FINDING

Holaaaaa I titled my email finding cause we need to find some new

investigators and this morning I watched a video about finding through

members. You are all members so you need to look around and invite

your friends to church!!!! Because the easiest way to bring people

into the gospel is through the members so all you member missionaries

get to work haha just kidding you guys are all already great

missionaries but just continue praying for opportunities to share the

gospel!

Well let's see....it's been a pretty average week and our trio is

growing in unity so that is good. Last Wednesday we contacted a

referral and taught her the restoration with her son and a couple

neighborhood kids and it was a good lesson. During the lesson I just

couldn't stop thinking about getting her on a baptismal date..for us

it's usually not very easy to get someone on date for baptism the

first time we meet them but i invited her and it took a minute for her

to respond but she agreed on a date for August so now we need to get

her to the capilla -chapel. That was awesome though. We tried to teach

her again yesterday and her husband just yelled at the door "we

worship Satan" he might be a little bit of an obstacle but the wife

and son are super cool so we will keep teaching them.

Hahahah I have a funny story so every time that we go to the gas

station sister chamberlain puts the gas thing in then we go talk to

everyone there getting gas and give out cards and get their address

and phone numbers and what not but anyways we were about to leave but

we talked to this last guy and he was like in his late 20s and he's

like sorry I got to go to work and were like oooo where do you work

and he's like I work at the zoo. So sister benavides was like"we're

from out of town and really want to go to the zoo?" And he's like ooo

I have free tickets so he's like give me your phone number and I can

get you the tickets. So we were so stoked cause the zoo is like 50$

per person so we thought we were going to get free tickets so the next

day we get a text from a random number and were like hey who's this.

And it was the zoo guy and were like do you have the tickets? And he's

like ya what are you girls doing today do you want to go to the beach

with me and my buds. So we had to explain that we don't go to the

beach and he's like "sounds like your just interested in the zoo

tickets" anyways we don't respond and then he texts us and is like

"are you girls allowed to date? Or does someone have to be Mormon to

marry one of you?" Haha our district leader just told us to direct him

to the church website so we did and then he texted back and was like

"when is sister benavides done because I'm interested in getting to

know her? Would she be interested?"

We got a good laugh about that sometimes we have to state our purpose

a couple times so that people understand. Anyways we have a couple

investigators that are progressing right now. One is the Christian

pastor he's so cool and the girlfriend of the member and then one ran

away to Tijuana and a couple others.

This week we also had another interesting experience serving food to

the homeless. A couple other people from our ward were there and then

two ladies that were in charge and the ladies were so angry and high

strung the whole time. They were yelling at all of us and yelling at

the homeless people and I wanted to talk with one of them and say "

you know what these people need even more then food is love." It was

sad to me to see because they were serving but they weren't serving

from their heart. It made me think of a talk that I have that we can

do the right things but if we don't want to do the right things then

it does us no good. Our hearts and our desires need to be in the right

place. Anyways that was eye opening to me. We should always be looking

for opportunities to serve as Christ would. Out of love.

Thanks for all the support and love!! Your all in my prayers

Xoxo have a good week

Hermana Koelliker

hola hola hola

I haven't been very good with my group email and I'm sorry. I don't

have much time today but it's been kind of a rough week for us here we

have never struggled to add and to teach before but this week was a

lot of walking around contacting with a lot of rejection. But I'm

still smiling and trying to help my comps do the same!! We have some

solid investigators but one ran away to Tijuana this week and the

other one doesn't want to be baptized until September haha there's a

couple families that were teaching and church attendance has been good

so hopefully baptisms soon!!! On Sunday there was a big ran storm and

San Diego doesn't get much ran so everyone was freaking out. Everyone

was watching the Costa Rica vs Mexico soccer game so they didn't want

to talk with us that bad. Haha this week I'm pretty sure we found more

less actives then investigators. They all come from Mexico and so

their membership records aren't here so we start talking with them and

there like ya I was baptized hahah kinda funny but it's good cause

part of what we do is to retain so we're going to get them back to

church!!!

One thing that makes me sad is there are so many people- members and

less actives that have never been to the Temple. The Temple has always

been a huge blessing for me in my life and will continue to be so it

makes me sad that there are so many members of our church aren't

taking advantage of this amazing privilege that we have to be in the

Lords house and feel of His spirit and peace there. So everyone don't

live under your privileges and potential and go to the Temple!!! I

LOVE YOU ALL!! Have a wonderful week and remember your always in my

prayers!

