REJECT

We're together again ! haha, at the end of this transfer, Hna. Holland and I will have been together for about 7 months, AND we'll have been together for the MTC, Mother's Day calls, our halfway mark, and my birthday. hah ! So 6 weeks more together. Let's DO DIS.

  So this week was so loca. Yo no tengo las palabras para describirla jaj, pero voy a tratar ! So we'll start with Tuesday. We were dropped, one investigator after the other. We had an appointment with this one family we had been working with, and we knock on the door right? And so this woman opens the door and says, "Ohhh we've been waiting for you come on in !" ..WHATT ! So of course WE get all excited and go in and sit down.. her daughter goes and grabs their Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we gave them, and then they all come and sit down with us.. only to completely bash what we have been teaching them.. implying that because we're 'men', we can be teachings the teachings of the devil and everything like that. .. ! what ! We ended up leaving on good terms, but after already being dropped that day, we were. COMPLETELY mindblown. But they had never even read their Book of Mormon, and didn't intend to. AND they went to their pastor at their church, who told them all of these crazy things about 'the Mormons'. But there are instances like that that only strengthen my testimony.. knowing that once one actually does read, and actually does pray, they will get their answer. It's so hard trying to get them to see that there is absolutely NO harm in trying out something that will change their lives forever ! You feel me !

  Soo that happened Tuesday. Wednesday morning, we went running at this trail across the street from us like we usually do.. and we're getting towards the end of the trail to cross the street to get back to our apartment. So the apartment is IN SIGHT right? So I had been trying to work on looking ahead while I'm running instead of looking down, and so I was doing that, and I tripped in this little hole in the ground and rolled my ankle.. or how do they say it ? and so after that I'm thinking 'ok I'm cool I can make it..' but then my other foot trips and I just give.in. And I completely BEEF it( (I think they say 'biff it'.whatever) onto the ground, and I tried to break my fall with my right hand and my right knee, so my arm's cool, it just has a bruise.. but my knee got tore.UPP hah ! So afterwards, we're walking back to the little gym at our apartments, because we still had 15 minutes left to exercise.. and I check out my knee really quick, and it was bleeding so much that it had gone through my shorts to the other side, and my knee was like. smothered. hahah ! Soo. We went back home to go clean it up, but don't you worry momma. For about 20 minutes, I took everything you taught me to clean it up and gave that bad boy NO mercy. hahah. I have pictures of it when it was already cleaned.. so watch for them. hah

  Soo Saturday we got rejected.. over. and over. and over. up until about 4 o clock. Which was. THE unfunnest thing ever. In the MTC they told us to not get discouraged when we're rejected, because "it's not us they're rejecting..it's the message".. but in reality. I wouldn't really care how much I was rejected. I'm not really anything. But the fact that what we have to bring to all of these people keeps getting shoved back with no intent to better their lives just.hurts. Like. How sad Heavenly Father must be seeing His children reject Him. OR when others come upon trials in their lives, and they become mad at God. After He has given them so much, and He is still sitting there, with His arms out at these children of His that are cursing His name at the world. It's horrible to think about. But on the other hand.. I imagine how happy He must be with those that are trying, every single day, doing more with Him than they can do on their own.

  Also ! Saturday, our dinner appointment cancelled, so we decided to go to Dion's, this pizza/salad place. So we're waiting for our food to-go, and this Mexican man walks in with this boy, and this man is decked.OUT in tattoos, on his arms and the back of his head and everything. And he kept looking over at us, and so I was just smiling at him. I wasn't sure if he spoke English or Spanish, so I didn't know what to do ! But they ordered their food and went to go sit down.. and I told Heavenly Father to bring them back if He wanted us to talk to them ! So we got our food, and we start walking out, and he's sitting right there with the boy and he says, "Excuse me! He has a question for you." pointing to the boy. JUSSS! So the boy asks us what church we're from, and it turns out the boy was baptized a year ago ! The man is his mom's boyfriend I think, and it turns out he's from Inglewood, but moved to San Bernadino, where I used to work, and THEN moved to Horizon in El Paso, Texas, on the same street I used to live on ! WHAT ! haha I keep saying 'what'. It was SO COOL. He's not a member, but we're going to go visit them all this week :)

  It's so cool, being on a mission. It's so cool experiencing these things that in reality we would never experience in ANY.other.way. Muchas veces, no es divertida. Nunca he tenido tanto sueno, nunca me he sentido tan triste, tan sola. Pero tambien, nunca he tenido tanto gozo por otra persona. Nunca he estado tan preocupada por otras personas. Pero. Todo es valio la pena. Todo !

