Tomorrow is October!

09/30/2013

This week has been so crazy but so good!  First, my companion had to go with hna lopez´s companion to guayaquil to do something with their visas so i was companions with hna lopez for a few days.  ohhhhh my heck i love her so so much!  we laugh and laugh and laugh soooo hard when we´re together.  she´s taught me how to work hard but at the same time enjoy the mission.  it was crazy trying to handle 2 sectors at the same time but it was super fun at the same time.  we just had to laugh at how ridiculous it was.  but one day i got to do splits with hna hansen, the couple missionary! she is sooooo so so dang cute and totally reminds me of grandma solum.  i felt like i was companions with my grandma :)  haha her spanish is super limited but she is so loving!!  ohhh my heck it was the happiest working with her.

Marcela and Angelica and Kelly are doing so well!  They are all super excited to be baptized!  And we also found this lady Soledad and her 2 daughters that want to be baptized too.  Marcela isnt married, Angelica´s husband doesnt like any churches, and we found Soledad in her work at a flower shop so i´ve never seen her husband.

So they finally officially told me i´m hermana leader.  so yesterday hna lopez and i left loja with our zone leaders at 1:30 pm for our 9 hour bus ride.  we just laughed the whole time.  the guy in front of us took up both seats and reclined his seat back alllllll the way and was getting mad at us the whole time for laughing.  so that was fun.  hahaha but we finally got to guayaquil and got to sleep at the temple!!  it was so so so happy just to be on the temple grounds!

so then this morning we had the meeting with all of the zone leaders and hermana leaders in the mission.  it was really good!  full machetes but it was good!  president torres is awesome and has so much love for us and for the work of the Lord.  and it was so so happy to see all of the hermanas like ayer, perez, may, and jolley.  they are the cutest!  OHHHHHHHH and i got to hear about Vicente!!!!!!  He baptized his little sister!  and Went to the temple!!!!!  AND!!!  Edgar and Elsa Ojeda, the parents of the 3 boys, got baptized!!!!!!!  It made me SOOOOOOOOO  happy to hear!!!!!  I wish I could have seen all of them but it just made me happy to know that I was able to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands to help others come unto him.

this past week has been better!  I´ve realized how much I have really come to know my Savior and I am so so grateful for this sacred opportunity I have to work with Him side by side to carry out His work.  There´s been a lot of times I´ve regretted coming on a mission but I´ve decided that no more i´m going to regret this time the Lord has blessed me with.  It´s been hard but a huge blessing to have learned what I have.

Oh I got Grandma Bye´s letter!  I feel so so so bad that her package hasnt come yet!  i feel worse that she feels so bad about it rather than not getting the stuff.  I absolutely LOVED her letter and all the quotes!  She is the cutest.

I also got Ben and Alicia´s cute package!  That was so so sweet of them to think of me and send me that!  Tell them thanks so so much!

YAAAAAYYYY you got 100% on stats!!!  You always stress out like a crazy person and then end up getting 100.  dont worry so much mommy.

you dont have all my pictures.  i have tons more.  but you can start making a book if you want?  but dont you have to finish brendens first?

that´s crazy madsens home already.  tell parker good luck!!  sounds like the meeting was good. i did not get an email from madsen or parker.

sounds like the fam is having fun with band and music and flokk!  tell them all to write me!

the members are pretty good in loja.  but they´re branches, not wards so it´s a little different and there´s not too many of them.  but president is carrying out ´´la obra de salvation´´, the focus that the church is putting on working with the members more.  today we watched the videos the the church made with the members and missionaries.  it´s way awesome!  it´s going to take a little work but once the members realize the importance they have in missionary work, the work will explode!  yayy!!

we dont have a fan.  but elder hansen told me to iron my bed to kill the bugs.  so im going to do that.

sometimes you just have to sit on the floor.  and everyday about 8 times a day i kneel on the floor to pray.  sorry mommy dear.  it´s inevitable.

UMMMMM that baby is the cutest dang thing.  kills me.

well i´m just about out of time.  oh but tonight at 9 we´re headed back to loja!  so yayyy i get to sleep on the bus tonight!!  but i hope you are all doing well!  i pray for you all by name every night.  I love you all!

Hermana Bytheway