This is Cambrea's mom...I am just writing a final blog here. It has been a joy to read all of Cambrea's letters these last 18 months. I hope you all have enjoyed them too, as well as the pictures. Here are a few pictures of her homecoming. I posted some of these on Facebook, so you may have seen some of them. I am having such a great time spending time with her. She has changed spiritually and grown into a beautiful young woman. She knows the value of service and has gained an even stronger testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (And she is fluent in Spanish!!) She will be going to BYU-I in January. This is a whole new chapter in her life. Wish her well and contact her on Facebook when you get a chance. She would love to talk with you.
Well, this is it! My last email to y'all! Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! It was AMAZING! Not only did I recieve 4 different cakes, but i was able to see a family start their journey to be an eternal family. One of our investigators Ricardo was baptized on Saturday, and now him, his wife (who has come back to church) and their little one year old son will work towards going to the temple in the next year. I am so greatful for the opportunity I had to teach and get to know this family. This family is truly a MIRACLE :) I have attatched a picture the man on the left is his father in law who baptized him.
Well, what can I say? It has been such an amazing ride and has meant absolutely everything to me. Why? Because here in these past 18 months I have learned just a little bit about the love of our Heavenly Father. I have learned what it means to truly follow Jesus Christ, and the significance of the committment of baptism. I have learned that as we are truly obedient the Lord gives us the chance to see miracles. But, I have also learned that it takes patience and personal preparation. I have learned that progress is a process. We are here in this life to "progress towards perfecction and ultimately realize our divine destiny as hiers of eternal life" as it says in the proclamation to the family.
I cannot promise you that I will be able to describe this all to you in english when I get back, because sometimes it's a struggle. But, in my heart I have truly been my greatest convert here on the mission. Thanks for all of your love and support. Thanks for your testimonies. I hope you all continue to develop a love for our Savior Jesus Christ!
Just so you know I am safe...I just don't know where the time goes in email....so, again I don't have a lot of time. But, I am learning some wonderful Mexican recipes to cook! And, also the good old rice and beans :)
Just wanted to share this little spiritual thought with you all today from the Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 26:9-10.9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
I just really liked it in my studies because I have been studying a lot on faith. My companion and I are seeing wonderful miracles and blessings as we exercise our faith and just decide to do what the Lord wants.
HOLA HOLA! We had an awesome week this week! My comapnion and I had a leadership meeting where we learned a lot about Faith. Did you know that Faith is POWER!? That just hit me hard this week. As we put our full trust in God, act on the promptings of the spirit, and pray for guidence, he will give us POWER to do his will. WOAH! Mind blown.
So, my companion and I are teaching an arabic which is SUPER COOL! And we are also learning arabic :) We have learned many different words, for example if you want to say "thank you" you say "shokran" and "you're welcome" is "afuan"!
My companion and I are seeing many miracles and recieving so many blessings but, most of all we have learned the love our Heavenly Father has for each and everyone of his children. I am so greatful for the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father. And, this week I realized that my mission has meant EVERYTHING to me. To help those our Heavenly Father loves! BUt, don't worry I havn't gone trunky yet! There's still too much to do!
Well, as you know, a tormenta came our way , but, thank goodness, it just skirted around the island. We got a lot of rain at night, though. But, here in a tiny little island, tormentas are a DISASTER even if they're small, so everyone hid in their houses a NO ONE was in the streets. But, we still managed to work becasue the winds and rain never really came.
I learned a lot about faith. I was reflecting on a scripture in the Bible, Hebrews 11:7, and then Alma 32:42.It is after we act and show our faith, that the Lord begins to bless us. I have seen that so much here in the mission. We continue to see blessings as we excersize our faith!
I only have a few minutes because we have to go, but, I love you all! Stay safe!
So, this has been one of the most spiritual weeks of my mission, filled with super awesome miracles! A few weeks ago, as a district, my district decided to "fast" from the things that took us away from the spirit. Not that we were doing things unobediently, but, sometimes we can be closer to the spirit. For example, I realized that I snacked way too much during my studies, and not that it is a bad thing to eat a few animal crackers, but I found that I became distracted by the food, and wasn't focusing enough on my studies. So, along with other things, I decided to quit doing these things. In these last few weeks, I have realized how the Lord has helped me to focus more on my purpose. As I strive to put the Lord first, he helps us accomplish miracles, and we are able to share that purpose with those we teach. One day this week, we were visiting one of our investigators and he said something that touched my heart greatly: He said, (and I quote) "When you come to my home, I feel like Jesus Christ has come because you are representatives of Him, and it makes me want to follow Him" (golden investigator? I think Yes!) But, more importantly, He recognized our purpose. I wanted to cry that very moment! I am a respresntative of Jesus Christ. We are teaching HIS gospel, and it was such a blessing to see that our investigator could see and understand that! The church is true.
