“I feel God in this Chili's tonight.”- Pam

We've had some awesome experiences happen this week. We started our week off with a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Estevan. He loved it. He was marking all the scriptures we read from the book of Mormon. We asked him to read Ether 12. A few days later we texted him to see how he was doing and he said he read the chapter 3 times so he could fully understand it. WHAT??? Oh my gosh we screamed we were so happy. This guy is so prepared. He said we can give him anything to read and he'll read it, what a prepared person. He also told us two goals of his. The first is to go to church every Sunday. And the second is to stop drinking and smoking. We haven't even taught him the word of Wisdom yet. So we explained more about it. That was pretty awesome, the spirit was super strong during the lesson too.

I'm so grateful God led us to him.

We had a lesson with this guy named Manuel... At Chili's 🌶️🌶️🌶️

We taught him the whole restoration while eating burgers and Fries. He loved it. He is really wanting to go to a church that God wants him to go to. We told him to pray about it. And ask God every single question you have, that's why we have prayer. We get to communicate with God anytime we want to. That's a pretty awesome gift.

We invited him to come watch a baptism for a friend of ours... Enrique. He said he'll be there. We also invited Estevan to go too. He also said he'd be there.
WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God has been answering our prayers! I love being able to teach people that have a desire to learn more. That truly want to grab the hand of our Savior and follow him. Portland is POPPING!

Thursday we had a zone conference with Corpus Christi zone and Robstown zone. It was pretty great. Our president spent a lot of time talking about how we are going to be able to complete our goal as a mission for the year 2020. He set a goal for a certain number of God's children we want to help bring into the fold this year. It's a pretty high number, but it's totally doable. Ahhh we are getting so pumped!!!!!!

Enrique was baptized... Sadly neither of our peeps showed up, but it was still an amazing moment.

We showed up a little early to see if the Elders needed help with anything. Uhhh they did. The font had already been filling for over an hour but still wasn't high enough. So we all started filling pitchers of water and running them over to the font and dumping them in. We got it as high as we could until everyone showed up. When he was baptized he had to squat the whole time in order to go all the way under. But he did it!!!!

He was sooo happy the whole entire time. When the talk on holy ghost was given he got super teary eyed and kept hugging his daughter. Ahhhh, he is one of the most prepared people I've met on my mission. A month ago we literally sat down and called almost every single person we could to ask if they are still interested in the message we have to share. A lot said no. A few said yes. And a ton didn't answer. Enrique called us back three times...during an appt. So we had to call back. He knew who he was calling, he knew he wanted to learn and get closer to his Savior. God knew it too. Everything happened for a reason. I love knowing that God has an individualized plan for all of his children. He puts bumps in it or even mountains. Any obstacles we are given are only to make us stronger, more experienced, and to test our faith. But God knows we can overcome them though his Son, Jesus Christ and his Atonement.

He had every mountain to climb, every chance to give up, every opportunity to tell his Father no. But he didn't. The only begotten of the Father was willing to feel EVERYTHING for us. The drops of blood from his pores are for you and I. He did it because it was necessary. Without the Atonement of Jesus Christ no one would be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. An Infinite Atonement was needed.

I was reading a talk titled The Paths Jesus Walked by Thomas S. Monson back in 1974 a few days ago and this stuck out to me, "We discover he is more than the babe in Bethlehem, more than the carpenter’s son, more than the greatest teacher ever to live. We come to know him as the Son of God. He never fashioned a statue, painted a picture, wrote a poem, or led an army. He never wore a crown or held a scepter or threw around his shoulder a purple robe. His forgiveness was unbounded, his patience inexhaustible, his courage without limit. Jesus changed men. He changed their habits, their opinions, their ambitions. He changed their tempers, their dispositions, their natures. He changed men’s hearts."

Since I have been on my mission I have been able to feel my Saviors love. I have been able to share that love with so many people on a daily basis. It has been able to change the hearts of the people in Texas. And it's my favorite thing to do here.

I know my Savior lives and loves me and all of you.

I'm grateful to be his missionary.

