June 10, 2014

oh my heck NO TIME EVER!!!!

okay let me just cut to the chase...

WE HAD AN AMAZING MISSION CONFERENCE YESTERDAY!!! it was half the mission, south zones yesterday, so i got to see ALL THE PEOPLE I LOVE!!! okay you all have no idea.... how happy it made me.... TO SEE THESE PEOPLE!!! 

I got to see Sister Kenagy, hermana Judd, Hermana Miller, Hermana Despain, hermana meldau, ETC!!! and SO ON!! 

there was a point in the conference when i was just looking at all of them and thinking to myself... man. NEVER would i have been able to become so close with all of these people if i hadn't come here to serve. they are all so different, and yet we are all best friends. I love them with all my heart, and man... I am just truly grateful for the people that have been put into my life out here.

So let me tell you about a huge tender mercy that Heavenly Father gave me this last week and a half. 

last saturday, i went to one of the members houses before our baptism, the grobergs! it was late, but we decided to drop by really fast for some reason, there at there house was visiting the family of brother groberg from a couple cities away! the wife has never visited down here before and it was just a one day thing, and they were all about to get ready to go. Well We started talking and I figured out the ward that she was from, which is the ward that I knew that Noemi had gotten baptized in! (noemi is the one me and hna judd found last summer, who was always in the hospital, who wanted me to marry her son, and who we fell in love with, who got transferred from the ICU here to kissimee, so we didn't get to say goodbye, who we called the elders up there to go teach and she got baptized when she got healthy enough :)) and mind you I only knew that she was in that specific ward because our new district leader came from there and he told me he had met noemi there and everything! but anyway, so i freaked out!!! and said, WHAT!! so then you know Noemi right???? well she stopped and looked at me, her face dropped and she told me, Noemi passed away this morning... 

man... MY face dropped, I tried to bit my lip so I wouldnt cry but SURE enough I started to cry pretty hard. she hugged me and just.... hugged me. she was the relief society president, and had just found out... we both just cried for a while. she told me what happened, how she had gotten a blessing that said she wouldn't be here much longer, and then she passed away the next day. she told me about how much of a strength she had been for the ward, and then i started flippin crying again and so she hugged me again and she just thanked me over and over again for teaching her the gospel... I cannot tell you guys, what it meant to me to be able to find out that way. She was in shock as well, the odds of her coming that day were not high and me coming as well? not high, the morning that she passed, this relief society president happened to be the same place at the same time with me, and we lived hours apart, it was a miracle. I know it was, and I know how merciful heavenly father was. 

Well this week, yesterday, as i said, we got to have that mission conference, so i got to see Hna Judd. after the conference I pulled her aside and was able to tell her in person that Noemi had passed away, she started to cry and then I was the one who got to hug her. and THAT was a huge blessing as well, we just got to take some time and talk. ya know the cool thing though? for the first time in my life, the death of someone did not effect me the way it usually did. It wasn't a deep sick feeling, or despair or devastating in the pit of my stomach, it was just the shock or the fact that she is gone now and i never got to say goodbye, ESPECially cause I had just looked at her name in the phone that morning and thought about how I needed to call her soon. but even though we cried and it was sad, neither of us felt hopeless. I have never felt so calm and at peace with someone leaving this place! I know that she is okay, and i know that is because of the gospel. I know where she is right now, and that is because of the gospel, and I can smile thinking about her now because I know that she isn't bound by her sicknesses anymore, but she can do everything she ever wanted to do so badly, she can teach the gospel. SHE can help others now, she can fulfill her purpose. and man i am grateful to know that. I love that woman so much, and i am so grateful to have been the missionary who got to find her and teach her, what a blessing. what a huge blessing. AND what a huge blessing that i was able to find out the way I did, and that I got to tell Hna Judd myself. I will NEVER FORGET THAT! ever. tender mercies of the Lord. they exist.

