Happy One Year!‏

16 Junio 2014

HOLA familia y amigos!!

This week, I turned one! I have been a missionary for 1 year now.  Wow, it has been a week of a lot of reflection and mind blowing thoughts of how blessed I have been in the Lord's service. Oh man, it has been a difficult week too! It truly can be a struggle every day.  Yes, we see miracles and I love being a missionary, but its hard for me to stay positive sometimes, and work through things mentally, especially when I think about all that I miss back home! So much that I love here, and at the same time feeling a bit overwhelmed with all there is to do, and knowing that change is coming next transfer, and my companion will be home soon with her family, that can be hard. All in all, sacrifices bring forth the blessings of heaven right, I firmly believe in that.

I don't have much time this week, but just so you know, Victor will be baptized this coming Saturday, instead of two days ago. Wow, its been a journey this week. It continues to amaze me the faith that this man has, and how God truly prepared him. We realized that he lives with Alison and the mother of his daughter in the same piso [apartment], and that to fully live the Law of Chastity he needs to move out (even though he only lives there to for the benefit of Alison and they live in separate rooms) We had a lesson with him last Monday to tell him the news...my heart just hurt so bad as he replied and said that he just recently moved there because Alison and Veronica lived there alone, but one day he walked in and she was crying... they had been robbed. He moved back in to protect them. BUT he immediately said, wow, I wish I knew before. I am definitely willing to move out if that is what needs to be done, I just want you two to explain it to Alison, so that she isn't against the church or me when she sees I have to move out. It amazed me how trusting he is and especially the love he has for his daughter.

So we did a family home evening at their house, ate some yummy pizza and brownies with ice cream, and taught a lesson about families and feeling the spirit :) it sure was fun to get to know Alison better and play with her :) she is an incredible smart and loving little girl. She cried a bit when we talked about the changes she has seen in her daddy, she said that he is so much happier! And Victor couldn't stop smiling as she said she loves him so much! So all in all, to give him time to find a new piso, he will be baptized this coming Saturday.

In Second Nefi [Nephi] chapter four (MY FAVORITE CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF MORMON!) I am reminded of how each of us should feel if we are truly converted to the gospel. I love it :) this will always remind me of Victor and his journey... and the true meaning of conversion.

20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.

24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.

34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

I love verse 34, I will trust in the Lord forever! I love seeing the change in people´s countenance when they feel the Lord´s influence little by little. I love watching them reach a point that they only want to do good and be better. Luis sure has changed a lot too, I will have to send you a picture of him, he looks like a different person!

I hope you have a great week! Please pray for me as I am to receive a new companion and lots of changes are happening, and pray for Victor please!!

I love you all so much!

Love,

Hermana Mather

p.s. it was 94 degrees yesterday, and it feels the same today. I am going to die here this summer!!!

The Sunday Luis was baptized!

On a hike last week...

... by the ocean...

Victor, Elder Bird, and I
Thank goodness we work out for 30 minutes every morning...
it was hard holding that rock up.

Victor, Sergio, Elder Bird, Elder Parkinson, Hermana Burgos and I

Hermana Burgos and I

"Mistakes of the past don´t define you, they refine you"‏

9 Junio 2014

This week... has been incredible. Like always, when we are going through it, it’s always difficult to keep positive and maintain faith in God´s hand in all of the situations. But then, like always I look back and say, that is how it needed to be, and I feel overwhelmed and blessed to experience all that I am experiencing. Wow.

I would like to tell you a little bit more about Victor. I knew this man was so special from the moment we met him on the street. It was one of those unique contacts on the street where I almost literally felt like something pushed me towards him, telling me to talk to him. You know that he has had quite a past, and we found out this week that he wasn't just drinking, he was actually very involved with drugs as well, and he always seemed to have these addictions tying him down, tell him that he can´t change and he isn't strong enough. His journey with us I think of as his journey coming to understand that "mistakes of the past don´t define you, they refine you."

