LA RAMA CORONADO!!!

Okay... I am SO excited about what happened yesterday, but I'll wait until I get there and will go through the week like normal.

Monday: P-day. It was rainy, which was okay because it was a warm rain. Well, relatively warm, considering it is still February (or was). We went over to Albuquerque to where the elders have their p-day basketball games (because that's all they ever do) so I could practice. Yep, I volunteered to sing a song again for Zone Conference. Actually, this time they called me in desperation and said "Sister Good, we need someone to sing." But before I said yes, I made sure that it wasn't as difficult as the last song. This one was a song out of the Primary song book, "Baptism" and President wanted a duet, so yes, Piece of cake. The elder who played the piano also sang.

Tuesday: We had Zone Conference. I LOVE Zone Conference! It recharges my batteries for 6 weeks. We all came out of the Conference feeling energized and ready to work and help people come unto Christ. The song went very well. That night for dinner we ate with a family who just moved here from New York where the brother just graduated from school. But as we were talking, I found out that the sister, Chantelle Blight, is from Moreland (I think?) but she graduated from Snake River and knows TaNece and Angilee and she thinks her older sister may know Aunt Heather. Small world, huh? And she sent us home with a loaf of homemade bread that we thoroughly enjoyed with the jam that mom sent me.

Wednesday: We did lots of walking, and it was a little cold, but nothing that I can't handle. Every time I thought I was cold I remembered the e-mail mom sent me last Monday morning saying that they were -1 outside and I felt nice and toasty. We also had the English class, and had one of our investigators show up which was good. That's the goal--to have our investigators come and bring friends so we can find more people to teach.

Thursday: We went out and did finding. We also contacted several people we hadn't seen in a while to see if they were interested to learn more about the message. It was cold and windy, but we survived.

Friday: We had our weekly planning. It is hard to believe how fast the time is flying by here in the mission! I had a bit of a sore throat and didn't feel super-duper great, but we were in the house for most of the day. That evening we went to the Marquez' for our Friday night appointment, but this one was a little different. Becky turned 15 (which is the big birthday for people in the Latin culture) so Sister Marquez had us over for dinner, and later had invited her sister and some friends who aren't members (as kind of an impromptu Mariachi band) and we were able to talk to them.


Saturday: We went and did service for Magda, who is packing up her house so she can move so we helped her with some of that. I still wasn't feeling well, and actually wondered if I was coming down with the flu. That was NOT a good feeling, knowing that we're too busy for me to get sick and not be able to leave the house. Our last appointment canceled, so we went home early and I was able to get to bed early (not that I'm not in bed early every night compared to 8 months ago)

Sunday: I was feeling better, thank goodness! That was an act of faith and helped by sleeping early. We went and knocked on doors all morning down in Bernalillo, then headed up to Rio Rancho for the meeting that we have been waiting for for months! Yesterday was the meeting to create La Rama Coronado! We walked in and there were so many people! We were way excited. There were more people there than anyone was expecting--they had to open the overflow! The Spirit was so strong in that meeting. They had called and asked me to lead the music, so I was able to stand up in front during the songs and look everyone in the face. It was a beautiful meeting. I was very surprised, but excited to hear the name of the Branch President. I am also excited about his counselors. They are all men who I have worked with (well, we haven't worked with one of them, but are excited to start) and they are all very much supportive of the missionary work to help the branch grow. This branch is off to a strong start! There was so much excitement and the people are all ready to start attending church in their native tongue and be able to understand everything. That left us all in very good spirits for the rest of the night. The people of this stake are going to be so blessed by having this branch!

So yeah. That's my week in a nutshell. Mom, don't worry about my health. I am feeling much better today--other than my nose being all stuffed up I'm perfectly fine today. I can hear out of both of my ears and my eyes don't hurt like they have been. Yes, I'm dosing up on vitamin C and taking care of myself. Can you all believe that I have been gone for 8 months now? We went and had the Bishop's wife cut our hair this morning and she was asking how long we've been out and I'm pretty sure that my eyes bugged out of my head when I realized that I have been on the mission for 8 months, here in this area for 6. The time is passing so quickly! I can hardly believe it! What a blessing to be here!
(This is what the dog bite looks like now)

I love you all! Take care!

