Whose hands are you in?

Happy day, happy week!

This week we had Stake Conference here in Ica. Stake Conference here is a MUCH bigger deal than it is in the United States... at home, the only thing I really remember about Stake Conference was that we had 2 hours instead of 3 - and I always sang in the choir, positioning myself in a seat where the camera wouldn't be watching me the entire session ;) jajaja. But here in Perú, Stake Conference is HUGE. President Douglas, the mission president, and the entire temple presidency traveled 7 hours from Lima to attend the conference! Big deal, huh? It was so amazing :)

And......... guess who spoke in the Stake Conference?

(Okay, calm down, it wasn't me…) .... :)

It was our convert of ONE WEEK! Hermano Manuel!! The day after his baptism, the Stake President asked him to bear his testimony in Stake Conference. I felt like a proud parent :') He did incredibly! His testimony was so powerful. He bore a moving testimony about the Book of Mormon and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Although he might not have as much knowledge of the gospel and the doctrine of Christ, Manuel KNOWS that the power of the Atonement is real. And that is the most important. 

At the very end of his testimony, he said, "The Atonement opened the door. Now I KNOW that the gospel is true. Now I know whose hands I am in."

... I know whose hands I am in. 

What does that mean? 

I wrote down that little phrase in my study journal, and have been pondering it for the last couple days.

Let me use a couple examples to help convey what I have been thinking and pondering.... 

If I had a basketball in my hands right now....maybe someone would pay me $10 for it. But, imagine if Michael Jordan was standing here holding the same basketball. It would be worth more like $10,000, no?

If I had a large stick in my hand right now, maybe I would be able to fend off one of these Peruvian dogs that attack us on the street. (MAYBE. Maybe.) But a large stick... in the hands of Moses... parted the Red Sea and saved an entire civilization of people.

If I had a stone in my hand right now, I might be able to break a window if I aimed really well. (Even then, I'm not so sure, I don't have a very good throwing arm.) But a small stone... in the hands of David... killed a giant. 

If I had 2 fish and a few pieces of bread in my hands right now, I wouldn't know what else to do but make a sandwich. But a few fish and a few loaves of bread... in the hands of Jesus... fed 5,000 men, women, and children who had gathered to hear His words.

If I had some nails in my hands right now, I could maybe fix a chair or hang a picture. But 2 nails, in the hands of our Savior, gave us the chance of eternity. It gave us the option of ETERNAL life. It gave us new beginnings, new chances, and an everlasting hope.

As Aubrey Sintay... in the hands of the world, maybe I would be able to live "happy" by the world´s standards. Maybe.

But as Aubrey Michelle Sintay, a daughter of God... in HIS hands... having made COVENANTS of POWER with my Heavenly Father - I can do ALL things. 

We are the Lord's covenant people. When we KEEP our covenants, we are in His hands. We have HIS power to resist temptation, bless lives, and make a difference. 

Never forget whose hands you are in :) Make the choice every day to remain in His hands, and then seek to BE His hands as you serve HIS children.

The Church is true!!!

Hermana Sintay :)

BAPTISM :)

Hello everyone :)

Best thing that happened this week - MANUEL WAS BAPTIZED!! :)

BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

The baptism was seriously perfect :) He was SO prepared and SO ready to make this covenant with the Lord. The stake president was actually the one who baptized him! 

Right before the baptism :)

And he received the Priesthood on Sunday, the very next day, after he was confirmed :) Honestly, I could not be happier for Manuel and Milagros! They are on their way to building their eternal family. One year and their goal is to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity! There is a chance I might still be here in Perú when they are sealed, and if I am, I will be able to attend the temple for their sealing :)

Milagros, the wife of Manuel, and my companion and I sang a song for Manuel at his baptism :) It was a complete surprise - all week we have been sending Manuel with the Elderes so we could practice without him knowing jajajaja :) We sang "If The Savior Stood Beside Me" - a SUPER pretty arrangement :) In the middle of the arrangement, Milagros read aloud some scriptures from 2 Nephi.

They were 2 Nephi 31:10, 11, 19, and 20. It was SO great :) I sent a recording!!

