Hola

Y'all know that saying by Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times"? I feel that pretty sums up a typical day
of a missionary ;) With so many things going on around us, you would
think it was the worst of times. Satan works harder on us as
missionaries than ever before, and on our investigators like nobodies
business. But! We have the gospel. What is more better than the
wonderful assurity that no matter what happens, no matter what we do,
Christ's grace is enough to save us all and to bring light in
darkness. That's why I love being a missionary :) I have never seen
the grace of Christ work so much not only in my life, but those around
me. So I'm grateful for that.

You know what else I'm grateful for? Service. Nothing softens a
persons heart more than service! And it doesn't just soften the heart
of the recipient but of the one giving the service as well. Sometimes
I'm in a bad mood (I know crazy right) but as much as I want to throw
myself a pity party, service heals a hardened heart. Everytime I feel
that way, I think of what President Hinckley's dad said to him,
"Forget yourself and get to work." And it is so true, when you lose
yourself for Christ sake, you find yourself. Anywho, we have been
serving this one Less Active, who was pretty much forced into being a
member by her crazy ex and now, she told us she would like us to come
back sometime and teach her! Elders have been trying forever to teach
her but she wouldn't have it. Service. It opened her heart to hear
more because service is the gospel. All this teaching is just a branch
off all of that.

Jesus came to church again! (I never get over how funny that sounds ;)
) This guy is a crack up. I wish y'all could meet him. He is the
funniest little ol' mexican you will ever meet. And he's the cutest.
He's progressing slowly but surely. This week we really focused on
doing the daily stuff like reading and praying. Seriously, if
investigators would just do that, we would have baptisms out of the
wawzoo... (I don't know if that's how you spell it). I don't know if
we can pound it into his head anymore than we already have. He is just
waiting for his answer, but he doesn't understand, you gotta read the
dang book! Really though, power of the Book of Mormon, it's real.

Rey is being a drama king ;) No not really, he's going through some
rough stuff right now financially so instead of coming to church on
Sunday where he could be healed by Jesus, he decided to go to the gym.
Haha. He is getting closer to baptism though, I can just feel it! We
had a really good lesson with him yesterday. We talked about 3 Nephi
13:33, seeking first the kingdom of God. Oh! he also came with us this
week to a members house to eat dinner and watch the restoration. Note:
starting a spanish branch in a room full of gringo americans is like
trying to... well, it's hard. I havent been down in the south enough
to come up with a good analogy ;) It's a good thing we got Christ and
his spirit on our side ;) And can I just say that Satan is a bum! He
tried to throw everything at Rey so he couldn't come with us to that
members. But he made it! Anyways, he's getting there. Soon.

Shay came to church! Woot! I don't know if y'all remember her. We have
been teaching her for a while, but it has been hard to meet with her
and get her to church because she works all the time. Can I just tell
y'all that the scriptures are awesome! First with Rey and the 3 Nephi
scripture and then Hermana Barroso and I had an idea to make a little
card for Shay with some scriptures on it. We put James 1:5 and then
Alma 26:12. We left it on her car at work and then we went over
Saturday night to visit her and calm her nerves about coming to church
and she said she loved the scripture. She didn't get out of it what we
were intending for her to get out of it, but that is what is so great
about the scriptures, everyone is touched by the words of Christ in
different ways. And it helped her get to church. And she loved Church!
It's a little hard because she's black and everyone else is white. She
brought that up as a bit of a concern but we really do need to get
some diversity in our church! I guess that's where we come in with all
of the Latinos and black people we keep bringing :)

We are also teaching this cute little american chica named Denise.
She's the one we helped push her car. Her novio is from Mexico and she
has the cutest little balls of energy of boys I have ever met. I want
to take them home with me. Sister Barroso has to kindly remind me that
we can't :) We went over there this week and we hear from inside the
house, "Is that my friends!". It was the little 5 year old Cesar. He
came and sat by me while we were teaching the lesson and wrapped his
arm around mine and said, "You're my friend." Heart breaker! They were
supposed to come to church yesterday but they thought their car would
be out of the shop and it wasn't. Speaking of Children! We had our
primary program yesterday. I wish the little kids would just do
sacrament meeting every week. They bring such a strong spirit! Not to
mention, I don't have to translate when they do ;)

Can I just say how much I love this area. I love the little small town
feel, and while I miss being in a Spanish Branch, I love the people I
have met here. We have met so many amazing people and I have made some
great friends. I know that's not our main purpose out here, but you
can't help but love the people you serve and the people you serve
with. Love :) I just can't explain the love you feel as a missionary.
And it's not our own love, it's the love of Christ working through us.

Thanks yall for the love and support! I can feel your prayers and
love. Wish I could have been there with y'all for Grandma and
Grandpa's farewell. Sending my love your way!

