Disclaimer: I'm Alive! :)

After 3 and half days stuck in my house, I´m out!

Shout out to the Riverside ward for getting me the mini version of all the conference talks before I even got the Liahona! Awesome!

So much has happened! First on the list.... Miriam got baptized!

To demonstrate the awesome, loveable personality my sweet Miriam is, I wrote down some  funny things she said  leading up to the baptism. 

Tuesday- We went over and she offered food and we said that we had already eaten, but could we take it to go? She brought out this bag of tamales and other things and then she said,

"I just feel like your mom and you´re my kids.... And look, I just got another one!" Referring to Hermana J. I guess it was the way she said it- we were dying laughing.

Wednesday- We went over to her house with the ZL´s for her interview. We walked back in the family room after it was over and she was looking down at the floor. I asked what was up,  and Elder B. responded that the baptism was going to have to be postponed. I looked at Miriam and asked, "Miriam, are you getting baptized tomorrow?" She looked up, threw her hands in the air and yelled "si!" 

And the other day we were at a members waiting for her to finish making lunch. I looked over at Hermana C. and she was konked out! After she said she was just studying Lehi´s dream ;)

Thursday- We had zone meeting and while we were there we got a call from Miriam´s daugher, Sofie, telling us that Miriam was making food for the baptism (yes, her own baptism) and how many people were we expecting? "she has enough for about 60... should she make more?" We said we´d call her back.

Well, then we went into panic mode. If one person is getting baptized, there´s usually like... 25 maybe 30. At the wedding, there was about 60. So we said that should be enough, and no she doesn´t need to make more. 

After lunch we invited all the members in our area then went to Hermana J.'s old area because there´s no missionaries there right now. We invited a TON  of people and called and texted everyone we could. Good news? We ended up with 50 and all the food was gone.

But something else funny happened... they went to change and Jose hadn´t come out of the bathroom for a while. (oh yeah... Jose baptized his mom! the coolest thing I've ever seen!) I sent elder B. to check on him and he came back with the bad news... Jose had forgotten his white shirt. No matter! We just made our Mission leader switch shirts. It was hilarious, but it all worked out :)

 It actually wasn´t too bad being stuck inside during elections. I had time to do Zumba for an hour, personally studied for 2 hours (yes, I am turning into my father. But you know what, I like it!), and actually had time to cook! some of the delicacies included: crepes,

 french toast, stuffed peppers (made in the microwave... thanks bee!),

 baleadas, mac n cheese, chiliquiles (the things from the picture at Tipico´s), hamburgers (hermana C.´s choice!), 

and we splurged and got ice cream. So yes, it was fun, but I definitely have been feeling anxious to get out and work, especially because I will most likely have changes in 2 days.

CHANGES: due to Hermana C. having 6 months in this area, and Hermana J. only having 3 days in the area that she originally came to, they will most likely be leaving.

Current prediction:

Hermana C. is going to head up to Tatumbla or Dahnli. She already served in the south, now she´s been in the city, and now she get´s to head up to the north. But everyone is joking she´ll end in the south. We´ll see!

Hermana J. will probably  stay in the zone, and the ward, but back to the area where she was before her other comps left. So I´ll still get to see her around.

I will most likely stay to show my new comp around for another change, then I will head out.

 Vamos a ver!

Let's end with a random story...

We were walking home, and saw this nativity and she let us in her house and we just chatted with her. She is amazing! She does this every year and said she wasn´t even done!

 

Love you guys so much! Hugs and all the butterfly kisses in the world! 

-Hermana Snelson

Elections Week

Well hey there.

We have a lot to talk about so let´s get started with this.

Thanks to Elder Baird and to Miss Nicole Hopkinson for the lovely letters :)

Monday- we went shopping- like always! I did find some rad, cheap things and of course was stoked. Don´t worry, I only buy if it´s light, breathable fabric- preparing for the day I´ll eventually get sent to the south. 

