“There and Back Again”

18 months have come and gone in the blink of an eye. They've been full of hard work, service, laughter, tears, Spanish, spanglish, good food, some not so good food, tiredness, love, sacrifice and I could not be more grateful for the time I have had to serve as a full-time missionary. 

I've learned so much, and it's really impossible to put it all in an email, or even to adequately describe it at all, but I'll try to share a few of the lessons I've learned.

1. God is in control! If it seems like everything is going wrong, or you have no idea what's going to happen, or you don't understand why something is happening, let God handle it. We can trust in Him and His timing 100%.

2. God loves us perfectly! Even though we mess up and make mistakes, God loves us no matter what.

3. Service is the key to happiness. You wouldn't think that taking a 19 year old girl and putting her in the middle of east LA and telling her to speak Spanish to strangers and to serve them would make her happier than anything else,  but it does. If you want to be happy, look outside yourself and serve someone else! 

4. Family is everything. I can't wait to see my family!

This week I was blessed to watch 2 of my dear friends, Vicky and Alfredo, choose to be baptized, and my heart was full and happy as I saw them smile and take that step to be closer to their Heavenly Father. I met them both in April 2017 and it was amazing to see them finally be able to be baptized!

I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ. I know They live! Sé que nos aman y que están involucrados en los detalles de nuestras vidas. Sé que este evangelio es el evangelio restaurado de Jesucristo, y que tenemos un profeta hoy en día, quien nos guía hacia nuestro Padre Celestial. Las familias pueden ser eternas a través de este evangelio. 

Que Dios bendiga a cada uno de ustedes. ¡Les amo! Hasta la vista ❤️ 

Hermana Hirschi

El Molino ☔️

Hi everyone!

It's hard to believe but this week is my last full week as a missionary. I'll send a last email next week but after that I'll be on my way home to Boise!

This week was full of rain, sick missionaries, and miracles along the way. I am always amazed at how God takes our tiny, imperfect efforts and makes miracles. It truly is through small things that great things are brought to pass.

This Saturday, two of my favorite people will be getting baptized! They've come so far and made so many changes to be able to make this step. I am so thankful for them, and thankful that God made our paths cross. I am a firm believer that God is involved in the details of our lives!

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for Him and for His suffering. I know that He went through that because He loves us! And because He did, we can change and become better and move on and become more than our past mistakes! I've learned that as we turn our will over to Him, He can make us more than we ever imagined. 

I love you all! Thanks for your continued support!

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

Aprendimos hacer pastelitos - una comida hondureña 😋

Sent from my iPad

Hello from El Molino!

Hello everyone!

Sorry that it has been so long. The time always seems to go so much faster on Mondays, and my fingers never seem to be able to type fast enough to write everyone back!

The past few weeks have been busy and crazy! Many of you may have heard that my mom has cancer again. That has been difficult news for me to process as I'm still here in California, but I have felt a subtle but sure feeling of peace as I have prayed and asked my Father in Heaven to look out for my family. As I was studying the other day, I came across the words to a hymn that I had never heard before.

"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful Saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head."

(Hymn 285: God Moves in Mysterious Ways)

What beautiful, comforting words! I know that they are true! God truly does ride upon the storm, and my family and I have seen so many blessings poured out upon us. I know that He is there each step of the way. Also in Spanish the song is called "Dios obra con maravillas" (God works with wonders) and I like that even more!

I love being a missionary. There are only 3 short weeks left before I board a plane back to Idaho, and I am so full of gratitude to God for the marvelous opportunity that I have had to be His hands here in California.

We are teaching some AMAZING people, several of whom have expressed desires to be baptized. We are working with others who are working to overcome difficult family situations, others struggle with drug addictions. Others have no interest at all in listening to two white girls speak Spanish with somewhat of a gringa accent. No matter what the case, I know that this message has blessed and will bless and can bless their lives, your life, and my life. This is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the greatest teacher and leader who ever walked the earth, and He continues to teach and lead us through His prophet, through the Holy Spirit, and through the scriptures. There truly is peace in Christ.

I love each of you and I am so grateful that I know you.

Love,
Hermana Hirschi

EL MOLINO - the final transfer

HELLLOOOOOO EVERYONE!

This week, the last 6 weeks of my mission begin! I can't believe how quickly time has flown. I LOVE being a missionary.

Sister Sariah Farmer will be my companion for these next 6 weeks and I am so excited to work with her and to see miracles! 

I wish I had more time but I KNOW that this work is God's work, that following Him brings peace and that as we read about Him in the Book of Mormon and the Bible we will come to know Him even more. I love my God and my Savior.

I love you all!

