A Week of Spiritual Lessons

This week was a great week! Wednesday we had our mission tour. We heard from Elder Robbins who is the President of the North America Southwest Area which includes our mission. He was awesome. 

I learned a lot about more meaningful prayers and the importance of using the scriptures to invite people to do things like go to church, pray, and be baptized, instead of having the invitations be my words. 

Well this week was full of a lot of spiritual lessons! The first one was Maria. We talked with her about the importance of baptism. She said she feels like she still has the guilt and weight of things in the past. We shared with her Alma 7:11-16. It talks about baptism and how we do not need to fear and it tells of the promise we can get if we follow God's commandments.

 "And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me."

 That really helped Maria and she is very firm in her date to be baptized. Her interview is this week and we are super excited for her.

 We went on exchanges this week. I got to be with Hermana Kunes. We came in together at the same time so it was fun to see her and be with her. We went to go teach a lesson. It was the first time this lady let us in. She told us about the worries she has as a mom with young children and that she wants her children to have a foundation in God so they won't fall into temptation when they are teenagers. We shared the lesson of the restoration and it was just what she needed. We shared the first vision experience that Joseph Smith had when he saw God and Jesus Christ when he was searching for an answer to which of all the churches are true. When we asked this lady if she believed that could happen she said "Yes! I feel peace and I really think that happened." At the end we all knelt down and her two daughters joined us. 

We invited her to say the prayer and she did. About halfway through her prayer she became silent. We weren't sure what was going on until she began to cry. She held her daughter close to her and as she tried to continue the prayer she cried. She looked up at us and said, "I am so sorry but sometimes words can't even describe feelings". We knelt down for a while after and it was a really humbling and amazing experience. We are very excited for her.

 Sunday was church. Maria came and we were so excited. During sacrament meeting the missionaries spoke in church-which included me! 

It was one of the first times I have given a talk in Spanish.  I wrote my talk all out and I got up and started to just read word for word like I usually do. Then, after the first page, I just had a feeling like "Wow this is boring!" so I looked at the congregation and just spoke. I didn't use my notes, I just spoke and used scriptures that I had picked out and a quote. It was really cool. I have never done that before. The Lord really gave me strength. After my talk, the Branch President came up to me and complimented me on my Spanish. My companion said during the talk a member looked at her and pointed to me and nodded and did a thumbs up 

and also another member came up to me and said "Wow, you have really learned the language". It was awesome!

 After church the branch threw a birthday party for the son of someone the Elders are teaching and 3 kids of a member who is less active. It was amazing. The whole branch helped so much and the decorations were so cute. There were pinatas and food and food and more food! 

It was awesome.

That was our week this week. It was an amazing week! I love Santa Barbara so much! I am excited for the next week!

A NOTE FROM HER MOM:
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)

Her mailing address is:

Hermana Lily Pita

California Ventura Mission

3301 W Gonzales Road

Oxnard, CA  93036

This is the direct link to her blog. 

Members Make All the Difference

This was the first week of the new transfer. We have been having a good time and have been very busy. We are continuing to tract, teach, and find new people. 


The Jenny Oaks concert was really cool. She and her 4 children are really good and they played really cool songs. It was fun and so relaxing to spend Friday and Saturday night listening to beautiful music.

One of the general church leaders, Elder Robbinson, is here and yesterday he spoke at a leadership meeting. I got to stay here in Santa Barbara and go on a split with Hermana Southard. 

It was really fun and we got a lot done and met some really cool people. We also got Chick Fil-A for lunch so that was also a huge plus-haha.

While Hermana Mejia and I were out one day, we ran into my Dad and took a picture:

Hahaha - just kidding Dad! We did run into this totally random statue of a gorilla and couldn't resist a picture of us doing our best impersonation.

This week I really learned the importance of members. The hardest part of helping people to progress is them coming to church. 

This has been one of the hardest things throughout my mission. We are teaching someone who had a lot of potential but hasn't come to church yet. Yesterday we had a lesson with her and brought a member. They connected SO well and talked the entire time. The member shared her testimony and they were able to relate so much. At the end or our visit, the member said "Let's exchange phone numbers". They live a street away from each other and the member said that she will pick her up for church Sunday so that was really cool! Members can relate so much better to people we teach. It really makes such a difference. 

Tomorrow we get to hear from Elder Robbinson. I am excited to hear from him and I'm looking forward to another great week in Santa Barbara.

A NOTE FROM HER MOM:
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)

Her mailing address is:

Hermana Lily Pita

California Ventura Mission

3301 W Gonzales Road

Oxnard, CA  93036

This is the direct link to her blog. 

The Pure Love of Christ

Wow! This week was amazing. 

Tuesday my companion had a leadership meeting so I got to go on a split with Hermana Southard. There was a lady who we have been trying to meet with and our schedules were just not lining up. We got a call from her Tuesday morning asking us if we could help her fill out a job application, so we went to help her fill it out. When we were done, she pointed to our Book of Mormon and goes, "Okay, now I want to hear this". So we taught her about the restoration and set up a return appointment for the next day. 

We had a lesson with her at a member's house and it was awesome! She said that a few days earlier she had been praying to God to help her find His church then she told us "and then God sent you two!" It was such a miracle! 

