A Rainy Week Filled with Miracles - Aug 22, 2016

Hello everyone!  Today I don't have a lot of time to email, because we
are going to the Alamo and Mercado again! I am so excited ☺️ But I
would like to share some thoughts and impressions from the spirit
about this past week.

I hope you've been able to see the Lord's hand in your life throughout
the week; I sure have! Sister Stenquist and I have had some pretty
great adventures here in Texas while preaching the gospel! This week
has been very rainy, and we are very grateful for the HOT HUMID break.
But we've seen so many incredible miracles occur!

This week has been another great week in the mighty TSAM. The Lord is
still teaching us patience in Palo Alto, but I'm learning so much from
it. Our members are still incredible and wanting to help out as best
as they can with missionary work. We are working with a lot of less
active members-a lot of whom are really progressing and starting to
come back to church! I absolutely love to see the light of Christ
enter back into the heart of a member who has strayed into the dark.
Heavenly Father loves each and every one of His children, and will
provide a way in His timing for them to come unto Him. We also have a
new investigator named Roger; he's so incredible! We met Roger by
knocking on his door a few houses down from a lesson that we were
early to. Roger answered the door and was very kind and receptive
right away! He met with us outside in the rain, and we were able to
teach the entire message of The Restoration. We gave Roger a copy of
The Book of Mormon, and he told us he was "so excited to read and
highlight and just mark it all up with thoughts and impressions". He
expressed that he would love for us to come back and teach him more-
and the best part is.... *Drumroll please* He's YSA age! 😉 We are so
excited to see what the Lord has in store for Roger; I know there will
continue to be miracles.

I absolutely love my sweet companion, Sister Stenquist- she's such an
incredible missionary to learn from! I am so amazed by the faith and
trust that she has in the promises of the Lord. We are learning to
work really well together, and we are teaching in unison. The Lord is
really blessing us- and I feel truly blessed to have such outstanding
companions.

I'd like to continue to end by sharing my testimony with y'all in
Spanish. I absolutely love to share the gospel in my new favorite
language ;) But again, please keep in mind I'm still a beginner!

Jesucristo es mi Salvador. Yo sé que mediante Él, podemos tratar ser
mejor cada día. ¡Tenemos un Padre Celestial, y Él nos ama muchísimo!
El Libro de Mormón es verdadero y tenemos este libro porque José Smith
fue un increíble profeta de Dios. Él tenía tanto mucho fe. Estoy muy
agradecida por esta oportunidad tengo servir en el TSAM. Este misión
ha cambiado mi vida para siempre. Estoy feliz que yo puedo vivir con
mi familia para siempre- quiero compartir esta mensaje sobre familias
eternas con todos. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amén.

Thank you for everything, I love you all so much! I hope your week is
absolutely wonderful, and good luck to all y'all who start school this
week! ALSO P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT TO MY BEST FRIEND HARLEY
TODAY!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Freeman

Pictures:
-B&W one is right after Sister Stenquist and I got caught in the rain
umbrellaless. We were soaked!
-Sister Stenquist, a member named Tiffany, and I tracting out in the
pouring rain! (I know I know, it's pretty apparent that I went
makeupless that day, don't judge.)
-Sister Stenquist and I had some SERIOUS umbrella malfunctions! (JUST
FOR YOU SIS. MARTIN!😉)
-Stephani, AJ, Sister Stenquist and I tracting right after a rainstorm
(wow, so many rain pics)
-SIster Stenquist and I with the ADORABLE Zendejo family!
-The Lake Vista Apartment sisters back at it again! (Everyone but my
sweet compa wore floral 😉)

Bedrock-Consistent-Unshakeable Faith - Aug 15, 2016

Hello Everyone!! Happy Monday!

Today I have to start off by saying congratulations to my best friend
Harley who opened her mission call yesterday- She has been Called to
Serve in the Argentina Mendoza mission! I am SOO excited for her, the
mission is life-changing!

I hope you all had an incredible week and pondered on many things!
Something I've been thinking a lot about this week is faith.
Bedrock-Consistent-Unshakable Faith. Faith in the Lord and His
promises even when- no, ESPECIALLY when things are hard. The Lord has
sent each of us here to grow and gain faith in Him. Sometimes I feel
like I show the "best faith" when things are going smooth and great
for me! But I've come to realize that I need to work on my consistent
faith, my faith when things are feeling pretty hard. I feel as though
the Lord is molding and shaping me into a better servant for Him, by
giving me some difficult challenges to overcome on my mission. But as
I have faith and trust in His promises, and turn to Him, I can
overcome the trials!