Jesus LOVES you.

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Darling

[Editor's note: This video made me cry, I was so proud when I heard..."Oooh, let's wrap it in a paper towel and light it on fire!" So proud 😂]

Raul if you want to come with us you gotta put down your beer... 😂😂

Sorry... It's a lil long...
Oh my gosh the start of a new transfer always goes by super fast.
But I got my new comp on Tuesday. Her name is Sister McKee and she's from Arizona!!
This is her second transfer out on her mission so I'm training her. Yay!
We've honestly been having a blast with each other. We've been working so hard and are reaping the blessings from it. We have found some AMAZING people that are wanting to draw closer to their Savior Jesus Christ.
One guys is Raul. He was super happy when we knocked on his door a few nights ago at this apartment complex, which is full of so many people. Score!
He was so excited to talk with us about Jesus. We taught a little lesson then and there. Then we gave him a pamphlet and set a return appointment. Well the next day we were visiting someone else in the same apartment complex and we hear someone yelling... DARLING... MCKEE
I was scared it was a creepy guy that we talked to like a few weeks ago. But it was Raul. Holding a case of beer. He came over and told us he's about to go party. Then he grabbed our arms like we were skipping together in the Wizard of Oz. He might have already been a little drunk. But we turned him around and said we had an appointment. He said okay let's go.
I said, "Raul if you want to come with us you gotta put down your beer".
He looked at us and just started laughing. Then said goodbye and walked towards his car. We were praying he wasn't drunk. He's a funny one.
The next day we were looking through area book and this guy's name stuck out. So we decided to visit him. His name is Estevan. He was taught once before by some missionaries like 6 months ago. He remembered their names. He was so happy to see us. He said that just recently he's been wanting to get closer to God. He told he even started drinking less to help him do that. We invited him and his 10 year old Sister to church. AND THEY CAME!!!!!
Oh my gosh our ward was on fire with their fellowshipping. One of the members just took him and introduced him to all the elders quorum. It was so awesome. Every single brother in our ward said goodbye to him and then they would say see you next Sunday. Then Estevan started saying that. His sister also is friends with a recent convert. They share the same class at school!!!!! It was such a perfect Sunday. He also wanted us to come back to his house so he could understand more about the terminology some people used, like Priesthood. PERFECT!!
We were so happy.
Then right after church we went by this guy who we met the night before at like 8:55pm. He brought chairs for us to sit on then he just started talking about how it wasn't a coincidence that we knocked on his door. He thought we knocked on every single door of the apartment complex. But we told him we don't. He was so happy. He said that he hasn't been to a church in a while and he's been really wanting to. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we read the intro of it with him. He liked it. Then we marked Ether 12. He said he's going to read it.
We were just walking away... With our mouths open. HOLY COW.
God has been blessing us so hard these last few days with people that are truly wanting to get closer to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.
Something I've learned on my mission so far is when you pray specifically for what you want God will answer your prayers. We have been praying so hard for people to teach that want and have the desire to get baptized. To be willing to make a Covenant with God. And I believe we have found a few of those people this week.
Like I said BIG THINGS ARE COMING.
God has a plan for Portland Texas and I'm glad I get to be apart of it.
Also Enrique is so excited for his baptism. He has a 7 year old daughter that turns 8 in May and she wants to get baptized too. YAYAYAYAYAYAY!
This guy is so prepared. He's so happy everytime we visit him.
Oh man, being a missionary is awesome. We go around and talk to everyone all day everyday about God and Jesus. Who wouldn't want to do that?
It's so crazy to me how we can change and grow on so many levels. I have gained such a strong testimony that my Savior loves me. He loves every single one of us. He is such an amazing guy. And so is Heavenly Father. They are like the best coaches we could ever ask for in this game of Life. They are also like the best cheerleaders that could ever support us as well. And the Book of Mormon and the Bible are our playbooks. The best tools to keep us going and making the right decisions. And when we follow what we are told to do. We get blessings. We get happiness, joy, Eternal life. That sounds pretty stinking awesome to me. I want everyone else to be able to have that as well.
That reminds me. We were knocking on this guy's door. And he opens and basically says they don't like solicitors. Oh well that's easy we aren't selling anything.
He goes on to say he doesn't want people knocking on his door unless it's the mailmen delivering a package. Then closes the door.
We were walking away and was thinking oh sorry, just trying to give you free eternal life and exaltation. Sorry it wasn't in a package. We were laughing so hard. 😂😂😂 People these days.
Sorry but eternal life isn't in a package.
Anyway I love the Gospel. It has blessed my life in so many different ways. I can't even explain. The Atonement is an amazing gift that we get to use everyday, because we aren't perfect.
I love you guys and every single person here in the south tip of Texas.
Jesus Loves You.
Stay 2 Legit 2 Quit and if you aren't having fun...you aren't doing it right.
Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Darling 

