His Arm is Extended to All

(A/N: Hello there! Alejandra here with another weekly update from Hermana Ramos-Escobar! Enjoy!)

This week was great! We had zone conference and it was amazing! It was pretty much a recap of what Brother Donaldson had taught us in our Leadership Training! Not much happened this week...it was a really slow week for us, but we were able to set up for this next week, so hopefully this week will be better!

Let me share a scripture that comforted me this week.

 

In my Book of Mormon reading, I am in Alma 19. This is after Ammon teaches King Lamoni, and in this chapter, King lamoni saw our Redeemer and was really touched by the spirit that he fell to the ground. Later, the queen fell also, as did Ammon. But I really loved the last verse of Chapter 19.

 

"And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name."  

His arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name...
 

"But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." -2 Nephi 1:15

 

Our Savior loves us. He loves us soo much. All He wants us to do is repent and believe in Him. All He asks for is for us to keep His commandments and believe in Him. This past week I have felt so much comfort from my Savior. I know that if it weren't for Him, I wouldn't be able to go through my mission. I wouldn't be able to go through life if I didn't have Him. If I didn't have someone to atone for my sins and really know what I am feeling, I wouldn't be able to do it.

 

I serve because I love Jesus Christ. I am doing all I possibly can because I love Him!

Love,

Hermana Ramos-Escobar

This Week Was Amazing!‏

(A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for dropping the ball recently...it's been a pretty rough week for myself...but luckily, Hermana Ramos-Escobar is doing amazing on her mission! :D Thank you for all the prayers on her behalf! We greatly appreciate it!)

This week has been really good! 

We went on exchanges this week and it was so good! I don't think I have ever felt so useful as a convert! :) We went to visit this family who's 8 year old daughter had just gotten baptized, the parents aren't members but the grandparents are. The little girl's dad started by asking me where I was from. I said, "Utah," and then he asked me, "Have you been a member your whole life?" To which I replied, "No I haven't, I got baptized almost 5 years ago." He was completely shocked to hear that I hadn't been a member my whole life. He started asking me all sorts of questions of why I joined the church. It was such a great experience, all the missionaries that had been in that area before had all been from Utah and had all been raised in the church. So when I went over, he was able to ask me a lot of questions he couldn't ask any of the other missionaries. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to share my thoughts and feelings and most of all my testimony with Him! I know that Heavenly Father knew exactly who we needed to visit and why I needed to be in their area! 

On Friday, we had the privilege to listen to Brother Donaldson from The District 2! He was the Mission President in San Diego when they filmed The District. A lot of you probably don't know what The District is...It might just be missionaries and returned missionaries that know what it is, but it's basically videos we watch of other missionaries so that we can improve in our teachings. I guess you can say. But anyways, it was AMAZING being able to receive training from him! There were a lot of things that Sister Campos and I decided that we are going to work on in order to help hasten the work! I'm really thankful that he came.

 I don't know if anyone has heard, but my mission is getting split in half. Three of the Zones up north are going to be taken, and three zones from the Sacramento Mission will be taken, and there will be a new "Modesto Mission." As of right now we don't know who will be going to the Modesto Mission, so it may just happen that I get sent there :) The mission will start some time in July. Because of our mission splitting, we will have about 70 less missionaries than we do right now. Last year in 2014 we baptized 1,000 people in our mission. This year we want to baptize 1,000 converts again! It will be harder because we have less missionaries, but we know it's possible.

I know the Lord is hastening His work and we are doing all we can to keep up with Him. I love this work! I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ! I love my mission and I wouldn't change it for the world!

The church is so true!!

Love,

Hermana Ramos-Escobar

Such A Great Week! :)‏

(A/N: Hello there everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day! Here is Hermana Ramos-Escobar's email of the week! Enjoy!)

This week was such a great week!!

