January 9th

Hola!

 Well the first week of the year is over and I'm so glad that it has started off pretty well. Me and Hermana Justiniano are working hard with our investigator Jose who has his ups and downs. But, right now he's doing really good! He's reading out of the Book of Mormon and knows that it's true. He wants to testify of it to his wife so that she can know that he really truly wants to be baptized. We had a lesson with him the other day on testimony and how he can share it with others. He really has a true desire to be baptized and we let him know that we're here every step of the way with him. He loves coming to church too, he always is participating and praying. I just love seeing him grow every day as he becomes more confident. Right now, it's all up to him to talk to his wife and get her approval and we invited him to pray about a specific date that he wants to be baptized. We don't know if it's this month or the next, we just want him to be ready and feel that he's ready. We also are striving to have member present at every lesson so he can get to know the members and feel the love that they have for him. That's one thing that I love about this branch...everyone is super willing to help out the Missionaries and come to lessons. I love it so much and I'm so happy to know these members so well now. I feel the love here in Elk Grove. 

 We had interviews with President this past week since now every transfer we are having zone conference and interviews instead of every other transfer. They are shorter interviews...but very powerful. It was my favorite interview with President Jardine. We talked a lot of how much I've grown and changed over the past 10 months. I said all these wonderful nice things that I really needed to hear and I started to cry. He is just so loving and caring and loves each of his missionaries so much. I'm so grateful to have a mission president like that. That interview really made my day. 

 We were able to do some service for this potential couple who was visited by missionaries in the past but they were dropped. So we found them on a team-up the other week and we went over to do some service to pack some things up and clean since they're moving in the summer. They're really sweet! It was nice to get to know them and they said that they missed having the missionaries over all the time. We are going over again to do more service and we are also going over to eat dinner and they want to talk about the book of Mormon!! So sweet! I'm so excited to teach them. The husband is from Puerto Rico and is gonna make us some yummy food from his country...so we're excited for sure!

 So something that also happened this weekend is that it was pouring rain and it started flooding here in Sacramento. Sunday night we had dinner with the branch president and his family, but they live all the way out in Wilton where it's farm land and is the most flooded. So we had to park a mile away from their house at a friends house and have Sister Hirst pick us up in her truck so that our car wouldn't get stuck!! So lucky haha. I really enjoy the Hirst family, they remind me of my family so much haha. 

 I hope you all are enjoying the new year with new goals set in mind. I truly am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Everything I do is a reflection of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love being a representative of him and following in his path. I love the Book of Mormon. President and Sister Jardine just invited us to do the 6 month Book of Mormon challenge again, so I'm starting again! I love reading the Book of Mormon! It's a great experience...and I just invite you all to do the challenge as well! I know that you will have a better understanding of the words that it contains about our Savior Jesus Christ. Love you all! Tengan una buena semana! Les quiero!

Hermana Scott

January 2nd
 Hola!! Feliz Nuevo Año! (Happy New Year)

 This week has been good. I can't believe it's 2017 and that it's
January already! I'm so excited for this new year! I've set a lot of
personal goals for this year and of what kind of missionary I want to
be for the last 8 months of my mission. Today I hit 10 months! These
past 10 months have seriously been a blast. I truly love the
missionary work❤️️

 Our investigator José is doing alright right now. We were able to
meet with him a couple times this week to teach him. Our last lesson
was kind of like a "real talk" lesson. He really wants to be baptized
he says, but his only reason was because he wants to be clean from his
sins, which is good! But, when we asked if he believes that the Book
of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet, he couldn't give
us an answer. So, we are postponing his baptism date. We gave him some
homework for the next couple of days to really receive an answer on
what is true. He was able to come to church yesterday and brought his
friend Hugo who we've taught before. So it was nice seeing them there!