anyway, I can't remember much else in this moment, i don't have much time today, but I just want you all to know that I know that this gospel is true. I know that it is, and I know that the priesthood authority is way more than any of you truly understand. It is eternal and it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, that I know. I know that sometimes we want to live the way WE want to live. we want to sin the sins we think are acceptable, and judge others for the ones they think are okay, we want life to be easy, trial free, MAN. If I could just shout to the world that that is NOT the purpose of this life. I know why we came here, and it was not for life to be easy. it was not for us to be able to do whatever we want, and still gain eternal joy! please do not miss the point, please do not put your desires above God. i promise you, that he loves you. I promise you, that he wants you to be happy, he does NOT do things in your life to make you suffer, he sees the big picture, he sees it all! we forget that so often! I just feel so strongly right now, that it is all true. I bear pure testimony of his love for us, and of the Book of Mormon, it is true and if you sincerely read it, ponder it and pray, you will know. Do not glide by in life, doing what you want because you want it. there is more, there is SO MUCH MORE.

MAN DO I LOVE YOU ALL!!! love, love is the best. and love is so important. stop being mean to people! stop gossiping, stop judging too harshly, just love :) LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

adios amigos :)

woohooo!!! 

we had the best night with the Osorios, well the parents never showed up, so we taught the kids a lesson on the porch and then we played ninja attack with them!!! WE LOVE THEM!!! it was so awesome. 

we went alligator hunting! and found nothing... hahaha

awww man so much funnnnn!

THIS PLACE WAS AWESOME!!!!

the trees were all like this! the roots ALL ABOVE THE GROUND! SO COOL!

June 2, 2014

OH MY HECK THERE IS NOT ENOUGH TIME TO TELL EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!! AHHHH!!!!

okay people LISTEN UP!!!!!! this week was great and i have GOT to tell some good stories.

man. where to begin....

first of all.... BAPTISMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Lucrecia, i haven't talked much about her, BUT! we have been teaching her a lot. she is the one that is taking care of grandma Ornelia, the one who has Alzheimers, and is really sweet, but sometimes tries to bite me... good things she has no teeth. hahaha anyway. this last week everything fell apart for her baptism, she got sick, the whole family involved with her got sick, the font had a sewage back up for the SECOND TIME in a month, and it was nasty my friends...... it.... was nasty...... she couldn't come to church cause grandma was acting up and wouldn't leave, the guy baptizing her (who was in the sick family) was going out of town this sunday, so unless we got permission from president do confirm her on saturday that would be a problem, ETC!!! so we just planned to move it to the next week because it just wasn't happening....
BUT! MIRACLE!!! we saw her on thursday, and she was just, ready. she just knew that it was true. she was all better, everything was great, and she just, was READY! so we got it all together, amazingly and LET ME TELL YOU, AMAZINGLY, the font got fixed and cleaned in time, the whole family got better as well, we were able to figure it all out with president, we got a bunch of people to do the service in spanish, (thank heavens for return missionaries from spanish speaking missions) (speaking of, it was really cool doing it all in spanish, cause ya know, almost no one could understand what was happening, but the spirit was still strong, and everyone could now empathize with her on what it's like every sunday coming to a ward of people who dont speak her language. man!)
anyway, IT WORKED OUT! she was SO HAPPY! we brought the jumpsuit to her that morning for her to try it on, and she was giddy, i have never seen her smile so much. at the baptism, she was so nervous, but so excited. she got in the water and just prayed while they got ready, when she got baptized her and willy just hugged eachother and she thanked him for bringing her to this church. she got out and we brought her back, and she just started sobbing, because she had never felt like so many people loved her before. she had felt so lonely for so long, and she was just shocked at the plan that God had for her to bring her here :) MAN!!! she went to change and me and Hna perez hugged eachother and just stood by the font behind the door while the waiting music was being played, we just soaked it in. may have teared up a little, haha, and just felt the spirit. it was so awesome. SO AWESOME! anyway, it was really cool :)

ALSO I WAS A FOOL AND VOLUNTEERED HNA PEREZ to sing a musical number for the baptism, not realizing that being her companion i would be dragged into it.... so we sang a musical number!!! luckily the other sisters sang with us :) WHO WOULD'VE THUNK!!! that i would ever sing in public, well i did. i did! and it wasn't even bad! they want us to sing it in sacrament now..................................

anyway. OKAY OH MY HECK! I AM SO TIRED!

