Week 34

Hey guys, so I had some awesome reading to do while I was waiting for my companion at the doctors. Actually I didnt really get to read them all there because I started talking to this elderly who are originally from Scotland and we got talking about the Isle of Mann as the lady spent all of her summers there growing up- so it was cool, we discussed Douglas beach, the laxey wheel and the fairy bridge, a those are all the landmarks that came to my mind on the spot haha, small world.

I heard that the Ravens lost to the Steelers- funny story actually, I was picking up pizza and there was a guy with a Steelers jersey and I said, "did the Steelers or the Ravens win?"... turns out he was deaf so I pointed at his jersey and did a thumbs up then a thumbs down then shrugged my shoulders so he knew it was a question.. he responded by pointing at his jersey and doing a victory dance haha... tragic for the Ravens.

Whats been going on this week? First, I tried to make banana bread for the first time- turns out that splenda and sugar are not the same thing! haha who knew!? So that was an ultimate fail haha, better luck next time. The other night I got a call from one of my favorite people, Elder Quintero singing me happy birthday- he was embarrassed to find out that he was off by about 2 weeks haha. He was in my district a few transfers ago and now serving elsewhere so it made me feel special regardless. Yesterday we had Stake conference so that was fun, Covina is the stake building so it was cool to see so many people there. There was a baptism after and as always I am the designated music conductor haha, it makes me laugh that they still haven’t noticed that I do it totally wrong haha. Our mission is all involved with the new mormon.org campaign- the church has a goal for getting 100,000 profiles made by the end of this year so you guys should go on there and do that. We get to go in the mornings to spend time to play around and familiarize ourselves with the website so thats fun, We have cool new pass along cards too- are they doing that in Baltimore? I found out that the next Spanish sisters coming in will be when we have transfers in April (I am still the last to come)- there are 3 Spanish sisters coming then so that will be cool. I am not sure what President is gunna do with me when we have transfers since I am senior yet the youngest- maybe Ill go back to junior haha, that would be funny/tragic but I really don’t mind whatever happens. We have interviews in our apartments this week with President and Sister pike- in my presidents letter I wrote and said that I was excited for interviews but that it will be the first time this transfer Ill be making my bed haha, I am always putting stupid stuff in my emails just to keep him on edge haha. Not sure if he loves it- he is very serious haha, but it makes me laugh so its worth it. Yep thats about everything going on with me I guess. I love and miss you guys, hope you have a great week!!! hugs and kisses. Laura.

Week 33

Something I was thinking about this Sunday was how cool it is that I've been able to stay in his area for so long and see the converts I was able to teach progress. Lorenzo is in charge of all the attendance sheets for Sunday school and he is such a simple humble guy so its cute to see him organizing the sheets for each class and putting them on the clip boards- he takes his responsibility so seriously, he literally melts my heart. Ernesto is 2nd councilor in the young mens. Those 2 are getting the Melchizedek priesthood this coming Sunday as we are going to be having stake conference! Blanca and her girls are awesome and Alexi and Oscar are set on getting married in the temple and I promised them I will be there for that- road trip after the mission! Its been a real blessing for me to get to know these people and see them better themselves by accepting the gospel. I love it.

Oh scary story. Manuela Silva is a lady I love very much, shes got a few screws lose but shes so nice. She recently kicked her crazy abusive boyfriend out of her apartment, he threatened to kill her etc. Yesterday we were at her house and he came and was pounding on the door, we told her not to answer but he kept knocking so she finally opened the door and went and talked to him outside while we were looking at the window all worried. Everything worked out ok, she came back in the house after a yelling match then locked the door, it took a while but he finally left. It made me grateful for always having such a stable home life. The more she tells us about her life the more grateful I am that I was born into a loving home and given so many opportunities and blessings. A lot of people dont have that- its sad to hear some of the things these people go through but its deff a good learning experience.

Overall the mission is super duper tough haha, for me personally I feel like it has deff pushed me to my limits and some days I very seriously just want to steal the car, drive to the airport and fly home haha, but its great- it feels good to be where you know you are supposed to be.

Week 32

2011 IS HERE!

Updates: Monday we had a zone activity, we are the only hermanas in our zone and the poor elders had to play volleyball instead of basketball to include us haha- it ended up getting pretty intense so it was fun. Afterwards I had arranged a white elephant gift exchange and that was a hit.. That night we went to Blanca's surprise birthday party and made the ugliest cake ever- we didnt want to wait for the cake to cool so the icing was super crazy then we tried to cover up the cracks with fruit loops... haha ultimate failure. We discovered a crazy huge catholic cemetery and it has a big museum with all these Jesus images on it. I always saw it from the distance so one day we took the adventure- I later consulted the map and realized I was wrong and it is not in our area (cuz its like a big hillside). haha whoops.

This week I have been super creative- on Monday I accidentally got bleach on my grey hurley sweater so I went crazy and flicked bleach all over it haha- my comp said its ugly but I think its fun. My lovely friend Rachel sent me an awesome christmas package and sent me a gingerbread house kit so I spent a good hour working on that. A family found out that I know how to sew so I did service for them going crazy on the sewing machine making curtains for their kitchen, they turned out good. Last night I cut my hair because I was feeling restless and took off a few inches- I regretted it in the morning- like always hahah, but its healthier so thats good. And last but not least- I played piano at the baptismal service this Sunday, yeah I know right- what were they thinking asking me!? hahah, just kidding, I didn't mess up- ultimate success. I also found out this week that my beloved ex-companion Sister Kang is dating Elder Montelongo- a missionary that left the same transfer as her from this mission- superrrrr crazy, I didnt believe it till a member showed me pix. Missionary hook up... haha, no comment.

