HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Sorry to anyone who may read this letter, but it is specifically for the best mom in the whole entire world.

Hey, I just wanted to write you and congratulate you on completing 25 years of age!! ;D You are really the best mom on earth. If you don´t believe it, just look at your first two kids, both are missionaries serving the Lord and working hard to bring His children unto Him. :) I love you SO much. You have supported me in EVERYTHING I have wanted to do that has been good and even more than support me, you have been my best friend in every single moment.

This week we have been helping a less active family that is going through some tough things. The mom said that the missionaries never gave her a Book of Mormon of her own, so we gave one to her and she has been reading every day!! Which is a miracle because she never got past the 4th grade and doesn't like to read. She even told us that they have been reading in the family too!! It was a small miracle that blew me away and it gave me hope that her kids will be like your kids one day. Your example and love for the gospel and loyalty to the Lord for your whole life have impacted me in ways I am still discovering.

Thanks mom for being my mom and my best friend. I know I don´t say it enough, but I love you :) I know my Savior thanks to you and dad. I stayed active in church thanks to your stubbornness and love and support and willingness to listen to me. I went on a mission because I knew you would support me 100% and even now I can keep serving because I feel safe in the fact that you are rooting and praying for me. I love you mom :) Thanks for everything and being a disciple of Christ for 25 years of life ;D 

Love,

Your Shacka Lacka ;D

A ladybug landed on me!! Here they are called Maraquitas... I think ;D 

Hermana Sarmiento made us lunch... She is SO cute!!

Weaknesses and Work

Dear Family,

So, just a small favor to ask. If everyone could just stop mentioning that I am going to come home soon, that would be great. My companion already tells me everyday that April 19th I will be in my house and she will cry because she will miss me, so if everyone else could just stop mentioning anything and everything to do with me coming home, that would help a lot. Love ya! Thanks :) 

This week we saw miracles!! An evangelical investigator who is SUPER active in his faith came to church instead of his church this Sunday!! It was a miracle! He was a little nervous because he is super humble and from the countryside, so doesn´t have all those people skills. But he said that one of the talks really got to his heart because it talked about how we need to be us and not try to be like other people. He also said that he has been reading the Book of Mormon and felt something in his chest while he was reading. I fell like he is a chosen!! It is awesome! 

Also, one of our less actives came to church out of no where! He had been telling us he would come, but never came. Then out of the blue he just showed up and said he came for Hermana Sarmiento! I was almost bursting of happiness! I love Sundays.

Anyway, I love you all. Look for the miracles and blessings this week and I promise you will be happy. :)

Love, Hermana McCubbins

Trials that make you feel like you are going to die, Keep You Alive

Dear Family,

Today I am going to introduce you to Hermana Sarmiento. She is my new companion from Barranquilla Colombia. When her mom was pregnant with her, she got sick and when Hna. Sarmiento was born, she couldn´t hear, and she could barely see. As a child she couldn´t talk, only sign to communicate with other people. When she got a little older, her parents put her into therapy so she could start recognizing sounds and use a hearing aid to learn how to talk. After about a year she learned. At this point she can talk and hear if you speak loudly, but she talks a little differently. Also with this weakness, she is a little slower at learning, but when she learns or memorizes something, she never forgets it.

She has the faith to move mountains. Her prayers penetrate the heavens. And everytime she bears her testimony to people, they know she is a messenger of God, a representative of Jesus Christ. She is 35 years old, convert of 13 years, the only member in her family of Catholics. She studied and obtained 3 degrees, her specialty being mechanical engineering in electrical systems. She also had to work 3 jobs before the mission to get enough money to go on the mission. She is exactly obedient and loves the Lord more than anyone else.

Last week, as we were waiting for the new missionaries to arrive, President Warne wanted to talk to me privately. There, in the mission house, in President´s office, I was told about my future companion and the things I would have to prepare for to help her adjust to missionary life. Coming out of President´s office, I honestly had no feelings, just numb. And to be honest, every single day this week I have cried and prayed to Heavenly Father to strengthen me and take care of the things I cannot do, because there are a lot. As I have come to know my new companion, she has become my best friend. I can honestly say that she speaks with the power of the Spirit and I know she is a literal angel from God. I feel like she is teaching me more than I could ever teach her in a lifetime. She LOVES EVERYONE that she comes into contact with. I wish you could all meet her because you would never be the same again. When you are with her, you KNOW God exists. This week has been hard, and I know every single week of this last change is going to be hard. But I am grateful for my Heavenly Father who has given me an angel to be my companion, who will change my life and the lives of those that let her into their hearts. I hope you have the chance to meet an angel here on earth. I have the hope that one day, in the Celestial Kingdom, when she is perfect, we can be neighbors in the mansions of our Father because I know she is going there and only by the grace of God will I ever even have a chance to get there. 

