Elder D!
Subject: Its sunny inside and out!
Well family, this whole week was full of trying to find people and try to get them interested in the Gospel. This is really hard! My companion, Elder Johnson and I had quite an interesting experience. We were just walking around trying to enjoy the sun (since sun has been a rarity!). I am having a hard time getting anyone who is willing to listen the way it is really suppose to happen or how I think that how it is intended to happen. Anyways, we went and tried to Derrik and Stacey Bryant. They did not have a lot of time to spare, so we decided to stay in the area. And while we were there we knocked the of a family's home we had found in the past and they were not home, we headed back to the car. Elder Johnson started talking to this guy about his Long Board. Then two girls approached us and asked if "judgement day" was really on the 21st (there are billboards all around Eugene about Judgement Day being 21st of May). I responded to the question by saying, "No one but, God knows." They are now investigating the church! Basically that is really cool!
It is clear, as I have said before, faith is main my focus right now in my studies and teaching. I can see that having Faith in Christ will make every event easier. I believe even if you are not sure that it is something that you feel is not something our Father in Heaven cares to worry about...He does! I know that if we are humble we will learn. I know that we cannot learn unless we are willing to listen. The Spirit will testify in so many ways and will help you in different ways, that it is incredible!
Well that is how I am. I am fine and well! I love you and hope all is well!
Love!
Elder Christian James Delis
-------------------------------
Hermana Delis
Subject: I survived a TORNADO this week :)!
Bueno, familia! Happy Wednesday!
Okay, now for the week. It was great! A lot happened this week, ha. I survived a tornado. Tornadoes are common up here, so there are LOUD sirens that go off throughout the county when one is close. So we're driving to an appointment when the sirens start to go off, and my companion is driving. She turns to me and goes, "Oh my gosh, what do we do???" ... haha. I don't know why I knew what to do, but I did. Must've been all those diaster drills in the FCPS :) (Fairfax County Public Schools--especially after 9-11 & the Snipers!) So, we found some shelter and ended up in a nice little member's home while it rained. Haha, glory. It was a night to remember.
Anyway, the rest of the week was great. Lleno read the LdM and is now reading the index--not a joke. Haha, this guy is hysterical. I can't wait for you to meet him, or at least see a picture. He is great. His baptism is in TWO weeks!! Bah! OH!!! Hno Ventura!!! He is a member, has been for two years, and he is AWESOME. He takes us to lunch at this little restaurant inside a Mexican grocery store--it is so so so good. And he just talks to us :). He showed up to the store with a trucker baseball cap, a blue plaid flannel button up, purpley-pink cordouroy pants, and black cowboy boots. He's in his fifties, and he is so great. He turned around his whole life because he just knew the church was true--he can't even read so he didn't read the LdM, he just knew the message was true. Ah. So awesome. This man is incredible. And we love to eat lunch with him, ha.
Okay, well I have to go. So sorry, I am running out of time. :) Love you loads, and I will talk to you soon!!
Have a great week!
Hna Delis
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Week of May ONE-FIVE: Here's proof my missionaries are HEALTHY and ALIVE!
Elder D
Subject: A week down ... WOW it went FAST!
Well hello,
My companion, Elder Johnson and I have spent yet another week trying to find people. Good News! We may have found two solid investigators! (I really hope this is the case!)
I am seeing faith to its fullest every day. It seems to me that faith is something a lot of the investigators and church members are struggling with. Obviously it is just an outside observation. But it is playing a major factor in all things. It's really surprising to me. I am kind of shocked to see how Satan is tempting even those who are solid in the church. I believe faith is the key to staying strong. I have been doing a lot of studying on the topic and it is super apparent that is really what I need to work on to help others build their faith stronger. I read Mormon 9 and Alma 32 as well as Ether 2-3. In addition, I have been reading the Doctrine of Christ and this is helping. President MacDonald has been putting a lot of effort into teaching all of the missionaries to focus on this. I beginning to understand why we need to make a concentrated effort to teach this more.
Love,
Elder Christian James Delis
(Mom Note: I have heard from numerous experienced missionary moms that the letters always begin long then as the missionary's life gets busy their letters get somewhat smaller. Today is an example. We normally recieve our notes between 1 and 2 pm, today is was at 8 pm--only after he was done playing basketball with the other missionaries...Yep, I guess we should be proud his health is as important as his spiritual growth!)
