With Hermana Teresa

September 22, 2015

Hello my sweet family!!! 

It´s been another great week in Mercedes!  Hermana Cabrera will be leaving tomorrow for Rivera...I am going to miss her so much.  Hermana Cabrera is so happy and full of life!  We only had three weeks together, but we ended up becoming really good friends.  I don´t think I´ve ever laughed so much with a companion, and she taught me popcorn with lemon juice and hot sauce is the most delicious thing in the world!

And my next companion will be Hermana Marsh!!!  Remember how I mentioned Hermana Cabrera´s companion had to go home a bit for an operation???  Well that companion will be coming back and it is Hermana Marsh!!!  And Hermana Marsh is from my same BYU freshman ward.  I will be finishing up her training here in Mercedes and I am so excited!  This is what I wrote to president because I was just so pumped!!!

"Let me just tell you a little bit about Hermana Marsh...we were in the same ward at BYU but our ward was huge and sadly, I didn´t get to know her super well. But I do remember right before I left for my mission (March 29, 2014), all the girls in our ward watched the first women´s session of general conference together. My mom happened to be visiting me in Utah, so she watched the session with me. After, all the girls in our ward met up in the activity room of our dorms to eat cheesecake. I remember my mom and I sat by Hermana Marsh, and my mom immediately started talking with her. I remember listening to my mom and Hermana Marsh talk and joining in now and then. And I remember thinking, ‘How sad the school year is ending and I am just starting to get to know this girl.’ 

So yeah, one year later or so, I received an email from Hermana Marsh telling me she was coming to the same mission and I was so excited!!! And I was just so happy I would be able to get to know my cheesecake friend a bit more. But I honestly had no idea she would end up being one of my companions. I feel so blessed for this opportunity and I know the Lord is so involved in our lives."

Such a small small world, no???  Also, Hermana Cabrera and I have had lots of cool experiences this week.  Here´s one: 

And last night, Hermana Cabrera and I had an awesome experience. Basically all of our charlas fell through and we began looking in our lists to see who we could visit. We had to take a moment to sit down in the plaza and look at our map to situate where all the houses were. A couple minutes later, we saw a couple walk out of the terminal and sit down together. We looked at each other and asked, "Should we talk to them?" We were a little afraid because they were talking together and we didn´t want to interrupt their conversation. But then we thought about all the blessings our parents and grandparents have seen in their marriages through the gospel, and we realized we should talk to them!!! 

As we began talking with them, they explained they had just dropped their son off so he could continue his studies in Montevideo. We could see their family was super important to them, so we began talking about our families and all the blessings we´ve seen in our homes through the gospel. It turns out they received missionaries about twenty years ago, and last night, they let us know they are willing to receive missionaries again. We are excited to see what happens!

Also, we loved loved loved seeing Lucia and Sofia get baptized Saturday!  They were both so happy...Lucia said her favorite part was getting baptized, and Sofia said hers was receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost!

And...yesterday something so so sweet happened.  An eighty-year-old lady in our ward, Hermana Teresa, made us a delicious lunch and the most delicious cake (it had dulce de leche, of course).  After the lunch, she said, "I´ve got a couple of little boxes for you."  We opened up the boxes and she had bought us tree of life necklaces.  It was the sweetest gesture and Hermana Cabrera and I felt so grateful.

Well, life is so good and I love you all so much.  Keep being the best fam ever!!!