July 7, 2014

Jessy has super powers!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TciyGbWep_4

July 7, 2014

BOY OH BOY my friends and family I am going to die. haha no one is allowed to mention in emails or letters the amount of time i have left!!! UNDERSTOOD???

anyway. moving on!!

first things first me and hna perez are STAYING TOGETHERRRR!! WOOO!!! for our last transfer and guess what else??? both the sisters in our apt are staying together as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO!! so we are all gonna have a grand time :) i'm so excited. i love them all.

MAN OKAY LET ME TELL YOU THE GREATEST NEWS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so this family we have been trying to teach and baptize for FOREVER have never come to church except for ONE TIME a year ago, and then the 12 yr old son comes every once in a while on his own cause he is awesome. but this last week we had a really great talk with them about church, and the importance of it for the family and how it unites and all and etc etc etc, and the father isn't too keen on the church, we haven't even been able to teach him... BUT GUESS WHAT!!!!! THIS SUNDAY I LOOKED OUTSIDE AND SAW THE GLORIOUS SIGHT OF ALL OF THEM WALKING UP TO THE DOORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(light gets brighter and the singing HALLELUJAH IS FILLING THE BACKROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

oh my gosh i was so happy, SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was awesome. unfortunately it was fast sunday which is the WORST sunday for investigators to come to for the first time... cause they just look at everyone and are like... why is everyone crying... saying the same thing... what is going on here.... hahaha BUT!!!!!!!!!!!! it's okay because it was actually a really good fast and testimony, MAN you guys in utah!!! every testimony meeting i had in utah there was always so much silence!!!! but out here, there is never a minute of silence, people line up to bear their testimony! look i'm not bashing utah... i love utah!!! but i feel like when we grow up and are surrounded by mormons, everyone thinks everyone is good and solid and we just don't understand the importance of bearing testimony. but man oh man, out here, you have to choose if you will be faithful, or not, because you are surrounded by a billion other churches, and stuff. man living outside of utah has it's challenges, but so does living inside of utah. 

BOTTOM LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the church is true wherever you go, everyone still has to find out for themselves, AND, that is that. haha
but yeah they came and i was so happy and almost died :)

OH BY THE WAy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have to speak in church next week... i have gone my whole mission only saying one prayer in sacrament, and bearing one testimony, and now i have to give a talk... hahaha i'm freaking out!!!! because it's me and this other kid who everyone loves who is leaving on his mission so there will be a BILLION PEOPLE THERE and a billion non members as well!!! AHHH NOOOOO!!!! just kidding it'll be awesome............................... oh my heck pray for me.

anyway, so listen... apparently north america is doing this thing now.... where any missionary who needs extended treatment for something like physical therapy or something just goes home to fix it, and comes back out. cause it is too expensive out here! so two sisters just got sent home, without any of us knowing, from our district.... and one of them WAS ATTACHED TO MY HEART and it so it broke my heart :( and NOW everyone is terrified to have something wrong with them!!!! hahaha man it's scary! that would be really hard.... but anyway.

oooh my goodness 4th of july was so fun!!! we went to the parade and passed out a billion cards and talked to lots of people!! and we had a great idea to make it less awkward we just would just ask someone to take a picture of us! hold all our pass along cards out and smile, and then make a conversation and give them one!! then we would walk and pass out, and then stop again, ask someone else, hey could you take a picture? hahahahaha there are like 50 billion pictures of us 4 just smiling holding cards... Hahah! so funny. anyway it was so fun though, i was so pumped up!!!!!!!! it was great with the 4th cause i would be like, hey this will strengthen your faith in Christ!! ONE NATION UNDER GOD!!!! WOO!!! fist pump in the air!! and then they COULD NOT REFUSE because that would be unpatriotic and ALSO rejecting Jesus Christ.

man i just typed a huge story up and deleted it!!!! hahaha NOOO!

okay well.
i just want to say, that I love you all, and I love this gospel. 

stay strong, don't push the line. live every moment so that you can have the spirit to be with you. 

having the spirit with you is so important, don't compromise losing that. put the Lord first, and he will put you first.