 So Ulysses, our other investigator, is now being referred to the YSA
Ward elders. We're having a pass-off lesson tonight with them. We just
felt like he'd do better in YSA than the Spanish branch so that he can
have more friends to fellowship him.😊

 We had team-ups this week too and I was able to go with Hermana
Zaugg. We didn't find anyone, but I had some good times with my old
companion😊 Love her❤️️

Saturday me and Hermana Justiniano did some biking and finding. We
found 1 new investigator named Monica who seems pretty cool! I'm
excited to teach her again this week. Also, that same day our zone had
a 30 min. training on online proselyting and how we can use it better.
Then for the rest of the night we played games together like Animal
Noises and What if. It was so much fun! We were all dying of laughter!
We finished with some sparkling cider then we went home. It was a fun
New Years!

A quote I really like that I found is this: "For us to qualify for
eternal life, our service in this life must include working with all
our heart, might, mind and strength to prepare others to return to God
with us." - Henry B. Eyring

I love you all and I hope you enjoy your week! Make some goals for
yourselves on how you can be better this year or ways you want to be
more like our savior Jesus Christ. I can promise that you'll find
those opportunities to serve and come unto Christ through Service!!
Les quiero❤️️

December 26th 

¡Feliz Navidad a todos!

What a week we've had with the holidays and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ! I love this time of year so much!! Christmas time is just so much fun!

Well, we had our Christmas Temple Zone Conference on Tuesday and I loved it so much! I enjoyed being with the other zones and also being able to sing "Oh Holy Night" with my old companion Hermana Paredes. I enjoyed the other performances too! So good! We were also able to go to the temple with President and Sister Jardine and I just felt so much peace as I was in the temple. I just love being there and feeling the spirit so much. That night we had dinner at the Mejia's house and we had a lesson there with Jose about priesthood and auxiliaries. He learned about what roles we have as members and how we all have a part in keeping the church going with our specific callings. Jose is progressing so well! He's kind of been in some hard trials recently with family but, we are always keeping daily contact with him to make sure he feels that we care and that we are here for him. He's still set for January 7th for baptism and weren't going to give up! 

Wednesday was good. We found 2 new investigators and did a lot of finding and sharing the gospel with everyone. We helped a member, Hermana Villaruel, decorate and set up her little Christmas tree in her house. It was nice to decorate for Christmas! That night Jose wanted to take us out to dinner so we went to a little Spanish restaurant near his apartment. It was super good and it was great to be with him. He's such a good person who really just wants to follow Jesus Christ. I'm glad I'm able to see his progression daily. We ended the night with a member present lesson with Ulises. He's doing good. He struggles reading and understand basic doctrine. He has to be taught the doctrine multiple times to understand it well. We taught half of the plan of salvation and then we moved into a refresher of the restoration and Book of Mormon. We read the intro to the BOM with him and he understood it better. Luis and Chelja, who are brother and sister, came with us and just were so awesome at testifying! I love them! And now Ulises has 2 new friends because we're trying to help Ulises transfer to the YSA instead of our Spanish branch. We think he'll do better there. Little by little though🏼. 

Thursday we went to the food bank and they gave us a bunch of desserts that they needed us to take home since they were gonna be closed for like 4 days for the Holidays. So now our apartment is full of sweets! Lol. We did some apartment finding but not too much luck. Hermana Rodriguez gave us money to go out for dinner, ️ her. After that we went Christmas caroling as a branch and it was so fun! Everyone we went to were home so it was nice to see their faces light up to a big group of us singing to them. Some even cried. I loved the love and the spirit that was felt as we sang about our savior Jesus Christ. Such a good experience. I love caroling!

Friday Santy Jardine and his elves came to the Vintage Park building and our zone and the sac zone got together as they gave us our Christmas presents and packages! They told some stories and just shared their love for us. I just love them all. They also sang to us too which was great. I have a video that'll show it. Me and Hermana Justiniano decided to just open our presents after that. I'm so grateful for the gifts that I got! Thanks family for all that you do!️ we also did our weekly planning too which made the day seem pretty chill. Not too much going on this day.

Saturday was good. Also pretty chill. We went to a baptism because it was someone Hermana Justiniano had taught in the past so I was able to be there and see it. Such a good baptism too. It was nice to see someone get baptized on Christmas Eve. we tried visiting some of the less actives and then ate dinner at the Suarez house. It was super yummy of course. Then we went to the church with the whole zone and we got to watch a movie! It was the new Pete's Dragon. We all liked it a lot. I thought it had a good message and was perfect for Christmas. 

