¡FELICES FIESTAS!

¡FELICES FIESTAS! 

How are my love bugs back home holdin´ up!? I am doing great. We had another incredible week of work here in Carmelo!! How were the holidays for everybody? I had such an amazing Christmas...Celebrating the greatest life to ever live, in His service was such a blessing! Not to mention, I got to Skype with the people I love most!! :) I am so lucky. I have the best family and friends in the world..I really believe that!! Although Skype was awesome...I see why they don´t let us Skype every week..the day after is hard. Missions are hard. SO HARD. But the things I´m learning here are things that would´ve taken me a lifetime to learn. In the service of the Lord I am turning my weaknesses into strengths, challenges become opportunities, trials become triumphs, and adversity becomes an adventure!! I love this work, and I have never been so happy. I´m learning so much, and I am trying to just soak it all in and enjoy it..because compared to eternity, my time here is short!!

This week has been awesome..and it went by SO fast. We have been working our butts off, but it´s paying off! We are finding s.o.m.a.n.y.p.e.o.p.l.e. we need more missionaries in Carmelo..haha seriously though! Someone call Tommy up and let him know. When I first got here, we had 12 people show up to church..our number for last week? 52!!!! YOU GUYS! I love that! 

TURNS OUT..THE BIG GUY UPSTAIRS HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR....

Let me tell ya a bit about my week. hahaah seriously, all I can do is laugh,

It happened..stepped in dog poop. TWICE. Don´t mind my loafers with the sides cut out!! It got all over my foot...haha seriously, my companion and I couldn´t stop laughing...Next..remember that parasite I told  you about? Yeah...I´ll be just fine and then BAM, it hits me like a ton of bricks and I have to go to the bathroom..(I know, I just jumped from an 4 to a 10 on the attractive scale ) SO..we we´re teaching Floriana a lesson and just like that, I had to go...so I used her bathroom because I had no other choice...and guess what. n o t o i l e t p a p e r ..seriously. Luckily, previously I learned the hard way, and I had toilet paper in my backpack. #holla K so then...after I went to wash my hands...and not only did they not have soap..but no running water! a w e s o m e. So I used hand sanitizer and then insisted we go back to the house so I could wash my hands..hahaha nope it doesn´t end there..so thennn...we we visited the old folks home and I was chatting away with this old man who was at least 200 and his dentures fell out and landed on my shoes! a r e y o u k i d d i n g m e? I like wanted to pick them up for him but it was his dentures!! haha I was traumatized but I masked the pain with laughter. Seriously, what was I supposed to do..? Last but not least...we were having lunch with a member and we were having steak (finally, a nice break from carbs) and I was like..where are the forks and knives? Their response..? Üse your hands...k. haha so basically I´m coming home a caveman..sorry Drew!  Despite how gross and unlucky all of those things were..They make for some great stories..and some hard laughs!

We had a baptism on Saturday and it was awesome!! It´s the grandma I told you all about in one of my first emails..the crazy one that wiped her face with the bread..Ya with me? Anyway..we had to teach her through images because she has Alzheimers and can´t remember anything..I guess her interview was hilarious..They showed her a picture of Jesus and asked who it was and I guess at first she was like ¨Crazy old man¨  uhh..almost? But after being reminded, she got it right! :) She seriously is the sweetest..I am so happy for her. They don´t think she has much time left, so they´re trying to work something out where she can go through the temple sooner than a year...so pray for her please!! At her baptism she didn´t want to go in the water and she was calling everybody the N word hahaha..so that was entertaining..(Oh, the N word isn´t bad here..seriously everyone says it so casually..) Once it was over she felt good and bore her testimony to all of us. She loves us so much, and we love her back.

