Barberena-Week 76

HELLOS! So this week went super fast.... At times I think that the time goes super slow.. and then other times I think that it goes super fast... At times I think that 4 and a half months is a long time.. but at the same time, that is like nothing.... crud...

So one of the highlights of the week is that Elder Coy came from Guate to visit! When he left, he was pretty dead set on marrying someone that he had been dating for a while... But as the wedding date approached, he said that he realized that he hadnt really received an answer yet... so he cut it off with her and decided to write someone that we had met only one time in Zacamil... she was part of another ward... but long story short... he came to see her .. to see if there is any chemistry there... but he is doing great! It was really cool to see him.. I think he goes home on saturday..

We passed the new year with three families... but we did pass most of it with los alferez... they are a pretty awesome family.. super fun to be around. We bought them some paintings for the new year. (speaking of that, are you guys all good with the ideas that I had for all of you? to get you from here? lemme know! cuz I wont buy it if its not something you want..)

Some weird stuff has been happening... one night some drunk threw a rock through are window... Scared the living crap out of me... we saw a car crash like twenty yards from us... crazy.. and we saw a guy that was dead because he got hit by a car.. not the first or last dead guy that I will see in my mish.. jajaja!

We changed our cook.. so now we have better food.. its more mexican style.. its actually one of the families that we are teaching.. That makes it really nice because we eat and then have a lesson... today we went to eat and he was like "hey tomorrow can we talk about the gospel and stuff? because we havent talked about that in like three days! we are going to read tonight so we will be ready for tommorrow" So that is a total blessing in our lives.

I went on divisions this week with and Elder that has about 8 months in the mission.. I figured that it was time to let him in on a few tricks to teaching... because that's how much time I had when I started to change my whole approach to teaching.. i feel that if he would have been a brand new missionary, it probably would have gone in one ear and out the other, but he was really grateful and he is a great missionary.. a little bit different, but a great missionary.

los alferez have given me a few job ideas for like right after the mission that I could do to get things to get ready for school and to be able to do the fun things that I like to do in school... but we will see how that all works out... I definitely always need to have a plan...

for any new year, I feel that I always am about a week late to make goals.. so this week I have been thinking about goals for this year.. my top goal is to become more like Christ. So I will be trying and working hard to develop one Christlike attribute a week. I have always feared that my love of studying the gospel would fade when I get home... but like I said last week, gospel learning is about mastering discipleship.. not facts... so that is what I am going to do for these last couple months and for the rest of the year. I have some other goals, but those are that one is the most important I think.

Today was a little boring.. apparently my comp is illegal in the country... jaja.. so we had to get his papers all figured out in with a whole bunch of other missionaries... at least it was a little bit ok because a gringa hermana stratton was there and she is pretty cool. I was her zone leader in Santa Tecla.. We were the only gringos so we just kinda chilled... all in all super boring. But at the same time, its better to smile at things like that rather than get frustrated and whatnot..

Mum, thanks for your letter! sounds like things are going great there. Hope things are going to be good as you guys get back into the right schedule! I love you

Dad, sounds like your new years goals are great! I know that those small things like reading scriptures and going to the temple will help a ton... just follow through! I tell less actives a lot that: Christ did everything for us... bled from every pore and suffered both in body and spirit, and only asks a few things in return. Do you think that He asks too much when he asks to start studying 15 min of 24 hours in a day? That he asks too much when he asks for 3 hours of church of 168 hours in the week? Maybe five min of prayer a day? in reality, He does not ask much of us at all... I love you dad! Thanks for everything!

Austin, sounds like the Australian is pretty cool.. I remember that I talked to an exchange student from France the first day of school one year... she could hardly speak English, but she was super attractive...  I have always thought the french are attractive.. But you know... food for thought.. jaja! So when are you going to start/ finish the mission papers? lemme know! love ya

Ellie, sounds like things are pretty normal with you! Keep having fun, but keep the most important things high on the priority list!

Brynn, it makes me happy that you are so happy. Just remember to always be happy with the blessings that God has given you, even if you are walking around in a boot and it hits your other foot and you bleed. Its better to smile than get mad:)love ya

Thanks for everything! I love you all!

SALU!

TTT