Hey y'all!

We got to go to the temple 4 times this week, which was just crazy, but it was amazing to go again after it's been closed.

On Wednesday we went with Angel so that he could do Baptisms for the Dead for the first time! We ended up being there for a seriously long time, but he loved it and said that it was the best day of his life. My favorite thing about the mission is getting to go to the temple with recent converts because they always love it and they always feel peace!!

Then on Saturday we got to do Baptisms for the Dead with Noelia in the morning! She got baptized for her grandmas and an aunt, and when we left she couldn't stop crying because of how much she loved it. She said that she was praying for her ancestors while she was in the temple, and she just felt so much peace.

In the afternoon, we got to go BACK to the temple (RIP our miles) for a family sealing of someone in the ward. They are the cutest family ever, and it was one of the most spiritual moments of my mission. The parents were sealed first, which was just beautiful, and we were all teary, but then they brought in the kids, and we all lost it. They have 3 kids, and 2 of them are adorable but are crazy. They're always screaming or crying or running around, but during the whole sealing, they just sat there completely still and quiet and everyone could feel the Spirit so strongly. It was incredible.

And then today we get to go do an endowment session which I haven't done in over a year! The temple is the best place ever and getting to go so many times this transfer is the perfect way to end my mission. Seeing people participating in these ordinances and preparing to make more covenants just makes me so excited for them because it's the way that we get closer to and stay close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! There's a quote by President Eyring that I love that says, "God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy." And it's not only when we first make that covenant, but every time we honor it and remember it.

Love y'all and have the best week!

🤍 Hna. Pursglove

Helloooo!!

This week was fun though I think I might be going crazy.

On Tuesday we picked up our new companion, Sister Ackley!! She is THE CUTEST EVER and is so enthusiastic about the work and is an answer to prayers.

This week was just full of studies and meetings, so I think we did actual work for maybe 5 hours which, to be honest, is driving me insane. I'm going to lose my mind if we have to stay in this apartment for 1 more hour so pray hard for my sanity.

TEMPLE UPDATES:

♥ Angel is going to the temple tomorrow! He was baptized about a month ago and has been counting down until the temple opens so that he could go. The temple opens today, so you can see how excited he's been.

♥︎ Noelia is going to the temple on Saturday! We asked her if she wanted to go on the 15th and she told us that she didn't know why we were waiting so long, so now we're going on Saturday.

♥ Julio, Delfina and Oscar are all going to the temple on November 15th!! I am SO EXCITED. I have 0 doubt that it will be one of the best days of my mission.

The scripture I wanted to share this week is in 1 John 5:13 and says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." I've honestly just gained the biggest testimony of the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, on my mission.

In one of my first zone conferences, President Nielsen talked about the power that comes from the Book of Mormon and how it blesses us in every aspect of our lives when we read from it daily. I saw it bless other people's lives, and I knew it was blessing mine, but about 6 months ago I had a very clear realization of just how much it's changed me. It has helped me change habits, it's brought me more peace and joy than any other book ever could, and above all, it's brought me closer to Jesus Christ. It truly does testify of Him on every page, and it's the way to truly get closer to Christ and to our Heavenly Father.

I just want to invite y'all to really make a habit of reading it every day because I've seen the difference it makes. It's completely changed my life, and I've seen it bless every single person that has taken us up on that invitation.

Love y'all and pray that all the temple trips happen!! (And that we somehow leave our apartment for more than 2 hours this week.)

💙 Hna. Pursglove

This week was amazing and was genuinely a miracle week leading up to my last transfer!!😱 Transfer news: I'm staying in my baby area (YAYYYY) and I'm going to be in a trio with Sister Kamp (?!) and training one last time!!

I'm pretty much just going to write about our conference with President Christofferson and Sister Yee because nothing else compared to that this week.

On Saturday we had a mission-wide meeting with President Christofferson, Sister Yee, Elder Alonso, and Elder Ortega. All of them were amazing of course but I'm going to focus on Sister Yee's and President Christofferson's remarks.

Sister Yee's main point was trusting in the Lord. She talked about how some people believe that when we learn more about Jesus Christ, it becomes easier to trust Him. However, she talked about how it's important to trust in Him, because that's when we really discover who and how He is. Something she said that stuck out was that, “We should always want to be in the harder place with the Lord by our side, than in the easier place alone."

Now onto President Christofferson!! First of all, it was genuinely just such a cool experience to be in a meeting with an apostle of the Lord. The second he walked into the room, you knew that he had been called of God and felt the Spirit so strongly. His main message was focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and he spent a lot of time doing a deep dive into 2 Nephi 2:13. He talked about how the only way to go from misery to happiness is through the Atonement and through following the doctrine of Christ.

That meeting was awesome, but we had an even cooler experience that night. On Saturday night, Elder Ortega and Elder Alonso had a devotional for all Hispanic adults in the West Mission, and there were like maybe 150 people. Literally no one came, which shocked me. Elder Alonso was giving his talk and then he starts getting a little fidgety, starts looking to the doorway a lot, and seems like he's trying to end his talk. He then goes, "And now, I'd like to introduce President Christofferson, who we have the pleasure of being visited by right now." The gasps were crazy. President Christofferson then got up and spoke in Spanish for 10 minutes about how aware God is of all of us and how much He loves everyone in the room. The Spirit was so strong, and you could genuinely feel the love that he had for everyone in the room. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission, and it was just so awesome that after his super long day of meetings, when he could have just gone to bed, he came to this meeting that he wasn't scheduled for, and took the time to connect with the people. It was AWESOME!

