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

Sent from my iPad

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

Sent from my iPad

Hello from Pasadena!

Always tired.

At the temple with Carlos, Eduardo, Vicky and Edward. They are an awesome family.

Hello everyone!

What a crazy week it has been! As usual though haha! This week we had
meetings three days in a row and then we were gone from Pasadena
Saturday and most of Sunday. Saturday we left because I was asked to
sing at a funeral for a stillborn child. It was really humbling to see
the family come together in love at a time of trials. It made me feel
really grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which makes it
possible to have family ties last forever, after death! I know that is
true and possible through the temple. We went to the temple visitors
center after church on Sunday with some of the people we are teaching
and that experience reaffirmed my knowledge that my family will be
together forever. I love my family, sorry to all y'all out there but
my family is the best. I cannot imagine heaven without my family.
At the visitors center, Carlos, one of the people we are teaching who
went with us, asked us what drove us to continue in this church, what
drove us to believe it, and that really made me think. Why am I here,
in California on a mission? Why do I believe that the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ on the
earth? As I thought, I realized that my answer boiled down to two
simple facts:
1. I love my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and know that
They love me.
2. I love my family and want to be together with them forever.
Those two facts give me the motivation to keep going when it gets
hard. Because my Father and Christ love me, they have provided a way
for me to be happy with my family forever. And I know that They have
provided that for every single person on the earth. That is why I am a
missionary - to help other families have the same hope and comfort
that I have, and to be able to have forever families.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Hermana Hirschi

Free slurpee day!