SORRY BUT I GOTTA GO!!!!!! LOVE YOU!

June 30, 2014

oh my GRACIOUS for the first time.... in a long time..... I.... don't want to write a big email today. hahaha WHAT!!! man it's just been a long day and i am so tiiiiired!!! 

but never fear my friends, for the few who have lasted my whole mission and STILL READ THESE!!! i will tell my tales for the week!

okay first things first. I had been REALLY GOOD with eating healthier in my mission... man i have almost cut out most sweets, i hardly have nutella anymore, it's crazy. now sugar gives me headaches and soda especially makes me feel sick, WELL!!!! LET ME TEACH YOU A LIFE LONG LESSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this last week we got a lot of junk food from people, and even though it didn't make me feel good at first, the other sisters kept offering me stuff and i would hesitate... think... man i shouldn't.... THEN I WOULD TAKE IT AND EAT IT!!!!!!!! and then i felt sick a little, but a few days went by and little by little.... I began to feel better eating junk! my body started adjusting to the horribleness i was putting into my body, and LITTLE BY LITTLE! i stopped making me feel sick.... well. thankfully, we REALIZED what was happening! and we though... MAN! we only have two months left!! WHAT ARE WE THINKING!!! so we made goals to cut out most junk again!! now what would've happened my friends.... WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED...... if i didn't realize where i was going... if i kept going further and further into this trap?? my body would've kept adjusting and i wouldn't have realized until i got home and everyone gasped because i was a fatty...... man this is just like your spirit!! we do really well, and get the spirit with us all the time, when we do something to drive the spirit away, we feel it immediately! we don't like it, it doesn't feel good. but if we keep doing it, little by little, we lose the spirit, and we start not to notice, so we think we are fine, but that is not the case. when you feel it that first time, you cannot keep letting yourself slip up with the little things. we need to make goals and keep ourselves on our toes!! 

ANYWAY! haha that's all for that.

hey something really neat this week. 

we had a member ask us to come over for family night to teach her sister, who had some past struggles she was holding onto and giving her pain. she wasn't a member either, and this member wanted her to BE a member! haha anyway, she told us about it two weeks in advance and said we better prepare something amazing.... 1 week and a half later.... we see her and she asks us what we have planned for her sister!! well we always plan the lessons the night before and so we didn't have anything and she was like... WHAAAT?? you better have something amazing!!!! or you're gonna have to hear from me!! this has to change her!! heal her!!! it has to be perfect!!! (and mind you she is hispanic, hahaha so it's a LOT SCARIER!!!!!!!! okay but she was kinda joking but not at all at the same time, but doing it with love still! haha) and i was like AHHHHHHHHHHH OKAY OH MY GOSH I AM SO SORRY!!!!!!!!! hahahaha so we planned dang hard for that lesson!!!! and man i was praying my little heart out!!! man before we had the lesson, i literally went to the bathroom, and offered another prayer just to let us say the right words, ask the right questions, and be his hands. then we started and BOY OH BOY. it was just a bunch of tears and he spirit and greatness. haha the whole lesson was on jesus christ. and man, i have never felt so strongly that he is our savior, and that he is real. it was amazing, at the end of the lesson, we testified again, and then we were all just quiet. i first was like... well.... what should we say... haha but the spirit was so strong, so we just stayed quiet. everyone was just sitting there, and i didn't even want to move, i was just soakin in the spirit, so at peace and so filled. we literally all sat there for about 3-5 minutes straight, not saying a word, which is a really long time actually!! haha and then the silence was broken and we said a prayer and left :) man. it was so awesome. i just loved it. prepare, and pray. and you will have the spirit. we are gonna send her sister missionaries now from where she is from :) cause she was just visiting from her country, WOOHOO!!!! hopefully all goes well.

