August 30, 2016

Last week we went to a place at balboa park. Since we are
missionaries, we are residents so if we bring a letter, we get into
museums for free on Tuesdays. Every week is different and last week we
thought it was the 3rd Tuesday and we were going to go to the Japanese
friendship garden, you know super pretty, and the museum of man, you
know, super interesting. Well.....we were wrong, it was the 4th
Tuesday....so we went to the aerospace museum....the car museum was
closed....and I wasn't about to go to the sports champions
museum...but we had fun anyway! There are these tiny cottages
everywhere and there are usually only a couple open at a
time...they're like a little room for different countries...we went to
China and Iran!

Our biggest miracle is that yesterday we found a family! And they were
waiting for us and just so ready to listen! The dad is super interested
(it's usually the mom) and the mom is SOOO sweet. They have 4 kids, only 2
are baptismal age, but that's like whatevs because the other two can grow
up in the gospel and they want to come to church this Sunday! That's the
biggest miracle of the week. The little boys name is Israel and we asked
him how God has blessed his life and he said he's given his family
protection and nobody has killed them yet. Haha kids say the funniest
things.

We got this referral from missionaries in Nevada. They were teaching this
man and he moved here to San Ysidro so they sent him to us. We recieved the
referral and called him right away. He was super excited to receive our
call and schedule an appointment so we were super excited as well because
usually people aren't that excited! We had a lesson with him and he knew a
lot! He was already in alma when we first met with him and had gone to
church twice! But he's kind of a know it all, so we have had to grow to
love him. He usually wants to do all of the talking, but yesterday we had a
really pleasant lesson with him and he seems to be more and more humble
every time we talk to him, it's cool to see his heart change....and mine
too.

We had exchanges this week! I went to my old area--Chula Vista! I went with
sister Garcia, she is a wonderful missionary. Hermana Garcia is really
amazing at talking
with everyone and really getting to know them. She really shows her
love to the people she meets. We actually saw a few people that I know,
which was kind of funny. Some less actives....it was really funny because
we taught this less active I saw a less active that I knew walk outside her
house! She is super hard to find, and last time the missionaries taught her
was when I was there and that time the missionaries couldn't find her for
months before that and she wasn't very happy about it. The sisters tried to
see her, but she was never there, so they left notes. This time she was a
lot more receptive and willing to listen to us and gave us the real,reasons
she's not going to church! It was a miracle because Hermana Garcia had
never seen her before, but I had! She even recognized me from the one time
I went to see her! We also tried to go see someone and ran into one of my
formers that I still think about sometimes, she is the apartment manager at
the complex and so we taught her and she said the sisters could go back!
She is such a cool lady and I was so sad to drop her because we just
couldn't find her, but that day I happened to be there, she was there.
Miracles everywhere that day!

We taught a suuuuper old guy and his wife this week that the sisters found
on exchanges....he was sooooo old! He can't really hear very well or talk
very well, but his wife is super interested and has read the Book of Mormon
before and loved it and has been to church! They are such a cute little old
couple and he is super funny. He kept saying stuff about
la....iglesia....catolica....apostolica.....romana, All spaced out like hat
too because I don't think he can breathe very well, but it made the church
name sound super dramatic. Oh and the wormies we found in our apartment a
few months ago in Calexico....well there were a few of them in their
house...I was freaking out inside. But it's ok because they are super cool.
Love,
Hermana Lapp

Exchanges with Hermana Garcia!

 We had to do some of our studies in the car on Sunday due to
church, appointments, we don't live in our area, etc. we had a little
set up so the sun wasn't shining in our faces....we have a screen to
keep out the sun that has eyes like the movie cars....and I also took
a couple pictures of my companion while she was on the phone....haha

Video of me and Some Idaho potatoes

Our investigator who came to an activity with us :)

August 23, 2016

Exchanges

This week was a pretty good one as usual. We had a ton of members come
out with us to teach people and that is always super good and super
fun! One of the ward missionaries is a little old lady from Guatemala
and she is just such an awesome little missionary! She joined the
church when it just barely started being a thing in Guatemala, so she
did a lot of missionary work there to build the kingdom in Guatemala!
She comes out with us all the time and she always says "Que alegre!"
And makes fun of me and my companion because we are getting kind of
old in the mission.

We went on an exchange on Friday and it was a good time! Hermana
Samamé came here to San Ysidro with me and she is such a powerful
missionary! People on the street even noticed and commented on her
sincerity. She is from temple square. Sisters from temple square go
out to a mission for three months and experience a different kind of
mission. She is from Peru and sometimes lives in Panama as well. We
had a lot of fun and we saw lots of miracles. We met this lady who
didn't want to learn from us, but kept talking to us about how
precious we were and how she and her friends she was with are just
sinners. Well, she testified of Jesus Christ and how we are all
sinners but through him we can be clean! We invited her to pray if she
should learn more and told her we would be waiting for her call ;) we
also had a couple of great lessons with some of our investigators and
members that came out with us. We are teaching this lessactive
Humberto. His brother who is taking care of him (super sick) called to
confirm an appointment, which I thought was at 4. They said they would
be waiting at 4v but then I saw that it was a different appointment!
So I called them back and they said we could go over at two. So we
went and Humberto was reading in the Book of Mormon, something he had
never really done on a long time and he said that he would've been
reading from 1pm-4pm if we were going to go at four! Too bad we
couldn't go at 4....he would've read a lot!!

