August 9, 2016

Welll to update you on me....the one who is always getting
lost....This week we have only been getting lost slightly less than
the last one.....haha. I have been kind of learning the streets now,
so thats good. Please pray for me ;)

yes, the weather is nice, I am wearing a sweater today!!!!! People
think Im crazy, but its cold here!

This week we contacted this referral. He lives super far away from the
rest of our area, but we had an appointment and he seemed pretty
interested. Well, his trailer was in this weird place where people fix
cars, but theres different sections, so that was super weird because
we thought it was going to be apartments....His brother and him were
there though and the spirit was super strong. We shared the
restoration and talked a lot about baptism. The first time we
mentioned it Miguel was like, Yeah I need to get baptized sometime. It
was pretty cool because nobody ever really says that they need to get
baptized! They were super funny too and always making fun of each
other.

This week there was a ward activity at a park, so it was outside...and
it was pretty cloudy, so I decided that sunscreen wasn't necessary
when my companion asked me if I wanted some...I got the worst sunburn
of my mission! (Which actually wasn't that bad) But still....I guess
my stubbornness hasn't changed that much :)

We have also been teaching this older lady named Celia...She is in a
wheelchair and only has one leg and says she is waiting for the
day.....well, you know. its kind of sad. But she is super funny in
lessons! She just really gets into what she is saying and sometimes
she yells and I cant really understand her because she talks really
fast and slurs a lot and she just seems mad. Shes just so intense. But
she also is super into what we talk about and hopefully will be able
to make it to church soon.

We got a referral for this guy named Humberto and he ended up being a
member! He is also super sick and his brother is taking care of him.
His brother is...super interesting and at first had no interest in
talking to us. We taught his brother outside the sliding glass door
while he was in his room. During the lesson his brother came out and
said to let him know when our lesson was over so we can pray for him.
So we knocked on the door for him to come pray when we finished and
after the prayer he took an interest in the message! So then we
testified about the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon and got
a return appointment. I think the Lord is really trying to prove to me
lately that hearts can soften and that I just need to keep giving it
my all everyday!

I love being a missionary. Some days it may seem hard, some days may
be full of crazy miracles, and some may just seem to be ordinary, but
at the end of the day, I realize that miracles are all around us and
that we are truly children of a loving Heavenly Father, that
everything is never as it seems. I know that we are not alone in the
Work, there is a hand much bigger and greater involved.

Love,
Hermana Lapp

Aug 2, 2016

This week was an interesting one. Our area is ginormous and my companion doesn't drive, so she doesn't know the area (doesn't drive, only been here 6 weeks). And soooo we have to use maps but that doesn't really work very well, so we have been spending a week driving around....our area is huge and we just teach people all day long because there are always a bunch of people outside. We just talk to people all day. It's actually really nice! It has taken some adjustment because I'm used to small towns now....but it's very similar to Chula Vista we just have a lot more area to cover! 

Yesterday we went to the mission home (for the first time in 15 months!) to go to a meeting with Sister Schmitt. It was so great! We got to eat lunch with sister Schmitt and talk about our areas and the sisters that we are serving. She is such an amazing person. Then we got lost again in our area trying to find this place where we were going to do service for our investigator.....haha I'm so used to getting lost now! But yesterday we were with a member and we taught this girl named Margo who asked us when she can get baptized (the dream) and then we found this lady in the street that came to California with absolutely nothing, she prayed that God would guide her and she ended up at the Mormon church. She said that they helped her out and she is ever grateful for "the Mormons". Haha so we taught her and she remembered the story of Joseph Smith that she heard 20 years ago! 

We went to the temple today so I'm sorry, it has to be short today :( 

Love you!

Hermana Lapp

July, 26, 2016

Well, this week was also a long one, but on Saturday we had the privilege
of seeing our investigator, Paola, be baptized! We worked so hard to help
her and lead her. She was super nervous before and she doesn't really ever
show her emotions, but she was nervous for this new commitment, but she
knew that it was the right thing to do. Afterward we could see a change in
her, especially after she recieved the gift of the holy ghost. I think as
we taught her we saw her smily more and feel more of God's love for her,
especially as she kept her commitments to read and pray and come to church.
Her mom said it was such a miracle because she is shy and doesnt really
like interacting with people, so for her to go to church was a huge step.
Her mom was baptized in June and she sent me an email today telling me how
grateful she was that the Lord sent us to answer her prayer---To find the
truth and that we are helping her family to join her in this as well. I
just found it to be such a huge miracle. I feel we have worked so hard and
have done all we could do.

This Family is so cute!

 Another miracle we saw was with a less active. We met him and he said he
had asked for his name to be removed, but I don know if he didn't do the
full process or something because his records still exist. He asking why we
are here, he doesn't need religion. He said that he doesn't need God and
that God doesn't need him. He is a social worker and sees horrible things
done to children and elderly people, so he is just super angry. He at first
said he would never ever call God his Father, but some miracle happened
during the lesson and he ended the lesson with a prayer saying "Heavenly
Father". During the lesson his heart softened more and more. He went from
saying I willl not go to church to I hope someday I can go to church to
where is the church? Maybe I will try to go sometime. I gained a testimony
that day that hearts can change in a manner of minutes if we come with the
spirit, ready to listen to the needs of the people. I also read a scripture
that answered his question perfectly to "Why do bad things happen to good
people" and it basically explained that if God stopped a person from doing
something bad, then that person couldn't be judged and punished for his
unrighteous actions. I found that to be really interesting and actually and
answer for me as well. I think we have all wondered tha before.

