April 26, 2010

hey Fam! so there have been some major changes in our area this week. On thursday night we were told there would be a conference call we needed to be in but didn't know who else would be on it or what was it for... needless to say we were a little nervous. When we called in we found out it was all the missionaries in our stake which is about 18 sets. The assistants announced that Me and my companion will now be teaching all YSA investigators. They will find them and we will teach them as well as the work that we have with our spanish branch. They will be giving us more miles and we will be doing a lot of driving around Miami. The bad part is they told me i'm driving this month... Hermana is right now and they've changed it on us every month which is really weird because you're not supposed to drive until like your 3rd transfer. I asked if I have to drive and they said they might think about having her. I just don't know my way around. plus the drivers are CRAZY. They all think they're still in their countries where there are no laws so they just do what they want. lights and stuff mean nothing. They're definitely worse drivers than in Europe. way worse!
The Book of Mormon program is going SO good. It has completely changed the branch. They are actually motivated to do it which is an amazing thing because normally they are only motivated by fiestas. We talk to at least two familys every night to check up on their reading. Almost everyone in the ward has said that at the beginning they thought it was an awful idea and they didn't want to do it but now they have seen the change and know that its what they needed. Its amazing to see such a physical change in people as they learn and grow in the gospel. This week on sunday something else cool happened. There is a samoan kid in the branch and he brought his fiance this week and she's samoan too. she's prob like 6 foot. way tall but i was talking to her and she said she was a return missionary from the kirtland historic sights mission. as it turns out she was b (my roommate)'s companion! so fun. and i also met a girl the sunday before who is a return missionary and my roommate at the mtc replaced her in her companionship so she got to work with her for a day and then she was just here visiting miami beach. it is such a small world when you're a member.I'm trying to think what else has been going on but i can't really think. We still have our couch but i think we'll haul it out this week. most of our bites now are just mosquitos. they're way bad here. oh and that epistle thing was awesome.. yeah?? haha i got it from some book in our apartment and i just had to send it. I thought it was hilarious and totally me so i just had to.

This week we started teaching a few new people. One of them is l and her daughter S. They are the sweetest. she's prob about 20 and s is 3. They are loving the lessons. Especially the plan of salvation. And s absolutely loves primary. L was really worried because she had never left her before anywhere. we told her we would just show her where the class was. S walked in, waved goodbye to her mom and started playing haha. the next week she ran down the hallway and straight in her class and didn't even say goodbye. I think L will be baptized in a few weeks. Last night we went on our first exchanges with the relief society president. It was me with the two members who speak no english and hermana went with the one who speaks fluent english. I wasn't very excited at first but I loved it! it was so fun. Plus even though i speak horribly I can at least understand and they know what I'm saying. plus they said i know more spanish than they've learned english in over 9 years and they know how hard it is so they're really understanding. We went and visited some of the hermanas in the ward.

You asked what the hardest part has been so far and its definitely seeing the family situations and broken homes. Its just devastating. Especially families that have problems with abuse. Most children don't have a clue who their fathers are. Mostly its single moms. The ones that do have parents watch them fight all the time. I'm so grateful for the family i have.I have been more blessed than i ever knew. The Lord has been so good to our family. I love you all. Take care!