12/27/2010

Welll! These are the words to that Feliz Navidad song nobody ever knows hahaha..
"Feliz Navidad, prospero ano y felicidad" ..="Prospering year and happiness"
..Isn't Spanish so much more interesting hahah.

Sorry, I'm on kind of late today.. but it was because we went to a member's house this morning to do this WAY cool project.. and I did it and am going to be sending it to you..so don't hate on this late e-mail YET! You'll LOVE what you're gonna be sending.. I almost wanted to keep it hah. But! I'll be sending it aroundd next week, soo don't expect it TOO quick!

Well I'm not really sure what to put in this e-mail, since I had that one amazing.. AMAZAZing opportunity to skype the coolest family and neighbors 2 days ago! Ya'll are really TRULY incredible. It was weird, because you seem to be exactly how I left you! Well. With more wisdom. not age ;) hah but it was like I had never even left. It COULD be because it's only been 4 months, but it was SO good to know how good YOU all are. How strong you have been since I've been gone.. not that I really know how much I am to leave haha, but you're all happy. And that's what makes me happy. :) How noo MATTER what, Heavenly Father always has us in His hands, taking the best care of us we could possibly ever be in.
  Soo any new lessons I have learned this week. Well! I've learned that Satan never ever EVER stops working. This week especially, it just seems like he was trying to push me farther and farther away from what the Lord wants me to do. And if you think about it, he's been watching me this entire time I've been on Earth. So he knows exactly what pushes my buttons and really gets at me the most. So he's been trying at every single cost to push them! I got a blessing yesterday though, and I realized that even though he may know me for the time I've lived HERE, Heavenly Father knows everything. Every single thought, every single intention I have had, and every single thing that I need right this second to make me feel better. That blessing was everything I needed. WhoEVER is reading this, Heavenly Father loves us so much. More than I could ever imagine. More than ANY of us could ever imagine. And whenever life gets rough-which I remember Sister Deyo saying awhile ago, "As long as the weather changes, we will have trials"- Heavenly Father would NEVER. Quit on us. So how could we quit on Him? It doesn't matter how much I do or don't want to do something. What matters is what Heavenly Father wants me to do, because in the end THAT is what will bring me the most happiness. Which is why I'm here. Which is why you are waking up every Sunday morning to get ready for church. Which is why we do the things we do and make the sacrifices we make. Because Heavenly Father KNOWS. What will bring us the most joy. And His other children. The capacity

we have to be answers to someone's prayers, or a guardian angel to save a life as long as we listen to every feeling we get to do good, is inCREDIBLE.
  So! Before I start going off on crazy tangents. Isn't this gospel all that!


  I have another story right quick before I get going too..
so. You wanna hear something cool? So I got a letter from Josh Lopez a week or so ago right? And he told me about this couple who were DINERO investigadores that he was teaching in his mission, but they moved to El Paso! So! We 'made a call' to our Zone Leader and found the Elders whose area that family is in, and this past Wednesday I found the Elder, Elder Moore, who would be their missionary. An I talked to him, and he already called them, AND he said they were WAY excited to know that there's missionaries out there too! hah who EVER would have thought that would've happened.. so this couple might get baptized because of the

hookups the missionaries from Mo Val have haha


  by the way... Sister Newbold's brother lives in California, and she was talking to him on Christmas and asked him about Mo Val, where I'm from, and he's all, "Oooo ya I know exACTLY where she's from.. DANG that's ghetto!" ..hah. Everyone out here thinks I'm from the HOOD hood. Whatever. :p


  Well anyway. I hope you all know how much I love you, and pray for you. Es un poco loco los

nombres que viene en mi cabeza por el dia, pero yo tomo la oportunidad a orar por cada nombre de yo pienso! Ustedes estan en mis oraciones. Estoy bien aqui! No tengan miedo! jajaj ;)


welll. It's way weird trying to type Spanish, because I'm pretty sure I get it wrong haha, but know that I mean well. Read your scriptures. Do what God tells you. Life's way WAY way too short not to. :) I love yoU!