More than that, there is nothing better in the mission than to teach families! We were able to teach a mom, dad and their 3 teenage daughters this week. It was super cool because when we got there they were ready to hear our message. We had contacted them last week, and let us come back to share more. Now they want to come to church! Families are Forever :) The church is true.
Another cool thing this week, was that one of our less actives, recently reactivated showed us where one of her friends lives in the same apartment building. She knocked on the door, her friend answered, and let us in to share a message of God. Well, she's not very interested, but her 3 daughters are! She is a kind of like a foster mom, and one of the girls is Arabic! It has been super cool to share with her because she didn't grow up believing that Jesus Christ is our savior, but she knew him as a prophet. As we testified that not only did Christ come as a prophet to establish his church, but also to be our savior, she was quiet and listened intently. Now she wants to bring her boyfriend to church to learn more. The church is true!
In my scripture study I ran across this scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:2 For he saith, I have heard thee in a timeaccepted, and in the dayof salvation have I succored thee: behold, nowisthe accepted time; behold, now isthe day of salvation
Now is the time to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can bless our lives more than we can imagine! As 2 nephi 32:1-3 instructs: 1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts? 2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
3 Angelsspeak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feastupon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tellyou all things what ye should do. Love you all! Have a WONDERFUL week!
Hermana VanKammen
pictures: our less active bought us these outfits :) it was so hot we had to buy big water bottles in Walgreens!
I'm not sure where the time went, but i don't have very much time to write...so...
SO MUCH happened this week! We had transfers (we went accross the whole island), and then a zone conference (a two hour conference which my companion and i had to teach and set up along with the zone leaders) and took on all the investigators and less actives on the 2 sisters that left. WHEW! But, we did it, and saw SO many miracles! One, was a woman that is going through a really challenging time in her life, but we were able to visit her and see that from the time she has been meeting with the missionaies, her life has done a 360! She has been able to recieve the necesities for her 2 children, and recieve a testimony of the importance of faith in the Lord.
My favorite moment was when we were contacting this week, and we asked the lord to help us find a youth who could be a future missionary. However, we not only found one, but 3 MISSIONARIES! We found a mom and her 3 daughters who want to learn more :) The Lord blesses us as we put our faith in Him.
This week brought "un MONTÓN" (a ton) of changes! We got transfer calls and in my last transfer my companion and I will stay together (that means we will be together a total of 6 months!)...but that is not the only change, the other sisters in our ward are both leaving, so we will be taking on all of their investigators AND our investigators! We will definitely be occupied these next couple of weeks teaching them! Luckily we know most of their investigators and where they live, so that is a plus! But, as always a super awesome week!
We had a lesson with Rosaline (the woman with the 3 adorable little girls, and then we went to visit with Ricardo and Marines, a golden family that has a little baby boy! ETERNAL FAMILIES! We got to their house after having given them a Book of m\Mormon in the last lesson and we asked them how their reading is going...they were like, okay we just started (that usually means they have read the first 4 verses or something) but then they started to tell us about the first 4 CHAPTERS! We were blown away! Marines is less active, but she has such a desire to follow Jesus Christ, and be sealed with her husband and their little son :) Also, this week the Dominican in our house made Sancocho (it's like stew, but super good!) I will attach a picture :)
We met an AWESOME family, they really needed a message of Jesus Christ, and then we returned on Sunday and they had told us that it brought so much peace in the week and they are excited and interested in learning more! We have seen so many miracles in finding new people. Preach my gospel (the manual for missionaries) says that nothing happens until you find, so to teach, ya gotta find!
We are also teaching a man who has a lot of knowledge of the bible, and he is super Catholic, but there are a lot of doubts that he has. As we have been teaching, he has found that the gospel answers his questions. He is excited to read the Book of Mormon because he knows that it will help him answer some doubts.
Well, that was our week! OH! I can't forget the most important part! We are now going to be without water every 3 days, and then we have one day of water, and it goes another 3 days...the lake is drying out. But, it's okay! We made a shower using a gallon jug :) If you poke holes on the bottom and screw on the top, the water stays in the jug, but once you take the top off, the water comes out! Life is good with a gallon jug of water in the morning :)
Love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Con Mucho amor, Hermana VanKammen
Pictures: a family home evening, the dog decided to come with us in the car...and then he wanted to drive my companion and i and the zone leaders of san Juan me, and the dominican sister who made sancocho!
Today I came prepared because really, I realized that I never can remember half the things that I learn every day. So, this week I wrote down one thing that I learned every day:
Lunes (Monday) We had a family home evening with a bunch of less actives, and an investigators....about the 72 hour kits and being prepared....I think as missionaries we need to start having 72 hour kits, haha.
Martes (Tuesday) We must always confide in the spirit. If we depend absulutely in God and his spirit we will be able to do his will at all times. One of these ways to have the sprit more in our lives is by weekly attendance to our church meetings. Scripture: Moroni 7:9 " And their meetings were conducted by the church after the manner of the workings of the Spirit, and by the power of the Holy Ghost; for as the power of the Holy Ghost led them whether to preach, or to exhort, or to pray, or to supplicate, or to sing, even so it was done."