Hermana Hirschi 

Sent from my iPad

El Molino ☀️

HELLOOOOOOO EVERYONE :)

Today has been a wonderful day. We woke up early and hiked in the mountains, and read in the scriptures as we sat next to a waterfall. It was heavenly and I just couldn't get over how beautiful it was. So that was the most perfect start to the day! Then we went and made pancakes for a sister missionary because it's her birthday! She works in the mission office and it was so fun to serve her! 

Every day this week has been full of miracles and evidenced that God is real and that He loves us. Yesterday, we listened to a conference broadcast from Salt Lake and one of the biggest things I took away was this:

The world is a scary place - there is a lot of evil and a lot of sadness. But there is also a LOT of good! And there are things we can do to protect our homes and families from the evil. 1. We can pray DAILY to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and to feel of His love. 2. We can study His words, in the scriptures, DAILY to learn of Him and to receive personal revelation. 3. We can look for ways to serve others DAILY, and His love will fill our hearts. I have been lucky enough to apply these counsels over the last year and a half and I KNOW that they truly do help us be closer to God and they help keep us spiritually safe. 

I love you all! I LOVE being a missionary and I am so thankful that God has given me this opportunity. I love my Heavenly Father and know that He loves me and you with a perfect, individual love.

Con amor,

Hermana Hirschi 

Sent from my iPad

El Monte to El Molino

Hello everyone!

Today's email will be short! I got a call from President today around noon telling me that I will be emergency transferred this Wednesday morning! In our mission, missionaries came from Puerto Rico after the hurricanes, and one of the sisters who was serving in El Molino will be returning to Puerto Rico this week, so I'll be going back to the branch of El Molino to finish up the last 8 weeks of my mission! I am so excited to continue serving the Lord wherever He needs me. His love and His plan continues to astonish me in ways that I can never express. I know He lives and is aware of each of us! Never, ever forget that your Father in Heaven loves YOU.

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

Sent from my iPad

El Monte ☀️

Hello everyone! 

This week was amazing. We saw a lot of miracles and we worked really hard! We met with our friend Enrique almost every day and he is progressing so much! He is really excited to be baptized on February 4th. It's amazing to see how far he has come! Hna Lyman and I met him on the street in December and he told us "I don't know anything about the Bible." Now, he comes to church every week, wants to be baptized and reads in the Book of Mormon and the Bible daily! God's power is REAL and can change people! 

Sister Lyman's birthday was this week and I worked with some other sisters to surprise her a few times which was really fun :) she is so amazing and I feel so lucky to work with her here in El Monte!

Tomorrow our mission will be starting a 40 day fast from sugar so wish us luck! I'm excited to try it out! I think it will help us relate with our friends who are stopping doing drugs or alcohol or smoking, because I know it's hard for them and so in some small way for these next 40 days we'll be able to relate a little.

I love being a missionary! I have been reflecting a lot about what I've learned over the past almost 16 months and I am just blown away by God's love. He is involved in the details of our lives and He wants us to be happy and successful. I know that He loves us! His love is there for us whether we deserve it or not, it is there on our good days and bad days, and it will never change. I'm thankful for the time I've had to learn more about that love and I'm excited to keep sharing it with all I meet.

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

Got ice cream today - the last for 40 days :(

LOVE these sisters!

It rained and we got to work in it! I loved it!

Sent from my iPad

El Monte ☔️ 😊

Hello everyone!

It is raining here in El Monte and I LOVE IT. It makes the earth beautiful and green.

This week was amazing. I don't have a ton of time so here are some highlights:

-Our friends Susana, Mario and Itzel came to church again! They love the Book of Mormon and will be baptized soon. I LOVE them.

-We had a mission conference this week and Elder Dallin H Oaks, one of the 12 Apostles today, came! We each got to shake his hand and I know that he is an apostle. God has given us prophets and apostles today, just like he did in times of old! Revelation did not stop with the Bible! He speaks today through those prophets and apostles.

-Sister Lyman and I found a REALLY good ice cream place in a sketch street mall. I love El Monte.

-There's a big street gang here in El Monte called "El Monte Flores" and this week we were trying to figure out why they would name a big, tough, scary gang something like the El Monte Flowers... 

-I STILL love being a missionary! On the 21st of this month I will have been here for 16 months and I can't imagine doing anything else. I was thinking about some of the people I knew in high school and thinking about how lucky I am, that I've had the last 16 months to develop my relationship with Christ and God while serving others, instead of partying and wasting precious time. I am so grateful for that.

I love you all! Thanks for all you do for me.

Love,

Hermana Hirschi

Meeting Elder Oaks!

EL MONTE FLORES 💐 🌷 🌹 

Sent from my iPad

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 :)

Sent from my iPad

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.

Sent from my iPad

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.

Sent from my iPad

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

Sent from my iPad

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!