El Monte

Hello everyone!

This week was literally a whirlwind... here are some highlights.

Tuesday: exchanges with Sister Packer! She is amazing.

Thursday: the whole mission got Facebook, exchanges with Sister
Arriagada LOVE HER

Friday: helped someone move, had interviews with President, Ramiro
PASSED his baptismal interview literally at the last possible second

Saturday: RAMIRO GOT BAPTIZED and I got really sick and spent the
afternoon/evening in bed

Sunday: Ramiro got confirmed and Ivan Antonio got baptized, we spent
the evening feeding the homeless at a Catholic Church in Covina.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Every second is full of serving the Lord's
children and it could not be more worth it. I love each of you; go
light the world!!

Hermana Hirschi

OH also I am not affected in any way by the fires :)

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El Monte

Hellooooo everyone!

Sorry it's been a while since I've really emailed. The last few weeks have been so busy. 

I LOVE THE HOLIDAY SEASON. Everyone is full of the Christmas spirit (which is really Christ's spirit) and it is just so wonderful to see all the lights on houses and to see the light in people's faces. I love the #lighttheworld initiative on Mormon.org. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out. 

These past few weeks we have seen so many miracles. Lots of our friends who we are teaching are coming to church, reading in the Book of Mormon and deciding that they want to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. It is incredible to see how God is at work in their lives, helping them come closer to Him. This weekend, Ramiro and Ivan will both be baptized! Ramiro is the father of a recent convert, and we taught him back in September. He left for Mexico for a couple months and came back just a few weeks ago. While he was in Mexico, he read in the Book of Mormon every day and found out for himself that it was true. It has been amazing to see the changes he has made in order to live his life in harmony with God's will. I am so excited for him! Ivan is a 9 year old boy that we have been teaching and he has just an incredible love of Jesus Christ and a strong desire to follow him.

Thanks for all the support and love!

Hermana Hirschi

I got to make carne asada this week #lifemade

I love sister Lyman.

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FELIZ DÍA DE ACCIÓN DE GRACIAS

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

I am so thankful today. I am grateful for the opportunity to be alive, to run, to walk, to sing, to talk, and most of all to testify of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior.

It has been a busy past couple weeks! As many may have seen, we are now able to use Facebook as part of our proselyting! I am really excited to use this tool to reach more people. 

I wish I had more time, but it is running short. Enjoy the turkey and rolls and pie and stuffing!

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

District activity today.

ENCHILADAS ❤️

Our third missionary companion, Jacobito.

I love California.

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El Monte 😊

Hello all!

Sorry for the lack of emails. There is never as much time as I would like.

I LOVE being a missionary. We have found so many wonderful people to
work with over the last few weeks. I am so grateful for the
opportunity to work here and to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We went to the mountains today and I am SO THANKFUL for nature and for
the beautiful sun, mountains, trees, rocks, rivers, flowers, birds....
God is so good.

Have a wonderful week! Open your eyes and recognize God's hand in your life!

Love,
Hermana Hirschi

El Monte de Zion 🌞

Getting ready for Halloween!

MLC (mission Leadership Council) with elder dyches, one of the 70

Hello!

This week we had so many meetings and I learned so much. I learned how
important the Book of Mormon is and how important it is to be
personally accountable for our own actions. I think that is a life
long lesson to learn. I am excited to apply the counsel we received.

I love being a missionary. We had lots of hard moments this week (wow,
missionary work is HARD), and yet I still LOVE my calling to preach
the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I wish I could speak to every
person in the world and tell them how BEAUTIFUL and HOPEFUL our
message is. There is a living prophet on the earth, who guides us and
receives revelation on God's plan for us. We can fulfill that plan and
find happiness by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so amazing
to see my own testimony and conversion grow, even if other people
aren't willing to listen or accept or make changes.

I love each of you, ¡que tengan una linda semana!

Love,
Hermana Sarah Hirschi
614 W Foothill Blvd
Arcadia, CA 91006

This is one of our investigators, making MENUDO aka cow stomach yes I
almost threw up 500 times while we were there.

El Monte 🌞

Hello everyone!

This week was crazy and the next will be even crazier. Time is flying
here in the mission. I'm almost at 13 months and I can't believe it. I
feel like it was just yesterday that I said goodbye to my family,
entered the Provo MTC and put on a name tag that has Christ's name and
my name. I feel so lucky to be a representative of Him.

We taught some amazing people this week. The coolest part of teaching
Jesus Christ's gospel is that it truly changes hearts and lives. These
truths are what changed Simon Peter from a mere fisherman into a
fearless witness of the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, what changed
Paul from a persecuter of the Saints to a defender of the truth, what
changed Alma from a wicked priest to a powerful prophet, and they are
the truths that change me from being defined by my mistakes to being
defined by my potential as a daughter of God.