Hermana Good

Bernalillo, NM, Transfer 5, Week 1

Well, the time is flying by. I am still here in Bernalillo (for which I am very grateful) and excited to keep working and helping the people here.

Monday: The Marquez' took us to Santa Fe (about 45 minutes north) to look around. There's snow on the ground up there! I haven't really seen snow in months... other than the white-out storm we had a few weeks ago, but even that was gone pretty fast. Sister Michel went around and said some more goodbyes, and then we went home and stayed up late so she could finish packing and I cleaned the apartment.

Tuesday: We got up early to head down to the mission office. We called Sister Trunnell and Sister Shade to ask Sister Trunnell a question that Sister Michel had about something she had to take or not. Sister Shade was really excited to hear from us, and Sister Trunnell thought that she was talking to Sister Cabello or Sister Michel because when she left I couldn't speak Spanish. She was quite surprised in how I have improved. After we finished our goodbyes to Sister Michel, Sister Cabello and I headed back to Bernalillo to work for a few hours before we returned to the mission office at 3:00 like we were told. Well, when we got there, we were told it would be another hour and a half before the transfer van got back, so we went into a meeting with President Cox. It was a very inspired meeting and I learned a lot. Sister Shade es bien linda (is very pretty or very nice). She is originally from Sonora, Mexico, but is now living in Utah. We returned home very exhausted after a long day of traveling, etc. I finally got a package that my family had sent me for Valentine’s Day... though sadly it had been sitting in the post office for a week because big packages don't come to the house where we live because they only have small PO boxes close by and we can only make it to the post office on P-day (or Tuesday this week because it was closed on Monday) and the bread was moldy.

Wednesday: Mom sent me the new Personal Progress book, and I want to work on it again and earn the new medallion, so I started on that. It will be way easy in the mission! We also went to New Beginnings for Bernalillo Ward with the Marquez' and poor Sister Marquez had to listen to me translate with my limited vocabulary.

Thursday: We had District Meeting and met the new Elders (we got 3 in our District). We also had dinner with the Elders, and were fed Japanese food. When we walked in I thought I smelled shrimp... but I didn't, and it was actually quite good. It was a beautiful day! Sister Shade is in love with this weather after being in Cortez where they still have snow up to their knees. I really love the weather here!

Friday: We had planning day, and spent a good long time planning so Sister Shade could get to know our investigators a little better.

Saturday: We ate breakfast with a sister who Sister Shade taught and baptized when she was here 8 months ago. And we taught some lessons and did some finding.

Sunday: It was a little colder and rainy. It was our last Sunday with Bernalillo Ward, as we are now less than one week away from la Rama Coronado starting! It was ward conference, so we stayed together with them for Relief Society, and poor Sister Marquez had to listen to my translation AGAIN! Sister Shade was translating for some other sisters. Sister Marquez told me that I did really well translating, but I know that there was a lot lost. What a blessing it will be for these people to be able to attend church in their own language and be able to completely understand everything.

I love you all, and hope you have a wonderful week!

Oh, and congratulations to Leeann and John! And anyone else I know who is engaged but hasn't told me yet (I better be getting a letter soon if that's you).

Hermana Good

Wonderful Baptism & Transfers = Tears

Well, here we are with another week and another transfer gone. I can't believe how fast time is flying by.

Monday: We had our p-day, and spent it browsing the shops in Corrales, though everything is way to expensive to think about buying anything. Sister Michel thought it was hilarious... just before we left, I saw a spider on my sweater (I don't know how it got there--I'd just pulled it out of the dryer and it had been in my closet for maybe 15 minutes) and I totally freaked out. Normally when we've seen spiders in our apartment, no matter how big, I'm fine and squash 'em. But not this time. We watched the Testaments with the Marquez family for FHE. They were very touched as they realized that they are descendants of these people it talks about in the movie.

Tuesday: We had a pretty un-eventful day. We were walking through the park on our way to our next appointment, and had a few minutes so we stopped and played on the swings and slides. I know, I know. Not very missionary-like, but it was fun. And the pictures are quite entertaining too.