------------------------------
Hermana Delis
Subject: Hola! as we gringos say :)
Bueno, familia!
And that is kind of what I wanted to talk about today! I was reading in Alma 26 about the Sons of Mosiah--love those guys. Actually, do you have a copy of PMG? I did the activity under "Patience" in capitulo 6, you can do it too for family night or something. It is a good good representative of missionary life. It is just so hard--it blows me away some days, ha. But I came in with just a few things that I wanted for my investigators--just to know who the savior is for them, and to know that they have a HUGE potential--bigger than we know--because our Heavenly Father loves them. And right now, I'm in the middle of the sons of Mosiah's journey--when the days are really long and the rejection is pretty obvious. But the joy Alma has at the end of it all is TOTALLY in the Lord and his work, and he just feels so lucky to be an instrument. I totally understood that today. He talks of "thousands" that were converted unto the Lord--I won't have that experience, but I know there are people here that will receive the gospel. Man, I can't tell you how happy I am just knowing that somehow, somewhere people will receive this message while I was an instrument for the Lord. I am so so grateful. We met a family yesterday that I am SOO excited to continue meeting with. Man, we got in the car afterwards and I almost started to cry, I love them so much, and I just felt so good about them. Familia Martinez--I hope I can tell you more stories about them soon. :) One family we really really love told us this week that they didn't want to change anything about their lives--the church was just too much. That was the hardest rejection so far. I cried on the way to our next appointment, ha. Then, at our next appointment, this funny, skinny little man we've been teaching with his daughter asked us when he could be baptized. WHAT! We told him soon. Haha. June 11, actually. We have another person being baptized that day, too, actually--Gerardo! They are both great. Lleno (the old man) was like "Will there be singing at my baptism? I KNOW the angels will be singing, so we should too." Haha, I was literally blown away--honestly, I didn't really believe it that night--I came home almost confused, ha. No way that was really happening. But he loves the Book of Mormon, loves praying, and he loves the message. So he's getting baptized! Pray for them to keep trusting in their faith. :) It's been a wild week, claro, but awesome. :)
Today, I just really have a lot of faith that great things are going to happen on this mission. Ha, I am really grateful for that today. I get so worried throughout the week, and family, I really love these people so very much, and it is so hard when they don't see how great they are and how much our Heavenly Father really loves them. I really have a hard time not knowing the language--I'm at the point where I understand a good portion of what is going on, but I can't respond like I want to. But I just know that all that I want for these people WILL happen. I just really know that the Lord will make up for what I lack, and I can really be what He needs here. It's hard to feel so inadequate for this call some days, but I just know that the Lord gives me so much more than I see. Great things are happening in Woodstock--thanks for helping me be here.:)
Love you!
Hna Delis
(Mom Note: We recieved a fun surprise from the mission president's wife...both a snapshot and a video of Katie's first couple of days in Chicago. They interviewed all the new incoming missionaries and sent us a copy. Here is the link http://vimeo.com/23186017. (Cut and paste the link--not sure how to download videos yet.) Be warned it is over 30 minutes long, but it if you are willing to watch it you will see Hermana Delis' smile as she arrives in Chicago, while she is touring you will hear about her first experience delivering a Book of Mormon and see her greet her first companion. Yes, we have proof she is alive! Enjoy!)
Subject: A week down ... WOW it went FAST!
Well hello,
My companion, Elder Johnson and I have spent yet another week trying to find people. Good News! We may have found two solid investigators! (I really hope this is the case!)
I am seeing faith to its fullest every day. It seems to me that faith is something a lot of the investigators and church members are struggling with. Obviously it is just an outside observation. But it is playing a major factor in all things. It's really surprising to me. I am kind of shocked to see how Satan is tempting even those who are solid in the church. I believe faith is the key to staying strong. I have been doing a lot of studying on the topic and it is super apparent that is really what I need to work on to help others build their faith stronger. I read Mormon 9 and Alma 32 as well as Ether 2-3. In addition, I have been reading the Doctrine of Christ and this is helping. President MacDonald has been putting a lot of effort into teaching all of the missionaries to focus on this. I beginning to understand why we need to make a concentrated effort to teach this more.
Love,
Elder Christian James Delis
(Mom Note: I have heard from numerous experienced missionary moms that the letters always begin long then as the missionary's life gets busy their letters get somewhat smaller. Today is an example. We normally recieve our notes between 1 and 2 pm, today is was at 8 pm--only after he was done playing basketball with the other missionaries...Yep, I guess we should be proud his health is as important as his spiritual growth!)