Xoxo

Staying in San Diego

Another amazing week in Chula Vista!!! With two baptisms to make up for last week. One was Gloria she's in her 20's and the other was Alma who just graduated high school. Alma's mom was baptized like two months ago and the elders were teaching her also but when we took over the Elders area alma didn't want to talk to us or meet with us or anything but we kept trying then last Wednesday night we committed her to be baptized Saturday on the fourth and she said yes! Man we were so excited and she has a friend that the other Elders of our ward were teaching and they wanted to be baptized together so we had the Elders call the other girl and they were both baptized this weekend so there were three baptized into our ward it was super exciting! Sister chamberlain and I were so happy we just kept talking about how much we love missionary work.

 Anyways so that was a little bit about our week, I talked with president on Wednesday morning and he said that my mission call papers and all had been looked over by two general authorities and they had sent it to the quorum of the 12 so I was expecting to hear Thursday or Friday but it wasn't until Sunday afternoon that he called me. On the phone he said that he had heard news and that he told them he would tell me in person and at that moment I knew I was staying here in San Diego. Anyways we went to the mission home so I could meet with him and we chatted for a second and then he read me an email or something that said that the doctor had cleared me to be capable to serve anywhere in the world but that I would be continuing the remaining 13 months of my mission here in San Diego. I know that the Lord was part of that decision and that this is where I need to be. My mission call came differently then most do and it has been somewhat of an emotional roller coaster for me to get to this point. The Lord wanted to see if I really would serve wherever he called me. I know that the Lord is mindful of me and He has taught me a lesson of patience and submissiveness that I will never forget. 

Monday morning I was studying and I found this scripture and thought it explained my situation perfectly Mosiah 23

"21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

22 Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day.."

After reading this I looked back on my notes and had studied that same scripture on February 15th four days after I entered the MTC. It was cool for me to look back and see how the Lord has prepared me for this experience and has helped me become just a little bit more converted to Him. I am grateful to be a missionary here in San Diego I know there's lots for me to do here! 

Back to Sunday though so after he told me about Argentina president also told me that sister chamberlain and I would be staying together in Chula Vista because all of the success we've been seeing. He brought her in the room and we were both super shocked because we've already been together for 2 and 1/2 and she's been here for 4 transfers but we're also super excited because this area is doing awesome right now. So he gave us a heads up on transfers and then asked if a third companion would help with all the work we have and told us she's a native Spanish speaker. So tomorrow I'm back in a trio! 

That's about it for all the excitement here. On the 4th we had to come in at 6pm but had a potluck with our apartment complex and watched fireworks out the bedroom window with the other sisters that live by us. It was a great day! 

I love you all and happy birthday yesterday to my cute little willy!!

Xoxo hermana koelliker

Mi Familia y Amigos

Holaaaaaaa

Come estan?? This week I have some fun facts to start out with...

1- the majority of our less actives call us Elders haha

2-last night this old lady member wanted to take us out to eat so she's like come to my house and follow me to the restaurant and sister chamberlain and I were following her and we were just saying like man we will go anywhere just not a Chinese buffet (they have lots of them around here and their are super sketchy one was serving dog I don't know they scare me) anyways we pull up to the restaurant and it was VIP oriental buffet hahah just our luck..

3- we were talking to a member about her nonmember brother and we were just like what does he think about baptism? And she's like "I think it would probably just be easier to baptize him when he's dead" haha so I guess he's not all that interested right now. 

4- on Saturday night our zone leaders called us and said that a member in their ward was at our wards Father's Day party last week and was upset because the sister missionaries were dancing (us) hahaha all we did was stand up holding hands with a little girl and spun her around or something but we got in trouble because someone was mad about us dancing. 

This week we went to the temple with a lot of our recent converts Saturday but we didn't have a baptism which we were sad about. We had two people that were going to be baptized but one of them is struggling to keep the word of wisdom and the other is Jesus. We taught him on Thursday and he always tells us that he's not ready for his baptism and that he doesn't have time and we always have super powerful lessons and he's like I need to ponder it longer. So Thursday he told us that that night he would read and he would pray about his baptism and tell us Friday so we prayed and prayed and prayed for him and we showed up on Friday and he gave us the same answer that he's too busy and needs to think longer so we all kneeled down and prayed again and sat there for like 10 minutes in silence after and still he said he wants to wait. Man it was frustrating. I ended up crying during the lesson because he has a daughter that passed away from cancer and I was testifying to him that this is how he's going to be with her forever and he just kept saying he needs to think and wait and doesn't have time. It is hard when people know that the message is true and feel the spirit but don't act on it. Also it says in preach my gospel "do all you can while still respecting the agency of others" so we did what we could and will keep praying that he will be baptized soon. 

