Dia de accion de gracias!!!!‏

Isn't it easier to say thanksgiving in english?!?!!  OK I have so much in my head I want to tell you! First Thanksgiving was awesome! We had potential for about 5 dinners...somehow we managed to eat only 1 ! The elders were late to the dinner (because they were at an other dinner haha) so it really worked out well for me, because the hermana was kind of annoyed at the elders for already eating and being late so while we were waiting for them she told us the plan, she was going to act like she didn't know they had already eaten and make them eat a ton and watch them suffer. Haha I was all for it because .... then she paid no attention to us and I got away eating only one plate! whew! We were told thanksgiving was a great day to proselyte...but we do not agree! People are either not home or busy being with their family, so we spent it trying to visit people and failing haha. But we had a really awesome lesson with Javier so that made the whole day worth it. One miracle that happened that day was we went by a lady we're not sure if she is a member or an investigator yet haha because she was baptized, she says into our church but her mom had the priesthood...so we are looking into that! But she has just had a horrible life and every time we go over there she swears all over the place and tells us crazy stories and we barely get to teach her. I was kind of feeling like we are not getting anywhere here! But we visited her on Thanksgiving to help her make food for her family party, and somehow we were able to teach her, and we went around saying things we are grateful for, and she basically bore her testimony. It was really sweet and I felt how much Heavenly Father is aware of all of us, and no matter what your circumstances are, there are things to be grateful for. And no matter how small the steps are, if we are moving towards Him, that is enough.

 

Second, dog poop. For the third time! We have an investigator named Rosa, we met her at a members house, and we were just friends with her at first. We started going over to her house to help her two little girls with their homework, because she doesn't understand english super well. They are seriously the cutest little family. We started teaching her and she has just been so loving to us! When Hermana Marquez got sick she wanted to come take care of her, and she calls us to make sure we have somewhere to eat. Anyways her husband works a ton so we hadn't met him yet. This was the night we were going to. And we were really excited to meet him and just have an amazing lesson with their whole family! It was dark already and we had to park kind of far away, and this street didn't have sidewalks (and yes mom I had the tazer!)  So we start walking and like two steps later I realize my shoe is totally covered! Sick!!! No grass nearby. It was so embarrassing! Her husband opens the door and his first impression of us is me trying to explain that I stepped in dog poop so I am going to leave my shoe outside. So I am sitting there on their couch teaching them with one shoe on. Haha before we left they gave me a pair of shoes because they had a pair that fit me perfectly....they were her 10 year old daughter's! 

 

And last...I found out I am getting transfered. Oh my gosh, I didn't realize how comfortable I had gotten here and how much I love all of these people. Yesterday at church my bladder was right next to my face! It felt like I was leaving home again, it was really hard. I was also really bummed because Javier didn't come to church so I don't get to say goodbye to him. Hermana Marquez and I have become really close and I...I stink at change! But we just keep saying it will all be "good and perfect!"

 

OK Love you all like crazy,

Hna Mulliner

 

Send mail to the mission office this week:

 

23504 Lyons Ave suite 107

Santa Clarita CA 91321

hello!!!!!!!

FIRST OF ALL.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TATER! Hello everyone!!!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR BIRTHDAY WISHES!!!!! My birthday was awesome!!! And I really appreciate all of you thinking of me! So...I did not document any of my birthday though because my face randomly got really swollen haha...ya ...it was not pretty! But it was actually a miracle because the day the day before my bday is when this little party inside my face started going down and that was the day we had interviews with President Hall...which means we also had an interview with the mission nurse so she fixed me up.  Everything is all good now, but I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to send you of our crazy pin the tail on the elephant game and whatnot. All the missionaries made it a really great day too: here is a sampling of what happened on November 14: Hna Marquez coordinated with the other sisters near us to decorate our apartment while we were running in the morning and have breakfast/party with us. A really awesome family in our ward made sure we came to their house, they made pasole and bought a pumpkin cheesecake topped with trick candles. And the elders in my district picked me flowers off of a nearby mountain.

 

We met this 14 year old girl knocking last Saturday or something and it has just brightened our days ever since with voicemails like the following:

"Um I know you guys are from Jesus' side. Um I was gonna let you guys to know that on Wednesday I need to candel wednesday, because wednesday im not going to be here, on wednesday I got my plans, so I need to cancel wednesday. I don't know if you guys can make it some other day cause I have to cancel wednesday. It's not that I didn't know i was gonna get plans its just I have plans I need to cancel it for this um for this um for this week but I need to cancel wednesday. I don't know when can we do it but I need to cancel wednesday because i'm not gonna be here on wednesday. if you get this message you guys please call me its me its Rosa K?bye."