Okay...so the saddest thing! We can´t teach Mario Jose, Pedro, and their mom anymore...they moved out of our area. (since I know my mom and grandma are reading this) The real story? We found out that Mario Jose was in jail for murdering two police men! WHAT!? I seriously don´t think he would ever harm us...he loves us..But we got word that we can´t teach them anymore. Maybe one day, when some hefty elders come in, they can teach them! I just feel bad because these people NEED the gospel.. Seriously they deserve it. They´re such good people, but I guess right now just isn´t their time. Pray for them!! :) (jeeez I´m such a missionary, ¨pray for them¨ ¨pray for them¨ änd them...and them..¨ but really though, do it)

New Years!!! Are you guys all so pumped for tonight!? All my girls geting all dressed up and sparkly and what not!? JELLY! But not really, because I love every single day here...we get to stay up til 12..WHHHAAA! That´s like unheard of! But I hear the fireworks are awesome, so I´m excited for that. We´re going to a members house for a BBQ (the same members house that we were at for Christmas) they are so nice and always take care of us missionaries! The best part is that they´re less active so we get to teach while we´re there..They are starting to trust us, and they love us more every single day..I think they´ll be really strong members pretty quick here! Anyway, tis the season for Metas!!! GOALS!!! My resolution is to become more Christlike. So every month I am going to study an attribute and do all that I can to obtain it.  I´ve done some studying, and have found some scriptures to go with every attribute.. I´ll share them with you all the first of every month, and you can do it with me! (If you want!) I chose PATIENCE for January..Scriptures: 2 Nephi 10:17 Romans 8:25 Alma 17:11 Romans 15:1 Ether 12:27 and Alma 34: 40-41 I set some other goals too, and I am excited to work towards them! 2013 was hands down the best year of my life..finished my Junior year of school, got my patriarchal blessing, traveled, met my two baby cousins..the big 21...and now I´m on a mission! How did that happen!? So many things to be excited about!! It´s crazy to think that I will be in Uruguay for all of 2014..I´m the luckiest.

Well, I´m going to go now..Oh we had changes yesterday, so we got a new Elder..He´s from Arizona and is as white as they come. I´m no longer the newb!! Hearing him try to speak Spanish reminds me of my first week here..tragic haha. I just want to give him a hug (don´t worry, I wont.) It really puts it into perspective how much Spanish I have learned in six weeks. The gift of tongues is real!! Heavenly Father has blessed me tremendously. Speaking of the gift of tongues, I taught Sunday School in church on Sunday and taught about the gifts of the spirit..it was fun to get to share my testimony about that! I love all of you so much, don´t forget to write. urugoest@gmail.com Send me letters throughout the week to that email! :) 

Food for thought: ¨Doubt your doubts before your doubt your faith¨

Now Playing in the Ciber: ¨Walk Like an Egyptian¨ 

Con Amor,

Hermana Sorenson

I SAW HERMANA BACA AT A CONFERENCE. Oh, and we matched!! (It must be that cousin telepathy)

¡FELIZ FIESTAS!

So to start...Floriana shaved her eyebrows off this week. hahah I can´t even look at her without laughing. The good news, is that she laughs too and she´s like I don´t know what I was thinking...and I¨m like you obviously weren´t.. I thought you´d all get a kick out of that...eyebrows are essential people! Now for the more serious stuff..It has been such a crazy week of work here in Uruguay, and it DOES NOT feel like Christmas. Kind of sad, but it´s okay because I am super busy, so I don´t have much time to think about it!!!! Things are really good here, and we are finding more people to teach every single day! PREPARED people none the less!!! :) We have been doing a lot of service lately, we have a service project almost every day, and sometimes twice a day. We rake, weed, and clean for members, and people of other faiths. I really loved the weeding and raking..WHO AM I? But seriously, minus the sweat, I was loving it. We also did a lot of service in the church preparing for our Christmas Party. It was a lot of work..It made me feel so bad for not helping out more at my wards at home..If you have time...HELP. So much goes into every activity behind the scenes..and it is a lot of hard work. So if you can, make time to help out...not to mention, ya feel good doing it! :) 

Today was our Christmas P-day so we got to watch a movie and go to the beach (no we didn´t get in the water.) We watched Despicable Me 2 IN ENGLISH!! I was laughing so hard..I was reminded that I´m a 12 year old at heart. Anyway, I hope you´re all having a beautiful holdiday season, and always keeping Jesus Christ in your thoughts..Afterall, it is Him whom we are celebrating this time of year and always!! :) We biked to a family in the branch´s house for the movie and lunch...it´s only an hour and fifteen minute bike ride both ways...so I am currently dying of heat stroke as I type this. Pray for me. haha