  So I love yall. I'll try getting on a video for yall. My face will be worth millions one day.. so I better use it the most while it's in its prime. hahaha! I'm really. Just kidding. Portense bien. No hagan nada que yo no haria ! ;)

La Iglesia es Verdadera....

La Hermana B.

"when we look for the best, we always find the gospel"

So this week has been different ! We get transfer calls this coming Saturday, so we'll see what happens :o ...o.o haha like it's a huge deal or something. Weird thing is, we're cut off of everything else.. so this is about the hugest deal that we've got ! hah but anyway.

  Soooo. This week started with this family, la familia Ramirez. The less active family we've been working with, with the son that has brain cancer, and his older brother, Jorge, who doesn't really get any attention from his family, because they are so preoccupied with Abraham (the son with cancer). And so he;s now a bad kid, who's been expelled from school and doesn't really have anything to do with the church. But whenever we see him, he's always so nice to him, and I think it's just because we try to love him and show him that he counts, and that he's important. So! We had this lesson on faith with a mousetrap that we wanted to show them, but Jorge was out 'andando' with his friends. Like. out on their bikes, or whatEVER it was. So. His family said he was out in the trailer park, so we decided we'd go look for him haha. We went to the park where everyone was playing soccer haha, and asked any of them if they knew Jorge, or where he would be. And. They didn't. Beautiful. So we got back in the car, and something's telling me. He's here ! Don't you stop ! Soo we found some kids on their bikes on the side of the road and asked them if THEY knew Jorge, and they said he could be in this maroon trailer around the corner. And so we went around the corner and saw his bike out front, and at the same exact time we saw a little girl heading inside. So probably like creepers, we full-on rolled down the window and called her and asked her if she could ask for a Jorge inside. So it's a couple seconds, and Jorge and his friend came out ! So. We invited them, and they got up on their bikes and met us back at his house, thinking it was completely UNBELIEVABLE that that had actually happened. And as a result of Heavenly Father ! They all went to church yesterday. Together ! As a family ! ..well. without Jorge. but that's what we're gonna handle this week. Miracles !

  There's also this other family we have been visiting, the family of Jenny. But the past couple times we have visited them, Jenny hasn't been home, and her kids, the oldest girl being 10 or so, have been home alone. So we visited them on Friday, and she wasn't home, and also hadn't taken them to school, because she had things to do'. But we were outside talking to the girls, and all of a sudden I thought to ask them if they had eaten dinner that day. And they were all quiet. And one of them started shaking her head no. omgosh. Sooo. We went back to the car, and all we had to give them was some candy, so we brought it back to them, and their faces just ab.solutely BEAMED. And after that we taught them how to play 'slide'.. that little hand game ?.. and then we had to go, and they would not stop hugging us, and asking us if we'd be coming back. It was so crazy. So incredibly crazy seeing firsthand the things that you only hear about. Seeing myself, and the amazing life that Heavenly Father has given me, and realizing how much I have taken it for granted when I meet and talk to others who would probably do anything to have my life. Not that it's 'all that'.. we just take our blessings for granted, even when we don't try. I'm never gonna complain about a pimple or anything dumb like that. EVER again. I have a home. and food. and a family. 

  Another thing that stuck out to me this week was a talk that someone gave yesterday about the Plan of Salvation. He started talking about the planets and all of the people and things in the world, and how we are one tiny thing in this Earth, but how Heavenly Father sees us the exact opposite. And he was compraing how he is a father to our Heavenly Father.. like when they're on vacation with his family, and the kids are asking how much longer til they 'get there'..and he's all, "Solamente una hora mas..portense bien por una hora mas, y vamos estar." ..meaning 'just one more hour. just be good for one more hour, and we'll be there." and his kids are good. Then he starts crying, and he's all, "That's all Heavenly Father wants us to do. I just imagine him saying, 'Just be good for this life.. it's not that much longer, and you'll make it.' " SO poderoso !

