Week #53 - Last Week in YUMA; Going to Chandler and then . . .Back To Brazil in Two Weeks!

Monday, January 25, 2021

I will miss my companions - LIFE LONG friends for sure!

Hello!

What a week. This week was full of miracles. We also found out about transfer news, and I am leaving to Chandler to the Pleasant 3rd ward in another trio. And, my companion from the first week of the MTC in Brazil... My new ward in Chandler is her home ward! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!?! But I am so sad to say goodbye to my companions right now. They are life long friends for life. BUT I do have some really exciting news. I will only be in my new area for 2 weeks... Because I am GOING BACK TO BRAZIL!!! Honestly.... This is such an amazing miracle, and I am humbled and so excited that I can return to this amazing country. I am very sad to be leaving Arizona. But it is all in God's plan! But here are some other amazing miracles from this wonderful week:

We have been trying unsuccessfully to get together with our relief society president and finally, this week we finally had a lesson with them. Her daughter's father-in-law who isn't a member of the church is living with them. His wife recently passed away, and he is looking for some peace in his life. Well... it's a good thing that the gospel is what brings the most peace to us!! We shared a message with them about eternal families and he had sooooo many questions now about what we believe and we are hoping to meet with him again soon!

Our amazing Elders Quorum President in our YSA ward loooooves talking to people about the gospel, and he gave a Book of Mormon to his boss at work, and we were able to meet with this awesome man at his house and shared a message with him and he wants to learn more! He is awesome!! He was already reading The Book of Mormon and loves everything we have shared with him. 

Mark Concha, the amazing man who got baptized a couple weeks ago, his son is turning 8 next month and wants to take lessons like his dad did to prepare for when he gets baptized! So we met with him this week and did a lesson with him over video call, and he is the smartest 7 year old I know. He gave the opening prayer, and in the prayer he said: "Please help me to gain a remission of my sins through baptism." I don't know about you, but I've never heard another 7 year old say that hahaha. But he is doing awesome.

BIGGEST MIRACLE EVER!! Ever since me and my companions have been together here in Yuma, we have been working with this family who wants to come back to church, and they haven't been active in YEARS!! But this Sunday.... after 3 months of teaching them.... THEY FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH! And they loved it. They weren't going to bring their 2 year old daughter, and so her parents were going to watch her. And we told them that Satan would do whatever he could to make it so they wouldn't come to church. That morning, her mom texted her saying she couldn't watch her daughter.... but they still came! And they felt the spirit so strongly. It was an amazing miracle.

Wonderful friends!

We have been working with Murphy, and he doesn't necessarily like to pray. But he finally prayed for us this week! But he still says he feels nothing. And our member who was in the lesson with us, lost her necklace that her mom had given her that day. So we went outside to find it, and Murphy told us "we will never find it..." and so while Sister Hartley went with Kylie, me and Sister Martin were with Murphy looking. And I told Murphy that if he prayed right there that we would find it. And he just stared at me and said he didn't know what to say. So I literally said a prayer for him so he would know what to say, and he said it!! And right after he said amen.... kylie yells "I FOUND IT!" Murphy's face was like he had seen a ghost. He felt the spirit and he knew it. It was awesome!! 

I am so thankful for all of you and your prayers, especially with being able to return to Brazil. GOD DOESN'T DO RANDOM!! 

♡sister guilott♡

More goodbye photos of wonderful people I will remember forever!

We cooked a healthy meal!

Week #52 - Scooby at Dunkin Donut invited to FHE!

 Monday, January 18, 20201

Another great week here in Yuma. Soooo many crazy things always happen here. Here are the updates!! 

Our zone leader has a friend from the MTC that is actually from Yuma, and he's been teaching all of his friends from here up in his mission. We've been trying to get in touch with this elder, but he kinda always dodges us. But this week we earned his trust. We gave us the name of 6 of his friends that we could reach out to that want to learn more. WHAT?? And then he told us that he would give us a couple more over the weeks. But one of his friends goes by the name of Scooby. And Scooby works at Dunkin Donuts, and we decided to drive to the Dunkin Donuts that he works at (which was like 30 minutes away) and meet Scooby. We got there at 4:03.... and they closed at 4.... and they wouldn't let us in 😭 butdon'tt worry because we are smart, and decided to go through the drive thru!! And who was right there at the drive thru window?? SCOOBY!! We ended upgettingn his number and inviting him to FHE. Aaaaand we got free donuts!! Dunkin Donut miracles!!

We had zone conference this weekend and it was awesome. Zone conference is when our mission president comes down here and gives us some trainings, and also does interviews with us. During interviews, he sometimes hints what will happen to you the next transfer (which is next week.. eek). But he told me and my companions, that he has no idea what he will do with us. So be excited to hear what's going to he happening down here in Yuma!! 

