I loved your e-mail this week. It was nice and long and full of details.
Just the way I like it :) I can't believe that Sister Bernard passed
away. I'll keep Brother Bernard and the rest of their family in my
prayers. She was just the sweetest, but I'm sure was in a lot of pain
from the cancer and feels a lot better now. That's cool/weird to think
that the Allens are back in the ward. Tell Cortney hi for me!
I did know that the mission
has a blog haha and I'm glad that you guys know now too! What kinds of
things do they write on there? I hope the pictures of me aren't too
awful haha Sister Nattress just goes around snapping them so a lot of
the time I have no idea that they are happening and have no time to
smile and I definitely look more attractive when I smile!
That's awesome that you had
that missionary experience! Take advantage of all those small
opportunities that you have to share your testimony. Sometimes that's
all the time we get, but it can go a long way in helping people! Even if
they never join the church, a smile and a friendly conversation can go a
long way! We met one lady who was locked out of her house and we just
chatted with her and got to know her and bore our testimonies as fit in
the conversation. She wasn't interested, but she was very appreciative
that we stopped and talked to her.
As for boots...not really cold
enough here. I'll just wait till I get back to get cute boots :) I
wouldn't want them to get all worn out anyways haha. But my brown flats
are falling apart more and more each day...I may have even resorted to
super gluing part of them...don't judge me! hahaha they still work :)
My week was a good one. I got a
letter from Shay on Monday, all the way from Germany :) So that made me
pretty happy. I also got a big envelope of letters from the Beehives so
that was cool! Tell them thank you for me!
I did have a happy Halloween.
We were in a mission conference all day. We were being trained on the
presentation that we are going to use with members and their non-member
friends before the Temple Open House. It's short and sweet and awesome. I
am so excited for the Temple and feel so blessed to be on a mission
where I can be part of a temple opening. That doesn't happen too often.
And the Gilbert temple is just gorgeous. I seriously love it. I hope
that my future husband is from Arizona or both of our families are going
to have to fly to the wedding...just kidding!! But seriously, I
wouldn't mind getting married there someday. After the Mission
Conference we had to be home by 5 and we finished our studies and then
watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and ate the cake we
made :) Don't worry, we didn't eat all of it in one sitting :) It was a
good day!
The biggest news from this
week would have to be our investigator Johnathan. He's 23 and from El
Salvador. He is married with a 3-year-old girl that he has never met
because he moved out to the US to earn money before she was born. So
hard. He's been here working and earning money to provide for them and
other family members and he is finally going back in December to be with
them. He was one of the Elders' investigators back when they had the
area we have now. He had learned everything and was going to be
baptized, but then he never came to church and he lost contact with the
Elders. We had been trying all transfer to meet him, but had no success
until this past Tuesday. We met him and picked a new date for him to be
baptized and taught him on Wednesday and on Friday and then the best
part...HE CAME TO CHURCH!! He had never come before so it was super
awesome that he came. And he loved it! I figured since we had been
blessed with an investigator at church, I needed to get up and bear my
testimony and so I did! In Spanish :) I've done that many times before,
but that was the first time I'd done it in a Sacrament meeting!
Johnathan told our assistant ward mission leader that he would see him
next week at church so that's pretty awesome :) He's going to be
baptized on the 23rd so Hermana Bukoskie and I are pretty excited for
that. He has an awesome testimony of the Book of Mormon that he shared
with us on Friday during the lesson.
Things are going great! My 6
month mark is on Thursday, can you believe it?!?! I certainly can't :) I
love it here. It's crazy that it is already the last week of the
transfer. There is only one spanish sister coming in so I will probably
be staying where I am, but we will see! Love you and I hope you have a
great week!
Con amor,
Hermana Baria