Week 31

So can I please emphasis how happy I was to be able to talk to my lovely family this Saturday!? It was so nice to chat and hear your voices and have an actual conversation, even if there was a time limit of 40 mins. My companion was like, "what did you guys talk about!?" and I was like, "nothing really, just enjoyed the chat!" and I mentioned that mother dear had a hard time keeping it together haha. Its nice to know that I am missed though, but also nice to know that you had a great Christmas even though 2 of the gang were missing (well I guess 3 if we count Don… still not really sure if he is included hahaha).

So for Christmas nothing too awesome happened, after the phone call it went to just being a normal day as the Latinos celebrate it the 24th so the 24th I was busy telling them that Christmas isn’t till the following day then the 25th I was mourning because I was too focused on it being on the 25th that I missed the festivities the previous day haha. But such is lifeeee. It was good though, I am officially pro at making tamales so prepare yourselves for when I get home! We literally went from house to house helping the moms make the tamales- that’s my kind of service! I feel like I don’t have much to report as I just talked to you 2 days ago but everything is going good here. On Sunday when we were knocking we met some really awesome promising future investigators, it seemed like every door we knocked was so nice- the Christmas spirit hit them I guess. These one people we said that we were missionaries and they invited us in, offered us food then left with a Christmas present haha, that’s my kind of tracting. So yeah, life is good, need new investigators but this is almost 100% deff my last transfer here in Covina so I wanna make the most of it. Today we have zone activity, people never really go to them cuz they aren’t fun haha, but we are gunna go today and see if anyone comes. Not sure why our mission is so boring buttttt I guess its helping me to make my own fun, which trust me I am doing! Well this is short but I love you guys, miss you tons, looking forward to mothers day and hope that you have a very happy new year- yay for 2011, it’s gunna be a great year! Love Laura.

Week 30

So this week on pday we went to this nice mall called la Americana cuz it was next to my doctors appointment. My comp spent $628 haha, I spent $8.34 hahah. We had a good time walking around etc so that was nice. Today for p-day its gunna be an errand day cuz we need to go to the office then get our wheels replaced and aligned soo thats fun!?

This week it has rained non-stop.. and it is still raining- ew. Funny thing happened we got a call from one of Glorias friends (the old lady we live with) telling us that she was worried about her cuz she hadn't answered her calls and didn't show up to a meeting etc so she told us to go home and check on her so we did and we were all worried that she was dead. We went in the room and yelled her name and she was just lying there all dead looking then the lady on the phone said we had to shake her, I was laughing cuz it was so ridiculous and we were scared she was dead, luckily- she was alive but we scared her half to death from shaking her hahaha. This week we also got to attend a wedding on Saturday night- it was fun to be able to go and we helped with decorations for the majority of the day too so of course I was in my element. Sunday was the highlight of the week as we had the baptism of Alexi and also Kevin finally got baptized. It was a spiritual boost for sure cuz it was really just a special service and they are such special people. Alexi didn't get submerged till round 6 haha butttt... she got in there finally so it was legit, her and I hugged when she got out of the water and we were both crying- loved it. I later got even more wet as the plug would not come out so I had to get in the font and bent down to unplug it haha, not really sure why I didn't make one of the elders do it but hey!

As far as transfers go we are all here to stay. Our whole District stayed the same so hermana herrera and I are about to embark upon another 6 week adventure together here in Covina- Im happy about it and feeling good about this new transfer. On the down side- we neeeed new investigators so we have alot of finding ahead of us which the rain makes tough. I wanna send pix so I'm gunna end here. Meerrrrry Christmassss! Love Laura

Week 29

I have little time today because our pday has been pretty hectic!

This week has been good! Monday night we had FHE with Blanca and the girls and we watched the testaments and we were all crying and of course I bought pop corn- always looking to have a quality movie night. Thursday our district had a drama blow at district meeting, well basically my comp yelled at everybody- it was pretty umm.. Interesting, I really do know why elders say sisters are a hassle. Luckily I have been branded as 'not a hassle' haha, or so I have been told, so thats good. Friday was our ward activity and it turned out really cute, they picked our ward mission leader to be Santa which was a bad choice, hahaha he was so ridiculous, he was walking like a gangster and his arms up like a crazy person in all the pictures and his 'ho ho ho' sounded like an evil laugh, it was pretty funny. Saturday my comp took the ACT while I sat in a random teachers lounge and talked to this Vietnam vet for about 2 and a half hours. Great conversation, smart cool guy, I love conversations where you come away feeling like you see things a little differently. Kevins baptism fell through as his mom randomly decided to take him to Disneyland... tragic, but theres always next week!

My doctors appointment this morning was interesting, soooo heres the deal. I didn't have any factors show up in my blood but apparently there is a type of rheumatoid arthritis that doesn't show up in blood results and the doctors remain convinced that RA is indeed my problem. That being said my blood tests did some back with some indicators of lupus which is.. bad haha. But he said that I am lacking a lot of the symptoms (like losing hair and rashes etc) but that they could show up with time but overall he is pretty sure it is RA but he said that those lupus indicators caught his attention... so thats that! Maybe I am more sick than I realize huh!? Crazy. So I have more pills... 2 a day of 2 different things, the names escape me right now. So I have another appointment with him in 6 weeks Jan.24th.

Transfers are next Monday- I dunno whats gunna happen but Ill obviously let you know when the time comes.