Tuesday- the sister training leaders had called before (last saturday) to say that we were gonna go on exchanges, but we didn´t hear anything Monday night, so assumed that Tuesday was just gonna be another normal day. Ha! They called us and were all, "hey, so we´re leaving now, we´ll see ya in a half hour" so we got ready (i wait to get ready after personal study) and then I grabbed Hermana Brown from Texas. We dropped off her stuff at the house, then ran to do some service!

Things I´ve learned how to do in the mission:

-speak Spanish

-teach people the gospel

-make tortillas

-make tres leches

-and now... sand!

Hermana Elida is remodeling her house, so we went and sanded, finished, and painted the cabinets and other fun things in her kitchen. 

We had a lot of fun, and then changed and ran off to eat lunch. 

Right after we finished and were playing with Bishop´s cute little boy, the ZL´s called

"Hey Hermana, how´s it going?" 

"Uh good Elder, how are you?"

"Great, great, just wondering.... could you come to plaza to get the key to the church?" 

"uh, I´m in MiraFlores"

(MiraFlores is where the church is, plaza is by my house... there like 10-15 minutes from each other in a taxi)

"Oh well, the thing is the Elders and I have to meet the new  hermanas here in plaza so we´re gonna be late to english class so you could wait outside the church or just come get the key."

"yeah I´ll come... Wait, NEW HERMANAS?"

Yep, we had emergency changes. The Elders were out, and we got 3 new hermanas. I was teaching people colors and then they walked in, Hermana Jimenez, Dubone, and Reyes. Dubone and Reyes were at the CCM with me, so that was fun. 

Well, class finished and the elders didnt´look like they were gonna do anything. So I spent the next half hour calling members, explaining the area of the hermanas the best I could and helping in anyway I could. 

hermana Brown and I went back to our area, where we tried to visit people, and only were able to visit the Salinas family and watch the movie "John Tanner" with them. They loved it :)

Wednesday- got my comp back, and we went back to Hermana Elida´s to help out some more. and we also met wtih Miriam, Jose´s mom. like.. 1 week before we visited Miriam with a sister from the ward and Jose. That was when she told us that for the last 15 years she had been going to an Evangelical church. Then she saw all the faults in the doctrine and the things they were teaching and doing and just wanted out. She had quit going to her church, and prayed to god to help her find the path she needed to go. "And what do you know? These lovely ladies showed up on my door step just a few days later!" SO COOL.

As we left, Jose asked her when she was gonna be baptized. Then said, "If I get baptized, will you?" She thought about it, and said yes. Then Jose left to get the picture we had given him of his baptism and showed it to her. She was shocked at first, then said, "Well, I guess I´m getting baptized!" Wednesday was when we finally were able to meet with her. She said Saturday would be too soon (as in last week) but this Thursday would be fine. So holla, baptism this Thursday! She is really really excited and we´re even more excited for her :) 

Thursday- we went to the temple with our investigators! It´s always fun and I really think that helped seal the deal for Miriam. She really is seeing that this is right, that this is what she needs to do and the difference it will make in her life. I am so so happy for her :) 

Friday- was spent trying to find a list of inactives we got from the stake. We got lost many times- Honduras doesn´t have addresses. Literally, some of the addresses were like, "go to the buidling TIgo, the street next to it, the fourth house." and we´re all, "uh.. okay." So that was fun :)

Saturday- Taught english classes, taught Miriam, a good day but nothing memorable. 

Sunday- Yesterday was awesome! It was the primary program! Something I´ve decided- Doesn´t matter what part of the world youré in, the Sunbeams are always the best part! After we jetted up to class where we were informed that Hermana´s Dubone and Reyes got their visa´s and were headed to Argentina, and Hermana Jimenez was gonna come be with us!

 This dress is a gem I found for one dollar, and it even has pockets!

I´ve been told I look like a Disney princess and Dora the explorer.