Our area, Palo Alto YSA is most definitely a "finding by faith" area
right now. We are still trying to find investigators who will accept
and act on the beautiful message of The Restoration. Some of our less
active members are not wanting to be taught the gospel or come to
church. However, we are trying our best. I'm on this journey of
accepting and understanding that that's all the Lord expects of us,
our best. I'll sometimes get caught up in the false ideas of what
"success" is. Success by numbers. I am on the path to realizing that
missionary work is not just all about baptisms and numbers. As I've
taken a step back and looked at how many less active members we've
helped to reactivate and teach, and how many lives we've touched by
planting seeds of the gospel into the hearts of many, I am so thankful
for the love of the Lord.  He loves us so much. Our active members are
really great to us as well, they are incredible member missionaries.
This Area has stretched and tested me, but most importantly it has
changed me. I have faith that the Lord put me here to develop
consistent faith in Him. And I am beyond grateful.

My companion SIster Stenquist is absolutely incredible! I am ALWAYS in
awe as I watch how bold she is- how much she wants to share the Gospel
with everyone! I'm still a little shy and trying to get out of my
shell, but she will just go up to literally anyone in any situation
and start sharing the gospel! She is such an amazing missionary; I'm
so blessed to be her companion and learn so much from her. The Lord
has really blessed me with companions that I feel were exactly right
for me, and I am so grateful.

I want to close with my testimony in Spanish today. I am still trying
diligently to learn the beautiful language, so keep that in mind as
you are reading and come across a mistake or two!! 😉  But here it
goes.
Yo sé que La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Últimos Días
es verdadero. Tenemos un Salvador y Él nos ama muchísimo. Yo sé El
Libro de Mormón es verdadero. Y cuando yo leo eso, yo siento Él
Espíritu Santo muy fuerte. José Smith fue una profeta de Dios, y
mediante El, tenemos El Libro de Mormón.  El evangelio me da gozo.
Amo a mi familia. ¡Y estoy muy feliz porque yo puedo ser juntos con
ellos para siempre! En el nombre de nuestro Salvador, Jesucristo,
Amén.

I love y'all so much! I pray for you. As you go throughout your week
this week, please remember that the Lord is there. He loves you. And
when things are going hard in life, we must fervently try to show our
bedrock, consistent, unshakeable faith in Him!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Freeman


Picture: Sorry it's a little dark... Last night we had (left to right
in the back) Reyna, Jeril, & Mirka come out with us to lessons! It
rained SOO much.

Trust in the Promises of the Lord! - Aug 8, 2016

My dear family & friends,

This week has been a week of faith-testing & faith-building! Even
though a lot of our appointments are falling through, we still
continue to love our YSA ;) Our baptism has to be postponed because
Richard says he needs a little more time. This week I've had to
continue to keep going with the faith that things will get better. I
know this is the Lord's work, and things will happen in His time. I
trust in His promises!  When things are starting to feel overwhelming
for me, I try to remember: "wherefore, dispute not because ye see not,
for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." I know
that as we continue to be obedient and put our all of our heart into
the work, miracles will occur here.

Palo Alto is slowly growing as we are working with members.  We are
working with A LOT of less-actives right now. I've been able to have
the privilege of even teaching and helping some of them come back to
church! The members are truly incredible!  We are hoping as we
continue to be obedient and give our absolute all into this area, that
we will find more and more and more people to teach.

My companion Sister Stenquist is absolutely incredible. We are
learning to work very well together. She is an incredible example of a
leader to me; I look up to her very highly. I can tell she has such a
rock solid testimony! We also have so much fun together; I've been
blessed to have such incredible companions thus far.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on
the earth today. I know the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ is
infinite. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Joseph Smith was a
prophet, and he translated this book by the Priesthood Power of God.
Heavenly Father's plan is perfect, and I love Him. I know that He
loves each of us beyond comprehension. He knows you, and loves you.
Never forget your identity as a child of God. We are so blessed!

Have the best week ever! Thank you for all your love and prayers. I
love and pray for you all as well.

Con mucho amor,
-Hermana Freeman

Transfers, New Companion, Baptismal Date! - Aug 1, 2016

Hello friends and family!

We have been very blessed this week, it has been incredible. I love to
watch the many blessings and new things that can be learned from
Transfers! I know the Lord loves us, knows us, and helps us in every
moment.