let me tell you why. we moved into the other sisters apt because our lease is up and they aren't renewing it, because it has so much gross mold and water leaks and everything is breaking. SO! their apt is tiny and i love it cause it's cozy with all of us! haha i love small! anyway, in our room...... the wall by my head is where the furnace heater cooler thing is, and i don't know why but when it's on it will make this incessant continuous clicking noise that gets louder and faster and more annoying.... and if you tap or hit the wall it'll stop, they warned us... but i didn't believe them..... THE FIRST NIGHT it woke me up like 50 times. the second night, the same. by the third night I LITERALLY WAS PUNCHING THAT STUPID WALL SO HARD EVERY TEN MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i get so angry and i'm tired so nothing stops me and i just punch it or slap it! hahahaha hna perez laughs.... but one of these nights i'm gonna punch a hole through that stupid wall..... anyway last night though i decided not to punch it cause it wakes hna perez up, so i just would put my hand on it softly, and say, peace, be still! and it worked!!!!!!! i slept better too! so..... anyway.

okay here is something SO AWESOME.

the Guatemala family that moved here are still awesome. we love them so much, and Flor, the mom, her english is very little, and very broken, but this fast sunday, we saw her walk up to the podium, and we FREAKED OUT!!!! we looked at eachother and almost died, she got up, and very slow and broken english started bearing her testimony (her husband isn't a member, remember) and man the spirit was so strong, it was so simple, and so brief, and so broken, but we all understood, and we all felt it. we both teared up, just happy seeing her up there. we were so proud of her, she comes to a new country, knowing no one, not knowing english, but is so strong in her faith and knowledge that this is the true gospel, that she still bears it to everyone, and isn't afraid to do so. it was an awesome example to me, I LOVE HER SO MUCH. she is so sweet, i'll send a picture. anyway, it was just cool.

okay so there is this house we pass every week... and it is so cute, adorable! man i hope i didn't already tell this story. but anyway! it has a Gazebo, however you spell it, and a nice cute red barn, and cute shutters and flowers and everything. it's adorable! we realized though one day while admiring it, that it was a witches house..... it was... TOO.... cute.... it was... TOO... perfect..... and it was TOO.... inviting........ the perfect location for a witch to catch and eat children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! every time we pass it we go slow and stop our conversation and just watch the house...... and then carry on once we are passed. haha well ONE DAY.... we saw the owner... oustide..... he had white fuzzy hair, sticking out on all sides, and was doing yard work.... HERMANA PEREZ WAS CRAZY AND PULLED OVER!!!!!! so we talked to him, luckily, he figured out real fast that we have special authority and he could never kill us or anything, so he was really nice and didn't even try to invite us in, he didn't even accept a video or email or anything cause he knew the light of christ would destroy their witchery....... otherwise, he would've taken the lessons. haha BUT! we are still waiting to see the wife, that will be a big day....

anyway. we got new elders in our ward, they are whitewashing... poor things.... on full bike. POOR GUYS. man. seriously it is HOT. one just got here and is being trained, and he said on his first day that it was really humid.......

HAHAHAHA OH MY HECK JUST WAIT YA FUNNY KID! ..... just wait.......... l:(......... not looking forward to this summer. it is already death! MY MIND BLOCKED OUT THE MEMORIES OF SWEAT AND DEATH LAST SUMMER!!! SO I AM NO LONGER PREPARED TO HANDLE THIS ONE!!! AHHHH!!!

okay well.... i have more to say but i shall depart, cause i am out of time. i had a really big thing happen this week... i don't have time to tell it though now, i'll write about it next week. lots of tears, big miracle, tender mercy, etc. 

and i am not purposefully trying to leave you all hanging! hahaha sorry!

anyway, THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! man i know it. i am grateful for this gospel. and man, the Book of Mormon, is way more powerful than any of you think. read it over again, and again, and again, study it deep. there is so much more in there than you can imagine, but we have to work our way up the ladder of understanding. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

OH! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY AARON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
give them big hugs for me everyone :)

WOOO!

There's a good reason to move out.

We literally saw a tornado!!!!! There was a huge storm and we looked
and saw it forming comes towards the earth!!!! AHHHHH it was so
scary!! And cool!!!!!

May 27, 2014

Okay my friends. I have but LITTLE time! And oh so many things to
say... AND CURSE this Memorial Day! For I have to type on my tiny
little iPad and it takes too long!