Elder Delis with his first companion Elder Mackay and at his first baptism...Yes, those missionaries shaved my boy's hair! Luckily when he skyped on Mother's Day it looks like its growing back!
Hermana Delis
Subject: Hola! as we gringos say :)
Bueno, familia!
And that is kind of what I wanted to talk about today! I was reading in Alma 26 about the Sons of Mosiah--love those guys. Actually, do you have a copy of PMG? I did the activity under "Patience" in capitulo 6, you can do it too for family night or something. It is a good good representative of missionary life. It is just so hard--it blows me away some days, ha. But I came in with just a few things that I wanted for my investigators--just to know who the savior is for them, and to know that they have a HUGE potential--bigger than we know--because our Heavenly Father loves them. And right now, I'm in the middle of the sons of Mosiah's journey--when the days are really long and the rejection is pretty obvious. But the joy Alma has at the end of it all is TOTALLY in the Lord and his work, and he just feels so lucky to be an instrument. I totally understood that today. He talks of "thousands" that were converted unto the Lord--I won't have that experience, but I know there are people here that will receive the gospel. Man, I can't tell you how happy I am just knowing that somehow, somewhere people will receive this message while I was an instrument for the Lord. I am so so grateful. We met a family yesterday that I am SOO excited to continue meeting with. Man, we got in the car afterwards and I almost started to cry, I love them so much, and I just felt so good about them. Familia Martinez--I hope I can tell you more stories about them soon. :) One family we really really love told us this week that they didn't want to change anything about their lives--the church was just too much. That was the hardest rejection so far. I cried on the way to our next appointment, ha. Then, at our next appointment, this funny, skinny little man we've been teaching with his daughter asked us when he could be baptized. WHAT! We told him soon. Haha. June 11, actually. We have another person being baptized that day, too, actually--Gerardo! They are both great. Lleno (the old man) was like "Will there be singing at my baptism? I KNOW the angels will be singing, so we should too." Haha, I was literally blown away--honestly, I didn't really believe it that night--I came home almost confused, ha. No way that was really happening. But he loves the Book of Mormon, loves praying, and he loves the message. So he's getting baptized! Pray for them to keep trusting in their faith. :) It's been a wild week, claro, but awesome. :)
Today, I just really have a lot of faith that great things are going to happen on this mission. Ha, I am really grateful for that today. I get so worried throughout the week, and family, I really love these people so very much, and it is so hard when they don't see how great they are and how much our Heavenly Father really loves them. I really have a hard time not knowing the language--I'm at the point where I understand a good portion of what is going on, but I can't respond like I want to. But I just know that all that I want for these people WILL happen. I just really know that the Lord will make up for what I lack, and I can really be what He needs here. It's hard to feel so inadequate for this call some days, but I just know that the Lord gives me so much more than I see. Great things are happening in Woodstock--thanks for helping me be here.:)
Love you!
Hna Delis
(Mom Note: We recieved a fun surprise from the mission president's wife...both a snapshot and a video of Katie's first couple of days in Chicago. They interviewed all the new incoming missionaries and sent us a copy. Here is the link http://vimeo.com/23186017. (Cut and paste the link--not sure how to download videos yet.) Be warned it is over 30 minutes long, but it if you are willing to watch it you will see Hermana Delis' smile as she arrives in Chicago, while she is touring you will hear about her first experience delivering a Book of Mormon and see her greet her first companion. Yes, we have proof she is alive! Enjoy!)
Hermana Delis, Hermana Miller (her companion), President & Sister Doll
Friday, May 13, 2011
Week of May EIGHT: Mother's Day Calls are first RATE!
Elder Delis
Subject: A day to SEE the family! (Christian Skyped on Mother's Day! It was so nice to actually SEE him! For those interested, he looks great! He is happy and as handsome as ever!)
Well, Tuesday was when transfers began. It was quite eventful to see so many missionaries going to different places all over the mission. Actually quite fun! The most interesting thing that happened is that Elder Johnson came to Eugene as my new companion! Elder Brower left on Thursday to go back to Jordan Valley, Oregon. Yes...he lives in Oregon and got called to serve in Oregon!