We found...well I shouldn´t say that. This new investigator FOUND US this week. It was incredible. We were tired from a long day of not much success...walking home at 9:00 PM and this man started yelling at us from his yard saying words like ¨OFFER, RELIGION, CHURCH, TEACH ME!¨ haha ¨Uh...okay...we can do that!¨ His name is Carlitos, and he is so awesome, he has so many questions and is sooo curious. We taught him The Restoration and he said he would pray about it. Then two days later, he walked two miles to our Church looking for us because he wanted to learn more about Christ!! Are you kidding me!? HE IS CAPO (awesome) We have another lesson with him on Christmas. What a good Christmas present for both of us!! We´re so excited about him, and he is excited about us. He is so great. More good news..remember the family I told you about my first week here that we found that has the picture of Ricky Martin on their wall? THEY COMMITTED TO BAPTISM!!!!!! The whole family! So that is happening on January 4th. The two boys have a problem where they can´t read or write...so the mom reads to them every single night. It´s truly a miracle! Want more good news? We reactivated this family..and they have a little girl named Angiolina (who I adore) she is nine...and the parents said we could start giving her the discussions...and their baby is being blessed on the fifth of January! THE WORK IS HASTENING HERE IN CARMELO URUGUAY AND I AM SO BLESSED TO BE A PART OF IT! 

I got to teach dance on Saturday and it was a success...it started with all of the young women and then all the boys got bored of sports and came upstairs and attended dance class! haha I was loving it..To my surprise the elders were the most coordinated of them all. It was priceless..and I was truly having so much fun. It´s now a set activity for every single Saturday! Whooooot! 

Remember that time I said I wanted to sing in church? Yeah...me neither. But it happened...yesterday..and it was T R A G I C. The missionaries got asked to sing ¨Noche De Paz¨ aka ¨Silent Night¨ and so we arranged this melody with like English and Spanish mixed...and it was going to be awesome..right? Well at the last second the branch president said that he and his wife were going to join us because they´re missionaries too...hahahah you guys. It was so funny. they were WAILING...say it with me. TONE DEAF. I was trying to hard not to laugh..but it was nearly impossible..I just stopped singing because I had to only focus on not laughing. 

Sunday was a hard day for me...not sure why. I just was thinking a lot about home..and the holidays..and it was hard..I think that´s normal...ya know to have bad days. But during sunday school..the Holy Ghost prompted me to read Alma 17..and after ignoring it for twenty minutes because I was trying to pay attention to the teacher...it was SO LOUD...I needed to read Alma 17. It was about Ammon and his mission. His trials were far greater than mine..and he handled them like a boss! He didn´t cry about it! Instead he pressed forward with patience and faith! WHAT A STUD. I don´t have to heard sheep...and slay the arms of armies...I only have to learn a language...Miracles only occur when faith is present. My day turned around in a blink of an eye, and I was so grateful for my mission and all that I have been blessed with. When we are patient in long-suffering we receive so many blessings! I was comforted, and Jesus Christ, as always, was quick to come. 

Everything is great here, I love the people...my capacity to love grows every single day. Thank you all for all of your love and support. Keep writing, I love hearing from you all! Have the best Christmas ever and remember what this time of year is all about behind all of the hype..The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so excited to spend this Christmas in dedicated service to Him..What better gift could I give him! I love you all, and I love my Savior!!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS LADIES AND GENTS.

PS...the food here is disgusting. I am way sick after almost every meal haha. We only eat once a day and it´s always rice, potatoes, or pasta...carb wit it. haha but my bod just isn´t taking it well. I may or may not have a parasite. Merry Christmas Saffy Taffy! hahaha it´s no big deal though, some of you were just asking about the food..so there´s your answer. 

Con Amor,

Hermana Sorenson

Our Christmas Party!!

we at the hotel....mooootel

How is it P-day already!? I don´t know, but Happy Monday!!! :) I hope you´re all having a good day, and getting ready for Christmas. WHOOOT! I have had the best week of my life here in Uruguay...seriously! It has been so crazy, but I`ve loved it. 

So I´m just gonna dive right in.