Miercoles (Wednesday) The restoration is SUCH a powerful message. We shared the restoration with a woman and her family. She understood the need to have a prophet and the authority restored on the earth. Seriously, whenever we recite the first vision there is so much power! I saw a pillar of light exactly above my head. Standing above me in the air, I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”
Jueves (Thursday): Moroni 7:13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. As a missionary I invite people to come unto Christ.
Viernes (Friday): This was a day of contacting....at the end of the night we were hungary, but we needed to get home. However, the Lord blessed us with the opportunity to talk to a woman who has family that are members of our church in the states. She sold us Canepas (a small tiny green wondeful fruit) for only a dollar :) We also had a lesson on the doorstep of a house. The spirit was great, and they wanted to learn more!
Sabado (Saturday): One of the hardest days on my mission. We were contacting, but didn't feel right when we decided to change areas, we still couldn't find anyone to listen to our message. Super sad. Well, it turns out that the Lord was helping us to walk closer and closer to a less active who really needed us that day. We shared about the spirit and how important the spirit is in our lives. The Lord blessed us in the end. I know that if we keep the commandments of God, he will help us come closer to him 2 nefi 2: 1-2 And now, Jacob, I speak unto you: Thou art my firstborn in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness. And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren. 2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." If we hold on even in afflictions, the Lord will bless us for obedience. Sometimes we just need trials to strengthen our faith.
Domingo (Sunday): As a mission we read the Book of Mormon together in 4 months. Yesterday, we had a meeting with everyone in the whole mission. The Book of Mormon can bring the spirit so strongly in one's life. If we make it the center (because it the keystone of our religion) the Lord will help us to strengthen our faith in Him.
I have never had a better experience reading the Book of Mormon. Like, my feelings can't even be described in words! It's just one of those things that you think about and your heart just wants to explode out of your chest! So, after Elder Holland, he invited us to be a Book of Mormon mission. So, we all read it together. Then, yesterday (Sunday night) we had a mission-wide reunion. Which meant that we all got together as a mission (a difficult feat btw) and shared our testimonies. I have never felt a spirit stronger! The spirit is more present in our mission and I feel more unified. The book of Mormon has so much power! I mean, it gave a 360 to our mission! As I read it i realized how many times it says "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall be blessed" How important it is to keep the commandments of the Lord. And, the only thing that can continually help us with that is if we keep reading the Book of Mormon daily. It has taken me 5 different times reading the Book of Mormon to understand the importance of reading it daily. We cannot possible understand the restoration, or the gospel principles if we take it out of our daily contact.
So, this week was a week of miracles, and in the end, the Lord helped me to see how much I have grown just in these last 16 months. What can I say? The Church is True :D
Today, I cannot contain my joy and excitement to write to you all the miracles that happened this week! Well, most of them came into effect yesterday, haha. BUT, we have a family that we are teaching, a woman and her 3 adorable little girls, and Rosaline, the woman took the step to finally come to church even though she is super catholic. So, she woke up at 4 in the morning to take her husband to work so that she could have the car to go to church, took 1 1/2 hours to get the girls ready all by herself, and came to church with us. I learned a lot about sacrifice. Of course it wasn't easy, but she knew that she had to come to church to receive the blessings! Also, another family came to church yesterday as well. They have one adorable little son and the mom is returning to church, and the dad is learning so they can be an eternal family. Then, also a less active who hasn't been to church in over 14 years came this week! MIRACLE!
In this week I learned a lot about prayer. In several instances this week we found ourselves with many cancelled appointments which means that we get to take the time to find new people. In one particular day, we decided to go to an area that we had planned to go the day before, but we felt uncomfortable as we headed out to that area. We don't know why, but we did. So, we said a prayer and we asked God where he wanted us to go. We gave Him a few options, and he gave us an answer. He told us to contact where we were standing....weird because we had 1. never contacted in that area and 2. knew absolutely no one who lived over there. But, we started. We ended up able to share with many wonderful people and helped clear up doubts as we invited people to listen to our message. I truly felt the spirit guide our footsteps. The other amazing miracle was inviting the woman with the 3 little girls to come to church earlier in the week. Oh, and did I mention that our PRESIDENT and his wife went with us for that appointment? Talk about nerves! But, she showed that she was putting in her par by praying and reading every day, and finally she came to church! You can just tell that the spirit is more present in her home as she keeps these commitments. I know her daughters will be blessed for these experiences.
So, this week was a testimony builder. And it was perfect because I hit my 16 month mark on one of the best Sunday's of my mission :) haha. I am so grateful for the hand of the Lord in our lives. Never take advantage of the presence of the spirit in our lives! It is truly a gift from God!
Love,
Hermana VanKammen
The little family who came....you can't see her little baby...but she is SO adorable! and our district!
Hermana Cambrea VanKammen is a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission. She begins her service March 26, 2014 and will serve for 18 months.