Wednesday: We got a phone call from a member who has a temporary job driving trucks to see if I had anything I wanted to send home, because he had a route taking him up north. (Whoever picked up the package, muchas gracias!) I was hoping I'd be able to send it with someone to save me some money :) We went down to Albuquerque to visit a sister who is in the hospital. And we had the English class. That will probably be a big help for me with my Spanish abilities.

Thursday: We had Week 6 District Meeting. Wow. I can't believe how fast the time is flying. There was a cold wind blowing--I felt like I was back in Rexburg. We visited one of our investigators, and she taught us how to make tortillas. And we went to a Provident Living presentation with Sister Marquez for the RS activity. If you're interested to start food storage, or to change your system, check out the blog at everythingunderthesun.blogspot.com. The system she has down is incredible! I was very interested to watch it.

Friday; We planned for next transfer. How crazy is that! We made the baptismal programs for the Marquez family. We love Sister Witkowski in the Bernalilo ward who always does the programs for us and personalizes them. They turned out beautifully. And we gave the last pre-baptismal lesson to the Marquez family.

Saturday: We went and made gorditas with another investigator. Then we went to the baptism of the Marquez family. We don't know how it happened, but we had a clothing mishap. When we got the clothing, we made sure that we had the correct sizes for everyone (they were at the church for the English class) and put them all together. But when we got to the church, we had 2 child sizes and 1 adult size. We were freaking out wondering what we were going to do when sister Cabello looked down at her clothes and realized that she was wearing a white skirt and blouse, and I had on a white undershirt, so the missionaries saved their baptism by letting Sister Marquez wear their clothes. Sister Cabello wore Sister Marquez' dress during the baptism, and her wet skirt home. That night we got home and received transfer news. There were lots of tears shed. Sister Michel and i cried as we were told that she was being transferred to Cortez with Sister Trunnell, and Sister Shade is coming here (we've got to go get her in like an hour from the mission office).

Sunday: Sister Michel started her goodbyes to the people she has come to love so much. It broke my heart as I watched her say goodbye to them, and I cried every time she cried. We've had almost 6 months together, and have grown so close. And in church, we both cried as they made the official announcement of the Rama Coronado to begin on February 28. It was Sister Michel's idea to start the Spanish service, and she won't be here to see the start of it, though she realizes that it is her time to go and hat there are lives she can bless up in Cortez.

And also, other exciting news that we received on Saturday morning (I wasn't going to say anything, but mom e-mailed me about it too, so I figure it's okay to say). Effective 1 July, 2010, the mission New Mexico Albuquerque will be splitting into New Mexico Albuquerque and New Mexico Farmington. So I could finish my mission in a different mission. How exciting that things are growing so fast that it is necessary to split the mission!

I love you all. Take Care.

Hermana Good

Bernalillo, NM Transfer 4, Week 5

Dear Family and Friends,

Well... this will be a good test as to how good my memory is... I left my paper with all of my notes in the apartment.

Monday: We spent a good portion of our p-day cleaning the apartment because we were told that inspections this transfer would be a little more in-depth since it's the first of the year (though when we had the inspection, it wasn't any different than normal). We also took down our Christmas tree. We went and found the water buffalo and took pictures with them as well as the horses, llamas, and el pacas (that I didn't know lived on our property--that was the first I'd seen them.) And we had a lesson with the Marquez family that evening.

Tuesday: We were invited to go to one of the Indian pueblos by a member of one of the wards for a celebration they had. That was really neat to see! Having gone to the Coronado monument a few weeks ago gave me somewhat of a better understanding of what was going on, because we couldn't ask questions while we were there. It was a really neat cultural experience.

Wednesday: We had a white-out snowstorm! I haven't seen one of those in a long time. Needless to say, I was glad that the tires on our car are fairly new and that I know how to drive in snow, or I would have been really nervous. A good 2 inches were on the ground in Bernalillo (a huge change from the day before when we were out walking with nothing but sweaters).