Yesterday we were right next to the border of Tijuana! I always feel
super cool when we go down there! They have this giant flag that you
can see from miles away on one of the hills in TJ. I took a
picture....but you can't really see it :( we speak a lot of Spanish
down here and on the exchange I think I said 1 sentence in English! It
was pretty fun and it's been really fun to teach literally everyone we
see in Spanish.

We recieved a referral from other missionaries--a man who almost got
baptized, but then he moved here last week. He lost his son about a
year ago and truly loves the message of the church that families can
be together forever. He is also in Helaman in the Book of Mormon! He
reads super fast and loves what it says! Last week we brought him to
an FHE at the bishops house and he seemed to enjoy it and the spirit
was really strong! There was another recent convert there as well who
bore her testimony on how the gospel has changed her life and you
could Just feel the happiness she has received from the gospel. We
have been receiving a lot of really cool referrals, so that has been a
huge miracle this week!

I love being a missionary! I have truly been blessed to be able to set
apart this time in my life to serve The Lord. I know that this is His
work and I am a part of it fully at this time in my life. I have
really been learning to love people and express that love to others
and that has been something wonderful that I have been able to feel
the of the Savior for others. He really loves all of us! No matter who
we are who we've been and he is so proud of every single one of us for
trying to be better than we were yesterday. That's really the message
of the gospel for me: that we have the capacity to be better than we
were yesterday.


Well, that's all this week!
Love,
Hermana Lapp

See if you can spot la Bandera

August 16, 2016

Soooo I trained sister Romero and 

she wanted to take a picture because

she trained the one next to her and 

now she's training the one next to

her....#generations

This week was a crazy one. We had a seventy come on Wednesday, Elder
Arnold, he gave a talk last conference about members being
missionaries and that's what he talked about at the zone conference.
It was 10 hours long! You don't even know how tired I was after a
spiritual meeting like that, but I'm not complaining I learned
soooooo much! He is so inspirational and has suffered through so much
in his life that none of us can even imagine. He is such an inspiring
speaker, he reminds me of a mix between Elder Holland and Elder
Bednar. He has such a passion and fire for the work. He told a lot of
stories, especially from when he was a mission president in Uruguay at
37 and had to get all the missionaries out of there, because of who
know what I don't really remember, and he was held at gunpoint and
things like that. But then he had to go to where all the missionaries
in the mission were going to be Transferred and had to drive to each
city and pray for guidance to know which missionary to put there. It
taught me a lot about following the spirit and how directly it can
speak to us if we just have faith.
I learned so many things from Elder Arnold. He has been through so
many things and really just showed me an example of someone who can do
hard things. I think I learned a lot from the way he teaches, aside
from working with members and all that, which I learned a lot. What I
loved about him was that he got really personal. You could just see
the passion for the work and the fire in his eyes. I think to myself a
lot now, do people see that in me? He testified with such boldness,
power and love it made me want to be better. I have been taking what I
learned from that and tried to do the same thing, to testify
personally with a fire and passion. When working with members, recent
converts, less-actives and investigators I want to apply that
principle of testifying with passion.

This week we have really been just setting our area on fire! We set a
bunch of dates for September. One with a family they taught all last
transfer. We prayed to the Lord and said if it's His will that we drop
them, they won't come to church this Sunday. They
haven't come to church yet, but they have read in the Book of Mormon
and are member referrals. Well, we set a date for the third of
September with the faith that they will come. Then on Sunday we
thought that they didn't show up....we searched for them in the halls.
We sat down and I saw one of them sitting in the back, but I wasn't
sure it was him because he wasn't sitting next to his grandma.  So I
said "who's that kid back there? " and my companion turned around and
said "it's them! They came!" So that was pretty exciting. They are
super cool and hopefully they can get baptized that day!

We also set a date for the 10th with a woman named Maria. This Sunday
we visited her at night and she didn't come to church. But when we
visited her she said that she changed her schedule for her job so that
she can come to church and was excited for her baptism! She is so cool
and really just wants to give her life to God!

I also love this Ward that we are in! We took the bishop out and he is
soooo funny! He didn't go with my companion before but after the
lesson he told us he is free every Saturday if we want him to come
out. I just love him and really appreciate the work that he does for
this Ward. We have some super sweet recent converts in the ward as
well. Candy recently got baptized with her 2 kids. I came on an
exchange here once and she wasn't interested in listening to the
missionaries, but her son was a convert. Well, he left on a mission
and now his family got baptized a couple months ago! They are super
active and her daughter even goes to early morning seminary! That's a
sacrifice! I am so grateful to serve in this area, i truly already
love it soooo much.

Love,
Hermana Lapp

Janeth....She's going on her mission on
the 24th of August to Logan Utah! 

Companionship Selfie