MOM, THEY ARE F-ING MORMONS!!

[From 2 weeks ago]

Sorry guys. This is going to be super short. This week we had a crazy drunk lady interrupt our lesson and sit on Sister Coleman. 😂😂😂 I freaking died laughing.
We had a few tender mercies this week as well but I can't really remember them off the top of my head.
But I know this work is God's. I love when random people are willing to learn more about him and are willing to make promises with him too.
I know I was called here for a reason and I have met a lot of those "reasons".
Anyway, I love you all. Keep Killin it!!
Stay 2 Legit 2 Quit y que tenga un buen día y semana!
Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Darling

[This week]
Transfers are creeping up on us. These days have been flying by. This is the last week of the transfer. Woah
We had a few crazy things happen to us.
So on Wednesday we were in Corpus all day long for exchanges with the STL's. I was with Sister Williamson. She is super awesome and has an amazing singing voice. Anyway, we were knocking a few houses close to a return appointment. There was this one house we both felt like we should go knock. We knock it, this lady comes out and asks who we are... We're the sister missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She smirks at us, then yells...DON'T EVER COME TO THIS ADDRESS EVER AGAIN!!!
*SLAM*
As we were walking away laughing that this lady turned down Jesus... When she really needs him.
We could here her Mom say... "But they were so nice."

"MOM, THEY ARE F-ING MORMONS!!!"

Oh my gosh we were dying laughing 😂 😂 😂
But right after that this cute little Hispanic man set a return appointment for the sisters to go back and talk with his wife and him. Love little old Hispanic men.
That was an awesome exchange. Sister Williamson and I got along pretty well. It made it pretty easier to teach people too.
But that night we had a 7-man. We had 7 hermanas all in one little apartment.
But, that apartment had a buttload of fleas.
So before we went out and worked that afternoon two sisters set off two HUGE BUG BOMBS. To kill them all. But it didn't work. We still got them. I didn't get bit and I even slept on the floor. I might just be too disgusting for them... As Dalton would say. 😂😂😂
It was pretty fun.
The next day we went to Jamba Juice...I had flashbacks of being behind the counter. I told Sister Coleman that if my smoothly didn't taste how it's suppose to, then I was going to go back and ask to make it myself. But it turned out good. 👍

We started teaching this guy Enrique a few weeks ago. But he spoke Spanish so we passed him off to the Spanish Elders.
HE HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!
I told Sister Coleman we're going to that. The elders got themselves an awesome guy!
We had interviews this week. Those are always fun. Our mission president is super awesome. I'm most likely staying in Portland... But who knows. God has a purpose for everything.
Anyway, I believe that was all the cool stuff that happened this week.
Please keep the Escamilla family in your prayers this week. A lot of stuff has been happening. And it sucks. But know that God has a purpose for us and our lives.

I love you guys! I know I'm here for a reason.

Jesus Loves You!!
Stay 2 Legit 2 Quit

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Darling

Please bless my little missionaries that love popcorn

 Heyo!
The weather here has been a little funky lately. It looks freezing outside. But then you step out and it's like 70 and HUMID.