Picture cynderblocks coated in ice....that´s what I slept on last Tuesday..haha comfortable? But the next day we had a huge zone conference with two other zones in our mission in Montevideo....don´t worry...only a four hour drive both ways. We heard from Brother Gonzales who is an area seventy. It was an incredible meeting and I felt like the spirit taught all of us a lot. I also saw Hermana Baca and Elder Dietrich from my district at the empty sea!!!!!! It was the best reunion...and it was so great to hear about all of their experiences and speak to them in Spanish. H O L L A. So after the conference we didn´t get to Colonia (a city about an hour away from my area) until 10....and we were supposed to catch another bus to Carmelo...haha busses stopped coming at 8. So naturally the elders were instructed to sleep in the church with no blankets...and President Smith got us hermanas a suite in the nicest hotel in Uruguay. Sorry elders. It was such a riot, we got in our hotel room and there was like Oreos on each of our beds, and a ticket for breakfast in the morning! No complaints there! Our breakfast the next morning was the most beautiful sight I´ve ever seen..haha at least in four weeks anyway. It was fresh fruit, and at lest 46 different types of biscochos!!! The best part? While we were eating breakfast I overheard these three men speaking to each other in ENGLISH! So I yelled across the room and asked them where they were from.. One from Finland, one from Romania, and one that didn´t answer me. Coo? Anyway, I gave them each contact cards and bore my testimony in a language I know about the Restoration. It. was. awesome. I told them there were missionaries e v e r y w h e r e..In Romania! In Finland! I was like overly excited so I¨m hoping I didn´t freak them out hahaha (leave it to me to freak someone out with my enthusiasm.) We also left a Book of Mormon with our testimonies in our room for the cleaning lady to find. I´m positive that there is a reason that we ended up where we did last Wednesday night...and I don´t think it was to pay us back for the ¨beds¨we slept on Tuesday night either! The Lord works in mysterious ways peeps. :)

The last baptism I attended before my mission was my little brother Jake´s ...although it was a great day, I didn´t fully comprehend what he was doing that day. Thursday was the best day of my life...We had two baptisms. Niko and Eduardo. Niko was just glowing the entire time, and right before he came up and asked us to help him with his tithing...five pesos. Five. If that doesn´t tug on your heart strings, then I don´t know what will. You guys!!! He´s an angel!! He is teaching me so much, he loves the gospel with all of his heart! Eduardo is awesome. He is married to a member, Cynthia and they have two little kiddos. (They´re so darling.) Us missionaries sang ¨Families Can Be Together Forever¨ and it was so emotional because we were all picturing Eduardo and his family in the temple a year from now!!! That´s their goal..so I look forward to helping them get to that point! :) They´re an awesome family. I wish I recognized the significance of baptism before my mission...it really is the gateway to eternal happiness!!! How cool is that?

Saturday!!!! Our entire branch went to the temple!!! Best day ever!! (...again) But seriously, the temple was awesome. On the way down there one of the members got sick so we had an hour pit stop....ya know...just missed the session is all. It ended up being good though because some members went at 1:00 and the rest of us at 3:00...so when we arrived in Montevideo we had a good four hours to kill. Lucky for us missionaries, we got to hang out in the mission home until our session. Hermana Smith is the best host ever and made the boys this fixture of meat on a bun, and us girls BBQ Chicken salads. hastag, tendermercies. We then played Christmas bingo, catch the marshmallow in your mouth (which I´m pro at), finish the Christmas puzzle in five...or thirty minutes, and ping pong! It was so fun..Then it was time for the best part. m o n t e v i d e o t e m p l e. They were so accomodating...they put up English subtitles for yo girl so that I could understand what was going on. It was so peaceful, and I learned so much. I never realized how lucky we were to have temples literally everywhere in Utah...I regret not going more..like every single day! But I think that I needed to experience this to better appreciate it..I. love. the. temple. I could hardly sleep the night before because I was so excited to go, and I feel like that´s how it should always be. Ya know!? Like we should be so excited to go the temple! It really is such a great blessing that we have a place like that on earth. K I´ll stop being all preachy now. The bus ride home was tragic..hahaha I´m laughing out loud thinking about it. One of the kiddos was way way sick and throwing up..then we ran over a skunk, then I´m positive that one of the kids (or grandmas) pooped their pants...and then all the oldies were dousing themselves in perfume from the 70´s...so it smelt really good in there. -_-  So I decided to look exxxxxxtrrra Egyptian for most of the ride home and wrap my scarf around my face a time or two. haah sue me.

