My comp and I have been getting sick back and forth. But I heard a testimony on Sunday that made me feel a lot better. The guy was talking about trials and how they are proof that Heavenly Father loves us. He said that they are meant to show to what point we choose to do the will of the Father. That really hit me and made me think if I am always choosing to do what He wants me to or if I'm letting my trial prohibit or discourage me. I have to admit I think that has happened. I thought after having a year in the mission everything would be down hill from here and the trials would seem like nothing because I am going home soon but that is not the case. I feel silly for thinking that. We got to baptize Shirley who had her baby alone in her bathroom and then carried him to the hospital in a backpack so he wouldn't get soaked by the rain, that Shirley. She's so amazing I really admire her faith and how she has gotten through so much. Her baby was born premature and had to have surgery on his eyes but he is coming out of the hospital in only two weeks and Shirley doesn't have anything. So yesterday in our ward counsel meeting we asked the relief society to please put together a little baby shower for her so she can be prepared to bring home her new baby boy. She named him Benji after the guy who baptized her, I think that's really sweet. We went to their house after the baptism and it absolutely poured! We were all walking all the way to the house because they don't have a car. But we were all laughing and having a great time getting soaked. Then, they gave us shirts to change into so we wouldn't get sick. Then after that the grandma gave us towels for our heads. I was so touched by how kind she was being even though they had so little and their roof was leaking everywhere and soaking one of the beds completely. It was so incredible to see a family in such hard circumstances be so happy and so giving. We got a huge grasshopper in our room last night. It flew in our room and we seriously thought it was a weird type of bird because it was that big! It took a lot of work to find it after it hid itself under my comps stuff. This all happen at midnight haha. Crazy huh? Then a littler one flew into our kitchen so we were feeling like we experienced a mini plague haha.

Highlights from the Last Couple of Months

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!

This week was so fantastic! We had two baptisms. They are two brothers named Leo and Alex. I love them with all my heart they are both like two little lights in my life. They are 16 and 13. Their parents aren't members but their whole family, like grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, are members. Leo has been taught before and has wanted to be baptized for so long. So teaching him was pretty easy, he had some good questions though and we were able to help him figure them out. His little brother didn't seem as excited to hear from us at first and then more and more he's just loved being with us and hearing the things we have to share. He is so special. Their mom didn't want them to be baptized so it has been a real battle with her because she wouldn't even agree to talk to us even once and we had to help Leo and Alex get up the courage they needed. It was so sweet to see them have so much respect and love for their mom. They just wanted to at least have her permission. They had a really long talk with her and she finally told them they can do whatever they want. So we were able to get their father to sign the permission paper. Their whole family was there to support them. We sang the song called "I'll find you my friend" in Spanish. I don't know how we pulled it off because both of us were choking up. But it turned out really neat. It was freezing cold that night and the water was really cold too but the neatest part was that both Leo and Alex said that when their uncle who baptized them started saying the prayer they felt a warmth start at their toes and go all the way up to their heads. Isn't that so awesome! We are so blessed here. The members love us and we are finding new people to teach all the time. Thank you for your prayers. I know that they are working miracles here. I got so sick yesterday. I drank some tap water at an investigator's house and when we got home I was hurting reeealy bad, haha. I spent the whole night running to the bathroom, the whole night. I mostly had the runs but I threw up once too. I definitely learned my lesson. Never, ever drink water from the tap EVER. I hope your week is really great!

It's been a really fun week. So, I am going to tell you about the baptism we had this Saturday. It was for the son of an investigator I had the first time I was here. Her name is Melva and she has a twelve year old daughter and a ten year old son. They are so cute and so much fun. Her daughter was taught and baptized by a couple of elders about a month ago. Yoli, the daughter came to church with her brother and he said he wanted to get baptized. We tried once to get him baptized but at the last minute his mom cancelled on us for a really lame excuse. So this weekend we tried again but were getting the feeling that she was going to do the same thing again so we decided we needed to do the baptism quick. We decided to go by her house and talk her into having the baptism Saturday instead of Sunday morning. We gave a lesson on the 2000 strippling warriors. My companion bore a beautiful testimony about motherhood and how much she loved her mom. Melva cried and after we offered to pay for the taxi to bring them to the baptism she agreed. So we had two hours to call our mission leader and somehow warm up the font and get people invited and buy refreshments. It totally worked out. We were literally running everywhere and making phone calls haha. It was a really great baptism. Me and my comp and Yoli sang "We are as the Army of Helaman" to Diego It was so fun. And the warm water , guess what we had to do, we carried two big pots of hot, hot water about a block to the church. It was so funny that night I laughed so hard picturing us carrying those pots. But what a great experience. I loved it. Things are going so good. We have cambios this week so I don't know what will happen. But you know what, I'm not scared. I feel so confident that things will work out. I hope you have a great week! I can't wait to tell you about what happens next. I love you!

