Arlington; Sunnyside Branch - Week 18

30 December 2019

HELOOOOOOOO FAMILIAAAAAA

How goes it?

I do love you all so dearly.

This Christmas was amazing. All things said and done, I have snacks galore, warm hands for days, and socks out the wazoo and a new purple dress!!!! I love it! So thanks to everyone who made this Christmas so great.(;

The rest of the week was pretty amazing. It was slow, of course, because of the Holidays, but we've had these amazing miracles every day. So many families have let us come in on the first contact, which basically never happens here in Arlington, so that was amazing.

Lately, I've been getting migraines a lot. Like almost on the daily, so that's been really hard, but I was able to track down my prescription, so now I'm a lot more comfortable and that was a total miracle because I called the pharmacy the drug was supposed to be at like 10 times and they kept telling me they didn't have it. And then they did!!! #Miracles

Okay, so lately Hermana Fuller and I have been tracting ALL DAY. Like we wake up, do our studies and go tracting, and then we come home for dinner and go back out tracting. It's been pretty discouraging and I was feeling a little down and forgotten. Then Saturday was just the worst. I woke up with a migraine that would just not go away. We tracted basically the whole day and by the end of it I thought I was going to DIE. hahah.

We decided to go try a reference of a part-member family that we got from some other sisters that was out in the boonies. We got there after a pretty long drive and it was just pitch black. It was a fenced-off property in the middle of nowhere and both of us were pretty spooked. Then this GINORMOUS dog came out of nowhere and was basically just waiting for us to get out of the car to eat us. hahah. Anyway. We decided to go knock because WE AIN'T WEENIES. We got out of the car and this dog started barking at us IMMEDIATELY. It was really scary. We just stomped up to the door and knocked while this Dog was out here tryina' eat us.

and then...

THE NICEST, SWEETEST, CUTEST little Peruvian lady opened the door. She immediately let us in, gave us big hugs, and offered us food. She had family visiting that was from right around Independencia (where Sofia spent 3 weeks serving in Peru the summer before her mission with Hefy), so we had a lot to talk about. Hermana Fuller was shook when we started talking about the Chili's in Peru. hahaha. Anyway, it was a perfect little miracle to have such a nice family welcome us into their home. At the end of the night she had convinced us to come over the next day for dinner and to teach some of her nonmember friends she had invited over. It was the best. Peruvian food, gospel discussions, and big hugs. The best.

Alright alright. I won't make you wait any longer to know if I'm staying or leaving...

I will be staying in Sunnyside for another transfer with Hermana Fuller! A miracle. I love this area and I literally could not have a better companion, so I'm pretty pumped.

Anyway, enough of this floofy stuff. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father. He loves us and because He loves us so much He sent us His son (John 3:16). Christ came to the earth and lived a perfect life to set an example for us (1 Peter 2:21-25). He preached his Gospel, atoned for our sins, and was rejected and crucified. He rose on the third day and because he lives, we will all live again. He has invited all of us to come unto Him (Alma 5:34).

SO DO IT.

Accept Christ. Accept His atonement. Lay everything at His feet and he will fill all of your holes (Alma 7:15-16). He heals broken hearts and feeds hungry souls. He loved you enough to walk your life and pay the price wether you will accept His sacrifice or not. He stands with open arms, waiting for us to come to Him and experience His love. He has you engraven on the palms of His hands and for that, you are unforgettable to Him (1 Nephi 21:16). So remember Him this new year and do something to become someone better. May we all become new creatures in Christ this year (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I love you all

God loves you more,

Sofie

Arlington; Sunnyside Branch - Week 17

25 December 2019

MERRRRY CWISTMASSSSSSSSSSSSS FAMILLLYYYYYYY

I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH.

This has been a REALLY good week.

It's been pretty crazy, too, though. People were canceling appointments with us right and left, we had exchanges, and we did a lot a lot, a lot of tracting. It was super great.(:

We picked up and new friend and her son. They are really amazing people and they already know quite a bit about the church, so it's been a good time explaining more complex stuff instead of the basics. It's definitely been a test of my Spanish skills for sure.