So now I have a new comp. It was crazy because then we ran to their apartment to pack, then the mission home to drop off the sisters, eat Baleadas, chat with President then go to our area. We had gotten all of Hermana Jimenez´s stuff upstairs (including another chair, mattress, and other food that was at her place, aaaaand a toaster!), got our scriptures, prayed, and were about to leave.... when the power went out. It´s a rule that if the power´s out, we can´t leave- too dangerous to be out in the street if the lights are out. So we spent the next half hour chatting, getting to know one another, ran and visited Miriam, and were home again. 

and today we went to Valle De Angeles! always fun to see all the cute things- some of it´s waaay expensive because it´s where all the tourists go, and they try to jack it up because I´m white. But we had plenty of opporutnities for fun pictures and lots of laughs.

Announcements: this weekend is the presdential elections so I´ll be holed up for 3 days (thus a baptism on Thursday) so I won´t be writing until Tuesday or Wednesday next week. but don´t fret! I´ll be fine! :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Snelson

Hello from Honduras!

This week was another great one!

First of all: thanks for the letters from Elder Baird (in Texas, and doing great!), Miss Brooke Michele, Elder Walton (still loving Japan and eating crazy new food) and a letter and package from Mr. Weaver, who is preparing to serve the people of Mexico! 

Fun things that happened:

On Monday Hermana C's "daughter" (I have no idea if other missions use these terms... your children are the people that you trained) called saying that she was in the city because she is sick. So we decided to get lunch together. We got food, chatted, and surprised Hermana T (one of my crazy Mexican roommates from the CCM) was there too so it was a huge party with us and their comps. Well, we went on to write our families, and they called to ask if they could stay at our place. alright then. So now we had to fit 4 more sisters at our apartment. Well, after writing we met up wtih the sisters, bought tortillas and avocado so I could make baleadas for dinner, and Hermana C left with some sisters to get blankets from a neighbor. Have I mentioned that we only have one table and 2 chairs? We ate on the floor but it was hilarious and tons of fun. After, some were still hungry so we made smores too. 

This is miss Hermana T, who is from Utah and was in the CCM with me ;) 

I ended up sleeping on the floor, sharing a mattress with another Hermana.

Welcome to the mission, always an adventure.

The next day we went to the mission office with them, then ate at Tipicos where I finally took a picture of my food. Don´t worry, we shared, but oh gosh it´s so so good.

To anyone who wants to come to Honduras, we´ll share a plate at Tipicos, my treat :)

Wednesday there was an activity at the church with the Relief Society to make soap. We´re trying to get Rosa more involved, and she was excited to learn, so we made soap! It´s pretty easy, just stick the ingredients in a bucket, but the trickiest part is you have to... blend it.

 

 Our arms were exhausted by the end of it but there was a lot of laughter and fun :) 

Thursday was Halloween! Oh wait, no one celebrates Halloween here. The ZL´s made an effort to dress up, but I was definitely feeling baggy and already had my costume picked out for 2 years! (disclaimer, it´s a peacock) 

The rest of our time is the same as always, running around our area

 teaching less actives, Catholic priests who invite us over "just to chat about Jesus" and always always looking for new investigators.

And now some updates:

Jose: He is amazing! We brought a new investigator to church yesterday, and as soon as I said, "Jose, will you take him to class?" he was on it and during class was helping him find the scriptures and explaining things. Someone asked him to share his testimony about missionary work, and like always he said,

 "I´m so grateful I opened my heart to these two beautiful angels, because without them, I have no idea where I´d be."

 He even got a calling! He´s the secretary for the Elders Quorum, (the president baptized him- they´re the best of friends) and was super stoked when he was told he would have a calling. He has the biggest desire to learn EVERYTHING. He is literally counting down the days until he can go to the temple, and every lesson turns into a 2 hour discussion about the Book of Mormon. 

Plus, once he finishes school (did you know he´s a pilot?) he promised to pick me up in Africa and take me back here to go to the beach :)

The Family Salinas: They are amazing as well! They just love, love love the gospel. Allison is still determined to be a missionary. The other day she asked, "hermana Snelson, what class is after Relief Society?" 

