2/2/15 Week 47

What does that spell?

I think the families of all the cockroaches I murdered in Fort Worth did some intense detective work and figured out where I was, and then decided to unleash Big Bertha to teach me a lesson! Seriously, this thing was the size of a MOUSE!!!  But ha!  It didn't work! We stabbed her with a knife and she died :) RIP Bertha.

Big Bertha - These are 6 inch tiles she's standing on!

I felt bad emailing you a bunch of cliffhangers last week and then not giving any details.  So here you are….I'm going to give you the detailed low down on everyone we're working with right now  (Even though this might be pointless since there's a pretty good chance I'll get transferred next week).
 

There's Raul, who is a humble older guy.  He's about 50 and he has a very Catholic family!  It's so hard because this last time we taught him tears were just streaming down his face. He said he knows it's true and this is the path god wants him to take, but he just wants his family to see that it's not something bad.  He and his wife (they call her "Gordita") kind of got into it a little in one of our lessons.  Kinda awkward!  So that's basically the only thing keeping him from being baptized at this point.  It was so cute.  In our last lesson he was crying and thanking God for sending him angels guide him.  Ahhhh - my heart..

Awesome birthday dinner with the Diaz Family

Moving along, we've got Abel y Liliana.  They're a cute young couple in their late 20's whose parents are members and apparently they’ve been investigators for forever.  But guess what?  The only reason they haven't been baptized yet is because Abel didn't have the papers he needed so that they could get married, but (it's about to get good) by some miracle he just happened upon this guy that works for a company who can help get the papers he needs.  Wahoo!  So the Bishop is going to marry them and then they can get baptized as soon as they want!  Apparently it’s a huge deal in the ward.  Everyone knows them and is super stoked.  I really hope I get to help with the wedding.

Also we've got Jesus, Alfredo, and Alvarro.  They are all 3 single guys and are somewhat similar.  They all just want a change in their lives and say they can feel something different about our message.  Ding ding, golden!  Also, I almost forgot about Margarita.  There was a mom in the English-speaking ward who would always put links and post church stuff on Facebook, and then she started noticing that one of the Hispanic ladies she worked with was liking all of her stuff.  She's so cute.  She said it was super scary, but she got the courage to talk to her, and ask her if she wanted to meet with us.  She said yes!  The lessons have gone awesome!  She has tons of questions.  That’s always a good sign of someone's interest level. 

Now it's 1015 and I'm so freakin stuffed full of pizza I can barely move.  I ate 1 piece for every year of my life.  Yep 20 pieces!  I'm never looking at a slice ever again.  And sigh…Elder Piera ate 21!  But I did shock all of them, which was basically my plan all along. 

I did some family historing and found these names.  I'm not quite sure what the deal was with poor Eystein but I sure feel bad for him!

Anyways, I could just go on and on.   But basically I really love it right now!  I feel really like I can be myself around my comps, which is saying a lot. We are still working on consecration….but we'll get there.  I just really want to give my whole heart to the Lord!  But that’s sooo much easier said than done.

Who wants to hear about an awesome missionary experience?  I assume you all said "ME!"  Last Monday an appointment canceled, and then while we were driving to go see a potential, we got a referral from the English sisters.  So we said "Yolo" (is that still a thing?) and went straight to the referral, who we literally knew nothing about.  She opened the door and let us right in. She was sooooo excited to see us!  It was kind of freaking us out a little. Haha, but basically she started immediately to tell us her story about how she was living in Dallas and going through some major health problems. She actually ended up losing her sight for awhile. During all of this she decided she better figure things out spiritually, and that's when the Dallas missionaries knocked on her door:)   They taught her right up until she had to move to Fort Worth, and she had been here for 3 months truly praying that God would send the missionaries back!! :)  Ahhh!  For those of you who aren't missionaries, this is literally what we dream about!  I almost started jumping up and down when she said flat out "I know that the Mormon Church is the path that God wants me to take"  -eeeeeeppp! So we set a baptism date for the 21st of February. We are so stoked to work with her! Well, I guess I would be but I won't be around, so my comps have some amazing work to do here in Arlington!

You heard right, I won't be around!  Transfer time again! Drum roll please....Hermana Bonny will be serving in…. Lewisville, Texas!  Woooooo!! Yup, I'm leaving again.  This is crazy!  But I've heard many good things about Lewisville :)  Transfers are always super bittersweet. I'm going to miss this ward TONS, and Nora and my comps, but there's always something exciting about going to a new place.  And the great thing about transfers is that you always know it's where God wants you to be.  So duh, you're gonna love it....or learn from it.  Usually both.  So some insane packing again for me! Yippee.
 

Hermana Bonny's new comp.  Sorry, we don't even have her name yet.

One other notable experience this week -  I went on a fantastic exchange this week with my sister training leader in CASTLEville (an appropriate name)! Literally it's called Southlake and its one of the richest zip codes in the US.  Glen Beck is in her ward, and if the Jonas brothers and Tiger Woods were Mormon they would be too! The houses there are INSANE!  After I got over my culture shock...and got over wishing that I had brought one of my skirts that didn't have a stain on it....I had a really awesome time! We went and did service at this really fancy retirement home, and helped them color pictures and read the bible. Then we went and ate Egyptian cuisine. Solid day:)
 

It was definitely a good time, but I was a little wierded out with myself when I was relieved to be back in the not so nice part of town.  What is the mission doing to me? Haha pretty much the church is true and I can't wait to go baptize all of Lewisville!! :)

<3hermana bonny