Monday, April 14, 2014

Exact Obedience!

Hola Familia! :)

Okay
first of all, LOVE the pics haha! You all kill me! Haidyn is so different
though sheesh. She’s growing up too fast! Stop it. Pleeeease? Love you all
though :)

This
week was a good one :) I can’t believe April is already half way over. Time is
flying, and I still feel so lost here in Sullana! Oh I also got the package you sent,
and LOVED it! Loved it all :) My companion did too :) I shared everything with
her.... Except the sour patch kids. Mom, you should know by now I don’t share
my sour patch kids ;) But really. Thanks so much!

This
week we’ve been working hard. We have a lot of great investigators, but it
seems like they’ve all just hit a wall and don’t want to commit to baptism. It’s
frustrating! Jesus and Moises were doing great till their mom said she thought
it was all too fast. Now they say they want to be baptized in October. Ummm.
NO. But the good news is that we got to talk with their mom and teach them all.
We gave her a Book of Mormon and assigned her to read the intro. Well, God is
amazing, and instead of reading the intro she flipped open to Alma 32 and LOVED
it. She was so impressed and said it really got her curious. Since that day,
when we arrive at their house, she is ready with our seats, her Book of Mormon,
and ready to learn :) If we can get her to church I know she’ll love it. That’s
our goal this week.

We
also have a lesson with Ricardo’s mom tonight. AHHH! We’re not really sure what
we’re gonna say, but our plan is to go in focusing on her and not just asking
permission for her son to be baptized. If she can apply it to her life, and
feel the spirit she’s going to let him get baptized. Hope everything works out
tonight. Psh. Who am I kidding? God has a plan :)

We
also have Denis who committed to baptism May 3rd. Yay!

This week we found a new investigator,
Conrado, who too came to church yesterday. He’s great! When we found him he was
so sad. He’s 60 somethin and when we found him and started talking to him, he
just started crying and said he was to the point he just didn’t want to live
anymore. I just wanted to hug him! (Too bad he’s a man and that’s against the
rules or I would have...) He came to church yesterday though and loved
it.

This
week we also had Zone Conference in Talara. I just love President Rowley! (In a
not weird way.) Hermana Callizaya was like, "I wish I could carry him
around on a keychain and have him tell me what to do." Seriously! Love
listening to him speak. This conference really focused on the Book of Mormon
and Family History. (Everyone should fill out one of those booklets!) There’s
one thing I loved that he said though. He looked at us all and said, "Do
you have a testimony?" We were all lookin at him like, "Well, duh,
President. We’re missionaries...." and then he goes "What time do you
wake up in the morning? Do you exercise every day? What time do you go to
bed?" Then we we’re all lookin around avoiding eye contact haha and he
says, "Thats how you show it. That’s how you show you have a testimony. Through
obedience in your mission and in your life you show you have a testimony. Every
day from 6:30 to 10:30 you show it." He’s great huh? It really got us
thinking. Exact obedience :)

We
also had our first exchanges this week, and I survived. Yay! Tomorrow I’ll be here
in Sullana though with an American that just got here that knows no spanish...
That should be interesting. Oh! And did I mention I’m still lost? We’ll
definitely be carrying the map around all day....

Okay
now for some funnies :) First of all, one member, Zully, is my favorite. She is
so strong! Her mom passed away two years ago from cancer. One of the strongest
people I’ve met. She’s 18 and also hilarious. She leaves with us every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday. Well Friday we were headed to an appointment and there
was a newborn kitty that was homeless and crying and sad...... So we took it
with us. It’s against the rules for us to have a pet, gosh darn it, so we
started knocking door by door asking if someone wanted it. Okay now for the
funny part. Zully knew a word in English, but didn’t know what it meant....
Boobs. lol. I tried explaining, but it didn’t make a difference. That’s what
she decided to name the kitten. We went door to door and she would knock and
say, "Quiere Boobs?" which is "Do you want Boobs?" I was
dying laughing! Then she goes on to give the kitten a last name.... Another
English word she knew.... Please. Boobs Please. She named the kitten Boobs
Please! Haha! I know I totally shouldn’t laugh, but wow. SO funny! When people
try to talk in English here it is the funniest! I’m totally immature.... But
whatever.

Another
funny story that happened yesterday. There’s a ton of construction here in
Sullana because of water problems. All the streets are torn up and it’s awful.
We were headed to an appointment and the street was soooo torn up. It was hard
for us to even get to the house! So we start talking (as we’re arriving at the
house) and say, "Wow. If there was a drunk walking around here he’d fall
for sure!" then step inside the door to see drunks. Lots of them. And they
just looked at us like, "Yep. We heard that." SO awkward! They left
pretty quick haha. And they didn’t even fall in a hole! Proved us wrong. So
funny though. Our faces were soooo red.

Our
ward here is all reading the Book of Mormon together too before December. I
thought it’d be neat if we all do it. We can all read the Book of Mormon before
I get home. That means you all have 7 and a half months to do it :) We can do
it! I finished the Book of Mormon today so I’mm starting tomorrow again :)
Pleeease do it :) 15 minutes every day! Yeah? Okay :) Also... Remember to go to
the temple every month!! :)

Thank
you for everything. Really. Love you all so much! Hope you all have a great
week, and a great Easter! LOVE YOU!