Week 45

29 Sept Thursday--So!  It was so wonderful to receive the 'Caja Feliz' (aka The Happy Box aka our mission mail system) this weekend and ALREADY see all the birthday love come...letters from JD, the Allreds and Ana Rodriguez!  I'm making myself wait to read them until Oct 16!  Also, I got nice new-transfer letters from my mom Hermana Jesus (she a faithful writer), my hija Hna Piedrahita, Hna Tippets (she's now the Hna Lider of SAN PABLO!!), and I think that's it.  Oh, I got pillows, WOOH!  Hna Lindsay took hers with her, so I've been using one of Hna O's.  Yesterday we had a good district class talking about our purpose as missionaries and what is a successful missionary.  I've especially liked when it talks about our setting apart--not just to be a representative of Jesus Christ, but a setting apart from the world.  I read about our temple covenants and I loved reminding myself of those.  That's our purpose.  Keep those promises and everything else will fall into place.  We had splits yesterday through today and I got to stay here with Hna Garner!!  She trained Hna Tippetts and I've heard she's so great!  This is her 1st transfer in el campo...omgosh she goes home in 4 months.  She was so good about making me feel super loved and myself again because...well, she speaks my language! and I'm not just talking about English.  I'm talking about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, eating cookie dough (but not too much, don't worry mom!), general conference = pjs, prophets, pancakes, BYU, laffy taffy, and the fact that we BOTH didn't understand when a man named Claudio was telling us about how he'd visited a lot of planets that day (it was evident by his slightly slurred speech) and repeating 'tinto blanco' which literally means white tint. We thought he was talking about our skin...but it's alcohol.  We enjoyed so much just being gringa girls together.  We spend months and months without so many parts of what our lives have been, well, for our whole lives!  So when we filled in those missing parts for a short while, it's like we were whole again :)  But also, Heavenly Father filled us with what we needed...it's been much better lately. ..an opportunity to be 'a NEW CREATURE'.  It was refreshing to be back with Hna O.  Sep 30 and tomorrow's GENERAL CONF!!!  SO EXCITED...it will be wonderful.
Oct 2--So, the conference has finished.  I LOVE conference, I don't want it to end, so thank goodness we'll be able to download the talks soon!  There's something so cool and hopeful about listening to the voices of inspired men and women who are truly converted, Christlike, and CHOSEN by Him and KNOW Him.  The choir, too, has a way of spreading brightness and the spirit on any setting.  LOL, I sound like I'm writing an article reviewing *in the classic general conference man voice* The 186th Semiannual General Conference of The...you know the rest.  I'll write my favorite quotes/ideas part 2 tomorrow, but for now, I just want to say that I (and I don't think I'm the only one here) these past 2 days and 5 sessions of conference made me feel like I gotta REPENT.  And that I really CAN be forgiven and forget my past transgressions.  I CAN work extremely hard and become exactly what Heavenly Father wants of me through relying solely on Christ.  I've got to believe and TRUST Him...that HE is who He says He is and DOES what He says He does.  I want to work hard to put off the natural woman and make everything right.
 4 October--When did i feel the Spirit yesterday?  Erma-when she said she read and I kept reading down about tithing and made an immediate connection of 3 Nefi 24:10 and Malachi--we made evidence that the BOM is true and it was cool.  In the long windy path to the other side of town, we stopped bc Hna needed to call someone and I felt like I could take advantage of time and contact the lady hanging clothes on the other farm and Hna was like, NO!  Saying, we don't want to come all the way out here to teach her.  Whaaa?  Where's the faith?!  Turns out they've visited with missionaries before, but Claudia NO, and she chose the Restoration pamphlet and genuinely and questions about it.  I felt like we made good use of our time :)  Sylia--when I told her that she will find TRUE love here or in the afterlife because God LOVES her for real. Johnny--saying that he too was touched by a talk from conference (when I was listening, I thought of him).  Rafael-when I remembered/found the scripture I was thinking of.  Nora-when we testified.  Manuel-when we saw the #BecauseHeLives video and he was thankful.  Karina-when she said she'd read all the chastity pamphlet and had marked all of it and was making the wedding plans.  Today--when Hna was telling me more about her life and family and my eyes were opened to who she really is.  Something that I discovered this week is that my nature (and all of us as God's spirit children) is to rejoice, enjoy, have joy, be content...I remembered all the times I've felt like myself and accepted that, yes, I am naturally like that!  And I loved in the conference that Elders Nelson and Eyring talked about joy and how to obtain it.  If you all think about it, when you're having a good time with family, friends, and your Heavenly Father and Savior near, having a good day for no particular reason...you've got this high-on-life confidence and feel like you can do anything you put your mind (and prayers) to...Don't you think God wants you to feel like that EVERY day, in EVERY moment?  YES!!  Because under the influence of joy (or as Grandma Packard points out) THE SPIRIT, we focus on BETTER things that move us to become BETTER sons and daughters of our Father, who sent us here to do just THAT.  You'd think I would've studied my patriarchal blessing years ago to find that out, but I guess the Lord works line upon line...precept upon precept.  So, I'm working on not worrying so much and being how Heavenly Father made me to be so that I can help all the amazing people here!