Week 28

Everything is good here. So on Monday the doctor prescribed me a steroid called Prednisone so that has been helping quite a bit. The thing is the pain is the worst in the morning and that's when I take the pill so it doesn't actually help till a little later in the day but I will take what I can get and this is just a temporary treatment till my next appointment next Monday when he will have the definite diagnosis. I am fine though, don't worry! I will keep you informed on whatever the doctor tells me! This Friday Hermana Herrera took the TOEFL test and I was in a super cold basement so bored so I decided to give myself permission to wait for her outside on the lawn where I fell asleep for the 4 hours she took the test haha. Nice little breather to be outside and alone- sooo nice. Friday was also Hermana Herrera's 24th birthday so I felt bad for her that she had to take that test on her birthday but afterwards we went and spent it with the Ramirez's and ate cake and all that fun stuff.
Saturday night we, and 40 other missionaries, worked as volunteers at the Covina Christmas parade so that was super fun to be able to just chill and watch the parade, we just had to hand out flyers and tell people to stay behind the blue line haha, It was cute.


Overall I am pretty excited about transfers coming up. We have transfers the 20th sooo we will see what happens.
This week we have the ward Christmas party Friday night then Saturday Herrera is taking the ACT in arcadia so I will hopefully we able to take another nap haha.

week 27

Thank you for the package!!! We were laughing because I was like, "uhh I think my jacket shrunk" and my comp was like, "umm.. I think you got bigger" haha, I haven't though no worries. I am actually maintaining my weight pretty well considering we don't exercise- I am surprised. So we just got back from a very long visit to the doctors and he is pretty sure I have rheumatoid arthritis- wa hoooo. haha, yeah so that's not good but its not sure yet because they had to take more blood and test me for it to confirm it so I have another appointment with him in 2 weeks but he said he was pretty sure and got me some druggggssss yayyyy. I was kind of scared because on the sheet of paper I took for lab work he ticked some other boxes to test my blood for and one of them was lupus and other scary stuff so thats... interesting. So yeah, arthritis, he said it wasn't good but that medicine has come a long way and that there are treatments so I'm not gunna freak out- yet. haha. I'm excited to start taking these drugs as this week has been especially rough for me.

This week has been really good, the time is speeding up for sure. The transfer is half way over so thats crazy to think, our next transfers are the 20th so its literally right before Christmas so I realllllllly dont want to get transferred. This is my 5th transfer here in Covina so I know everything there is to know about this place haha.

So yesterday we had Blanca and the girl's baptisms!!! yayyyy. The girls are Jackie (15) Steph (14) Deanna (12) and Daniella (10) and they are soooo cool and the baptism went really well and it was so cool to be apart of it. Sister Pike and the Goolds came (cool senior couple that work in the mission office) so that was a pleasant surprise. They were very complimentary and very excited to see a family get baptized so that was legit.

Week 26

Everything here is going gooood.

Last p-day we spent a lot of time in arcadia at the mission office again signing up for my comp's tests. I will be spending a lot of time this transfer waiting for my comp to take both the ACT and the TOEFL tests (Dec 3rd and Dec 11th) ready for her school applications. I can't complain- she needs to take them. Monday nights it has become a tradition to have FHE with the Ramirez family so we did that and she always makes us awesome treats. This week we had zone conference and it was pretty good. One of the elders fell backwards in his chair and smashed his head pretty hard cuz he fell straight backwards and apparently it gave him memory loss. The zone leaders went to visit him in the hospital and apparently he didn't remember his name or even that he was a missionary. We saw him the other day and he said it is slowly coming back but that he still doesn't remember anything from his mission! hahaha, I mean it's not funny, but its pretty crazy! At zone conference we got new cell phones, they are super cool but we are struggling to figure out how to use it haha. At lunch they prepared a big thanksgiving dinner for us and President and sister Pike sat with us and the other set of sisters that are in our zone so we had some bonding timeee. Everyone is so formal around them but I am just my normal self so I had them laughing- yay! Sister Pike told me that she is 4 years older than president, they met on a blind date, pretty crazy.

This week I told my comp that I was going to teach her how to shop cheaper so I took her to Marshalls and Ross and my plan backfired as I ended up spending over $100 and she didn't buy a single thing because she doesn't like discount stores haha. I thought it was pretty ironic, the clothes I got are stinking cute though so its all good. At church yesterday the electricity went out and we ended up letting out early- thats never happened to me before so I thought it was pretty cool. First time that I've been glad that some of our investigators didn't come to church. We've had other very successful week, actually it was the best we've had so far. We have an awesome new investigator but her husband couldn't come to tour because he just got out of jail and has an ankle tracker thing- tragic. But we are excited about them. This Sunday we have some awesome baptisms taking place- Blanca and her 4 daughters then our other investigator Fernando- yayyyyy! We are excited and so blessed, I love this work.

As far as my medical issues- I have my doctors appointment this next Monday at 10am so I will have more info then because I seriously don't know what wrong with me. Today we are going to Ramirez's house for lunch with some other missionaries for a BBQ then we are gunna go to some park with the elders and play soccer. Should be fun, except its super cold outside sooo not sure how long we will last at the park.

One of the AP's younger sisters died in a car crash this week and it made me think about you guys and how grateful I am for my wonderful family. I am always praying that you will be kept safe and be watched over. Don't forget how much I love and appreciate you guys. Take care!!!! Laura.

Week 25

Helllllllo again!