OH BOY our AC broke...... can i get a KILL ME THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE??? hahaha just kidding that's a bit dramatic... it was only almost 90 DEGREES IN THERE!!!! hahaha it was an especially hot and humid day and we walked up the stairs so excited for a welcoming rush of cold air... only to feel... HUMIDITY AND HEAT!!!!!!!! well i'm really kidding guys it wasn't that bad, we still have a home and food and ARE ALIVE!! so nothing to complain about, cause the apt. got us a little cooler fan thing and so we all moved our beds into the living room and just slept out there cause it was the least hot! it was fun! like sleeping under the christmas tree or something! woo!!!

man two more awesome things and then i have to go!!!!
this week, there have been so many cold rejections from people!!! but there have been so many cool experiences where we get rejected, get ready to go, see another person, kinda wanna just leave cause we are sick of getting rejected... but DON'T! and talk to them and they are way interested!!! man The Lord really does see how far you will go! he wants to be able to trust you. 

another cool thing! we were doing weekly planning and thinking about investigators, and felt like we should call one, so we did!!! and we called, and she answered and said she was in a pickle! nd trying to move a bunch of stuff without her husband, and so we told her we were ON OUR WAY TO HELP!!!! and we got to move a bunch of boxes into the attic and then teach a lesson and man it was just awesome cause we were about to drop them cause we couldnt get in their house!! and THEN WE GOT IN!!!! WOOHOO!!!

MAAAAAN shoot there are so many cool stories but i have no time!!! i gotta go!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! 

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 23, 2014

well this week was preeeetty GOOD! 

Hermana Perez had started getting this really bad pain in her mouth, and it would take her out for a couple hours, and so we didn't do a ton, then on wednesday man she was GONE! haha the pain was getting worse and she had to sleep. 

COOLEST THING EVER THOUGH!!!! we have a dentist for a bishop, 2 ER doctors, an endodontist, and a normal doctor in our wards!!!!! and nurses too!!! MAN IT'S THE BEST!!!! so we just get to ask any questions and they do stuff for us for free!

so we were able to take her in and get some dentist xrays and then get her checked out by a couple doctors and THEN!!! we ended up taking her to an endodontist and they found the problem REAL quick, she had to get a root canal in that very moment!!! so then she was out for a couple days again cause she was on vicodin, which makes her sleep. haha! so we didn't get to do much this week. but CAN I JUST TAKE A MINUTE TO BE PROUD OF MYSELF??? 

listen. i feel pretty good about being a mom, i totally made every phone call and every appointment and every prescription got filled and she got all her meds when needed and insurance stuff was taken care of and I even found an appointment for the endondontist that very day after looking around and NOT GIVING UP!!!! WOOHOOOO!!! all while she slept!!!!
anyway. I just was pretty happy about it! haha
but man.... I almost died.... of boredom..... it got to the point... where I just laid hopelessly on the floor staring at nothing and just.. staring. that's it. hahaha BUT!!! i then remembered we have church movies, so i got a good few hours of some good church films!!! testaments. stellar. legacy. exceptional!!! mountain of the lord!! So good!!

anyway then the next day the sisters we live with did splits with me so we could do some work in the area, and our zone leaders are having us do this thing we the first thing we say to people is telling them we help people prepare to be baptized in 3 weeks, and ask them if they would be interested.... right now in the mission president is all about wasting NO TIME and finding the elect pronto, SO by inspiration our leaders are trying to help us. AND man so far it has given us a lot more rejections.... BUT!! that's okay! cause we can't spend so much time on people who aren't really sincere. 

BUT LISTEN COOL STORY!!!! we were driving and i saw a guy and kept driving and was like SHOOT we need to talk to him... so we turned around and went out and he was like... "not interested" and soooo we went back in the car, (and LET ME TELL YOU that the heat that day... was blistering!!!! it was seeping into my skin and soul and lungs! haha) anyway so right as the wonderful air conditioning started getting cold and we were about to drive away we saw a kid walking our way and we looked at eachother (me and sis. kitchen) and were like, LET'S DO IT!!! I was thinking NATURAL MAN!!!! YOU WILL NOT WIN!!! PEOPLE OVER PLEASURE!!! THIS HEAT'S GOT NOTHIN ON ME!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (that's a war cry not a terror scream)
anyway so we went and said the thing about baptism and asked if he'd be interested and he said yeah! WHAT??? WOO!!!! so then we told him a little about the authority behind the baptism, that it's the same authority that John the baptist had when he baptized Jesus, and he said, what's the dfference between baptism with authority and baptism without authority? WHHAAAT??? man golden question. so we explained it and he was like, hm... i like that! WOOHOO! so hopefully that goes somewhere great.