This work is true. These teachings are exactly what Christ taught. The
invitation we make is the one He made - "Come, follow [Him]." He can
change our hearts and make us more than we ever could be on our own.

I love this gospel with all my heart, and I love being a missionary. I
love each of you!

Love,
Hermana Hirschi

El Monte Week 7 🙌🏻🌞

Hello everyone! 

We had transfers this weekend and I will be staying in El Monte with Sister Angomas! I am really excited to be able to continue to learn from her and to work hard in this part of the Lord's vineyard. 

This past week was yet another crazy one. We were able to help out a little more with the missionaries who arrived from Puerto Rico which was a big blessing for us. We helped some of the sisters we work with and spent a lot of time inviting people to come to General Conference this weekend! Only one family that we invited came, which was really a bummer since General Conference is literally the coolest thing ever. A living prophet speaks to the whole world, just like Moses, Noah and Abraham did! So I guess it's to be expected that people won't want to listen, since there were plenty of people who didn't listen to them. But I am grateful for the counsel they gave. Some of the things that stood out to me from the words of the living prophets and apostles were these:

-We can follow Christ's example and serve those around us. There is so much suffering, so many needs in the world to day. We won't be able to fix all of that, but we can help those around us. Each person is daily fighting a battle, struggling to improve or to be happy, and we can serve them if we listen to the small inspirations that the Holy Spirit gives us to serve a specific person.

- Christ's doctrine is here on the earth today, in its pure and original form. We don't have to wonder where the things He taught are! They are here, restored in their full simplicity. I am so grateful for the knowledge of that restored truth, the knowledge that my family can be together forever thanks to restored priesthood power. The only way to true and lasting happiness is through following the path He left behind, the path He restored through His prophet Joseph Smith. 

- The Book of Mormon contains the word of God; that pure doctrine and all the answers we seek. Because it contains the word of God, it offers us hope and leads us to true peace, things that only come from the Living God.

For those who didn't have the chance to watch or listen to the inspired apostles speak, I invite you to review their counsel here: conference.lds.org I promise that you will feel God's spirit confirming that these are His words, spoken by His chosen servings. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I have read it every day for the last year and I can testify that it contains the word of God. It offers us hope and peace in this fallen world. I know that Christ is walking with us, inspiring us to lift and serve those around us. We cannot fix all the world's problems, but we can help those around us to find peace and healing in their lives. I know that the true gospel and teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ were restored to a young boy named Joseph Smith, and that those teachings remain in their purity today. We do not have to walk in confusion, God has provided all the answers we need to walk by faith and not by sight. I m ow that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church again on the earth, lead by living prophets and apostles through revelation. 

I love each of you! I love being a missionary and being able to share this unique, wonderful, true, hopeful message with the people here in California.

Love,

Hermana Sarah Hirschi

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El Monte Week 6

Hello everyone!

It has been a crazy few weeks... here are some short details since as
usual we have no time.

-we have had to help a lot of sister missionaries out this week. Part
of our responsibility as leaders is keeping tabs on all the sisters
and this week we had to deal with some crazy situations. Not my
favorite part of missionary work :)
-hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, which is where the family of my
companion is. Pray for them, she still hasn't had contact with them
directly. Her boyfriend says they are okay but without lots of food,
running water or power. In correlation with hurricane Maria, all 160
missionaries are being evacuated from the island. 6 of them are coming
here, to Arcadia. Last night Sister Angomas and I went with Sister
Wells, our mission presidents wife, to the airport to pick up the
first who arrived. Hermana Ruff, from Salt Lake City is here with us.
She and all the missionaries there have gone through some crazy things
this past week. No power, no water, no food, fighting to get off the
island and safely away. The missionaries and the people of Puerto Rico
have lost nearly everything. Pray for them!
-this last Wednesday marked one whole year since I became a
missionary! I can't believe it has been a year. Time goes too fast.
-we had exchanges with some other sisters and we ate pupusas :) 😋 in
other food news we ate elote again!

So it has been a busy week! We are all well, learning to rely more on
our Savior. My prayers are with those in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Thanks to everyone for their support! Love you!

Hermana Hirschi

El Monte Week 4 ☀️

Hello everyone!

It was a week full of meetings and teaching. Someone said "a missionary is happiest when they are teaching." And that is so true! As I teach people about the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, my heart is filled with the Spirit and I know that the words i am saying are true. Nothing has brought me more joy than to testify of my Savior Jesus Christ.

He lives! He loves me! Something else I learned this week is that someone else's blessings don't take away from my own. I LOVE THAT. I think it is a natural human tendency to compare our weaknesses or things we don't have with others' strengths and blessings and we don't have to do that! All is made right and fair through Christ.