Our area, Palo Alto is doing much better. We were blessed to have two
investigators and a couple less actives attend church yesterday. There
is such an incredible spirit that can be felt at church, and it just
drew them all in. Our branch is becoming more unified, and we are
getting a lot of missionary help from the incredible members! We are
so excited to continue to work more and more with each of them. Sister
Stenquist and I are also very blessed to share with y'all that we have
a baptism coming up!! Our investigator Richard will be baptized on
August 13, and we couldn't be more excited for him! He was a referral
from the Highland Hills Elders, and is so incredibly prepared. He told
us that after the elders taught him about the Word of Wisdom, he threw
away his tea and coffee the next day. He also told us that he fasted
the day after he learned about fasting, and said, "The blessings that
come from fasting are incredible, y'all should try it sometime!" We
laughed a little of course, because he didn't know that we do fast at
least once a month. But I've loved the opportunity I've had to watch
Richard grow in the gospel and love its teachings! He has been to
church several times, and is just so ready for baptism! During my time
in Palo Alto, I've also been able to see many less-active members come
back to church! I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has given me
the opportunity to teach these incredible people! Missionary work is
truly Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love for us. And I'm not just
talking about the people that are taught, but I also mean for the
missionaries. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me so much, that
they are allowing me to do their work. This mission brings me such
joy!

My new companion, Sister Stenquist, is incredible! Sister Stenquist
and I arrived to the TSAM on the same day, so we both just barley
finished training. We were a little worried at first that we'd have a
difficult time planning, teaching, working in the area, etc. since we
were both so new, but the Lord has blessed us so much. He has truly
guided us and helped us to know what He would have us do. We feel SO
blessed! I love serving with Sister Stenquist; she has such an
incredible testimony. She teaches the gospel in such a clear and
simple yet very bold manner, she really helps people to learn and
understand it so well! I am already learning so much from her, and I
know that I will continue to learn more and more throughout this
transfer. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store.

I know that my Redeemer lives. Jesus Christ made the ultimate
sacrifice so that we can try each day to be better. So that we can
live with our families and our Father in Heaven forever. I love my
Savior. I know that I can never repay Him for what He did, but I can
try to live my life in gratitude. I can turn everything over to Him. I
know that we have a LOVING Heavenly Father who created the perfect
plan so that we can succeed. He loves us far more than we could ever
comprehend. I love the Gospel, and I know that it is perfect. The Book
of Mormon is the Word of God. As we study from it and abide by its
precepts, we will remain on the straight and narrow path! We are so
blessed.

I hope that you all have an incredible week, and continue to look for
the Lord's hand in your lives. He is there. He knows you. He loves
you. My cousin Jeffrey told me a quote before I left on my mission,
and it has stuck with me ever since. He said: "Just be yourself, and
the Lord will make you your best self!" I know it's true! All we are
asked to do is to be ourselves and try our hardest. May we always
remember that, and when things get hard, turn to Him. He's there.

I love y'all so much! I pray for you. Thank you for your prayers in return.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Freeman

Pictures:
-My new companion Sister Stenquist and I❤️
-The Lake Vista Apartment Sisters biding Sister Martin farewell!

He Know Each of Us INDIVIDUALLY - July 18, 2016

 Hello everyone! I hope y'all had a fantastic week and saw the hand of
the Lord in their lives!

    I felt so blessed this week; I know the Lord truly loves me. This
week we were able to have our first Personal Interviews with the new
Mission President, President Polley. I've been thinking a lot about
the things that were talked about in my interview, and I'm really
starting to see just how much Heavenly Father knows me. The area that
I'm currently serving in is a test of faith, there is A LOT of
finding! But the Lord knew that I needed an area like that right now.
Before my mission I was all about very instant-gratification. I wanted
what I wanted, and I wanted it without delay! My Heavenly Father knows
me well enough to put me in an area that instant-gratification maybe
isn't the "type of missionary work". I most definitely had some
patience, faith, and humbling to learn! ;) And now that I've been
learning and practicing my faith and patience, missionary work is SO
precious to me. When I do have my first baptism, I will treasure it so
dear to my heart instead of just having it be a normal expectation.
Heavenly Father knows us better than we even know ourselves! We are so
blessed to have President Polley as our Mission President, he is truly
incredible!

    My area, Palo Alto YSA, is still coming along! As far as
investigators and baptisms go, we are still trying our hardest to find
every day. We are doing a lot of work in the branch right now, there
are a lot of members who need shepherding to come back to church.
Right now we are trying to work on making our branch more unified; we
will be having a devotional this upcoming Sunday evening, and we are
so excited. Our main focus will be on unifying the branch through
reverence and feeling the love of our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus
Christ. I really feel like as the branch gets more and more unified,
we will start to find investigators to teach and help prepare for
baptism! There's just a lot of inner work that has to be built up
within the branch itself first. I know that as we continue to have
faith and trust in the promises of the Lord, we will continue to see
miracles!