I love you all tons. Have an amazing week. Pray everyday, and Feast upon the Scriptures everyday. That is how you can come to know God. He loves you. I love you. Until next week.

Hermana McCubbins

This is my new companion, Hermana Sarmiento. She is ALSO from Colombia,
like my last companion Hna. Garcia. :D

New trainers meeting.

From the Mission Matron's Blog, can you spot her?

The side of Jessica's head as she helps a missionary.

Airplanes and Dads

Dear Family,

Miracle for the week: two less actives we have been teaching came to church this week!! Marcia and Sebastian are super awesome, a little crazy, and at one time they were super active, but their faith got a little weak and they fell away. But they came this Sunday! That was probably the coolest thing that happened this week. We also went to Rancagua for a meeting for the new missionaries and they talked a lot about being consecrated missionaries. I realized that being a consecrated missionary is just acting on our love for the Lord. If we truly have love for Him, then we obey the mission rules, and we serve the way He would serve. It is as simple as that :) 

This morning during companionship study we were talking about a family that has been having problems between the dad and his son (one because the son is 15 and thinks he knows everything... and two because the dad is a convert from the evangelical church so he always talks about the gospel in that way and it bugs the son). We were talking about what we could do to help and it reminded me of a time my dad and I had a fight that was really bad. I don´t remember why we were fighting, nor what happened to make us fight, but I remember that after about an hour of not talking, dad just came into my room and asked me to forgive him. Even just remembering that moment brings tears to my eyes because it showed me that he really loved me, even to the extent of humbling himself and talking to his prideful 18 year old daughter at the time. All I can remember is hugging him and now that I think about it, love is always the answer. LOVE IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER. There is a reason that the Bible says God is love. The invitation for everyone this week is to just love the people you have in your life. No one is perfect, we are all trying to be good people, but we always fall short and mess up. Just love. 

Also this morning, I received my flight plans to end my mission. Man, time flies by super fast. Enjoy every moment you have because time flies by in the blink of an eye. I know that this life is a time to have joy and prepare to meet our Heavenly Father and Savior. So  enjoy it! Love ya guys tons.

Hermana McCubbins

These two Hermanas went out together and will come home together. This was taken near the start of their missions.

My Red Head Lovely Running Man

Dear Family, especially Scooter,

Hey!! Who told you you could turn 16 when your best older sister was out of the country?? I just hope you know that turning 16 doesnt mean you can go out with girls or drive or anything, until I get home ;D Just kidding... You can do that stuff, but I am going to be thinking about how you are still 2 feet tall with chubby cheeks and super ticklish. :D I hope you love life Scooter. Being 16 is awesome! Just live it up and enjoy every moment. Enjoy every tough run and opportunity to laugh and learn from Coachie. I had a dream about you guys running and I was trying to catch up, but then I got tired and layed down, and that was my whole dream :) You were running on the gold course by Coachie`s house. Any who, dont grow too fast, your head is going to start making holes in the ceiling. I love ya dude. If there is one thing I could tell you, it would be read the scriptures everyday and pray to Heavenly Father. A lot of people here think it is something old fashioned, or only their grandmas do it, but it is SO awesome when we have a close relationship with Heavenly Father. He understands us perfectly and will help you in anything you need. Something super awesome that I learned this week was that I can write a question in the margins of my scriptures, wherever I am reading at the time and search for an answer in what I am reading. I am serious when I say, it TOTALLY works. Of course you cant ask questions like, what am I going to eat for breakfast, but you can ask things like, What can I do to be more happy everyday? Or this week I asked, How can I have more courage to leave awkward situations? It is amazing what happens, there are scriptures that just jump out and hit you in the face. Just try it! And read everyday. I promise if you do that everyday and pray also, you will be the happiest person ever. :D 

This week was also cool because we had a training with Elder Bednar and he LITERALLY BLEW MY MIND. I don't know if you guys can see it since it was only for the area South America South, but I learned SO much, especially that we need to pray in faith, which means that we are willing to act on what we pray for. For example, if I am praying for a family member or friend to come to church, I have to go invite them and tell them how amazing church is!! It is that simple. Or, if I am praying to get a good grade on a test or in a class, I have to study a ton and know my stuff! If we pray for something, but dont do anything to get it, we are praying in vain... And that isn't good. 

