everything is good...

Hey I hope everone is good :) I am good :) have a good day :)

I really have no idea what to write...but....everything is good...I am hoping to baptize soon because we have a lot of potential we just need to reach it.

We did this cool service project on Tuesday that took all day. We helped cut down trees and leveled this yard which was huge and like a mountain in the middle and we leveled the whole thing. Just I couldn't take pictures there sorry. We also went to San Salvador for my companion to get a knee brace so things are getting better.

Also I am getting way better at soccer. I'm not at the par with these Latinos but I hope one day to be a competition haha, I do make some pretty good moves once a while though. I also found a cool quote by Thomas S. Monson. "one cannot forget mother and remember God. One can not remember mother and forget God." So that was really cool because I have an amazing mom!! :)

But anyways...alsoooo... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KURTIS!!!!!! The second oldest brother!!! I hope everything is going good. He is going to be a Senior!! He put up with me for a long time and now has a break without me haha but I know he will miss me one day. Hope you are good buddy and it will be cool to see where you go on your mission!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Also if you guys wouldn't mind pray for familia chaves. They are having problems with alcohol. But thank you for all that you guys do and I love you guys!! Take Care!!! :)

service and haircut today

God protected me...

I'm getting bored of these emails haha I really don't know much to say that is different. I hope everything is going well with you guys!! ummmm...this week was good I guess haha. Everybody had interviews with the president and it sounds like I will stay in my area one more change and then head off to Belize! It is crazy how fast time flies!!!

I kind of half way got bit by a dog but God protected me haha and there are no marks or anything but wow that was scary because it was a huge dog and I knocked the door and it ran around back and attacked me haha. but everything is good :)

Ummm... I am starting to wrestle with my companion when I am stressed and he is the cause of it and it is fun because I feel so much better haha but it isn't figthing so I don't think it's breaking the rules :) haha but he is an amazing comp and I just love wrestling with him because he is small and it makes me feel good and he always starts it so I'm not picking on him hahaha! No he is a great guy and I love him!

But this week really nothing happened that much, we have so many people so close to baptism but I don't know, haha we need more time here it feels like. also I got on in the bus where I went to this area where apparently no Gringos go and I got in the bus and all the kids and old people were just staring at me the whole time....like they didn't blink or look in front of them or anything...haha that was kind of weird. Also there isn't a word for awkward in Spanish I don't think so it is hard to explain that feeling to my comp haha. But that was cool haha.

I went to the gym to build up muscle instead of fat, and now my arms are killing me. Rigby is so strong and expects everybody to be that strong hahaha :P ALSO IT RAINED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE LIKE OCTOBER!!!! I haven't seen rain since yesterday!!! Woohoo!!! hahaha it is such an amazing feeling and it really does clean the earth like in one of my favorite baptism songs.

I also blessed the sacrament for the first time in Spanish and that was cool. :) andddd wellllll..... I am doing good haha. President said he loved me and I was a good missionary :) Annnnndddd...my mom still loves me :) So everything is going perfect haha!

*I told Brandon that was a nice wedding ring and this was his response...

hahahah I got a cool one from El Salvador for 3 dollars...

hahaha it's so I can tell other girls no mom :P

poco a poco

This was a really good week I guess haha they are all good so I don't really know what more to say. But I am doing good and healthy and my companion is doing good and healthy, just we had to go to San Salvador for his knees but everything is going well with him. I gave him my knee brace and he seems to be doing better. I love him and he is good.

We found this amazing family we brought to church and we helped with the strollers crossing the roads and everything and the mom didn't really like it I don't think, she seemed kind of bored but the kids were in love and crying when they had to leave haha :P But I love the mission.

Just hiked the volcano and I'm so tired but I used sunscreen so I hope I'm not too burnt haha. Ummmmm... oh something sad, the husband of our baptism started drinking and he is having a hard time stopping so please pray for him, but his wife is doing super good and firm and we are working with her grandchildren and maybe they will get baptized and go on missions so please pray for familia chaves chacon.

ummmmm...besides that things are going pretty normal I guess haha. I still feel like I am waiting for January to start and people say it's April and I get really confused...hahaha but I love this mission and everything is going great!!! ummmmm...thank you for all you guys do and choose one thing you guys can do to be better and stick with it to become more like Christ. poco a poco as they say here!! Take care and SALU!!!!

 cool thing the zone leaders did!

 I drew sister smith :P

 zone leaders birthday!

 volcano again!

God watches over us even when we are dumb and forget things haha

I honestly don't know what to say but I'm happy and conference was amazing and I'm still in my area anddddd....ya haha :) I love you guys Salu pues!!