August 15, 2011

We had a really great baptism. It was for a fifteen year old kid named Juan. He's made so many changes in his life and has so much support from the ward and the bishop's family. He's going to be so well taken care of. We almost couldn't baptize him because our president has said that we shouldn't be looking for teens and kids to baptize because their parents should be our main focus. We want to be completing families not baptizing kids who will probably go inactive over time. I'm totally for it but our leaders thought that president meant we couldn't baptize teens at all . so there was confusion for a while and my companion cried. I just felt like everything would work out so I wasn't super upset about it. I just figured that if he couldn't get baptized there was a good reason and if he could, it would work out. I know the atonement is real. It works so quickly and makes so much difference. I love the Savior so much. He shows me he loves me by sending me angels like the girl in the other picture I sent. Her name is Ines. I can honestly say she's been my best friend here in the mission. I can't wait to be surrounded by all of you. That day will come, it's getting closer all the time. I love you so much. I hope you have a fantastic week.

The zoo was so fun. There weren't monkeys walking around at the zoo, like we heard. Apparently, there is just one that lives on an island in the middle of a little pool that escapes sometimes haha. It was so fun. There was this cage for a leopard that was so open and the fence to keep it in was a joke. It was so crazy. Luckily they moved him to a cage. The boy who was suppose to get baptized this month didn't. His dad is unworthy to baptize him and got mad at the bishop for not letting him do it. All our baptisms for this month fell through but I know there are people waiting for us here and I am excited to see what August brings. The light in our shower blew out. The light switch kind of exploded and lit on fire while my Comp was in the shower. So we have to do everything in the dark in our bathroom haha. The knob to turn on the shower shocks you every time you try to tun off the water, just like those shocker pens. Ahhh Bolivia! I love you . I hope you have a great week!

Lately I've been able to see more cultural fun around here and I'm so happy! There were people dancing in the street next to our house. It was so cool there was lots of hip swinging, haha and the guys were dancing so well! They had these cool boots with bells on them. There was a talent show in our ward on Friday. We were going to sing in it but it started late so we couldn't. There were some cool acts. And its crazy the people here just don't get very nervous. They played music so loud, because some young men were in charge of the music, haha. It was really fun though. We have some references because members brought their friends who aren't members. I am so happy. I'm back in Belen! Can you believe it. I love it. Its like coming home. I got so many hugs from the members and I got to see my convert Aide. She has her own chocolate business that is going to get started really soon. Her chocolates are so good! I love seeing her. It almost made me cry to see her doing so well and she has a calling as a young womens counselor. We have three baptisms coming up this month and three more for next month. I can't tell you how blessed I feel to be here. My companion now is hermana Randall. She is from Utah. I've never seen an American hit it off so well with the people here. Everyone automatically loves her. I feel very lucky to be her companion. I just hope I can learn a lot from her and help her out if I can. Guess what, a monkey was climbing around the patio of some investigators we were teaching. It was their pet. I was a little nervous I have to admit because it was a kind of big monkey, haha. And it walked around making a growling sound that I didn't know monkey s made,haha. Me and my comp had our first fight thing the other day. It was because I am not talking as much. It's just hard because I am not used to the way she teaches. And I can never tell when she is going to stop or when I need to come in. So to punish me she made me say the prayer at the end of every lesson. I got ticked because she was treating me like I was under her and I had to explain that I'm just trying to learn how to teach with her. So we figured things out and now we're good. We had a baptism planned this last Saturday but the little girl was terrified of being in so much water even though she goes swimming at water parks with her family. I think she was just nervous and the water was really cold because the water can't get heated up in that chapel. We tried to convince her, along with everyone who was at the baptism haha, but it didn't work. We even put our feet in the faunt to try and calm her down. But nothing worked. That was a first for me. I'm hoping it'll be the last too. I'm having so much fun here. I feel like I can be myself and be a missionary at the same time. It's different because I've been very strict in my conduct and how I talk with people but being with my new companion makes me realize its so much better to be yourself. People really respond to that and open up more and its just natural.