It was a beautiful week here in Carmelo. I am loving my mission. I am sad it´s going by so fast. I am so glad I came, I know I say this every week, but I am learning so much. The Book of Mormon has all of the answers to everything, and there is a l w a y s  more to learn. Fun fact? For language study this week I translated my patriarchal blessing to Spanish..That was cool, because words in Spanish are more specific...It was fun to analyze the differences and what not. I hope you all have a beautiful week, have a huge snow ball fight for me...don´t break any windows doing so Drewb. Oh...and for some reason, I can´t get any of my pictures to attach. :( I promise to send some next week for Christmas. 

PS....I GET TO TEACH DANCE TO THE YOUNG WOMEN EVERY SATURDAY! :) How fun is that!? We start this week, and I am so excited..the young women seem excited too. I miss dance so much, and the streching during language study just isn´t cuttin´ it! 

w r i t e m e

urugoest@gmail.com

use it.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Con amor,

Hermana Sorenson

two months down?

!HOLA!

Today marks two months in the mission!! How did that happen!? I know I say this in literally every email...but time flies here in the mission! It was such a good week, and I think that I might be in love...just kidding, relax. But seriously, you guys..NIKO. Our investigator that reminds me of Jake is such a stud! He has so much faith! His family is like...not for the church at all but lucky for us we caught his mom on a good day and she said he could get baptized!! Whoop, there it is! (ten points to anyone that read that in the Fat Amy voice) But he is only 11 and has such a strong testimony and truly loves this gospel! I´ll attach a picture. :) Anyway....so that´s how my week is going. AMAZING! I have learned so much this past week, I sometimes wonder who´s the missionary here because I´m positive that these people are teaching me more than I am teaching them! This week, I feel like the language clicked more or less. I am understanding most things, and can speak fairly well! The gift of tongues is real, I am always able to say what I need to say during lessons.:) More than anything, my knowledge about the gospel is increasing every. single. day..and there is still so much to learn. Always will be! Guess who got put on blast in church on Sunday? Yep..me. haha they were announcing the program and then Hno. Otero said and then we will hear a message from Hna. Sorenson. Uh. K. haha but it went really well. I think! :) I talked about the work here, and my experience as a missionary so far. 

Culture: things I forgot last week, or just encountered this week.

-Uh...the milk here is in bags. 

-the roads are almost all dirt (siiiick for my shoes...just kidding I don´t care)

-people literally drive horses. haha the horses are connected to a giant wooden wagon thing, and the people just stand in there and stear the horses! They´re everywhere..and they just act like it´s normal! 

-THEY DON´T REFRIDGERATE THEIR EGGS!!! HELP. (you win Bradshaw)

Funny: OH MY GOSH. 

-Okay, so this is from last week but it´s so funny that I have to tell you all! Okay, so the kids have uniforms that they all have to wear to school, and the are like these white dress things, with a giant navy bow on the front...well my first time seeing one of these bad boys was on Thanksgiving and I was like ¨Awe, they´re dressed up for Thanksgiving!¨and my comp was like...¨This is Uruguay....not America.¨haha k.

-The elders had a rough week...first of all, they tried to give themselves haircuts..needless to say, they now have buzzed heads. haha it was tragic. Then on sunday they were going to a members house for lunch and they had ALLIGATOR..haha suckas! We got this pasta that probably wasn´t much better..but still, it wasn´t alligator!

-I learned how lead music this week..not by choice. I got volunteered and just wung it. Is ¨wung¨a word? No one seemed to question my ability so I figure I did an alright job!

-Ok, so we don´t have a piano, so we have a cd player for the hymns in church and one of the hymns was sped up (and spanish is already like a million words per minute haaha) I. WAS. CRYING. It was so funny, everyone was trying to stay reverent and sing..but it was so fast. It reminded me of that scene on Superstar when the music gets sped up while they´re dancing..(that reference was for you mom)

Spiritual: 

-Last Tuesday we had THE BEST district meeting ever. We talked about Christs atonement. What an eye opener! I learned so much in that meeting and it would take forever to tell you everything, but some of my favorite notes say:

¨Whenever things get hard in the mission, I need to remember Him and His Atonement. Why would I ever think that this would be easy, when it was never, EVER easy for Him? When I am tried, and tested...I need to remember that I am standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest life that ever lived!¨ Isn´t that great?! and so true!!! Then during scripture study this morning, I came across this scripture that applies perfectly D&C 84: 88 

¨...I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.¨ From that point on..when ever I am sulking about my so called ¨problems...¨ I will be reminded of Him and His Atonement...and I know it will help me throughout my entire mission, and always! :)

-Our investigators are improving tenfold, and I love them all so much. They are so awesome and ready for the gospel in their lives!!! Seeing the changes that occur in people through living the principals of the gospel, is truly a priviledge! There is no better feeling than getting to witness people experiencing the happiness of the gospel in their OWN lives for the first time! They´re so excited to have found what they didn´t even know they were looking for.