  So those are my top ones for this week. There was a day this past week where I felt like I was sleep walking. all.day.long. With no energy. With nothing in me. But still, at the end of the day, we can look back and see that when we physically can't push ourselves anymore or even hardly walk, Heavenly Father starts pushing us.

  So I love ya'll. One of these days I'll put Spanish on this. One of these days. When it's perfect. ;) hahaha. Anyway. The Church is true. It's that one sentence that changes lives. when we say and MEAN it with all we have.

La Iglesia es Verdadera !

  La Hermana B.

"things cannot be hidden long - but the sun, the moon and Buddha" - 5/9/2011

 Hemos tenido una semana TAN loca ! Yo no se donde empezar.. pero voy a tratar mi mejor para poder explicar en un correo de voz toda esta semana. wow. :o

  Entonces ! It starts with Tuesday. This is a quick experience, that isn't really 'great'. But it is one! So every Tuesday we go to have dinner with the Villalobos family, and they have this bulldog. that's absolutely crazy about the missionaries. but like. not a good crazy about us haha. Our first night here in Alvarado Park, we went to have dinner with them and this dog tried to attack us. So! The Villalobos family always has the dog in its cage. But they didn't this time. And so ! We're walking up to the door and Hna. Holland peeks through and sees that the dog isn't in its cage.. so she says so, and automatically we start backing up, but the door was unlocked and open, and ALL I HAD TO DO was to grab it and shut it before the dog ran out. But instead, like a comPLETE baby, we just screamed as the dog RUNS out and starts snapping at us, and while one of the sons is running out to get the dog. We were all huddled up into each other waiting to feel the pain hahah. How cool is that. :l.

  So Wednesday! We found once again our friend Debra. We can't teach her because she speaks English, but the English Sisters had tried to go by. But she apparently had felt something with us since we were the ones that found her. She is addicted to drugs, and just had a miscarriage. She has had SUCH a hard life and wants to get out of all of the.. world. that her decisions have gotten her into. And she has such a hold on all of these things but just.wants. to do good. And to get herself out of this mess. So. We're on our way to visit someone at these apartments, and we hear, "Oh my gosh it's my friends!" And we look up and see that it's Debra ! So we stopped and started talking to her, and seeing how much farther into sin that she's gotten. But we sat there in the sun and must have talked for an hour or so. We gave her a Book of Mormon, and towards the end she says these words with the most honesty I've heard from her..

  "I'm not gonna lie, I have a packet of dope in my pocket right now, and I have no desire to take it..I have never stood and talked to anyone without making excuses about anything- whatever you say, whatever you give me to read, it's true, because this has never happened to me before."

  And afterwards, we all took turns saying a prayer, and when her turn comes around, she says the most profound, heartfelt prayer I have ever heard come out of someone like her. She was just pleading the entire time, and it was like she was searching for the hope that comes from a prayer. It was absolutely incredible. We've been trying to call her afterwards and she hasn't answered........ .. but! We're always in those apartments. Her life we'll change.

  Soo Thursday and Friday were lame. They were those days that you hear about where absolutely nobody answers the door for you. But for just a second I thought. I could be sad, or I could let myself be down. Or I could laugh at the fact that this really does happen more often than not, and have a good attitude about this not-good day. Becuase there is always something to laugh about to bring the light back. And it makes those days where doors ARE opened so.much.more worth it.

  Saturday ! We were invited to a carne asada for dinner.. a Mexican bbq.. with Oscar and Jose. And we decided to buy a watermelon ! So we went to Wal Mart before and met this big black man named Tony who worked there. And he 'is an ordained apostle/prophet that has been following God for 20 years".... ..... ... :) hmmm. And so he starts talking to us and breaking down our lives and what we're all about "so he could tell us what God wants us to know". .. kay ! hah, so apparently Hna. Holland has this 'mantle' about her.. this 'glow'-type of authority that just radiates that 'he has never seen before' ! And I 'have this warlike authority'- where it's like Moses parting the Red Sea.. I have this authority where when I walk, a crowd just splits for me. hahahah ! ya Okay. But it was cool !