He called us Monday night, very drunk :( after 1.5 months (from the first day that he met us) he was deceived by a "friend" and fell again. He called us, so down and sad, he felt so unworthy and like such a failure, doubting himself and feeling like he couldn't change again. He said that he felt so weak. It broke my little heart. But we met with him the following day, he received a priesthood blessing, and talked about repentance. I have never understood the repentance process so well after studying it all week. The blessing gave him a lot of comfort and strength, promising him so many blessings for him and for Alison. God truly knows all and has his own timing. Life is all about falling and getting back up again, learning that God is by our side, no matter what our struggle. I truly wish I could just record every lesson we have with this man, he has CHANGED MY LIFE. I will never think of the repentance process the same, as a have seen a changed man develop, he has become so humble and willing to accept God´s will,  I am so grateful for Our beloved Savior Jesus Christ who made the miracle of forgiveness possible. I thought of this scripture the night that Victor said he felt so weak: (how many times do WE feel so weak too?)

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
The Lord gives us His strength. But it truly had to happen this way. Victor now knows that he needs to avoid situations like this where he finds himself tempted. He has found power in the Book of Mormon. Since he stopped taking drugs and drinking, he has trouble sleeping, but as he reads two chapters a night, he can sleep well. Little Alison follows her dad's example and love reading too. He talks like a member with the testimony he has gained through trails, all that he has felt and lived and experienced. I could go on forever and write a novel about my love for this man, but I will just end by telling you about the look in his eyes when he said that he will be baptized the 14th, this Saturday!!!! it was UNFORGETTABLE!!! He had to hit the lowest low to help him realize truly how God sees him, not how he is now, but the man that he can become. He will embark this process when he is baptized this Saturday :)

Eek , I wanted to briefly tell you about Sergio as well, he is the man who we met on the street the other day, said that he was probably a waste of time, he doesn't believe in what he doesn't see, but gave us his number anyways. We have met with him for ONE WEEK. and the guy (23 years old) we call him our social timid friend. He says he is timid, but he seems very outgoing and fun! Anyways, we have had some of the most spiritual lessons with him, as we teach, he will say "I always leave here with a smile, I can't stop smiling and I don´t understand why... I feel my heart beating so fast and I don't understand, I have never really believed in God before". We know this is the Spirit working within him, telling him that he has heard this before, we are simply reminding him. He said he hasn't cried for seven years, but he felt like he was about to. This is the most rapid change I have seen in anyone, I love teaching him too, he just can't stop smiling, and feels like he just wants to know more and more. I love it. Ah i love being a missionary.

Those are the most important things from this week, other than that, there are two weeks left in the transfer, and Hermana Burgos will be going home, she finishes her mission! Her mom and her sister moved to New York while she has been on her mission so she returns to a place different from home, make sure to add her to your prayers. It can be hard for me to see others go home, because I miss family, but I know that I am supposed to be here. I just think, wow I will be here for a lot, lot, lot longer, hah. So we are just still here trying our best to work hard and love and serve, then I will receive a new companion and area train her. Yikes! All exciting. Change can be hard, but I feel SO BLESSED to have found so many people that have changed my life, my companions being some of the biggest parts. I am grateful for Hermana Burgos and all she has taught me.

Well, I hope this makes up for all that I haven´t written the past few weeks I am going to send some pictures now!! I love you! I hope you have a SPLENDID WEEK full of miracles. I LUFF YEW.

Love, Hermana Mather

YESSSS thats VICENTA!!! with Hermana Sanchez in Alcobendas,
Hermana Mather's previous area.
 SHE WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!! How exciting huh?!?!

Luis´ baptism and Zone Conference!‏

2 Junio 2014

I have a little bit more time this week!!

I have to apologize for how crazy these past few preparation-days (P-days) have been with barely any time to write. Wow I feel like there is so much to catch up on, and so little time! I am looking back at my planner and all of these pictures, realizing how FULL this week has been. Wow a lot has happened!