While we were on exchanges I got a chance to teach in English which is always a blast and a half. hahah. I definitely missed Spanish land, though, so that's huge that now I'm more comfortable doing missionary work in Spanish than in English!! I missed my companion a lot. We'll find out this week if we'll stay together or if one of us is moving. I really  hope I don't get transfered, but I've been in this area for 3 transfers now, so there's a chance that I leave.

Christmas Sacrament Meeting was great! The missionaries sang with our branch president's wife. It was a pretty crazy experience. The mission has definitely taught me how to completely step out of my comfort zone. We sang "Noche De Luz."(;

Christmas eve was pretty amazing. We had district council and then made a bunch of goodies to take around to some of our friends and less-active members. We had 2 lessons (which was amazing, because they were some of the only appointments that didn't get canceled this week) and then we went to our branch President's house for dinner.

I felt SO loved and VERY at home for Christmas eve dinner. His kids remind me a lot of Alex and some of my cousins. It was good food, super hectic, good conversation, and an all-around happy night. Hermana Fuller and I went to bed with full stomachs AND hearts. The best. People are great.

aaannnndddddd

now we're here! It's been an amazing Christmas! I haven't opened any of my packages, yet, but I just wanted to thank everyone who sent packages, cards, and love my way this Christmas season. I love you all so much and feel so blessed to have all my friends and family.

May we all remember Christ this Christmas and the amazing gift of the Atonement he gave us. Isaiah 53:5 reads:

"5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

May we all give back to Christ this Christmas by doing something to be a little better. As we walk in his footsteps, we will discover the true joy that this life can bring every day, not just on Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH,

Hermana Jimenez

Arlington; Sunnyside Branch - Week 16

16 December 2019

LISTEN UP, FAM, MY MOM SENT ME A KEYBOARD ON AMAZON AND I HAVE NEVER FELT SO EMPOWERED IN MY LIFE.

Let's get to it.

First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER. You are the best, momma and the only reason I turned out the way I did was becuse of you and Papi being wicked patient and loving for all 10 years of my life. So thank you. You are a wonderful woman whom I appreciate so much.

ALSO

Today is my 5-month mark folks. I've practically done it. hahaha, I'm a whole 5 months into my mission and I can honestly say now that I genuinely love it. The growing pains are for the most part over, now I just have to keep listening to the spirit and sacrificing what the Lord asks me to.

SO
I THOUGHT I MIGHT SHARE 5 THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED IN THE 5 MONTHS OF MY MISSION:

1. God knows YOU personally and he is going to get you where you need to be if you'll let him (Alma 26:27)

2. Growth DOES NOT exist without discomfort, so are you going to get uncomfortable or WHAT!?

3. There are a lot of people in this world who might not want you to be okay, YOU JUST GOTTA' PROVE 'EM WRONG AND USE THE ATONEMENT AND END UP OKAY

4. The Holy Ghost is  A REAL BEING who will literally direct you for good if you let Him speak to you... what was it that that one dude said in conference... "Less WiFi and more Nephi." How are you going to help the Holy Ghost have access to you?

5. Maybe the most important one: I. am. nothing. BUT with the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ (that's grace) He can use me to get ANYTHING done. It's just a matter of the faith and trust I have in His ability to make me enough. (Philippians 4:13)

I've been thinking a lot lately about who I was before the mission and who I am now. Like my insides. How has my heart changed? And something I think a lot about is the fact that I feel like I have changed so much in my life because people gave me the patience and the room to grow. I hope we can all do that a little bit more. God is SO patient with us, so why do we sometimes feel like we have a right to not be patient with others? I want you to think of someone that you haven't been very patient towards and make a conscious decision to give them the patience and room and LOVE to grow.

This week was pretty tough for me, I'm not going to lie, BUT there was a lot of good stuff, too.