  Those are the main things that have happened this week. I got to talk to yall.. my family.. yesterday, and I am SO GLAD to see that you're doing well and having family prayer. We try teaching it every single day, so I'm so unbelievably happy to hear that you are practicing what I'm called to be preaching !

  El Evangelio es real. Dios vive. Y cuando nos le permitimos entrar en cada fibre de nuestro ser, vemos milagros.

Mi amor por ustedes es absolutemente inexplicable. Les quiero. :)

La Hermana Lia Batchkoff

p.s.. ...voy a cumplir 22 anos en menos que un mes GUACALA. (EW.) >:(

el aire. y la mochila !

ahah that has to be the weirdest title ever. I honestly don't even know why I put titles, it's not like I write novels haha. But anyway! So this week and come and gone.. yet again. And the days kept going as we kept working, but Friday is what I wanna talk about.... apparently in New Mexico we have a windy season. And they don't lie it is WINDY. Like. To the point where we thought we were gonna blow away. And so on Friday after District meeting, we went to go contact some referrals. And when we would try to talk to people on the way, the wind would blow in our face so we were almost literally talking with both our eyes closed and dirt blowing into our teeth hah. But! If there's any time to be talking to people with our eyes closed.. it's now. But anyway, after that Hna. Holland felt we should go to.. DUN dun dun.

12TH AND CANDELARIA.

Where we heard there's a grip of Spanish, and we've been needing to go to for the past couple weeks. There's an apt. complex there, and we knocked every single door of the apartments. And that was the most rejection.. and unnicest rejection, that I had EVER received from anyone on my mission. And it wasn't necessarily yelling at us, but more like laughing under their breath, not even accepting a card to check the the SO COOL MORMON.ORG ! but we kept knocking. And at the very last apartment we found Wendy, who is an English-speaker. We found out she has family that are Mormons that live in Utah and everything, but she's not baptized because 'she's not ready'. So we showed her this drawing that SAVES SOULS I'm not even kidding you, about how baptism is the gate, not necessarily that we have to be all righteous to be baptized. We just have to be willing to follow God, and show that on the outside through baptism. And so! We asked if the English Elders could stop by just to visit her, because she loves missionaries, and she said yes. So! The English Elders are our neighbors in our apt. complex, and we texted them the referral to go visit her. And they texted us back in like. 15 minutes and said, "Contacted in 13 minutes and she has a baptismal date!" WHATT! THAT was the reason we were there! So Heavenly Father could open her heart up just a little more to be able to let the right Elders into her home. And now she's getting baptized ! How amazing is that.

  Also! Elder Brockbank had lost his backpack March 3rd.. the day after he arrived in this area. With his patriarchal blessing, his scriptures, EVERYthing. So he was using a cheap set of scriptures an Elder had left behind and my backpack, but was praying and fasting so he could at least see his scriptures again. And he had never EVER lost the faith. He always told us that he knew it'd turn up, and never had ANY doubt. So! Yesterday we're walking out from dropping an investigator that was just watching a Spanish dancing show while we were there, and I'm backing Hna. Holland out of the car when a man walking into his house sees me and flags me down. So! I see that he has a backpack in his hand, and since there are so many drug deals that happen in front of our faces in these apartment complexes, I had Hna. Holland pull in before walking towards him haha. But he walks up to us, and instead of trying to sell us drugs, he's all, "Are you Mormons?" and we tell him yes, and he's all, "Well, I found this backpack next to the dumpster with some Mormon book in it..maybe it's one of your friends or something?" And we look inside. And every single one of Elder Brockbank's things were in his backpack, UNtouched, after being next to a dumpster or whereEVER for 2 months ! OH MY GOSH. Heavenly Father SO answers prayers. The faith that we need to have is vital, because when it was all Elder Brockbank was walking by these past 2 months, it saved him. Heavenly Father answers every single prayer, and knows our capacities and abilities. We can do EVERYthing with Him!

  Miracles happen every single day. Do not EVER ! Ever underestimate the very One that created every mountain that we need to overcome. This past week, I have never felt so lonely in my life, to the point where on Saturday night, I felt myself down to the point where I didn't even want to pray. But I did. We need to do what softens our hearts, and we need to do what strengthens us, ALways. It is too too easy to slip, and it is too too easy to harden our hearts when we do. We are never alone. We are never EVER left. Through every day and every night. I'd say it in Spanish, but. ...I'm not. I don't even have an excuse hah, so I guess I will.