We had Zone Conference.  President and Hermana Jackson came here from Madrid, spent P-day with us and we spent Tuesday morning and afternoon in the big meeting with all other missionaries from the islands. It was a truly inspired meeting.  I wish you could all be here to experience it and feel the spirit that we felt so strongly. Wow. Sister King and I sang "His Hands" a song by Kenneth Cope, and it was a version translated to Spanish. Oh I love the lyrics, you should look them up :) many times that I was rehearsing it, I found myself crying from the message that it all portrays. It went along well with the theme, they talked a lot about Christ's love and how it was His motivation for all that he did, and it should be our complete focus. We should be obedient, diligent, pure, and all of these things that classify a missionary BECAUSE WE LOVE CHRIST. There are so many reasons that we have for what we do, but if love isn't the biggest driving factor, then we don't have much reason to do what we do. Wow, this was all an incredible answer to my prayers, The Lord prepared me for this last transfer and a half to hear the words that were spoken here.... I have been studying about charity and love and sanctification, all the while evaluating myself personally, thinking about what a truly successful missionary is like, and if I measure up to who the Lord wants me to be. It has been like a big tornado in my mind lately!!! But as President got up to speak, he read an email from an anonymous missionary, speaking of service and love. I recognized the words right away... That was MY email that I sent to President a few weeks ago, when we painted the room for the lady in our ward. I received such a confirmation that the Lord is pleased with our service that how we are trying to serve and love more. President came up to me afterward and said that they had, in fact, based the whole zone conference off of that one email that I sent him. I was so shocked and grateful for the perspective it gave me. It was a day full of fun seeing other missionaries and feeling the spirit!!

You will see from the pictures that we also did service for a ward member with Luis! Her smile when all was done was worth all of it, Luis sure has opened up a lot... little victories! When we first met him, he hardly looked at us and was shaking because he was nervous, but he slowly opened up and I see him smile at various times each day now!! He was also baptized yesterday!! It was a great service, he has come to be good friends with our ward mission leader Hermano Parria, (He reminds me SO much of dad, with the way he is very organized and hard working. He has a great sense of humor with the people; it’s like having a little piece of dad here!) Luis gave his testimony, different and interesting, but very sincere. He has started to read the Book of Mormon for the second time and can explain perfectly the need of the restoration! Wow. Luis has been the Lord's lesson for me not to preach with "exception of persons".

And Victor!!!! We taught him the Word of Wisdom, and come to find out that the DAY we met him for the first time, he had stopped drinking, even when he goes out with friends... even before we had taught him these things. We truly don't even have to open our mouths sometimes...the spirit speaks for us. His daughter Alison is SUCH a smart little girl, and really loves all of the changes she sees in her daddy, They came to the ward activity that we ended up being in charge of (we played lots of relays and minutes to win it games!) and they had a lot of fun. Alison even brought her English book to practice English together and do her homework. AH I LOVE HER. She is so smart and cute. Please pray with me that Victor will have a enough trust in the Lord and himself to accept a baptismal date. It is his time :) He's just scared that he will fall into the temptations of the world again.

OH we also met a really cool guy the other day named Sergio, 23 years old, who said that he didn't believe much in God, but agreed to meet with us... it was INCREDIBLE after talking with him to see how much faith he truly does have...we read Alma 32 as we asked questions and explained to him, HE realized that he does know God exists, and he wants His influence in his life more. Haha it was funny, he was confused why he couldn't stop smiling afterwards, we knew it was The Holy Ghost touching his heart, we felt it too.

I wish I could tell you more and go into sooo much more detail about everything, I hope all the pictures say 132,987,402,384,750 words because I am short on time. It is so good to hear about Dad working closer, Mom and Amber have callings :) How fun! And Nathan is getting married... Its official!!! What beautiful pictures!!!!! I am so excited for all of you :) Keep me updated on your lives :) I love ya!!

Love, Hermana Mather

p.s. I played piano "Con El Salvador Al Lado (If the Savior Stood Beside Me)", by Sally DeFord in sacrament meeting yesterday for the little Primary kids. They sing her songs even here on a little island of the sea, so cool. I love this gospel!!!  It is the same everywhere we go.

p.p.s. How is family prayer and scripture study and Family Home Evening going?

Luis' baptism

Ward activity we were in charge of

Along with the other picture, doing service with Luis at a member's house,
clearing lots of weeds and trees from her yard!

We had a ward activity last weekend.

Pictures of us from today... We went biking around the city!! So fun!!!

Alison even brought her English book to practice English together and do her homework.
AH I LOVE HER. She is so smart and cute.

La Zona de las Islas del Mar

We Met an Incredibly Golden Man on the Street...

26 Mayo 2014

You´re all going to hate me again, but we do not have much time to write again.  We have zone conference, and it has been a crazy P-Day, President and Hermana Jackson and lots of other missionaries came from the other islands and we played basketball and such and went out to eat.