Okay. Moving on.

Hello!!!

This week, was quite awesome. I'm not gonna share exactly what
happened, but we had an experience this last week that was really
impacting to me. Man I know it's lame not telling the whole story, but
this is what you need to know. When there is darkness around you, or
any force of evil, remember that you have the power to crush the head
of satan, when you call upon the light of Christ. In the experience
I'm talking about, I have never had a moment in my life, where when I
asked in a prayer for the blessing and light of the savior to be with
us in that moment, that I could feel so distinctly and powerfully a
wave of light just come in and fill everything, The room, my heart,
etc. it was really amazing, prayer is really amazing. It is very real,
and very powerful. Turn to prayer in fear, weakness, doubt, joy,
peace, everything! Man it is the best.

Anyway...
So MAN did I tell you about the family from Guatemala? I think so!
Holy cow I cannot describe how much I LOVE THEM! It is just the
strongest love ever! And so quickly! The kids the other night were
telling us some of their myths from Guatemala and one of them was
about this little midget in a huge sombrero that braids hair....
Hahahahaha they say all you see is the big sombrero, and two little
feet. HAHA it makes me crack up for some reason.
Anyway we had an incredible lesson, if I didn't already tell you...
About eternal families. We both felt so strongly to talk about it, and
since the husband isn't a member I spoke to him and told him that we
were called here to this mission, in this area, right now, to be their
missionaries. And to get them to be an eternal family, not just hang
out, but to help them accomplish that goal. It wasSO COOL! The spirit
was so strong and we were being so bold, and if can't wait to work
more with them.
Also, this week we got to see my favorite less active ever! Finally!!
It's been a whole transfer. And man I missed her. Let me tell you all,
that I have never felt such strong love for anyone more than her! Just
kidding, that's probably a lie... But man I can't describe it, it is
honestly the love of Christ. It just takes over my heart when we are
with her, it makes me tear up almost every time I testify to her or
tell her of our love for her! It's ridiculous! But I think it's really
cool, because I know that it is the pure love of Christ, and that is
so cool particularly with her, because she is struggling with
believing in Christ. And I know that it is his love! So I know that
every time she feels it, she knows who it's from. THE SAVIOR!

Anyway. We had to do sharing time and singing time for primary this
Sunday, okay and the singing time one was last minute and I had NO
IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING. hahaha it was so funny. But it was really fun,
yeah we were talking about how the weak and simply can share the
message of the gospel, and we had a couple of them come up to arm
wrestle me..... Okay. This little girl and boy were both either
freakishly strong, and not normal human beings..... Or I have
legitimately turned into a fatty weakling who almost for real loses to
children in arm wrestles. I made it seem like I let them win....
But..... You guys........ I need to hit the gym more.

Okay and this is so cool. There is a lady from Nigeria we are
teaching, and at first she was not capable of understanding very
much.... Acting very interesting and just kinda out of it in our
lessons, but she loved it! Well we took a two week break from her, and
went back, and she has been reading the children's Book of Mormon that
we gave to her grandkids and is obsessed with it! She was telling us
EVERYTHING! And she was at asking so many questions and man
understanding everything! Her son is the one who yelled at us for
forever, and she was talking about how she wants to just devour the
Book of Mormon so she can prove him wrong! Haha it's so awesome. Man
it's exciting, it is PROOF of the power of the Book of Mormon! After
she finally started reading it, she was able to completely turn around
and understand everything! So cool.

Okay well time I up I gotta go! Dng!
Just know I love you all!
Sorry this is a lame email.
LOVE you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 20, 2014

 the cancer race from last week we ran for Mama Jo Robinson!!!

HELLOOOOO family and friends!

florida is nice and hot and humid and i realized that it has kept my skin nice and moisturized this whole time! and when i get back to utah i'm gonna dry up like a prune..... my skin will fall off..... and ill die. so i'm looking forward to that.
haha!

anyway.....