Thursday: I had my worst nightmare in terms of food. Don't get me wrong--I really appreciate when people feed us. It saves us a lot of time and money. And I'm really not a very picky eater--there's really only 2 things I won't eat: sea food and Chinese food. Well, some of our investigators invited us for lunch and fed us fish. It wasn't very fishy fish, but it was fish and I really had to talk myself into it not tasting horrible. Then we got to dinner. I saw what they were preparing and about died: rice patties, egg rolls, meatballs, oriental salad dressing. Oh boy. Here we go again. And then we sat down to eat and were told that the egg rolls had shrimp inside, and the meatballs were made of ground pork and shrimp. But I ate it and didn't complain. And I thanked them for dinner.

Friday: We had our planning session. As we were driving down to Bernalillo for our appointment, our tire pressure warning light came on. Oh brother. I pulled over as soon as I could and found that we had a flat tire, and could hear the air rushing out of it. We must have run over a nail or something. We called the driving coordinator, and the elders to let them know we had a flat and that I wasn't entirely sure how to change it. But since I watched the elders change our tire when we blew the tire a few months ago, I was able to figure out how to get the hubcap off, and the bolts, and jack up the car, and get the tire off. And we were getting ready to put the spare on when a couple guys who were filling up with gas (we were at a gas station) came over and offered to help. But I was very proud of myself. After our last incident with a tire, I said that I was going to have to have Dad teach me how to change a tire when I get home, but now I think I'll be okay. And take a wild guess what we had for dinner again. Yep, Chinese food. Take-out from a gourmet Chinese restaurant in Albuquerque. My companions were both in heaven, I struggled to eat it because it was more chinese-y than the night before. At least there wasn't anything fishy about this meal.

Saturday: The Marquez' had their baptismal interviews and we are set and ready to go for this coming Saturday! They are definitely ready. Leonardo has also decided that he wants to wait until he learns more, but it won’t be long. We were talking to the Deacon’s Quorum advisor and he told us that Leo was asking where he could get a full set of scriptures. He’s got his Book of Mormon, but he wants everything so he can learn. It is a little disappointing that the whole family isn't being baptized together, but we realize that it will mean so much more for the other children if they make the decision on their own. The three who are being baptized have strong testimonies, and the other 3 children are also gaining their own testimonies, little by little. And then we knew that there was no way we could make it to Bernalillo to meet with anyone before we'd have to head back up to Rio Rancho (especially since we were driving on the spare tire) and we'd been told that there was a chance of a bad storm over the weekend, we went and got the tire fixed. For dinner we had good old Mexican food--that I can handle. In fact, I can handle it hotter than either one of my companions. The sister fixed chiles raienos (I'm almost positive I spelled that wrong--wait, I'm more than almost positive--I'm completely positive), and the 3 of us split one and it was too hot for both of my companions, but for me wasn't hot at all.

Sunday: Fast and Testimony meeting. The Spanish Service is growing little by little--which is exciting because we are now less than 3 weeks away from our branch (and one week away from transfers ). I always love hearing the testimonies of the members. Before church, we went to visit a less active family who lives close to the church. It was cloudy, but we decided to save miles and walk. It was raining before we left their house and by the time we got to the church 15 minutes later, we were pretty wet. But at least it wasn't pouring like it did during church.

We are also very excited about the Rama Coronado that will be starting in just a few more weeks! We ate dinner with President Roundsville last night and he told us that a letter explaining all of the details will be read in sacrament meeting next week. This is going to be such a great blessing for all of the people aqui who have been attending church but not fully understanding what is being said, or for those people who will be baptized. What an exciting time for me to be serving here in this mission, and in this area!

Well... for not having my notes, this is a pretty detailed description of the week. I probably forgot something I wanted to say, but whatever. You can all at least get an idea of what happened this week. Just a heads up--next Monday is a holiday, so there will be no e-mail on Monday. And if there's no e-mail on Tuesday either it's because I got transferred, and you should all cry for me because we'll be SO close to having our branch start. Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Good

Bernalillo, NM Transfer 4, Week 4

Wow. Another MONTH has quickly flown by and I am at 7 months in the mission. This is so crazy to think how fast the time is flying by, but what a blessing it is to be here.

