I Love the Book of Mormon!! April, 30 2013

Hello family!! how are you all? so great to hear from you! Had a great week here! learning so much its crazy but i am so thankful. So glad to hear that all is well at home i pray for you all everyday. Tell Wilsynn congrats and give her a big hug for me! Okay so we have an investigator and her name is Ana i think i told you about her last week. She is really postivie and always has a lot of questions so it really good. i love the lessons with her. but her family is all really catholic and she doesnt want to go against them so she is hesitant but i can tell that she know its true. Also we have been praying for miracles because we dont have very many investigators that come to church ever.. but this last week we had 3! 2 sisters and Jorge. We had only taught Jorge once and then called him sunday morning to invite him to church and then he walked in right before the sacrament! definitly a miracle. we were so thankful and then we taught him last night and he said he really liked church. We taught about the restoration and then about the word of wisdom and he said he would stop drinking coffee and didnt even ask any questions! i am really excited about him and i really hope that he continues progessing. Also we gave these two sisters Gladis and Sara they both really like everytime we come to teach and when we started teaching about the Book of Mormon sara was like oh i think i have one of those books in my room and she went and grabbed a book of mormon out of her room haha she said it was from her dad. so pilas. But not the problem with Gladis is she lives with her quote esposo but really they arent married so we will be working on that the next few lessons. So yeah we teach lots of lessons all day and walk like 10 miles haha proabably not really but  it feels like that and for our mission we have to contact at least 20 poeple everyday so we are always talking with poeple asking them if we can teach them!

so this week i realized again just how amazing the restoration of the gosel it. sorry i dont want to sound like a weird missionary but the restoation is so amazing and so perfect. I am growing to love the book of mormon more and more. I really learn something every morning when we study. It is so amazing and i cant wait to read the Book of Mormon so many times. Elder Bednar said to get a copy of just a blue book of mormon and right a questyion at the front and then find answers to that question all in the Book of Mormon and he said do it over and over and then you will have a library of books of mormon with all these different questions full of answers. haha i cant wait to do it!

I am learning how evey day we have to rely on the Lord. we cant to anything on our own and the Lord wants us the just turn our lives over to him and trust Him and he will take care of us. So thats what i am trying to do. I already feel a difference and the hand of the Lord everyday. 

This is difinitly a challenge but i am learning so much. I am thanklful for this oppertunity. I am so thankful for my loving family. Dad i am so thankful that you are always a worthy preiesthood holder for our family. I see all these families and everytime they need a blessing they have to call the branch president who lives like 20 minutes away and it just makes me thankful to have grown up with a dad like you. Family i love you all and you are all amazing. So happy to hear about Ryan and Shelbys talks. Sounds like they were so great! Thank you all for your support. The gospel is amazing!

love you all!!!

love hermana Skousen

Hello Family!! April 23rd 2013

Hello!! How are you all? Its so great to read all your emails thank you! Sorry my subject titles are never very creative haha. So glad you made it back safe and had a good time in Hawaii! so fun. congrats again Brooke! This week was good i am starting to get into the swing of things and getting used to the schedule. So my companion and i are both new in the area so its kind of like we are starting from scratch but we do have some investigators who are starting to make some progess. We have taught a girl Ana twice and then for the 3rd lesson her husband was there too so that was a plus. We read Alma 40 and talked about the spirit world and then got into talking about the temple. They had a lot of really good questions and the spirit was so strong when we were talking about families. When i bore my testimony on eternal families i really felt the spirit and was just so thankful that we get to be together forever. I have been missing you guys so much but then i remembered that we get to be together forever and i need to bring the gospel to these families so they can be together forever too. So yeah the spirit was so strong and we are going back tomorrow so i really hope they did the reading and are ready to learn more. 

Okay so i am growing to love the Book of Mormon more and more everyday. I learn so much that i didnt even know was in there. I was reading 2 nephi 28 to 30 and it just makes so much sense why we have the Book of Mormon and how and why we should study it and everything. And also that i am teaching the people of Lehi makes it that much cooler. But yeah every page of the Book of Mormon just has so many cool things and i love it! 