Sunday was just awesome. I just felt so loved and my heart was full from all the love I felt from members and family and friends. Church was 1 hour and was super great. I sang my solo, "Oh Holy Night", and other members sang for the program. It was really nice. Sanjuana was there because president Hirst brought her. So sweet️ She loved it! After church I was able to Skype the family and it was so nice to see them again. I love hearing how life is going back home. I miss them but I love where I am right now. Especially that I'm a missionary in the lords work. We are at the Hirsts' house and the Smiths house. We spent time with them and just chilled. Then we visited Jose because his eye was infected so we just comforted him and said merry Christmas . He's doing better though, so that's good. 

I love you all and I'm so grateful for Christmas. I love being a missionary during this time of year and just preaching the gospel. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and just enjoy your week with Family. Adios!

Hermana Scott

December 19th 

Hola! Buenas tardes!

 I'm so excited that it's almost Christmas! This time of the year just
makes me so happy! I love it so much! I'm so grateful for the many
experiences I've had so far this year and I'm excited for what the new
year will bring!

 This week we've been working a lot with our investigator Jose who is
on date for the 31st of December. He's been doing good, has had a
little bit of problems lately just feeling sad and scared. But, the
members have been great at helping him and making him feel the love of
the branch! We had a few lessons with him during the week and it's so
great that he always wants to meet with us! He has a very strong
testimony and powerful prayer every time he prays. Satan is just
trying to attack him right before his baptism😕 We might be changing
the date of his baptism though because it might not work out that day
because he'll be coming home late and also it's New Year's Eve. But
we'll see what happens. We are gonna have a lesson on Courage tonight
so we'll find out what he wants to happen. We fasted with him
yesterday because he wants to give up coffee. It was great to fast
with him so he doesn't feel alone. Also, Hermano Mejía gave him a
blessing which was so amazing, Jose started to cry at the end❤️️ It
was sweet. We pray every day that he'll get better, so please keep him
and his family in your prayers! He truly has a desire to be baptized!

 This week I've just been meeting with a lot of the members of the
branch to get to know them. I already love them already of course❤️️
It's small but a strong branch. Everyone is so willing to help out
with the missionary work which makes everything so much easier! I love
it!

 Yesterday we had a stake missionary meeting with one of the members
of the stake presidency and we talked about the miracles and cool
experiences we've seen with using Light the World. It was great to
hear everyone's experiences and miracles they've seen with this
initiative. I love it so much and I love the 25 ways, 25 days
challenge! I was able to share a video on Facebook of me and my
companion singing and it was great to see all the love and support
from you all with liking and sharing it! Thanks so much! Keep doing
it!

 Saturday we did a blitz in an elders area in our district which is
English work, and we had a terrible experience with the first door we
knocked on. He opened the door and started yelling at us and asking us
why we are knocking on the door and that he's not interested at all.
I've never seen anyone be so rude before. It was a shock to me and
Hermana Justiniano, but we kept working and shrugged it off😂👍🏼 It's
all part of the work!

I'm seriously so grateful for my savior Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for
this season of Christmas that we are able to feel the light of Christ
and apply it daily! I love being a missionary and testifying of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He truly is the light and the life of
the world. A scripture I always love sharing is Alma 38:9. I invite
you all to read this scripture this week and poder it. I also invite
you to share the light of Christ as we come to the last week before
Christmas 🎄. Love you all! Have a very merry Christmas and I hope to
talk to you all soon!

Hermana Scott

December 12th
Hola mi familia y amigos!

 Como estan? This week went by super well...in most parts but we had a little bump in the road which I'll explain later. jaja. Anyways, I enjoyed the last week of the transfer so much. Me and Hermana Zaugg got to do a lot of finding in the area. We cleaned out the area book a lot as we proselyted. (is that a word? idk) Here's what happened this week. 

Monday- Had a zone activity and did a white elephant exchange. I ended up with pumpkin spice twinkies jaja. I threw them away because they looked nasty. Hermana Zaugg got a nice mug with hot chocolate and goodies. We ate dinner at the Medrano's house like always and shared a little message of Light the World and the 25 ways, 25 days challenge. We've been able to use this challenge daily with all of our less actives and members! It's so awesome! I love it so much. 