Love, Hermana Decker.

P.S. Just read this in our letter from President Hanks this week. What
a powerful quote!
"This is hard work. It is the hardest work you will ever do. That's
why I say this is the most important work you will ever do..."Plan
right now! Plan right now for the stories you will tell your children
about your mission. Live right now in every way to look them in the
eye and put them on your knee and rock them on your lap and tell them
as I'm telling you, that you loved every day of your mission. That you
worked your head off! That you've never worked so hard in your life.
That you were tired and sweaty and dirty and hungry and you knew how
Paul felt and you knew how Peter felt and you knew how Mormon felt and
you knew how Moroni felt...Live now for those generations...You live
right now in a way that you can pierce their hearts and touch their
lives." (Elder Jeffrey R Holland

"I'd rather be an optimist and a fool, than a pessimist and right"

Hola Hola!!!

Como estan!!!!?? Well fall has officially hit Mississippi. It is
FREEZING! I know I know, I'm being a baby. It's not that cold and I
know I could be somewhere where it's snowing (like Russia ;) Sorry
Grandma and Grandpa) so I wont complain. Still, it has been pretty
cold. Dear Sister Wells has a hurt arm so she got the car all this
week and Hermana Barroso and I were on bikes. I LOVE my bike... and
that's no joke, I really do :) But I'd rather not ride it in a skirt
at night in 30 degree weather. But WO is me. I've done it before I can
do it again :p I do love this time of year :) I love fall clothes,
smells, changing leaves, pumpkins, etc. And Christmas is almost
here!!! Woot!

President told me in my interview about a week or so ago that he had a
lot of appreciation for the difficulty it takes to start a Spanish
branch. Well… me too. We really are searching for that one person who
can be the back bone and they really need to have a strong strong
conversion. Not just have a testimony of these things, but be truly
converted to all of it. I have met too many people out here on my
mission  that have a testimony of the things we are teaching them, but
they aren’t living it! It’s like what Elder Bednar said, “A testimony
is knowing what you live, and conversion is living what you know.” I
know that one is out there, it will just be the finding them that we
will have to rely on the Lord for. I have hope for the future of this
area! It’s like President Hanks said, “Someday, 10 years from now,
you’ll come back and there will be a whole Spanish ward here and you
will be able to say, ‘I started that’.”

Jesus came to church this week again! This will be his 5th time at
church :) I just love him! But I wish he would just get baptized
already. I honestly don't know what his worry or doubt is because he
won't open up with us as much as I'd like him to. He is so humble and
wise, but he won't commit! (which seems to be a problem with all
Latinos... marriage to one will probably never happen since they can’t
commit to anything;) ). So we are trying to figure it out. One of our
members has been super helpful in all of this and all of the members
are always very loving when he comes in even though he doesn't speak
much English.

His son Rey didn't come to church this week :( apparently his alarm
didn't go off. He and his dad basically are the same person. I think
they love having us come by and love the word, they just don't
understand that this is the REAL DEAL! I give props to them though for
coming to church all these times even with my horrible translation ;)

We have 3 baptismal dates! Woot! All are English. One is with an
investigator named Shay. She is just so adorable. She is a true seeker
of truth and loves the spirit that we bring into her house. She is
going through a lot right now and her home isn't really helping with
her progression. There are too many bad influences. She is a young
mother and she and her husband have a not very well paying job and
it's just all drama drama drama. We had a really good lesson with her
last night though and we told her we are going to help her get to
where she wants to be. We will do all we can and the rest is up to
her. Our other Baptismal dates are with an aunt of a less active named
Gladys, and the other is with Chrystal who is not happy with the new
pastor at her new church. Chrystal has the cutest family so I hope
they will feel the Gospel touch their hearts.

We went to transfers this week to pick up Sister Wells new companion.
ister Schendiman from Sandy Utah :) She's great. It was fun to see
everyone there. Hermana Hazelgren is still Sister Training Leader but
they moved her to Lorna in Birmingham (now she's been to all 3 spanish
branches that lucky duck) and get this, her companion is Hermana
Child! :D My two old companions. I just love them. They will be the
best Sister Training Leaders ever!

Other than that we raked some leaves for a blind less active, I went
on exchanges in Tupelo with the beloved Sister Murray from Pittsburgh.
She has been Sister Training Leader since I was called so we had fun.
She's great! We had a missionary just come home from New Zealand! He
has a funny accent now :) ... I hope I don't come home with a funny
accent.

Eli, I love you too and I will be expecting those hugs when I get
home! Kate, you are the cutest little pink lady ever! Serph, you look
like a stud! Grandma, I love your sense of humor! Thanks to everyone
else for all you do! MOM! I didn't forget your birthday! I have a card
that I had since last week I just sent it today though :( sorry! But I
love you and Happy Birthday! And my only request is possibly pumpkin
bread :)

Les Quiero muchisimo!