This has just been a really great week! ALSO Hermana Mejia and I found out we are staying together for another transfer (another 6 weeks)! We were SO exited when we found out! We had a great lunch one day at Wild Buffalo Wings which is Hermana Mejia's favorite restaurant.

Jenny Oaks Baker is coming to our area for a couple of performances. She is a Grammy nominated American violinist and former member of the National Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, just to name a few. She is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! We got to deliver invitations around the city to her upcoming concert. I can't wait to go!

We had a fun activity on our Preparation Day this week. 

We also got to eat some delicious food. A Peruvian family that we know has a restaurant in their backyard.  It was super good food.

This week I was reading about charity. I really loved a scripture that is found in the Book of Mormon in Moroni 7:45;47. It says, 

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things...But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

I love all the descriptions of charity. I can really see on my mission how many people have shown me charity. The other day at church, I complemented a woman who was wearing some really pretty earrings. Before I left, she called me over and gave them to me. I was in awe of her Christlike love for me and I am striving to have increased charity to those around me. The pure love of Christ really does make a difference to those around us.

I am excited for another week, and also another amazing transfer! 

A NOTE FROM HER MOM:
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)

Her mailing address is:

Hermana Lily Pita

California Ventura Mission

3301 W Gonzales Road

Oxnard, CA  93036

This is the direct link to her blog. 

Striving to Improve

Wow! This week went by even quicker than usual!

We taught a lot of people and visited lots of people too. Wednesday was Zone Conference. It was really good and I learned how important it is to not only give information but to also talk about how the teachings of Jesus Christ have impacted my life. It has made a difference. It was so great to see everyone and catch up. 


One day this week, a friend asked us to meet her at court to give her moral support but we took a wrong turn and ended up here at first:

Luckily, we found the right place and had a good laugh!

Thursday Hermana Parker and I were on exchanges together. She came here to Santa Barbara and we saw so many miracles. 

First we had a lesson with Monico. He just got married two weeks ago. He said he knows the next step is baptism and that he wants his baptismal interview so that was super exciting! 

Also I did something that was on my missionary bucket list. We were in an area and there were some people playing basketball. They said, "Hey. Do you want to play?" We waved and kept walking. They said, "Okay. Maybe next time". Hermana Parker and I looked at each other and we turned back around and said, "Okay - we are ready to play". We played "street basketball" and gave them our number and information to the church. They said that one day they might check it out. 

Then the next day we had a bunch of lessons and we really wanted to meet with this one lady named Maria. Our schedules just weren't lining up but we kept praying that somehow we would be able to meet up that day. We decided to call her at 2:30 to see if we could come by on Saturday but then she said that she had just gotten off work early and that we could come by at 3:00 that same day.

We went over and had an amazing lesson. She said that God always sends us to her when she really needs it. Her brother is a member and so many members are her friend so it's great. At the end of the lesson she said she would prepare to be baptized on the 28th of September so that was really exciting. 

One thing I really learned this week is the importance of always striving to improve. One thing that has always been difficult for me is learning Spanish. 

I was reading in Preach My Gospel about learning the language. Thomas S. Monson said: 

There is one language … that is common to each missionary—the language of the Spirit. It is not learned from textbooks written by men of letters, nor is it acquired through reading and memorization. The language of the Spirit comes to him who seeks with all his heart to know God and keep His divine commandments. Proficiency in this language permits one to breach barriers, overcome obstacles, and touch the human heart.

I have learned that as I strive to do my best and have the Spirit with me and love the people, the spirit will teach and will help make up for my weaknesses in the language.

Next week is transfers already. This transfer has gone by so fast and I am excited for another great week. 

A NOTE FROM HER MOM:
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)

Her mailing address is:

Hermana Lily Pita

California Ventura Mission

3301 W Gonzales Road

Oxnard, CA  93036

This is the direct link to her blog. 

Learning to Minister

Another busy week has come and gone!

It was someone in the Branch's birthday so the branch put on a party with enchiladas and tres leche cake. It was SO good!! 

We met some really cool people and we met a member of the Branch who has been going through a lot. It was great to meet her and to help her. 

Friday was SO awesome! I got to go on an exchange with my first companion, Hermana Person. We had such an amazing time. She is the first sister/Hermana in the mission to be on a bike and has been in biking areas ever since. We got to be on bikes the whole day and it was so fun. I have so much respect for Hermana Person and for the diligence she has. I loved biking but I was definitely a little sore after-haha. 

This week we had a goal for one person to come to church and we didn't have anyone who wanted to come. Then, an hour before church, we get a call from someone that Hermana Mejia and Parker had met on exchanges and he wanted to come to church. The Branch President was able to pick him up and he came. 

It was also stake conference this past weekend. One thing I took out of it was learning to ministering like the Savior did. We are trying each week to show love to those we encounter. There is a great scripture that I love. It says:
"Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price." 

As we improve and try our best to follow the example of Christ, we can unlock the way to be truly forgiven. 

When we were out and about this week, we saw a lot of animals.

Next week is zone conference and I am so excited! It should be another great week. 

A NOTE FROM HER MOM:
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)

Her mailing address is:

Hermana Lily Pita

California Ventura Mission

3301 W Gonzales Road

Oxnard, CA  93036

This is the direct link to her blog.