My goal for this week is to not have a narrow focus and really enjoy every moment here. On sunday a counslor in the stake presidency came to our branch and he told us that they are going to assign 2 really strong families to come to our branch to help us out because we need some good leaders and teachers.So that is really exciting!

Okay yesterday we went to Antigua for pday and saw so many cool things and had lunch at this really good crepe place! you all need to save up so you can come here at the end of my mission because i cant wait to show you all these cool `places! Sorry my thought are kind of scattered but also we watched the Joseph Smith movie and the quote at the end of it is should we not go on un such great a cause. That just really hit me and made me think how this work is such a miracle and all these people need to know abnout the truth. So even when days are long and i have bug bites all over my body and i am so tired haha i try to keep that in mind that this mission cant be about me and that i need to bring this message to these poeple.

Okay also i read this talk and it is called the 4th missionary. You all should read it. It is pretty long but its worth it and i think it can apply to everyone in life not just missionaries! And could you maybe print it off and send it to me? sorry i hate to ask for things. 

But yes things are great here. I am glad to hear that everyone is happy and healthy. I cant believe the semester is already over haha time is going by fast! i love you all so much and think and pray about you often. Keep reading and studying the Book of Mormon! My testimony is growing everyday and i feel the help of the Lord. I love you all!!

Love Hermana Skousen

I am catching up on Sister Skousens blog. This post is from April 16 when she had been in her first area for a short time.

Hello everyone! thank you so much for all the pictures! you guys are doing so many fun things! Brooke ahhh congrats. So proud of you. the pic are beautiful you all look great. Rach loved the bunnie ears and the AZ poster. So awesome! Ryano HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! hope it was great! I wish i had more time to really look at all the pictures because they are awesome! i want to see a pic of mom and dad surfing haha. 

Okay lets see this week we had our first zone conference. It was really great President and Sister Brough are really good teachers. and i am starting to understand almost everything so that helps too haha. One thing that president Brough did was had us read Moroni 10 and 2 nephi 33 and then asked us what are we going to be able to tell Nephi and Moroni at the judgment bar that we did with the Book of Mormon. I have been thinking about that so much every since he said that. I have made it a goal to really learn something from the Book of Mormon everyday and then also when i am teaching, share the Book of Mormon and tesifiy of its truth. Its amazing how the Book of Mormon is evidence of everything we believe. I think growing up in the church i never really studied the basic basic doctrine and every time we teach the first lesson it is just amazing how much sense everything makes and how perfect the gospel is. Eveything about the restoration and jose smith and the Book of Mormon just makes so much sense. So the tricky thing is to get the poeple to understand how obviously true it is haha.

We did have a few let downs this week. We had been teaching 2 poeple Omar and Carlos and at the 3rd visit they both told us that they didnt want to learn more about the church and they were satisfied with how their lives were right then. It is hard when poeple say no because we know how important it is for these people. But we did what we can and planted the seed so hopefully they get interested later.

We taught a girl named Gabby how we found on the street. She is the sweetest lady every and i cant really tell if she understands all my spanish or if she is just being nice. But in our last lesson with her she told us that she thinks we are an answer to her prayer. and i think she is absolutly right. It is just amazing how stong the spirit is when we tesifty of truth and share experinces and scriptures and everything. 

Okay so mom you asked about food and laundry. We eat breakfast at the house and then eat lunch with MariaElena a lady in the ward. She makes good food so it has been great. and then when we get home at 9 we just have a little snack and then go to bed because i am so tired every night i feel like i am going to die haha. And then there is a lady who lives right by us and she does our laundry every monday. 

Okay so sunday was an eye opener. We went to church with our little branch with only about 40 people. It was so weird. i led the music and sister turley played the piano and sister turley taught the gospel principals class. It made me so thankful and realized how blessed i am to have grown up in a huge ward with leaders who fulfill their callings and a huge young womens and everything. man it made us even motivated to baptize and try and get the rama a little bigger.

I think about you guys everyday and i miss you guys a lot but i am starting to get into a groove so its getting a little easier. Again the pictures were great and you all look fabulous. Everyday i am so thankful for my amazing family and for being raised in the gospel. Thank you mom and dad for everything you do for me. I love you so much. and i love Ryan Shelby Brooke Meagan and Rachel all so much too. I pray for you guys everyday. The gospel is true and i am so thankful that we are blessed to have it in our lives.