Love, Hermana Decker

I'm so proud (happy) to write y'all!

Buenas!

 

How is everything?? Can I just tell y'all how much I love the south? I love it with every fiber in my being. Even the many uneducated yet loving people ;) My heart is just full of so much love for all of them. I love that I get to learn 2 languages while I am down here: Spanish and Southern. "Let me AKS you a question", "Kill it" (basically means, "get out of here"), "Fixin' to/Fittin to/Finna", "He was in the pin (jail)", "buggey" (not shopping cart), "Let me carry you home" (take you home), "That tickles me", "make you so happy you want to jump up and slap your grandma", "more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs", "___-er than the dickens!" Y'all didn't think you sent me out here to learn two languages did ya?

 

Well this week was crazy, just as always. OH! first off. We got transfer calls and guess who is not moving!? Me! I get another 6 weeks in beautiful Corinth which I feel eternally blessed for because there is so much work to do here, and so many amazing people! So, I am a happy missionary. So let's see, where to start. Well Rey and Jesus came to Church again! I just love them so much. I wish they would just get baptized already! But the Lord's time :) We taught Jesus this week about revelation and how he is going to get his answer through the holy ghost and how sometimes just the fact that the "seed" is growing, can be an answer. He may be from a little pueblito in Mexico, but he is a deep thinker. He pulled out some Bible on us and told us that he doesn't want to plant the seed in barren land because then it wont grow. He wants his "land" to be fruitful. Basically, he knows the seed is good, but he doesn't feel good enough. We taught him about the atonement and I just wish these investigators could see how much the Lord loves them, even though they aren't perfect! Nobody is! I have found though, the more we focus on Christ and his love, the more our investigators progress. Which makes sense. I have progressed most in my life when I felt his love most.We saw Jesus again on Saturday and we invited him to pick his own baptismal date but we want to shoot for next month. He said he would so *crossed fingers*! His favorite word is "a lo mejor" (maybe)... it's frustrating ;)

 

Rey is almost the exact same as Jesus. We saw him this week with an english member, which was awesome! at first... then he started going in to Cortez and Columbus and I could just see Hermana Barroso saying "please no" behind the pamphlet she was holding. I just kept looking at Rey and mouthing "sorry". The member just talked a bit too much and Rey doesn't speak very good English in the first place so it just started going crazy. You got to love it. I think the lesson was good none the less. We saw him again last night and we finally got him to pray with us! Granted, I did have to write it down for him, but PROGRESS! I feel like a proud mother :) Both him and Jesus are so close, I can just feel it! And I'm excited for them :D

 

Oh, by the way, we are in a trio now. Our dear love Sister Saville had to go home :( The mission just became to overwhelming for her and with her anxiety issues, she couldn't handle it. We are sad to see her go, but I know she will be happier at home. The Lord needs her at home anyways. Everything happens for a reason. So we have adopted Sister Wells! It's fun, but it takes some getting used to in lessons and all. She understands a lot of Spanish which is good because that means she is not totally lost.

 

Cool story! My dear beloved companion and I decided this week to be more exactly obedient. In Zone Training they talked about being so obedient that you even stop at stop signs on your bike... which sometimes we just blow through if there is nobody there. So we put it to the test! That same day we went to see one of our investigators and decided against it because they looked a little wasted in the house and went to our back up. On our way there we saw a car broken down and a young short girl with the hood up. We decided to go talk to her and see if we could help her. Turns out she is American but her ex and fiance are hispanic so she knows Spanish! She said someone was going to come help her, but we waited a bit just to make sure, and when they didn't show up we pushed the car off to the side (yeah, were buff ;) ). She said she was just going to walk home but it was dark and we were in a rougher part of town so we told her we would walk her home. We talked a bit and she was so impressed with us she said we could come back and teach her :D And it's perfect because she knows both Spanish and English AND her church just split up. Three lessons learned: exact obedience brings miracles, service softens peoples hearts, and the Lord will guide us. I love being a missionary!

 

The work is moving forward! We found a family this week! They seem prepared. I found out a family we had taught in Huntsville just got baptized! So many blessings and so many miracles. 

 

LOVE YOU ALL!!! Miss you!!!!

 

Love, Hermana Masey Decker

Olo!

