The One Where Balloon Animals Became a Talent

Transfer day Hermana Christensen and I woke up, ran together for the last time (for 7 months J) and studied a little. We headed to the bus station in one of the member’s cars because as we waited for a collective they passed by and offered us a ride (SO PERFECT)! Then we got to the bus station and my new companion was already there and they took away Hermana Christensen right away… But it’s all good. Hermana Cook is great! She’s really fun and expressive. She did theatre for a long time, loves anime, and is “trained” in making balloon animals. Score – she already made me a flower J.

               

Oh and now Elder Bybee is with Elder Johnson in our ward and Elder Johnson is from Draper and he was in Mallory and Hailey’s ward! (Aimee's BYU roommates.) I’m pumped – he’s solid.

                Then we bought groceries, unpacked, studied, my companion’s bike broke, but then finally we got out to work. We had a FHE with Natalia and her boys and it was so fun. They taught us what they remember from the last FHE. Then we taught about faith with 2 dinosaur balloon animals. J Hey sharing talents, right? It was great. I love those boys.

                We ate lunch with Marisol and she asked about our bikes, so we told her how one broke. She didn’t even hesitate and said, “No problem, I can go to your apartment, pick up the broken bike, bring it to my neighbor who is a bike mechanic, and he’ll fix it, and tomorrow I’ll bring your bike back.” And that’s what she did. She is our angel. It was such a blessing. She is incredible.

                Hermana Owen, Elder Covey, and me were finally together again! We haven’t been in the same room since last April. It was just such a happy day! Leadership council was incredible. The Spirit was so strong. I learned so much. I love President so much. He’s amazing. Also, Elder Covey taught us how to try contacting in a different way. By using a survey. It was really impressive how well it works and so I’m super pumped to try it out!

                I celebrated my half birthday by eating RABBIT. It was so good!! Here’s the story. We decided to try out this Covey survey. The first door we knocked on, a woman came out. We started talking to her like normal and natural. Then we got to that transition point and then I said, “Hey we don’t want to take up all of your time, but would you be kind and help us out with a survey we are doing?” I pointed to my folder with the survey paper attached. She nodded her head and said, “Sure.” And leaned on the fence. But right as she said, “sure” we said “great!” We kicked up the kickstand on our bikes, looked inside the door of their house, and just started walking towards her with all of our stuff and bikes. She looked a little confused for a split second, but then (still with my eye on the front door) I smiled and politely used the Chilean password “permiso” (lol, you can get away with anything. And then she just said, “Oh yeah come in!” Then we were inJ.

                We used the 10 questions as a guide, but taught principles in between based on their responses. We talked a lot about the plan of salvation and the love of God. They happily accepted a Book of Mormon and a second visit on Sunday. Then a young boy (6 yrs old) walked in and said (IN ENGLISH) “Excuse me, would you ladies like to follow me to the barbeque to try some food?” It was the cutest thing because he is from New Zealand and his cute 6-year-old accent was ADORABLE. So we walked back and there they had rabbit waiting for us. We ate it. AND IT WAS SO GOOD! It was a great day.

Our 6 year old friend from New Zeland

We taught Solange! It’s so sad because she wants to get baptized so badly, but Jaime still hasn’t agreed to marriage so she can’t. She said that every time we come, she just feels so excited and energized to keep trying. I loved that because that is what the gospel is. That is how the Spirit works. I can just feel that God is never going to lose patience or give up on her.

                We did the Covey survey a bunch and we found a new investigator, Maribel. She has been struggling with depression and always feels lonely. We taught about the Holy Ghost and if we keep the commandments, we can be worthy to have the Spirit always. We’ll visit her again Monday and I’m so excited. I love her so much.

                We did the pre-interview with Olga and Edgar because they are getting married and baptized this week! They are so converted, it is absolutely incredible.

                Wow, Today I felt really close to God. I don’t know why, it was probably a mix of a lot of things. But I talked to Him a lot today. He talked and helped me a lot. It’s not easy being in hard situations, but I understand what Paul meant when he said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” When I am physically beat or emotionally drained and when the only thing that can save me is divine help, God strengthens my spirit as I patiently search His guidance. And in my lowest points, I become the strongest. Even though this is not easy, I am so grateful for the struggles I have that are refining and rebuilding me. It’s JUST LIKE RUNNING. You have to tear down the muscles to build them up stronger. If you run comfortable the whole time and stop when the pain starts, you’ll never improve. I’m not going to let God’s time go to waste. I’m not going to let Him waste me J (That’s for Dad). Here am I.