Now some updates on the people we are teaching...

Jordan is doing so good! We met with him twice this week and talked about baptism with him. He told us he wants to be baptized, but wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true first. Which honestly is 100% what he should do. He told us he wants to know everything before he gets baptized, and the member who is there with us says to him, "Jordan it will take you more than a lifetime to know everything." But Jordan was talking to us about his praying, and how sometimes he feels this warm sensation all over him and he feels the blood rush to his head. He told us he thought he tripping out because he was kneeling while praying. He thought he would have to pray while standing because he didnt know what was going on. But we told him what that feeling was. THE HOLY GHOST! And then we read this scripted with him from the Doctrine & Covenants 9:8 and it says, 

"But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right." When Jordan read this, he literally couldn't believe it. So he is praying about being baptized now and if that really is the desire of his heart. Keep him in your prayers!!

We started teaching this new guy and he was a referral from the Hermanas down here. We gave him a tour of the church, and he is already reading the Book of Mormon. He seems super cool and were excited to teach him some more. 

We went over to our members home for dinner the other night, the Titensors, and they had their grandson there. He seemed like a cool guy. But he hasn't been to church in a while, and opened up to us how he wants to strengthen his relationship with God and our Savior through prayer. We invited him to come to church the next day... AND HE DID! And the stake president was there, and he was talking about receiving revelation and strengthening our relationship with our Savior and God through prayer. Wow. God doesn't do random. Our friend is now wanting to come to church weekly, and wants to come to our FHE activities!! Yay!!

I love you all!!

♡Sister Guilott♡

Week #51 - Service

Monday, January 11, 2021

All the sisters in our zone went to watch sunrise at the 

Sand Dunes where they filled Star Wars!

Happy Monday everybody!! 

This week has been another amazing week here in Yuma AZ. I say it every werk, but I love it here and being a missionary. It truly is the most important work here on earth. Sooooo here's some crazy stuff that happened this week...

We went over to our Elders Quorum presidents house in the YSA and taught our friend Jordan. He's soooo cool. We finished talking about Gods plan with him today. But last time, we talked about my favorite thing ever with him: the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And we asked Jordan if he was able to recognize how Jesus helped him the last week, and he told us that he was able to turn to Christ and feel His love so much this past week. It was awesome. We brought up baptism, and Jordan told us he wants to keep reading the Book of Mormon to gain a better testimony. MIRACLES!!

Crazy antics of two YSA members both named Michael;

They tried to scare us - didn't work.

Here's some craziness from the week. Our friend Edwin who is the beesssttt got transferred to Flagstaff :( so we sadly had to say bye, but he still wants to be taught by missionaries so we know the missionaries down in Flagstaff our LUCKYYYY!! But he did come and say goodbye to us, and brought us our Christmas presents... they are a snuggie type blanket poncho thing. It's super comfy and was super random hahaha. But he's gonna do good down in Flagstaff.

Wearing the hoodie ponchos we got from Edwin

Mark is doing awesome!!! We were able to have another lesson with him last week, and he was also able to recieve the priesthood this week!! 

Funny story: This week for our FHE activity, we played chair soccer. Which is where you try to keep your chair safe from the soccer ball. It was so fun!! But I got into it. Like big time hahaha. I was running after the ball, and a YSA member named Jonathan was too and he tripped me and I totally WIPED OUT! I layed on the floor for a second and thought i was dead for a second... but I wasn't, I was fine. And I'm fine now hahaha. But it was funny, and a good turn out for FHE! 

We've been doing a lot of service lately. We went over to one of our ward missionaries home to their orange trees in their backyard and they gave us buckets full of oranges. It was so fun! We also have been going to the food bank each week and we meet all the national guard there. It's also been lots fun!!

Fun mural at the foodbank

Oranges from our Service Project in our kitchen

Service on Exchanges with Sister Taylor

I was able to finish the Book of Mormon again this week, and each time I finish I gain a stronger testimony and witness that the Church is so true. Even though I've already gained a witness, I still prayed and asked my Father in Heaven if the Book of Mormon is true. I love the promise it gives us at the end of the Book of Mormon in Moroni 10:5 - "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." 

I invite all of you to pray to know!! 😁😁

♡Sister Guilott♡

My companions and roommates - and we are all wearing

Sister Martin's clothes in this picture! 

Week #50 - Baptism!

Monday, January 4, 2021

Yuma Territorial Prison Visit with our Zone

What. A. WEEK!! Honestly so amazing. Let me tell you all that Yuma is the promised land! I love it here. And a lot of fun stuff happened....

