Hermana Tibbitts is the one with brown hair and Hermana Randall is the blonde.
The first of September Brittani was really excited to receive some pictures from Hayley. She says "I loved the pictures Hayley sent! Will you tell her thanks for me and that I absolutely loved them."
Sept.19: It's getting warm but a sur came so its kind of chilly and out shower is busted so we've been showering with cold water lately haha. but its not too hard to get used to and its really good for your hair haha. This week we had two cockroaches in our house. One of them was huge!!! It crawled on my companion and I was the one who had to sweep if off the counter and it went sailing towards her. It was a total accident because our kitchen is so tiny. But we both screamed alot because we had no idea where it went. When we found t we just screamed some more because it was on its back waving its long hairy legs in the air. But I fearlessly stomped on it really hard and kind of slipped a little because it was that big haha. Our duena came up the stairs yelling because we scared her. She got pretty mad at us, she seemed to forget the fact that we're girls haha. We have two baptisms coming up this week. One is Rosa who we found out last night might actually be 90 years old. She gave us both two kisses on on each cheek and told us she loves us both so much. It's seriously been so much fun to teach her. And Cynthia is getting baptized too. She just has to move out of her house because her ex lives there and its really hard to find her work and a house. We've been room hunting for a couple weeks now and not many accept ids or they're too much money. But I have faith we will find something. Today we are going bowling as a zone. Its going to be fun!
Sep.26: We baptized Cynthia and Rosa the same night. We had planned to Baptized Rosa and Saturday and Cynthia on Sunday but Cynthia wanted to be baptized so bad she didn't want to wait another day. It was so cool. They were both so beautiful. Rosa came out of the water chuckling a little because she has bad knees and her grandson held her like a baby and had to struggle a bit to get her completely submerged haha. She prayed after and promised Heavenly Father she wouldn't go back to the way she was. It was so sweet. I cried. We sang at the baptism and it turned out pretty. The picture with us and the kid is Leo he is such a goof. We love him so much though. He took so many pictures with us.
Oct.3: I love conference with all my heart. I was so awesome wasn't it. We got to see both Saturday sessions in English because not very many people came. On Sunday, we went early and the church was packed and people were still coming. So we had to give up our seats and sit in an empty classroom that was semi close to the tv so we could at least hear it. It was a really cool experience just because it reminded me of Mary and Joseph when they were looking for somewhere to stay the night. It was so great to feel like I was sacrificing so that other people could be comfortable and enjoy seeing conference. It was feeling like I was doing what the Savior would do. I admit I felt a little sad at first but it was so worth it to know it was for such a great cause.We got to see the second session in English with the help from someone in the ward. It was so wonderful. I can't wait to watch conference with all of you someday. We changed our pensionista and it was so cool to see that the new one we chose really needs us to be there. She is a great person but right now she's struggling in her marriage. Her husband is threatening to leave her. She was so excited that we asked her to be our pensionista she said she would love it because she knows the Lord will bless her for helping us out. Kaidence is amazing. I know she is such a blessing in our family. She sure helps us remember the Lord and to have faith in Him. I know she'll be okay. Its still painful to know that she is going through so much but Heavenly Father knows why and we have to just be strong about it.
Oct. 9: Things are going so good now but Thursday through Sunday I felt like the Lord really carried me. So Hermana Randall left and she has always been a one man band about things. I'm not really sure why she was always that way, but anyway there are things I had to do all on my own this weekend. I had to organize a Sunday morning baptism, go to el centro to get her interviewed, get her registros taken care of, find speakers and other things like that. It gave me the biggest headache, I was so stressed out. Plus hermana Tibbitts is my companion here in Belen now. She is a good person and she has changed alot from the last time that we were together. I'm grateful she has been such a nice support to me with everything I had to do last week. I love being able to have so much responsibility and for the chance to make good friend with hermana Tibbitts. We have three more baptisms planned for this week! I am so excited. W have been so blessed an we even have people who are likely get baptized next month. I can't tell you how much real joy I feel being a missionary. The lady who got baptized on Sunday is so happy and the ward has completely taken her in. It's so great.
