We loved the rain!

Beautiful Sunset in Yuma

July 29 - Email

Did not get transferred. But guess what! I am going to be a trainer... oh man I am really excited but super scared because my Spanish is not good. So, I am hoping whoever my new companion is, fresh out of the mtc, is already good at Spanish! My companion, Sister Arellano, is leaving and she is becoming one of the new sister training leaders!! I can't believe it because she has only been out for not even 6 months! But, she is an amazing missionary and I was very privileged to be able to be trained by her.
Guess what Sister Arellano told me!! She said when it was transfers for her and she found out she was going to be a trainer, before they paired everyone up,she saw the new missionaries from across the room. She said to herself, "I hope that she is not my companion" thinking about me!!! why the heck would she tell me that!! That is awful! She said that I looked really picky or something! I am glad she had a bad judgement of me from the beginning, golly! After she told me that I said to her, "Do you want to know what my first thoughts of you were... haha and I said "I was super excited to get you as a companion and I knew the Lord knew exactly what He was doing when we were paired together especially because you are a native Spanish speaker and I know Heavenly Father was watching out for me." Haha :) And really that is exactly what I thought.

But I want to tell you a little about the best 2 days of my entire mission. This past Saturday, the Cabrera family was baptized and on Sunday, they were confirmed. Wow, this experience, this family touched my heart more than any other family ever will on my mission. It really was a miracle and I hope that I will be able to see them get sealed in the temple in one year. I hope also my family will meet them someday.

Our Home

Our Kitchen

My bedroom

Our pomegranate tree in back

wind storm

July 15 - Letter (a small portion of 14 handwritten pages!)

   My Spanish is improving poco pocito (little by little). That is what all the Spanish-speaking investigators say to me. Some of the ones I have been teaching since I first got here, tell me how much better I am getting, so that's good. I know I am improving and only through the help of Christ and Heavenly Father. Just three months and I can understand so much - well, gospel-related and a few other things. My companion, Hermana Arellano, said I talked Spanish in my sleep one night. I said a phrase in English and then the same phrase in Spanish. She said it made sense, (haha) probably one of the many phrases I have to memorize. Poco pocito - I keep telling myself as my patience with myself wears thin. Hermana Arellano said that she has realized, through the Spirit, that she has been selfish, and not a good missionary. It is because she hasn't been teaching me Spanish, as well as she could be. Since then, she almost always speaks just Spanish to me, unless we are talking to someone in English. I am so grateful she is helping me! Maybe at Christmas, when I call, I will be able to have a decent conversation with Brayden in Spanish. Right now, I can just talk religion with him. (haha)

Some funny Spanish-speaking mistakes I have made:
   The other week, we met a lady named, Conchita. My companion and I were talking about her and I called her Chochita. Hermana Arellano laughed and laughed. Apparently, Chochita is slang for "old lady. Then, the other night, as we were going to bed, I decided to call my companion Chochita. But, instead I said, "Buenas Noches Choncita." She laughed and laughed. I had said, "Good night, chubby girl." After she told me, I then said, " Es la verdad." (It's the truth) haha.
   So, I decided to start saying my personal prayers in Spanish, to show God that I really am trying to give my all. I never had learned how to say, " I ask these things..." at the end of my prayers. I only knew how to say, "We ask these things..." which is "Pedimos estas cosas..." I tried to conjugate the verb, Pedimos, for "myself" instead of "we". So, I said in my personal prayer, "Pedo estas cosas..." After my prayer, I asked my companion if that was right. She laughed and said, "What did you just say!?!" I told her again and she just laughed and laughed! Evidently, "Pedo is like gas - as in fart gas! So this whole time I was saying, "Fart gas these things..." to Heavenly Father!! Wow! Apparently, I'm suppose to say, "Te pido estas cosas..." So now I know what to say, so don't worry!
   One more story. My companion and I were with the sister training leader. We were going to go talk to a less-active family. I said the prayer before we went. They both began laughing during my prayer. After I finished, I looked at them all "mad" and said, "Why the heck are you laughing at me!? There's nothing funny!" In the prayer, I wanted to say, "Please help us to show love for them." They told me I had said, " Please help us to show lunch for them." Lunch is "almuerzo" and loving is "amoroso", but I should of just said, "amor."
   Yeah, my Spanish needs some help, but hey, yo trato (I try). That's what I tell investigators. Sometimes it is so frustrating because I see how much they are going through and I receive promptings of what I should say and I want to say so much. but I just can't, because I don't know how!

July 9 - Email

    Did I ever tell you that I met an extreme couponer, like the ones on the TV shows? haha  And I met a missionary that's from the Hamptons. His dad built a lot of the houses there and is really good friends with Jerry Seinfeld. I have learned a lot this past week, continue to grow each and every day. I am really doing well out here and have wonderful people around me. I will be sending a letter soon.

July 1 - Email

   We went to this neighborhood to try to visit some of our investigators. Turns out none of them were home. So, we started driving out of the neighborhood, but for some reason I felt like we couldn't leave yet. I said to my companion, "Let's go visit the less-actives that live in this area." We turned around and went to their homes, but both of them weren't there. Apparently, that wasn't the reason and we started driving out of the neighborhood again. When we were driving out I saw a family outside and I said to myself "Nah, it's fine we don't need to stop for them." But, then when we got to the end of the neighborhood, (I have been trying to listen to the Holy Ghost better and those promptings) I asked my companion if we could park the car and go walk to those people. We walked to the family and they were definitely not open to hearing a message. As we were walking back to our car, we found a lady outside her home and started talking to her. Her name is Berta. She needs the gospel. We went into her home and gave a lesson. She cried a lot. We taught her the Plan of Salvation because her husband has passed away. She can't read. She barely knows who Jesus Christ is. She is from a super poor part of Mexico and never really went to school. She is as Catholic as they come. When we said our prayers, she was really confused and would repeat everything we said. She has only said set prayers. We have continued to teach her almost everyday. She doesn't believe that God has a plan for her because her life has been so awful and terrible. We have been teaching her how to read and teaching her who Christ is. She is an adorable lady and I know that is the reason I was prompted to not go out of that neighborhood that night.