so sis. kitchen came to see lucrecia as well, and we all laugh together when she reads the scriptures in spanish... it's like... chinese sounding... with a mix of indian. hahahahahah but she was determined to read a scripture in there with lucrecia!! and i was like YEAH!!! you can do it!! the spirit will help you!
well you guys, THE SPIRIT TOOOOOOOOTALLY DID not too much to help her. hahahahaha it sounded the same as usual, BUT IT WAS STILL REALLY AWESOME!!! and i was proud of her and she was proud and lucrecia said she read it well! ............... haha man but we have good times.

uhhhh i dunno what else. man but i am running out of time!!!

well. we also had interviews with president this week! I had a challenge this last week with something, it really occupied my mind, and honestly was very hard. i talked to president about it, and he asked me if I did drugs..... hahaha I knew he did this with most missionaries so I knew where it was going, but I said no, and he asked if i drank alcohol, and i said no. Then he said, well man if you don't do any of that stuff than how else is satan gonna get to you? 

his point to me was that Satan works with our minds a lot, he tries to get us confused or scared or distracted with all types of different feelings. inadequacy, fear, doubt, sadness, feeling like you aren't enough, etc. it goes on, but he told me that, in my words, he is gonna do everything he can to hit us where it hurts. and i thought about how often satan really does attack our minds, I just hope you all know that you gotta recognize when those thoughts are from him.

Everything that comes from God, is good. you will not feel darkness, fear, doubt, inadequacy, etc if it is from God, he is all about surety, peace, comfort, confidence, and hope. so don't get the two confused, okay? shut out whatever is from satan, and be confident that God loves you, and he will help you.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! i gotta go, but uh this week make it a GREAT DAY OR NOT!!! the choice is yours :)

BYEEEE!!!!!

Play -do hamburger

June 16, 2014

you know what season i'm talking about!!!!! remember last summer when I was naive and thought those bugs were just one big bug? remember when I kept seeing poor mutilated lizards and FINDING TWO LIZARDS IN REALITY!!!!! REMEMBER???????????

well lucky for me and hermana perez, next to our apt. there is a dip in the grass, and with all the rain lately it has formed a biiiiig puddle, and with that puddle, it has brought hundreds of frogs ribbetting away all through the night.... and I am pretty sure they are ribbetting love songs!!! haha 

ANYWAY. man... missionary appropriate? once again i am unsure.... 

haha!

ANYWAY. so I love the Osorio family, the dad is kind of lessening in interest.... but it's okay. every time we give testimony the spirit is really strong, and the mom cries, and it's just really awesome. He might not just be ready right now, he doesn't have a true desire to know, it's not his goal, it is just something on the side that hey if it's true, he'd join, but eh! he's not feeling it, well without that desire to know, you won't know. so he just needs to understand why it's important to him. which i think is a big reason for anyone who is straying from the gospel, they stop seeing the importance of it for them, or maybe they see it but temptation is too much. Well, man. I just wish that everyone could understand why Heavenly Father has given us the gospel, I wish everyone could understand the true meaning and importance and THE HAPPINESS IN IT!!!! when we are selfish, and want what we want, we do what we want! and we just MISS OUT!! i am tellin you, none of us understand truly the joy that we could potentially have if we would truly just give our will to the Father, but we are so stubborn so he keeps just slowly working on us! haha i am grateful that he is patient :) 

BUT! man i love them, we were leaving, and one of the younger kids, who was really shy at first, and has warmed up a lot, he always surprises us with fruit rolls!!! or whatever they are called, cause we LOVE them! and so when we were leaving he runs out and says ONE MORE THING!! and gives them to us and we screeeeam and jump for joy! haha and I fist pumped jumped into the air and hit a branch and it has just rained and so ALL THE WATER from the big branch dropped on me and I screamed again and got all wet. hahaha they laughed at me.

listen everyone I have a problem. I am getting MUCH TOO ATTACHED to things and people out here on the mission. I'm serious it's a problem!! If i see a bug in the house, even just a little gnat, and i wait more than 3 seconds to kill it, suddenly in my mind it has a name, a wife, a life, and kids waiting at home for him!!! and i can't do it!!! i feel so bad!!! I EVEN NAMED THE ANNOYING CLICKING MONSTER IN MY WALL!!! his name is bruce. and i only named him because if i yell and raise my hand to hit him he stops, SO i am convinced that there is something really in there just making me miserable and tired.... haha but anyway..............................

