Oh, What a Beautiful Day!

What a wonderful week! The best (slightly belated) birthday present I got was to witness the baptism of Miguel Angel on Saturday! Sister Silva and I are so happy for him! Baptism is such an important step, the first step on the "straight and narrow path." Nothing brings so much joy as to be able to witness that change in people's lives. At least that's what Ammon says and I tend to agree with him (Alma 26:35). Yup, Saturday was such a happy day, so of course I've got a couple pictures for you!

This week we got to begin exchanges! Roughly twice a week, Sister Silva and I get to go on 24-hour exchanges with various sisters in the zone. It's so wonderful to get to meet and serve with other sisters in the zone and learn from each other. This week, one exchange took an interesting turn when we got pulled over for speeding. But it was a great opportunity to get to know someone and share the gospel with him. Every day, God is putting people in our path, even in ways we wouldn't expect, or necessarily appreciate :).

Here's a picture of Sister Moulding and I after an exchange. We had such a fun day together! (For future reference, fun and spiritual are synonyms.)

The last few days I've been reading about Captain Moroni. He is a righteous man who is willing to give his all in defense of his people. He can do hard things because he knows what he is fighting for. He even raises what he calls, the "title of liberty," a banner on which he wrote his purpose, "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives and our children." I've heard it said that a person can endure any "what" when he's got a "why." Which of course leads to the question, what is my title of liberty? What is my "why"?  I hope you're not waiting for an answer because I'm still formulating one. But you and I can ponder that this week, and we'll see what we come up with.

Here are a few pictures of birthday celebrations! It was so nice of Sister Rojas to bake me a cake and get me a pinata!

Well, I hope you all have a lovely week! 

Sunsets!!

Well missions are a funny thing. Did you ever move off to school and room with someone you didn't know? And you had to get used to the new atmosphere and get to know each other's quirks? Well as missionaries, we get to experience that every 6 weeks. On transfer day, our President tells us where we'll be serving for the next six weeks and who we'll be serving with. The good news is that our president is really just the messenger; we know that God is the one sending us to different places for specific reasons.

This transfer day was an exciting one, because my new companion is...  drumroll... Sister Silva! my MTC companion. We are so excited to be out here in Horizon, teaching people about the gospel of Christ.

So the lovely town of Horizon, is on the edge of El Paso, a stone's throw from Juarez, and is full of empty, dusty desert. But Horizon has the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life!

Am I right, or am I right? Just enjoy it, and wish you could see it in real life!

On Monday, we got to have a Family Home Evening with a family in the ward. It was a full house and a lot of fun - a wonderful lesson, delicious treats, and music! Isn't music the best? I think so, and so does Heavenly Father. He said, "The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me." Sister Silva and I love singing together - in the car, at home, even in lessons. I know that good music can bring the Spirit of God more powerfully than almost anything else.

Here is a photo of the all four sisters in our district. We have 4 sisters and 4 elders in our group.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Quick Trip to Albuquerque

This week we got to carpool up to Albuquerque for a meeting. That means four hours in the car. I love four hour car rides; it's short enough that you're not too tired of the car, but long enough that you're grateful when you get there. But in all honesty, it was a lot of fun! We sang hymns in Spanish, swapped missionary stories, and met lots of wonderful people at gas stations and fast food along the way.

Well, that's all I've got time for today. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

The Answers to ALL of your Problems

Once upon a time there was an ancient civilization and their leaders were worried because the people in a certain city were very proud and wicked. Everyone was concerned that this city would secede and join the enemy. Sounds like a serious political situation, huh? Do you want to know what the solution was? The word of God. That's right. They didn't send ambassadors or politicians. They sent missionaries! Because Alma, a political and spiritual leader, knew that the word of God "had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword" and it had "a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just." And what's the moral of the story? No matter your problem-- temporal, spiritual, social, financial, emotional-- the word of God is always the solution.

Last week, the lovely Carmen was baptized. Yay! She has so much faith and Sister Oxley and I are so happy for her. Here's a picture of the three of us.

Also, a few of the Elders in our district are "dying" next week. Don't be alarmed! Dying just means going home. So here's a picture of our wonderful district!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!