I Love to See the Temple! (Apr 25, 2016)

A year ago, I entered the temple and was endowed. Wow time flys! I have definitley seen the blessings and the power of hte temple. I am blessed here in the mission to be able to go every other transfer to do a session and then every week (if we can) with the recent converts and rescues from the zone. I know the temple is the house of the Lord. I never get tired of testifying of it! GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!!!!

I dont have a ton of time (as usual)... so....

Excert from Pres letter

"Miracle of the week! On Saturday, we went out with the CCM into our area. We had Hermana Blackmore with us. We didnt have any set appointments, and everywhere we went no one was home. We were trying to contact in the street but there weren't many people out and about either. We went to contact this woman with her toddler. We started talking to her and asked if we could share a message with her. She looked at us and said, "Why not! Im going home right now. Come on!" We went with her and started to share with her about the Godhead. She expressed her confusion that she has always had about that and thanked us for helping it make more sense. She said that what we had shared was something that she has always looked for. She had been waiting for a sign from God to move towards a religion and grow closer to Him. She lives with a house full of people who also want the truth. This experience strengthened my testimony of contacting in the streets. Our Heavenly Father is constantly putting prepared people in our way. We just have to open our mouths and share!"

PONDERIZE!!!!

Moroni 4:3

 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

This is the prayer for the santa cena. I love studying with the people that we teach and explaining the significance of the convenios that we made when we were baptized and the promises that we get each week. We get an "extra" spirit with us each time we partake of hte sacrament. This next week, see how much more attention you can press when the priesthood are blessing it. Also, it reminds me of Elder Bednar's talk from this last conference. Read it. 

Burrito Bar!!

That's all the time I got this week!

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Hermana Elise Joyner

It's Tuesday...what does that mean?... BURRITOS!!! (Apr 19, 2016)

Happy Tuesday! Do you know what that means? It means I get to go to the burrito bar for lunch!  WAHOO!

The District

So this past week was super crazy with one thing or another. The big thing was that Elder Godoy from the Area Presidency came and did a two-day conference with us.  One day, the Zones here in Lima. The next day, the Zones from the south. And then to end it all, we had a leader meeting with him. It was pretty neat. He had no notes, no outline. He just spoke by the Spirit and the needs of the group he was talking to. He talked to our group about how we are the future of the church and need to prepare now. Then he went on to give us the four step secret to success on your mission. It was awesome! Then afterwards, I had the opportunity to have an interview with him. The leadership meeting was cool too. It was basically “We’ve had two days together. Now what are you gonna do leaders?” He is a funny guy. He is from Brazil, so he speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and English and kept mixing the three up. It was a good little conference.

On Saturday, we got up super early to go to the Temple for Family History. We haven’t been able to go for a couple of weeks, so it was great to be able to return. I LOVE THE TEMPLE! Even to just be able to sit outside on the grounds while the converts were inside is the best to me! When was the last time you went to the Temple? That was too long ago! GO! YOU’LL FEEL BETTER! PROMISE!

Saturday night, the other Hermanas in our ward had a baptism, so we went to help out with that. It was pretty special! Baptisms are fun! I love listening to the testimonies of people who have been recently baptized. Their spirit and will to follow the Savior are so strong!

Saturday night, we got the Cambios [transfers] call. Hermana Giler had cambio! NO! We’ve really had a great time working together. She went to Pisco. BUT! I have a new companion! Hermana Oñate from Ecuador! She’s cute and super eager to work. She just finished her training, so she has 3 months in the mission. She was in Ayacucho before, which is the farthest Zone from here (12 hours in bus). It’ll be a good time! I’m excited to get to know her.

PONDERIZE! Mosiah 7:33.  I like this verse. “Turn to the Lord…full purpose of heart…trust in him…serve him will all diligence…according to HIS own WILL and PLEASURE…deliver you.” Those are some of the phrases I liked. Especially, “His will and pleasure.” Something that Elder Godoy said is that we can be obedient and do everything that we need to and not see the blessings immediately. In His will and pleasure, God will give us the promised blessings. He just may be keeping them in a safety deposit for a rainy day when we need them more. We just gotta trust Him and keep on keepin’ on!