BUUUUUUT we have seen lots of miracles. After all, the baptism of Tibisay didn't happen, she had to work, but she will be baptized next week with our other investigator named Luis!!!  It has been incredible to see their journeys in gaining their testimonies, and I have been thinking a lot lately about teaching those we have been given and not judging them for their past and all.  We are excited to see them take this step in their lives next week.

I think I told you about Victor last week, a man who we contacted last transfer finally got in touch with us again, has come to church twice now with his little daughter Alison and Victor; he loves all of it.  I LOVED sitting in church with her, helping her sing, and draw to keep her entertained, it reminds me how much I miss being with little children; she is so sweet and innocent and pure.  I wish I could record every word he says in the lessons, he is so prepared for this gospel, he says he has been part of the world and he knows how it is...  It really didn't bring him any happiness and he feels such peace and joy and relief from his depression from being in the military for so long.  He has so much hurt and pain from what he has seen and experienced in the past, so many things that I am sure I just can't even comprehend, but it was incredible to teach him the plan of salvation this week, and feel the Spirit guide our lesson.  We said so many things, and it took such a different turn from any other lesson, and it was one of the moments that I can testify that those were not my words.  God knew what would touch Victor's heart.  We also gave Alison a Book of Mormon for her own with a pink bow and a little, pink pencil to mark her favorite scriptures :)

This week, I have experienced so many feelings.  Lately, I feel so aware of my weaknesses and I seem to be comparing myself with others at an extreme level.  This is something I so badly want to change and be happy with who I am, not wishing to be look different, be in a different area, know the scriptures better, make a better connection with people.  And there are some days that something inside of me tells me that I can't do it and why should I try.  So I know that Satan's influence is so real still.  What matters is that we get back up, dust ourselves off, and keep working. I feel blessed to know the difference between those days that we need to spend extra time on our knees pleading for the Spirit and to feel that He is really there.  And I am grateful for answered prayers.  We met an incredibly golden man on the street the other day and I copied his number down wrong.  I felt terrible these past two weeks, and we have been praying so hard to see him again.  We found him yesterday, and we are excited to start helping him find God.  I will tell you more about him next week :)

Once again, sorry for the short email again.  I love you all so much.  I promise I will be a sister, daughter, and friend next week, and will write a better email.  Congrats AMBER!! Graduation!! And DESI wahoo married!  Give them big hugs for me :)

Have a great week!

Love you, Hermana Emalooba Mather

His love can be felt in all directions!‏

19 Mayo 2014

GOOD MORNING!!!!

How are you all?!?! It was so fun to see the Mormon prom dinner pictures of Amber, how beautiful!!!! You all look so classy and happy. I will be thinking of you all week, with graduation coming up, how exciting! I wish I could be there, but I will be there is spirit :)

I just wanted to share a few miracles and stories from this week!

Tibisay, the woman from Venezuela that we have been teaching will be baptized this upcoming Sunday!!! It has been crazy with her new job, trying to find time to visit her and teach her, in the end, we really hadn't seen her for two weeks.  She takes care of two older people and her only free day is Sunday (which she asked for free to be able to come to church!) and she came to church on Sunday! It was so exciting to see her; she was wearing a skirt and everything. We had what we like to call a "lesson marathon" to be able to finish up the lessons we had to teach her, ate a meal we prepared in the church, taught another lesson, and she had her baptismal interview. It has been pretty incredible to see the change from being so unsure about taking this step in her life, and now so willing to make these sacrifices and be baptized.