We had some pretty awesome meetings this week to help our whole zone know what are goals are and how to hit them. During our district meeting one of the elders gave an awesome training. He basically showed us the main theme of the first three lessons. 
Lesson 1: Revelation
Lesson 2: Atonement
Lesson 3: Access to the Atonement

We are helping so many people gain access to the Atonement. If they aren't doing these things they don't have access to it. As missionaries our purpose has two verbs in it that we should be using/doing everyday. Inviting and helping.

And when we extend commitments to people they should be inviting our investigators to do something. Which means we are helping them draw closer to the Savior in every commitment we extend. This is our focus. We have to let people grow and learn and gain a testimony of the Gospel. But if we aren't having them do small simple commitments how will they be able to do the bigger commitments for baptism?

I felt the spirit so strong during that. Anytime I listen to anyone that reiterates our purpose as a missionary or how we can improve our actions I just get this burning desire to go work 10x better and harder than before. That's why I love having meetings centered around why we are serving a mission.

I wouldn't trade being a missionary for the world. The people I have helped have helped me. They are the example, not us. They are proving to God that they want to use his son's Atonement and be cleansed from any sin they've ever committed. Jesus Christ will always be there for us. No matter what we do nothing can separate us from the love of God. I know that is true. I know that so many people have risked their lives for the restoration of this gospel and church. But I also know that we don't have to do things alone. God and Jesus Christ are just waiting for us to ask them for help.

But this reminds me of something I've been thinking of lately.

There was a member in Brownsville that reached out to me one day in Mission. She said that she missed me so much and it was really hard when I got transferred out. So we had a little conversation about how it sucks getting transferred and whatnot. But then I explained this to her...

"Yeah changes suck. But I've had a different companion...my whole entire mission...so far. And was suuuuuuper ticked when (some people) left. I didn't want to be in the ward with some new elders, a new comp, same area, and two other roommates. I admit I was angry and frustrated all the time, but didn't let it show. And I was sitting on the ground one day...just mad(basically a pity party😂). And questioning why does this have to happen."

"Then 'BECAUSE IT WAS NECESSARY' popped into my head. I almost started crying it hit me soo hard. But it made sense. We have changes so we can grow. We have changes so we can help other families that need the light of Jesus Christ in their lives. So I changed my attitude. I changed my perspective and look on my purpose as a missionary. I needed that change in order for me to grow spiritually, mentally, and physically."

I told her, "I love you to death. I miss you guys soooooo much. But God is giving us these sucky times so we can grow and learn how to help people that are going through the same things. I'm sorry that I can't be there in Brownsville because trust me I wanted to stay too. But you have some amazing missionaries and members over there that can help you overcome any obstacle. And there is one person who is always going to be there no matter what. That's your Savior. He loves you and he knows what you're going through, he's done the same thing. Please reach out to anyone that can help you. They want to help you because they love you. And I'm here too. Just not exactly where you are.
I love you and your family SOOO much. I'm praying that I'll be able to serve over there in the future.
But for right now I'm in Mission helping other people receive the gospel of Jesus Christ."

I love my Savior. I know he lives. I know he loves me. I want to help everyone have the ability to feel his love.

Something super awesome happened this week.

I got permission for my brother, Dalton, or Elder Whelan to facetime in on a lesson with our investigator Cecilia.

She's from Sao Paulo, Brazil. So Dalton and his comp were able to help teach a lesson for us. It was super cool.

A few weeks ago I also had permission for my Dad to facetime in on a lesson as well.

She knows some English and Portuguese is her first language so obviously she feels more comfortable speaking Portuguese. 😂 She was super impressed with him and his companions' Portuguese. She loves missionaries and talked to a ton when she was living in Brazil too.

It was a pretty good week.

We also had an investigator pray for us and she said "please bless my little missionaries that love popcorn." Hahah we tries so hard not to laugh during the prayer. 😂😂

I know this gospel is true.

I love you guys!!

Stay 2 Legit 2 Quit, party hard this week!

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Darling

Here's the video of Dalton teaching Ty's investigator in Portuguese. Pretty cool. :)

Wow...It's 2020!!