Love you all have a good week!

Hermana Skousen

Mackenzie has arrived in her FIRST area!!!!

Family!!!! Hello! You don’t know how much I missed to opportunity to email you all last week. It got pretty rough because i missed you all so much but its okay because we made it to today! I’m here! Can you believe it? It’s so awesome. Ok so the assistants and President Brough and his wife picked us up from the CCM. I loved my CCM experience so so much. I miss Hermana Garrido and my district. But now i am in the field and this is what I came here for! We spent the morning with the Broughs in their house and then went out and started teaching. President Brough is so awesome. I had an interview with him and the spirit was so strong in his office. He asked me if I was going to be an obedient missionary and find people to baptize and of course I said yes. He is pretty stern like you don’t want to mess with him. I think we have one of the most obedient missions because no one wants to get in trouble. But that is a really good thing and I am happy about that. He is very nice also and a great teacher. We have had a few training meetings with him and he is a really good teacher. His wife is so so nice. I am so happy to have them as mission presidents, they are amazing. Ok, so guess where I am? I am in San Pedro, which is 20 minutes from Antigua so we have been in Antigua a lot. Like right now we are for the Internet. Yesterday we came for P day and ate at a really good restaurant and got groceries. I am lucky to be here because there is so much American food in the grocery store so breakfast and night snacks are just normal food that I would buy at home. It is so beautiful here. Everywhere we walk is cobblestone so it is really good that we bought these Clark shoes because I wear them every day. They are going to be so beat up in a few months but they are great! My trainer is amazing! Her name is Hermana Garcia and she is from Ecuador. She is so loving and patient and encouraging. She helps me with Spanish and is just so nice. She also is hard working. We have set the goal to baptize 8 people this exchange so we are going to be working so hard! This last week together we contacted 255 people. Contacting is easier than I thought and so fun because you are just telling people all about the truth! I have contacted 3 buses which mean I stand at the front and tell everyone who we are and tell them we are going to walk past and write down there address. It is so thrilling, and a lot of people are accepting and give us their names and numbers. The first few days it was a problem because i couldn’t understand them when they were saying addresses and phone numbers but now I think I got it down haha. We only have a branch in our area but we haven’t gotten to meet them yet because we had conference last week and then stake conference this weekend. But there are 4 sisters in this one area with a branch so we have talked a lot about how the Lord has put 4 of us for a reason and he wants this area to have a ward. So we are going to work as hard as we can to activate members and baptize so that we can have a ward. We live in a nice house by the house where we meet for church. It’s me, hermana Garcia, Hermana Blandino and Hermana Turley. Hermana Turley is from Utah and she is Meagan’s age. I have shown her pictures of Meagan and she thinks she knows you. She lived in Arlington and is friends with some of the same people as you. Anyways I am so thankful that I am with her as well because she speaks English and she is so nice and encouraging and loving and yeah it is so nice to have her. 

Conference was the best! Hermana Turley and I went to Chimal on Saturday to watch it in English and then we went to Antigua on Sunday and the bishop let us watch it on the computer in English. i loved elder Holland’s talk on faith. I felt like he was talking to me. And mom I was almost crying too every time they talked about the army of missionaries and how it is such a miracle. I feel like all the brethren just have such an eternal perspective and they want so badly everyone to just obey and do what’s right. It is so great to hear their messages. The gospel is great!

So hermana Garcia and I have found a lot of people to teach, and it is amazing how the spirit helps me speak Spanish in the lessons. It is so the spirit that helps me teach and bear my testimony and I am just so thankful. I have been able to tell the Joseph Smith story about 5 times now and recite the first vision. Hermana Garcia takes over most of the lesson but starting this week I am going to start teaching more. She is the best. She teaches with such love and she always tells me that I am doing good haha. We are teaching Juana Isabel and Maria Elena and the other day I got to say the baptismal invitation and they said yes but they have to talk to there dad. It is so cool just sharing the truth. While I am talking I just feel how much Heavenly Father loves them and wants them to accept the message. I have never prayed so much for people in my life. We are always thinking about these people and just praying they will receive answers when they pray. 

