Week 76 (More Holiness Give Me)

Querida familia y amigos,

Wow another week down!! Time is flying by so fast!!

Monday was fantastic!! We went with Hna Holman and Hna Lopez (my guerrita friends) to Bebeleche (interactive museum) and ate delicious crepes! It was a blast! Missionaries really are like children!!

Tuesday was awesome because we went on splits with our Hermanas Lideres so we could look for our new investigators! We got a lot of work done in little time! We walked and taught the gospel to everyone in sight.

Wednesday was also great, but I don't remember much of what happened this day. :)

Thursday was an incredible day of planning! Sadly nuestros investigadores hid from us but we found other great people to teach.

Friday was a hard day! We had a lot of appointments, but none of them were there!! So we walked in the hot sun all day!! Woo!! It helped me work on my tan ;) I think I am the most tan out of all my family! (Don't tell Natalie and Hannah;) ) However, we did see miracles this day. It was so hot, we were baking in the streets!  But, we pushed on with faith and found a wonderful family that wants to learn how they can become an eternal family! Yay!! I hope they can learn the gospel and accept it in their lives and become this eternal family!! (It pays off to keep the faith and to work with diligence!)

Saturday we visited our investigators to encourage them to go to church and we watched the General Women's Conference! I loved it!

Sunday we obtained two new investigators who look like they are going to be poderosos because they attended church with us. Yay!

I loved what Sister McConkie taught in the General Women's Conference about being holy. I love that we can become pure and holy through our Savior's sacrifice! Only through Him can we truly be clean and only through Him can we truly change. We have to make lasting changes to become holy because it is a way of living. Everything that the Savior taught us is a way of living that we must learn in order to enter into the Kingdom of God. I love the hymn "More Holiness Give Me." I invite you all to read that hymn and meditate on your life. Ask yourself how you can be more holy, how you can be more fit for the kingdom of God!

Love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 76

Querida Hermana Lutze,

I hope this finds you well. This week has been the usual busy. Hannah enjoyed her Ward activity in Salt Lake, Natalie is busy with friends and school while Jakob started outdoor soccer again and reffing to earn money for his mission. Dad and I went to the temple on Friday and Zupas afterwards. Natalie and I enjoyed Womens Conference together. I loved all the speakers and their topics. President Eyring's comment "Remembering is one of the most precious gifts" really stood out to me because I'd been pondering that word this week. I was reading in Helaman 5 - in the first 14 verses the word remember is mentioned 15 times. I've thought about the importance of remembering over the years and that is why I have a personal revelation or spiritual experience journal to help me remember the spiritual when times are hard, to help me stand,  and to help me stay strong against the winds of adversity. I love you! I love that you have honorably fufilled your mission scripture Alma 29:9!

Love,

Mom

Week 75 (Are You His Friend?)

Queridos,

Another great, sunny week has gone by here in Durango! Monday we went to Centro and ate crepes!! They were so good!! Then we had a really fun Noche de Hogar with Rosa, Julio and Carmen.

Martes I officially completed 17 months in the mission!! Ah!! Soy viejita! I can't believe that so much time has passed by!  This day was good. We found some great people to teach!

Miercoles was a really rough day. I think it was a trial of our faith, patience and animo. Let's just say that everything kind of blew up this day. All of our appointments and baptismal dates were put in danger. However, we can't lose our animo, faith and hope. We just have to keep working! Remember 1 Cor 15:58!

Jueves was another great day filled with service to the Lord and the people of Mexico!

Viernes we had a conference with Presidente de Mission and it was great! At the end I gave my last testimony........:'( We will just say that I cried ;). Soy una llorona. The rest of the day was great!

Sabado we visited our investigators who we want to attend church. We also had a ward activity that was attended by Rosa, Julio, and their family! It was super fun! We  played volleyball and ate yummy food!

Sunday Julio and Rosa couldn't attend church for health problems. However we did have miracles happen and new people came to church! We obtained two new investigators to teach!! Yay!