Oct. 16: Yesterday we didn't go to church because there were elections and the president here says that nobody can work or go to church that day. So we had a sacrament meeting in the house of the family we live with. It was so strange to be sitting on the couch for sacrament ha ha. The dad was pretty nervous and made a couple mistakes blessing it but he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. It was so great. I think he felt good that he could do that for us and his family. We had a little testimony meeting after and they made us crepes. They are definitely not like the ones we make. I'll just say that. I'm getting along really well with Hermana Tibbitts she likes Moulin Rouge and Harry Potter and Hunger games ha ha. We've been able to laugh alot and have some good talks. Im so grateful because I prayed Heavenly Father would send me a friend this cambio. And when I heard she would be my comp my heart totally sunk because we had a rough time in Guaracal. But things have been going really good and I am so thankful. There has been a swine flu problem here and there aren't any vaccinations available to people But it seems to be slowing down thank goodness. We had Elder Pino of the seventy come and he was totally awesome he told us we have one of the best mission presidents in the whole world! how cool is that. It was so wonderful to hear from him he is so inspired and full of love. I am so excited that we have two baptisms coming up this week and two more next week. But I have to admit it kind of stresses me out. I have to remember I'm not doing this all on my own and I shouldn't depend on myself but look to Heavenly Father for help. I have something to admit. I feel like i have been gone for way too long ha ha. I miss you all so much. Its the first time that I've missed home this much. But its such a blessing that I'm so busy with getting our investigators ready. Heavenly Father is really helping me out. Its been cold here lately. Today we bought nail polish and we are going to go bowling. I am so excited. We are only going to pain our toe nails thought because we are not allowed to paint our finger nails.
Oct. 23: I've been sick this last week but somehow we pulled off two baptisms this morning. Hugo and Alejandro, they're both so special. Our pensionista's husband told us on his mission he got to go see star wars with his zone and they were supposed to relate it to the gospel So he is a huge fan of fiction movies like that and he loves relating them to the gospel he told us all the movies that have come out that we need to see. I can't wait to see them haha. I love my mission. I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I love being able to help other people and lift the burdens they are carrying. I'm so thankful for the experiences I'm having here. Heavenly Father answers my prayers all the time. Everyone in this country runs late and Hugo was fifteen minutes late for his baptism, I was sweating bullets and praying that he would get there in time and he showed up not even a minute later. I 'm so thankful for all the miracles I've been able to see here. I know this gospel is true, every bit it it is true. I love sharing it with other people. I love this ward so much I have lots of friends here. We've lost contact with one of our investigators we had with a baptismal date and another one is really busy with with school so she is hardly ever home to receive us and its a little frustrating but I know we'll find them. Our district leader loves us. He says we are an example for the whole district. I don't believe him but we appreciate him for saying such nice things. I'm trying really hard to do what I'm supposed to and really enjoy the experience of being here and I really do now more than ever, the Lord has worked miracles for me so many times. He is so wonderful and merciful.
Oct. 31: So, I have something funny to tell you. I kind of broke the rules last week. I danced. There was a relief society birthday party for all the birthdays that have happened recently and there was a recent convert who who'd been struggling a lot and cried every time I tried to talk to her last Sunday. She was finally getting happier and to the point where she would tell me what was going on but she wanted us to dance with her really bad and I have to admit I love the music here its got a really fun rythm to it. So, I got up and did the latin shuffle everyone else was doing haha for maybe five minutes and then the president found me and told me I didn't have to dance because she knows we can't as missionaries. I felt super super SUPER guilty. My companion made me feel alot better about it and we were able to laugh about it later. And our pensionista told me that I need to be careful with my dancing because she said my future husband won't like the fact that I can dance because he'll get over-protective about me haha. We made mud cups for our last family home evening. They have chocolate pudding and crushed oreo on top and then we put gummy worms in them. Bu the pudding was still hot because our penionista made it too late and my comp wanted to hide the worms so it would be a scarey surprise and the gummy worms melted in the cups and it actually made them hard to eat haha because it was a little too realistic. I took my shoes to a zapatero haha they are shoe fixers that have their little shops by the road and they are miracle workers! I've taken almost all my shoes there because they are all pretty worn out and I have not been able to find any shoes here in my size everyone here has little feet. So the way they fix them is by sewing a piece of tire rubber to the bottom of your shoe. Isn't that funny? Happy Halloween! we are having a halloween party tonight for family home evening but they don't really celebrate it here. I am happy. I think it will be a fun party. I hope you have lots of fun today!