As I told you all last week, we found out that Mark was going to get baptized! YAY! And he told us that he wanted to get baptized on Wednesday... so we planned a baptism in 2 days, and it was so amazing. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life than I did at Mark's baptism. And everything leading up to the baptism went so good... almost too good.... so we get to the church, fill up the font, and wait for everyone to get there! Brother Holt, the one who was baptizing Mark, came and asked us - "Where's my baptismal suit?" Uhhh... what? Well we did not know that we were supposed to get his baptism suit. But then Sister Hartley said "oh we'll be right back!" And then we followed her into the kitchen?? I was so lost, and then next thing you know. There's a baptismal suit the perfect size for Brother Holt behind the kitchen door that Sister Hartley had seen 3 months before that. MIRACLE!!! 

We had originally asked our Bishop, and Elders Quorum President to give talks and then Mark wanted one of his friends to give a talk over zoom. So we told the Bishop that he was off the hook. So we hear the talk about baptism, and then Brother Wayas goes up to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and he reads to everyone a text message he received from us... it was us explaining how Mark was finally getting baptized, and how Mark wanted him to give a talk on Baptism..... well, we had him down giving a talk on the Holy Ghost.  And he called us out in front of everyone, and said "I will be using the Holy Ghost a lot right now to help with this talk." HAHAHA he gave the best talk ever. The spirit was so strong.

But this Miracle truly was amazing. To see Mark enter the waters of baptism, and for all of his sins to be washed way because of his love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

This week I also hit my one year, and truly what an amazing year it has been. I have loved all of it. I wouldn't want to serve in any other place than Brazil or Arizona. And I wouldn't want to serve any other time than RIGHT NOW! Missionary work is stronger now more than ever before!

Funny story from the week: we are helping our friend to come back to church, and we were teaching him about the Restoration. We asked him - "How do you know God is real?" And he told us... "well... my favorite drink is milk, and I see that God is real because cows drink water, and eat green grass... yet their milk is white. That's. Miracle." Well my friends. God is real because Cows milk is white, and because Mark was able to recieve a remission of his sins and to be on the path to be with God and Jesus again one day. 

♡Sister Guilott♡

We visited the Yuma Territorial Prison

Wonderful people!

Out to lunch with fabulous friends!

Week #49 - Mission Christmas and Mission Birthday - 20 in 2020!

 Monday, December 28, 2020

Turning 20

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Isn't it just the best time of the year? Everyone is just so happy and wanting to serve others. And that is what we did a lot of this week... SERVICE!! Being like our Savior and serving others is something us missionaries love to do, especially around this time of the year! Here are some fun things that happened this week...

Our mission has been doing more and more with technology and social media. One thing we did as a mission is that we had an ad go around on Facebook for people who wanted missionaries to come and carol to them! It was a hit! So Tuesday and Wednesday night we went caroling! And there were some people who signed up to have us carol to them! One person lived on the reservation, so we had to go christmas eve in the day time and they were so kind! Honestly brought the spirit so much and it was a cool way to spread the gospel. Especially through one of my favorite things... MUSIC! 

Christmas Caroling

Christmas day and Christmas eve were a blast!! We had 2 dinners christmas eve, and christmas. We hung out with some other missionaries, talked to our families, ate too much food hahaha. But honestly, it was an amazin day. 

Family on Christmas Day

Yesterday (Sunday) was a day full of MIRACLES! And it was also my bday woot woot! I am now the big 20 and it honestly didn't even feel like my birthday. But in was able to talk to my family for a little bit. But here's the cool miracle.... we started teaching this guy named Jordan, and he literally elect. Our elders quorum president in the YSA got back from his mission about 6 months ago, and he literally talks to everyone about the gospel. And Jordan is a really good family friend, so we went over to his families home and taught Jordan about the Restoration of the Gospel. He already has such a strong testimony. He told us that he wants to be baptized, that he wants to pray and read the Book of Mormon, and that he wants to meet with us like every other day hahaha. He is soooo cool! So keep him in your prayers! 

Our roommates go and volunteer at a horse place where they clean horses! Me and my comps haven't gone, mostly because horses are scary lol.. but our roommates met a marine there who wants to learn more about the church! YAY! So he actually ended up coming to church yesterday and he LOVED it! He is wanting to start bein taught and we're so excited about that!

We found out today that our friend Mark we've been teaching is going to get baptized on Wednesday! Yay! Honestly, we've been praying for him with every single prayer... SO EXCITING!! 

Thank you everyone for your kindness and love! I love being a missionary, and even though it gets a little hard around the holidays with missing home, I felt so much love this week. Especially talking about Jesus so much to people. This Christmas truly was centered on our Savior! 

♡Sister Guilott♡

Week #48 - 'Twas the week before Christmas

 Monday, December 21, 2020

This was another amazing week! The week before CHRISTMAS!! We are so pumped for Christmas down here in Yuma. Especially since it's not cold hahaha. I can wear a short sleeve shirt and still be fine! But the biggest blessing is that me and my companions are staying together! HOORAH! Here are some of the fun things that happened this week...