I am not sure if I mentioned before a man named Victor from Bolivia, but we met him on the street about 5 weeks ago now, we had one lesson with him, and then lost contact completely. He has been very busy. Oof, this man amazes me, he began working for the military 9 years ago, when they told him that they would give him Spanish nationality after 5 years, and he still hasn't received it. He is feeling very lost and confused and cheated right now, like he has wasted 9 years of his life. It really amazed me as he opened up to us so much (this continues to amaze me as a missionary, the trust that people have in us) about how he had been a very worldly man, and he wants to change. He truly, truly wants to change and feel more peace in his life. Even for the 5 weeks that we weren't meeting with him, he kept the Book of Mormon on his nightstand and said that his 7 year old daughter has been very interested and started reading it too. So, we finally got in touch with him again and I think he is back for good, we invited him to be baptized as part of this change in his life, he said that he is in it 100% and trusts that as he puts God first in his life, the rest will come. I love that more than anything, he wants his little daughter to come to know who God is and find this strong base in her life. Sister Burgos and I testified to him that that is why we are here. We have been raised by parents who taught us to believe in Christ and seek his comfort and peace and teachings, and here we were, really putting to practice what our parents have taught us all of our lives. I am so grateful for that. I am grateful for the marvelous power of the Atonement that creates this change in people´s lives, even though I can´t fully comprehend it. So many prayers were answered when we met with Victor again, I knew this man was very special from the first time we met with him. He and his daughter came to church yesterday and loved it. Alison played with all of the Primary kids! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for raising me in this gospel and giving me the opportunity to serve a mission.

Also, you should look up the song, "His Love" I think it is called, not sure who sings it (His love can be felt in all directions, from the thorns in his hands... he will find a way to remind you that he loves you). This song touched my heart this week, as I had one of those days that we all have, wondering if I could really get myself out of bed and face the challenges of the day, but then we went outside to run and I was amazed by the beauty that surrounded me! Then we listened to this song as we got ready for the day and it was like a tender mercy, answer to my prayers to feel God's strength and confidence in me. God truly shows us His love in so many ways.

I hope you feel my big wet kisses and hugs I am sending to you!!!!!! Have a great week with graduation, take pictures!!!  And send them!!

Mom, I am so excited you are reading Preach My Gospel!!  The book Jesus the Christ is going to have to wait for me....but I am so proud of you!! Wahoo can´t wait to hear what you learn :)

Love,

Hermana Mather

Not much time!!!‏

12 Mayo 2014

Hello all of you!

It was so nice to see all of your faces yesterday!!!! I have to apologize in advance, we had some difficulties shopping for groceries and things for P-Day, so my email time is reeealy short. This will probably be my shortest email yet! Yikes, so sorry. It really was so nice to see all of you goobers, I love you all, and I think of you often.

I just wanted to share one experience from this week with you, I shared a little with you yesterday, but last Monday night we met with Tibisai, the friend of Luz Marina who is from her little pueblo in Venezuela, who we met at the beginning of this transfer. We found out that 30 minutes before we arrived, she had been called by someone offering her work. FINALLY!  I can share more about it next week, but it truly was a miracle that showed me how much Our Heavenly Father truly loves us and tests our patience to show us how perfect his timing is. So stay tuned.... :) We were jumping up and down and smiling as she said she couldn't deny this as an answer to her prayer, and wants to be baptized in two weeks!!! Wow, truly, God takes our imperfect efforts and turns them into something that will reach the hearts of the people and help their testimonies grow.

Again, sorry for the email CORTISIMO [VERY SHORT]!!! I love you. Let me know when you get your special something in the mail, Mom and Aaron :)

UNTIL NEXT WEEK!! Besos [Kisses]! I promise there will be a better email next week :)

Love, Hermana Mather

Blinked

5 Mayo 2014

Wow I feel like I blinked and this week started and ended! I am not even sure where to start!

So this week started off with some hard news. We called our friend Virginia, the mom of Christian and Brian, the cute little family from Bolivia, and she said that the older man that she lives with and takes care of doesn't want to her to meet with us. He doesn't like being left alone, and he is very Catholic, so if she wants to go to church she will go there. These disappointments can be so difficult, because we have done everything, EVERYTHING in our power to teach them and help them accept the gospel and be blessed but there are just some things we cannot control, the only solution is to pray. Their time may come sooner or later, but it will surely come, it is just hard to see them progress, and then not be able to continue, they are so golden!