Meagan i hope you had an amazing birthday and I hope my letter arrived. Brooke happy graduation! You are the best! So awesome that you guys got to go to conference! And I love that Ashlyn came to dinner with you guys. That’s the best haha. So fun that you had all the family over and a good Easter. Easter was good in the CCM we got an Easter egg with candy so that was a bonus! 

I have been thinking about you guys a lot and i hope you all know how much I love you. You guys are the best. I am so thankful for my family. Thank you for the emails! Mom I found my contact solution here so we don’t have to worry about that anymore. And also for a district activity we are supposed to ask if there is a specific commandment you guys have been living and you have seen the blessing that you want to share. The example they gave was tithing.

Anyways I am doing well! Every night I am exhausted but i think that’s how it is supposed to be. I love you all so so much! You are all the best! I pray for your safety everyday. I can’t wait to talk on mother’s day. The church is true. I am so thankful to be preaching the gospel. Love you all!!

Love Hermana Skousen

Last P Day in the CCM!!

Hello family! so great to hear all the new updates! So fun that you
guys are heading up to Provo for conference and then to Hawaii! I cant
believe Brooke you are graduating in like 2 weeks! that is so awesome.
so proud of you! Im glad to hear Allys talk went well. i love that
girl and cant wait to hear from her in the MTC. My shoes are great and
i think they will all work out great when i am in the field. We get to
go to the temple every P day so we just got back and it was great. i
love the Guatemala temple. And I keep hearing amazing things about my
mission president so i am getting super excited to meet him next week!
i cant believe i am leaving the CCM in 6 days. I love this place and
my district and my teachers so it not going to be too fun to day bye
to everyone again but there are great adventures ahead!
Lets see this week.. did you guys hear there was an earthquake here??
We were out at deportes at about 4 and we heard this loud booming and
we thought it was thunder but aparently it was an earthquake haha. The
CCM is like one of the stongest buildings in the city though so no one
really felt it but still thats kind of cool. Also we got to go
tracting around the temple! so i wrote my testimony in a Book of
Mormon and we went looking for someone. We found the garnder and he
wasnt a member so we started talking to him. Hermana Koehler shared
her favorite scripture and i tesified of the Book of Mormon. I asked
him if he would read it and we had solid eye contact for about 15
seconds and he didnt say anything so then i asked him to read Alma 32
and he said he would read it! then i got to tesify again and promise
him blessings if he would pray to know that Book was true. I was able
to understand him for the most part so that was exciting. and then he
wrote his name and number in the planner! We were so excited!
One day this weeks we had coaching study with Hermana Garrido and she
gave us some great insight on being a missionary and on how we can
improve. Then in the closing prayer she asked Heavenly Father to help
us have faith in miracles. I just loved that line so much. We have to
have faith in everything we do and i am so thankful that Heavenly
Father knows all of His children by name and is ready to help us if we
ask in faith.
Guess what! last night for the devotional Elder Duncan came! (Kellys
dad) I was eating dinner and Hermana Nicolaysen came and got me and
brought me out into the hall and him and his wife and kellys sisters
were there. I got to talk to them for a little and it was so great. I
had never met them before obviously but it is still so nice to see a
familiar face from home! and the devotional was so great! he talked
about how God has a great vision of His work moving forward so we have
to have that same vision in every area. and also while i was talking
to him he said Did you know you have one of the best mission
presidents in central america? that made me so excited to meet him!
Tell the Bawdens i love them and also i am excited for Brother
Higginson! so awesome. Tell the ward and all our friends hi! i am so
happy you all are doing well. I am so happy to be here. i think this
is the best decision i have ever made but i miss you guys so much. I
am learning more about the scriptures and the Atonement and my
testimony strengthens everyday of Gods love for all His children. This
is such a great work. I feel so blessed to be born into a family with
parents sealed in the temple. Thank you for your emails i love you all
so much!
If you havent already sent to package could you print of Elder
Hollands talk The Miracle of Serving a Mission and put it in there!
also pictures of what you guys have been up to! and i think thats all
im so sorry packages are so expensive.. hopefully i wont need
anything. and my contact solution should last for 2 months or so so
dont worry about that. and can you make sure everything with my back
account is good? I love you all! and almost Happy Birthday to Meagan!
love you all so much and pray for you all!
Hermana Skousen