This past week was my last week with my mamíta and she was super sick so we didn't do as much as we wanted to with our investigators, and then she left to Potosí to be a leader for all the sisters. I miss her sooooo much and it was hard to let her go haha!
But she will be such a great leader. I'm happy for her :)

I got my new comp! Hermana Gonzalez, she is also from Santiago, Chile and she speaks really good English and that's not normal cause I'm new and I'm supposed to learn the language before I get comps that speak English but President thinks different this time I guess! Haha.
Shes awesome and super funny too, I'm excited for another step in the mission with many more things to learn!

So this past week, Hermana Bisama and I were visiting our investigator Ana Belmonte. She has a 21 year old son who has a 3 year old daughter. We just taught Ana on Tuesday about the Plan of Salvation and she knew a lot about it cause she has visited church many times before and she just thought it was so beautiful and then because Hermana Bisama was most likely going to leave before the next week, she invited us to make dinner with her on Friday, we made Plato Piseño (my favorite meal, its from La Paz) and her son Sergio and his daughter Maite came and ate with us and he was like, "so my mom is gunna be mormona?" haha he told us that he actually is really interested. He said, "my mom was telling me about a lot of what you believe, and what really caught my attention is that, you believe that we can be with our loved ones after this life." So were going to start teaching him too! They have a great family. I really love the Plan of Salvation so much. It really brings so much light and peace and hope to our lives.

So, this past week was Fathers Day. I love that we celebrate on a specific day for our mothers and fathers. Because they really have the biggest impact in our lives, but... Did you know, here in Bolivia, they have a day to celebrate for the kids?... That would be cool too in the US! Haha.

Something I'm so thankful for about my dad, every Sunday growing up, we(my sisters and I) used to walk to church with him and he used to tell us stories and stories and stories about his childhood and mainly about his mission. Because of him sharing with me the most important things to him, real life matters, I had a desire to serve the Lord at a younger age, and I thankfully made the choice to be a missionary and it has done so many things for me and I know more about who I am and Gods love for all of us. Having said that, I know I'm not perfect whatsoever but that I have a potential, just like all of you too! Ahhh you're all so great! :)

You will love a lot of people but first, you have to serve them!

I wish I had a lot more to write about from this week but we didn't get too much done cause my comp was sick :( I miss you all and love you!

What a beautiful week!

We got to go to the temple with Juan Carlos! It was his first time, he said he felt so good in there.
It was so beautiful you guys! Im so proud of him. He is starting mission prep classes soon cause he wants to go on a mission.

As you know we have been teaching his older brother Jorge Daniel, he is so amazing! We talked about the word of wisdom and he thought it was funny that we don't drink coffee cause he loves coffee but he said, he wont drink it anymore and so we told him about a drink called ECCO, its sooo good! I don't know what its like in the US but in England, its just like Barley Cup! And so he bought it the next day and hasn't been drinking coffee anymore, he said he likes ECCO a lot! Its ricisimo! Hahaha. He really is so great! His baptism date changes cause he wasn't able to make it to church this Sunday so we have to wait just a little longer, but he is excited. And me too! I love their family. We went over last P day to make cookies and just spend time with them to get to know them better and Im just in love with their family! They are so strong and funny.

Something personal, and very special for me happened. So back in April, actually on Ava's birthday (21st) my comp and I were at the stake building and two elders brought in this member and his girlfriend who isn't a member, and I met her and gave her a hug and she wanted to learn english, and thats all I remember. Yeah, so her name is Carolina. Her boyfriend now is on a mission, and she was taking the lessons from the Elders. So last P day when we went to the BBQ, it was at her house. She sings and plays the guitar. Well we found out, the reason she invited us to go to her house was because when she walked into the stake building a month ago, she said, "I looked at her, (pointed at me) and I felt her spirit through her eyes, and I knew I wanted someone like her, to teach me, because I know I could trust her to be my guide, and then she gave me a hug and I felt like I had come home."

This was really special for me to hear. Sometimes in life we really don't realize the effect we have on people around us, literally random people that you might run into for just 3 minutes. God has a plan, and we are all a huge part of it. We all have something to share and something to take from someone.

I love the opportunity I have right now for this little time of my life to learn about the part I play and how I can play it the best I can! I love you all so much! And I know you all have such a beautiful part to play in many lives, so take the time to cultivate that part and spread some love! Haha!

I love you all. Have a fantastic week!

Juan Carlos received the priesthood this Sunday! And his older brother Jorge Daniel(19) has a baptism date for June 18th! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he so humbly told us that he has a lot to learn. We found out that their dad served a mission! Both of his parents are inactive members. It's cool to see the difference in their home compared to other homes around here, even though they are inactive. They still received the Holy Ghost as a constant companion after their baptism.
Having Juanca baptized recently, I know has changed a lot too in their home. Jorge told us, "He used to be so shy and now he has so much more confidence and he isn't so serious like he used to be." Thats what Jesus will do for you!!

We had a lesson with the whole familia Calicho. It was so awesome! Towards the end, they confided in us with a story from the past and in brought a little argument between the family, (reminded me of my family HAHA) and I was like, "oh no, we can't leave on this note." and then so humbly my companion bore her testimony to them about this situation and asked them each to say something virtuous about one another and we were all laughing and smiling and the spirit came again.
but I was like wait I wanna compliment you guys too! and I looked at Ceasar and said, you are so strong and such a good father and I can see you care so much for your family, then I looked at Liz and I said Liz, I always want to call you Luz (light) because you are such a light always and for your family and together your'e both such a strong (accidently said birds) but I meant couple and my comp corrected me and they laughed and then I said really though, just look at your kids, and they looked and I was like, they ugly but... and we just laughed so hard. It's funny cause I think Ceasar loved that I said that, they were laughing so hard and just repeated what I said and same with my comp and then I was like no really though, look at them, they're great kids and together your'e all so strong. And it just ended so well and then they offered to drive us home. I love their family so much!

There are so many ways that we can invite the Spirit. Fasting, praying, singing songs of worship, and simply just complimenting and finding the strengths in people, will help us to invite the Spirit to dwell with us.

So I challenge you all to compliment every person you talk to this week, with one virtue that you see in them!

Doctrine and Covenants 6:21
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the same that came unto mine own, and mine own received me not. I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."

This past week, in our house, one of the lights blew out and the rest of them were all dull and it was kind of dark. We finally decided to buy new bulbs and change the lights. We made sure to buy ones that were warm and bright so that we could feel more at peace in our home. And let me tell you! It changed so much. I want to relate this to an analogy that I thought of months ago.

It was early in the morning and I was along the side of the mountain and the sun was behind this mountain, so I was in the shade. It looked so gorgeous all around me, with snow and the mountain was a deep healthy green. As I looked out to the West, the sun was shinning on all of the west part. It looked foggy and not as beautiful as it did around me, in the shade. after an hour or so, I drove out to the west and it was SO gorgeous! Way more gorgeous than the shade that I was in. This made me think of something spiritual. When we are spiritually in the dark, we wont always notice. We might think that everything is okay cause things are still enjoyable. But the minute that we go into the light (feel the spirit) we realize that we were in the dark and that there is a better feeling that we can have and a better peace that we can feel.

Try to find that light that stands a little higher. It will always lay within Jesus Christ and He will, without resistance, give you that warm light with a peaceful feeling.


I love you all! Thank you for everything. Have a great week!