Of course with a new companion it means we spent most our week getting him oriented in his new area. We spent most of Wednesday helping him get to know the area better and show him as much as I could about Eugene and how fun it is. HAHAHA! We also had dinner with Brother Loganimoce. This was cool because we got an opportunity to talk about things other than missionary work things. He is definitely a person that I will keep in contact with after my mission.
We had an interesting experience this week. President MacDonald called me (which scared me, why would I get a call from my mission president...I sat there wondering what had I done wrong!) on Tuesday to ask if I knew a man named John Green. And surprisingly I had seen him a week or so earlier. I did splits with a member of the Springfield 1st, Brother Ruhnow when I met Mr. Green. (Brother Ruhnow went with me because he had spent time teaching him the discussions earlier. It is always great to get ward member's help!) But the reason President MacDonald called was because he has a friend who is a friend to John Green and he was giving me permission to call his friend, Brother Dlynn Heaps. After talking with Brother Heaps the entire night lined up. Because we had time we went to see John Green and spent the rest of the night talking to him about the first discussion. It was really awesome!!!
We ended our week by helping a family move out of their home. Most of the people that would have normally assisted were at the temple so my companion and I helped. It is becoming more and more apparent to me how service can really teach investigators how the church is always willing to help.
LOVE YA!
Elder Christian James Delis
-----------------------
Hermana Delis
Subject: TENEMOS EL SOL!!
Bueno, familia!
Well, this has been quite the week. One great thing we did: WE LET THE SUN IN OUR ROOM!!! I could nto get up in the mornings, it was SO hard, and has been for two weeks. It drove me nuts--it felt like I wasn't being obedient, I had a bad attitude, eh. It was yucky. BUT last night, we decided to take down the blankets that were covering the window of our bedroom--BEST DECISION EVER!!!! The sun cured everything. AH, our bedroom is perfect now. And we got to workout at the gym this morning--I ran forever. AH. It has been a happy start to the morning. AND SO today, I am grateful for the sun. :)
And I am grateful to be a missionary. :) I love my call, and I am grateful to serve. My scripture of the week has been D&C 112:10 (Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answers to thy prayers.) It was a pretty tough week--everything went almost 100% differently than we had expected. We had one day that just kind of blew up in our faces, ha: 7 appointments, one followed through. That one appointment was a member, and she actually forgot we were coming, so we didn't get to eat. We contacted in some rain, taught one horribly awkward lesson to seven people who all actually took turns telling us they would NEVER read the BofM. Even as a new Spanish speaker, I understood that conversation JUST fine, ha. The day just rolled on with cancellation after cancellation (we even bumped into one of our investigators an hour before our appointment, confirmed that we'd be there, and they still weren't there, haha), and lots of rejection in contacting. At eight o'clock, my companion and I found ourselves sitting on the stoop of our last appointment. They didn't answer the door, and we were hoping if we waited five more minutes, they would remember to come home or something. :) So we sat for a minute. They didn't come home this time, but I will never forget sitting there. In those few moments, I was so grateful to be a missionary. I don't know why, but while we sat on that stoop I just knew that this gospel is true, that the Savior loves us, and that this is His work. Admist what felt like a day of dissappointment, I could only be grateful to be there. That was my very best day of the mission so far. My testimony is simple, and often feels inadequate for the perfect message I have been called to share. But it is a testimony of truth. And that is what the gospel is: truth. The gospel is simple, it is happy, and it is true. I know that for sure, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share it.
Keep me posted on what is going on, and tell everyone I say hi. :) When people ask how I am, will you just let them know I am always hoping they are well? Sometimes I don't get to write back as much as I want to, but it is always a matter of time, not interest. Will you please let them know I am grateful for them, please? Gracias. :)
Okay, love you all always. :) Have a very happy week!
Hna Delis
Subject: A day to SEE the family! (Christian Skyped on Mother's Day! It was so nice to actually SEE him! For those interested, he looks great! He is happy and as handsome as ever!)
Well, Tuesday was when transfers began. It was quite eventful to see so many missionaries going to different places all over the mission. Actually quite fun! The most interesting thing that happened is that Elder Johnson came to Eugene as my new companion! Elder Brower left on Thursday to go back to Jordan Valley, Oregon. Yes...he lives in Oregon and got called to serve in Oregon!