-............DRUMROLLLLLLL. I´m pretty positive I found my REAL grandpa on my dads side...nothing on my real dad yet, but finding my grandpa is a huge step! We were doing a family history activity and the branch presidents wife started screaming and crying and calling my name. So I ran over there and BAM! Besir Gouda is his name. Then the best part? We got approved to go to the temple this Saturday with our branch..So...Edgar (my first friend in the branch) is going to do his baptism and confirmation work. My whole life I´ve been looking for information...so I could do the work for that part of my family and n a d a. I was using the wrong resources..the church has it all! :) I am excited to say the least...I a m s o b l e s s e d.

The Lord is working some pretty big miracles here in Uruguay... I am so blessed to have this opportunity, and I am learning so much. I miss you all back home, but I can´t imagine my life without these people!! Thank you for your emails, and letters. I love hearing from you!! Thank you for your love and prayers, as always, I can feel them from here. :) Two months down, sixteen to go! THAT. IS. CRAZY. Have a great weeeeeeek lovers!

Birthday shoutout to Aunt Danielle, Ciara, Elva Godinez, Gracee Allred, and Alex Allen!! I love you guys!

PS: Someone update me, how was Mykas wedding!? Send pictures! And Paul Walker died!? A little too fast a little too furious? He isn´t waking anywhere......okay I´m done. hahaa just writing what I am sure everyone already put on Twitter. 

xo-Hermana Sorenson

INTRODUCING: Niko! He´s getting baptized on Thursday!!! Please pray for him!! :)

yolo

¡Hola! ¿Que pasa familia y amigos? Today is the first day of December! How is that possible? Time is going by s o f a s t.

My week has been hectic, fun, spiritual, fast, emotional, funny, slow, hectic...hectic...hectic? I´m going to try to better organize this letter since I feel like last weeks was LOCO. But I don´t have much time because my mom sent me an email equivalent in length to the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon...so yeah. Here goes nothing!!!!

Culture: d i f f e r e n c e s (though I´m positive the shorter list would be similarities)

-they drive skoot skoots or ride bikes everywhere, hardly any cars.

-they like..don´t believe in water haha which is torture for me because that´s all I drank in Utah besides an occasional Horchata from Molca of course..But they drink juice, and mate. 

-They put MAYONAISE on every thing. Kill me!! hahah So quick flash back..this summer we were playing a good ole fashioned game of Sorry and whoever lost had to eat a spoonful of Mayo with salt on it...and guess who lost and will forever hate mayo? YUP. UH-HUH YOUR GIRL. Hellllllp.

-NO cops....so those that do drive, drive crazy. seriously...haha don´t mind the stop signs.

-they have the most messed up sleeping schedules ever. For example...the store hours are as follows.. Open from 6-9:30 AM  Closed for sleep from 9:30-6:00PM and Re-open from 6:00-Midnight ) haha logic?

-I can carry my washing machine and dryer in one hand. haha literally I wash my clothes with a big red bucket, and we have like clothes line with clothes pins. My hands are like raw from ringing out water..so that´s awesome haha and the thing that gets me about that is that we have like a sink from the future...it lights up! hahaha what the heck! No washing machine, no dryer, but a light up sink from 2020. 

-They put ketchup on sandwiches...gross!

-The homes are all cement, and then they have colored doors. It´s the cutest, and the flowers here are so pretty!! But you can´t touch them because they have thorns on them!

-Every time it rains everyone makes Torta Fritas!! It´s like a salty scone. Weird tradition, but everyone does it!! 

Funny:

So many funny things happened this week...

-So once a week I get to teach English to the people in our branch..it is my favorite! I love it! But I was teaching them how to pray and I was saying ¨We are grateful for your love¨and all of them...ALL of them kept saying ¨thank you for yo-lo¨ hahaha I was dying! I kept being like ¨NO!! HAHAA your love!! and they´d be like ¨yo-lo yo-lo¨ Anyway, I decided that English is much harder to learn than Spanish, and I am grateful that I am learning Spanish and not English! :)

-None of the people can pronounce my name. So I´ve been called Hermana Cinnamon by like 14 people this week. Coo? 