Hermana Burgos and I have been trying to look for more and more opportunities to serve and love people, and God is blessing us with so many opportunities! We called up a lady named Ines who was fairly recently baptized, and she said she didn't have time to meet because she is fixing up a room and painting it in her apartment, we told her OF COURSE that we would love to come and help her! She giggled and thought we were weird for being so enthusiastic, and said we can help. I have struggled my whole mission to know if truly I am working hard enough, getting good numbers, and making others feel of Our Heavenly Father's love every day. With how much I have been studying about Charity and Service, I realize how much I lack, and how I really need more of this Christ-like attribute. I try to think a little bit more every day about others, not about how well I might be able to explain the doctrine, or hope that my words come out okay in Spanish or find the right scripture, but truly LISTENING and letting the Lord speak through me so that I know what to say. This can make us feel very vulnerable. I find myself thinking all the time on the street or in church or in lessons wondering too much what others think of me or if I am making a big enough difference, but the truth is, I think of the Savior and what he would do, and all that he did had NOTHING to do with himself. I cannot picture him wondering about what to say or what others thought of him, he simply served and loved. So that is what I have really enjoyed about these past couple of weeks, as we spend our time and energy trying our best to make others feel loved, and then we see that the Lord blesses us so much with just enough time in the day to accomplish our goals. It truly is amazing.

I think I also told you last week about a man named Juan, who we met as we passed a member on the street last week. She was encouraging him to learn more about the gospel, and we have met with him a few times this week, he has been so prepared :) I love his sincerity, we teach and he nods and says "okay, okay, okay" the entire time. He really applies himself to learn in English classes, too. We also invited him to baptism and he is very excited to take this step in his life and to continue learning more! I will tell you more about him next week! I sent a picture of him in our English classes. He is from Columbia and loves baseball, and his dream is to come to New York, hehe.

We also had another experience that really touched my heart. A man who has been a bit inactive in the church lately called us the other day and said he wanted us to do a family home evening in his house. That night we went and found out that he and his wife (both members in the ward) are in the process of being divorced (they have struggled for the past 5 years). He really just opened up to us about how he feels so much pain, but knows he needs to get back on the right path, especially for his 6 kids. It softened my heart to see his humility and trust in us. We felt the spirit very strong as we read about holding onto the Iron Rod and did an activity to demonstrate holding on to the rod. It continues to amaze me the way people open up to us as missionaries and servants of the Lord, I love it, and love feeling like we can help them. I do not know what will happen to this family and it makes my heart hurt to think about it, but I know that the gospel heals hearts and brings family closer, because I have seen that in my life. He and his daughter are also studying Preach My Gospel and want to help us teach people!

Okay, I am out of time, but just wanted to share a funny story. Ha, one of our investigators, Luis (little bit of an odd duck, but we sure love him) came to the baptism that the Elders had this weekend. After, I was talking to him, seeing if he liked it, or had questions, and he said that he had already been baptized... in the Catholic church, normal stuff. But THEN, hehe, he told me he was baptized again. One day he just went to the ocean and decided to start a new life, and he submerged himself in the water, himself. Ha. We will have to touch up on baptism this week.

I hope you have a great week!!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!!

Love, Hermana Mather

p.s. You should watch the video "Because of Him" if you haven´t seen it. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. I cry every time I see it!

Near the ocean with Ani Flores, an incredible member here,
she served a mission in Venezuela and lots to come do visits with us when she can.
She reminds me a lot of Danae Carlson, very inspired and just FUN.
We ate Cachupas with her, yum :)

All squished in  the car to eat at a member´s house. Hehe.

I love my companion!!!

The view from a member´s home.

A Little bit more of what our area looks like!
Still lots of city, with ocean view :) the beaches here have black sand!

Our district (family) after district meeting.
We each brought salad, bread, and drinks to eat together in the church.
How fun :)

Magnolia. Ha what a cute member.

Investigated the church for 20 YEARS. Wow.

Gave me a picture she painted!

Mari, our Venezuelan grandmother :) She makes the BEST sandwiches.
A recent convert of Elder Argyle, she has the biggest heart I have every seen.

All of the Hermanas came to our piso and we made quesadillas together after zone meeting.

Love these Hermanas!!

Hehehe.  Helping one of the less-actives in our ward paint.
We were sooo excited to be able to serve her!! How fun!

English classes with Arepas from Columbia!
On the right is Juan, an incredible man who will be baptized in two weeks!

Heart attack!!!!

Yay the Elders had a baptism! Efrian, 18 years old.
He has made lots of changes in his life, threw out all of his piercings minutes before the baptism, wahoo!!
We are working with a lot of the younger youth (many of them aren't active right now), but yay he is part of the JAS here now!

Making cookies for Mom´s in the ward.
Mothers Day is one week before, and they love American cookies, hehe.

Its getting really hot here. haha