So... we've been trying to use Facebook more with proselyte and it's kind hard honestly. But my companion, Sister Martin, posted on a page about favorite Christmas treats! She ended up having soooo many people respond back to it. And then this Tuesday we got invited over to a lady's house and she taught us how to make toffee! SO FUN! She isn't a member, but told us her experience of how she came to know Christ in her life. She has such a crazy life, but loves God. We are hoping to go over more! 

This week we also started teaching our friend named Nathan! He is super cool. He random texted us asking how we were doing a couple weeks ago, and now he is wanting to learn more! He came to a service project, to church, and is coming to our YSA Christmas party tonight!! He is awesome! We also have Edwin we are teaching and he is praying about a date to be baptized... so pray for Edwin! 

On the 18th we had a Christmas day! It was fun. We had a devotional in the morning, a fun service project with the zone, a fun potluck dinner (we made a ham) and we played games and had another devotional that night. It was soooo much fun! 

Here's the biggest miracle from the week....

So we've been praying for Mark to be baptized! He has some stuff to overcome, so we've been inviting all our members to pray for him, our families, the mission. And soooo many people have been praying for him. We found out that there is a BIG possibility that Mark could enter the waters of baptism this week.... YAYAYAY! So whenever you pray, remember Mark! Pray for him to see this miracle and amazing Christmas present! 

Christmas is so fun and always brings so much happiness. I love this time of the year! Remember your Savior this week and the sacrifice He made for each of us! 

♡Sister Guilott♡

Week #47 - Gifts of the Season: A Giant Pizza

 Monday, December 14, 2020

This week was fantastic! Honestly not as much happened... don't get me wrong, it was eventful... but it felt more chill which was VERY NEEDED!! 

We got a new Elders Quorum President in our YSA ward and he is awesome! He got back from his mission in July, and gave one of his friends at school a Book of Mormon. We ended up meeting with him this past week and he is AWESOME! He is sooooooo interested in learning more about the gospel, so we are excited to start teaching him now!

We are now teaching Edwin again regularly. Right now he is praying for a day to be baptized... and we are super excited about that! We met with him this last week, and he came to our lesson with a GIANT pizza... like massive lol. And we asked him why he brought it and he told us it was his goodbye present to us...... because he was moving to Phoenix..... AND THEN HE SAID JUST KIDDING! We totally believed him though hahaha. He's a prankster, but he is so ready to be baptized. So keep Edwin in your prayers! 

This week we went over to a cute older couple's house and taught them a lesson. After the lesson, she invited us to come over the next day and decorate her christmas tree! It was soooo much fun. I usually hate decorating the Christmas tree at home hahah, but this was a lot of fun and made me realize it like doing that lol! 

We had a lesson with our awesome YSA converts, Jonathan and Alex and another returning member this weekend. We asked them what has helped them to feel the spirit the most in their life. And they said..... meeting with the missionaries. It honestly made me want to cry because of how adorable it was!! 

We also have been doing more Facebook finding! And we've seen lot of success with that! We are going over to a lady's house this next week to make toffee with her! We are honestly so excited! 

We also found out about transfers and me and my comps are staying together! Yay!

Another thing I have loved doing is light the world. I invite ALL OF YOU to participate in this amazing initiative that is from our prophet :)) 

♡Sister Guilott♡

Week #46 - Lighting the World in YUMA!

 Monday, December 7, 2020

Another great week here in Yuma! Here's just a couple of the wonderful miracles from this week....

Last week I talked about the National Guard and how they were leaving because they've been here for their amount of time they were called here. And we were honestly super bummed about that, because we were teaching so many cool people that would be leaving. So we've been praying for a miracle. Like a lot haha. And we got a text from one National Guard we've been helping to reactivate aaaaand..... THEY'RE STAYING!! We literally said goodbye to them, and then they told us that they are staying YAYAYAY!! God is a God of miracles (go read 2 Nephi 27:23)

Hurray for Service!

We had another cool miracle this week. We all of a sudden got a random text from a saved contact we've never talked to saying, "Hey, how are guys." Next thing you know we have a lesson set up with him for the next day. We meet with him and he is soooo cooooool and honestly super elect and ready to hear the message of the Restoration. 

We decided to try and have 40 lessons this week, it was a friendly competition with our District Leader haha. We ended up getting 39 and we are now EXHAUSTED holy cow. But the miracles we saw of sharing a message with that many people was absolutely amazing! We also did a lot of fun service and I'll share some pics with that.

Exhausted but happy!

I am so grateful for being a missionary. I know I say that every week, but it's always true. We've been inviting everyone here to participate in Light the World, so I want to invite all of you guys as well!! Here's one of my favorite scriptures that talks about that: "Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed." 3 Nephi 18:24

♡Sister Guilott♡