She also calls us to tells us when certain people are outside on her street and tells us to come talk to them. She uses a phrase we have adopted, we usually say something like "that sounds good" after setting up an appt with her and she responds, "that sounds good and perfect." haha so that is our little comp motto right now, that sounds good and perfect!

 

I ate Menudo for the first time this week, look it up...

 

In a lesson with Armando this week we brought our ward mission leader with us. He kind of started talking and didn't stop to start of the lesson and  I could see Armando not really into it. I was praying for help thinking of an inspired question I could ask Armando to involve him in  the lesson and what came to my mind was to ask the member how long he had been a member...at the time it did not seem too inspiring...haha but I asked it anyway and he said 3 years. Armando was really surprised and really interested because he had only been a member for such a short time. He lilstened attentively the rest of the time and we were all in tears at the end of the lesson because of the strong testimony of this member. Seriously being a missionary is just the best!

 

I love you all soo much!

Hna Mulliner

fam fam fam...

Family Family Family!

 

We are emailing at the church today so we are emailng together...Marquez says wut up!  Hermana Marquez and I are having a blast together! This transfer has flown by!!! This friday we are having a ward Thanksgiving dinna :)

 

The favorite part of this week was our lesson in Mcdonalds! Giselle is the member here who goes out with us twice a week, she is also planning on going on a mission soon. She is so amazing and helps us soo much! We took her to Mcdonalds to get a Mcflurry because she needed a little boost. We were sharing a scripture with her and this guy from two tables over says "Jesucristo?" Haha so we told him we were missionaries blah blah then he came over to us and started telling us how it is good that we believe in Jesus Christ because he talked to the mormons and they don't believe in Jesus Christ...haha so we had an awkward moment clearning that up but after reading 2Nephi 25:26 with him he was really interested in everything! We gave him a pamphlet of lesson one and he went back to his table and started reading it right there. He would come over to us and point out something he read or ask what something meant and then go back and sit down and keep reading....and then come back over to our table and ask what something meant...then go back and sit down and keep reading. Then he came over and asked if we had anything else to read! Cool huh?! So we gave him more stuff to read! It was just sooooo cute, I wish I had a picture to send ya of him reading his pamphlets in Mcdonalds!

 

Elizabeth, one of the elder's investigators got baptized yesterday! It was really special because we have gotten really close with her and it was the first adult person I was able to see get baptized. We were helped her find the jumpsuit and get all ready and the we went and took a few pictures. As we were in the hallway about to go into the room where basically the whole ward was she got really nervous! We were peeking into the room and telling her how many people were there and she started to cry a little bit and then started freaking out because she didn't want to cry and she was saying she didn't want to go in there! And then out of nowhere this other door flings open and smashes her into the wall and this old guy comes out with a broom. Haha he said hi to me and hermana Marquez but didn't notice elizabeth behind the door She trying to be quiet and she was busting up laughing as we watch this old man walk down the hall like nothing happened!! Haha it was just what she needed to calm her nerves before she went in. :)

 

We taught Javier the word of wisdom this week and he LOVED it!!! It was hilarious, after we finsihed reading D&C 89 he started adding things onto it! He went off about how eggs are bad for your cholesterol etc etc. Haha we were trying so hard not to laugh because usually people are worried about doing the things already there not adding things onto it!!  

 

Whelp! Love you alll sooo much!!! Thank you soo much for the letters and birthday wishes I've already recieved!!!

 

Love,

Hermana Mulliner

hey hey!

Fam...wo wo wo...what happened on Halloween?!?!!?! I would love to see pics! Tater how much candy did you get? What were you? No kids came to our house!:(  We just deep cleaned...haha it was actually really fun...the highlight was when we decided to make our beds bunkbeds and the board that holds the mattress we ended up lifted up and over and it came right back through because we are too weak haha. 

 

Cool thing this week...I was in my first earthquake! During stake conference everything just started shaking a little, the speaker was really really chill, he just kept talking through it haha. Another highlight, talking with Miguel. He is this kind of crazy guy that lives by a member that we eat with sometimes and we always stop and talk to him on our way. This week we learned how you can grow potatoes on the moon...so if you want further info write me i'll let you in on the secrets of potato growing.