OOOOH MAN!!! there is an awesome family in the ward who just moved in and are SO READY to do missionary work! it is so cool!!!! we took them out to the park square area in their community, and it was lightening like craazy so we went into a little icecream/pottery place! and we taught them a little on how to do missionary work, and just making conversation with people and connecting with them, and then inviting to something, and we were able to talk to almost everyone in the little store!!! and she was AMAZING!! a natural i am telling you!! she is so excited to do missionary work, and invite and think of cool ways to get her friends involved, it is so awesome to see. when it turns into a desire instead of an obligation, all the fear kinda withers away!! it's so cool!!!

okay so this week, we had a rough one! which i am grateful for. we prayed for faith in finding, and our teaching pool has withered away... we plan at night now and we're like... hmmm.... uhhh... wellll!!!! no one. blip blop NADA!!! NADA single person!! hahaha get it? not a single person, nada single person, HAHA

anyway for real though. and one day was particularly dry of people, and teaching. every single person we met rejected us, it was crazy! it's true! and some were mean, some were nice, but all rejections. haha at the end of the night I was just thinking about our loyalty, and where our love is in the work, and i was honestly grateful to have been rejected all day long and not teach at all, because I was able to see that my love for the Lord has grown, and is real. I was going through the day, and I wasn't unhappy, I wasn't bugged or questioning the Lord, I was just thinking alright i will do whatever it takes! because I love you! AND THAT WAS SO COOL!!! to be able to understand that we aren't supposed to be happy just when we are teaching, but we need to be grateful for it all. we will always be in debt to him, and he asks us to do this because we love him. and besides, I KNOW that heavenly father set up our day like that for a reason, to test us and see if we really will do it and keep doing, no matter how many rejections we get! i feel like those people rejected us that day, not because they will never accept the gospel, or bad luck, but because we had to learn something! if that makes sense... cause i don't think that was there only chance, i just think we missionaries need more opposition than usual.

MAN that was scattered and I feel like it's weak BUT I JUST can't express my feelings about it well enough! haha anyway, it was just cool.

WELL i GOTTA Go!!!!

I love you all, and ONCE AGAIN!!! if i could give any message to the world, or to any of you, it would be love :) i will say it forever and ever!!! WE ALL NEED MORE LOVE!!! people need to be treated with more kindness, and patience, we need to stop judging so harshly! and that goes for myself as well! we just gotta forget about ourselves and love everyone around us. with all our hearts, even if we get hurt sometimes by their actions. it is more worth it to love, than it is to not let anyone into your life. Jesus Christ got betrayed and hurt, and still gets betrayed and hurt, and he loves us so much and it is so painful for him to watch us turn away sometimes, or just be dumb, but he just keeps on loving. he would never shut us out or push us away or close his heart, he just loves us, even if it's hard, and he fights for us. so DO NOT CLOSE YOUR HEART! even though it's hard sometimes, just love everyone, and when you do that, just genuinely love everyone, regardless of whether they like you back, or how they treat you, you will have confidence in who you are, and you will not doubt your worth, because you see everyone else's worth. SO!!!!

I LOVE YOOOU ALLLLLLL!!!!!
hasta luego mis amigos :)

Look how cool!!!! Friday the 13th.... Says it on my watch... Full
moon!!!! AND sister Bowe is into borrow and lots of stuff and did art
a lot and she made us Jason pancakes, hahaha!! So funny.

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 :)

awww man so much funnnnn!

THIS PLACE WAS AWESOME!!!!

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

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.

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

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!