Of course with a new companion it means we spent most our week getting him oriented in his new area. We spent most of Wednesday helping him get to know the area better and show him as much as I could about Eugene and how fun it is. HAHAHA! We also had dinner with Brother Loganimoce. This was cool because we got an opportunity to talk about things other than missionary work things. He is definitely a person that I will keep in contact with after my mission.
We had an interesting experience this week. President MacDonald called me (which scared me, why would I get a call from my mission president...I sat there wondering what had I done wrong!) on Tuesday to ask if I knew a man named John Green. And surprisingly I had seen him a week or so earlier. I did splits with a member of the Springfield 1st, Brother Ruhnow when I met Mr. Green. (Brother Ruhnow went with me because he had spent time teaching him the discussions earlier. It is always great to get ward member's help!) But the reason President MacDonald called was because he has a friend who is a friend to John Green and he was giving me permission to call his friend, Brother Dlynn Heaps. After talking with Brother Heaps the entire night lined up. Because we had time we went to see John Green and spent the rest of the night talking to him about the first discussion. It was really awesome!!!
We ended our week by helping a family move out of their home. Most of the people that would have normally assisted were at the temple so my companion and I helped. It is becoming more and more apparent to me how service can really teach investigators how the church is always willing to help.
LOVE YA!
Elder Christian James Delis
-----------------------
Hermana Delis
Subject: TENEMOS EL SOL!!
Bueno, familia!
Well, this has been quite the week. One great thing we did: WE LET THE SUN IN OUR ROOM!!! I could nto get up in the mornings, it was SO hard, and has been for two weeks. It drove me nuts--it felt like I wasn't being obedient, I had a bad attitude, eh. It was yucky. BUT last night, we decided to take down the blankets that were covering the window of our bedroom--BEST DECISION EVER!!!! The sun cured everything. AH, our bedroom is perfect now. And we got to workout at the gym this morning--I ran forever. AH. It has been a happy start to the morning. AND SO today, I am grateful for the sun. :)
And I am grateful to be a missionary. :) I love my call, and I am grateful to serve. My scripture of the week has been D&C 112:10 (Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answers to thy prayers.) It was a pretty tough week--everything went almost 100% differently than we had expected. We had one day that just kind of blew up in our faces, ha: 7 appointments, one followed through. That one appointment was a member, and she actually forgot we were coming, so we didn't get to eat. We contacted in some rain, taught one horribly awkward lesson to seven people who all actually took turns telling us they would NEVER read the BofM. Even as a new Spanish speaker, I understood that conversation JUST fine, ha. The day just rolled on with cancellation after cancellation (we even bumped into one of our investigators an hour before our appointment, confirmed that we'd be there, and they still weren't there, haha), and lots of rejection in contacting. At eight o'clock, my companion and I found ourselves sitting on the stoop of our last appointment. They didn't answer the door, and we were hoping if we waited five more minutes, they would remember to come home or something. :) So we sat for a minute. They didn't come home this time, but I will never forget sitting there. In those few moments, I was so grateful to be a missionary. I don't know why, but while we sat on that stoop I just knew that this gospel is true, that the Savior loves us, and that this is His work. Admist what felt like a day of dissappointment, I could only be grateful to be there. That was my very best day of the mission so far. My testimony is simple, and often feels inadequate for the perfect message I have been called to share. But it is a testimony of truth. And that is what the gospel is: truth. The gospel is simple, it is happy, and it is true. I know that for sure, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share it.
Keep me posted on what is going on, and tell everyone I say hi. :) When people ask how I am, will you just let them know I am always hoping they are well? Sometimes I don't get to write back as much as I want to, but it is always a matter of time, not interest. Will you please let them know I am grateful for them, please? Gracias. :)
Okay, love you all always. :) Have a very happy week!
Hna Delis
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Family Portraits the Day before Elder Delis & Jim fly to Utah! What crazy mother would do this? Only Me! Enjoy!
A special THANK YOU to VIRGINIA PAYNE
at Virginia Payne Photography!
We are grateful that she was willing to squeeze our family in on 4 days notice and put her digits at risk of frost bite to capture one of our family's most precious moments
in the freezing January weather!
She will be a blessing we will treasure for a very long time!
Feel free to check her out at
(Yes, I'm advertising for her--she deserves it!!!)
Week of May FIRST: Emails always feel like a SUN BURST!!!
Elder Delis
Subject: Four souls are brought to our Savior...
Hello!