    My sweet companion, Sister Martin, is still doing great too! Being a
trainer and a Sister Training Leader has really helped push her to her
full potential. Sister Martin is such an excellent example of
consistent faith to me. All throughout this big finding time we are in
right now, her faith is unwavering; I love learning from her amazing
example. And she is HILARIOUS!

    Let us always remember that everything happens in the time of the
Lord. Sometimes we want very blessings and miracles to happen, and we
want them now! But we often forget that our Heavenly Father and our
Savior Jesus Christ are all-knowing. They know what we need, and when
we need it. As we show our faith and love consistently, they will
bless us with even greater things than we could have imagined. Never
give up hope, your Heavenly Father knows you, and has a plan for you.
We must always watch for the hand of the Lord in our lives, because He
is always there!

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true
church on the earth. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and had
unimaginable faith. He translated The Book of Mormon through the
Priesthood Power of God, and restored the true church upon the earth
by that same power. The Book of Mormon is true, and as I read it, I
feel the spirit so strongly. I know that I have a Savior, Jesus
Christ. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the great Plan of
Happiness can be fulfilled. We have a loving Heavenly Father who knows
us and loves us. I am forever grateful because I am so blessed.

    I hope y'all have another fantastic week! The time is flying here, we
have transfers already coming up AGAIN next week! I cannot even
believe it. So y'all will know in my email next Monday if I'm staying
in Palo Alto, or getting transferred to a new area! I'm so excited to
see what the Lord has in store!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Freeman

Pictures:
-Zone Conference with President & Sister Polley
-Sister Martin & I in the car, waiting to be picked up by a member
-We had a few chances this week to eat dinner with families (which
usually never happens since we work with YSA, we rarely see families
and children!), and one of the little girls drew us this cute picture.
She was adorable!

Heavenly Father Love YOU. - July 11, 2016

 Hello everyone! I hope your week was incredible, and your 4th of July
was fun & safe!  This week I learned how blessed I am to be here. We
attended a Zone Conference where we learned how much we are loved by
our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. Our Mission
President, President Polley, taught me something so profound. I'll
share with y'all some of my thoughts on the things he said. The Lord
is perfect, He can do ANYTHING. He could do the mission work of every
missionary in the blink of an eye. So why does He have us serve
missions? Why does He have us do His work? Why doesn't He just snap
His fingers and have everyone be baptized right now? It's because He
loves us. He loves me so much, that He's giving me this opportunity to
learn, grow, and serve Him. He prepares people in our area to receive
our message, but He leaves the work up to us. (Of course guided by the
Spirit.) Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us beyond measure to
our human minds. It is so incredible, it brings tears to my eyes. Just
felt like I should share that this week.
I am beyond grateful for this opportunity I have to serve in the TSAM.
Choosing go on a mission was the best decision I could have made for
my life right now. I NEEDED to come here to learn and grow, and to
GIVE EVERYTHING TO THE LORD.

    Our area Palo Alto YSA, is doing really good. Sister Martin and I are
in a really big finding time right now. But we are also working very
hard to strengthen and unify the current members of our branch. I am
really coming to learn that missionary work is not just about the
investigators, but it's all people! Members, less-actives,
non-members, everyone! We all need the light of Christ in our life, no
matter who we are. We have a new investigator named Samantha, who
really wants to get baptized! We taught her the Restoration on Tuesday
evening, and she LOVED it. She said that she has always felt the bible
was true, but there was just something missing. And that something is
The Book of Mormon! We were amazed at just how prepared and elect she
is! I am learning that we must always trust in the promises of the
Lord, faith is essential in the work! My faith has grown SO much while
I've been out here serving my mission. I am truly grateful to say,
this mission has changed my life forever.

    My companion, Sister Martin, is doing really good! She's such an
incredible leader and example. The sisters that she's over for her
Sister Training Leader calling, look up to her so much; I am one of
those sisters. She never ever gives up; her faith is absolutely
unshakeable. She KNOWS and TRUSTS in the promises of the Lord, and it
really helps me to do the same. She is the best example/trainer I
could have learned from.