I explained that we are pretty much there until the day that we die. She got confused, thought for a moment, then asked 

"so what class do I have to take to be a missionary?" 

bless her little heart. I explained the entire process, and she looked with rapt attention. 

"GOD picks where I serve? Wow."

 Katherine is just as stoked. The other night she grabbed my stack of pamphlets and said, 

"Okay, Tonight I´m missionary Salinas. Let´s talk about the word of wisdom. Now, we know that our body is a temple so we have to treat it with respect....." 

Katia is the only one we are concerned about. She is shy, and is at that age where the girls just don´t know how to act. And because she´s 11 she just wants to be in Young Womens. So she´s our focus now. 

They really are my second family. Tonight, they´re making us a huge dinner, and I´m bringing pictures of the parents to show to my honduran dad what my African dad is up to :)

Love you kids! Remember to see the little miracles God places in our lives each and everyday ;) 

Honduras Style!

Hello!

First we start with some questions I received:

 How is Jose doing? Still fired up and coming to church? 

Jose is amazing! He has the strongest testimony. When we're planning for the day, we usually try to make our appointments with Jose for 2 hours. He is reading the book of mormon right now, and so we usually end up just discussing what he read and answering all of his questions. He also got a calling yesterday- secretary for elders quorum! He is STOKED! He sent us a text telling us "I know you have p-day but I'll leave work early so I can meet with you right at 6."

Did he ever tell his family that he was baptized? 
I'm pretty sure. I know his mom does because she came to church yesterday and wow, she loved it! I was so happy because she was so happy to be there. This is the first time she has shown any type of interest, so we're excited to go over there tomorrow :)

And now....

My crazy week!

One thing I love about the mission: for all intents and purposes we are doing the same thing every day- wake up, study, eat lunch, go out and teach, eat dinner then come home. But every day is completely different. Everyday I'm teaching new people, or your english class randomly decides to throw a birthday party for "Mr. Dockendorf" so the lesson plan that day is learning how to say "may I have some cake, please?" 

The most exciting things that happened were zone conference, and the wedding and baptism.

Let's start with zone conference!

Conference was with President Ochoa, a member of the 70 who spoke in this past General Conference. ( He told the story about the little boys who left with the horses and played marbles). Anyway, he is really nice! He wanted to meet all of us, so we all went up in the front, shook his hand, and said where we were from. He has such power, and everyone was really pumped after he spoke. 

I learned a lot, but the best was when he had people stand up and share a miracle. After, he asked why they had that happen. It boiled down to two simple things: they had prayed, fasted, or both. I love it. It's so simple, but really that's all the difference.

I also found that faith, one day, over 3 months ago. I woke up. I was frustrated. I was new in my area, and my companion was stressed and frustrated because our area is one of the hardest in the mission. Didn't matter what I said, she was still frustrated. I was praying and praying, wondering what I could do, and the thought came, "Have faith". I still remember walking into the office, slamming my hand on the table and saying "Hermana, I have faith that we can find one person who is ready to be baptized!" Well, we talked to over 50 people that day, and the last one, right when we were walking home, was Rosa's mom. 

What had happened if I hadn't been praying that day? If I hadn't had the faith sufficient enough? Would God have still placed Rosa's mom in my path?

I honestly don't know. 

But I'm grateful I don't have to think about that. I just get to think about how happy Rosa looked as she came out of the baptismal font. I had the peaceful feeling of "you're doing it Aubrey, you are changing people's lives." 

They still have a lot of work and progress to make, but that's one thing I love about the gospel! There is always more that we can do. We are never perfect, but rather are all trying to be made more perfect literally every day. 

I love them so much. As we drove to church yesterday, 4 of us squished in the back and Allison in front on Rosa's lap with Rolando singing some Christan song and stuck in Honduran traffic, I  couldn't help but smile, perfectly content with my life and the opportunity to be here. 