Well p-day was awesome. We drove up to Corpus because we had like 500 extra miles to use. So we played basketball for like 2 1/2 hours. Corpus against Robstown. After that we drove all the Sisters...so only 6 to North Padre Island. We went to this shop on the island and got some pretty awesome stuff.  After that we drove home.

We had some appointments fall through. But ended up teaching Sister Childers and her Son who just got baptized about the new children's program. It went pretty well.

Tuesday we had a pretty good district council meeting. After that we went by some people to see how they are doing. Then went to the FHE we had with Cecilia and the Andersen family. She wasn't there yet and she is never late. She also wasn't answering our calls.

So we left to go to her house to make sure everything was okay. But as we were getting out of the car. Sister Coleman tripped on her backpack. Then as she got up to catch up to me her knee popped out of place and the she tripped and fell again and it popped back into place. So she ends up on the sidewalk. Laughing/crying holding her knee. I was DYING laughing. I felt so bad. I tried to help her up but was laughing to hard I couldn't. Then this random guy stops his car in the road and asks if we're okay. It was so awkward. But I had to help her get back to the car. And I was still laughing... so I stopped walking because I physically couldn't 😂and she ended up just hopping to the car. I just kept apologizing...while laughing so it wasn't very sincere.

But Cecilia showed up right after we left. And we had an awesome lesson on the Plan of Salvation. It was a great FHE.

So Wednesday we didn't go anywhere because of Sister Coleman's knee. It was HUGE. So she just iced it. We got some crutches. Eventually we went to our dinner appointment and then another appointment right after. Who wasn't even there.

It was a great start to our new year. Haha

Thursday we went to an urgent care in Corpus to check her knee out because she still had a lot of pain. We were there for 3 1/2 hours. It wasn't very urgent apparently. But when we got there everybody and their dog decided to show up at the same time.

Sister Coleman got a blessing from some of the elders right after that. Then we headed back to Portland straight to an appointment with John, our investigator. He's pretty cool. He said he's going to read the whole Book of Mormon by Sunday. We were like...okay awesome haha. He's super interested in the church.

The rest of the night was just some appointments. But right before dinner there were two huge rainbows 🌈 🌈. Double rainbow all the way!

Friday was pretty great. We had some good appointments with our investigators. When we were done with teaching Cecilia we asked her if she needed help with anything. She said she needs help buying groceries at the store. Because it's hard when she has to take her baby with her.

So we all went to HEB right across the street and we pushed the cart so she didn't have to worry about the cart and her stroller. She was so happy we could help her. Then after that she made us dinner because we were just going to go back to the apartment anyway. She told us that when we come back the next time she also will cook us lunch. She was a chef on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean for 5 years. Her food is delicious!

Saturday, umm. We went by a ton of people and reminded all of them about church. I hope they actually come. The worst thing is when they say they are excited to go to church...then they don't show up. And then tell you oh sorry we were busy. Nothing is more important then God. It's only 2 hours of your whole stinking week that you physically go somewhere to worship him. Why not go?

Anyway we had some appointments that were pretty good. We were just trying to find as many people as we can that would be interested in learning more about Jesus. We actually found a cute little family of 5 that said we could come back. This week. That was a miracle.

We had one person at church on Sunday!!! Yay!

Holy cow Sunday felt like an eternity for some reason. But we had not been doing very good this week about finding new people to teach. So Sunday night we running to almost every possible person we could to teach them and see if they were interested or not. We hit our goal for the week almost in one night! Haha we had a ton of fun and it honestly made time fly.

I love this work. I love being a servant of the Lord. I know I'm here in Portland for a reason. I know I am meant to be here and touch people's lives whether I know it or not. SISTER COLEMAN IS AMAZING. She is such a hard worker and we get along so well. We have being doing super well with each other and our area is showing it...hopefully.

I know I represent our Savior. I know what I'm doing is his and not mine. I have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and it is the word of God. If you don't know that yet. Study, read, and pray about it. God will answer your prayers.

