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!