 

This week flew by! This whole transfer is flying by!!  I feel like I am starting to tell you guys the same stuff over and over, just about how many miracles happen all the time! But its my favorite part! Miracles happen every day! I don't know what to tell you about this week! Javier is doing so good, the best part about teaching him is the spirit is always strong because he is so humble. He is in his 60's and he is really nervous about praying out loud when other people are there, so he has us help him. We say a line, then he repeats it, kind of like in primary. It makes me so grateful that I was taught to pray when I was so little. He is progressing but very slow and he is really nervous about how well he will remember it all. I just feel so strongly when we are with him how much Heavenly Father is happy with even the littlest tiniest progress we make, the efforts we make are enough! Like we still help him with his prayers but he knows how they end now and he says that part by himself. Haha, that sounds tiny but I can just feel how much Heavenly Father is proud of him for that!  

 

Also you should follow any ideas or thoughts you have and try to recognize the spirit the spirit this week! We have been realizing how often we are prompted by the spirit in our area. Our day was totally planed out on Friday but we kept thinking of this one family. So we decided to stop by them and say hi...it was a miracle!! They were all home on a friday night, and they just welcomed us in and asked if we were going to share something with them. Haha we were like...um....yes! We hadn't planned anything specific for them but we thought to ask them how their scripture study is going. Seriously it is just amazing how the spirit works. They told us they hadn't read their scriptures in over a month and they want to start again. How could we have known that?! We could have shared anything with them but that is the question that came to our mind. Heavenly Father is so aware of all of our needs, and we can be the ones to answer peoples prayers if we follow promptings.

 

A sadder story. We were on the phone with an hermana talking about dinner the next day, I felt like I should tell her about how its stake conference so church is a different schedule this sunday...then I thought myself out of it b/c she comes every sunday so I figured she would have heard the announcement and didn't want to offend her. We got a call half way through stake conference because she was at the church all by herself....I felt horrible!!! I ignored the prompting to tell her and I felt so bad.

 

One of the elders investigators is getting baptized next week invited us girls over to eat. She is super cool, a single mom with three kids. We were supposed to try by a potential afterwards but we kind of just felt like we should stay there. We did and she brought up a concern she had and hermana Marquez was able to share some things from when she joined the church that helped her a lot. We just have been realizing that we don't even realize all the times the spirit is helping us every day. They usually do not feel really noticeable or that different than something that is just our own idea, just a thought or a feeling. And it is really easy to just pass over it like I did about not telling that hermana about stake conference. We seriously can be led and helped in everything we do if we try to pay attention to the how often the spirit is helping us out. I am so grateful for that constant help as a missionary.

 

I love you all soo much!! My new favorite word this week was "chachalaca" no one can tell me what it means exactly but it is really fun to say!

Love!

Hna Mulliner

Oct. 29

Oh my goodness all those pictures were SOOOO cute!! I feel like I say the same thing about the pics every time, tate is so tall and so big and ella and reese and growing so much! But its true! haha! Thanks for the pics mom!!!

 

Good news!!! Found Javier!!! He went out of town for a little while...whew! He is sooo cute. He really wants to change his life, but he is worried he learns to slow and can't remember anything. Haha, which he actually really does forget a lot! But, he is such a sincere guy, he is the most attentive in the lessons I have ever seen. He asks questions and tries really hard to learn! We always leave and can't stop talking about how cute he is the rest of the day! 

 

Miracle of this transfer!!!! We had the coolest thing happen this past week....someone actually called us back! One of those pass along cards we gave while we were knocking...someone kept it and called us!!! We had prayed about where to go knocking  and chose this street on the map called Lemp. When we got there it was a tiny street...like 4 apartment things each with 4 doors. We knocked it and met Iris and Angelica. They are friends that are from El Salvador. We tried by them the next week but they weren't home, we had wanted to try by again but hadn't had time. Then we get a phone call weeks later saying they want us to come back and teach them whatever we talk about. Haha. We went back and, wow, it was one of those times where I felt like I was where I was supposed to be. Afterwards, they told us how they felt when we knocked on their door how it had stuck with them and they kept wanting to call us back. But their work schedules are so different they are hardly ever home together. They said they have been looking for a church to join but haven't felt right in any other church. And, they want to be baptized! I was thinking while they were telling us all of this, that it is a miracle we knocked on their door the day we did. They are hardly ever home, and especially hardly ever home together and somehow we feel like we should knock their tiny little street the day we did. I felt so strong how the Lord is so aware of everyone and is in the details of our lives.

