Thursday, April 15, 2010

We Got The Standards!! And Staying in La Paz

Tuesday February 16, 2010
Por fin, tengo un traslado normal! jaja, pero en serio, me voy a quedar en La Paz, y estoy tan agradecida por eso porque no estoy lista para salir. Pero, mi compañera se va a Rosario. Hoy dia hicimos algo muy divertido para recordar nuestros dos traslados juntas y nuestra amistad muy muy fuerte.
(Finally, I have a normal transfer! haha, but seriously, I'm going to stay in La Paz, and I am so thankful for that because I'm not ready to go. But my companion is going to Rosario. Today we did a lot of fun to remember our two transfers together and our friendship very very strong.) [Funny - when I put it in the translator, transfer came up as 'shipment' and companion came up as 'partner'. Also - alfajore= a fancy cookie, like a sandwich cookie that is coated in chocolate or something, then the edges are rolled in nuts or sprinkles or the like. how do I know all that when the translator told me it is gingerbread? One of my visiting teachers is from Argentina and fills me in on stuff like that! In fact, she recently had a party and served some Argentine food - that was fun!!]
Ok Im going to write the rest in English now. But anyway we rented bicis again and we rode down to Las Termas the warm springs in La Paz and today was fresca woohoo! like im not sweating. its a miracle truly. Anyway we found a little artesenal alfajor shop and had to go down this huge muddy hill and like there were all these signs ¨chocolates 700 mts¨ haha. I felt like we were on a movie and the signs just kept pointing in the right way. But the woman was so nice, the view was beautiful, and the alfajores were delicious. It was a perfect adventure to end our transfers together. I am so grateful the best friend I have in my companion and that LAST WEEK WE GOT THE STANDARDS!!! woohoo!! Im so stoked. It really required just working with the members and really just talking to everyone we saw about the gospel. It was really neat. It feels really really good to have accomplished the goals the Lord has set for me in my mission. And it was fun too and so great to hear all the testimonies of the members in the lessons and meet so many new people. I just love it here in La Paz. I am so glad I get to stay. Ps I am forwarding the weekly email that shows the pics of the comps that lograr los estandartes.
So a little miracle that happened el viernes. We went to teach Guillermina and Mario this great couple we found and we took Marcelo with us, a member that returned from his mission two years ago. Anyway right as we arrived and figured out they weren´t there, this really pretty girl comes and is looking too to see if they are there and then is like welp they aren´t here. My comp explains who we are and why we are looking for them and offers to share with her our message. She is like sure, and im like can we go to your house right now? sure she says. so we follow her up this little campo path to her house and her mom comes out (ok she looks like 25 and so does the daughter, she is 14 and the mom is 32, its crazy NO ONE LOOKS THEIR AGE HERE) and then the rest of the kids come out there are five and they are this beautiful family and we share this super powerful Restoration lesson and Marcelo bore testimony of just the right thing to impact them. It was so great. The dad showed up at the end and we all said a prayer together and the mom and two of the kids accepted una fecha bautismal. iT was really cool that we were able to meet them, heck i didnt even know houses existed up where they lived. Our next goal is to get them to the church. But i love finding good people. And even though its hard to know maybe in the end they wont accept it, por lo menos I know they felt the Spirit and I know they know now where to find true happiness. It was great when we taught them again last night the Plan of Salvation.
So Sunday is always the day of anticipation where all the work you´ve done all week basically boils down into one little thing: who you can get to go to church with you. So we went and knocked a full because we invited everyone we talked to of course but really committed two families to going and we passed for them, and the parents just refused to go. Por ejemplo, Maria the mom who said the day efore yes yes i will go yes i know i need the blessings. ANyway we go and I was being super bold because these people need the church. I was like maria go you will feel the Love of God and He will help you do what you need to , and then after we´ll come back with you and help you do your chores. She just stood there thinking and thinking and I could tell she was struggling so bad, like wanting to go and just not having the will to do it. Anyway Im there bearing my soul of a testimony and at the end she just said no. but she let her kid come with us. The other family we passed for the parents also said no but let their kids come with us, and this little member girl Micaela invited her neighbor friend and so it was really cool to see the support we received from her. But it was a little sad to see that the families just wouldn´t come together. They just trust us with their kids. So our investigators in the church were 8-11 year old kids. But they were so great. I sat with them in Sacrament and they were like are we going to sing again? yay! and then after the two boys Pepe and Matias said I loved it me encantó! and they helped collect the hymn books and returned them. it was so cute to see such gentlemanly young boys. They then made me promise I would buscar them every sunday..... I reluctantly agreed, well I told them my comp and i or a member por lo menos.
Another miracle is that God held off the rain. I was so nervous Sunday morning i had stomache aches for the clouds so ominously looming. The rain here is seriously like a shut all the doors and remain inside kinda thing. But it didnt rain, so we were able to accomplish our goals this week. and i again I know it is because we stretched ourselves and put our faith in the Lord that he would help us do it. It was really cool.
Sunday night we had a noche de hogar with the family Lopez cut out little hearts so they could write down why they wanted to live with their families for ever. Its becuase the daughter is juntado´d and they just had a baby. Anyway it was really powerful because we promised this non member boyfriend that he could live with his new baby forever and his beautiful gf through the power of God that is again on the earth. It was perfect timing because he really just loves his little baby so much. NEw life and the family is such a powerful thing and so I invite all of you who know someone in this circumstance to share the gospel message and the hope of living as an eternal family together in Happiness.
Today at lunch the member said did you have any baptisms in La Paz yet? and i was like no, thinking duh you would know, but then she pointed to her husband and said well its ok becuase you reactivated someone. It was really neat to hear that and see how happy they are that their whole family is now going back to church. I know i really dont have much part in it, but it is still really cool to be a small part of the process.
Ok so I guess i can tell you about my new comp I am going to get. She is Hermana Hansen, super beautiful sister from Utah. this will be her third transfer, but her last transfer with her trainer she was stuck inside the whole time for her back pains (the comps back not hermana hansen´s) anyway so it might be a little refresher this transfer for her. Im excited I have met her on various ocassions and she is super nice. Woo hoo!!!
PS GOOD JOB CURTIS. I am so proud. Dad your little account of what happened was well written. I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat. and then of course i cried when i saw that he won. What a great kid, i always talk about him, and how proud I am of him. I love you all so much and My Heavenly Father too. Everyday i look at the amount of blessings that I recieve and I am blown away. Yay for happiness!!

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