-Okay, so we have this lady in our ward that is a little bigger but I love her to death and she is more on the wealthy side of Uruguay and we went to her house for lunch (that´s another story) but while we were there, I was trying to compliment her house and say like ¨you have a big house!¨ and I said ¨usted tiene un grande Cara¨ well...cara means face. NICE SAF. haha she looked like she was going to kill me...and then I noticed what I said and I was like ¨Ah!!! casa! casa!¨ haha tebow for me.

-So that same day...that ladies husband picked us up for lunch because they live like 30 minutes away but we got there in 20 because I swear to you...this guy was going 110 MPH. hahaha I was so scared for my life, and the seatbelt didn´t work! I was gripping the door handle so tight..I´m sure he saw the terror in my face and thought it was hilarious. Then when we got there the grandma was there and she is c r a z y. She was screaming Spanish swear words across the dinner table and then she started wiping her mouth with BREAD. hahahaha I think she thought it was a napkin, but it was the funniest thing ever. It was a disaster of a lunch, but I laughed a lot. 

spiritual: the best part.

-We have two investigators with baptism dates set for December 13th!! I am so excited, Niko who is 11 (reminds me of Jake) and Eduardo who is married to a member named Cynthia...and Cynthia is so excited!! I am so excited for them!!!! :) That is going to be such a good day, and make all of the blood, sweat, and tears worth it!

-One day we were walking to find a house of a refferal and we ended up lost. :( But while walking down this unknown street we ran into a man named Pedro. We ended up talking to him, his mom Margerita, and his brother Mario Jose..I LOVE THIS FAMILY. They are so ready..they are the poorest family I have ran into, literally have nothing. I had to fight tears in their house the first time because if nothing else, they still had pictures of Jesus Christ hanging all over their cement walls. Oh and one giant picture of Ricky Martin. When we gave them a picture of Jesus Christ...Margetita held it up t her mouth and kissed it. IT. WAS. SO. SWEET. We have them commited to come to church on Sunday so I am excited about that!!! Margerita has so much love for her Heavenly Father. I am learning so much from this family. I truly believe that we weren´t lost at all, and Heavenly Father sent us down that road for a reason.

-Yesterday. What a day. I have never atteneded a better fast and testimony meeting in my life. It was beautiful!! These people are amazing and have such strong testimonies!!! I was promted to bear my testimony, so I did. It was broken spanish...but I know that my message was understood, because almost everyone was in tears. Including me of course! Since when have I been emotional? I don´t know what it was, but the spirit was so strong. I bore testimony of Jesus Christ. I know he lives, and my relationship with him was strengthened more this week then ever has in my life!!! I am the only one here that speaks English. It is hard...but this week I had an ¨ah-ha´¨ moment....JESUS CHRIST SPEAKS MY LANGUAGE! I have a friend, and he understands me! How amazing is that!? I have been talking to him about everything, and he has yet to leave my side.. It´s been incredible and I am so much more aware of His love for me now, then ever before!!! With His help, I can do this. I can do hard things!!!! :) 

This is hard work, but I love it. I am learning so much about the gospel, and so much Spanish every day. I L O V E T H E S E P E O P L E. They are so sweet, and I can feel their love for me through every other way besides their words hahaa...but I am beginning to understand those too. Thank you all for you love, support, and prayers. I can feel them stronger now than ever!!! I love you all and appreciate all of you. I can´t believe how fast time is flying by, I´ll be home in no time..but first I´ve got some very important work to do!! :) Pray for the people here please! Oh and I hope you all had an AMAZING Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for all of you, genuinely! I love this time of year, and I hope you´re all downing enough pie for me too! 

PS: Thank you all for you emails, I love them so much! I am so sorry I can´t personally respond to them, but keep sending them!!! Also...no more Dear Elder! There is a cool new thing called URUGOEST...so all you do is send an email from your accound to urugoest@gmail.com and in the subject box just write my full name and uruguay  montevideo west!!!! I will get those every week :)

I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!!

Con amor,

Hermana Cinnamon 

This picture is Floriana and I in her house!!! I love her so much!!!