Monday, April 27, 2015

What a Week!

Good Morning Family!!

Well, the news about transfers!!...

I am leaving the area, heading to East Bakersfield (which is little Mexico) and I will be TRAINING! She is native and I am so excited to meet her! This will be a wonderful way to end my mission, training a new missionary! The time will go by fast, but it will be amazing!

So for this past week! It was kind of hectic, due to the weekend still rolling into the beginning of the week.

 (3-legged race!)

Monday- For our p-day activities we played 3-legged soccer. It was a blast! Everyone was falling all over the place, luckily, we did not! haha. I was not about to get hurt. That night we had dinner with the Juarez family and then we started the 5 week program with them and had them do role plays with us, sharing parts of the restoration. After that we had an FHE with Sheila and her family about Prophets. 

Tuesday- Was a hectic day, we had lunch with a member- Ana Gutierrez, and then after that we ran to our next appt, but sadly she wasn't home, or didn't open the door. So we headed to another person in our plans, but he wasn't there either, BUT we got to talk to his wife, and she is opening up more and more to us. So hopefully in the future we can teach her and her husband. We then did some contacting and we talked to this guy named Angel, he was really interested in our message and told us that he has been to all other churches and studied there, but has never studied with the Mormons. So he said that we wants to give it a try! Before dinner we went by this potential family that we have been trying to get an appt with, and we found the husband outside, so we started talking with him and he just wanted to bible bash, so we shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and then we left. We ate dinner with the Miranda family and then had a lesson with Susie. She has been reading in the Book or Mormon which is great! But we need to help her get back to church. We taught her more in depth about church and why we go and she told us that she was going to come this Sunday. We then passed by a less active family that just moved into our area, so we met their family and got to know them a little bit better. 

(Sister Martz!)

Wednesday- 15 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that I hit that many months...that cannot be real. But it is happening. AHHH! We had a lesson with an investigator named Henry in the morning where we taught about Faith, and then we found out some more things about him and discovered it might be a little bit harder to get him to church than we thought, but we can change that! We then had lunch with Kayla Martz and then headed down to Palmdale to visit Hna Meacham that was still in the hospital- and then to do a follow up exchange with Hna Poole and Hna Usher. When we got back into our area we had a lesson with Aida and we finished teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and about temples and seriously, she is so awesome!! We then ate dinner with Hna Fraijo and after that we had a lesson with Chris and we read a talk by Elder Holland about the safety we can receive when we read the Book of Mormon. And then after that another one of our appts was cancelled, so we passed by Vallarta and got some ice cream for my 15 month celebration.

(​(left) my apt! (middle) ice cream! 15 month celebration! (left) say Hi to Han Soto! This is our study room.) 

Thursday- We did our planning, and then headed to a lesson we had planned with Angel (the guy we met earlier in the week). He wasn't there, but his grandma said that she really likes that we have been coming to try and teach him about God...so we have her approval!! haha. We then had dinner with the Lara Family and after that had a lesson with the Colindres family, and we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. We were kind of bold with them, but we got our point and testimonies across! You do what you gotta do! We then passed by the Alvarez family, and they had cake for me and gave me a present. It was the cutest most sweet thing in the world! I love those two! They are like my mission grandparents. While I was there I got a call from President Wilson, releasing me from being a Sister Training Leader, and calling me to be a trainer...!!! FREAK! I was so excited. And so grateful for this opportunity to train again. So then after that we had a lesson with Pedro and we talked about the importance of fellowshipping. And then we told him the news and he was sad. He was telling me that he was going to kidnap me so that I cant leave...oh Pedro. How I am going to miss that man. He has a special place in my heart. 

((left) AIDA! I am going to miss her so much!!! (right) DR Martin, he has fixed my back for the last 7 1/2 months. He must be thanked!)