Monday: It was p-day. We kinda took it easy as we all had letters to write. We did make pizza for lunch using things we found in our cupboard (we don't want to know how long they'd been in there as missionaries have lived in our apartment forever, but it tasted good and we're all still alive, so I think it was okay.) We had FHE with the Marquez family and watched On the Way Home. The Spirit was really strong, especially as Brother and Sister Marquez testified to their children that this was something they wanted for their family (they'd seen it a few weeks ago and wanted their children to see it too).

Tuesday: We walked all over because we were kinda close on our miles, and it was cold and the wind was blowing. And I think it was raining, but I don't remember. Maybe that was another day during the week. Quien sabe. None of our appointments were home, which is always frustrating, but part of life as a missionary.

Wednesday: Magda invited the 5 of us missionaries over for a barbeque... though she fixed enough food to feed at least a dozen people and she kept telling us to eat more. We used the excuse that it wasn't completely done and put it back on the grill to avoid having to eat more than one piece. Then we went to help the Luna family who are moving into a house around the corner from their apartment. Then we went to dinner and had a roast and potatoes. Ugh. More red meat was exactly what I didn't want to see after the BBQ. Then we had another lesson with the Marquez' and Lunas. It was great to have their help to share their testimonies about what the Gospel has done for them, as they have been members for about 6 months (though Manuel was there too, and he was only baptized 2 months ago). The Spirit was really strong once again.

Thursday: It was cold and snowy. Actually, it was more of a sleety-drizzle. Hardly enough to get you wet, but yet Sister Cabello was going crazy that I wasn't using my umbrella and kept trying to hold hers over the both of us. I had it in my bag, it just wasn't wet enough for me to hassle with the umbrella. She said that if it rains where she's from, you don't go outside. For me, if it's not pouring, you don't really use an umbrella. Her reactions to the weather kinda make me laugh... especially her reactions to snow, because before the mission she'd never seen snow. For me, it's really weird NOT to see snow this time of year.

Friday: Planning day. We spent a good chunk of the time cleaning up our area book, because we needed to get it organized and figure out which of the former investigators we should go contact, then we headed down to Bernalillo to contact them. We had another really good lesson with the Marquez family. I am super surprised at some of the answers the youngest two kids give. I know that I couldn't have given answers like those when I was their age, and I grew up in the Church! The oldest 2 daughters, ages 13 and 14 still don't say much, and they along with their 12 year old brother want to wait for a while to be baptized so they can continue to learn more, but they have also talked about the changes they have seen in their family and have said that they do want to be baptized in the future. And we really feel that it won't be too long after their parents.

Saturday: We went with Sister Marquez and 10 year old Ruth to the baptism of a couple in the Bernalillo Ward so they could see what it was like before their own baptism in 2 weeks. It was a wonderful experience for them! While Bishop Swartz was welcoming them into the ward, he also spoke to Sister Marquez (via translation by Sister Michel) that her family are also some of the elect and that they are excited to have them in the ward. Sister Marquez was impressed that he would speak to her and let her know that they are excited to have them in the ward. They have had nothing but good experiences with members of the Church, and they aren't afraid to share the Gospel with their family and friends, even if it may mean that they may lose some of their friends or that their family members may not want anything to do with them because they know it is true. I continue to be amazed at the changes they are making in their lives. They look happier. When we woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window, and even when we left our apartment, it looked like it was going to be another cold day so I put on a sweater and my boots. But no. By 11:30 when we got the the Marquez' so we could go to the baptism, I was absolutely roasting! Temps were in the 50s--a 20 degree difference from the day before. (Hey mom, here's an idea: how about on Saturday or Sunday you look on Weather.com and send me a weather report for the following week so I can dress appropriately and not freeze or roast to death--not knowing the weather is kinda annoying, and not being able to look at any kind of news doesn't help that matter. Por favor!)

Sunday: We forgot one of our reports that we have to turn into the ward, so after trying to contact one of our appointments and finding them not at home, we headed back home to get it. We had church and dinner, and another lesson with the Marquez family. Again, I was amazed at the responses of their kids. And we got home and all started wondering where in the world January went! It disappeared!