Y'all know what one of my favorite scriptures is? 2 Nephi 2:25, "Adam fell that men might by, and men are that they might have joy!" Isn't that just great! Men are that they might have Joy. That's our purpose. I teach that everytime we teach the Plan of Salvation, but I think sometimes, I myself forget that. There are so many simple joys in this life. If I'm not smiling and laughing, something is wrong. I'm not living the way God would have me live. So many simple joys! For instance, have you seen the blue skies of the south :) There something to be seen. Or the fact that everyone waves to you down here. People, even when they have just told us they are not interested, always say, "Y'all come back, ya hear!" The opportunity to listen to the Prophets and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having the restored gospel on the earth today! Mexican Tiendas ;) Southern accents. Little Mexican men. Southern AND Mexican food! the best of both worlds :) We had to drop off a note at one of our investigators and their front porch was covered in cockroaches. Gross. But Hermana Barroso decided to take one for the team. Haha, she was dancing the whole way up there so one of them couldn't crawl on her. I had a good laugh about that. There are just to many things to be happy about, there is no need for sadness :)

 

Well, I had all that I wanted to tell y'all written out on a paper, and I forgot it at home, so we'll just go off of memory. Wasn't conference just wonderful! Seriously, those men and women are inspired. No doubt about it. LOVE THEM. I went over some of my notes this morning from Saturday morning session and I noticed a common thing, at least for me. Covenants and ordinances=blessings. Living the gospel just makes us happy! We have to go forward with faith! Like Elder Dube said as he quoted Elder Holland, "Faith is always pointing to the future."... (something like that.) And it's so simple! Just like Elder Bednar said when he talked about tithing. The gospel brings significant but subtle blessings! Bah! I just loved it all. Why wouldn't anyone want to be a part of something so great! And it was perfect because we have had a lot of our investigators, including Rey, talk about how they have received so many blessings from their faith in their church. That is wonderful! But there is so much more!!! Why wouldn't anyone want more blessings?! I just don't understand it I guess. Our covenants we make bring so many more blessings and make us so much more Christ like. That's what it's all about, isn't it? I guess I never really focused so much on the covenants as I should be. That's what I'm going to change because of conference :) Blessings! Don't you just love President Uchtdorf. Every time he talks I am just mesmorized. I loved his, "Doubt your Doubts, before you ever doubt your faith." He's a genius, that's all there is to it. And thanks grandma for all of the other quotes! 

 

Rey and Jesus came to church!!! Every time they come I just get so excited. I can't imagine being in their position. Having to come to church where hardly anyone speaks your language. But the members were great! We watched conference in another room so they could watch it in Spanish. (We had headphones, my spanish is improving, but there is no way I could understand conference language quite yet). They seemed to like it. We tried to really pound it in them to pray before they came so they could feel the spirit and know that Thomas S Monson is a prophet today. They are having struggles with the whole idea of prophets today. We had lunch in between and a lot of the ward members were so great with them. They speak a little bit of english, so they can understand a bit. One of our members is just so supportive of us. His daughter is serving a spanish speaking mission in Califronia and he promised her he would try to learn Spanish so he came in for a little part of conference while we watched it with Rey and Jesus and he bore his testimony after :') it was so simple but so powerful. He's wonderful. He invited them over for dinner after church, but they couldn't come. Still, A for effort! We need more members like him. Most of them just don't know what to do with us and our Spanish.

 

I let our Spanish less active cut my hair last Monday (the family I wrote about a while ago). It was our plan to try to get her to come back to church. She didn't come to church, but I got an interesting hair cut ;p the sacrifices we make for the work! She did it super fast, bless her heart ;) I'm going to get it fixed today by one of the english sisters investigators who works in a salon. Simple joys ;)

 

Did I already mention that I love President Uchtdorf :) Grandma sent me some of his quotes: "You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine." and "Your destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we stand up, dust ourselves off, and stride forward." I was talking with Hermana Barroso this morning in our companionship study about the atonement. I know I have felt the atonement greatly previously in my life, but it's amazing how much I have felt it just here on my mission. I'm not making any huge sins, but just the day to day ones and I know that I have many MANY weaknesses that I need the help of the Lord with. I have had to learn to be very humble. Especially since the people I am supposed to be training are better missionaries than I am, and they speak better Spanish than I did ;) But if I have learned anything out here, it's that, the gospel is for imperfect people. I am full of imperfections, and thats why I need this gospel. That's why everyone needs this gospel! What the atonement means to me is that sometimes, at the end of a day, I'm going to come home and say, "I didn't do so hot today... but that's okay, I'll just try harder tomorrow." Progression, it's all about eternal progression :) I may not be the smartest missionary, or the most prepared, or the most spiritual, or the most energetic, or the most fluent, but I have started to see those things as a blessing, because I have had to learn to turn to the Lord and let him make up for all that I lack.

 

Sorry, this letter is a bit long today! The other sisters write forever, so I've had a bit more time now days than I usually do :) The work is great. It is going by way to fast! I can look back and see all that has been done, but like Elder Dube's mother said, "Don't look back. Lood forward and see all that we have left to do." :) and there is a lot! Love you all!!!!!!!! Miss you!!!!!!! God bless!!!

 

Love, Hermana Masey Decker