A Tornado in Turlock!

At the General Women's Meeting: They put flowers in our hair!

Hello! 

Oh boy, this week was a slow week. BUT it was very eventful! 

Here is an experience I had that changed my life. If you know me well, I have a phobia of tornadoes. I use to watch "Wizard of Oz" everyday when I was little. You can even ask my mom and she will show you all the pictures of me dressed up as Dorothy. ANYWAY, we were on exchanges and we were getting ready to go out and work. But it started to DOWNPOUR. I had never EVER seen it rain so much before in my life. But, we wanted to be diligent and we decided to go out and ride! Me and my companion were knocking doors, a cute little old lady saw us and shouted:
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE?!?! COME IN QUICK!! THERE IS A TORNADO WARNING!!" 

........ OKAY?!?!?!!?!??!? 

CALIFORNIA IS NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE TORNADOES?!?!?!?!? WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!?!? I WAS FREAKING OUT INSIDE AND I JUST WANTED TO CRY!!!!

BUT...  I had my scripture on my missionary plaque at home come to mind that has the scripture from 1 Timothy in the Bible: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind..." And I knew that with God, I can be brave. So we went inside the cute little old lady's house for a little while until the weather cooled down. She wasn't interested, but she did appreciate all the work we were doing and thought we were lunatics for going out in a storm like that. BUT!! We were then on our way to people we had written down to see, and that day we gained 2 new investigators (former investigators) and they were so excited to see us. That just proves that God has a plan for us and that it is according to His timing. And as we follow His spirit, He will lead us to who we need to see and when to see them.  And sometimes we have to go through tornadoes to find them!

 Also from this experience, it made me think of a scripture in the Book of Mormon, Helaman 5:12: 

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God,that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo,because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall:" 

I love this scripture so much!! Satan will bring his storms and try to drag us down. But we can have Christ as our foundation and we can trust in Him. He wants us to be able to come to him for help, safety, and refuge. He loves us so much and He died for all of us. We can apply His atonement daily and have the power through Him to do whatever God wants us to do. I am just so grateful for that.

But yeah, I seriously love this gospel so much. I am grateful to be on a mission and experience all the things I am experiencing! Especially conquering my fears, such as: little chihuahuas chasing me and attacking me, TORNADOES in California, having loved ones pass away who we are teaching, and getting out of my comfort zone. 

I love you all so much and I hope you have a great day!! :D 

Love, Sister Guilott 

We went hiking in what people called "the mountains."  These cute little hills!

Being silly at a District Meeting

We realized that the cardboard we set our bikes on inside our apartment at night resembles many of the homeless people we see every day.  We were sitting down with blankets and realized we look like so many of the people we see each day!  

Creative companion study places as we plan our next day

Sunny Spring Days

Hello World!!

Boy.. Spring has sprung here in California. We were surprised by the weather change... It truly surprised me! I was out on exchanges with the cute Sister Price and it was kind of sunny outside and.... I burnt my neck pretty bad.... HAHAHA OOPS. I guess the warmer weather is really here!

Bike riding casualties on sunny spring days . .  . Ouch!

This week was a week full of searching.  Since we had a baptism last week, we were so focused on that and trying to make things work out... that we forgot we don't have many other investigators... SO!! We had been trying all missionary tools for finding! We have seriously knocked on 100+ doors this week. We had one family show interest! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!! Also, I learned that there are many religions here in Turlock and many churches. It was really cool to hear people's beliefs and how Christ has been able to help them in their lives. Even though we believe differently, we all believe in the same God.

I know that we have the complete knowledge and truth. The Atonement is what has made everything possible for us. It has made the Plan of Salvation come into play, and it has helped us be able to repent and be forgiven of our sins, and we have the hope that we will live together as families forever. That is all through the Atonement and I am so grateful for it. 

I hope you all are having a great week, I pray for you and know that I LOVE MY MISSION! Even though it is super tough, it is SO WORTH IT. I have been able to see a change in my heart and I have been able to feel a closer relationship with my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Sister G

Creative Ways to share the Gospel!

Springing Forward

Wonderful baptism on Sunday!

HELLO !

I hope you all had a great week! I know that I did, but it was sometimes too crazy. But it was great. Here is what happened:

MONDAY: Monday was

"Preparation day." It is always crazy busy, the day we get to do all our errands, go shopping, do our laundry, clean the apartment, and my favorite is I get to email home. That is all the matters to me on that day. I love reading all the emails I get, especially from family. 

TUESDAY:  We got together as the Missionary Leadership Council, which is when all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders get together with the Mission President and you go over things that the missionaries need help with. It is seriously the neatest thing, the spirit is so strong, because you know you are helping the missionaries and the work progress. 

WEDNESDAY: We had a Sister Training Leader Breakfast, when all the Sister Training Leaders all go to the mission home and President and his sweet wife treat us to breakfast. Then we discuss the specific needs of the sisters and how to help them. AGAIN neat spirit, and it helps so much. 

