Monday, February 15, 2016

Alma 26:16 Last Line

"...Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

GIANT apples in Washington! 

On our way to email home! 



This week has been chalk full of amazing spiritual enlightenment! It has been a seriously great week. We started the week running in the morning.  I don't mind running too much, It’s definitely not my favorite, I'm just seriously not a morning person... working on it :)

Monday at p-day we played a really fun game called 4-hit kill, its where we all stand in a circle and hit a volleyball and keep it in the air 4 hits, and then we can throw it at someone and if it hits them they are out. It's so simple, but so fun! I love volleyball too. 



Tuesday we had an awesome patriarchal blessing meeting. It was for a RS activity but since we had a less-active member coming with us, we went too! It was great, and we got amazing insights. Some of my faves: Patriarchal Blessings are divine perspective of ourselves, not a complete outline of our lives--just a couple of things to focus on; They help people of all ages, not just teenagers; They help give you guidance for the future, but also help you recognize blessings and miracles in the past. 

Wednesday we had interviews with Pres. Lewis and then got to have a talk with Sis. Lewis after, and she had some great insights as well. She was talking about focusing on our strengths, which was so helpful because here on the mission it is so easy to get really perfectionistic and self-critical. We all have strengths, talents, and spiritual gifts. Strengths are things you have to exercise to have, talents are natural tendencies that you have to develop, and spiritual gifts are totally free, and you don't have to develop them to be good at them. She said everyone has these and they are different, so use them! We were called to our specific missions, and lives, for that matter, so don't try to copy others or compare yourself to others.  While we were there, one of our golden members, Jane, bought us a ton of pizza! It was awesome and delicious. I haven't had pizza in such a long time! 

Family History Night was a huge success! I loved being a presenter, teaching about genealogy. It reminded me of watching my dad at SQL Saturdays. 

Setting up for Family History Night



Thursday was Hna. L's BIRTHDAY!!! :) We had district council first thing in the morning, and it was so great! I always learn so much at those meetings, and it's fun to see other missionaries. E. Gaburel was showing us some funny BOM valentines. And the other sisters made a surprise birthday cake and hid it in the church building (where we had the meeting) the night before! It was so funny watching Elder Najarian distract Hna. Luevano so they could get the cake. The night before we had come home to grab some pens for Family History Night, and the other sisters were so worried we had smelled the chocolate cake smell! Ha ha it was great. Then we all went out to Subway for lunch and a nice man bought our food! So awesome! 
Funny Book of Mormon Valentines! Ha Ha

 Happy 20th, Hermana L!



 People are always giving us Subway gift cards,
because it's the only restaurant in Royal!

We also got to visit Reina, and Ana on Thursday. We helped Reina (investigator) make some Valentines for her son's class. They were so cute! They were little mice things and they have a note on them that say "Mice to know you!" Made out of Hershey kisses. We also got to make tortillas with her using her tortillera. I've used one before with Belinda and Ana, and I just love it! I want to get one for home. We had MIRACLES at Ana's house this week. SO exciting! He asked his son Tony (member) for a priesthood blessing!! And the whole branch fasted for him last week, and now he is feeling so much better and his leg is healing. AND THE BEST PART. He wants to go to church this week to thank everyone for praying for him!! MIRACLES ARE REAL!

 "Mice to Know You!"



Friday is weekly planning, and this week we did it at the church. It was so much easier to focus! And we used the chalk board to write everything out, so it went so much faster! We also went to Aide's house for lunch and she made us CHORIZO CON HUEVO! I love it. Seriously so delicious. It's so simple, but so good. Except then she just kept feeding us and feeding us and feeding us, and it's really rude in Hispanic culture to turn down food. We were SO full I thought I was going to throw up! We didn't eat dinner or breakfast the next day.  We also got to meet the cutest little man, Gernando! I say little man because he's 11, but he talks like he's 50. When we left he said, "Alright ladies, see you soon! God bless your souls" ADORABLE.

Weekly Planning

Friday night I finally got to meet the Busters’ dad, Chad. He had a really nasty accident in October and shattered his foot, now he doesn't have a big toe! It looked so freaky but fascinating. He's actually healing really well, so that's really exciting. He also taught us about penguins in Argentina....really useful info! Ha ha. There was also a community play on Friday night of “Aladdin,” and everyone was there! It was a bummer for us because nobody was home, but I love it though. This town reminds me of Stars Hollow on the show “Gilmore Girls”. Everyone is so supportive of everyone else! I love small towns. 

Saturday was a GREAT day. We had a fantastic lesson with Kevin. He has an amazing way of gaining so many new insights out of scriptures. He loved Alma 17-18. Then we visited this adorable elderly couple, Penelope and George. They were showing us their old family pictures, they have been married for 63 years! They said they love us so much they feel like we are part of the family. I love being a missionary! :) 

63 Years and Still Happily Married

 Penelope and George


Original Fender 300 hollow body electric
straight out of the 1950's! George is SO COOL!

Valentine’s Day yesterday was actually so, so, so good! It was funny because at about 10 am we all were sitting in our apartment studying, and it dawned on us.. hey! It's actually Valentine’s Day! Ha ha Then we went to a special church service that was a regional broadcast for parts of Canada, Oregon, Washington, and California. It was Elder Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It was a great address. He related everything back to The Restoration and talked about how we do things in our church because of revelation. He also talked a lot about the Plan of Happiness <3 and made a great comment that if we are treating others with prejudice and unkindness, we are engaging in plan-stopping behaviors. Hate the sin, but love the sinner. That's what Jesus told us to do. We don't have to agree with their lifestyle to love them. 

My dad also sent me some flowers for Valentine’s Day! I loved them! It was so sweet! I never understood the joy of getting flowers before, but it's the thought! The note was my favorite part. Thank you, Ploddie!



We also went to a couple of members’ houses last night in the evening, and one of them gave me a Rubba Scrubba! It's a really awesome carpet cleaning thing, and I am so stoked to use it today! (I have a weird passion for carpet cleaning.) We also went to Jane and Willy's house for dinner, and they showed us some really cute old pictures, too, just like Penelope and George. They also have a really funny dog! It was hard to find people to visit on Valentine’s Day, but we had an impression to visit a member's house, Linus, and ended up solving a 25 year old mystery about an inactive member!!! WOW. Thank you, Holy Ghost! 

 Willy and Jane being adorable in the 1970s
Jane and Willy being adorable in 2016. Happy Valentine's Day!

Jane and Willy's funny dog


So yeah, you could say it was a fantastic week. I can't wait to see what this week has in store! 

Hermana L is TEENY!

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