SOOOOOOO lets see this week was good! very good, some really funny stories. haha!!! all our plans fell through on monday night and we have this new policy with president for monday nights, that we can take the whole evening to spend with some members and just relax, and teach them how to do member missionary work, etc! it's really awesome! but our family fell through, so we went and this other family let us crash their family night :) they are the Grobergs, i love them SO MUCh!!! i'm trying to convince them to move to Utah when i go home so i can hang out with them still. haha! man they're great. 

and man we went to the mall last pday.... and i almost... DIED!!!!! I HATE THE MALL! just kidding i love it, but it wears me out. and oh my HECK every time i saw a cute shirt hna perez was like that's a dress..... FOR REAL??? hahaha CURSE THE DEGRADING WORLD STANDARDS!!!

anyway. okay let me tell you all something that is really cool. the priesthood, and priesthood blessings. I never appreciated how amazing it is to have the option to get a blessing whenever you need one. Me and hna perez were just both emotionally exhausted, and she wanted a blessing so i got a blessing too. MAN! i cannot tell you, it was amazing. every single concern, or struggle that she was having that i knew of, was addressed in her blessing. i was thinking the whole time, NAILED IT! wow... another one!!..... man. you got that too?? holy cow it was incredible!!! and then my blessing, was perfect. i feel like a lot of times we struggle remembering that God loves us, and I'll get a little personal for a SECOND! sometimes I forget that! sometimes missionaries, and people in general, we judge ourselves too harshly, and condemn ourselves before we even give heavenly father the chance to do so. and then we just aren't happy, and nothing we do is ever good enough, and THEN it gets hard to remember that heavenly father DOES love you, and that he is there. well it was really cool, because in my blessing, the first thing that was said, was "heavenly father wants it to be very clear to you right now, and wants to make sure that you understand and know, that he loves you more than you could possibly understand, so whenever any thoughts come into your mind saying otherwise, you can trust and know that it is false and from the adversary. he wants you to be sure of that." 

MAN!!!!!!!!!! i won't share the rest. but it was just really cool. If you are struggling, don't hesitate to get a blessing, for comfort, concerns, health, etc. It's just really neat :) and I know that he loves you all. individually, he really does.

anyway. HAHAHA funniest story ever.
so remember that awesome couple we gave the church tour to? well we had an appointment with them this week, but we got new phones! so we had confirmed the day before and all was well. well we brought a member with us, and she is awesome, returned missionary, just super cool, says it how it is. and we go to knock, and the crazy man with long hair and a scary smile opens the door just a crack and says, NOT INTERESTEd, and slams it in our face! and we're like... what the heck! (it was one of their house guests that we had kinda met before) and i knocked again and said we're friends of this family! and he opened it again, JUST a crack and said, NO YOU'RE NOT! smiled creepily and slammed the door again! we all looked at eachother and just were like... what the fliiiip?? what is going on?? so we waited for a bit, and knocked again, this time crazy man comes to the door, opens it and says you're gonna get off my property or i'll call the police! they are not interested and told you not to come back! and i was like HOLD UP SIR! and then he slammed the door again, WHAT! well the member that was with us knows the couple from previous lessons, and she was like, YEAH RIGHT! and would not take that, haha! so she knocked again, he rejected us, and she was like, what if they're in there and he's just crazy and they don't know we're here?? so she gets on her tip toes and peeks through the door window searching and crazy man comes to the door again and starts threatening with the police again, and the member is just calmly refusing to leave and he starts escorting us off the property! hahahahahaha this whole time me and sister perez are just watching in shock and laughing so hard, anyway he goes back and and the member puts her hands on her hips and says hm... i bet they have a back door. HAHAH i was like NOOO he's gonna shoot us!!! okay well long story short, they had meant to cancel cause he ha been called to base, but she texted our old phone, had laid down for a nap and told this guy to tell anyone she wasn't available, and he took it as.... they hate us and never want to see us again! soooo... that was pretty interesting. HAHA we were laughing so hard, they felt so bad!!! so funny.