I love this work, and consider it such a blessing for me to be here. It's not always easy, but I am learning and growing so much more than I could have ever dreamed of growing if I weren't here doing what I know my Heavenly Father wants me to do.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love you all!

Hermana Good

An Amazing Week!

Well my family and friends, I had a most amazing week here in New Mexico! It's weeks like this that make all of my sacrifices and heartaches of being a missionary seem so small in comparison to the blessings we're receiving. Oh how grateful I am to be able to serve here right now in this area at a time when so many exciting things are happening!

Monday: It was a holiday, so the library was closed. We went to the Coronado State Monument that is located between our apartment and Bernalillo. It was so interesting! It is ruins from the Kuaua (koo-aa-wa) people that are 600-700 years old. It was so interesting to see that little bit of history in this area. I really enjoyed my time there. It was interesting to see how the native people in this area lived. And it is way neat to think that they were probably desendents of the people in the Book of Mormon! The history of that location is so rich! Dad would love it. The weather was fairly nice, I was only wearing a sweater and didn't freeze. And that night we had yet another amazing lesson with the Marquez family. They hosted FHE in their home, and Brother Marquez taught the lesson about the Plan of Salvation. This family is so amazing, and are progressing so well!

Tuesday: It was a normal missionary day full of lessons and cancellations etc. We tried out a new object lesson on faith that we borrowed from some of the Elders (they did it for the dinner message when we ate with them one night). It had a really powerful affect. We'll have to do it for a FHE when I get home.

Wednesday: It was cold and windy and it hailed. It made for a miserable day, especially since we did lots of walking because we were kinda worried about where we were sitting mile-wise on our car. We actually spent a lot of time walking this week.

Thursday: We had District Meeting, and it was probably my favorite one we've had yet. Elder Jorgensen was very inspired and I felt like what he was saying was specifically for me. It was a wonderful meeting! It was again cold, and we did lots of walking.

Friday: The scab finally fell off of my dog bite. It really doesn't look as bad as I'd thought it would, and as I continue to take care of it, it will continue to get better. We had weekly planning. And we had yet another amazing lesson with the Marquez family. We committed them to be baptized! They are so excited and so ready for this step to improve their lives. This will be such a blessing to this family. I love them so much, and am so grateful to be able to be a part of their process to learn about the Gospel and make these changes in their lives.

Saturday: Once again, it was cold and we were outside walking. But we were all in a good mood after our lesson Friday night and didn't really notice the cold.

Sunday: We got the BEST NEWS EVER!!! Okay... story time. Are you ready? 7 1/2 months ago when Sister Michel was first transferred to this area, there wasn't really any support for the Spanish speakers, other than one ward who has a lot and does translation every week. But in the Bernalillo ward, where she was serving, there was nothing. Their investigators would go to church and not be able to understand anything. So she and Sister Trunnell started talking, and ran an idea past President Anderson, and President Roundsville, the Stake President. This idea was to start a Spanish service, because there weren't enough people for a branch yet. They liked this idea, and so a Spanish sacrament meeting was started, presided over by one of the counselors in the Bernalillo Bishopric. A few weeks later, Sunday School was started in Spanish. And my first week here, they had all 3 hours for the first time. What a blessing this became! President Roundsville had a vision. He wanted to start a Spanish Branch here in this area. He knew that there were enough members here in the area who speak Spanish to support a branch, so he started the process to send a request to Salt Lake for a Branch, with the hopes of having the Branch start on January 1. Well, December came and went without any word from Salt Lake. We were calling President Roundsville every week to give him an update on our work, and to ask if he'd heard anything. January 1 came and went as well, but we didn't give up hope. Well, around 10:00 we received a phone call from President Roundsville. We'd called him Saturday to let him know about the Marquez family, so that's what we thought was the purpose of the phone call. And we did talk about that. But then he gave us some VERY good news! La Rama Coronado is going to be started on February 28, 2010 at 2:30 pm!!! A horrible time for church, I know, but we've got our branch! What we've been working so hard for and the members have been faithfully and diligently waiting for has become a real blessing for the people here! Only one short month and the people in this area who speak Spanish who have been attending church in English and not really understanding, or listening to translation and not getting the full message will be able to attend church in their own language and will be able to bless and benefit each other! What a blessing for me to be here right now at this time!