On Wednesday we had our zone meeting and it went really well! I was able to give my training which was a relief!! I was asked to talk about "developing a sense of urgency," which was a very random topic for me, but after thinking about it, it all makes sense. I talked about how we really need to know our purpose as a missionary and that we have to love the people that we serve. Basically my training was "testimony+charity= drive." When you have a strong testimony of the Church, when you know with all your heart that the principles that the church teaches are true, you will want to share that with other people. And if you really have charity, the pure love of Christ, you will want that for other people, and that will give you your drive as a missionary. This doesn't necessarily only apply to missionaries, but members as well. After giving my training, I just had the best feeling the whole day. I was so happy for the rest of the day. I am thankful that Heavenly Father let me give that training. I learned so much from it.

Heavenly Father has really helped us out this week! We got 5 new investigators. Norma and Yahaira, a mom and daughter, have investigated the church before. They are really good friends with one of the families in the ward. We went to teach them and it was so good!! The spirit was really strong, the members shared their testimony, they were asking questions and really want to learn more! Yahaira just turned 12 and is wanting to go to girls camp this summer! I'm super excited to keep teaching them! :) They both want to get baptized!

The biggest difference we have seen between this week and the past weeks that we have had is that the members are really helping us. All of our new investigators were member referrals. They are friends or family of members! There is such a great difference when the members get involved! I love working with the members because honestly, as missionaries sometimes we look crazy and weird. But once the members share their testimony, they know that they are normal people, they know that they live a normal life but yet they are so much happier!

 

I just really love the gospel. The power of one testimony is so great! I'm really happy to be here on my mission, to be a missionary, to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's work. There is really nothing I rather be doing! I love feeling the spirit at all times! The spirit has brought so much happiness to my life and I just want everyone to have that happiness. I know that Church is true. There's no doubt in my mind! I love being here in Fresno California!!

Love,

Hermana Ramos-Escobar

 

This was on New Years!! Haha! I was tired...I think...

Funny little animal we always see. Finally decided to take a picture with it!!
(My eyes look closed, but they're not!)

Los Empapelados!! Mmm, it was soo good!! :)

Playing with Emma! We're her best friends!! :D

 

2015 Ahoy!!‏

(A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Alejandra here with Hermana Ramos-Escobar's first email update of the year. Enjoy!)

This week was good!! :)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!! Sister Campos and I stayed up until 12 Utah time and hugged and ate our grapes and then knocked out completely!!

 

Transfers happened. Sister Campos and I stayed together and almost all of the missionaries in the ward we serve in stayed together, except for one. Elder Robertson is gone and now we have Elder Olsen! He just barely came from the MTC. The spirit really works in mysterious ways. The first time we saw him all the missionaries here in Echo United (we call ourselves Echo United because we are super united :P) felt and knew that he was going to be here with us in Echo. After President assigned him, he was here in Echo United! :D I love being so close to the Spirit as a missionary. Heavenly Father is so very aware of us and know exactly what we need to do. There are times when Sister Campos and I will be planning or teaching, and she will take the words out of my mouth. I know that if we are living righteously, and worthy of it, the Spirit will tell us EXACTLY what we need to do. I have never had so many conversations with my Heavenly Father and I know that He is there listening to me.

I have the opportunity to give a training this week at zone meeting and I'm really excited! I will be talking about "developing a sense of urgency." ...The zone leaders just gave me that sentence and told me to do what I want with it. After much prayer and meditation, I feel that Heavenly Father told me what the zone needs! I'll let you all know how it turns out next week!

Can I just say that I absolutely love my mission! There is absolutely nothing that I would rather be doing. Yes, it's hard when you're absolutely tired and all you want to do is fall asleep on the member's couches, but I absolutely love being a missionary and letting Heavenly Father mold me to whatever He needs me to be! I know that I have made the best decision in my life. I know that this is exactly what I need to be doing!  Even though it's been really rough teaching investigators, I know that I am here for a reason. 

I love being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  I have never been happier! :)

Have a good week!

Love,

Hermana Ramos-Escobar