((left) love these hermanas! (right)This is my favorite girl, Korina :))

Friday- We had a great district meeting! We role played giving church tours, and I never before realized how powerful those are and how helpful they can be to those we are teaching. We then ran to a lesson, but they ended up being too busy...so we did a bit of contacting before our lesson with Maria Morelos. We taught about baptism and confirmation and then we set her with a baptismal date! For June 13! After that we did some visits to Hna Parra's friends to see if they were home, but sadly there were all busy and couldn't talk with us...so we then had dinner with the Rasch family and then we had a lesson with Aida and we taught her about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. Want to know how she responded?? Se told us that she hasn't drank for a year, and recently each time she drinks coffee her stomach hurts really bad...she is so prepared! It is a miracle. So she will have no problem with the word or wisdom :) That night we passed by the Rojas and Gutierrez to give them the news about transfers and then by Hna Arnold to take pictures. And so the goodbyes begin!

((left) The Rasch family! (middle) The Rojas family!!  (right) The Valdez family!)

Saturday- We went to Mormon Helping Hands in the morning and helped with some gardening things. It was cold and windy. But it was still great to do service. We then ate lunch with the Parra family and took pictures- I am sure gonna miss that family! We then went down to Palmdale to see Hna Meacham and Hna Flood and do a exchange follow up/ see how Hna Meacham was feeling. There was a baptism at 4 for some elders in our branch. A 15 year old kid named Raul got baptized and it was a great service! And Aida came to the baptism :) she loved it! Before dinner we did some contacting and talked with this lady named Maria. She is a "rebellious catholic" she says haha, but she has Mormon friends and really loves who we are. She is really nice and both Hna Soto and I feel that she is prepared to hear the gospel. She has questions like "why are there so many churches?" and "Why don't we all believe in the same thing?" After dinner with the Gutierrez we passed by the Miranda family and took pictures and then we had our coordination meeting. 

((left) The Gutierrez family! (middle) Chris Parra! (right) The Quinteros family!)

Sunday- Continued with goodbyes. Church was wonderful! I gave my testimony in sacrament meeting. Aida came to church! And she continues to love it and learn more and more. Pedro and the Gutierrez family then threw the missionaries a goodbye party...it was so sweet! haha. We then passed by another family- the Quinteros and then we went back home and we did some studies and I packed a bit and then we ate dinner with the Rojas family and then we ran by the Valdez family, and the Gutierrez and the Rasch family to take pictures and say goodbyes. 

I have honestly loved serving here in this branch. All the members are just so sweet and loving. It will be hard to leave them, but that just makes me even more excited to come back and visit them. So my Sister Training Leader days are over. It was such a great experience and I sure learned a lot. But now it is off to new adventures, new places and new people. I am excited for these last 2 transfers. They will go by quick- but they will be wonderful!

I love you all. Thank you for all that you do! I sure can feel your prayers.

Have a wonderful week! And I will hear form all of you next week with new everything!

Love, Herman Aase

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

1st all-nighter on the mission

Good morning family and friends!!

Well I am doing pretty good, tired, but I'll explain more why I am exhausted, and why I put my subject line as my 1st all-nighter in the mission.

Monday- Pday was not something special...haha. We got the clean our apartment and write letters and all. So that was good! That night we had a lesson planned with Leonor and we brought Hna Arnold, but Leonor didn't open the door, so we went by Doris's, and she was home and let us in! So we got to share the rest of the restoration message with her. And she is so cool! We won't be able to meet with her for 2 weeks because she just had surgery and all her family from Columbia are here. But we are excited to see how she can progress! We then ate dinner with Hna Osegueda and then passed by a less active Hna Ponce De Leon and taught about the sacrament.