Here's what happened yesterday...I have been working really hard in my
companionship to be "humble, patient, full of love". It was going super
super good, but then Well, The Lord put me to the real test. Like, THE REAL
test. Sunday night I woke up at 11:54 to a choking noise, half asleep I
turned around and saw that my companion was having a seizure. I jumped up
and turned on the light, looking everywhere for the phone, crying. I called
the mission pres. wife who is a DR. and she told me to call 911. They sent
a firetruck. She had no idea what was going on and she was kind of
incoherent. all she could say was "Hermana, what happened?" so Id tell her
what happened and she would ask me again what happened. Plus it didnt help
that she doesnt know what seizure is in English and I didnt know what it
was in Spanish and I had to look it up. I had to knock on the Elders door
(they live in our complex) from what Sis. Schmitt told me to do and I was
waiting for them to come outside so they could give her a blessing. The
firefighters had arrived and were attending to me companion. They were also
trying to see if I was lying (I was so annoyed at them) and they told me I
needed to come inside and get off the phone with Sis. Schmitt, pres. called
the elders so they just waited for us outside our apartment. By the way,
did you know firefighters are super rude??? They got sooo mad at me because
I was crying. Then the ambulance arrived (they figured out I wasn't
lying...go figure). She didn't want me to leave her at all and she wanted
me right next to her holding her hand so for the first time I got to ride
in an ambulance! That was actually pretty cool. I mean, it wasnt cool at
the time, but now it is. Well, we stayed in the hospital until 9:15. I went
to the sister training leaders apartment at 8 to sleep and they called us
at 9 to come get them. (by the way, I didnt sleep) then we went home and
she slept a while and I just laid there because I couldnt sleep. well, she
has this thing where she twitches, its not an epileptic seizure like that
night, just little twitches that last less than a second and it only
happend twice while we were together. Well, she woke up and kept having
those, so I had to call Sis. Schmitt again and they told me to get her some
benedryl and turn on some hymns. so , I did that and she fell asleep. The
sisters told me about transfers....my comp is going back to the batallion
and I am in San Ysidro as a Sister Training Leader, so they are giving our
area to the elders. Pres. Schmitt called and said that he was sending a
Senior couple to bring us to san diego (we lived 2 hours from San Diego)
and the Sister Training Leaders are coming to help us pack. So We packed,
mind you I hadn"t slept at all, so towards the end, I collapsed on a bed
and just cried. Then they took us to san diego, I couldnt sleep in the car,
nor on the couch that is in the break room of the battallion. The director
of the battalions wife gave me benedryl and told me to take it as soon as I
get to my apartment to sleep. My new companion and her old companion came
and picked me up, I took benedryl and slept a solid 8 1/2 hours and then we
had to take her old companion to the airport because she was returning
home. It was the longest day of my life and I had to be "humble, patient,
full of love" for almost 24 hours as I took care of and worried for my
companion. When I talked to Pres. Schmitt at the airport he shook my hand
for 2 minutes straight and told me it was killing him that he wasnt there
and he wished he wouldve come, but he thought the hospital would only take
2 hours, but that this is the practice the Lord wanted me to have to be a
sister training leader..some practice, verdad??? Last night I parted ways
with my companion. It was hard to leave her and I felt sooo sad, but I know
I am needed here in San Ysidro. I am actually really grateful for the
experience, because I learned a lot about love and charity.

Hospital Selfie

Car Selfie....just to show the bags under our eyes  :)

I'm in my new area now and I am feeling a lot better today. I'm still a
little tired, but I am soooo ready to get to work tomorrow.

Love,
Hermana Lapp

I forgot to say stuff about my new companion!

My new companion is Sister Leyva. She came in the same day as me, but since
she was only in the MTC for 2 weeks, I am one transfer ahead of her. She is
from Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico and she was originally english-speaking, but
got switched to spanish. This area is another border town, my area is
suuuper close to Mexico again. I live in Imperial Beach (riiiight next to
the beach that we can't go to.), which is just outside my area and I have a
2015 Toyota Corolla, I feel so cool driving that red thing around :) Haha
thats basically all I know about my new area.

July 19, 2016

Well, this week was a pretty crazy one. I have a lot of stories to
unload here today.

First we had interviews this week and I don't want to go into too much
detail because that will take too long, but it was really really good!
I learned a lot from President about how the Lord tests our humility
and charity just as he tests our patience and our faith. I also
learned about my attribute of being uncompromising and how that can be
both a weakness and a strength. I have a lot to work on, but I know
that I have The Lord on my side and I am so grateful that I have such
a great, loving mission president to give me council as well.