Tuesday- We visited with Gaby who is a youth in the ward. She's super sweet and always has us come over to teach a short message. She gave me a nice contour makeup pallet that she didn't want which was really really sweet of her. She has been struggling a little with her testimony in the past, but she has thought about serving a mission! She loves the scriptures and we were able to give her ideas to share the scriptures to her friends and she was willing to do that! After her we went and met up with our STL's at On the Border for lunch. Then we had team-ups and I was with hermana nokes who I love so much! But, we had such a weird experience with a less-active member. We were like shouting from outside the door to the grandma inside and we had no idea what was happening the whole time. She eventually invited us in and just kept saying how she was Catholic the whole time as we shared the Light the World message...so she wasn't interested at all. That night was the choir practice and literally nobody showed up except for Hna. Ochoa. So we cancelled it with bishop because nobody wanted to do it. So sad. 

Wednesday- We had a good day of finding and just teaching. Nothing too special on this day.

Thursday- Had a good district meeting on the Simplified Planning guidelines and how to use them more effectively. Also we talked a lot about Christlike attributes and how we can apply them better to our daily lives. Our district leader got a little serious and it was a little too much for me, but I know what he said was out of love. But, he talked to use like we weren't being good missionaries and it was a little offending to me and my companion. We got over it though because we know we're diligent missionaries who like to work hard and everything. Later on we had a good lesson on prayer and reading in the book of Mormon with Alejandro. He had a better understanding of it so it was great!

Friday- We had another great lesson with Alejandro on the Plan of Salvation. He understood it well as we read in the pamphlet with him. He was progressing really well and also has been reading in the book of Mormon daily! So awesome! Henyuri took us out to a Cuban restaurant for lunch because we all hadn't had Cuban food before. It was good though, very similar to everything Hispanic pretty much. Also this was our bike day because we had to switch it. We finally found a referral Josselyn who is really sweet! She's really quiet but we shared Light the World with her and she loved it, so we have a return appointment with her for next week.

Saturday- We had a full day of just finding. Our appointment with a potential named Luis cancelled because he wasn't there sadly. That night we found Daniel who we hadn't seen in like FOREVER. But he was sick so now he's feeling better. Right as we started we got a call from President Jardine. Hermana Zaugg was called as STL (sister training leader) and then he talked to me and told me that I'm going to Elk Grove and my companion would be Hermana Justiniano!! WHAT?! So crazy! I was so excited...but sad because I will miss North Sac a lot. Also, both me and Hermana Zaugg left so our area got shotgunned!! (which means two new sisters take over the area so its new for both of them). We finished our lesson with Daniel and said our goodbye's. 

Sunday- Just a day full of goodbye's to our favorite people in North Sac. We saw Daniel and read in the Book of Mormon with him. He's just so cute I'll miss him a lot!! Okay, so we had a lesson planned with Alejandro and he's always there waiting for us when we get there. But, this time nobody answered. It was really weird, but we kept going and went throughout our day like usual. Then, we got a text from Alejandro. I'll attach the photos, but basically what he is saying is that he was home and he didn't answer the door because he's too embarrassed to answer because he's IN LOVE WITH ME. Are you kidding? Why does this happen? lol. He writes in the text and says that I'm the most beautiful women in the world and that I'm a goddess and everything. It was funny for sure! First time for everything. I'm so sad though because he was truly progressing! But, I think the Spanish elders are gonna go over and see if he still wants to learn because he said he still wants to go to church. Crazy day for sure lol. 

Monday- I got transferred to Elk Grove!! I said my goodbye's to Hermana Zaugg and now I'm back with Hermana Justiniano! I missed her so much. The crazy thing is that this is her last transfer in her mission...so I'm gonna "kill" her is what they say in missionary terms haha. I'm so glad we are together again! We got to visit this sweet old woman named San Juana who's in a nursing home. We sang hymns and just read scriptures with her. Then we ate at a families home called the Martinez. They were sweet. They're having a few problems right now but we were able to comfort them. Then we ended our night with Jose who is on date for baptism for Dec. 31st! I love this place already! I'm so excited for this transfer it's gonna be so great!

