Bikes, Bikes and More Bikes!

I am already apologizing for this being short. :( One of the computers we use is broken, so we are splitting time today. That's all right though!  This last week was great! The biggest highlights I am going to talk about are the Fourth of July, $20 bike story, exchanges, Elsa, Lupe, Maria, meeting our new mission president and his wife, and my bike wreck.

The Fourth of July was fun...we stayed out until 9 like usual, but I was a little scared because people get a little wild!   I wore the best Fourth of July outfit I could find! :)

 

We aren't supposed to take money from anyone, but I have a cool story from this last week. Raul (Elsa's husband) is very drunk all of the time. He always says she has the devil in her, that she is ugly, etc. in front of us! The other night I had about had it, because Elsa is one of the SWEETEST women I have EVER met and does not deserve being treated like that. I kept saying "No,”and smiling.  Then I said, "Chistoso" which means funny (I think). I was trying to joke with him and get him to say he was teasing about calling her that. Well I guess it wasn't a good idea, because he got really mad at me and said in Spanish, "Am I a clown? Am I funny? If you want to come back again, you better treat me with respect"! SO SCARY!!! The next time we went by, I was planning on sucking up to him hard core.  It was way better when we got there, and we had an AMAZING lesson with just Elsa (she is reading the Book of Mormon EVERY DAY).  She can't come to church yet because of him, but we are trying to get her to do everything SHE can do on her own. We think it will empower her. We have seen controlling husbands a lot so far. It breaks my heart. Makes me think even more that I am NOT marrying anyone who is like that even a bit!

Anyway, back to the story...as we were leaving he was SOOOOO adamant about giving us $20 for food.  At first we said, “No...that's ok, but thank you so much".  Then I could sense him getting worked up a bit and I decided to take it. I was thinking we could just give it back to Elsa, because he probably doesn't give her much. My companion was a little more adamant about not taking it and he noticed that and was kind of upset with her about it, but it ended up being ok.

That night we had exchanges. I ended up staying here (which is weird because usually the senior companion stays, but I am glad I stayed). As Sister Rose (the sister training leader) and I were riding bikes the next day, my companion's bike broke. LUCKILY, we were close to a bike shop. We went there, asked for help, and ended up finding out that the cost for the new part and fixing it would be exactly $20.  How cool is that? We have had so many bike problems and have spent quite a bit of money on bike stuff so that was such a blessing to have. It was little but meant a lot.

Exchanges were awesome! My new companion for the day was Sister Rose. She is from Utah and is CRAZY!  She is 5'11" and has a crazy personality. She talks to EVERYONE...but is a little awkward sometimes. We got rejected a lot because I think people didn't think we were sincere because sometimes and she is SOOOO blunt. It isn't exactly how I do things, but I learned a lot from her. J

 I totally wrecked on my bike this last week, so hard! My knee is scabbing now and it kills! Thank goodness I have a very sweet companion who takes care of me. :)

 

I met the new mission president and his wife and I couldn't be happier! THEY ARE SOOOO GREAT! So personable and loving towards us. I am so excited about what they are bringing to the mission. Their first quest is to increase confidence and decrease self-doubt which is huge right now. Self-doubt is Satan's biggest tool. That is my goal lately, to start trusting myself. I am definitely still obedient, but God trusts us to know how to make our own decisions and become more effective (whatever that may take).

Updates on Elsa, Lupe, and Maria:

Elsa- kind of already told you that she is progressing. Just have to get her husband on board so she can go to church and then they will ALL be baptized! Haha!

Lupe- Found out more about Lupe that just breaks my heart. She has literally been through everything! Her adorable boys are the ones in the picture below (Oskar and Javier) and Diamond is her daughter. We have taught her kids a couple of times outside their house without her being there, because she works a lot and is hard to get ahold of. We are trying to do an FHE tonight with another family in the ward. They are PERFECT for this family!

 

 

These kittens are at Lupe's house and they remind me of the ones I left back home!  Love them!

 

Maria- Our goal for her is to be baptized this weekend! She was one that the elders taught before we got her and she was supposed to be baptized that weekend we got here but there was stake conference so she didn't. SO GLAD SHE DIDN'T! As we have taught her, we have found out that she has major issues with the Book of Mormon. First of all, she thought it was Joseph Smith's diary...plus she just has issues. Well she came to church the last two weekends and she loves it. She tells us that her daughter and husband don't want her to be baptized, but we had a member with us last night and she talked about her conversion story and it helped a lot. We are really hoping we can make that happen this week!

 

Frosted flakes are Ash's favorite! :) And a member gave us a HUGE box of them!

 

These are the cutest Bible stories that Ness designed and sent to me!

 

Picture of our apartment. I don't know why there is a huge MEXICAN FOOD sign.  Haha!

That's all I have time for...MISS YOU ALL AND LOVE YOU!

PS:

What does our last name mean? Our mission president asked us and I had no clue! :) Also, do we have any awesome family history stories? Gram? :)