I have been thinking about what it means to be a friend to Christ. He said this about friends:

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Christ says that if we want to be his friend, we have to be willing to lay down our life for him and for others. He says that we are His friends when we obey Him and live His standards. He promises His friends that He will reveal unto them all the mysteries of God. What an incredible benefit to being friends with Christ! I know I'm not a perfect friend, however, I'm trying to be a truer friend each day! I encourage you all to study how you can be friends with Christ and what you need to do to make your relationship with Him stronger - what needs to change, what needs to be taken out, what needs to be added in...

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 75

Querida Hermana Lutze,

I hope this e-mail finds you well. We signed your contracts this week for Liberty Square. Hannah told me you are excited about this location. She's been down in St. George this weekend with her roommates. So that's been a nice change for them. Natalie and Jakob played in their piano recital on Saturday. Natalie is done after this year while Jakob will keep going on the piano. Jakob had two soccer games too. They lost the first and won the second. Jakob scored 4 of their 8 goals. He was on fire. It was really fun to watch them win their last game. I think they've only won two of their indoor games. I went with Hannah to see Dr. Pertab for her neuropsych testing on Tuesday. (She liked him better than Dr. Sieber.) We meet again with him on April 4th for the recommendations from the testing. I've been trying to work in the yard in between all my other obligations. I've now pruned 8 of our 35 trees. It's been so warm that they are really starting to bud out and bloom. 

Wednesday night for our RS celebration of 175 years, Sister Emily Watts came and spoke to us. She's such a great speaker and writer. She asked us jokingly, "Did you get the life you wanted?" We all have many things in our lives that don't go as planned. She recommended a book that I want to purchase entitled "The Uses of Adversity." In it the author reminds us that the gospel is not insurance against pain but the resource when we have pain! Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. He can see the big picture. She emphasized that we are doing it right! I know this was an answer to my prayers because I often feel like I'm not doing it right! 

On another note for my scripture study this week, I've been thinking about the importance of love-truly things fall into place when we focus first on love. I contrasted that with the story of Teancum and how he acted in anger "exceeding" anger when he killed Ammoron and he in turn was killed. We must remember to not act in anger. When we act in anger we do not have the spirit with us to help us make correct choices. Why did Teancum live after killing Amalickiah but not after killing Ammoron? I believe the difference was that he acted in "exceeding" anger the second time.

I love you!

Love,

Mom

P. S. There's an extra 275 in your checking account that Hannah will use to pay your deposit, so don't be surprised when you see so much money in your account.

Week 74 (God is Still a God of Miracles!)

Querida familia y amigos,

It was another fantastic week in the mission. As always it had its ups and downs. However, overall it was a good week!

This week a miracle happened! 

Monday was a good chill day. We got our housework done, cooked delicious food, relaxed and went to preach in the nighttime. It was a sad night because we thought we had two appointments with two escogidos!......................However, one had given us a false direccion (address) and the other didn't want anything to do with us! It was kind of a sad night but it's all good because the week progressed.

Martes is when the miracles began to happen. This day we had another incredible Capacitacion de Zona. We talked about many great things that are going to help our investigators so much.  Then we went to go and visit our investigators in the evening. While we were walking towards our appointment, a thought came to our minds to visit Carmen to see if we could catch her husband before he runs off. We arrived at her house and her husband was there!! (first miracle) Then we asked to talk to him and this time he sat down and actually talked with us and didn't run away (second miracle)! And then his friend called from outside and he escaped us (oh no), but wait, he came back (third miracle)!! And then we talked and he accepted a baptismal date!! (4th miracle) We couldn't believe it!!! One of the biggest miracles just happened!! This man has not wanted anything to do with us and now he has accepted a baptismal date and prayed on bended knee with us!! There is now hope for everyone! I hope this man can progress. He has a bad history but can have the amazing future that is waiting for him!

Wednesday we had an appointment with Marco but we arrived at their house and he wasn't there. However, we did find his son Marco Jr. He also has a terrible past! He has passed through more things than most 30 year old men and he is 17. We have tried to talk to him and teach him in the past but he has always rejected us. However, this night was different. We talked and he asked if we could visit him!! You should have seen how yo y Hna Parra scrambled for our agendas!! Another miracle!! All our prayers and fasts are finally paying off!

Thursday we saw Marco Jr. and you would not believe how much he cried. He really wants to repent and be clean. He really wants a new life. It broke my heart to see his pain and anguish. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted!! Another miracle!!