I hope you enjoy my email and have a fantastic week! Just know that I love you all! Happy Holidays! 

Te quiero,

Hermana Scott

December 5th

Hello family and friends! 

 I'm so happy that it's the holiday season!! I just love Christmas so much!!️️ Well this week went by pretty well. We had a lot of lessons with our new investigator Alejandro. All of them were member presents too! That was a major blessing this past week. I'm so grateful for our recent convert Henyuri who just is so willing to do the missionary work. Everyone keeps thinking she's a missionary like us🏼 It's awesome. Also, Alejandro is on date for January 28! He has a sincere desire to be baptized! I'm so excited for him Also, we were teaching his friend Jose but our first lesson he declined the baptismal invitation and then in another lesson with Alejandro, he testified that he was already baptized and that he's not going to get baptized in another church. It was funny because we had all testified of the restoration and then he asked to testify too lol. Great experience.

 We did A TON of service this week. We went to the food bank twice and helped out the community with food storage and clothing. Then on Saturday we helped set up beds for refugees. Me and Hermana Zaugg got to play with these cute girls from Afghanistan. It was so cute️ 

 Last pday me and Hermana Zaugg bought a REAL Christmas tree! Our house just smells so good and we just love feeling the Christmas spirit.  we found a referral named Priscilla and she was really nice. She testified of things in her church and gave us literature to read from her religion though and flat out told us that she's not gonna change...so that was an interesting experience. 

 Today we as a zone did white elephant gift exchange and got to know each other more as a zone. We have a very funny zone. This is our last week together before transfer calls this Saturday. I don't know what's going to happen, but I hope for the best🏼 Also I hit 9 months! Hooray! Half way there...now just 9 more! Well, I hope you all have a good week. Also, our bishop assigned me to lead a choir for our Spanish Ward for a concert on Sunday....wish me good luck 🏼

🏼️Hermana Scott🏼️

1. CHRISTMAS!!!

2.More Christmas!

3. The senior sisters that are so sweet️

4. Typical sister 9 month picture!

November 28

HOLA!!

This week was just SO AWESOME! Well, as you know it was thanksgiving and although we showed up to our thanksgiving lunch...nobody was there and she declined our call.  so sad. So we ate at Lorenzo's restaurant because that was the only place open lol It was good to see him though. We did have the opportunity to eat with the Villalobos last minute for dinner and we ate with the elders. We had a lot of fun and I love being with that family so much️

 That night we had a special zone meeting on the Christmas initiative. I LOVE IT SO MUCH! It's so simple and straight to the point. I love how it's focused on service and how we can all be the light of Christ in other people's lives. We've been showing the video like crazy and have actually found some new investigators through it🏼 If you haven't checked it out already...I invite you all to go to Mormon.org to check it out! Also share it on social media! I promise you that you'll find so many opportunities to share the light of Christ in your lives. 

 We had exchanges this past weekend as well and I was here in North Sac with Hermana Paredes️️ it was just like old times! I love her so much and she is such a great STL. We had bike day and it was pouring rain and freezing all of Saturday...but we still pushed through and biked all day! We found a lot of success though which was awesome. Biking is always a fun adventure  

 The best thing that happened was that Daniel was Baptized!!!!! It was such a great service! There were like 45 people there it was so awesome. Daniel and his whole family came with their close friends as well who aren't members. I was able to sing with one of my zone leaders and it went well. So many tears and just gratitude for the opportunity to see Daniel enter into the waters of baptism. I just love that kid so much. ️ 

 I just want to say that I'm so grateful for my mission and for all the people I have come to love and know. I'm grateful for all of you and for your support. This Friday I will be hitting my 9 month mark...it's crazy to think I'm about half way through my mission. Just 9 more to go! Les quiero mucho!!

🏼️Hermana Scott🏼️

1-6 Thanksgiving with the Villalobos

7-9 Exchanges with Hermana Paredes

10-12 Daniels baptism!! "The Pokémon pose"