(Relief Society activity...cantaloupe animals! Hna Aase on the left, Hna Soto on the right. And yes..her's is winking...haha)

Tuesday- We had exchanges with Hna Meacham and Hna Flood. I was with Hna Meacham and we first contacted and talked to this lady named Sandra. She has a lot of faith and it was really cool to listen to her talk about it, in the end she told us that she is happy where she is, but we are going to return and give her a Family Proclamation to the world because she is huge on families and believes they are the most important thing in society. We then passed by a member and shared a scripture with her, but she wasn't feeling very good, so we didn't stay very long. We then had dinner with the Parra family and after that we passed by a potential that Hna Nemrow and I found on our exchange the week before and he was outside in his garage so we got to talk to him for a little bit, and he told us that whenever we are in the neighborhood to stop by and see if they are home and they will listen to the message we have to share! :) that is a good sign when someone says that! We then had a lesson with Pedro! We talked about teaching and testifying in unity with the members...and boy Pedro is so funny. He loves to joke around the whole lesson..so we end up laughing a bunch and then teaching and then laughing and then teaching some more. And then we saw a member, Hna Harding, and helped her with her family history work...and man, the more I get to see that and help others I just want to do it myself! 

Wednesday- In the morning we went contacting, but didn't find anyone home, but that is okay! We then ate lunch with the Sisters in the English ward and then did short splits with them for a few hours. I went with Sis Nemrow again and we had a lesson with a less active that really wants to come back to church and then we did a bit of contacting before we got back together to head to our dinner appts. We ate dinner with Hna Arnold and then headed to our lesson with a less active..but they totally forgot, so we rescheduled. After that we had a relief society activity and made those cantaloupe bunnies! It was fun! And after that we passed by Hna Harding to say goodbye before she left for Argentina for 3 months. 

Thursday- We did our planning for week 6!!!! HOW? Later that afternoon we had interviews with President and they were really good. We talked about how things are going and about family! I just can't tell him enough about how great my family is! We then had or appt cancelled with a potential, so we did a bit of contacting before dinner with the Rojas. After dinner we had a lesson with the Alvarez family and we read Mosiah 18 and 19 about the covenants we make at baptism. They were really getting interested in it :) it was so good to see! 

(Our wonderful district! left to right- Hna Aase, Hna Soto, E. Meacham, E. Monty, E. Green, E.Holt, E. Staheli, and E. Toluta'u)

Friday- Was a very busy day...we will just say that! haha. We had district meeting in the morning and I had a talk for it. I talked about the spirit in the process of conversion and the importance of the Book of Mormon. I talked about how we first must be converted before we can help others in their conversion, and how the spirit is really the converter, not a person or a thing. And then I talked about how important it is to have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and as we come to know this book is of God, we then will feel the spirit a lot greater. It is all just one great cycle! I love it :) That process of being converted is not just a one time thing, it is a life time journey :) We then had a whole day of appt's planned..so we headed off. We had a lesson with Juan Lopez, he is a potential, but he wouldn't make a return appt, so sadly he isn't a new investigator, but we will keep tabs on him and go back. We then ran to our appt with Aida..but she wasn't back yet from her DR appt...so we went by a potential named Yolanda (we saw her a few weeks ago) and we talked with her for a bit, we then went to our next appt with Jose (a new investigator), but he wasn't there either..so we picked up our member for our next lesson with Angelica (a new investigator) but she wasn't there either..so we went contacting and found a new investigator! We taught him part of the plan of salvation. He told us when we were leaving that he was so grateful that we shared that with him because it gave him more hope and peace. After that we ate dinner with the Ramirez family and then had our next appt cancel...and all our other backup plans cancelled..so then we met Hna Gutierrez for our lesson with the Morelos family, but they also cancelled, so we did some contacting and we ended up talking to this lady named Carol for 30 min. and we shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon about prayer and after that she was like "well then, lets pray!" It was a cool moment! We then had a lesson with the Valdez family about fellowshipping members, less actives and investigators. Long story short, all of our appts cancelled, but we still found someone to talk to that needed to see us:)

Saturday- We contacted in the morning and then had our afternoon appts cancel, so we did more contacting! yay. haha. We then ate dinner with Hna America and then had correlation, and during correlation we got a call from the zone leaders over our sister in Esperanza telling us that Hna Meacham couldn't breath very well and that they were going to go to the hospital. So we changed, grabbed our pillows and drove to Palmdale to be with them. We sat in the ER all night waiting for her to get taken back and checked and tested...It was a long night...and I never want to sit in that waiting room again! haha. Those chairs were not comfy...