This week has been action packed! We spent a lottt of time in Arcadia as my comp has physical therapy twice a week so we lose a lot of time doing that and I finally went to the doctor for my issues with my joints! Soooo he said that he is not sure what is wrong with me but he said it looks like rhumatary (sp?- its a fancy word for joints) arthritis, which is not good. He has sent me to a specialist but he doesn't have an opening till the end of November so I booked it but in the mean time I am struggling quite a bit. It's Satan- he is angry that we are doing so well in our area haha. Yeah, its worse in my right hand but the issues I'm having are making it very hard for me to get ready for the day as it especially bothers me in the morning. I now only wash my hair like twice a week and wear it up all the time because washing my hair is almost impossible haha, oh dear. So hopefully I can get a sooner appointment- we will wait and see, at the hospital they took my blood and x-rays of my hands and stuff... kind of exciting. BUT GET THIS- I had to pee in a cup so I did the deed then I went to put it on the counter in front of the pee collector guy and I guess I didn't put the lid on tight enough and I didn't place it down gently and it went sideways and I made a little mess. hahahahaha, the guy goes, "don't worry Ill clean it up." and I was like, "No its mine, let me do it!" hahahahahha classic. It didn't like pour all over the place or anything but there were like pee across the counter- hahahah. I hope you enjoy that little tid bit of my life!

This week we have some awesome new investigators- this family is awesome, the mom Blanca and her 4 daughters, they all committed to baptism and we had another lesson with them the other night and they are reading the Book of Mormon and excited to be baptized and liked church on Sunday- yayyyyy. On Saturday we had a mini missionary with us and that was pretty cool to have her tag along with us for the day. This week I got a lot of hand-me-downs from Sister Kang so my wardrobe is feeling a little fresh! On Sunday I lost the keys and we were stuck at the church for like an hour afterwards, I knew I left them in the kitchen but someone trying to be nice from English ward picked them up and so we couldn't find them.

I got some good news that someone I contacted and we gave as an English referral just got baptized 2 weeks ago- Giselle- pretty cool! There are miracles both seen and unseen here in the mission- I am so grateful to be here and so glad for all the blessings. The mission is tough but I am learning sooo much and know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be and wouldn't trade it for anything else. I love and miss you guys tons, HUGS AND KISSSES FAMILY!!!! love youuu.

Week 24

I am super excited to read these emails that I just printed off! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful supportive family and friends, a lot of missionaries don't have that so don't forget how much I love and appreciate you guys.

So this week has been goodddd, Monday we got to go all over the place for p-day. We went down to little Mexico with the other sisters and the familia Luevano and we had a really good time, Hermano Luevano treated us to an awesome lunch and I got a shrimp burrito and it was awesomeee. We also saw some star from some famous novela but they wouldn't let us take pictures with him. We went down there on the day of the dead which is a big Mexican tradition so everyone had their faces painted as skulls and stuff, it was pretty cool! After that we headed to Sister Kangs good bye BBQ and it was pretty cool. We played volleyball with a flat volleyball and ate some yummy chicken, it was nice to be able to say bye to her. Tuesday and Wednesday we painted the Ramirez's living room bright green haha, it ended up being a 2 day project but I ended up doing all of the painting on day 2 sola. I like doing the blue painting tape and the more detailed stuff more than the big rollers so it was fun for me to be able to do it, and they really appreciated it so that was fun. Saturday was transfer calls and my companion and I stayed together here in Covina, so that is good. I was anxious about the call, kind of hoping for a change but of course, fine with whatever. We really are good friends and I love her. Sunday was Ramon's baptism, that is Alejandra’s younger brother so that went really well!!!! yayyyy.

President Pike will be my mission president pretty much my whole mission, he leaves next June I think. I come home Oct.25th (I thought it was the 11th but I was wrong) just FYI.

Our investigators are doing good, this week there was some good progression with commitments etc but a little disappointing again when it came to church attendance- blehhh. It was our first week with no tours which means no new investigators, but thats ok, theres always next week! I am loving teaching. We had a really awesome lesson with Kevin and Davia (Ernesto’s sons) and Kevin said the closing prayer (he is 12) and it was sooo sweet and we were all crying. The spirit was really strong, I love those moments. This week at church I saw Ernesto pass his tithing slip to bishop and that made me so happy to see! Lorenzo also bought a bag for his scriptures so he could bring them to church, they both look so great in their white shirts and tie, I just can’t get over it. Lorenzo is so awesome how he bikes to church, such obedience. The people here are a great example to me, I am learning sooo much and so glad to be where I am having these experiences. I am different, haha, in a good way, this experience really is changing me and it feels really good. I love you guys so much, I really do miss you a lot but I’m excited for Christmas which is coming up soon- phone call home- HOLLLLLLA.

HUGS AND KISSES
Laura.

Week 23

Happy Halloweeeennnn!!!! Sounds like the ward trunk or treat was really good, mom and dad I am disappointed in you for not dressing up! haha, even I dressed up (ok not really- me and my companion just switched name tags!). Here we had a ward activity and it was a lot of fun, there were different activities set up but also they got my home boy Adan to DJ and he is a real DJ (thats why he is inactive cuz he DJs Saturday nights then is too tired to come to church) so it was super fun to listen to REAL music haha. Not saying that I hate church music- I like it, I just liked the break from it haha. We are not allowed to dance though, which is probably good since I was the only white girl in a big room of Latinos so that rule probably saved me from humiliation. haha.
Last night for the 31st we went to Alejandra's and we handed out candy to the kids and gave pass along cards to the parents, it was pretty fun. We spend a lot of time with Alejandra, she is so awesome. She is deff my favorite person ever and we have big plans for after the mission- road trip to Utah etc cuz I keep telling her that she is going on a mission and getting married in the temple to a nice little Mormon boy haha, she agrees so life is good. She found out she can gets scriptures on her iPod and she freaked out, she was excited.
Today should be a fun day. This morning we are going with the English sisters that are in a trio (Casperson- the one I went on exchanges with before, Pack- remember the packs from red deer? their niece! small world, it's her first transfer, she is English only, and sister Kunz, who is really quiet I don't really know her) to Little Mexico with the familia Luevano then in the afternoon we are going to Sister Kangs little get together over in Chino where we are gunna have a BBQ and play volleyball- we are taking Alejandra with us as a surprise. So today should be funnnn, hopefully!
Everything is good with our investigators, we were supposed to have 8 people to church yesterday that said they were deff coming and only 1 person showed so I was pretty depressed, but life goes on, the work is going good. My testimony is growing pretty much daily, I am so glad to be here, I had/have a lot to learn so this is a blessing to be put in an environment made to test us and help us grow. I love the gospel, it is perfect and we are so blessed to have it in our lives. I gotta go, HUGS AND KISSES. Laura.