Hermana Fuller and I taught the restoration at the Cameron's baptism (The YSA I would teach with Sister Snowder when we were on exchange) and MAN was it amazing. There were a lot of missionaries there so it was a little scary, but the second we opened our mouths and began to testify the spirit came SO STRONG. I felt like my body was radiating with the spirit - you know why? BECAUSE THE STUFF I WAS TALKIN' ABOUT WAS TRUE. JOSEPH SMITH SAW GOD THE FATHER AND THE SON. HE WAS GIVEN THE POWER AND AUTHORITY TO ACT IN CHRIST'S NAME AND TO PERFORM SAVING ORDINANCES. If you don't have a testimony of that yet, you should really GET ONE because when you understand that you understand that God hasn't forgotten us and if God hasn't forgotten us, he hasn't forgotten you and if he hasn't forgotten you, He really wants your salvation. So are you going to exercise some faith or what?

I loved seeing Sister Snowder!! We spent SO much time together with my first transfer and I am beyond grateful for her! So that was pretty awesome, too.

This week I got RAS REALLY  bad and it was the first time in my mission I felt like I was in real trouble. But I got through it and I'm doing good now. hahaha. I finally got to start opening my 12 days of Christmas presents from Nikki and they're pretty lit. I've always got snacks and my house smells like Christmas. Enjoy this picture of my companion with our goodies.

It was Hna Fuller's 9 month this week and Hna Chatfield just happened to be in Marysville because she was on exchange with the Russian sisters, so what did we do? PANDA. It was so awesome to catch up and have a good time with my old pal, even if it was just for half an hour. (;

That's about all I've got for you today, family. Please enjoy this picture of what I did with all of the notes that my fam sent me for Christmas. Peep Ryan's turkey drawing. It's basically my favorite thing in Washington rn. Also, check out the picture Nina drew of Hna Fuller and me.

My cousins. are artists.

I love you all so much
God loves you a whole lot more,
Sofie

Arlington; Sunnyside Branch - Week 15

9 December 2019

WHAT IS GOOD MY FAMILY!?!?

First and foremost a BIG congratulations to Keeks who was called to the New York, New York mission speaking Mandarin. That's awesome!!! You're going to be THE BEST!!

It also looks like all the people serving in my ward right now are in Washington except for Sister Brammer. That's crazy!! Hahaha. Field Crescent representing out here in WA.

Tbh (to be honest) things are pretty slow here in Arlington at the moment. Everyone is hustling and bustling for the Holiday season so we're trying to remind people of the REASON for the season! Our Savior Jesus Christ!😄 Are you all participating in Light the World? I SURE HOPE YOU ARE. Let's all try a little harder to make him the focus of our Christmas season by lighting the world one by one. We got this, fam.

Anyway, my being sick brought me a WICKED asthma attack and I only had like 12 puffs left on my inhaler, so there was a lot of huffing and puffing and almost choking to death once that happened until my companion finally convinced me to go get a new inhaler. Hahaha. The point is, I couldn't breathe and now I can kinda breathe so yay for little miracles.

UNPACKING... THE SCRIPTURES This week I've been trying REALLY hard to unpack the scriptures. We read the scriptures all the time, sometimes we study, but can we strip it down to the doctrines, patterns, and principles to apply it? Mosiah 12:27

"27 Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise. Therefore, what teach ye this people?"

Are we able to apply our hearts to the scriptures if we aren't understanding the what, why, and the how? The short answer is no. So that is something I'm learning how to do.

• What is this passage telling me?
• Why is it important?
• How do I apply it?

If we study the scriptures with these 3 questions, doctrines will become clear and we will truly understand who we are, what our purpose is, and the fact that we have a very real Savior who is guiding our way.

PACKAGE
We got THE BEST CHRISTMAS PACKAGE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD THIS WEEK. It had a full-size nativity in it!!! Hahahah. But yeah, we got a bunch of decorations and PILLOW CASES and all the goods to make our Christmas super special. We made our gingerbread houses last night. Also, I got some SUPER SCRUNCHIES. It was a good pick me up.

Anyway, I love all you guys. Thank you for everything!!!

Hermana Jimenez

Arlington; Sunnyside Branch - Week 14

2 December 2019

Hey fam, what's good!?

All things are good here in Arlington! This week was pretty crazy town, so let's jump into it.(;

THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving rocked. We had district council in the morning and then the Elders and we baked 200 cookies to take to less-active families and friends in the ward. It was so great. That basically took the whole day and after that, we went to the Cortez' house for Thanksgiving dinner. Not gonna lie it was really weird to be at a big Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of Latinos that weren't my fam. I was kinda' wiggin' out. But we made it and it was a really good time.(:

SAD STORY
So it was Hermana Fuller and I's first Tuesday together this week and I was super excited for English class, we set everything up and waited excitedly, and then,

no one came.