((Left) Han Meacham and I sitting at Pedro's in a lesson and we were FREEZING! so we wore his jackets...haha  (Right) EXCHANGES! I love these hermanas!) 

Sunday- So we didn't leave the ER until 6:30am that morning. Han Meacham was still in the ER because they didn't want to let her go since her throat kept closing up. So we took Hna Flood to a members house to get ready and go to church and then Hna Soto and I left to go back home to get ready and go to church. Aida came to church!! And she loved it :) she told everyone in relief society that she is getting baptized on May 9th :) she is so awesome!!! Church was hard to stay awake in though..we were on the struggle bus for sure! haha. After church we went back to Palmdale to get Hna Flood, we passed by to see Hna Meacham and then went back to the appt and took a 2 1/2 hour nap, and then we left and headed to dinner and after dinner we went home and planned and did calls and then went to bed..

This past week was good, besides the crazy weekend. 
We will be getting details about transfers this coming weekend. So we will see what happens with me - leaving for staying?!?! 

Well I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Prayer list- Aida Hildago, Carlos Vasquez, Jose Osorio, Chris Parra, Susie Moreira, and Hna America. 

Talk to you next week!

Love, Hermana Aase

Exchanges = Miracles

Good morning family!!

Well this past week was amazing! Nuff said.

Monday- We played kickball with half of the zone and it was a blast! It was windy, but we had fun! And then we all ran to the big jungle gym and went down the slide. You can only be a kid once in a while. So we took that shot. After sports, we ran to a lesson with a potential, Leonor, and we taught her the restoration and she said that she would read and pray about the Book of Mormon. After that we stopped by the Juarez family and shared the Because He lives video and talked about the great gift we have been given. After that we had a lesson with Pedro and we taught him about the law of Tithing. Pedro is so awesome!

(On the slide!)
Tuesday- We had exchanges with the English Sisters and were in their area, due to the fact they can't speak Spanish and it would be better if they could help teach and all. I went with the Sister Nemrow, and we had a great day! We first got in with a less active and shared with her to power of the Book of Mormon and gave her one and invited her to read it and pray about it. We then passed by a member named Mimi, and she is the cutest old lady ever. But we shared a quick message with her and then asked her if she had any neighbors we could share the gospel with- we got one for our Spanish area! We then did a bit of contacting before our set lessons with a potential named Jamy. We ended up teaching her and she is really cool- she has all the questions and desire of someone who is looking for the truth. And all I could think was, "the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to answer ALL your questions and give you that peace and stability that you are looking for". We then met the other sisters and ate dinner and then passed by another less active and got some service arranged with her. 

Wednesday- We contacted in the morning, but no one was home, so after that we exchanged back and did some calls and then had our appts cancelled before dinner. After dinner we passed by Carlos, but he was super sick, so we had a quick lesson with him about the spirit world and then let him go rest. Hopefully he will be better to come to church! We then passed by the Morelos family because we haven't seen them in a while, and Maria was gone, but we shared the "Because He Lives" video with Julissa and Thalia, and they thought it was really good. And then lastly, we passed by a less active and shared the scripture in John 20 when the resurrected Christ appears to Mary Magdalene and how wonderful it is to have that knowledge of a living Christ. 

Thursday- Not a lot happened, but we did some planning for week 5, and then went out to a lesson with another potential, but she wasn't home, so we passed by Hna Arnold to invite her to a lesson and then we headed home and did some more planning before our night plans. Sadly our night plans fell through, but we saw Sheila and helped her out on a few things. 