I love being a missionary. I can't believe it has almost been a year. Espero que todos se encuentran muy bien :)

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

El Monte de Zion Week 2

Compañeras - Killin it.

I love to see the temple ❤

Huntington Beach ❤ (no worries we didn't swim)

Hello everyone!

I had an awesome week. And as usual I don't have much time so here are
some highlights.

- we got to go to the Newport Beach temple with a recent convert,
Aileen, to do baptisms for deceased ancestors! (1 Corinthians 15) It
was an amazing experience and on the way back the member who gave us a
ride drove us BY THE BEACH so we got to see the beach from the car and
I almost cried it was so beautiful.
- we are teaching several amazing people and SIX of them have dates to
be baptized. There are a couple others who don't have dates yet but
they are progressing well and it is just so fun to work with everyone.
- I get to put my piano skills to the test every Sunday playing the
hymns for the congregation! #yikes
- my compañera is Hna Angomas and is HILARIOUS and so fun to work
with. It is funny to see the cultural difference we have and fun to
work together. We are all children of God!!!
- SHOUT OUT to my little brother Adam who will be getting baptized
this weekend. I know that baptism is the first step on our path back
to our Father in Heaven.


I love you all, thanks for all the wonderful support and friendship. I
am truly blessed.

Hermana Hirschi





Too short to reach sooo you stand on the counter obviously!

El Monte Week 1 🌞

Hello everyone!

I got transferred today! I left the beautiful city of Pasadena and now
I am in El Monte! I don't know much about the area yet but I am really
excited to get to work here! My new companion is Hermana Angomas. She
is from the Dominican Republic and I am excited to get to know her!

The past week was full of craziness! We went on lots of exchanges with
different companionships and ran all over the place trying to help
everyone and to pack since they moved the apartment in Pasadena. So
I'm not really sure what happened when.. and Sunday was full of
goodbyes which was sad.

I think the hardest thing about being a missionary is that you feel
Christ's love for the people you are around for a couple months and
then you leave to repeat the same thing over and over again. It is
such a wonderful thing to learn to love the people here like Christ
does. I love that I get to help each of them come closer to Christ as
I strive to do the same.

Have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Hirschi

Goodbyes 💔

Fotos

Pasadena Week 17 🌞

Hello everyone!

It has been another busy week! We did two exchanges with different
sisters this week and that was super fun! We taught a lot of lessons
to people and I learned a lot about God's love for each of us. I don't
have a ton of time (that's starting to become a weekly occurrence,
isn't it?) but I hope you all are happy and safe and well and enjoying
the daily manifestations of God's personal, individual love for YOU.

Love,

Hermana Sarah Hirschi

Pasadena 🌞

Hello everyone! 

I am unfortunately running out of time so I will just have to send lots of pictures today :) thanks to all of you for your love and support. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! It is the best thing ever. 

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

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Pasadena Week I have no idea

Hola a todos!

It has been a whirlwind of a week. I love missionary life! This week marked 10 months since I said goodbye to my family and walked into the Missionary Training Center. I cannot believe it! I have loved every second and I am so grateful that I still have 8 more months to enjoy being a missionary.

This week the highlight was for sure the barbecue that our congregation had! We had yummy carne asada and hamburgers and juice and it was so fun. Us missionaries were in charge of guarding the water balloons until it was time for the little kids to play with them and it went really well until they all bombarded us and we got soaked! I did have a slight advantage though since I had the hose the whole time :) 

This week I have been reading and thinking a lot about faith. Lots of times, God asks us to do things that we think are hard, for example, keeping the commandments, giving up our Sundays to go to church and worship Him, going on a mission, living high standards, etc.. Sometimes we don't understand the reasons why, and so we hesitate or balk at complying with His commands. But the scriptures teach us that we don't receive an answer until after the "trial of our faith," or in other words, until after we have tried it for ourselves. As we keep the commandments, we grow in the conviction that it is something good, because when we keep God's commandments He can and does bless us. I have seen that a lot in my own life, and especially in the lives of those I teach. We are the ones who make the commandments seem scary or unrealistic, when in reality they are just the way to receive a flood of blessings in our lives. So I am growing in my appreciation for God's commandments, because even though I don't understand the purpose all the time, as I keep them I feel of His love and receive more blessings than I can describe in a short email :)

Have a wonderful week! God bless each of you!

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

A cool elevator on the way to Olive Garden to celebrate Hermana Arriagada being in the mission for a year!

You can't really tell but we are SOAKED to the bone here!

I also got my first sunburn since I arrived here in California. And I am still super white, even with it.

The crash that comes after eating a yummy cake

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