Well family I hope all is well! This week has been like most other weeks, we are just finding people who are ready to hear the gospel. To be honest, at times it is kinda hard :(. This week is not as eventful as previous weeks, so sorry this email is a bit shorter than some of my past ones. So Katie, I am excited to hear you are in Illiniois! You will have a lot of success if you just do the basics and I promise you will be blessed for it!
Ok, well, I have been really excited for the end of the week and this one event. I had a baptism this week. It was Dallas Ordway. He is the 10 year old boy that I taught. We were just waiting for his aunt to come to Oregon to see the baptism. (that was actually really cool!) I really love seeing people progress in the gospel. It is really exciting. Can I just say that when I go to the baptism I can feel the Spirit so strongly! I will never forget the feeling of joy it brings into the room!
Another cool thing that happened this week is Derrik Bryant came to church yesterday! He is the African-American guy that has an issue with blacks and the priesthood. I am fairly sure that since he came to church, (and loved it, I might add!), that he will be more receptive to the message. And to the whole concept of modern-day prophets and revelation. When Elder Brower (the companion he kills off b/c his 2 years of service is ending) and I come over he always loves to see us. So I think he see the Lord has prepared him to this point or at least he is being prepared for the Gospel.
Well, I love you!! Have fun this week!!
Elder Christian Delis
-------------------------------------------------
Hermana Delis
Subject: We are not in Kansas anymore!!
Hello, familia!
Como estan? Espero que todo sepa muy bien :0 (How are you? I hope all is well!) (the translation is for her mother, "Handy Manny" on Disney does teach enough for me to understand :)) That's about all the useful Spanish I know these day. :) Haha, It is a whole new world out here!!! And to think I am just in Illinois. :)
OKAY. Now for the missionary moments. :) Being a missionary is so WILD! I can't believe it some days, ha. I don't even know where to start this email; there is so much that happens in a week and so many totally foreign experiences--it's crazy. But I feel like in a week I have seen SO much. In the last email dad sent me in the MTC, he told me that in the mission you meet people from all walks of life--I have thought about that literally hourly since being here. It is SO very true. I wish I had good words to explain to you! Life takes a lot of different forms for different people. As a missionary you talk to everyone (it surprised me that that can be hard to do), and so you see a lot of different things. Some people are very polite, some people are very NOT polite, a few interested, a lot don't really care. But we listen to every person we talk to. You learn a lot by listening. You love a lot when you listen, too. You see some things that are really hard, somethings are really happy, some things are SUPER weird, haha. You just get everything. At the end of the day, you have to just lay in bed and be grateful for the people you got to listen to. These people will forever have an impact on me!
The people really are the best part of the mission. I already LOVE some of these PEOPLE. AH! I wish you could know them. Hna Monge--I am going to cry just thinking about this sweet little woman, I honestly don't think I can tell you what we talked about yesterday, simply because I don't know Spanish, ha. But the love this woman has in her home is tangible. She has had a hard life--I had no idea what having a "hard life" meant until coming here and listening. But she just lives and loves the gospel. We ate (hahaaa Mexicans LOVE to feed us, ha. They are really good with Celiac's--no worries) and we teach her the principios del evangelio. She is just wonderful. Goodness, she is the best part of my Tuesdays!
I am grateful everyday to be a Span-Am--I do love it. It is so hards to be a missionary, ha. I had no idea. I go to bed SO TIRED. I know what it feels like to be drained at night--I work pretty hard in whatever I'm doing--missionary work, college, etc.m but missionary tired is unlike any other tired. I go to bed exhausted, but I fall asleep overwhelmed with gratitude. Mostly for the people I meet. Oh family, these people are so incredible. I want to know them. And right now, I really want them to know their Savior. It feels goofy sometimes to be out preaching--people see us as "Jesus People." It seems awkward, right? Well, for the record it does feel awkward sometimes. But why would I spend my time sharing the message of Jesus Christ? Why would I want someone to know who Christ is? The answer's pretty simple: I know who He is for me. When you feel that, it gets easier to tell people "Somos misioneras de la Iglesia de Jesucristo. Tenemos la verdad." We're the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ. (again, translation for her mom)
There is so much more I want to tell you, but I'll have to go for now. Love you all lots, and I will talk to you soon (meaning MOTHER'S DAY! YEAH!!). Love you lots!
Hna Delis
Subject: Four souls are brought to our Savior...