Week 22

Hows everything?

Tuesday for p-day we were supposed to go to sister Kang's zone activity (shes in another zone) but we didn't get permission because they said that zones are only for the people in the zone. So we ended up playing volleyball in our gym with 4 other elders who were all planning on going to the other activity. We are the only sisters that the elders invite to do stuff haha, its fun, they are some cool guys. We spend a lot of time with Elder Quintero and Elder Francisco, we call it "our club" because we are pretty tight. Wednesday we didn't have coordination because our ward mission leader moved to Colorado this week. We got a new one but none of us know him so he is going to have a lot to learn as he was not originally someone that came out with the missionaries prior to this new calling. There are only a select few that are willing to randomly come out with us on lessons. One of the people was Hermana Seanez and this week she was released as a ward missionary and called as Relief Society president, basically that it a bad blow for us because she comes with us always and now she will be a lot busier. We currently don't have a single ward missionary called in our ward, I am a bit few up with the lack of concern they are showing for missionary work and the little help we are receiving from the ward. On the plus side, the work continues and we are extremely grateful for those that do sacrifice their time to come with us. Go on lessons with the missionaries, tell them when you are free and GO! haha. Just sayin.

So this Saturday we had Lorenzos baptism, he showed up all dressed up and it was really precious and it made me just want to hug him, but I resisted haha. Sunday was his and Ernesto's confirmation so that was really awesome. Our area is doing so well- I deff don't have any complaints about serving here in Covina- loveeee it. Lorenzo bikes for 40 minutes to get here to the church from his house- he is a champ, I love him. Please send me old ties, these guys are all coming to church dressed kinda sloppy so maybe some ties will motivate them to go buy white shirts!

So last night the funniest thing ever happened. We had a pass off lesson with the elders for Jesus (the bling ex-gangster guy, less active member) because they are going to be teaching him from now on because he is in their area but some reason we were teaching him. Anyways, so we were saying bye outside the house and Elder Fransisco farted and it was pretty funny and he was so embarrassed but Hermana Herrera was laughing soooo hard and pointing at him and being pretty harsh about it then we get in the car and she is still laughing then I go, "ew something stinks" and Hermana Herrera looks down and realizes that she sat in dog poop BAHAHA. Kharma gets you. I couldn't stop laughing because it really is true that what goes around comes around.

My companion and I are doing fine. Tomorrow we have exchanges, but they accidentally put Hermana Herrera and Kang together and they both can't drive so they need to fix it so I dunno who it will be with tomorrow or where. Last week I asked for permission to go to Little Mexico on Nov.1st for Sister Kangs last p-day adventure and the zone leaders called and told me that the zone leaders said I shouldn't be planning p-day so far in advance and shouldn't be so distracted. hahah, all these guys take their callings a little bit too seriously. I told him that was nice of them to be so concerned about my level of distraction but to let me know when they feel it's an appropriate time for me to ask for permission. Sooo dumb.

Overall we are teaching a lot and have some great progressing investigators that I love to death. I gotta go but I am good here in Cali, not enjoying the rain but the work continues! loveeee and miss you guys. Laura.

Week 21

Hows it going!? Well it has deff been an action packed week. Last P-day we spent at the mall the whole time, not too fun but I bought some AWESOME high heel brown boots that I am in love with, I put them on like every night and sometimes walk around my house in my skinny jeans and boots just to feel normal haha, I'm a loser. We had President interviews on Tuesday so that was nice to meet with him, sadly my companion and I had to have another interview with him later in the week to be able to work out some issues. Good news is that it really helped and we are doing really well now. This week we also had a ward sports activity and that was really fun, I was heading the ball the whole time so I had kind of a head ache afterwards haha, but I'm getting better at headers so that's awesome, in a skirt and everything. My arm movements have been kind of limited for while, for the past 2 months or so my arms and wrists have been super sore- still haven't figured out why but I was hoping to wait it out but its getting worse and it hurts me a lot to wash my hair or reach back for my backpack in the car etc, so I am thinking about going to the doctor, haven't decided yet though.