Love you all!

The week I turned 20!

This week, I actually got better about writing about my week :)

Monday- After we finished writing we left the church to go back to our area. Hna C told me Paola (ward member who hula-ed with us) wanted us to come over to her house. I thought we should just go right then since she lives close to the church, but then she said that she didn´t want us to come until that night, so alright then.

We went and visited the family Salinas. Rolando wasn´t there, but Rosa was and it was the coolest thing. She was just talking about how she loves the church and the influence it has had on her family and how when she goes to church she just feels like she´s with family. I explained that that´s exactly how I feel! When I moved to Hawaii, it was the singles ward that really helped me feel loved, welcome, and safe. 

Well we left and I said, "so what exactly did Pao need?" Hna C. told me that because changes were coming up (we would be finding out the following day) Pao wanted to have family home evening with us. So we get there, sit down, the family comes, and we sing a opening hymn. Let the record show that in the taxi ride over, the thought occurred, "hmm maybe we´re having a surprise party" but we sang the song, did an opening prayer, had  a lovely lesson like everything was normal. The thought of my birthday or anything was completely out of my head. Then Pao said to bless the refreshments. She went to the kitchen and we stayed there chatting, then we were called in.

Well, surprise! There was a huge Tres Leches, with candles, cupcakes, a sign that said, "happy birthday to you!" and balloons. There were many pictures to be taken, a present from Hna C (a cute blue shirt)  and they sang happy birthday in english and spanish.  We went home half a cake and 6 cupcakes richer. :)

Tuesday- We had a  normal morning, then we went to lunch at Bishop´s house, then it was english classes. Because transfers were coming up the next day and Elder P. was probably going to be transferred  (he´s the ZL in the south) we decided to have a party in our English class. 

There was more Tres Leches, but before we could sing, our students said that they had a "presentation".  Rosa (not from the Salines family) was the MC and directed the different acts. One student who is 70 years old sang "Old Susanna," another recited poetry, the same 70 year old lady recited poetry first for me, and then for the elders. My poem was about how I break all the boys hearts because I won´t kiss them. Haha! We were going to watch a movie but couldn´t get it set up, so we just played Telephone instead. They loved it! 

We had a lesson with Jose after,

 who kept on prolonging saying the closing prayer because he thought it would be the last lesson with the three of us. Then we went to the family, read the book of mormon with them, and left. Hna C said it was probably too late to get a phone call about changes.... so no changes for us! We celebrated with... you guessed it. More tres leches :)

Wednesday-  There I was in bed, when I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it said "15." so I laid back down. Then my eyes snapped open and I saw that there was in fact a 7 before it! I jumped out of bed and said, "hermana, it´s SEVEN!"
 "are you sure?" 
I ran to grab the phone- yes in fact it was 7:15 and we slept in 45 minutes.

To test it, I set my alarm for 7:30 and it worked just fine. We still have no idea what happened, but accepted it as a sign that we are just working too hard! :)

Well, because we thought there were going to be changes we hadn´t bought any food on Monday, so it was off to the store to buy food. Then back to the house, then drop off our dirty clothes and then we went to visit a less active, but they were not home. By this time it was lunch and neither of us wanted to cook, so we decided to head to Tipicos. It´s just... well typical Honduran food! We´ve been meaning to go there forever, but never have had time so we finally decided we were going. We decided to share, and got this huuuuge plate wtih tortilla strips, pork, salsa, and Honduran Fry Sauce (that´s what I call it anyway. It´s the same color as fry sauce, and pretty much tastes like it, but they use it on different things). Oh my gosh it was huge and delicious and I´m pretty bummed I didn´t have my camera. :)

We swung by the Family Salinas to remind them about Mutual and make sure that they would be ready when we came back at 6:30. Rosa was gone shopping, so we just had a lesson with the girls.

