I'm the coldest, tiredest, confusedest I have ever been in my life, but I am just so gosh darn happy!

My week has been pretty good! Just going on, doing the work :) 

I guess I'll start this email with the spiritual part, because that's how it happened this week. Ha well I got an awesome email from David last weekend- he shared an experience and talked about the story in the Bible about how Peter and the other disciples went fishing and caught nothing all night... Ha that's how hermana buys and I kind of felt about our area-- we've literally been fishing all day and all night, spending so much time and energy on the work only to get nothing-- not a single fish in any shape or form :P finally, a fellow Galilean calls out from the shore asking if they'd caught anything. Glumly responding in the negative, their Savior tells them to cast their nets on the right side and they would find. The trick is that even after all they could do, they needed to try and give just a little more- a little more (1) faith to believe that after catching nothing all night, they would still be able to find... And (2) a little more energy to actually cast the nets one more time... Well, for the past couple weeks, hermana buys and I have been got and  going and walking and praying and studying and hoping... Just to be able to find one little fish who's readying for the gospel, and who needs it in their lives. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing again. Sunday for fast Sunday, I prayed and fasted for help to get our area going. After doing all we could do and being as exhausted as all get-out, we put forth more effort. Monday and Tuesday were incredible miracle-kind of days. We haven't had as dramatic a catch as the apostles did, but we are beginning to find more In our area, and it's finally heading in a good direction :)

Monday night, we went and met with a member in the ward that we've met with a lot. But this time, we decided to make an effort to invite her family members, and make sure we have a little lesson that would be good for at kind of situation (she's the only member in her family). We invited her son and his girlfriend to join us. He said they were busy. We said it would only take ten minutes of their time. He said maybe. SO we kept chatting with the member for a bit. After waiting an ample amount of time, hermana buys and I started the lesson. Guess who came out? The son and his girlfriend. Guess who was really interested in the fact that there is a modern prophet on the earth today? AND the member bore her testimony about Joseph smith to her son. It was the sweetest thing. Afterwards, they went back to their room, and the hermana got us dinner. as we were eating, she just had the most excited smile on her face, and when she prayed, she spent the whole time praying for them. It meant so much to her that they sat in on the lesson and responded so well to it. It was a really sweet experience. :) and it was cool to help her do missionary work within her own family!

That's also the meal where I ate a whole jalapeño straight. Haha she's so sweet- she remembered I liked things spicy and brought me my own personal jalapeño- the biggest one I think I've ever seen. Mmmmmmmm :D

Tuesday was another miracle day. We walked around All Day. Looking for people. We had no appointments, and so we just kind of had to go and hope for the best. We got more PNI'S (potential new investigators) that day than we've gotten for weeks combined. So many people responded so well to us that day! And there are So many families too! We are excited to work we them in me next couple weeks :) it wasn't a mountain of a hundred and something fishes, but it felt pretty great :)

Despite some of the miracles we saw this week, there were days where hermana buys and I looked out the window and just DID NOT want to go outside. It's cold. Were getting really sick of the cold. And people aren't very nice to us,  and we know we're just going to get really tired. And were already tired.

BUT 

Mind over matter :)

Ha we go out ANYWAY.

And it was great.

Not really, but we made it great.  

Ha we know that the message we bring and the work we do is more important than sleeping in an extra couple hours or hiding inside for part of the day.

That's why we keep doing it.

Ha good thing the church is true!! :)

On Thursday, we had a Sisters conference- all the sisters in the mission went :) gosh I love those things so much :) we talked about the atonement, learned exercises, talked about the iPads and Facebook, discussed homesickness, learned self-defense (yeah, don't mess with us... not to mention the Mace I carry in my purse, thank you District Leader Ray). It was an awesome conference :) sister missionaries are pretty awesome- I'm so grateful for all the sisters I've met on my mission. And it was so nice just to be together to learn and be uplifted and strengthened :)

Another thing I learned at the Sisters Conference-- I don't eat like a white person anymore. Haha that was pretty funny- we had this really nice delicious soup with chips and a salad and stuff, and I just dug right in and didn't talk until I was done! When we eat food with Hispanics, we go in thinking... "GAME ON" Ha my companion and I would look at each other, roll up our sleeves, and just go to town.  I'm used to eating far beyond the point of being full- I stuff myself in literally every meal.  Hispanics don't talk much while they eat- you talk before, you talk after... But while your eating, your only focus is on the mountain of rice and beans and chicken in front of you.  I am also accustomed to eating with three utensils- left hand, right hand, tortilla. (On special occasions, maybe a fork) The closer your face is to your dish,  the easier it is to eat.  One of my favorite things about Hispanic food (other than the pica) is that it tastes better if you mix it all together (you don't really do that with white food). 

So basically, mom, if I come back with no white-culture manners and a jalapeño... Don't freak out :)  I remember the very first time I ate Mexican food in a Hispanic household. It was right after I got transferred out of my first area in Belvidere. Hermana Toney, Hermana Miliron and I went to the Najeras house in Midway for dinner.  I tried so hard to eat politely and not get my hands messy and eat with my fork. That lasted about ten minutes.  That's just not how you eat Mexican food.  Ha I love it so much..... :)

Another thing I learned at the Sisters Conference-- as far as mission time goes, I am officially a viejita (old lady)  I'm really old in the mission- all of the people that were here when I first got here are peacing out and going home, if they haven't already. Literally everyone else is younger than me  Ha it's kind of weird... 

Saturday, we shoveled a couple random porches, that was fun.  

This morning, I started Ether in the Book of Mormon. Oh man I love the Book of Mormon so much! It's just so true, guys-- read it. Blows my mind, every time.

Tonight, hermana buys is going to play organ at the viewing of a guy who died in our ward. The bishop asked her to play, so she's going to be doing that for a couple hours tonight.

That's definitely one of those things that I never thought I would do on the mission. Ha there's a lot of those :)

Well, pretty much, I'm doing good out here- Chicago is as awesome as always.. Spanish is coming along... Hermana Buys is awesome... We're having a great ol time, and I love being out here to do the work! This work is so important- bringing souls unto Christ. It's never easy. But why should we expect it to be? If it was easy, everyone would do it. And on top of that, like Elder Holland says- how could we expect it to be easy for us if it was Never easy for our Savior? 

But I love it.

So much :)

I'm the coldest, tiredest, confusedest i have ever been in my life, but I am just so gosh darn happy. 

The church is true :)

Love you!!