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church.
It was restored by a faithful prophet, Joseph Smith through the
Priesthood Power of God. The Book of Mormon is true, and is evidence
of this perfect gospel. Jesus Christ is my Savior, and through Him I
can try my best each day to be better. Through Him, I can live with my
family forever in the presence of my Heavenly Father. We are so
blessed. Heavenly Father loves us beyond measure, and I will never be
able to do enough to show my gratitude and love. But I can do my
absolute best in this life to turn everything to Him. I know that here
in the TSAM, that's what being "All In" is about. Turning everything
we have, to our Savior! I am so filled with pure joy. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ IS pure joy. And I feel so privileged to share that with
the people of Texas.

    I love and miss you all so much! Thank you for all of your examples
of love and faith. Always remember who you are, a child of God. Your
Heavenly Father knows YOU. Your Heavenly Father loves YOU. Never let
anything distract you from this knowledge of who you are. Know who you
are, and act accordingly!

Con MUCHO amor,

Hermana Freeman


We had a little too much fun with the Glow Sticks our members gave us
on the 4th of July😉

Happy 4th of July Everyone! 🇺🇸❤️💙 - July 4, 2016

Hello everyone! I hope you've had the greatest week ever!

Oh how great is the Work of the Lord! We were able to have an
incredible week this week. I am really starting to learn faith in
finding; our area is in a big finding time right now.

The area (Palo Alto YSA) is slowly starting to progress. We are
starting to see the members help more and more each day with the
mission work. We have been trying to find ways to make the branch more
unified; after many prayers and discussions, we've decided to have a
fireside/devotional on Sunday July, 24. My companion, Sister Martin,
and I will be speaking- along with another returned missionary in the
branch. We know that as we get everyone feeling the spirit together,
that our branch can become stronger! We are still working with a lot
of less-actives. I love to see the light of Christ enter back into the
lives of these people, it's incredible! For example, one of my first
days in San Antonio, we taught a less-active named Nick. I thought
Nick would NEVER progress! He was taking the lesson so lightly and was
trying to draw away the spirit. He said he liked his lifestyle and
didn't want to change! Well this past week we met with Nick (and many
many other times prior) and extended the commitment to meet with the
Branch President for a limited-use Temple Recommend to do baptisms for
the dead! I just felt so privileged to see the Lord and the Holy Ghost
work with this young man's heart. The work is truly incredible! We
will still continue to look for investigators to teach, but we have a
LOT of work to do within the branch to build up the unity!

I am so excited that today is the 4th of July! Last Pday, my companion
and I went shopping for Red, White, & Blue outfits to wear today. I've
attached a picture below of the us Lake Vista Apartment Sisters in our
4th of July attire! Sadly I forgot my Red scarf at home, so for right
now- my outfit is just White & Blue. Of course we will be going back
for the Red later!

Today on this spectacular 4th of July I want to talk a little bit
about how this glorious holiday that we celebrate has to do with the
gospel. We are so blessed to live in a country where we have such
religious freedom! Our forefathers were truly inspired to fight for
all the freedoms we have today. This religious freedom that we so
greatly fought for, opened the doors to the Restoration of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. It's so incredible to see how in control of
EVERYTHING, our Father in Heaven is. In Preach My Gospel on page 35,
under The Great Apostasy, it reads: "This Reformation resulted in an
increased emphasis on religious freedom, which opened the way for the
final Restoration." Heavenly Father prepared this land, the promised
land, for Joseph Smith to Restore the true church, The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the earth. This holiday is a lot more
than just fireworks and hotdogs; we celebrate the freedom of this
incredible country given to us by our Heavenly Father.  And all of the
incredible freedoms we have, including religious freedom! We are so
blessed, how glorious it is to live in America! ❤️💙❤️💙

I'd like to leave you all with my testimony.  I know the church is
true. I have a burning Testimony of this Gospel.  I know with all my
heart, that we have a Savior- Jesus Christ.  I know that we have a
Heavenly Father who loves us beyond measure and He wants us to
progress and succeed.  I know that this mission I'm serving is not
mine, but it is His.  And I am learning over time that because this is
His work, things will happen in His time.  I know that the Book of
Mormon is true.  And that we can become closer to God by reading it,
and acting upon the things we are prompted to do when we read it.  I
know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God, to restore this
gospel we have on the earth today!  The most important thing in my
life is my sweet family back at home in Santaquin, Utah.  And the
knowledge that I have, that I get to spend eternity with them- bring
me joy beyond words.  I love them so much.  I am thankful for the
opportunity that I have to share the knowledge of Eternal Families to
the people here in Texas!  I am growing so much as a person, and as a
missionary.  I am truly blessed. I say these things, in the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen.

I hope you all have an incredible week, and a fabulous 4th of July! Be
safe! I love you all, and want to thank you for all of your thoughts
and prayers. I pray for you as well.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Freeman