Well, my friends! That’s kinda all I got for ya! I always have so many things that I want to tell you but when I sit down to write it out, I lose it all. My mind goes blank…. Anyway, I hope you had a great week and that Dad had a great birthday! Have a fantastic week!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Elise Joyner

WINTER IS COMING!!! (Apr 11, 2016)

Hi family! I hope you all had an AWESOME week!  Spring-breaking, BYU’ing, siendo minionero, and whatever else you folks are up to!

Anyway, a little update on some happenings here. Esperanza agreed to be baptized! The only problem is that she won't put a date to it because she might have cancer and wants to get that figured out. So if you’d pray for her, that would be cool. I know your prayers helped Magaly and Christian make it, so they can help her too! 

This week we did some family history Skype training with some of the zones in the south. Two of the zones have senior couples who recently arrived in the mission. They are the cutest! I love Senior missionaries. But boy! Is Family History keeping us busy! Lots of things to do. 

This week has been pretty uneventful. Just doing the missionary thing! And I love it!!! I was reading in Alma 29 this morning. Alma is talking how his only desire is to preach the gospel for the rest of his life. I'm living Alma’s dream! I get to go out and preach the gospel every minute of every day! In the end of the chapter (it’s not very long) Alma describes and talks about the success he and his brethren and have had. I especially love verse 13! "God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word into this people, and have given me much success, and the which my joy is full.” Lately, I've been feeling like I haven’t having much success as a missionary. But as I listen to conference (especially Elder Holland) and read this chapter, I have come to realize that the only success that matters is that which comes from God. And in that “my joy is full”.  I really do love being a missionary and can't imagine my life without this experience. How lucky am I?! 

So!!!  GREAT NEWS!  THE WEATHER IS CHANGING!!!  In the days when we are out and about, it is still grossly hot. BUT at night and when we wake up, there is a little chill in the air. I even started sleeping with the sheet again. I’M SO EXCITED!! I have a new appreciation for air-conditioning.

So yesterday was kinda fun. I got sick Saturday night (DON’T WORRY MOM. I’M FINE). So for the first time in my mission, we stayed in on account of my health. But yesterday was different here in Peru. It was election day. On election day, it is law that everyone has to vote. To make that happen, it is also a law that you can't have formal, organized meetings. So we didn't have church yesterday. We stayed in during the morning and left to work after lunch. All missionaries had to be in their houses at 7:30 PM last night so we were in early. It was a weird day. When you get sick here, you have to drink this super gross drink. It's 1000 mL of sterilized electrolytes. It's gross. Bleh! I don't recommend its taste.

I ain’t got nothin’ else to say, so here are thoughts on General Conference. I really liked Elder Anderson's talk about the children. I'd say that one of the hardest rules for me is to not pick up the children. I just want to hold them them and hug them and give them the love that some of them don't get from home. But you better believe that I do what I can within my limits! I also like Elder Ballard's talk about family councils. It made me want to have a family council because talking to my family is fun! I thought that what Pres. Monson chose to say was interesting. Choices are important. I loved all of Sunday morning! I really liked Elder Hale’s talk about the Holy Ghost. It pretty much helped answer a lot of the questions I had. And then of course, Elder Holland's talk. That also answered a lot of my questions. I like how he said “The great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don't always succeed.” We get credit for trying! Gosh I love conference!

Basically, I came on my mission at a good time! In August, we had Elder Bednar. We just had Elder Robbins. Wednesday, we will have Elder Godoy. And in June, we will have Elder Rasband. If Maddie came two weeks earlier, I could see her at Elder Rasband’s conference! But unfortunately, she will just miss it.

Anyway, that’s all I got for you this week!  Hope you had a great week and that Dayne is gearing up for all those finals!

Love you!!!

Hermana Elise Joyner

PS. Thank you Perschkas for the Easter Card!  It was a pleasant surprise!

PPS. The picture is of these snow man dolls a less active made for us. She wouldn’t let us leave while she made two dolls and then went into her back room and pulled out two different ones to give to us. It was too funny! She’s cute!

Hermana Joyner, Hermana Giler, and the Snowmen!!

TEMPLO TEMPLO TEMPLO TEMPLO!!!! (Apr 4, 2016)

WHAT A TREAT WE GOT THIS PAST WEEKEND!!!!!! I just LOVE CONFERENCE!!!! It's like Christmas for missionaries! 

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!!!!! WAHOOO!!!!!!