THURSDAY-FRIDAY:  We had a Zone Training, where all the Zone gets together (30 missionaries for us in Turlock) and we discuss how we can improve and become closer to Christ and understand His life and apply His Atonement. Sister Anderson and I did a training on obedience. It was pretty nerve racking, but the spirit was there and it went great. THEN right after we went on exchanges. I went with a SWEET missionary named Sister Beteiti (pronounced Be-dace) and she is from an island off of Fiji. She didn't know how to speak English before coming on her mission, but now she is BETTER than I am. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! She is a spiritual giant, it was on HONOR to be with her. She said something to me that really made an impact.  She said: When "I feel like I was about to die, but I am saved. This mission and my Savior have saved me. I love my mission so much. I will never forget it. I am so glad I went on my mission." 

THAT IS THE ATONEMENT. That is her submitting to the Father's will. I just learn so much from her. Seriously, being a Sister Training Leader feels like the sisters we are with are actually training us. ;)

SATURDAY: We got things ready for Anthony's baptism. 

SUNDAY: We had a baptism. I cried. It was beautiful. The spirit was so strong and I am just so grateful for Anthony and his family. He had been waiting for a long time to be baptized, and it was just perfect timing. I am just so grateful for the ordinance of baptism. We get to be closer and closer to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I am just so grateful. 

It was a crazy week. But so worth it. I hope you all are having a great week. I love you and I know that this gospel is true. This is God's true church back on the earth. I know that Joseph Smith was the prophet to help restore the church and is a prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that Jesus Christ died for all of us, and I am so especially grateful for His Atonement. Because of it, I know that I can be forgiven and that He knows exactly what I am going through with times get rough. And that He can help me. He is my Redeemer, my Savior, my Advocate, and my friend. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love Sister Guilott ;)

March Miracles

HELLO!!! 

This week was a CRAZY week. First off, as a missionary, you know that you will experience super slow weeks. We plan for that to never happen.  Well, this week we had like 5 appointments set up one day... AND THEY ALL CANCELLED ON US.  BUT!! We went on exchanges this week.  And I got to be back with my old companion Ssster Bell! It was super great and the day was INCREDIBLE! We ended up gaining 2 new investigators and we gave out almost all of our pamphlets to people on the street. It was super great. I LOVE HER.

Sister Bell and I working together one day this week!

I also want to share and bear testimony on FASTING. I believe fasting with real intent, having a true desire, and trusting/knowing that God will help you IS REAL. Sister Anderson have been teaching this sweet boy, who wants to be baptized so bad! We have been praying for him and his family that they may have their hearts softened so he can have a baptism date. We fasted specifically for that... We then let God take control of everything.  Sunday came and guess what? We now have a baptism date for Anthony; his baptism is scheduled, and GOD IS A GOD OF MIRACLES. He helped us SO MUCH. 

We were running into so many people we needed to find and talk to, and God was SERIOUSLY placing all the people we needed in our path yesterday. I am so grateful for fasting and the power that comes from it. God is so aware of us, we just need to open up and rely on Him. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Guilott 

We all work together in the same ward!

 Beautiful clouds!

Spring has Sprung in Turlock!

AFTER LInda K. Burton :)

HELLO WORLD!!!!!! 

THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!!! GET READY FOR THIS!!!!!!!! 

SO MUCH HAPPENED... SO I will be doing Bullet Points.

• Went on our first exchanges for this transfer.. AND IT WAS GREAT! We now have the sisters come to our area, and it felt like a party. Then they helped us in our area and SO MANY MIRACLES HAPPENED! It was great and Sister Anderson did great! 
• We got to go to an Almond Orchard... IN BLOOM!! It was a dream come true. The trees were gorgeous. We took many pictures, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I am just so in awe that God created this all FOR US. For us to have beauty all around, to help us find and have JOY. 

The orchards! My allergies afterward... haha I died. SO WORTH IT.

Just like the picture I chose for the backdrop of my blog

!

Cute Sister Hill I went on exchanges with! I LOVE HER.

• We were at dinner one night and the family said that their bunny had bunnies... They brought out 5 little bunnies and WE DIED! We were in bunny heaven!! I wanted to take the little gray one home.... But no pets allowed. Dang it. 

BUNNIES!!! :D I wanted the gray one.... I named it "fluffy" ;)

• OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO BIG NEWS! Sister Linda K. Burton came and spoke to woman in the area, about 1000 sisters came and Sister Anderson and I had the privilege to be ushers. It was amazing to see all these faithful sisters come to be inspired by one of God's chosen servant. All I can say is that I knew when she came in... I didn't have to see her. I felt the Spirit SO STRONG, that I knew she had come in. That was a HUGE testimony to be that she has been called by God. She spoke to us on how to find and have joy. She gave us the acronym of J (remembering Jesus Christ and applying the Atonement DAILY), O (Obedience, Ordinances, and Overcome trial), and Y (yielding our hearts and Will to GOd's). IT WAS INCREDIBLE. She then was leaving and LEFT THROUGH OUR DOOR, and she grabbed mine and Sister Anderson's hand... I felt like I had touched a Celebrity... It was just as amazing (even more amazing) as meeting Chris Evans... haha ;) BUT I JUST AM HONORED. God is SO GOOD. 

Well, I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! 

LOVE,

Sister Guilott

more cute sisters!

haha we were "tagging" elders.