Con todo que yo tengo,


Hermana Lia Batchkoff/"Batchkok"/"Backwash"/"Backwash"/"B".... bueno. hahaha

buh buh buh BAM! Navidad!

It's the week of Christmas and it doesn't feel like it AT ALL. What! The hey ! But I dunno. Maybe it's a good thing ? It hasn't really hit me at all that Christmas is this Saturday.. because honestly. Everyday is just missionary work. Nothing really different, just different people. Different experiences. It's like waking up with the sun shining even though we 'technically' go through all 4 seasons. It just doesn't feel like it. Ya digg !
  Welll. SOOO so much has happened this week. So we had District Meeting on Thursday right? And we have this new District Leader, Elder Jordan. The super incredibly active Elder that has show and tell and everything, and THIS week he brings like. This 3 foot long stocking full of Christmas presents to hand out to us hahah! Then on Friday was the ward Christmas Party in the Spanish ward. And it was so cool! They had all of the youth going around to everyone's tables, taking their drink orders and bringing us everything out no trays.. like we were at a restaurant hah! It was SO COOL. The things the Hispanics come up with. I. am TELLING you. Make me feel about 1,000% LESS creative than I'm already not haha. But that's okay!
  So our main people right now.. I THINKK I told you about the Clark family already. For SOME reason that I may never understand, I can never speak much Spanish when I'm at their home.. like. Less than usual haha. But for some reason I will never understand, I just absolutely have this feeling for them that I haven't felt for everyone else. Their family is so incredible ! And! They're less actives, and they
1. invited us over for dinner for homemade flautas :O on Wednesday
2. went to the ward Christmas party
3. Went to. ALL 3 HOURS OF CHURCH ON SUNDAY!

I have a picture I got with them that I'll be sending to you.. when we were at their house, it was both of my companion's idea to sing Joseph Smith's 1st vision to them, and if we all know me.. I for one, don't sing. And for two, was just. not really into that sentimental kind of idea. Just because I'm not like that. But I figured if there is any time to go spiritual beyond what I'm comfortable with, it's as a missionary! So we did it, and then one of my companions asked them how they felt. So they asked the 18-year old son Pablo, the only one who would go to church every single week before, how he felt. And he's sitting their with his little brother, getting those manly tears and almost crying. It was SO incredible. I thought MAN. If that was MY son! How extremely proud of him would I be. He's going on a mission. I hope he understands that. ahaha

Soo who else. Oh! LUCY MARTINEZ. So I have this thing, where I put the people who are incredibly MONEY investigators in my journal, with all of these ugly squiggles and stars around their names all big hahaha. I've done that with Angie and with Lucy. We've been seeing Lucy for awhile now, and she is SO. Amazing. Words couldn't describe. She's VERY work-oriented, and she has every single thing lined up for her to really be ready to accept the gospel. Every single lesson we have with her she starts crying in the end because of the strong spirit that is always there, and she is honestly just soaking up every single thing we teach her. She REALLY needs to feel how much she is worth, because she's been shorthanded so much in her life. And accepted it. So she reads and reads and prays and prays, and yesterday we had a fast as a District to find more Spanish people to teach.. and evennn though Lucy's in English, I fasted for a miracle. That she'd be able to come to church, SOMEhow, SOMEway. Because her husband's not really down for us AS OF YET I don't think..he's an inactive Jehovah's Witness. But! It comes aroundd 12:55 or so, before the English ward starts right? And like a movie I'm NOT EVEN kidding you, I 'see her from afar', ALL dressed up in church clothes, with her fellowshipper's scriptures that she lent Lucy in her hand, looking like a R.S. President ;) and I have GOT. To say. That has to be theee BEST Christmas present I have ever gotten. IN MY LIFE. To see someone I've been able to START teaching to walk into church. So she got to sit next to me, and every single hymn, she was singing at the top of her lungs with me, like she truly belonged there.
  BUT! FUNNIEST STORY EVER. The next class was Gospel principles right! So we go in there, and the teacher is one of the other Hermanas this time, who happens to know A LOT. of doctrine. And likes to talk really deep. And so. Of allll topics that could have been the lesson, it's. The Millenium. So the lesson starts going off on ALL of these different tangents, liiike. The Urim and Thummim. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Which I think I've HEARD of like. Once in my life. I started getting lost. hahaha, so Elder Evans is sitting in front of me, and we keep giving each other THEE MOST PAINFUL LOOKS because of what's happening. I'm sitting here, trying so hard not to laugh because of how completely UNcomfortable everything was. So there was one point where I just raised my hand and said, "So basically, everyone who does good will be saved when Christ comes?" And the answer was 'exactly'. but then. Another 20 minutes went by of uncomfort. I couldn't really explain it to you. But I have never experienced one of the longest 30 minutes of my life until that class hahaha. But it's okay! Because LUCY (with squiggles and stars) soaked it all up. Like the amazing woman she is. And she loved every bit of it. So prayers