  Necesitamos hacer lo que va a hacer nuestros corazones mas suaves, y mas abiertos. Felicidad es solamente en el Evangelio de Jesucristo. Vamos a tener las dificultades de la vida, y las pruebas. Pero encontramos nuesto caracter en como actuemos en las dificultades.

  Meaning.. we find our character in how we act in difficulties.

I love ya'll! And shouts to MOMMA ! I'll be calling. Don't you even WORRY about Dat ! ;)

La iglesia es verdadera.. ....

La Hermana B

8 meses! - 4/25/2011

There is SO MUCH to write about from this week. But happy Easter ! soo . let's DO dis.!

  So Jose and Oscar's baptism was on Saturday ! It was in.CREDible. We got to the church, and Jose was already there and he gets out of his car when we came up, and he was balling ! He told us he was just so happy that this day had finally come. He had finally found what he was searching for, the kind of hope that comes from nothing BUT the gospel. It was amazing. I had been praying to just be able to love each of our investigators, because it's not easy to love someone you hardly know. But we need to love everyone, just because they are God's children. And so on Friday, the day before their baptism, we called Jose and he didn't answer. We knew Satan would be working to try and get him to change his mind and do something to stop him from being able to get baptized. So when he didn't answer our phone call, I freaked.OUT. And for 3 hours until he called us back, I was anxious and worrying. SO much about him. Like my own child or something. And it was the kind of worry that I imagine my mom had for me every single time she couldn't get a hold of me. It's a different kind of worry. And I absolutely HATE it hah. But everything's okay! Jose and Oscar got baptized, and it was incredible :)

  Also! Elder Holland couldn't make it to meet with us, but we got a visit from Elder Quentin L. Cook instead! And it was SO AMAZING being able to listen to him. As a missionary. We all got to meet him afterwards, and he asked me where I'm from when he shook my hand. I was meeting an Apostle of the Lord.. I didn't have the answers to any of his questions ! He should've told us he wanted us to talk to him hahah. So we talked for a little and then went down the row of the members of the 70 that had come with him. It was incredible. And he told us in his talk that as an Apostle, he can leave specific blessings on us. So he left us with a promise.. that every person we have loved, have come in contact with, and ever will love will be so blessed from what we are doing right this second as missionaries. No matter what happens to our families, no matter what happens at home, this is where we are to do the best for them. Whoa DANG. I had no words hah.

  Elder Cook was also at church yesterday to speak to everyone for Easter! And there were so many amazing talks that were given. And it made me think about how we use the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. And how every single day we do things that have added to the nail that held Him to that cross. How no matter how much we try, we knew we would add to the suffering He already went through. If that makes any sense. But the amazing thing about it is that He already suffered ! All we have to do is USE His suffering, because it isn't a burden anymore. All we have to do is rely. Rely on what we can't see, but what we know is there and what we know we can fall onto.

  Anyway. There really isn't much left to this e-mail. I don't like e-mailing I've noticed hah. But you know. The cookie crumbled us to the Apple Store. Let's live it up hah.

  I'll send a video about the food I got to eat this week. It's mazing. really.

  But! Until then! La Iglesia es verdadera. Es la unica.

Paz y bendiciones. !

La Hermana B

Pascua! - 4/18/2011

This e-mail is probably not gonna be very long either.... I can't even apologize, because I knew if I was REALLY sorry I'd change my ways hah. But I like doing these minute-long videos SO MUCH MORE. it'ssucharush hahaha just kidding. But anyway! WudduPP Mo Val ! La Pascua, or Easter, is already coming up this week. And in less than 2 months I'm gonna turn 22.. guacala. But I guess that's what happens when the clock never stops going. 'Time is the thing that stops everything from happening all at once' !