For the baptism of Manuel, my companion and I sang a song together with his wife. It was a COMPLETE surprise for him :) He cried... everyone cried... it was great :) Here is a recording!!!! The scriptures that are read in the middle are 2 Nefi 31: 10, 11, 19 y 20. Read them as you listen to it! It was SO powerful, I promise :)

Yikers, this week is another short one with the letter. So sorry! Just one last thing... something I learned about the Atonement this week. 

It is good for us to make sacrifices and to do hard things. Every time we sacrifice, we understand more completely the sacrifice that He made for us. The greatest sacrifice of all. DyC 98:7. We keep our COVENANTS by SACRIFICE :)

We climbed to the top of a GIANT rock where you could see all of Ica :)*And in SKIRTS we did it!!!!* jajaja

The whole zone on top of the mountain we climbed!! :)

Hermana Santiago and I on top of the mountain!

Hermana Santiago and I with our zone leaders!! 2 of the greatest Elderes I know. Elder Couch and Elder Izquierdo :) 

We ate with a member together on Monday for Pday - straight up Peruvian BBQ in his backyard jungle. Complete with ducks running around as we ate. I love Perú.

The church is true!!!

Hermana Sintay :) 

Good thing a picture is worth a thousand words :)

Heading to the Huacachina. I might have been a little more excited than my companion ;) hehe

This is what it looked like for an hour and a half as we climbed up the Huacachina. The best strategy was to just step in the footprints of the person in front of you.... and try not to slide off the path! There are some great gospel analogies I can think of here... sorry I don't have time to tell you all of them! But it was great :)

 WOW!

So, I guess you can just look at my week from all of the pictures I sent. haha, it's a good thing a picture is worth a thousand words, because now I have hardly any time to write REAL words! But I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures :)

Hermana Santiago and I :)

Happy happy happy!

Worth the hike :)

I sure LOVE these Hermanas!!(Hermana Villena, Hermana Santiago, y Hermana Bott)

Our entire district - hahaha yup, just the 4 of us. It's a blast :)

Up here at the top, I felt like I was in the literal wilderness that Nephi and his family traveled through

This week was FULL of things that happened. On Monday we went to the Huacachina - and now you have about a million pictures of that little adventure. haha :) It was so fun!

We had an AMAZING family history activity with a ward here in the Stake. Hermana Santiago and I are busily working with all of the Bishops to plan this activity in all the wards. This was the first one, and it went so well. I love helping people appreciate and build their eternal families!!

On Tuesday we had our district and zone meetings, and WOW, it was the best zone meeting I have ever been in. Our zone leaders, Elder Couch and Elder Izquierdo, are so inspired and focused. They gave some POWERFUL lessons on the Book of Mormon and the importance of the Book of Mormon in bringing people to repentance. We were all pretty fired up, and feeling the Spirit so strongly - it was impossible not to! To end the zone meeting, we set goal as a zone - to read the entire Book of Mormon, cover to cover, before the end of the transfer. Transfers are on May 2nd! But we are all reading the Book of Mormon cover to cover together. Everyone got a new softback version, and we are marking with two different colors everything that has to do with REPENTANCE and the ATONEMENT. It is an amazing experience, let me tell you. I am learning so much. I am halfway through Alma right now, and I started on Tuesday. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon. And I KNOW that it is true.

From our celebration for the birthday of Hermana Villena :)

A little more birthday celebration, with Jello and cheesecake that we made :) 

On Tuesday we had our district and zone meetings, and WOW, it was the best zone meeting I have ever been in. Our zone leaders, Elder Couch and Elder Izquierdo, are so inspired and focused. They gave some POWERFUL lessons on the Book of Mormon and the importance of the Book of Mormon in bringing people to repentance. We were all pretty fired up, and feeling the Spirit so strongly - it was impossible not to! To end the zone meeting, we set goal as a zone - to read the entire Book of Mormon, cover to cover, before the end of the transfer. Transfers are on May 2nd! But we are all reading the Book of Mormon cover to cover together. Everyone got a new softback version, and we are marking with two different colors everything that has to do with REPENTANCE and the ATONEMENT. It is an amazing experience, let me tell you. I am learning so much. I am halfway through Alma right now, and I started on Tuesday. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon. And I KNOW that it is true.