for her! Lucy Martinez! :D
  So we went to the William's home, from the English ward, on Saturday night for dinner. And Brother Williams had a mouth of STEEL when it comes to spicy. So we always talk about different spicy stuff. And we started talking about habanero peppers. These tiny peppers that are. you know. NOT unhot. So he asked me if I would try one if he went to the store and got some right then. So I said ya ! So he comes back and we each get some peppa, and we count to 3. and we eat it. And I'm cool for a second. Then I start realizing that once there's no flavor in it it IS NOTHING but heat!! So I'm drinking the milk he had allll ready for me, and he gave me, and he gave me a bread roll to just stick in my mouth. And what's the coolest part, is that after about 20 minutes my mouth went from on fire to completely numb anyway hahaha! Hermana Good got a video of it. It was SO FUNNY. So um. Habaneros. try them. ahahh
  So I did my first 'heart attack'! to somebody who is investigating, but we haven't been able to get a hold of her in awhile. And so we went on Friday night with all these hearts with good things to say about her (Hope-prayers for her would be coo! :p) and we went all quiet like complete

hoodrats to go stick them all over her door. It was cool! It was like ding dong ditching. But like a missionary! And. without ding-donging! haha
  Soo THAT was pretty much what was the most interesting about my week. If there's anything I'm forgetting, it'll proooblly be in the letter I write home. So many great things have happened this week, but it has been a HARD week too. I'm trying to figure out how I can be 'me' to be able to mold me and missionary into the same person. Because after living for 21 years in the world, it's really hard to just try and 'leave' it, if that makes sense. It's not easy living on a higher standard, without any of the things that make it easier to 'escape' feelings, and problems, and everything that goes along with those. There was a point last week, where I just felt Satan trying to pull, and pull and pull, and make me want to not be here. And I realized that I wouldn't be able to even study with everything that has been going through and clouding my mind. And so for about half of personal study, I just prayed. And prayed and prayed and realized! That I just need to give everything to Heavenly Father. Which takes A LOT of faith, to give all of you to something you can't even see. It's like you have a REALLY expensive. vase. Or something f

ragile. And you're told there is a hand that you can't see that will catch it when you drop it. So you have to drop it trusting that it WILL actually be caught. It is SO HARD to trust in that hand. But everything I am has been because I have been carried through my life to get me through to this exact point that I'm at right now. It's just been one of my struggles, trying to figure out exactly HOW to keep being able, from day to day, to have enough faith to know that I am being carried every single second to what will bring me, and most importantly everybody ELSE, the most happiness.
  So this week has been tough! But I would be lying if I said I hadn't felt amazing at those moments when I get to see the Lord's hand. But we all can if we look! That's what's SO cool about it!

 

Entonces, este es el mensaje por ustedes hoy. Tengan la fuerte que necesiten cada dia, y

buscan por todas oportunidades a levantar loz brazos sin esperanza en el mundo. Pienso que mis sentimientos no estan correcto, pero espero que ustedes pueden entender mis palabras haha.

I love you all! Anddd for my family. I'll talk to youuu. In! A few days what WHAAATT!

Feliz Navidad. Recuerda de orar y dar gracias a nuestro Padre Celestial por nuestro Salvador, la razon que estamos aqui

I love you! I don't think I could say it enough, but I'm getting clingy! Okay. Lata ON!