(I’m thinking part of her letter didn’t come through because no signature and below is another short e-mail home and she never talked about pictures in the above part—oh well! At least we know she is having a great week and her leg is doing better )

Just kidding. No pictures. I found a card reader in my desk drawer here and thought it would work for my memory card, but it doesn't. I'll send my chip home soon. But I promise that my leg is looking so much better!

Bernalillo, NM Transfer 4, Week 2

Well, here we are in another new week. I really can't believe how fast the time is flying by here in New Mexico.

Monday: We went to lunch with the Sisters who were transferred into our zone. It was fun to visit with them and do something different for our P-day. After that, we went to the church where the Elders always gather to play basketball so I could practice the song I volunteered to sing in Zone Conference. We practiced for 2 hours... and when we were done, I didn't have a voice. That was NOT a good thing, but we both knew the song and felt comfortable singing and playing it. That night, we had FHE with the Marquez family. We watched "The Way Home" about the little girl who is killed in an accident and how her family changes and are baptized so they can be with her for eternity. There was a very strong Spirit, and they said it gave them a lot of hope.

Tuesday: We had Zone Conference. There was an amazing Spirit. I love Zone Conferences. There we were told that we had 517 baptisms in 2009--a 60% increase over 2008, and a record for the mission. And we were told that the goal for 2010 is to have 736, another 60% increase over 2009. This is such a wonderful time to be a missionary, and to be here in this mission. I can't wait to be here all year to have a part in helping so many of my brothers and sisters come to have a testimony of their Savior. The song went well... sort of. Everyone told me it was beautiful, and President told me that I sounded like an angel. But it could have been better. They had me sing it right after lunch--which was a double-whammie. I was warmed up in the morning then sat through the conference and didn't talk, and it is harder for me to sing after I eat--especially high notes. I felt like I was flat the whole song, and especially on the high notes. It certainly didn't help that the song was at the tippy-top of my range anyway. But I did it. After the conference, we had our interviews with President, which I always love and helps me to feel uplifted. We also popped in to the Marquez' that night to take them a video they'd asked us for. Well, our pop-in turned into an hour and a half full of questions from Elva. She told us that she feels very comfortable with us and loves the changes that she is seeing in her family since we've been visiting them.

Wednesday: It was Sister Michel's birthday. We had a member with us for our appointments... but every single one of them canceled on us. So she took us to KFC for lunch :)

Thursday:We had District Meeting. We had a great discussion about the Armor of God, which we also talked about in Zone Conference (see D&C 27:15-18). We got there at the same time as the River's Edge Elders, and when they saw us pull into the parking lot, they took off running into the church. We just thought they were being weird Elders like they usually are, but after District Meeting, they got into one of the cupboards in the RS room and pulled out a birthday cake for Sister Michel. So really they were running to keep us from seeing the cake. The Elders I've worked with here really are very thoughtful... with the exception of the 22 trick candles they put on the cake.

Friday: We had our daily planning. And a lesson with the Marquez family. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit was so strong! One of their daughters had a couple friends killed in a car accident the weekend before, and Elva's dad has passed away. They commented after that this really gave them a lot of hope for what is to come, and that they realize that they need to be baptized in order to be able to see these people again. This family is so amazing! We absolutely love them!

Saturday: We had lots of interesting lessons... though I don't remember why I took that note that we had interesting lessons. The weather was beautiful!

Sunday: We spent the morning knocking doors. All I had on was my jacket, and I was fine. I was thinking about how it was Grandpa Thompson's birthday ( HAPPY BIRTHDAY ) and how it is always so cold, and it really wasn't.

So yeah. That's my week in a nutshell. It was a great week, and this week is starting out just as great. Yesterday was a great p-day, though you're going to have to wait until next week to find out what we did :) Have a fabulous week!

Hermana Good