July 11

It sounds wonderful to have so many people there for the fourth. It was really cold here for the fourth. It was too hard to imagine it being summer there. But its hot again now. The weather here so so crazy. You never know what to expect. I had a really great birthday. My companion and the hermanas we live with made me breakfast in bed and then we ordered pizza that night! It was so much fun and a few people called me to tell me happy birthday. It was so nice even though it was kind of against the rules. But its nice to know that the Elders care and want to help me feel better about not being with my family for my birthday. I was so blessed. It was so nice. I still can't bring myself to say I'm 22. Its just too weird. It was a little hard honestly to not be with you all like always for my birthday but I didn't get too sad about it because I got so much help from others and from Heavenly Father. So lately I've been getting a little sad because I feel like I'm halfway through my mission and I'm not sure I've helped a whole lot even though I'm trying so hard. But I know that feelings like that will pass. I just can't think things like that because they don't do anything to help. I realize that the times I feel the saddest are the times I think about myself. So I'm going to try harder to look beyond the things that are hard for me and focus on just helping others in any way I can. We are going to have cambios this week. I don't know what to think. There are pros and cons about staying or leaving But I know whatever happens will be for the best. So I want to tell you about some stuff. There are lots of animal shaped bushes here. They love to do bush art work here. They are pretty creative. My favorite is this big rubber duck shaped bush on one of the corners we always pass. I'll send a picture next time. I was feeling a little unworthy to be here and praying and praying for help to overcome that feeling and I read Mosiah 28:4,7 they helped me so much. I can honestly say I receive answers to my prayers every single day. I got my hair cut here for 15 bolivianos, that's like two bucks. But she did a good job and I don't have lice! haha I bought one of those pan flutes for my birthday. I can make sounds with it! I am so happy. Last Monday, I was kind of having a bad day. My feet hurt so bad I could hardly walk and the buses here are super crazy, so that being said, after we went to the grocery store and got on a bus full of people I was struggling. I couldn't get my hands on any of the bars and I fell into my companion and she fell into a few people because of me. Then this old man reached up and told me to give him my bags. I was reluctant at first then I gave in. He had such a warm smile on his face. Then when he got off he told me to take his seat. I cried after he left because I felt like the Lord really reached out to me and helped me in that moment. I know He lives and works through us. I am so grateful He helps me so much. I can't wait to be with all of you again.

July 4th

This week I got sick and its been cold so its been really fun but I think I am at the end of it. I just got a really bad cold. I've received lots of help and blessings though. I was trying to wash my clothes today and two hermanas we live with came out of the house and basically ordered me to go to bed and they finished washing my clothes outside in the bitter cold. And my companion has been really caring. She has made me soup a couple of times. I am so blessed. I feel so much of my Savior's love and support through times like this. Its been an interesting week. We didn't have a whole lot of success but we had one of our investigators come to church and she watched the restoration video with us. After we invited her to baptism and she just asked where they baptize in the church and accepted . She is seventeen and has so much faith. She loved it when we taught about how the church is built upon the priesthood and prophets. She loved this because she could see how essential it is to have those things. We are so happy to have found her. Its so incredible how we just happen to come across people like her even after four months in the same area. I read a conference talk that was so perfect for me right now. The Savior suffered so much before the miracle of His resurrection. So it gave me a lot of hope to know that maybe the things I am going through are just preceding something really great. I am so thankful we have conference and we get to read the talks after. I hope you are enjoying your summer. It is super super cold here but we should be feeling the heat again in August. I hope you have an awesome week.

The End of the World

So, lately people have been stressing out a lot here about the 21 of mayo because apparently it's going to be the end of the world. I don't know if you've heard, haha. It's funny that almost everyone we meet on the streets asks us what we think about that. It's even on the news here. We have Martha's baptism that day so we joke about how we hope it won't happen until after she's been baptized. Mother's day here is on the 27th. That's weird for me. I wish we could call twice for mother's day, haha. Martha is so ready for her baptism. The elder who interviewed her said she has a strong testimony and he even learned something new about repentance when she commented. Her family isn't happy with her choice but she won't budge on her decision. Isn't that great. It makes me want to cry happy tears. We have a new investigator who is so ready to hear the gospel. The first time we visited her she thanked and thanked us for finding her and told us that we are angels sent to help her. She's so in tune with the spirit too. When we teach her she says "that's true" after almost everything we teach. I can't wait to see what happens with her. I hope you have a really really good week! I'll write next Monday.