A P'Day Week

October 3^rd 2011

this week was definitely a pday week...on Wednesday we had a multizona and we in Santa Ana all day and then with General Conference....usually by the end of the week i am in desperate need of a pday, but today i feel completely rested and ready to work!!!...but we get a pday anyway :)

highlights of the week:

WE HAD THREE BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!!!

Katherine was baptized Wednesday! after the multizona we had to run back to Ataco (not literally), the multizona ended at about 430, the baptism was scheduled at 6 and it takes an hour and a half to travel back to the area. we got the the church at 615 and we started it at 630...a miracle!

also....LA FAMILIA VELASQUEZ!!!!!!!!! milagro de milagros!!!! it was soooooo beautiful and everybody was crying and they were sooooooo happy! it was really special. this baptisimal service made it to the top of my top baptisms list, well, all baptisms are top...but you know what i mean...

General Conference....I can not believe that six months have already passed by since the last General Conference. can not believe it. but how awesome was it!?!?!?! i cant choose a favorite talk, there are so many! but of the ones i think i needed most were from Barbara Thompson about recieving personal revelation. and then President Uchtdorf....oh my gosh...it was Marvelous! about the two extremes that satan plays in our mind, that we are something, and then that we are nothing. but the reality lies in between, that we are of great worth because we are children of God, but at the same time we are nothing, we have weaknesses and in a moment its all over. we have all power and at the same time we have no power....talk about profound. there was another...oh! the Gift of Choice!!!! i loved that about how really there are two choices, and it is not for us to decide to have a mix of both, it doesnt work like that. and President Eyring about the Baptisimal Covenant! especially because thats kind of our focus as missionaries. there was so much knowledge, it was a spiritual feast! and there were so many things that help me now as a missionary and things that are to help me in my life. after hearing President Monson's talk, when we were back in Ataco i could litereally feel a bubble of protection around us. how awesome is it that we know how to be happy and safe, if we so but choose. this world really is increasing in iniquity at a rapid pace and the gap between 'us' and 'them' is growing wider and wider. and if people would just open their eyes and ears, they too could find real peace...i feel so blessed to have been spoon-fed this knowledge and taught to look for truth rather than just accepting what i've been given. this morning i was talking to an old lady on the bus. we started talking about religion (obviously) and she informed me that she was Catholic, that no matter what she was taught to not even listen to other beliefs because going from one church to another is playing a game and that is NOT right. in fact its the worst thing a person can do. sadly, this is the idea of the majority of the people here...i was born this way, i am going to die this way, and there is nothing you can say to make me change my opinion. people see others searching for truth and look down on them because they are playing with God. i am so thankful that i was taught to not just 'be Mormon' but to search for truth. and there is truth in every person that you meet. I am thankful that my parents allowed me to go to the Bible Study of the Church down the street, and the take part in celebrations of other religions and cultures...experience is what this world is all about and if we close our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to everything but what we've been taught since childhood we miss out on a lot. a whole lot. so this is my challenge of the week. be open. try something new. learn something from somebody else. open your mind. open your ears. and listen! :)

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!