OOOH MAN guess what i had to translate for both wards on sunday!!! cause we had spanish speakers there both times! it was exhausting but I DID IT!!! it's good for my spanish, because it is suffering lately! haha boy oh boy is it. but anyway, this ADORABLE family from Guatemala just moved here and they're all members except for the husband, and they are so... cute... i'm in love with them. he had been taking the lessons over in Guatemala and so now we're just gonna continue teaching! and the ward was incredible. even though it's english, we got every single spanish speaker to go talk with them and everyone was AWESOME! everyone was taken care of, every child, the parents, etc, everyone had someone else who could be with them , that also spoke spanish, what a blessing! it was so cool.

anywho, one of the sisters got really sick on sunday, and they had some set appt's so we went on splits with them and sister perez and jenkins went out while i stayed in with sis. ormsby, poor thing :( she's so sick. we watched some good church movies, and then had some great heart to hearts. one of their recent converts came and brought chicken noodle soup too! home made! it was so good! anywho, the other sisters were only out for almost 3 hours and got 5 LESSONS! it was awesome. i love them, i love being able to serve these sisters and just love them.

MAN! transfers are coming up this saturday we get the calls to see who goes where.

I BETTER DIE HERE!!! i'm serious, me and hna perez can die together in my 2nd area and just... yeah. haha i love the members, i love the people, i love EVERYTHING! so hopefully... i stay :) but just in case, don't send any mail after thursday, cause i could potentially leave on tuesday....

okay well I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

seriously i do. 

fo reals....
i do.

LOTS OF LOVE.

to you all.
lots of love in this club..

lots.
of,.

it...

it is THERE!!!

okay bye :)

that's my tongue!!!! i got bit by a lizard and that's what i turned into!! I'M A MONSTER!!!!!!

..... hahaha hehe just kidding it's just a laffy taffy. 

hna perez got a little bit sick!

aaaand our dumb ceiling is leaking AGAIN!!!!!! someone took a shower and it alllllllll came down to us. haha! so funny.

Mothers Day

Skyping the fam!!!  Using two computers so we could get Missy in from Albania.

May 12, 2014

hello dear family and FRIENDS!!!! 

man this week was SO LONG but SO FAST. 

I can't believe... that a year ago yesterday i was skypin with my family for the first time as a new missionary :) aw man. time flies... 

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and all of you. I wish that i could just get one on one time with everyone i love. haha all of you. when i get back i can't wait for one on one time to just tell you each individually how much i love you! 

P.S. mom I totally made you cry yesterday..... :) hehehe LOVE YOU!

anyway. man I'm turnin Baptist!!! I made my family shout praises hallelujah to the Lord before we got off! haha! it pumps you up! Aunt Susan you were right i've been out in the south too long... haha!

anyway. ANYWAY. this week. what a week! you know what I'm really learning to love? wisdom. I love listening to people talk, and their wisdom! we NEVER know how much we can learn from other people until we really listen and look for traits and counsel that we can apply into our lives. I learned a lot from an exchange with Sis. Bowe, she's so cool, she taught me how to read palms! IT'S TOTALLY LEGIT! I can read your past on your hands :) haha but anyway she really just showed me HOW MUCH you can get from others. she is so humble and she strives to learn from everyone. her thing is to just steal all the good qualities from everyone she meets, haha! it's funny but it's true when you think about it. sometimes we get SO caught up in pride, and we don't want to show our weaknesses or admit that we have pride, we compare ourselves to others, and we just hold ourselves back. If we could look past our pride, and just humble ourselves a little more, stop being afraid of our weaknesses, and just admit that we all have different strenghts, we could learn SO MUCH MORE! that's something that I am working on, instead of comparing myself and gettin down on myself OR questioning why others can't just do something better, or be more obedient on something, I am truly trying to understand the weaknesses in our lives, the purposes behind them, and the lessons we are each meant to learn individually by them. it's a really cool thing to ponder. If you look at Moroni especially, he compared himself to the brother of jared! he hated the way he wrote, he was so embarrassed, and was like why couldn't you let me write like him?? he is so much better... everyone loves the power of his writing. and i read that and was like wow... even a powerful prophet of the Lord doubted, feared, and compared himself. but like i said, i'm starting to see how we have our individual weaknesses and that it is OKAY! and i'm trying to just see others strengths as a way to help me grow. and learn from it, and take from it! just softening my heart to constructive criticism and honestly sincerely searching for ways to be better through other people. THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH TO LEARN to let your pride stop you. So i invite you all to look at those around you, and learn from them. :) don't compare in a negative way, just learn.

anywho. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!!!! i love this one family we started teaching. husband wife and kids. man, the husband just has a desire in him to learn and understand. he said that our message gives him hope, but he is a little hesitant at the same time. he compared it to when you have a crush on a girl in highschool, you have hope that maybe you could get together, be happy, etc, but you're a little hesitant of getting your heart broken if it doesn't work. haha! so he wants it to be true, the promises we are giving him are what he needs in his life.