 After the prayer, Hna C said, 
"Alright Katherine, now we finally have time to talk. What happened last Saturday?" 
She got quiet then said, "well, I don´t know, I think it was all the pressure of just being up in front of everyone and I was scared..." 
 Alison piped up, "Look at me! I went up in front of everyone and I did just fine!" 
Hermana C. and I were in shock.

Alison continued: "I was thinking about that," (remember, she´s 9) "I want all my family to get baptized! Can we baptize Katherine this Saturday?" 
We just laughed, "Yeah, of course Katherine can get baptized this saturday! Katherine, what do you think?"
 "umm, yeah, that would be okay."

Alison had a huge smile. "Great. Now Katia, when are you going to get baptized?"
 I think Katia was in shock that it was her little sister was asking her.
 " I don´t know... this month? Yeah, I´ll get baptized this month."
 I pointed to the calender on the wall.
 "Alright well you can get baptized this week, the 19th, or on the 26th."
 "the 26th!" Katherine said. "Mom and dad can get married then too!" 

Hermana C. and I just sat there in silence while all of this was happening. We talked about this more, then answered some gospel questions.

Well, then Rosa came home and walked in and was surprised to see us. She sat down, we chatted, then Katherine said, 
"Mom what are you doing on the 26th?"
 "uh..." "Great! Alison told me I´m getting baptized this Saturday, so I´m telling you that you´re getting baptized on the 26th." 
There was silence. 
Then, "Don´t I have to get married first?" 
"uh, yeah, you can get married on the 26th." 
"And my baptism?"
 "that´ll be right after the wedding."
 "oh, okay. Sounds good."
And that is how we´re having a wedding this weekend. :D

We went to mutual, and the girls loved it. Rosa and Rolando even showed up at the end! Katherine turned to me and said, 
"Hermana Snelson when can I get baptized?" 
I explained that we had to have an interview, get clothes, and schedule a date.
"Well, if I could I would just get baptized right now!"

The enthusiasm we feel every time we go over to their house is contageous. I love it. Now we just have to work with the rest of Rosa´s family :)

Thursday- The day I turned 20 years of age! I got up, Zumbaed (thanks again fam, those are the highlights of my mornings) studied and left to the church. Since there were changes we had Zone meeting and met all the new elders and one new sister. We split up into different districts so we can get to know our new DL´s. After the closing prayer, all the other people from the other district came in carrying a little cake, and sang happy birthday to me. Thanks guys.

We had lunch, where Hermana C and I were full and long story short, there was a bag of spaghetti in Hermana C´s backpack when we left. One thing you get really good at in the mission:  sneaking food when you´re full.

We swung by to visit other peopole, who were busy, so we ended up taking Rosa, the three girls, and Rosa´s sister to go to the stake center where we all took a bus for the temple. There were 7 of us in total, and after getting turned down by 2 taxi´s, we just split up and rode to the stake center.

Best birthday present ever: getting to visit the temple.

 We explained what the temple was, and missionaries bore their testimoies about the temple. Gosh, the spirit was just the sweetest and everyone felt it. 

We were talking to Rosa about how in a year she can go in and she became so excited! 

Friday- We had a lot of running around. First,we had to get copies of Rosa and Rolandó´s i.d's. Then we all went to the ZL´s. Next we had to find witnesses for the wedding and obtain copies of their ID´s. Weddings are a lot of work!

Saturday- English class! I was the star with my rendition of "head shoulders knees and toes". I still will randomly sing whenever I have the chance ;) We visited other members, and the family with the Relief Society Prez. Rosa hasn´t been able to visit Relief Society and we were hoping to get her excited about it.

Sunday- Alison and Katia were sick with a fever so they couldn´t go to church and neither could Rosa. But Katherine came and brought Rosa´s sister (who is 17) and they loved young women´s! Hooray! We had a meeting after church with all the presidency to plan the wedding and everyone was really stoked because we´ve been working with this family for so long.

WE are blessed, I´m 20 years old, I make chamomille tea with fresh chamomille, and I´m a mormon.