Hermano Colon (who already knows English) strolled in and was like, "Hey I wanted to come support you and get to know the students today!" And we were like, "Nah, sorry bro no one came." It was really sad. He was like, "oh, well it's okay Hermanas." I was pretty devastated, not gonna lie. Hermana Fuller kept telling me jokes and attempting to play Hymns on the piano to cheer me up. We eventually left and went out to try and find people. That ended up being really fun!

JAIRO
JAIRO IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED. We had our second lesson with Jairo this week and immediately when I sat down the spirit was like "YO. YOU NEED TO ASK THIS MAN TO BE BAPTIZED." And so we started talking about faith and repentance and we were teaching in unity and everything was awesome and epic!! I didn't want to send it @ baptism without Hermana Fuller being on board, especially since I really wanted her to ask him the big Q, but then she started talking about baptism and I knew it and she knew it and Jairo was practically begging us on the inside to ask him, and we asked all these questions to make sure he understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what the promises we make during baptism are and he was literally answering every question with perfect clarity and understanding and then...

BAM. Hermana Fuller sent it and asked Jairo if he would like to be baptized. !!!

And he said "YES. I would like that very much!"

I have never felt the spirit so strong in my entire life. I was literally WEAK from the spirit's influence. We closed the lesson and left and Hermana Fuller and I literally jumped all around for joy!!! It was an amazing experience.

A G. I am so thankful to be in Arlington with my awesome companion.

SICKIES
So I had a little bout of RAS last week and the beginning of this week, so basically NOT catching a cold was casi impossible. On Thursday I started feeling sick and eventually I just got recked. I've been chugging Theraflu to make it through these past couple days, but I think I'm finally nearing the end of the tunnel. Everyone kept telling me how bad I looked at church so that was fun. Haha.(:

Hermana Fuller also got a WICKED case of food poisoning on Wednesday, so that was a really fun adventure. Hit her hard at 7:30. Lol.

Alright fam, that's about it! I love you, and the Lord loves you WAY more. Thank you for all the prayers and love, I can feel it!

Love,
Hermana Jimenez

Arlington; Sunnyside Branch - Week 13

25 November 2019

YOOOOOOO

What's good, fam?

First thing's first. I have a new comp and she's THE BEST. She's awesome. Her name is Hermana Fuller and she's like the best missionary out here.

This week was pretty slow, but also crazy because of transfers. My old companion was really sick at the beginning of the week, so I studied all day Tuesday. Then Wednesday we left bright and early for transfers.

And let me tell you...

It

Was

AWESOME.

I got to see ALL of my friends in the mission!! I finally met up with Hermana Billings and Hermana Nilsson which was the best experience of my life. I missed them so much. My actual favs in the entire world. Then, I saw Dax again!!!! Twice in a week!! It was awesome. He's already training which is insane, but not surprising at all. He is an AMAZING Elder.

Then, Hermana Fuller and I shipped off back to Arlington. We decided to go to WinCo, which was QUITE the experience. I don't think I've ever felt so lost in my life (nor have I looked for a bar of soap so hard either). But it was at WinCo that I decided I liked Hermana Fuller. Hahaha. She's awesome.

The rest of the week was pretty slow. We were just getting into the groove of everything. The branch had a Thanksgiving party and so many people were there! We had 2 friends there, which was really fun!

Sorry, it isn't too interesting this week, I'll try to have something better next time.

I encourage each of you to read Alma 5 this week. We have a Savior who loves us and who has Atoned for us. Do we have the image of God engraven upon our countenances? Are we ready to meet him as good and faithful servants? Let us be faithful to Him! He loves us so much and just wants us to come back home.

I am so thankful for all of you and for everything you've done for me in my life! I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am now if I didn't have wonderful examples and ministers in my life. So thank you all! I love you, and Heavenly Father loves you a whole lot more. (;

Hermana Jimenez