So this Sunday we had Ernesto's baptism and it was a really great service. He was sooo ready, he is already reading in Alma in the Book of Mormon and he has a great testimony. It was so great to be able to teach him. After the baptism we gave his sons tour and his one son David (24) is kind of an interesting guy and has a huge tattoo on his arm that says 'Born to Hustle'... haha they are our new investigators but he is pretty into his way of life so we'll see how it goes. We are teaching 2 new wonderful families, Alexi and Oscar are a cute little couple from Guatemala, Oscar is actually already a member but he is inactive and now his wife is super interested and he is coming back. She recently miscarried her first baby and she has been really emotional about it, made me pretty sad so I can't imagine how she feels. In church on Sunday I told her she will get to meet her baby and she was crying happy tears for like 5 minutes, it was kind of a precious moment. The other family is Cesra and Elia, also a younger couple with a 5 month old baby Amy. They are super cool and its great to have such cool new investigators, they love us and its so fun to hang out with them. Yesterday we had mission tour and Elder Bowan and his wife came and we had like a 4 hour meeting that was really cool, we talked all about the house of Israel and the Abrahamic covenant and stuff so it was really interesting. Those are some of my favorite topics so it was awesome. This week I locked us out of the house but managed to climb through a broken fence and get into our house. It was actually pretty hilarious because I was stuck between these two planks for wood cuz I got my upper body through but my big butt was not getting through but somehow I made it through and saved the day! haha. Hermana Herrera and I were laughing so hard and we were so sad we didn't have a camera. This week this less active member, Manuela Silva, did a beauty session with us and washed our hair in tomatillo and did avocado masks, it was pretty fun, that explains the pics with the towels on our heads. Overall its been a good week, we had awesome numbers again, I am veryyyy pleased with our success. I love this work and love the mission, its challenging in so many different ways, but I am learning so much and know that this is where I'm supposed to be. Love and miss you guys, see you in less than a year! Hugs and kisses. Laura.

Week 20

Hey,

How is everything? Just skimmed the emails and it looked like everyone is doing good.

So we had another successful week. Our numbers were actually better than last week so I was pretty stoked because our district leader is pretty animated so he is quick to give praise, which was nice to hear after a rather challenging week. Its not that the numbers matter to me so much, its that the numbers are a pretty good indicator of what you were able to get done that week, so its nice to know you used our time wisely and had success. We had 2 tours and 3 new investigators- the sndard of excellence is to have 2 tours a week so I was happy that it worked out. Tour is so tough, people are so slow to get to the church and they arent investigators till we get them there, so its an interesting challenge.

This week I randomly felt impressed to call Edgar, whom we had dropped a few months ago and he came to church on Sunday and said that he needs to come back and stuff so that was super cool, I was so extremely excited to see him cuz he is one of my favorites. This Sunday our investigator Ernesto is getting baptized and he is soooo awesome/ready. He is in 2nd Nephi and loving the book of mormon and came to all the conference sessions- soo legit. Lorenzo is also ready to get baptized but he needs to stop working Sunday afternoons... we are praying that he will find another job. We visit Alejandra a lot and trying to get her to make more friends in YW and attend the tough activities, she is kind of shy so its a little hard for her but she is wonderful and has her heart set on serving a mission, wowww, she keeps asking me about it, all random questions that she wants to know, its cute.

This Wednesday we have interviews with President Pike, they are emphasizing that the interviews should only be 10 minutes long so itll be short but he is a very gentle insightful man so itll be nice to talk to him.

Next Monday or Tuesday we have something called mission tour where we have a guest speaker come but Im not sure which day it will be so you might not hear from me till Tuesday, just a heads up. That should be fun, hoping Ill see Sister Kang as I miss her. I am trying to plan to go back down to Little Mexico for p-day on her last pday (Nov.1st) but the zone leaders are being slow at giving persmission so we'll see what they eventually decide.. bleh.

This morning I dyed all my clothes red. Everything that was once white is now red. And my clothes that I dyed blue in the MTC are now purple... haha. yikes. Are they still good if they arent white!? lol, hope so. Well I gotta goooo but I love and miss you guys tons! I hope everything is going great and that you are taking care and being good! Besosss, Laura.

Week 19

Hey you guys!

Well its deff been an action packed week for me. Monday was transfers where I met Hermana Herrera. First impression- I was just shocked at how much stuff she had haha, our car almost didn't have enough room for all her stuff (I'm thinking that is directly related to her fascination with shopping). Tuesday we taught mutual- not because I wanted to but because Hermana Kang agreed to it before she left haha, needless to say, when I saw her at conference this weekend I told her she was in my bad books for signing me up for something I didn't want to do haha. Thursday we had district meeting and it was extremely boring. Our zone got split in half so the district leader that corrected my Spanish that one day is now our zone leader and still in my district. Elder Kidd went home last transfer and he was my homie (even though he took his jokes a bit too far sometimes about how sister missionaries are a waste of space- he would always tell us to go home and find a husband and feed him nachos while he watches football- obviously I feel bad for his future wife). He made our district more fun so that was kind of depressing that he left. On Friday we told our investigator Lorenzo that he needs to quit his job and find a new one haha (cuz he works on Sundays), those are lessons that always make me nervous. We have some super awesome investigators right now though so it's so fun teaching them. Saturday and Sunday was conference which was really good. I watched it in English in a room with all the missionaries on Saturday, I prefer to watch it in English but that room was crazyness so it was pretty distracting. There is a certain sister that loves the elders attention and the whole time she would not shut up, so Sunday I watched it in Spanish to escape that shiz and cuz we had investigators that came so yeah- it was great. Last night we reported our numbers for the week and our district leader was like, "wow! you guys did so good! you taught 4 times as many lessons as the zone leaders." I was happy cuz its been a super stressful week for me. I'm fine, I like being senior and already feel used to it, but it's been stressful as I feel a lot of pressure . So life is good here. I am a lot more focused on the mission and feeling good about being here and the work and progress in the area (yes- still in Covina).. BESOS. Laura.