And that's literally it for the week, sorry for the lengthiness but I had to share. 🤷‍♀️ Hope y'all have a good week!! Pray this transfer goes well and we end strong. 🙏

💜 Hna. Pursglove

Hey everybody!!

This week was one of the craziest of my mission with lots of highs and like one low, but it was a big hit so here's what's new!!

HIGHLIGHTS✨️

☆ Melissa got baptized!!🥳 It was a rollercoaster in itself because on Wednesday she told us that she wanted to push her baptism back a week, so we did. Then in our lesson on Friday, she told us that she no longer wanted to push it and instead wanted to be baptized in 20 hours lol. So, she ended up getting baptized on Saturday to our surprise!!! It was awesome and she was super happy with it.

☆ Delfina and Oscar also got baptized!!🥲 We found them when I was in this area a year ago (they're Julio's cousins) and they have been taught since then. They finally got baptized this weekend and Delfina was just sobbing while they bore their testimonies which was so cute.

☆ Juana, who has been mentioned in my emails pretty much throughout my whole entire mission because she's been in essentially every area of mine, IS BACK IN MY AREA. We found her and she was baptized in this area a year ago, and now she's preparing to receive her endowment!!🙌 This is the craziest moment of my whole entire mission: to see her go from being baptized to now receiving her endowment is the biggest miracle ever.

☆ We set a date to go to the temple with Julio on November 15th!! He's going to do Baptisms for the Dead for the 1st time, and it's super cool because it's exactly one year after his baptism so we're praying with our whole heart and soul that everything works out. 🤞

LOWLIGHTS👎

☆ This was genuinely some of the worst news of my whole entire mission and I cried for about 30 minutes (it's not anything bad, I'm just dramatic). Moises Rivas, who is the greatest ward mission leader ever, best example, nicest and funniest and most caring and pretty much most perfect person ever, is moving to Colombia to be with his family. It’s a long story but his family was supposed to come and be with him, but things happened here, and they could no longer come into the country. 😭 Obviously very happy he will be with his family, but it is like the saddest thing ever and he was crying and we were crying, and Las Vegas is literally losing their strongest member, if not the whole United States. Prayers for him and his family. 🙏

☆ The APs told us there's a 90% chance Sister Arce gets switched to Portuguese this transfer so our odds of staying together aren't looking too good. 😬 Transfer news is going to go crazy so let's hope it's good.

Besides those two things, this week was incredible and full of so many miracles!! The scripture for this week is Alma 26:31 which says, "Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many..." Being back in an area is so fun because I get to see the fruits of my labors! I get to see Delfina and Oscar be baptized a year later, Julio go to the temple for the first time, Juana receive her endowment, and so many other things! We get to see how ward members have progressed, some who weren't active are now our most reliable members, everything just keeps moving forward and it's so fun to be back here and see it all!!

Love y'all and hope you have the best week ever!

💙 Hna. Pursglove

Hola everyone!!

This week was crazy busy but tons of good things!!

Some highlights!!:

★ Had interviews with President and Sister Coleman this week! We chatted about Julio and got some solid advice so we're going to keep helping him and hopefully go to the temple the first weekend of November! 🫣

★ General Conference was of course amazing! We watched it with the ward on Sunday and then with some members on Saturday except for when the connection kept cutting out so we ended up missing a bit of Saturday morning which was tragic. 🥲

★ Had exchanges with Sister Mametieff which was super fun! I went to her area, which happens to be inside our area, so we pretty much just worked in both areas all day, found some English and Spanish people, so it was very productive!

A major highlight of the week was zone conference on Wednesday!! It was way different than any other, but it was super good and one of my favorites. Every zone conference I've ever been a part of has mostly consisted of trainings and it's pretty chill and calm, but this one was pretty much the complete opposite. They had us rotate through these tables that were just discussions on life advice, and then we drove up to Red Rock Canyon and split into different hikes. We had an hour to take time to split off and read our patriarchal blessings and identify the gifts we've been given, and it was honestly amazing. I'd encourage everyone to do the same and take the time to study your blessing, and if you don't have one yet, start preparing to get it!

One of my favorite talks from conference was President Oaks' all about The Family Proclamation. He said this one line that really resonated with me, which was "...parents remember, what those children really want for dinner is time with you." This is something my parents prioritized and it's something that I've become especially grateful for on my mission. You see all kinds of families and meet all kinds of people, and it's always a little bit sad when we have dinner with members and everyone's on their phones, the kids are eating in their rooms, the TV's on, etc. I have a super strong testimony of the importance of families and on making them a focus in our lives, and I've become more and more grateful for my family as I've been away from them and see how much of a blessing they are to me.

Make sure to keep studying the conference talks once they're published, they provide so much guidance and direction for our lives. Love y'all!!

💚 Hna. Pursglove