On Thursday we had our LAST Multizona with President Douglas. He and Hermana Douglas finish their mission in June, and we will be getting a new mission president! Honestly, I am a little scared for the transition - but I know it is just what Heavenly Father has planned. I learned so much at the Multizona. I am really going to miss President Douglas. 

I really could write another million words about things that I learned this week, inspiration I received from the Spirit, and ways that I changed. The mission is full of learning and change. 

The church is true. I have NO doubt. 

I love you all!

Hermana Sintay :)

"I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me." :)

PS. READ your scriptures every day with your family. And MORNING and NIGHT KNEELING prayers as a family. There are miracles in family unity. I promise you :)

Sunshine in my SOUL! (April 6, 2015)

There is DEFINITELY sunshine in my soul today!!

It could be because the sun is shining at about 90 degrees today.... but I think it has more to do with what is in my heart and Spirit :) Not even clouds in the sky could get me down today :)

General Conference was INCREDIBLE. I have never learned so much from a General Conference in my whole life. We did get to watch it in English (BIGGEST tender mercy!) It was just so comforting to hear the words of the prophets in my own language... haha I loved thinking that my family was sitting in our house, watching the same things as me, singing at the same time, listening to the same inspired words... Modern technology seriously is amazing :)

Hermana Bott and I in between sessions on Sunday!

All the gringos watching Conference :)

All of the gringo missionaries gathered together in an empty room in the Stake Center where we could watch the transmission in English. On Sunday, in between the sessions, Hermana Bott (the other gringa Hermana here in Ica) and I brought sack lunches so we could just stay in the Stake Center for the 2 hours in between :) We watched all of the little videos and had such a happy time :) 

I received so much personal revelation during conference. I can't even tell you which was my favorite talk, because I received answers to questions and inspiration from every single one! I cannot wait to receive the Liahona so I can read them over and over and continue to learn ways that I can change and repent :) That's what it is all about! Recognizing what we need to change and DOING it. 

Something else I need to tell you all!

We are having a baptism next week :) On the 18th! It was going to be on the 11th, but we pushed it back one week because of General Conference. His name is Mxxxxl, and he is THE BEST. Seriously. His wife is a less active, and we reactivated her just this week. Her name is Mxxxxxxs! (which means "miracles" in Spanish... Mxxxxl and Mxxxxxxs honestly are a miracle) :) They have been married for 1 year, and she has been inactive for about 3 years. She is a convert, and inactivated about a year after she got baptized. 

They tell us every single day that their goal is to be sealed in the temple as fast as possible. He is SO anxious to be baptized so he can keep preparing to make even more covenants with God. When we first started teaching them, in the FIRST lesson, we taught about the temple. We taught about the Restoration of the gospel, and BECAUSE of the Restoration of Priesthood keys... how they could be an eternal family. Sealed in the temple. Maybe some missionaries wouldn't teach about temple ordinances in the first lesson... but I can promise you that the knowledge of the temple CHANGES people. When they understand and FEEL it, their goals changes. Their attitude changes. Their disposition changes. They are willing to sacrifice anything to participate in such sacred covenants! 

As missionaries, we have to START with the END in mind. That's what it is all about. Seeing everyone dressed in white - but not dressed in white baptismal jumpers.... dressed in white, with their whole family, in the holy temple - making sacred covenants to create their eternal family :)

If we start with the end in mind, so will our investigators! We are baptizing REAL converts, who will go to the temple and continue to make and keep covenants with their Heavenly Father.

I love this work! There truly is sunshine in my soul - and it is fabulous :)

The church is true!!

Hermana Sintay :)

OH PS........ today as a zone we are going to the Huacachina!!! Google it :) It is going to be so hard to climb... but SO fun :) The pictures look like a DREAM or something!! Don't you worry - I will be sending pictures next week :) Love you all!!