Week 18

Oh my goodness, I have too much to say! I'll fill you in on my week first. Monday we drove all the way to the fair to find out that it is closed on Mondays so Hermana Seanez felt bad and said, "ok we are going downtown instead!" so we drove to downtown LA (well the little part that's in our mission) and went to Little Mexico which was just this street with a bunch of stalls of people selling little Mexican artifacts, it was a cute place and pretty fun to go hang out down there even though everything was super over priced so I ended up spending $2 haha, biggg spender- not really. If anything the mission has made me more stingy- if that is possible!? Tuesday we had companion exchanges so I headed off to Sierra Madre with Sister Clawson for 24 hours. Their area was a little more ghetto than ours but there were lots of Latinos so it seemed cool. We hit the streets and I talked the wholeeee time, it was good cuz Sister Kang never pushed me so it was a chance for me to rise to the occasion- and I did and it was cool. Saturday we went to the Relief Society General Conference Broadcast- so awesome. Well mainly the prophet, the others were good but the Prophet kind of showed them up haha. He talked about not judging others and having charity- deff loved it and it made me that much more determined to apply it. Its hard to hold your tongue but I have deff seen how important it is here and in non-mission life, so hopefully Ill be remembering all these things I'm learning after the mission haha. Then Saturday the highly anticipated transfer call came and holy unexpected... I have been called to be senior companion!!! I didnt think it was even an option because no Spanish sisters have come in since me but I am now with Hermana Herrera who came out a transfer before me and I guess I have been called in my weakness because I feeling rather ill-equipped and anxious about the whole thing haha. I got called to be senior companion when I was still with my trainer, that is so not normal or cool! hahaha, I am so confused! So yeah- thats my life right now, just freaking out over here hahah, not really it'll be ok. Hermana Herrera so far (in our short drive from the office to our area- so 10 minutes haha) she seems nice. She loves to shop soooo I have a feeling that my p-day is about to get less fun haha, I lied and said I liked it too, kind of regretting that haha, oh well. She is from Venezuela but I kept speaking to her in Spanish and she responded in English soooo I'm not sure what language we will be speaking, time will tell. Apparently she has to have a very cold bedroom in order to sleep and I told her our house doesn't have air conditioning and that was a pretty big blow for her, hopefully everything will work out great and we will be best friends and do workkkkk. Anyways, we are teaching some wonderful people, have 2 baptisms coming up, Lorenzo we have been teaching for a while but he just recently built enough faith to get Sunday mornings off so he attended church this Sunday- hoooooray. Then theres this guy Ernesto who is super new and they both have baptismal dates so yayyyyy!!!!! I love this area. I am super stoked for General Conference this weekend!!!! It should be really good and it'll be a nice break, I need a catch up because I haven't been able to sleep since transfer calls haha. When the AP told me I thought he was joking and I laughed and I said, "I don't believe you" haha, but he wasn't joking apparently. Anyways, I gotta go but I loveeeee you guys. BESOS!!!! Laura

Week 17

All is well here in sunny california! This week pretty much was a disaster but it was fun haha so its all good. Monday we went to swap meet for p-day and it was kinda of funny to see the random crap that people were actually trying to get money for. There were a few stalls selling new stuff though so I bought some skinny jeans for $10 which I am excited about... for a year and a month from now haha. Today we got tickets to go to the LA county fair, we arent allowed to ride roller coasters or anything but it should be fun, we are going with the Seanez family who I adoreee, they are my favorites.

Tuesday we had that mini zone conference where we got a pump up talk about finding and a bunch of new rules. We are no longer allowed to eat with members- its so that they see us less as friends and more professional relationship. President was also really excited about us each having the oppurtunity to learn to budget and cook haha, he was the only one excited about it needless to say. Its all good though, everyone was pretty upset but Im not too bothered because Im hoping that everything here in the mission really is inspired haha, fingers crossed that Im right. Also from 5-7pm every night is "finding time" (code for knocking and street contacting), including p-day so we lost an hour of p-day which is tragic because its now 10:30-5. So yeah, there were a lot of little new rules too being inforced so its all very.. interesting haha. I think there were a lot of complaints though because we got were informed that they are adding $20 to our monthly allowance which they werent planning on doing.

We just got a new ward mission leader a few weeks ago and he just informed us that he is moving to Utah... so that didnt last long. We have very little support from the leaders- I actually think the bishop thinks we are completely incompetant, not me and sister kang, but like missionaries in general haha, yikes. We got in trouble for a hand full of things this week, from bad fellowshiper to a family coming to church that we assumed were members that apparently arent... etc haha, the mission is great.

I ate pig intenstines this week... needless to say I was not a fan.

So Alejandra's baptism was yesterday- YAYYYY!!! On the negative side EVERYTHING went wrong hahahah, heres the lsit of things that went wrong...
- we asked a young woman to speak and she was in a room some where in the building but we couldnt find her so elder quintero had to give the talk instead, so it started late cuz we were looking for her
- the english elders didnt reserve the font so they planned their baptism 30 mins before ours and they took the TV to show a DVD while they changed but we were planning on using it but they didnt get it back to us in time so we looked like total iditos cuz they got it to us at the last minute but without the remote so by the time we got the movie to start alejandra was already changed- I know my face was bright red, it was really embarressing
- the hot water was broken
- Her dads first time baptizing and it took 3 times (and to be honest the 3rd one wasnt even right cuz he didnt call her by name... but they passed it soooo.. I guess its valid in Gods eyes haha)
... and to top it all off President Pike and his wife and his coucilor and his wife decided to come join us for the baptism... so it was awful. Sister Kang said shes never seen him come to a baptism so lucky us he came on the day that everything went wrong haha. Sister Kang and I drive home to eat ice cream after cuz we couldnt go to McDonalds cuz it was Sunday... she has never cried once on her mission but she said that was the closest shes come... haha poor us. Anyway.. ya paso.. its all good.