12/13/2010

Mannn this week was a WEEK! I have so much to tell you. And I keep meaning to just bring my journal so I can know exactly what I need to say. But I keep forgetting it! But um. I'd rather forget my journal than my testimony. So let's do dis !
  So Tuesday was transfer day. And we went and got our new companion, Hermana Newbold. She's a teacher, so she has allll these cool ways of teaching with pictures and stuff. So I'm excited! She laughs at my jokes, so we should be good! hahaha
 Ummm. So this week. We have this investigator Angie right ? And her husband's name is Edgar, and he's a less active. And Angie has been reading and praying. To the point of crying, realizing this church is true. She's pregnant, so she had been bringing her Book of Mormon to the doctor's and reading it on her own and EVERYthing. ..ask the Elders. That's golden. So on Friday, we set a baptismal date with her for January 1st. She SAID that was the way to start the year off right. And literally the next day she gives us a call. Saying she's been thinking about it all day, and she really doesn't see the need to be baptized again since she's already been baptized Catholic. She doesn't want us over, only once in awhile if we wanna stop by and say hi. And. ya. She dropped.us.like.we.were.HOT. HORRIBLE. The first time being dropped. It honestly feels like I had just got dumped. I wasn't there because we were at the ward Christmas party, so I was talking to some people when the call came. And there are SO MANY THINGS I just wanna ask her, like if she's prayed about this or just thought about it, or if there's a reason she changed her mind so quick. Satan just knew how ready she was. How hard she was working, and wouldn't stop. it's really sad how that happens. Because once you see a light in someone and it just changes, overNIGHT in this case, you just wonder. Like I just started wondering what in the world could happen to ANYbody that has the light. We canNOT slip! We can never ever EVER slip, because Satan is RIGHT THERE trying to catch us in our biggest moments of weakness. So it's up to us to make these biggest moments of weakness our biggest moments of strength, or if we're going to let the weakness cave in on us and suck us up. Lesson learned. BOO SATAN.! hahah
  But yesterday was better! We went to church, and 3! Count them 3! Less active families we've been trying and trying to work with came to church! One of my favorite families here, the Clark family, was there. The dad and 18 year old son would come every once in awhile, but yesterday THE MOM CAME! HUUUUUGGE! It was SO GREAT. So me and this Elder, Elder Evans, made up a happy dance. I've never had a happy dance! But that was a happy happening! So! Let's DANCE! hahaha, it's weird, because my Spanish IS progressing.. I HOPE.. but whenever I'm at the Clark's I can hardly speak it! I don't think I will ever know why, but it's incredible. Because no matter how much I do or don't speak, I just feel something in their home that I haven't felt many other places. They have such a warmth about them, and it's WAY cool, because there were times where we considered giving up on them. But I promised myself I wouldn't give up on anyone unless Heavenly father tells me to. So we just let them sit like a week to feel the difference of the home without missionaries. And we came back and things had honestly seemed to make a 180. It was so

cool. SO.COOL. So we have dinner with them on Wednesday too. Prayers! or.. oraciones! But really. They would be appreciated. :)
  So we have a new District Leader! His name is Elder Jordan, and he is SO COOL! We had District Meeting on Friday, and he called the night before to let us know we need to bring something to have Show and Tell. So I had no clue WHAT to bring. So I brought my stunna shades with the rhinestones hahaha. Like. a G! And OH MY GOSH. Our Zone Leader, Elder Farnsworth, 'showed' us how he can hold a handstand for DAYS, but didn't really 'tell' much haha. Elder Evans brought his Luke Skywalker action figure with Yoda on his back and made up a story.. Elder Gust brought a stuffed monkey, since he's going to VeraCruz and apparentlyy they have a lot of monkeys there ? But anyway, the monkey's arms are like sling shots, so when you sling the monkey it starts.. making monkey noises. I dunno what you call it haha but it is GENIUS! It was so fun.