Also this week, we found a miracle family! It is the family Marín Valenzuela. They have 4 kids and are a couple, not married, who have been together for 20 years. The mom was recieving the missionaries 4 years ago, but the dad would throw away the pamphlets. But this time, when we knocked on their door, the dad came out and actually invited us inside immediately!! It was awesome. You can know that someone is ready when they invite you into their house without knowing you. :D They are going to read about the plan of salvation and we are going to teach them next saturday when the dad gets back from working in Rancagua for the week. 

We also taught another new investigator that is a new teacher of history. He has maybe 25 years and is super animated and loves learning. We taught him the Restoration and he said he believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet. IT WAS AWESOME!! He is super prepared. 

Anyway. I love you all. Have an amazing week. LOVE LIFE. There is so much to learn and explore and enjoy, just give thanks for everyday that Heavenly Father gives you to live and experience what life has. That is why I love that His biggest promise is the Eternal LIFE!! We exist so we can gave joy. Dont forget that :D 

Love and Animo,

Hermana McCubbins

Killed Miracles

Dear Family,

So this week I learned how awesome Heavenly Father is in giving us miracles, and how quickly Satan tries to kill our faith by throwing a curve ball that looks like it is going to kill the miracle. Out of all the miracles we saw this week, I am going to share one, but ask me about the other ones later because they are awesome too.

So, this week we went on divisions and Hna. Garcia directed the sector for the first time!! (One of the miracles was that they didn`t get lost in the 17 poblaciones that we have ;D). And as she was working with Hna. Bingham, they found one of our future investigators that works alot so we haven`t seen him since Hna. Garcia´s first week here. They started talking with him and he had actually been trying not to cry. He has passed through a LOT of hard things in his life, one being that his wife divorced him and took EVERYTHING, including his two kids who he cant see because of some other complications. They shared with him the fact that Christ can help him and took out another time to go see him. But... what cute little Hna. Garcia forgot was that we don`t have his address!!!!! And that day when I came back and we had the cita with him, HE WASN`T ANSWERING HIS PHONE!! Poor Hna. Garcia felt so bad!! But I had the feeling that if we just started contacting and searching, we would find him (that was all the Spirit because I was ready to just leave...). So we went to where we first saw him and started looking. After about a half hour, we were done. I, trying to be a supportive and animated trainer, just turned to Hna. Garcia and said that God can turn messes into miracles. Then I looked behind us, and guess what... HE WAS THERE!!! God had placed in the right place at the exact right time!! It was AMAZING!! We found out where he lives, which was that street, and went to see him yesterday. He is reading the book of mormon and progressing and God works miracles, I know it. 

Believe in miracles, they are real!! I love you guys! Look for a miracle this week!

Hermana McCubbins

Tough Times

Dear Family, 

This week was HAAAARD. You know when you have those weeks where you feel like you are working hard, but things just keep getting worse and worse until you explode?? Well, sometimes that happens in the mission. And it is super hard because in the mission we strive to be exactly obedient, stay focuse 100%, and seek to serve the best we can, and it NEVER feels like it is enough. Hna. Garcia and I had one of those weeks. Every single day our appointments fell and now our 4 investigators that have baptismal dates have DISAPPEARED!!!! It is incredible how much opposition we have. However, this week is a new week! All we gotta do is work hard and the miracles will come. Hermana Garcia is SO amazing. She is a better missionary than I am :) And speaks Spanish a LOT better too. The Spirit is SO strong when I hear her speak. It is SO awesome. I LOVE being her companion. And she has been helping me stay sane this whole week. :) Who is training who?? I have no idea honestly.

This week we did see two little miracles. We found 3 less actives that are SUPER receptive. They aren´t willing to come back to church just yet, but at least they are willing to let us come and teach them! It is so sad because 2 of them who are 20 year old boys, who should be on the mission helping families become eternal!! But because of some things that happened in the branch, they both fell inactive. But we are going to help them!! Homework for the week: If you find a son of God falling a little inactive, or not too excited about the gospel, BE HIS FRIEND!! We need men of God who can build up the kingdom of God! There is a hymn that talks about that, but I can´t remember what it is called in English. Satan does not want worthy priestholders passing the sacrament, nor serving missions, nor blessing their wives and daughters in the home. Strength a future dad, PLEASE!! :) 

I love you guys SO much! Keep the faith strong! 

Hermana McCubbins