Tuesday we are having companion exchanges and I am going to Sierra Madre which is the only sisters area in east LA zone (but its not actaully in east LA), so ill be there with Sister Clawson... should be good!? Saturday night of this week we will get transfer calls and then Monday we will have transfers- pretty anxious. Im fine with whatever, some people have been saying that sister kang and I will stay together a 4th transfer, that would be fine but Im excited to progress so we will see.

Week 16

That was weird putting Don's email address up there haha, welcome to the family by the way- we are pretty awsome so don't be too scared. So this week went by pretty quickly since pday last week was on Tuesday so I feel like today came quicker. This week we met a member who came up to us and seemed normal but we quickly found out was not and after talking to him for a few minutes he was pounding his fists on the hood of our car saying, "the Chinese didn't even know!" (he was talking about some war or something!?) we kindly told him we had to go then we got in the car and Sister Kang sighed and goes, "white people!" hahahaha, it was classic how she said it- I loved it. Later that day we went to the zone activity and it was volleyball so it was super fun, normally they play basketball which is not so fun. Every Monday night we have FHE at a member's home so Mondays are the best. Alejandra will be getting baptized this Sunday as Ramon is not progressing and she is ready to be baptized so we aren't going to wait. She is the bessssst, I love her! She is so smart and just gets everything we teach, obviously it helps that her parents recently got baptized so she had that foundation, we are just lucky enough to teach her! Today we are going to Swap Meet with Hermana Seanez for a few hours so hopefully that will be cool- find some cool second hand stuff!? It'll be funny cuz apparently Hermana Seanez has never seen a white or an Asian person there before- here we come! Next week we are planning to go to East LA to Little Mexico- hopefully it works out, we have to have a member take us if its outside out zone so we will see. The transfer is almost over though so we are running out of time cuz we are deff gunna get split up this time around.

Friday night we had a ward activity that was super fun, they all made food from their countries and put on talent show, it was cool. lots of people came so that was good. Our district leader is a pretty big tool haha, hes done a lot of "toolish things" but yesterday I was talking to someone after church and I guess he was listening and we were later pulling out of the parking lot and he flagged us down and I rolled down the window and he was like, "just so you know you don't use subjunctive in that context....blah blah blah" and I am trying to be Christlike but I couldn't help but be annoyed with his need to go so out of his way to correct me. But- whateverrrr! haha I was just laughing afterwards cuz I said "what a tool" and it took me 5 mis to try to explain what I meant to Sister Kang.

Tomorrow we have an emergency mini zone conference on finding, which is weird cuz thats what zone conference was on that we just had 2 weeks ago- so I guess we are not doing so hot. We are having a lot of success... at finding referrals for English elders haha. Its hard cuz you can knock for an hour and not speak Spanish once... there are different pros and cons to all missions though.

WEEK 15

Another week has gone by, its been a pretty good one, no complaints here! The weather is so much nicer and I am loving not sweating and being able to ride our bikes again (minus the whole manditory helmet thing). This week on Tuesday we had zone conference so that was pretty cool... literally the air conditioning was turned up so high that I thought I was going to get hyperthermia. We learnt some good things though, and I got to see Elder Maryinez (my home boy/district leader from the mtc), I was soooo excited to see him, haha probably too excited. So that was cool and we talked for a good while about life, he was surprised I was still with my trainer as he has been with a different person every transfer. There are less sisters though so we tend to stay together longer so it makes sense. He is doing good though and Ill see him later today again at the zone activity, which hopefully wil be fun- we are going to play volleyball so maybe Ill rise to the occasion. This week we had a tour with a man named carlos vasquesz, he has come to church twice but its been hard to set up tour with him so he hasnt been considered our investigator for a while but hes really nice little mexican man and he made me thing huge wall decoration thing out of wood and rocks and marbles and it weighs like 10 pounds haha, it was really thoughtful so that was pretty exciting. Ill send you a picture. We have been eating a lotttt this week- Alejandra, our investigator likes to go out to eat and she is really shy so we have been trying to get closer to her so weve been going out to eat with her, hence all the pix of me eating random stuff haha. Alejandra did my make up the other day and she did it like super blue and crazy and then curled my hair all tight and I looked pretty crazy, the elders were at their house eating at the same time and they got a pretty good kick out it since they took a pic and now keep bugging me about my "sweet makeover." She is going to be getting baptized this Sunday and her brther next sunday as he is prgressing a bit slower, its very exciting as they will be able to be sealed in the temple a year from now and Ill be on my mission still and will be able to go. We arent allowed to go with our investogators to the temple for baptisms- just endowments and sealings and only if we taught them all the lessons- so hopefully that works out. The other day I accidentally said 'He (talking about God) loves us depsite our infections"... instead of imperfections haha, maybe you had to be there but we got a kick out of it. My sense of humor is kind of depleating haha, I find everything funny now, Im a little worried. Sister Kang always says things and I say, 'yikes you are so missionary" then the other day we drove past this new cinema and it was so flashy and had all these lights and stuff and sister Kang goes, "wow, its so...worldly" and I actually agreed, so she was like, "oh no, youre actually turning into a missionary!" haha, it was awesome. This week I hit 4 months in the mission by the way, wow huh!? we helped this guy move the other night and I did some serious damage carrying a bookshelf that was apparently too much for my body to handle. So we are soar and dying. I had a lot of emails waiting for me today so I had to print them off so I didnt get to skim them but thanks for writing, Im excited to see how you guys are doing! I loveeee you so much and hope that everything is going good! Besos! Laura.