We gave them a church tour, and stopped in the chapel. we talked about the sacrament and what it means to come every week and just start fresh. to have a new beginning! we asked him what that would be like and he asked how you know or how you get those burdens to be gone. MAN WHAT A GOOD QUESTION. I was able to truly testify of the Savior. I am so grateful for my mission for that, that now i can truly testify of the power of his word, and promise, to take away our pains and our past. it doesn't make life smooth sailin and easy, but he makes us grow, and promises us he'll forget the past. 

MAN. we are taught to preach repentance to all. AND LET ME TELL YOU! we all need to repent... it is SUCH AN AWESOME PROCESS!!!! STOP NOT REPENTING!!! START REPENTING!!!! DO NOT let your life slip down slowly!! okay? just don't. it's not worth it! man repentance is change. it is growth, it is relief from burdens and guilt. it is peace and hope and joy! use it!
anyway, so yeah it was pretty awesome :) we kneeled down in the chapel to close with a prayer, the spirit was just really strong, and he TOTALLY SAID IN HIS PRAYER....

"thank you heavenly father for showing me more of YOUR church..." 

WHAAATTTTT!!!!! that is RIGHT IS IT TOTALLY HIS CHURCH!!!! 

anyway. high hopes :)

so we were at the gas station and i gave this guy a card to look up mormon.org and his girlfriend shouted from the car... "Hey stay away from my boyfriend, thank you." ............................................................ there was some SASS in that! hahaha sorry for trying to give you SALVATION!!!!!! hehe just kidding.

OH MAN! we totally ran a 5K! and it was a SHOUT OUT FOR MAMA JO ROBINSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was for fighting cancer and it was awesome!!! we passed out a TON of cards, and every time there was someone taking pictures or video I was run SO COOL and look intense and point to the camera with my other fist in the air and hold that pose until they saw my and took a picture..... :) SO IF YOU SEE me on the news or something, that's why :) hahaha ALSO every time a water station was there i would grab it, take a sip, pour it all over my head, and crush the cup and throw it! haha like a real runner!!! i felt so cool. 

also, me and hna perez sometimes pretend like we're playing mario kart on our bikes, and so on our bike day, i saved a banana peel in my bag in a rag, and hid it all day, for the pristine moment..... :) and THEN i threw it back at her to throw her off the track. hahaha so funny.

anyway, lets see, we had some pretty cool experiences this week! i love exchanges! the best things always happen. I'm grateful to be Sister Training Leader, we learn more from them than they do from us. but anyway I gotta go soon.

OH! there was a cool story we met this lady just sitting outside with her daughter, and we offered to pray with them, and the daughter was way scared of us and would run away and stuff, and then we prayed with them and she gave us huge hugs and started crying and getting angry as we left! hahaha THE POWER OF PRAYER!!! IS REAL!!! neat neat neat.
i love the spirit and people!!! 

anywho, i gotta go. but i love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!

life is good. 

the gospel is true.

the priesthood authority has been restored.
and the Book of Mormon, is true. I know it. Read it if you don't, sincerely, prayerfully, with an open heart.

be strong my fellowmen!!! MAY GOD BE WITH YOU!!!!! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

hooray!!! this is me and sis. lee! a picture from forever ago when we got our ipads!!! 

man those chopsticks are SO ENTERTAINING! you can be chinese, wolverine, harry potter, super ninja, ANYTHING!!!

exchanges!

maaan.... my glasses broke :( i am DEVASTATED. those glasses were perfect for me.... and they've been with me through so much..... 

A RACCOON! it was so cute!!!! we named him something really good... it just came to us... but i can't remember... MAN.

man.... Hna Perez TOTALLY stole my signature prank on all my companions. and stole my bed... hahaha it was revenge for something... i can't remember....

and we ordered pizza over the phone and he asked me 50 times how to say my last name and this is what he got. hahahah!