This week president sent everything in to the missionary department about my situation and my health for Argentina so we will see what happens. I know that the Lord will provide a way for me to serve where he needs me if it's here or there. Next week is transfers. If I'm staying in San Diego I think sister chamberlain will leave and I'll have a new companion here but we will see what happens. I love being a missionary! I'm so happy and grateful for all of your support and prayers! Keep the faith

Xoxo hermana koelliker 

Chris's Baptism

This is just a little excerpt from my journal on Saturday 

Today was Chris's baptism a very special day. We got to the stake center at 8:30 to fill up the font, make the programs and set everything up. At 9am the only people here were us and the other missionaries haha Chris called to say that he was on his way but needed to stop at Kmart for a wife beater. Good thing everyone was running a little late because the font wasn't going to be full in time. The program was perfect his brother and sister in law both spoke and we sang. He was crying the whole time and his wife too. The spirit was super strong. They got into the water and it wasn't quite high enough yet so we had to delay a minute. Alexis his brother in law performed the ordinance and was able to get all 250 pounds of Chris under the water the first time. The Elders shared the restoration and then Chris shared his testimony. He talked about his daughter a lot and how special she was to him. His wife was sobbing, then he said in Spanish "I've told the misioneras this before but I know they left their families so that I can be with my family forever." That is when I started crying. Yesterday my family was all gathered together to celebrate the wedding of my big brother and although I was a little sad to miss this special day I know that this is where I need to be right now in my life. The Spirit led sister chamberlain and I to Chris's house. Jesus Christ has changed eternity for all of us and he was able to work through us to change eternity for Chris. 

Xoxo hermana koelliker

BEST WEEK

This week has been a week of miracles! You get to see miracles everyday as a missionary but this week was especially full of those moments when you realize that the Lord is in the details of His work! You already know but Sister Chamberlain and I have a goal to baptize every week this transfer and we knew when we set it that it would be hard but that if we had the faith and we worked diligently and obediently that the Lord would make it possible for this goal to be reached. Last week we were going to have an elderly man named Jesus be baptized but when we met with him on Tuesday he told us that he wasn't ready and needed to think about it more because he didn't think he could meet the "obligations". He's keeping all the commandments and has been to church over three times so we tried everything to reassure him that baptism is the right thing for him right now but he still said no soooooo Wednesday we went through and thought about all of the people that could get baptized- that had attended church enough and didn't have any big problems with the commandments and we went out and tried all of them and didn't have much luck. All of our leaders keep texting and calling us asking if we were going to have a baptism and we were like yes we just don't know who yet haha so Thursday we got up and wen were just like today is the day and we decided our best option was an 8 year old girl named Pamela. Her older brother is on a mission and he's the only member in the family but they all actively attend church. The parents can't be baptized yet because of marriage problems and they wanted Pamela to wait and be baptized with them. Anyways Thursday night we got our bishop to come out with us and went to their house and just started teaching about baptism and the importance and we were like we pray for your family all the time and we think that Pamela should be baptized. Then bishop invited her for the following Saturday and they were like uhhhh we will let you know and sister chamberlain and I were like how about this Saturday? And they were like ahh we have work were super busy and we were like what time do you get off and figured it out and she was baptized Saturday at 7:30 pm. It was so cool! All baptisms are awesome but the spirit was so strong at this one. I had to give the talk on baptism in Spanish ahhh it was good but I was nervous then sister chamberlain sang and it was so beautiful! Another huge miracle this week was our investigator Chris. He is from the hood haha he has had kind of a crazy past but we met him on the street and it turns out that his sister in law is in our ward. Anyways though he is a dream investigator!! He told us that he knows God sent us to him and he will do anything we tell him to. So instead of reading the Book of Mormon to find out if it's true he says he's reading it to learn what he believes it. It's crazy how prepared people are! His baptism is this Saturday hahahha he always tells us " you guys are my girls if someone messes with you they mess with me!" So good to know he's got our back!

Today we're at the Padres game at petco park! Wishing my baseball crew was here with me hahahha some lady outside gave us all free tickets and told us to pray for her then the lady that took our tickets was like mannn I'm feeling good vibes coming in. 