Friday was great as well! We had an activity about Historia Familiar (Family History). It was Dia de Discubrimiento Familiar (Day of Family Discovery) and the people presented talents that reminded them of their antepasados (ancestors) and that their antepasados did in the past. It was a great activity. Very beautiful and spiritual! We had a lot of investigators that loved it!

Saturday another miracle happened!! We were in the Comida when the secretario sent a message of a family that we had to visit! 2 Escogidos! So we went to go look for them. We found them and they accepted a fecha (date)! Yay!! We have so many wonderful people in enseñanza (teaching) (another miracle!) It's like the movie of 17 Milagros (miracles)!

Sunday was the day that we lacked miracles. Sadly because of sickness and vicios (vices), our investigators did not attend church. However I know the following week is going to be amazing and that they are all going to attend church!! We're going for 12 in church!!

I just want to share these verses in Mormon 9 this week.

15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

 16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?

 17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?

 18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

 19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

 20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

 21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

 22 For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to all his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;

 23 And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned;

 24 And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover;

 25 And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.

 26 And now, behold, who can stand against the works of the Lord? Who can deny his sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who will despise the works of the Lord? Who will despise the children of Christ? Behold, all ye who are despisers of the works of the Lord, for ye shall wonder and perish.

 27 O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.

I have come to truly know that God is a God of miracles!! There is nothing that He cannot do. And He does still continue to work among the children of men. I know that He can work miracles in each and every one of our lives if we only DOUBT NOT AND BE BELIEVING. I love this gospel and I know that it is capable of bringing all the blessings and miracles that we need in this life. My invitation to you all is to study Mormon 9 and look for the miracles that God and wrought in your lives. Ask and pray for the miracles that you need while waiting with patience, acting with all diligence and confidence in God that He will fulfill His promise in this chapter. I promise you all that these miracles will come. God has not stopped working in our lives! We only have to keep increasing our faith in Him! Take a moment and listen to this Primary song!! It is beautiful and will help you have a marvelous day!! I love you all!! Be miracle workers!!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ2djzQ9J64

Week 74

Querida Hermana Lutze,

I hope you've enjoyed another fantastic week in the mission. How's everyone progressing?! Life here is the usual crazy! I did have time to take Sonia out for her birthday on Tuesday. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Molly's in Provo. We'll have to go when you get back. We enjoyed Ben's 14th birthday on Sunday and we were able to meet Ammon. We all really like him. We shall see. Hannah has nailed down housing for the two of you at Liberty Square. The apartments look nice and they are close to campus. I attended the temple on Friday and took a family name! :) I also worked in the yard. It's time to prune, aerate, fertilize, and much, much more! Natalie and Jakob are busy with school and their usual activities. Jakob certified as a soccer ref this year and will start this next weekend. :) I hope the parents and players are nice to him.

I've been thinking about obedience this week. We had a lesson last Sunday for Trek on obedience. We must learn to obey like the Savior.  He obeyed immediately, cheerfully and without complaint, and completely. I love the promise in D&C 130:20-21. We all need blessings. We talked about the obedience of our pioneer ancestors and how they often had to bury people along the way. Dad compared it to our lives and how we must bury things along the way... pride, anger, worldly items, etc in order to return to our Heavenly Father. If you think about it, we eventually have to give up everything to return to Him. Grandma didn't take anything with her when she died with the exception of what she had become.

Have a great week!

Love,

Mom

Week 73 (Let Christ be your Architect!)

Querida familia y amigos,

Well another great week in the mission! There is no where better than the mission! However, I can feel the end nearing. And it doesn't help that my sister now has a countdown and is informing me of every day and minute that I have left in the mission! ;).

