the Adventures of Sister Russell: week 11

HEY everyone! so uh first things first HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!!!!!! everyone wish her a happy birthday :)

okay guys second of all i've discovered a weakness..... spanish..... SOAP OPERAS... hahahah seriously though they are SO FUNNY and people are always watching them when we come over, and i dunno why, probably the really really good acting skills.... and the intense music.... but i have the hardest time not watching. haha they get me every TIME. but don't worry!! I don't let it stop me from teachin the word :)

also i have a problem lately.... i can't seem..... to stop..... eating....... foooOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD!!!! haha guys it's for real a problem, don't worry i haven't gained much weight yet but every time we eat, i'm full, and my body says no more food! you're good! and then my brain says... weeeeeell..... and i go eat more, and then my body says okay you're too full! and then my brain says... look at all the delicous food you have.... :) EAT! so i do. and then i'm like okay i'm DONE. and then i see my nutella and my heart says... how can you resist that? and so i don't resist that, and anyways what i'm trying to say is that i'm trying to control my eating more :) that's all. and if i get fat soon, well, what are ya gonna do right? haha just kiddin. anyways.

Investigators!!

well funny story we have an investigator named Jorge and his wife Lily is kiiinda of one but she just got surgery so she's in and out, and we were talking to him the other day, i met him the second day in the field!! we had been riding by on bikes and i saw him waving or doing something so i was like let's GO!!! and we went back and were all like oooh hola hermano como esta and all that, and he told us this week that that day he had been cat calling at us, hahahahah and we turned right around and went up to him to talk and he said he was SO embarassed and took it as a huge call to repentance, hahaha so funny.

SO listen God ALWAYS puts people where you are... always. one of our appt's didn't show up and when that happens we just knock in the area because we know God has someone else waiting for us! so we knocked and this lady immediately sent us to go see her sister in the hospital, and give a prayer for her! so we went and this lady was great just not too interested, but then we gave the prayer and it was waaaay powerful and after the prayer she was like ya know girls i needed you, i really needed you today, and i wanna talk more, here's my number, where's your church? etc etc etc, and she loved it, it was great :) small experience but just another testimony that God always has something for us to do!

here's a cool story. SO we were going on a blitz in a mixed spanish english area, and we knocked on this lady shirley's house, and sheeee was super cold to us. and just smirking like oooh the mormons, of course, but we didn't feel like leaving, so we kept talking to her, and i was like well, have you read the book of mormon? and she said yeah i've read some! and i was like mmhmm... okay well can we explain it to ya a little more? and she sighed big and was like ooookay fine come in. and so we went in and explained it all and the whole time she was just smiling a little smirk and going yep, yep, uh huh, yep, and at the end we had her read the moroni 10:3-5 promise, and then we testified, and then i told her she could look at whatever she wanted to online, listen to us talk for hours, see what friends thought about the mormons, but the only way to really honestly know for yourself, is to put in the effort to read it, and pray with sincerity about it, and she looked at us and said, well ya know what? you're right... so how much is it? i'm gonna read it. and we said FREEEEEEE! :) and she said okay! and then after that she was the SWEEtest lady ever, so weird, but she changed JUST like that! and she LOVES US NOW, haha seriously she wanted to know everything about our families and our missions and how they work and it was just awesome. and what made the change was that SHE read the verses in the BoM, because no matter what anyone says, the book of mormon changes people, it has an indescribable power that can honestly just change them, and after she read those verses everything was different! it was super cool, i loved it, so she's reading! and said she's coming to church to see what we're all about :) haha WOO!

I don't have a ton of stories to tell right now all the other ones are too long and i'm too lazy! sorry! haha but just know that there is SO MUCH WORK! seriously it is amazing how much we can do when we have been set apart to do so and have that authority from God, he helps us triple the amount of work normally you could do, i know i could NOT ever do this emotionally spiritually or physically without him holding me up constantly. and giving me courage and strength and power, and it's just amazing.

Guys I'm doing this thing my mom told me about forever ago that she got from Monica or something? i don't remember! but something like writing 10 things you're grateful for every day for a month, and i didn't do it before cause i was lazy, haha,which by the way everyone STOP BEING LAZY! man i was SO lazy and that is one of the BIGGest blocks of the spirit, and blessings, and one of satan's favorite tools, i'm serious! haha cause if you JUST will put forth that little amount of work (which everything God has ready for us requires some work) you will just see the blessing and gain the strength and be that much more happy! it is worth it! trust me! anywho so i'm doing that! and already it's awesome, sis. hatton was telling us about one of her professors or someone saying something about how your brain takes about 27 days or somethin to kinda rewire! and when you constantly work mentally on something like being grateful, or anything, it's like exercising! and that part of your brain gets stronger, and so if you do it you will automatically be a more grateful person cause that's how your brain works! how cool huh? i dunno how right that is, but it's cool :) Guys don't let satan get ya down! it's not worth your time, when he comes at you with ANY thing just throw back in his face some scriptures and nice solid prayer and faith, be happy, have faith, don't give up on anything! I promise the Lord is there, there is so much to do in this life, there is so much happiness available that so many people don't realize, just take the steps of faith you need to take! You never fail until you quit trying! I love you all so much :) so blessed in my life! WOO! THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND EVERYONE IS GONNA KNOW IT!!! :) okay till next time! hasta la vista baby :)

that is a gumball in my hand... :) i love it... :)

sorry there aren't a lot of pictures this week! but look i saw an ALIVE armadillo! can you believe it??? i can't :) no wonder they get hit all the time though this one walked right under my bike! haha so funny.