Yesterday we had zone conference all day and talked a lot about how the Book of Mormon is the rod of iron and if we hold to it and get our investigators to hold to it we will all be able to stay on the path so I hope your all reading! Special Father's Day shout out to my fellow friend!!! I LOVE YOU DAD! I wish I could call but I hope that you have an amazing day and know that your always in my thoughts and prayers! 

Also shout out to the love birds! I'm sad I won't be at the wedding but I hope that you know I'm exited for you both and love you so so much!!!! Finally getting my first sister yayyyy kar your going to be the most beautiful bride!

Love you all xoxo hermana koelliker

Taking Over

this week has been a crazy week!!! for transfers they white washed a set of elders from my ward and they are having sister chamberlain and I take over their area. so no new missionaries are coming in and we have two areas! lots of work to do but we are up for the challenge! 

we set a goal this week that we are going to have a baptism every week this transfer which will be challenging but we know that the Lord is already blessing us with miracles and putting the prepared people in our path because we are commited to this goal. Last week we had the baptism for Maria, she was supposed to be baptized right when I got into the mission but broke up with her boyfriend Jose and kind of disappeared. But we kept calling her and texting her all the time and finally she came around. we had a lesson with her two weeks ago and she was crying and talking about the spirit she felt on the temple grounds and about how she wanted to follow Jesus Christ and then right after she set the baptismal date she got back together with her boyfriend and they are both doing awesome! at the baptism sister chamberlain sang and I played the violin to I feel my Saviors love in Spanish it was really cool! We had a miracle lesson at the Temple with another investigator Clayra and she will be baptized this Friday, and next week Jesus! It is exciting to see all of the miracles that happen when you act in faith and trust in the Lord!

Tonight I will be meeting with my President about Argentina! I am a little nervous but I am trying to move forward with faith because I know that the Lord will provide a way for me to serve where I need to. I love the scripture in Matthew ¨O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?¨I am trying to apply that and get rid of all doubt.

I love you all!! Thank you for all your prayers!!

xoxo Hermana koelliker

heres a picture of my district then the baptism!!

hahah also a picture at Nordstrom rack today wahooooo still shopping even on the mission

Another Transfer in Chula Vista

sorry that i havent written a big email for awhile but this week was a fantastic week!!!! last tuesday we had the mission wide conference with Elder Clarke and he is so cool I loved it! it was a little bit about ipads but more just about missionary work and life advice. He talked a lot about accountability and goal setting, something that is really important in missionary work and also in life. As we prayerfully set goals we are commiting with Heaven on what we are going to do. Elder Clarke said that if we dont set and achieve goals we will look back on our lives and realize that we didnt reach our potential or achieve all that we could have. I don't want to feel like that at the end of my mission or life so I am working on my goal setting! He also talked a lot about having a purpose in everything that we do and specifically with technology. If we know our purpose when unlocking our phones or ipads we wont waste time or get into trouble. He said problems with everything usually arise when we don't have a PLAN. so just something to think about. it was fun to see the rest of the mission there and i got to sit with sister briggs. heres some fun facts of the week

1- this saturday jose's girlfriend is getting baptized, she was supposed to be baptized with him in march but they broke up the week of. sister chamberlain and I have continued to send her texts of scriptures and ask her about baptism since then and shes finally coming around. she has a really strong testimony and so were super excited.

2- they want us to plan their wedding for june so we got a lot of work to do hahah you guys are planning a wedding at home and im planning one here

3- yesterday was sister chamberlains birthday so a bunch of members and investigators wanted to have cake....we didnt sleep too well last night because our stomachs hurt so bad

haha i cant think of anything else right now it all escapes my mind when I get on the computer 

next tuesday I am meeting with president about argentina. I felt really strongly that i should fast about it sunday so I did and then monday I opened up the scriptures to the bible dictionary on faith and saw highlighted "confidence in Him without reservation" I knew that was an answer to my prayers so i talked with my president and set up the appointment I really feel in my heart that the Lord wants me to go Argentina and he just needs me to have the faith to act. I am a little nervous about meeting with presdient just because of all of the MTC experiences but I do know that the Lord's hand is in the details of the work and that he will provide a way for me to serve where he needs me to serve.

I am really happy to be staying in Chula Vista for another transfer with sister chamberlain! this area is taking off and I know we will have a lot of sucess together these next six weeks. I love you all!!!!

xoxo hermana koelliker