Well, Monday was good. I got to go to Centro with my companion and buy cool things from Mexico ;). I must reach my 50 pound limit ;)

We are continuing to find many new investigators and we are working hard in finding the chosen ones and putting baptismal dates with various people. Our goal each week is to have more people in church and I think it is going well! Sunday we had 9 people in church and they all have potential to be baptized!! We are still working with Julio and his family and Sunday they ALL went to church!! I hope that this family can all be baptized together! I love the gospel and the power that it has to change the lives of everyone and free them from the grasp of Satan! Sorry this is so short but this is basically what happened this week :)

Yesterday in Relief Society the Hermana gave a really good lesson about allowing Christ be the architect in your life. It was interesting because if you take a look at the work of an architect you start to realize that there are many details they have to remember - to put in the gas, water, lighting, rooms, doors, bathrooms, etc. There is a lot to plan! If we only  rely on our own knowledge to plan our lives, we are going to end up with a really crazy life.  Just like we would end up building a really strange home if we designed our own home without the help of an architect. That is why we must rely on Christ and let him be the architect of our lives and our happily ever after because He will plan it perfectly. However, we have to be willing to ask Him to tell us what we need to change and better in our lives, so that we can become the masterpiece that He has in mind. We have to understand that it will require cutting, soldering, hammering, etc. It will require lots of work and  change. However,  in the end we will see the great temple that He has built for us. In this life we are building our mansion in the Kingdom of our Father. If we want Christ to prepare a place for us and build our mansion, we have to be willing to do all that He asks us to do and change and be because He is the master architect. He knows what he is doing. I invite you all to kneel down and ask God this night what it is that He would have you change or do in your lives. Ask that He give you a vision of what He wants you to be and start to make these changes.  Ask and you shall receive. Don't fear to ask. Just be ready to do and become!

I love you all! Let Christ be your architect!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Companeras de Hermana Lutze

I thought I was going to finish the training of Hna Montoya as well, but it didn't turn out that way. Who knows what presidente knows?!

1 CCM - Hna Knudsen y Hna Robertson
2 Alamos 1 - Hna Rubina and later Hna Gomez
3 Guadalupe - Hna Santiesteban later I was in a threesome with Hna Martinez and then Hna Santiesteban left
4 Guadalupe - Hna Valle
5 Guadalupe - Hna Lopez
6 Estacion - Hna Montoya (mi bebe primera)
7 Estacion -  Hna Reyes
8 Hacienda - Hna Maldonado and Hna Fuentes
9 Filidelfia - Hna Jimenez (Hermana Lider)
10 Filidelfia - Hna Pira (Hermana Lider)
11 Barrio Central - Hna Cortes
12 Barrio Central - Hna Parra (mi bebe segunda)

Week 73

Querida Hermana Lutze,

Another week has flown by... I've been busy at work, in the temple, and with the kids. I went up to see Papa on Friday and stayed the night with him. Sister Crandall showed me a new app last Sunday called "Take a Name." It searches your family tree for missing ordinances. It found in about 2 hours and 20,000 names 20 people that need some or all of their temple ordinances done. How cool is that? I printed the cards last night so we can start working on them. :) I love family history! Dad decided to build additional shelves in the food storage room yesterday and he's been busy with the choir. Hannah is doing better with her depression and anxiety. I'm so grateful for the friendship she's developed with Kylie. They do so much together. She's been busy with petitions, accessibility items, and housing. Natalie and I went out for a late lunch on Friday. We enjoyed our time together. The way to her heart is through food and shopping. Jakob's been busy with basketball and soccer. He's really such a good athlete. I hope he's able to play some high school sport. He's fun to watch! I'm still working on trip details and just finished everyone's taxes. While I was up at Papa's and doing my scripture study, I was pondering what you sent last week in your e-mail regarding John 15. I had these thoughts come to my mind...

As we abide in His love we will serve those around us because of our obedience and be clean through that service and then our joy will be full!!! This is how we survive spiritually!! We survive through our service to others. The most difficult and yet rewarding times in my life were my service as a missionary and as RS president.

Substitute the word fruit with the word love and reread verses 1-11... It's awesome! The fruit is what Lehi partook of that gave him such great joy that he wanted to share it with his family! He partook of the love of God or His Atonement. Even during trials we can feel that love if we go to Him!

Last-remember that the first 5 commandments pertain to loving God and the last 5 commandments to loving our neighbor. When we are selfish we are breaking one of the ten commandments!

Two talks from last conference relate so well to these verses... President Nelson's "Joy and Spiritual Survival" and Elder Christofferson's "Abide in His Love." I hope you have time to reread these!

Te quiero!

Mom