Love you guys :) 

This week!

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the package Chad and Chanelle! My comp and I were soooo stoked about the Zumba DVD´s!!

Today we went to a famous statue of Christ in Honduras, called Picachu. There was a huge park and we just played kickball, and explored and took pictures. It has been a fun day!

Now I'm going to talk about the family Salinas.

So last Friday, we were with Rosa and Alison,  just chatting about the day, and then Hermana Concoha shared some scripture. We were in a hurry because we had an appointment with Jose. I felt impressed to ask Alison if she wanted to get baptized... she said yes! So we put a date for the 12th of october. "sister snelson?" she told me later. "I really want to get baptized... but I want to do it with my sisters" "Alison, I know that you really want to, and we´re going to invite your sisters too. We´ll all pray that they want to get baptized too."

hermana Rosa walked in later, and said, "she wants to be a missionary you know." "what??" "Yeah, she told me the other day she wants to buy more skirts and dress more like you guys." "That´s so great!" "oh, and she watches less TV" "really?" "Yeah, I walked in the other day and she was sitting on the couch with her backpack and I asked her why the TV was off and she said it was because she was reading the book of mormon."

Did I mention she´s 9??!

Well, Alison, Rosa, and Rolando all came to Jose´s baptism and that just made Alison ten times more stoked for her own. When we went over on Sunday, we talked to Katerine and Katia about how Alison wanted to be baptized with her sisters. We challenged Katerine and Katia who both said they didn´t feel ready.

So to show them that they were totally ready, we went over the questions with them on Monday, which they were all able to answer! At the end, all 3 of the girls were positive and excited about being baptized. 

Thursday- Katia told us she didn´t want to get baptized, but Katerine was still all for it, so we just kept praying and praying she might change her mind. 

Friday- I found this for 50 cents... .happy aloha Friday!

 Saturday-  We went over to their house before the baptism, to help them get ready. Katerine pulled Hermana C. aside and told her that she didn´t want to get baptized, she just didn´t feel ready.

I was worried how Alison was going to take it, but she was more positive than ever that this was exactly what she wanted. We got to the church and she went to have her interview and we went with Hermano M. (1st counselor in the bishopric, an amazing convert, and has really helped a lot with the family) to talk with the family. He talked about how we have to make our descisions for ourselves and about how we can´t let others infulence our own choices. Hermano R. took the floor after and was talking about how grateful he was that we showed up in their lives. He started crying as he said that he really doesn´t want his children to live a life like his, and knows that being a member in this church can make the difference. 

It was amazing! There have been so many moments on my mission where the spirit can be felt so strong, but the people being taught are still learning to recognize it. The most we can do is plant the seed.

Next goal: getting Rosa and Rolando married, and baptizing the rest of the girls. 

This week was great, full of random fun adventures!

 Three weeks ago we went shopping in The Kennedy- this district of like, 20 thrift stores, scouting out all the ones that were 2 dollars or less. We were walking along when someone yells, "everything 10 limpiras!" (50 cents) so of course we took off running. That was where I found my favorite floral dress, and another skirt, along with this skirt. We were just about to leave the store, and the sisters said it looked a little big but I was wanting a grey skirt, and 50 cents?!

Later, when we get home I look and see that it is BCBG brand. It was a little big on me, but luckily one of my less active members we visit once a week is a seamstress (suuuper common profession) and I asked if she could take it in, and maybe cut it just past my knee.

this is what I got!
 "I made it shorter in the front, and longer in the back... that´s how they do it in the states, right?"

50 cent skirt!! :)

 Another fun story: 3 of the elders in my ward (there´s 6 missionaries in my ward in total!) also celebrate their birthday this month (elder P´s is today, I´m next) and soooo one of Elder P´s converts brought us lunch to the church to eat before English classes and she even brought pineapple cake. ;)

so delicious & nice!

Love you guys :) The church is so true, go out and share it!