God is real. Jesus loves you.

Stay 2 Legit 2 Quit

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Darling

Oh fun fact.

There is a family in this ward that has a son named Collin and another son named Braedon. And there is this sassy women who I absolute love that is also in our ward and she has a dog named Milo.

😂😂😂

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 🎄🌲🎅🏿❄️☃️🎄

WOAH.
What a crazy week it has been. So Monday night I said good bye to a ton of families that was sad...like always. I grew to love the ward and people I was teaching sooooo much. That happens in every area though.

Juan was excited when he found out I can FaceTime him for his baptism. Yeah!!! 😁

On Tuesday we all met up at the chapel on La Vista. We basically just moved our stuff around and talked with missionaries for like 5 hours. Portland is like 3 hours away from the valley. So we couldn't leave until everybody from Corpus Christi was ready to go. My comp wasn't there she stayed in Corpus. But I got to see some familiar faces. That's always a blast! Almost all my old companions. Because I've had so many of them haha.

Literally I'm going to my third area and being with my 6th companion. It's pretty fun getting a new person to live with for 6 weeks. And my companion is going on her third transfer in the same area so I'm probably going to get another companion after this one too. What fun!!

Anyway after that two other sisters and I got into the ZL's truck and I drive like 2 and a half hours to Corpus Christi. We had to drive through the checkpoint too. That was fun.

Once we got to Corpus we moved some stuff around and got into my new Mini van and drove to Portland. Which was like 30 minutes away. The mini van is literally from the future. And I dislike it very much. I don't want to look like a mom, I want to look like a missionary. I would rather have honestly anything other then a stinking mini van. The elders now call me the mini van mom. 😐 What the?? But whatever sorry about that little rant I just want you guys to know how I feel about mini vans haha.

Anyway moving on.

My companion is Sister Coleman. She's on her third transfer. She is from Connecticut. She had three older brothers. She's pretty awesome!

We went by some pretty cool people that night. A ton weren't home too. So thank goodness for backups haha.

Wednesday we had a little district council sauce and went over the people we're teaching. We also got to meet everybody from our district. And Elder Evans is my district leader again. Haha. I had him as my DL in Mission for a transfer.

It was good. Then we had some Mexican food. It was good but still not as good as the Valley's.😉😂

We taught a ton of lessons. It was so fun!

Thursday Sister Coleman was sick with the flu. So we went to the doctors then we stayed home and she rested all day. Some members brought us over some dinner. Having white people food is so weird haha. It was good...just still getting use to not being served tacos or mole or tamales haha.

Friday she was still contagious so we had to stay inside again. We finished some little projects her and her last companion started. So that was nice.

Saturday we had some pretty great lessons. One being with our investigator Cecilia. She is from Brazil. She speaks English but is obviously more comfortable speaking in Portuguese. Anyway we got permission for my Dad to Skype in and talk to her and explain more of our lesson if she was confused. She loved it. She thought it was crazy that my dad could already speak Portuguese after only 2 years of living in Brazil. The gift of tongues is amazing!!!!!

I also got to say hi to my investigator/recent convert before he was baptized. He was like... When are you coming back... Ahh I almost died Juan. I miss him so much. This man is so sweet. He has the light of Christ in him for sure.

Sunday we had two people come to church, one being Cecilia. She loved it and she understood it. So that was a phat blessing.

Monday Sister Coleman and I went down to McAllen in our van full of 5 elders. So that was pretty fun... And crazy, lowkey thought we were going to crash both there and back.

We had a mission wide conference. With like 200 missionaries. OH MY GOODNESS... It was super fun. We had a little devotional. Then had games and activities all day long. Corpus zone won literally every competition we were put into. Lets Go!!

Then drove 3 hours back to our apartment and got home right before 10:30pn so that was fun.

I love being a missionary. We all had such an awesome time just messing around and having fun.

I love the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know it's true.

I love all of you so much.

Merry Christmas you guys!!!!! 🌲🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄

Remember who's the reason for the season.

Stay 2 Legit 2 Quit!

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Darling