  So this week has been insane. Like every single minute as a missionary hah. We have an investigator, Jose, who had a baptismal date for the 30th. But we just woke up the other morning and thought, why NOT this weekend.. he is SO READY it is incredible. He is ALWAYS reading from his Book of Mormon, and he is so nice. There's a different little 'something' you look at when you have an investigator that keeps progressing. Not really like a brother, not like a friend.. but it's just like how I imagine you look at your own son or daughter. And when they do something that's right, you just wanna squeeze their cheeks and take a picture haha. Oh my gosh I'm gonna be the most annoying mother. ...not that that's annoying! But anyway. So last week, he had court and realized he had to come up with $2,000 in 7 days to pay for his trailer.. which is pretty tough hah. So we were praying for him and trying to figure something out, but we had no clue what to do. Until he calls us ECSTATIC, telling us that his lawyer gave him the money to pay for his hime out of nowhere. Whatt!! So he's just thanking us over, and over and OVER, telling us how this church and this gospel has given him a different happiness than any other church that he has been to. He was so happy, I could hardly believe it. Just from prayers! Look at how near to us our Heavenly Father is. It's incredible. SO the next night, we went to the church to teach English classes, and he was there, with a new haircut and his clothes all buttoned up and nice. THIS GOSPEL DOES SO MUCH. It should be our very breath. Everything. Because quite honestly. What is it that brings us the simple happiness that we need in the first place? One thing, at the English classes, that Jose said to Hna. Holland while I was helping someone was, "You know, I always knew God, but I never listened to Him." ...We can go every single day knowing what we believe, but unless we have that relationship with our Heavenly Father, unless we rely on Him and show Him that we need Him to help us walk upright everyday, we have nothing. So Jose is getting baptized this coming Saturday! At noon, and right after is when we have the training with the man. Elder Holland :p so this should be. an okay weekend hah. The Elders have a baptism too! Of Oscar.. but I call him Carlos. I don't know why haha, but it makes him laugh ! OscarCarlos always thought he had to be perfect to be baptized, but Hna. Holland and I taught Gospel Principles one Sunday and I drew this picture showing that baptism is just the first step to becoming more, that all we have to want is the desire to follow our Savior. And he said that that completely changed his perspective! So he's getting baptized with Jose this weekend. JEAH !

  That's the most I have about this week. It's been so crazy, even if I had tried to explain exactly what happened, ya'll probably wouldn't understand me hah. I'm at this weird point where I feel jumbled when I try to speak English OR Spanish. Like when will I win with one haha. But anyway!

  Something I also learned last night.. I was talking to Elder Keller on the phone, and he asked me who I write to in my journal. Anddd I said I just write.. ARE we supposed to write to someone ?? And he told me that one of his companions wrote to his future son, or he'll write to himself or to Heavenly Father. HOW AMAZING why didn't I ever think of that ! So I decided what I'm gonna do. From the experiences of the day, I'm going to write to a member of my family who I think would benefit from those experiences.. or maybe one of my future children, who knows ! Maybe that'll give me more drive to write in my journal. Rather than just knowing that 'God only keeps a record-keeping people" :p

  One more thing! Last week, Monica, a recent convert, called us. Her 3-yr. old, Natalie, was really sick and her face was yellow. And so we called up the Elders and we all met up at her home to give Natalie a blessing. So here was Natalie, who was sobbing uncontrollably and squirming around in Monica's lap. And then the Elders and Hno. Gallardo put their hands on her head to give her a blessing, and they started. And right away she just stopped and went com.pletely calm. It was incredible. She was more silent than me! And afterwards she looked so much better, and now she's fine. These miraces that happen every single day, that we only recognize if we open our eyes to all the 'more' that there is.

  Anyway. Thank you so much for all that you do, every single one of you. All of your prayers, all of your thoughts. Every single one is counted, I promise! The support you have for missionary work shows your support for the Lord. And when you show you support the Lord, He turns around and supports you. :) Look for the simple things that bring you joy.. you will be so much happier, and will realize that no matter how broken or unbroken your life may be, we all have those simple happy things. Laugh at something dumb this week. It'll make you happier I promise hah.

La Iglesia es Verdadera !

La Hermana B

4/11/2011

Oh my gosh this week was inSANE. Without the Spirit keeping me going..physically.. every single step of the way, I think I would have dropped by now haha. Pero milagro! Aqui estoy!

