!!

Colin, How is everything going? I hope you had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa!

Trynn, I can't wait to play all the new WII games with you!!!
Dad, I am so thankful that you work so hard to provide for the family. I love you!!

Mom, thank you for all of your encouraging words each week. They really help.

Grandma and Grandpa!!!! I am so glad you were able to spend time with the family... did you like the new guest room!!!!???? I love you!!!!

Love

Hermana Oliphant

 

P.S. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL OF YOU!!!!!!! I CAN'T wait to talk in 3.5 ish weeks!!!!!!!!!! 

 

 gracias por mi regalo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!