So before I start into conference, PONDERIZE! ENOS! I did pull new stuff out every time I read it. What really stuck out to me when I read it is the principle of true conversion. Enos struggled and cried and strived for a remission of his sins. Through his faith, he was able to obtain it. Once he gained his own spiritual autosuficiencia [self-sufficiency], he desired and cried unto the Lord for his people as well as his enemies. He made covenants with the Lord and then stayed true and worked in God's work until the end of his days. This makes me think about what the truly converted do. Preach My Gospel says that when we are really converted, we want to share the gospel with others. I just love that! I saw this in San Juan with Magaly and Christian. After her baptism, Magaly came and accompanied us to lessons where she could share her own testimony and help more people come unto Christ. I love the last two verses of the chapter:

"26 And I saw that I must soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.

27 And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen."

How great would that be to hear our Father say "You have been faithful and have worked so hard in my vineyard. I have prepared a place just for you!" I just love ENOS! THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!

Ok, CONFERENCE TIME!!! First off... TEMPLO TEMPLO TEMPLO TEMPLO!!!!!! WE ARE GETTING ANOTHER TEMPLE!!!! Granted, I won't actually be here when it is open, but I'M STILL SO EXCITED!!!! What a blessing it will be for the people here! They are such good people and were so pumped up yesterday when President Monson made the announcement. Remember the story that somebody (I think it was Elder Cook...) siad about when they announced the temple in the pacific islands (don't remember where) and all the missionaries were jumping on their beds? That pretty much describes us in the English room yesterday. 

I want to write so much more because I have so many other thoughts, so I will write them out and send it next week. Oh how one hour goes by so fast! Talks I loved- all of them. In particular- Elder HOLLAND (!!!!), Elder Hales, President Uchtdorf, Elder Anderson, and Elder Ballard. I'll talk about it next week.

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Hermana Elise Joyner

Aleluya! (Mar 28, 2016)

[This is transcribed from a handwritten letter, so excuse any errors]

Monday has come again!  It’s kinda funny how before the mission, everyone dreads Monday, but on the mission, Monday is just what the doctor ordered.

To start off, I’m gonna tell you about a new investigator named Esperanza.  She is really the best!  She is just a little whipper-snapper!  Her name is Esperanza Rubio, and she is single and happy!  She’s like 75 years old, more or less.  She was a member reference.  Anyway, we found her last Sunday, and she has already come to understand all about the Priesthood and the Apostasy!  When we talked about the Apostasy, she gave us a history lesson of the Catholic church.  She got some revelation there.  We presented the Book of Mormon.  She looked at it and was like “I’m gonna start at page one and read this whole thing.”  And I was like “great!  Let us know how it goes!”  She got really excited.  We took her to church today.  When we showed up at her door, she was waiting outside all ready to go so that we could be early.  It was too cute!  She has this old lady shuffle and it takes us 10 minutes to walk down the street a little.  She is very opinionated and says her mind!  And totally gets away with it!  We were in our Gospel Principles class and she answered all the questions and the questions of other people and was cracking jokes the whole time.  Too cute!  We were talking about the Priesthood and she says to the class, “My friend Guzman is a Priest.  Who knew?!”  I was kinda super proud to be sitting next to her.  I just love this lady and have only visited twice!  What a Rockstar!  She asked us how much longer we will be in Peru and we told her.  She said to Hermana Giler, “You go.  Hermana Joyner and I will be together till the end but you’ll be outta here soon!”  It was kinda the greatest moment of my life.  

Thanks for the Easter package mom and Sis. Ritz!  You’re just the best!  

So conference this past Saturday was pretty legit!  Usually it’s just a pep talk about how great us women are, but this time they actually put forth a call to action.  I liked it!  But I also felt really out of the loop with the world news (and you know, Dad, I like my world news).  What’s happening to make refugees a conference topic?  Fill me in folks!  I love it when Sis. Neill Marriott speaks because it reminds me of home.  SOUTHERNERS ARE THE BEST!

I am so pumped for this weekend!  I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!  And for some reason, it’s even better as a missionary.  What is the Lord preparing for us?!  We have 4 sessions to find out!  All 4 sessions really are awesome and important.  One thing that I have found to be super helpful and meaningful for conference or whatever meeting of the the church is to take questions.  Pray about them beforehand and then take notes during conference.  I promise your questions will get answered in one way or another because mine always have.  I learned that principle from Bro. Whiting my Freshman year in Seminary.  There are a lot of things I take from all my Seminary teachers and apply them here in the mission field.  Really Seminary is the best thing ever!  But back to conference questions.  ¿Lo Horá?  Will you take questions to conference?  I sure hope so!