((left) Oldest Hermanas in the mission!  (middle) Abi being a walrus :) (right) Sister Nemrow for exchanges)

Friday- Was also a busy day! We first went to district meeting and received some inspiration for our investigators and how to help them best! We then started our exchanges with the Rancho Vista Hermanas. I went with Hna Poole, and it was so good to be back with her. We were talking about how last time we were companions was 9 months ago...WHERE DID THE TIME GO! But we contacted the referral we received on the other exchange and gave him a Book of Mormon and made a return appt. And then we headed to our lesson with Chris Parra and we did role plays and sharing the restoration message or parts of it with friends and family. He is a natural at sharing the gospel. We then contacted a bit before dinner time and then we ate dinner with the Alvarez family and that was a blast like always! And then we ran to our next appt, but Melanie wasn't there, so we picked up Hna Herrera and went to our lesson with the Morelos family and we taught them about enduring to the end and we re-addressed the importance of going to church. We then quickly passed by Sheila's house so Han Poole could say hi to her, and we ended up helping her glitter Deedee's shoes for Prom. We had glitter everywhere by the time we were done! 

Saturday- After exchanges we made calls and then had a FREAKIN' awesome lesson with Aida!! Like no joke, Aida is so awesome. We taught her about enduring to the end and then we started the Plan of Salvation because she has questions about all of that and she was just like a sponge and soaked everything up. She also is so excited for her baptism and is starting to tell people about it!! AHHH!!! She is awesome! We then ate dinner with Sheila because our appt cancelled, and then we had to run home and do a bit more of planning before our meeting with Hno. Gutierrez. 

(Hna Harding :))

Sunday- Guess who came to church!?? Susie! And she enjoyed it! So we are hoping that she will come again. We then did our studies and headed to Hna. Harding's for dinner and after that we finished our planning and after that we passed by the Juarez family and invited/challenged them to do the 5 week program to feel more comfortable with sharing the gospel and doing missionary work! They graciously accepted. haha. We then had a lesson with the Rojas family, and we had their graduation from the 5 week program and ate some cookies and then they asked us why we decided to go on missions and we shared why and talked with them until we had to race home and make all the calls for the night. 

Well, we are excited for this next week. Can you believe that is is week 5 already...these transfers are flying by!

Well I love you all and miss you tons!

Have a wonderful week and I will talk you you soon!

Also...it is officially 100 days until I come home...not that I am counting or anything. Haha. 

LOVE YOU!!

Love, Hermana Aase

Baptismal dates and Conference!

Good Morning family!!

Well wasn't this weekend just AMAZING!! The opportunity to listen to our prophet and the apostles. I learned a lot of great things and received some revelation :) I have a full testimony of coming to conference with a question - because ALL of my questions were answered! It was amazing!!

This past week started out pretty good, but then ended not so high...I'll explain why in my email.

(These were pictures that didn't come through last week -- from the poppy fields!)

Monday- After pday adventures, which was sitting at goodwill for 2 hours, we headed to a lesson with a potential named Doris. She is from Colombia, and has talked to the missionaries in the past, so we felt impressed to go visit her, and Monday was the day we could finally get an appt. We got to know her for a bit, like family, job, religious background and then we only go to share part of the restoration, but she seems interested in learning more! So we are excited to return and teach her more. We then headed to another appt with potentials named Maria and Eduardo. We got to sit down and teach them and they were so intently listening, it was amazing! We also invited them to be baptized, and they said they would!! But they didn't want to set a date because of certain reasons. But it was a very cool lesson. We then ran by Pedro's quickly and shared a message with him in the New Testament about the joy of knowing Christ has resurrected. 