Hello!
Well family I hope all is well! This week has been like most other weeks, we are just finding people who are ready to hear the gospel. To be honest, at times it is kinda hard :(. This week is not as eventful as previous weeks, so sorry this email is a bit shorter than some of my past ones. So Katie, I am excited to hear you are in Illiniois! You will have a lot of success if you just do the basics and I promise you will be blessed for it!
Ok, well, I have been really excited for the end of the week and this one event. I had a baptism this week. It was Dallas Ordway. He is the 10 year old boy that I taught. We were just waiting for his aunt to come to Oregon to see the baptism. (that was actually really cool!) I really love seeing people progress in the gospel. It is really exciting. Can I just say that when I go to the baptism I can feel the Spirit so strongly! I will never forget the feeling of joy it brings into the room!
Another cool thing that happened this week is Derrik Bryant came to church yesterday! He is the African-American guy that has an issue with blacks and the priesthood. I am fairly sure that since he came to church, (and loved it, I might add!), that he will be more receptive to the message. And to the whole concept of modern-day prophets and revelation. When Elder Brower (the companion he kills off b/c his 2 years of service is ending) and I come over he always loves to see us. So I think he see the Lord has prepared him to this point or at least he is being prepared for the Gospel.
Well, I love you!! Have fun this week!!
Elder Christian Delis
-------------------------------------------------
Hermana Delis
Subject: We are not in Kansas anymore!!
Hello, familia!
Como estan? Espero que todo sepa muy bien :0 (How are you? I hope all is well!) (the translation is for her mother, "Handy Manny" on Disney does teach enough for me to understand :)) That's about all the useful Spanish I know these day. :) Haha, It is a whole new world out here!!! And to think I am just in Illinois. :)
OKAY. Now for the missionary moments. :) Being a missionary is so WILD! I can't believe it some days, ha. I don't even know where to start this email; there is so much that happens in a week and so many totally foreign experiences--it's crazy. But I feel like in a week I have seen SO much. In the last email dad sent me in the MTC, he told me that in the mission you meet people from all walks of life--I have thought about that literally hourly since being here. It is SO very true. I wish I had good words to explain to you! Life takes a lot of different forms for different people. As a missionary you talk to everyone (it surprised me that that can be hard to do), and so you see a lot of different things. Some people are very polite, some people are very NOT polite, a few interested, a lot don't really care. But we listen to every person we talk to. You learn a lot by listening. You love a lot when you listen, too. You see some things that are really hard, somethings are really happy, some things are SUPER weird, haha. You just get everything. At the end of the day, you have to just lay in bed and be grateful for the people you got to listen to. These people will forever have an impact on me!
The people really are the best part of the mission. I already LOVE some of these PEOPLE. AH! I wish you could know them. Hna Monge--I am going to cry just thinking about this sweet little woman, I honestly don't think I can tell you what we talked about yesterday, simply because I don't know Spanish, ha. But the love this woman has in her home is tangible. She has had a hard life--I had no idea what having a "hard life" meant until coming here and listening. But she just lives and loves the gospel. We ate (hahaaa Mexicans LOVE to feed us, ha. They are really good with Celiac's--no worries) and we teach her the principios del evangelio. She is just wonderful. Goodness, she is the best part of my Tuesdays!
I am grateful everyday to be a Span-Am--I do love it. It is so hards to be a missionary, ha. I had no idea. I go to bed SO TIRED. I know what it feels like to be drained at night--I work pretty hard in whatever I'm doing--missionary work, college, etc.m but missionary tired is unlike any other tired. I go to bed exhausted, but I fall asleep overwhelmed with gratitude. Mostly for the people I meet. Oh family, these people are so incredible. I want to know them. And right now, I really want them to know their Savior. It feels goofy sometimes to be out preaching--people see us as "Jesus People." It seems awkward, right? Well, for the record it does feel awkward sometimes. But why would I spend my time sharing the message of Jesus Christ? Why would I want someone to know who Christ is? The answer's pretty simple: I know who He is for me. When you feel that, it gets easier to tell people "Somos misioneras de la Iglesia de Jesucristo. Tenemos la verdad." We're the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ. (again, translation for her mom)
There is so much more I want to tell you, but I'll have to go for now. Love you all lots, and I will talk to you soon (meaning MOTHER'S DAY! YEAH!!). Love you lots!
Hna Delis
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