I'll do another one because I am bored haha. Well...I stayed in my area with the same companion so I am so happy!!! :) And conference was AMAZING!! just the electricity kept cutting out so...the talks were kind of spotty, (I think that's the right word) especially my favorite Elder Hollands :( Right when he was starting to get loud it cut off.. but it was still amazing!! :)

I am getting FAT!! I know my mom and dad don't believe me probably but it is true...haha. annndddd... we are doing good just people won't really open their heart right now and it kind of makes me feel bad as a missionary and stressed but my companion and I are doing a good job and I feel pretty good about all the work we are doing!

Just struggling for baptisms, we had one as a house last change. and everyone in our mission is struggling right now. But the Book of Mormon really helps and has so many examples of missionaries in these countries teaching and it is really cool and sometimes I feel just like them haha :P but! I realized at a meeting, even if I didn't baptize a single person, or help anyone or anything, the mission would still be worth it because of the AMAZING missionary friends that I have made! They are so amazing and such great loving guys! and we are ALL going to live in Utah after (granted most of the people already live there haha) but it is really sweet!!

Time is flying by and it makes me sad because I want to do more and I feel like I have barely any time left and I have barely done anything, but we will see!! :) But, I had Iguana eggs...those are weird to eat, and I moved this dirt mountain with shovels and a wheel barrow, and a half a foot wide wooden plank leading up to the top of the mountain to move the dirt, and you had to run or else you wouldn't make it to the top. That was hard, and falling or having the wheel barrow fall off the side stunk..hahaha but it was really fun and took most of the day one day :P

I saw one of my FAVORITE PEOPLE/MISSIONARIES EVER!!!!, leave his mission Wednesday and I have never seen him cry, and he didn't cry until he got to the van to leave. I left everybody to go talk to him and he was bawling his eyes out and it penetrated my heart. I am scared for this day, but it's not coming for a while haha so I am okay. But Elder Talledo is his name.

Also two more things, we were walking in the most dangerous area (which mom it isn't dangerous at all) at night because we helped people carry water to their house... and my comp looked in his backpack and everything for his flashlight because it is pitch black in this jungle. So we were peeing our pants and talking to the people trying to figure out a plan, and they thought they could walk with us...but that's not a good idea here. We tried figuring out the safest routes and everything but, it didn't seem to be going well. So we said a prayer with the family, and at the end of the prayer my companion starts freaking out! He said " I feel something moving in my pocket!" He reached in and out pulled the flashlight...coolest thing ever! And then we made it safe back :) God watches over us even when we are dumb and forget things haha. and the other thing is my comp. says hi :) But take care you all!! Work hard andddd...CTR!!! :) Salu pues!!!!

P.S.
What does salu puez mean? 
like....good bye I think haha I know how to use it but I'm not really sure what it means haha!

Funny pictures of friends :P 

Conference with Rigby!!!

I don't want changes:(

So changes is this Wednesday and I'm really scared :( I love my comp and this area so much!! And we have lots of success in this area, but we will see. We had a temple activity Saturday for investigators and less actives, so that was pretty cool! Also I did a really hot and hard service project where we were helping dig a bathroom, haha and I got sunburnt, but I am doing good now!!

This week was a really relax week, where we had lots of our time taken up and we weren't really walking house to house or contacting a lot, but we are going to get back next week, if I still have a good companion :( But anyways, at the temple activity we saw people taking sealing pictures!! And that was pretty cool to see, I have never seen that before. and there was a little girl there so that was really special. Also I tried conejo (rabbit), for those of you who know what that is, and it tasted good, just it tasted like pure sadness. :( But It was still good haha.

Also I am getting really good at soccer. I was playing goalie, I 5 on 5 game, and I stopped a kick, then I was gonna pass it to someone, but they were all covered, so I set the ball down and started dribbling up the field. I should of got it on video because all 5 people on the field came up to me, and I juked them all out one by one jumping over people and running and it was crazy and I kicked the ball right under the other goalies legs for a goal and it was insane!!! I could never in my whole life do that again but I am getting better, even though the rest of the game I didn't do that good haha! But it is fun!

Just for those who knew me in Basketball before my mission, I used to be able to dunk a tennis ball in a 10 foot rim, and now I can't even touch a 9 foot rim. My hops are falling fast, but I can hike like no other haha.

Latinos for Easter go all out, and it's the whole week not just Sunday. It is crazy haha and lots of alcohol but it is nice. And I saw so many people walking down the street right by our house all holding candles, and I have NEVER seen that many people in my whole life. The whole street was crowded and wow, haha it lasted forever as far as I could see all walking by. If you want to know where a zombie apocalypse is gonna start, I know.

But this week was a good week, just I have come to realize something. I knew God was real and Jesus was real before the mission and had a pretty good testimony of it, but what I have gained a stronger testimony is that Satan is real. And he has power to do some really crazy things. But we are also stronger than him, and stronger than his power, because we are the literal sons of the highest being in all the universes. We have no need to fear. Just we have to fight to not let him take us over little by little, we have to bring ourselves closer to God and his power little by little.