  

These little kids in our ward kept calling Carls Jr.   "Carlos Jr." haha! Ban was a crayon for our Halloween party! ...but he said I couldn't take a picture of him, sorry to disappoint. I tried talking to this old guy in our ward this past week and after I repeated my question three times he looked at me and said, "Are you speaking enlgish or spanish?"

 

Love you all so much! Have a happy halloween!!!!!

 

Love,

Hna Mulliner

Weekly Letter from President Hall - October 29, 2012

Dear Sisters and Elders of the Great California San Fernando Mission,

It is such an incredible time to be a missionary!  I can’t tell you how excited I continue to be and with each passing week I seem to get even more excited and enthusiastic for this great missionary work!  How blessed we are to be called by a prophet of God to serve as a missionary in these times! 

Ever since General Conference, I have been pondering the scripture in D&C 88:72-73.

Behold, and lo, I will take care of your flocks, and will raise up elders and send unto them.  Behold, I will hasten my work in its time.

I know that this is the time that that the Lord will hasten his work.  We found out this week that the approved number of missionaries for our mission has immediately been increased from 190 to 250!  In fact, all missions in California have had their missionary complement increased to 250 young missionaries!  So amazing!!  Some 18 year old men and 19 year old women have already received their calls and we could begin to see some of them arrive in the next transfer or two!

Elder Marcus A . Aidukaitis of the Seventy told us this past week that the average for missionary applications per week had been averaging 300 per week and there were 4500 the first week after General Conference,  4700 the second week and another 2700 half way through the third week!!  Instead of about thousand applications since Conference, there probably have been close to 14,000!!  Now that is a true “hastening of the work!”

Sisters and Elders, we must do everything that we can to prepare for this large increase of new missionaries!  Never has there been a time like this and you have been called to be a missionary to serve the Lord now!  Please do everything that you can be truly become a Preach My Gospel missionary and serve in the Lord’s way, aligning your will with the will of the Father.  Prepare now to become the best trainer that you could possibly be, because we will have an increasing need for powerful, faithful, strictly obedient trainers. 

As I have studied D&C 88:72-73, I have found the verses immediately before and immediately after to be incredibly insightful.  D&C 88:62-71 and D&C 88:74-81 speak very specifically to what is required of us as missionaries.  I encourage you to take some time and study and ponder these verses.

I hope you can see and feel the prophetic power and the Lord’s hand in these unique and singular times in the history of mankind.  What a privilege to serve and witness these amazing things first hand.  It truly is a marvelous work and a wonder!

We love you all dearly.  We pray constantly for your success and for your physical and spiritual safely. 

President and Sister Hall

Random Week!

Family!! Oh my heck!!! I LOVE the pictures of you guys!!! the back yard looks so good! everyone is growing! Thanks for your advice mom, I needed to hear that, like I know that i just forget! haha.

 

So this week was so emotional! haha!! For reals! It is cracking me up to read Dal's emails because every mission is so different every missionary is so different, and just elders and sisters are so different! My companion is feeling really homesick, but doesn't want to be feeling homesick so it makes her feel bad she is feeling that way haha. And so we have had a few more ice cream and cry breaks this week. It kind of made me homesick a little bit...a lot a bit for a minute...haha but now I'm doing good. :)

 

We had this crazy miracle!! We talked to this guy on the street and set up an appointment to teach him, good ole Javier. We went to teach him and the spirit was so strong during the lesson and he said he would be baptized! We were freaking out! He set his date for 3 weeks! We were so pumped! And then....we haven't been able to find him again...I'll keep you posted....haha...ya... 

 

We realized this week how tricky satan is. Somehow something seems to come up everytime we start to tell the Joseph Smith story. We were talking to some lady at her door and her dog came up barking. When we were teaching a member, her phone rang. When we were teaching Javier, we were outside and it was all quiet and the spirit was there, as soon as we starting telling the Joseph Smith story the slowest ice cream truck I have ever seen with its music starting coming down the street. When we realized that, we felt how important the message of the restoration is and there is a special spirit there. Satan knows that message can change lives.

 

Favorite knocking moment this week. This lady interrupted us in the middle of talking and said, "This is awkward."

 

Favorite mexican food of the week... chicken noodle soup with bananas in it :)

Favorite quote of the week, "In the end, happiness does not spring from perfection but from applying divine principles, even in small steps." -Elder uchtdorf

 

I love you all soo much and appreciate your letters and support! I know that God remembers and loves every single person. And he is happy with even the smallest steps we are making in the forward direction! We are soo blessed to have the restored gospel in our lives, if you feel a prompting to share it...do it!

 

LOVE,

Hermana Mulliner