Tuesday- In the morning we did service for a member, the one that is moving, we washed windows! We then did some contacting for the remainder of the day. We then did a visit to a less active family with the relief society president and it was very good! Getting the auxiliary leaders involved in visits is such a good outcome. We then had a lesson with Carlos, and Presidente Rojas came with us and we talked about the Atonement of Christ and what that can do for him. Sadly we found out that he is on parole and won't be finished until Aug 2016, so we had to drop his date, but we are still planning on meeting with him and helping him learn more and more about the gospel. We then had a lesson with Sheila and her family about holding on to the iron rod.

Wednesday- We drove up to Tehachapi for our leadership meeting, and it was kind of sad because it was probably my last time going up there and driving through the windmills. So I made sure to take everything in! We had a really good meeting. We talked about how the mission needs to be in unity and as we work in unity toward one goal, we can really see miracles. So as a mission leadership we prayed and set goals for our mission - our goals are 75 baptisms in the month of June and finding 750 new investigators in April. We are excited to have these goals and work toward them! We got back and headed to our lesson with Leo, but come to find out he is in the hospital with pneumonia and is needing surgery on his shoulder...so hopefully he gets better soon so we can keep teaching him!  So we did a bit on contacting and then headed to our lesson with Aida, and we talked more about baptism and the gift of the holy ghost and then we SET HER WITH A BAPTISMAL DATE!! She accepted it like a champ! Her date is May 9th :) We were on cloud 9 when we left that lesson! Hna Soto wasn't feeling very good, so we headed in early so she could rest and get better.

(I love these 2 ladies :))

Thursday- We did our lovely planning! And later that night we had a great lesson with Susie. It has been a while since we have been able to meet with her, but we got in and had a lesson and it was wonderful! We finished the restoration and talked about the Book of Mormon and she told us that she sincerely wants to learn and know if this book is true!! It was so awesome to hear that because we know that when someone sincerely reads, ponders and prays about the Book of Mormon they are going to feel the truthfulness of it :) We then passed by the Gutierrez house to talk with Hna Gutierrez and we shared with them the Because HE Lives video - and oh my goodness, it is so powerful!! I hope you all had the opportunity to watch it! If not, just look up on youtube "Because He Lives". It is about a 3 minute video celebrating the gift of the resurrected Christ. 

Friday- We had ZTM and we talked about setting goals and when we have that combined with faith as a mission to accomplish this goal. Hna Soto and I did a role play on having more of a conversation with people on the street instead of just telling them who we are and why we are here. It means more when we want to get to know someone and then share what we know is true, that will bless their family. We had the rest of our appts cancel that night, but we had a good surprise lesson with the Alvarez family and shared with them about the gift of Christ's resurrection. We then had a lesson with the Valdez family and taught teaching and testifying in member present lessons. 

Saturday- CONFERENCE was AMAZING!! Some of my favorite talks were by Linda K. Burton about family, marriage, and relationships with all those around us. And Elder Clayton about focusing on the light of Christ. In between sessions we ate lunch with Karen Gilmore and her family. The other talks I liked from Saturday was Elder Bednar's about hushing our fears and Elder Runland's about not giving up and relying on the Atonement. That night we had our appts cancelled, so we tried to contact some former and potential investigators and then we had our coordination meeting with Hno Gutierrez. 

(Elder Willyerd - the blond one- got moved down to Palmdale :/ we are sad to lose him!)

Sunday- CONFERENCE round 2! It was also AMAZING! One of my favorite talks was Elder Nielson about the prodigal son, and being patient for those who have strayed from the church. In between sessions we ate lunch and then stopped by a few less actives to tell them about conference. The other talk that I enjoyed was by President Uchtdorf about the grace of God. Overall Conference was AMAZING and I learned so much. That night we had our appts cancel as well, but we contacted a referral and talked to her. It was really cool. The contact started out with her telling us that she has her own church and isn't really interested in learning more, so we were persistent and kept sharing more and more about the Book or Mormon and the restoration of the gospel, so by the end of the contact, she asked us to come back in a few weeks and that she was going to read in the Book of Mormon. That night we had a lesson with the Rojas family about sharing the gospel through media. 