Easter was yesterday.  HAPPY EASTER!!!  Here in Peru, it was just another day.  No one talked about it at church yesterday.  A bunch of people were out and about as usual.  It actually made me kinda of sad.  But, don’t worry!  I celebrated!  I was reading Jesus the Christ about the resurrection and Mary Magdalene.  I put myself in her place.  To be sorrowed by the loss of her Lord.  She went to better anoint His body of the burial.  When she showed up, the tomb was empty.  How distraught and worried she was.  She ran!  She bolted to the Apostles to tell them, and then returned herself to the tomb.  She was so grieved with the loss of His body that she just started crying.  When the “gardner” asked her why she was weeping, she was prepared to take the body of Christ herself and find another place for Him.  I love that what snapped her out of it was the Savior saying her name. “Mary”.  With the tender love and affection that it had been said before He died.  What joy she must of felt!  She went in for the hug but was stopped.  She probably had so many emotions going through her mind and heart at this time.  How would you feel to be overcome with sorrow only to turn around to the resurrected Lord.  Your Savior and Redeemer.  Standing there in front of you.  His hands extended so you could see the marks in His palms.  Just wow.  My heart couldn’t and CAN’T contain the joy, the relief, the gratitude!  HE LIVES!!!  My favorite words in the Bible, “He is not here, for HE IS RISEN!”  HE IS RISEN!  I know it!  And because He is risen, we too can rise.  OUR family is forever!  ALELUYU!!!  ALELUYA is the Easter video from the church this year.  I loved sharing it with people.  ALELUYA!  Ėl encontrado una vida nueva.  Solo es por medio de Jesucristo.  Si que Ėl vive.  Se que Ėl está aquí para ayudamos si permitimos.  Se que por medio de Ėl, y su expiacion podemos llegar a seu limpios de los pecados que tengamos y las no son tan buenas.  Ėl es mi Redentor.  Se que esta es su iglesia verdadera.  Siguelo y encrentra una vida nueva!!!  

[Here the general idea and translation - her handwriting was a little hard to read in Spanish - He found a new life.  It is only through Jesus Christ.  I know He lives.  I know that He is here to help us if we let them. I know that through Him, and His atonement, we can be clean from our sins that we have when we are not good.  He is my Redeemer.  I know this is the true church.  Follow Him and find new life!!!]   

Les Amo!!!

Hermana Elise Joyner

HE IS RISEN!!!! (Mar 21, 2016)

Family History Sisters from El Salvador and Ica

Easter is this week and General Conference is the next! IM SOOOO EXCITED!!!!! What are you doing to prepare????

MADDIE IS COMING TO PERU!!!!! YASSSSSS!!!!!! Peru is just something special! SHE'S GONNA LOVE IT!!!

I also don't have a lot of time, so I will paste my Pres letter and then explain more about Hermana Esperanza next week when I write out a letter (she is a hoot and a half!). 

"This week's miracle comes from a reference from a member. We went to visit an active family and share the Aleluya video. When we asked for references, the brother, Hermano Guzman, gave us a reference of one of his friends from the local market, Hermana Esperanza. She is an older lady who lives alone and has a lot of questions about religion. We went to contact her immediately and set up an appointment. There was a special spirit when we were teaching her as we testified that God is our Father. We invited her to come to stake conference and her answer was "well why not?! when will you pick me up?" She was so excited to come with us and was ready waiting at the door of her house when we went. She felt a feeling of family in the Stake Center. She said she couldn't hear many things because the volume wasn't that loud, but her response was, "when we come next time, we have to sit right up front!" She is already planning for church next week! This is a miracle to me. That we found a receptive investigator who came to church. We haven't had much success with investigators in the capilla [chapel] lately, but Hermana Esperanza came!" 

PONDERIZE!!!!!! Oh wait. There is no scripture this week... Next week???

I was gonna tell you something else, but I literally cannot remember for the life of me... oh well, I will write it next week. Hopefully something crazy will happen so that I can liven up my emails a little more. Sorry!

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

Hermana Elise Joyner

After an exhausting day!