As a result of interviews, we have been visiting a lot of members and
giving them something our mission made called faith cards. Basically
its a card to remind the members to do something we invited them to do
to find new people to teach. It has been fun to go see the members for
a few minutes and be able to get to know them a little better. The
members definitely need a new fire for missionary work, its still in
the works, but i can see a change coming in the near future :)

Yesterday we were about to pray to go see this less active when this
guy walks past our car and he looked drunk or something, so we didnt
get out of the car. He goes to this door and knocks on it and then out
of his back pocket pulls out a hair brush and starts combing his hair.
We were just like,.....what??? The heat must really be getting to
people or something. Yesterday we were teaching a lesson with a
patricia, the recent convert and the investigator asked us if we
wanted tea or water. And of course we go for the water, but Patricia
said tea was fine. Well I was worried like crazy about that, but then
Patricia all of a sudden remembered she doesnt drink tea anymore and
mouthed to us "Oh no, TEA" and started telling the investigator, I
changed my mind, I changed my mind!!! Adjustments to the gospel are so
funny sometimes :)

We had been teaching this woman named Rosy and she hadn't really read
in the Book of Mormon. She had come to church once, but hadn't read
much. So we followed up and recommitted and then she went on vacation.
When she returned from her vacation this week we called her and
invited her to church again and she came! Yesterday we visited her and
she had read to 1 Nephi 15! That was our pretty cool miracle from this
week.

This week was pretty slow, but I was really thinking a lot differently
than usual and it made the week a lot better and it ended up being a
great week! we visited some members, gave them faith cards, and went
around searching for people. We have been using the part member family
list and calling/visiting formers and potentials. We both feel that we
really did all we could this week and are hoping to see miracles this
upcoming week as we do all we can again. there are things I have seen
change in me. I was a pretty lazy teenager and I feel that I have
changed that into a strength and developed true diligence. I have
given my all every day of my mission to this work. Im sure there were
days more lazy than others, but I have never given up. There are
things that I am trying to change my heart on right now and I think
thats something Ive also learned, never give up on changing.

Love,
Hermana Lapp

July 13, 2016

 This Is Becka....Sorry for the very late posts  I have been traveling for over a month now in Idaho and Oregon.  I am going back to North Dakota for 2 more months..... then back to Idaho for Scarlett to arrive home in Mid October!!!  I am so excited and I miss that girl so so much!  I haven't written much of my own comments because I just wanted this page to be for her and her thoughts.  I am so blessed  to have her as my daughter.  She is an amazing young lady with a kind heart and full of so much goodness. Thank you all  for  your love and support!!

Servicio!

I wrote you an email, but I dont think it sent. This is from last

week. I will send you an email for this week sometime today.

Well, this week was a pretty hot and good week! Friday was really hot,
but the lord blessed us and let us have 5 lessons that day!!!!!! It
was good for 2 reasons, we got to teach lots of people and we didn't
have to be outside as much!

We visited this woman named Luz and it was the second time we had
taught her. We talked about baptismal dates that morning in Zone
meeting and so we had just practiced doing baptismal invitations and
we were invited to do it no later than the 2nd lesson. So we were
super late for the lesson because zone meeting was really long and our
ipads deleted her phone number so we had no way of telling her. So we
showed up late and she said she was going to leave but she prayed 3
times that we would show up and then we came! So that was crazy. She
loves what we teach and read in the Book of Mormon. She is older and
so remembering everything is hard for her, but she loooooves it! She
is so excited for the gospel and accepted a date for the 13th of
August with a simple yes! She couldnt go to church this sunday because
she was going on vacation but she should be coming this sunday!

We have begun to see a change in our investigator, Paola, the daughter
of a recent convert. She has been coming to church, but she wasn't
reading very often. As we have been able to celebrate with her, be
happy with her, she has been able to read more often. She has been
reading almost everyday this past week.

There are 2 really cool less-actives that have been coming back to
church! First, is Carlos! We decided to text him and see when we could
go see him and  i guess we did it at a perfect time because he told us
he is going to quit his job so that he can go back to church and he
instantly started to read and pray everyday. He is just the best and a
couple months later he is now active again and I cant wait for him to
get a calling! He was a missionary in the phillipines and has suuuuch
a strong testimony.

The second less active is Emily. We had been trying and trying and
trying to see her but she was never there. Her dad was there once and
he said he wants her to go back to church. Well her dad who is a
non-member told us he wanted her to go back to church.  a few weeks
ago she called us and said she was coming back to church. She came and
has been coming ever since because her dad told her to go back to
church!!!! She even invited her dad to be baptized. He wont really let
us teach him right now, but he will get there! She has been doing so
much missionary work and it has just been such a miracle to see!

This work is the best and I love being a missionary. Wearing His name
everyday has helped me to understand His love for us and the love that
God has for us more fully. No matter who we are, who we have been, no
matter what He wants us to return to Him! I know its true, more than
ever before!

Love,
Hermana Lapp

The member we did service for..
and she fed us lunch

I am the best at eating spicy food  and a member made
spicy spicy spicy salsa ....I  ate it and didn't die!