Well family, I love hearing from you all and THANK YOU, THANK YOU family and Mamo and Oohoo for the Easter packages!

Well I love you all! And here come spring :)

Talk to you next week!

Love, Hermana Aase

Serviced OUT!

Good Afternoon family! I am writing a bit later because my chiropractor appt was a bit later, so we switched with one set of the Elders. Don't worry, it will only be like this for today! But this past week was a good week, not super exciting, but yeah!

Monday- Well, as you can see in the millions of pictures, we had fun at the poppy fields! There are these fields that have poppy flowers, and from far away you just see this BRIGHT ORANGE glow! Sadly the week before we went half of them died, but we found a good patch of flowers and took A TON of pictures! We then had dinner with Hna America and then we had a set lesson with a potential, but she was busy, so we had to reschedule. We then passed by Sister Hiltons to make some certificates for our graduating students in the 5 week program. And then we had an FHE with Sheila and her family. 


(Poppy fields, and other Hermana's in our zone!)

Tuesday- Han Soto had an eye doctor appt in the morning, so we were at that all morning, and then we ate lunch and then we headed out to contact, but we got a text from Johnny Olguin, he is in the YSA ward, but his family is in the branch and he needed some help with something, so we did that and then after we contacted until our Zone Conference with President and Sister Wilson. It was short and they reminded us of our goal and dress code. It was fun to see them. After the zone conference we had a quick STL meeting with Sister Wilson and then we ran to dinner with the Juarez family...and guess what they made me try...LUNG!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was not very good, but now I can say that I tried lung. We then had a lesson with the Alvarez family and we did role plays with them and it was really funny, we had one of them be the member and the other be their friend who doesn't know about the church, but Hno. Alvarez kept being the friend who ALREADY KNOWS THE GOSPEL...it was so funny! Hna. Alvarez was like "I am the member, you are the friend!" We then visited the Colindres family, they are less active and we shared a quick scripture with them before our lesson with Pedro. We then headed to Pedro's and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a really good lesson. We were asking Pedro if he felt a difference before his baptism and afterwards and he just smiled as said "si, claro que si". Which means, Of course. It just warms my heart to hear Pedro bear is quiet testimony. 

(HERE'S ME EATING LUNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was NASTY!!!)

Wednesday- I had the Chiropractor in the morning and then we had a meeting with the AP's, but before that we passed by one set of our Hermanas' to say hi. In the meeting we got trained on how to be more bold with our Hermanas' and how to help them be more accomplished with their goals. It was a awesome training because it was advice for our own area and missionary work that we needed. Later we then had a lesson with Patricia Durant and we shared a quick story from the Book Or Mormon when Nephi is commanded to build a ship, and how he doesn't just sit there, but he gets up and he works and asks the Lord where he can go to find the ore to build his tools to build the ship. What a great example we have from Nephi! We then went over to Leo's to have a lesson with him and Presidente Rojas, but when we got there he wasn't there...so Presidente left and 5 minutes later Leo showed up...that was bad timing! But we taught him anyways and we read 2 Nephi 32 about recognizing the spirit and he told us that he "is catholic and will always be catholic"...but then he told us that he read from the BOM and he enjoyed it, so there is potential there!! We then passed by Rosaura to say goodbye to her before she left to go back to her home in Mexico. She has changed a lot since we first met her, and we told her that missionaries in Mexico will come find her and that they will teach her and baptize her! After that we had a lesson with Carlos and we retaught the part in the plan of salvation about Adam and Eve and then a little bit about our life here on earth. He is progressing! He told us that he has cut down on smoking! And we haven't even taught him the word of wisdom lesson! That night we helped out Hna. Friajo pack up her house...well start to pack up her house and then we had a meeting with Presidente Rojas and he pretty much wanted to tell us that we are doing great work and that the Branch is there to help out...it was so nice to hear. I guess we looked a bit sad, so he wanted to make sure we were doing alright! How sweet of him to care about us!