Matrimonio de los Gatos (Mar 14, 2016)

Well, this week I hit 9 months!  CRAZY!  I feel like I just left, but I've met so many amazing people and had so many wonderful experiences.  I've had my eyes opened to so many blessings that I have in my own life and how our Heavenly Father loves ALL His children.  I can't imagine how my life would be without coming to Peru.  And I can't wait to see what these next 9 months hold! AHHH!!!

So you probably want and explanation of the subject line....wait!  I wanna tell you about the Walker family before I jump into that.  The Walkers.  They are pretty much my favorite family!  I even named them myself.  Outside our house, there is a little parquecito [small park], like all the other homes in Chorrillos.  Anyway, every morning there is a family that leaves to go walk around this park.  They wear the same clothes, walk in a line in the same order every day, and always have the same objects.  Pam (the daughter) is always in front with her yoga pants, purple jacket, and a giant cup with a straw in it.  Right behind her is her mom, Judith.  Judith is a little shorter and stouter.  She always has this fuzzy brown jacket and a giant PVC pipe.  Following here is her son.  Wilson Walker.  He has a rocking sweat suit.  Gray with blue stripes.  He is all about the posture, always with his shoulders and head held high.  I think he glued his hands in his pockets because he never takes them out.  Bringing up the rear is our dad, Bob.  He always wears the same gray jacket, zipped up all the way, and these black shorts with the most rockin tennis shoes.  He has a hat and walks with his head down and his hands held behind his back.  And there you have it!  The Walkers!!!  How punny and I?!  It makes laugh every morning when we see them.  One day I'm gonna talk to them and covert them!!!

Back to the "Matrimonio del los Gatos" [marriage of the cats].  First, I'll explain what that means and then why it's the theme of this past week.  There are these things called mototaxis (Google it) and sometimes they will put giant megaphones on top of them and drive around playing advertisement on a loop.  There was like a week or two in San Juan where a moto drove around announcing "Matrimonio de los gatos! Come see the matrimonio de los gatos! Parque Rojo! Matrimonio de los gatos!"  It would go all day, especially during personal study.  I wanted to throw a watermelon.  It drove me crazy!  Anyway, this week reminded me of that.  Everywhere we went it was like MARRIAGE!  We got to watch the first hour of the YSA Face-to-Face with Elder Holland this past Tuesday.  Basically, they talked about marriage.  It was cute but also kinda weird to listen to because it was like "I'm a missionary".  It was good though!  Dayne, you should watch it if you haven't already.  And then this Thursday, all the Zones here in Lima (and with a few other missions) went to a meeting with Elder Lynn G. Robbins from the Presidency of the Seventy.  And what did he say?  "Elders y Hermanas, ustedes estan en la clase pre-matrimonio 501!"  [You are in the class pre-marriage 501]  It was pretty legit!  He spoke really good Spanish.  He talked about how we need to study the attributes of Christ in order to be ready for marriage.  And then he was like, "Don't wait too long after your mission."  I was just sitting there like "what is this?"  It was a great meeting but a little weird as well.  And for that, my subject line is "matrimonio de los gatos!"  AHHHH!!!

Ponderize!  Alma 37:38-44

These verses talk about the Liahona and how it guided Lehi and his family, how it showed them the way in the desert.  It worked according to their faith and diligence.  It helped them find their way to daily miracles in their journey.  In verse 41, it says that these miracles came when the family did the little things, when they remembered the Lord, prayed, went to church, read their scriptures, had faith, were diligent, etc.  But when they didn't do this, they couldn't progress, both as a family on their trip and individually.  But I love verse 44!  How easy is it to pay attention to the word of God!  Which leads us to a direct course of eternal happiness!  Shows us the way to the promised land!  Si tan solo prestamos atencion!  If we only pay attention!  If we do the small and simple things, we get a straight shot to Eternal Life with our families!  Tan facil es!  How easy it is!  We just gotta do it.  We just gotta start today.  Pick one thing that maybe you aren't doing or maybe aren't doing diligently.  Pick it, pray, and promise to Heavenly Father to do it.  I promise He will help!  I've seen it in my own life and in the life of those we teach.  Gosh!  The Book of Mormon is so neat!

Well, that's all I got for right now.  I'll probably think of more things I wanted to say 20 minutes after I finish interneting.  It always happens.  But for now, that's it!

I hope you have an AWESOME week!

Love Love Love,
Hermana Elise Joyner

P.S. Happy Birthday Papa!!!

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