  So it started this past Monday. We went to visit this woman Vielca, who the Elders are teaching, but we got permission to come because they can never find a woman to go with them into her home. Sooo. Vielca called the Elders, and she has had an EXTREMELY hard life. She has been involved with about every horrible thing the world has to offer, and has been suicidal as a result of it. So all in all. When she calls, we come. Just as with every investigator. But lucky that with her, she actually calls haha. So she called last Monday and wanted us to all come. So we dropped everything and went. And on the way she texted us and cancelled. So we were already almost there, and the Elders met up with us. So we were already outside her house, and decided that if nothing, we could heart attack her. S since it was freezing, all of us piled into the car and started cutting hearts really quick. and while THAT was going on, she came home! So we were able to see her still, and we just talked to her a little and decided to sing "I Am a Child of God" to her and her oyfriend. And it was so cool, being in the same exact position that the Elders were in, singing the same exact song they sang to us when they met US for the first time, but in a different language. And her boyfriend, who was abusive before, started crying! So since then, they have been reading the scriptures together and trying and TRYING to change.. together! HOW COOL IS THAT. So we left right, and we came back, ducking like 007 under her window haha, to heart attack her door. So we knocked really fast and BOLTED. And we went to this alley behind the apartments.. which probably wouldn't be safe if we weren't with Elders.. or if we weren't missionaries haha. But she called us, talking about how that made her cry.. and she never cries ! And to think that a simple heart attack.. a simple gesture that took hardly any money or tie at all has changed her life. She's reading her Book of Mormon! And her boyfriend's changing! It is incredible. But after THAT, we walked out to the car.. to see it completely bashed in on the door behind the driver's door. Like Edward Cullen tried to stop it hahah. What we happened we have NO clue haha, but! At least we're okay! Apparently where we were is literally called by all the locals and everyone.. 'the war zone'. man I feel like such a G here ! ...but not really aha

  Sooo what else happened last week? We taught a lot of people and have been working and working. I have wondered at times, as one serving a mission right now, that if one were to ask me what I could do to prepare to serve a mission, what I would say. I remember Mitchell telling me that there really is NO way to prepare to serve a mission, because it is nothing one could ever imagine. And I totally and completely agree. I would have to say that my actual faith in my Heavenly Father is shaken and tried a lot more than my actual testimony, if that makes any sense. It is all in faith, and our faith is what opens doors, and what softens hearts, and what helps people believe in what you are, because it is manifest in every single thing that you do. It isn't easy, working at having faith strong enough day to day that Heavenly Father will pull me through, and much more, pull others through.. through me. If that makes sense. So that being said! I would tell anyone who may be reading this that if they want to prepare themselves to serve a mission.. to strengthen their faith. As much as they absolutely can. By reading their scriptures and praying.. and praying. and praying! And not failing. We are all going to have that point where Heavenly Father is all we have to hang on to.. and I don't want that anyone gets to the point where they do not want to pray. These missions aren't easy. Just as members, every single day we are fighting with good. I don't want anyone who plans to serve a mission to think that they are getting into a cakewalk. If discipleship was easy, a lot more people would be living the gospel. But by keeping the faith, and strengthening it in any good way possible, we will be ready !

  Allllso what has happened. We have this investigator, Jose, who has a baptismal date! His family just left him so he is completely alone, but when he comes to church it seems like he feels that he has family there. He smiles, and I don't know how often he does that. But he makes us these flowers.. full on roses out of beer cans haha ! Well. He'd already made them.. we just get them. But don't worry about him! He's doing really well. And we're trying to keep him strong in the gospel as much as possible. He came to church yesterday !

  We also have someone we're working with.. Maribel. And she knows the gospel is true, and it's here. But she's grown up Catholic, and so she's putting off praying and knowing something else is true because of what she is comfortable with. It's so hard, because I know how happy she can be and I just want her to be! Her life with her whole family is rough, so it's hard not being able to..make her decisions for her haha.

  But anyway. That's everything in a little crumble right now, because my mind is so jumbled. Yesterday at church! 2 les active families, 2 of our investigators, and another less active came ! It was the most busy craziest session of church I have EVER been to, but it was amazing to see these people changing! And this area! So thank you for your prayers.. I am constantly praying for ya'll too.. how could I not :)

I love ya'll! I should probably put some more Spanish in these e-mails.. I promise I do speak it haha. Paz y bendiciones!

La iglesia es verdadera.. La Hermana B