Thursday- We had a lesson with Esmeralda, a less active - Rosemary's mom, and we shared a talk from the Liahona about how Christ shows his respect for women, if you haven't read it yet, READ IT. It is in the March Liahona, it is powerful and really shows how loving Christ is toward women. We then had a lesson with Chris and we talked about the Restoration and how God doesn't want to make all our decisions for us, but wants us to make the decision and then go to him in prayer, and it is there that we will feel that confirmation of yes or no. We then did our planning for week 3! And after dinner with the Lara family we went back to Hna. Friajo's house and we helped her more with packing up her things. 

(got the TRUNKY PAPERS this past week..not COOL!!! OFFICIAL HOME DATE- JULY 21st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Friday- We had a great district meeting and talked about being "UPSET" with our investigators when they don't keep their commitments. It was really good and we are excited to try it out on our investigators so they can see the importance of reading and praying and keeping the commitments they made with us. After a quick lunch we went back to Hna. Friajo for an hour to help some more, and then we went to the Parra's to help them in their yard, and we shoveled about a TON of dirt...both a ton (like weight) and then a ton (like amount)! We were tired for sure afterwards. That night after dinner with Hna. Arnold we passed by Aida with Hna. Parra and were "upset" with her because she hadn't done her reading, and she was like "I will go do it right now!" haha. Look at her, doing her commitments! We then had a lesson with the Morelos family and we talked about the atonement some more and then about Faith in Jesus Christ. We invited Hna. Parra to watch conference this next weekend and Maria said that she would go! Our lesson with Eduardo- a potential, cancelled after that, but we got another appt set with him. 

Saturday- In the morning we did service with Sister Hilton and we helped wash windows and screens. It is starting to get really hot now, so we made it earlier in the morning so we wouldn't burn out in the sun! We then got ready and ate something fast and then headed out to contact, and we went by Susie's fast because we haven't heard from her in a while, but we got to talk to her so that was a miracle, and she has been reading the things we left her! We have an appt with her next week. We then talked to Maria and her husband Juan- we contacted Maria last transfer and we were on her street and saw them outside so we walked over and ended up having a 2 hour conversation with them and talked about eternal marriage and families and a bit about our message, we sadly didn't teach them a full lesson, but we are planning on going back to teach Maria and Juan. We then had our lesson with Carlos cancelled, but we brought a white shirt and tie for him to wear to church on Sunday! We then headed to the church to eat dinner with all the other women in the stake and then we watched the broadcast and it was AMAZING!! I loved how much they talked about the family and the importance of keeping our family protected, and that is what the gospel is here for! This just makes me more excited for General Conference next weekend!

((Left) And the Rasch Family also graduated!! They were so in to it that they got their gowns from graduation and wore those!! haha  (Middle) Rosuara, she is on her way back to Mexico. (Right) Hna. Herrera, she graduated from the 5 week program :))

Sunday- Sadly Carlos called us in the morning and cancelled, and then we showed up at church and the Hermana that was supposed to give Aida a ride got lost, so she just came to church, so we called Aida and told her that we were on our way to pick her up, so we grabbed Hna Rojas and scooted out after the sacrament to pick her up. Aida stayed for the rest of church and loved it! She is amazing!! She is so ready to accept the gospel! After church we had our studies...and then all our set appts with potentials fell through, so we did a bit of contacting until our lesson with the Rasch family! We had a celebration because they finished the 5 week program! So we did a little graduation ceremony! It was funny, they got all into it and put their high school gowns on and we played graduation music! We then did some more contacting because sadly the rest of our night appts fell through. 

The week was slower on the work side, but our spirits stayed high! And we tried to have a smile on our faces. It helped, that's for sure :)

Well family, I have written a novel!

I love and miss you tons!! And I'll talk to you next week!

Have a wonderful week :)

Love, Hermana Aase