"...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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