  Wanna hear something else cool?? So it's Saturday right. And we went visiting less actives and former investigators, and where we were, noone was home right? So all of a sudden I think of this family, the Ter

raza family, that we've been needing to visit. They were kind of out of the way, but we decided to go anyway. The Terraza's weren't home, so we get back in the truck to figure out what we're gonna do next. And I see the cars are all mostly home at the houses on that street, so I said, "Why don't we just knock these doors?" so. We prayed about it. And we went and started knocking, and found a new investigator, who's interested in our message about families! Cuz you know. Who WOULDN'T be!?? And then we find a woman, who actually said she wasn't interested in learning how her family can be together forever. "Umm, no, that doesn't really interest me right now." ...so. next ! We knocked on the door of this other less active's house, who basically chased Hermana Good off her porch last time apparently, and she lets us RIGHT in! And she's just talking to us, telling us how she had been crying earlier that day, and was praying for some h

elp and trying to figure out w

hat to do. And we came! It was amazing, because I have such a hard time trying to figure out how I'm recognizing the Spirit working with me, but it completely DID! And we get to go see her tomorrow, and she's gonna co

ok us Cuban food. Cuz she's Cuban. Haha I sounded weird there.
  Well anyway family, that's the week. Prayers would be appreciated! Especially for our investigator/future relief society president Lucy Martinez, who is SO BEYOND incredible! So I love you. Iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou :)

Keep the faith. Keep the hope. Christmas is coming SO QUICK :o!


Con todo mi amor, Hermana Batchkoff

12/6/2010

First baptism yesterday ....... JEAH ! It was SO AMAZING. So. Here's the story!
 So it was Celali, the girl with theee most faith I have EVER seen! She's been kind of thrown back and forth between her parents, and not really cared for. But her best friend Daisy got baptized a year ago, and she's been taking the lessons for the past couple months. And this past week we got to meet with her and talk about her baptism. And she was SO EXCITED. I have never ever EVER met somebody that has ever been so ready and has wanted it so bad. She's had SUCH a rough life, but only looks at the good things that God has in store for her after being baptized. But she was so ready. so so so so SO ready. And THEN! Saturday night/Sunday morning, she was waking up with these crazy voices all around her, and she said this has NEVER happened to her before. She was so scared, and just kept praying and praying for help, and went to church sick to her stomach because of the nerves Satan was trying to put into her. So after sacrament, she got a blessing and was crying, saying that every single one of those feelings were just leaving out the top of her head as she was getting the blessing. It was SO COOL. And she was good after that! Satan just wanted to throw in his last bam because of how much good she's gonna do in the Mormon.org trying to look up 'meet Mormons' on mormon.org. They're saying they're on Mormon Facebook. haha!
 Okay but ANYway. So I ate steak the other day :O It was the first time I had eaten an actual steak in what. a year at least? or 2? It was good I'm NOT gonna lie. But my tummy was KILLIN the entire next day. KILLIN. hahaha

  Man! I feel like I should have more to say. This week hasn't been too easy. But then again. What week IS easy? hah, not in a complaining way. I just wake up every morning noticing how much Satan does NOT want me to be here. He gives me something to try and make me be unhappy. Every morning. And I think that is what's gonna be a struggle all throughout this next 15 more months as a missionary. Is that he will never EVER stop trying. He tries to get me to think about home, or he tries to get me to think about dance, or the things that could be going better. But in all reality, if these missions were just cakewalks, I imagine A LOT more people would go on them! Am I right. haha, I am not gonna give up. There are so many things that could be going so much worse, but the love of the people is really and TRULY keeps me going from day to day. The family who fed us steak the other night actuallyyy reminded me SO much of Brendan and Meghan next door ! It's so crazy how much is out in the world that we don't see. SO MUCH.

  Welll family. Hopefully the pictures I send can send thousands of more words for you. I love you all. to PAYCes!
  I'll be writing you. I'll be praying for you, like I always am.

By the way. It's so crazy how much English we speak here/ Like the majority of last week was English. CRAZY!

Welll I love you. Mucho MUCHO amor de mi corazon. hah iof that was right. Sometimes the easiest things in English are the toughest in Spanish. like. 'ya' means 'already' in english. Weird no?

Well I love you. Keep hanging on. Keep praying.
Con todo mi corazon, Hermana Lia Batchkoff

p.s. I'm wearing my Spongebob sweatband right now. x)