But anyways, haha I hope you all are doing well! And take care and have an amazing week!!!! if you could pray for Glendy, Nubia, and Yesika please!!!

I helped dig a bathroom hole, haha 6 meters deep.

We got a shirt and went to the temple with investigators!

this mission is sweet

Well we had a baptism!! It was really cool and it is this lady and her husband has been a member for like 3 years and they are really sweet and cute together so that was amazing and their goal now is on the temple! We gave them a poster and they hung it up (and gave us so many pupusas!) and they are such and amazing family, really firm in the gospel now and it just makes me so happy!!! So that was the highlight of the week!

I have been feeling amazing and everything is doing good. We might have a baptism this Saturday with Glendy Nubia and Yesika as well but they need lots of prayers right now but they are amazing! Also last Tuesday we went to the temple and that was so sweet and I had an amazing baggy experience there and gave me lots of comfort. But ya.... that's about all the highlights haha. But I was thinking as I flicked a scorpion off my leg while I was teaching...that this mission is sweet. Because in that moment most elders would be on a sofa teaching a lesson in a house and I'm in a hammock in the middle of the jungle when I teach my lessons. haha It is pretty sweet and I am really lucky!

But wow I have been eating so much and being full is such an awful feeling, haha but the food is so good! But I'm famous if you guys wanted to know..there is a video of this interview this drunk guy took on a bus of me asking me about the states and what I am doing here and about the gospel and mormons and it was kinda funny..haha I sat right by him and he was out..but he said he wanted to be baptized lol.

Also I saw this homeless lady from Sonsonate, that I used to talk to all the time and she is kind of crazy... but wow..haha all the Elders are making fun of me for my 60 year old crazy lady following me from Sonsonate haha, but she told me something really cool. We talked for a long time, and she looked at me and said, "You are a really good missionary. I am really glad that you take the time to talk to me, I hope to see you and your family some time in the future. Thank you for the book" and she went over..sat on the street and started looking at pages in the Book of Mormon and I almost just broke down right there, and I haven't really cried on my mission. It was a really neat experience even though she is crazy.

So that was cool, other than that we have been without electricity for like half this week but we should get it back today, and Rigby and I decided to go running one morning, and the dogs aren't used to people running... haha I felt like I was in a zombie dog apocalypse, it was scary haha but things are going well!! I love you guys so much and thank you so much for all your wonderful support!!! Take care!!!

 Beautiful Temple!

A saber

Pues... I figured out that I actually don't know Spanish... I know a language called Castellano. The "real" Spanish is in Spain, haha but I love this language so much it's just really different, haha but things are going just I've been really tired!! But It's good :)

 Also...thank you for your prayers, we were going to have 5 baptisms this Saturday, but they all are slipping but I think we are going to have 1 baptism this Saturday (she already payed tithing this Sunday...) and 2, 3 or 4 on the 26th. So I realized whatever the timing of the Lord is, I will do and appreciate :) I'm just praying that the baptisms I have will remain strong.

But something sweet this upcoming week as well is that WE ARE GOING TO THE TEMPLE!!!!! Tomorrow actually and it will be really cool and really relaxing haha. I love the temple here! So thank you so much for all your prayers because today has been a really slow feeling week, not bad necessarily but slow, and I feel like everything is slipping but we are working so hard.

But if you guys could pray for someone, please play for Elder Rigby, he is having a hard time especially with his situation and who he is with. And not really having much success, and the one success that he was having (Mom please don't be scared because everything is amazing and I am REALLY safe :)), his positive investigator was killed yesterday before church. Some things I don't understand about the Lord's timing, but all I know is that things always work out for the better. But thank you so much for all your prayers and all that you guys do!!

I have been missing my mom this week a lot because we taught lots of family lessons and experiences and that made me "baggy" haha but things are going well now :P And another thing, so I got a little kind of bit sick Friday... and I had a headache until today, but I really felt all the prayers helping and it is amazing how fast missionaries over come sickness here. I am feeling great now though and everything is well!

I don't have it as bad as the person in "The other side of Heaven" which we saw a couple days ago and it is a really cool movie just kind of different and weird haha but really cool! I just wish that I could send videos, but just pictures which apparently are all on a blog my mom has if you guys didn't know. 

But I have learned many times during service this week to be thankful for running water. Getting water out of a well and into barrels is hard!! But I love you guys!! But one thing I've figured out is that even the poor of the poor people who don't even have houses here, have smartphones. And everyone here has more than 1... haha it's weird. The only thing they don't have is service but everyone has a smartphone. It is really annoying in church where there is wifi. But, take care you all and enjoy life but work hard so you can enjoy it after as well!! Take Care :)