Spanglish Stake Conference

The rain has stopped but some puddles just stick around forever!

After all the rain from last week, big scary critters started popping up out of everywhere!

Yes that is a scorpion. And yes the other missionaries decided to keep it as a pet. 

This week was stake conference - woohoo! A stake is a group of congregations in the church, that all come together. You can imagine that the kingdom of God is like a giant tent, and all throughout the world there are these "stakes" that are a part of it, strengthening it. So our stake conference was pretty interesting because half of the people in the area speak English and half speak Spanish. The conference was primarily in English, and the Spanish members wore headsets. However, some talks were in Spanish with English translators, the prayers were in either language, and the hymns were sung in both languages at once. Only in El Paso!

Saturday was a very special day - Sister Silva's birthday!! 

We are so proud of our friend Maria. She has quit smoking! Here is a picture of her with her Declaration of Independence!

And yet another gorgeous Texas sky!

Have a lovely week!

Monsoon Season!

It's "monsoon season" here in El Paso, which means a lot of wind and lightning, and a few inches of rain. Even though the rain isn't much by Oregon standards, homes, roofs, and gutters really aren't equipped to accommodate it. We've seen roofs caving in, road closures, and general craziness. This is the road to our 12 o'clock appointment! Not even kidding you!

There are a surprising number of churches out here in Horizon, practically on every corner. As we drive around, we've noticed some familiar artwork up on a few community churches. Here are a few churches we've seen adorned with LDS artwork. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

This week, my little sister got her mission call! She will be serving in the Taiwan Taichung Mission. I'm so happy for her and I can't wait to hear about the incredible things she does in Taiwan! For anyone preparing to serve a full time mission, or for anyone wanting to be more of a missionary in their day-to-day life, I have two words of wisdom for you. 

1. Learn to love the Lord more. How do you do that? It's simple: read his words, counsel with him in prayer, do what he would do.

2. Learn to recognize everyone you meet as a precious son or daughter of God. When we see others as God sees them, we will naturally do everything in our power to help them.

When we drove up to district meeting this week, we couldn't help but stop and take a picture of the missionary fleet.

Believe it or not, we saw this t-shirt for sale in the gas station! It is so true! Serving God is not work; it is an adventure.

And what kind of week would it be without another gorgeous picture of the Texas sky?

Have a wonderful week

Sister Biancardi

Legos, Snakes and Sweet Farewells

Have you seen these Lego tables they always have in doctors' waiting rooms? They are, in fact, for building temples! The temple is my absolute favorite place because you can feel the presence of God there. We work with a lot of people who have to make sacrifices in order to get to the temple, but I know that God blesses us for making the effort and coming to His house. Most of them aren't quite so technicolor as this one. 

See the resemblance?

On the drive back down from Albuquerque this week, we saw a warning sign I've never seen before. I like to think they just put these signs up for the tourists, but something tells me that's not the case.

This week was transfers, which means we had to say goodbye to the lovely Sister Adams (she's the second from the left). She's been serving close by for the last 3 months and now she's been transferred up to Albuquerque. She's a wonderful missionary who works hard and serves with all her heart. We're sad to see her leave but, like missionaries 2000 years ago, we went our separate ways "trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken."

Have a wonderful week!

Una Semana Llena y Feliz!

It's been a crazy week! And I have lots of pictures to show you!

This week, Raul got baptized. This is the first big step for him and his family. His family has set a goal to go to the temple as soon as possible, one year after his baptism, to be sealed as a family. When they're family is sealed, it means that, as they remain faithful, they can stay together as a family "for time and all eternity." Who wouldn't want those kind of blessings, right?

Doesn't Raul have a great smile? Too bad I had to stealthily take this picture because he doesn't smile for pictures. Glad I got one!

And here he is with Jesse. Look familiar? Jesse was just baptized about a month ago and received the Aaronic Priesthood just afterward. Jesse had the honor of baptizing Raul.

This is the Salas family. Aren't they adorable? Their 8 and 10 year old kids, Ruby and Rudy, were baptized this weekend and both agreed to share their testimonies in the baptismal service. Their faith is an example to me. I'm so happy that we've have the chance to visit with them and help them prepare for baptism.

And this is Rosa and her daughter Jacqueline. Aren't they lovely? They were baptized on Thursday. They are such a sweet family with a lot of faith.

This week, we went on exchanges with "las misioneras de Ysleta," Hermana Pipkin and Hermana Adams. We all got to have a sleepover at our apartment which meant a huge study party the next morning.

Also, we promise we didn't plan this! Sister Pipkin and I had a polka dot theme going that day. :)

The good news is that Sister Silva and I made it through transfers which means we have at least another 6 weeks out here in Horizon. We also will be serving in a trio with a new missionary named Elder Smurf. He helps us out ringing doorbells, planning, and evening filling the baptismal font.

We have the most incredible district! We're so sad to be losing Hermana Adams, Elder Rosales and Elder Mammales on Tuesday. (They're all getting transferred.) But we know that they're going where the Lord needs them.