Week 19: The Little Dryer That Couldn't

Well, my new comp is alive and well! Besides the fact that she almost died our first day together… Of course. Seriously I don’t understand how these things happen haha. So I have a hair dryer in the bathroom that I have not used once in the mission.. My new comp thought it was way cool that we have one and asked if she could use it. I said si Glado! Because why not! I didn’t really think about how the plugs are different here. She turned it on and it was totally fine until the entire plug melted and there was smoke everywhere.. That dryer.. ya. Thankfully my companion, Hermana Torres lives… Sadly for the dryer, well he lived a good life.. I think.. I dunno I stole it from home but I assume with 5 girls in the house it lived a good life. We actually had a good laugh. The “little dryer that couldn’t” broke the ice!

She is super cool! She doesn’t speak any English though and has a different Argentina accent but we can still communicate pretty well! I’ve already taught her 3 sentences in English… 3 VERY important sentences.

1. Let’s go, buddy!

2. What’s up what’s up what’s up!

3. Don’t worry, be happy!

So she says those 3 things a lot.. But mainly we just talk in Spanish! It was hard to get her to open up in the beginning.. until I found out she LOVES Ed Sheeran and Jason Mraz.. and now we are buds! So most of our days consist of singing, “Thinking Out Loud” or “Won’t Give Up” in the street…yeah it’s pretty trunky.. But I had to think of the higher law.. of what would Jesus do?

It was super weird going from an American comp to speaking only Spanish so it took me a few days to get used to it so we did a lot of singing haha… I’ve tried to help her have fun! It was hard to get her to laugh at first.. Thankfully now she understands my jokes haha! OR, she just laughs because she doesn’t understand.. no idea. I got her to laugh the other day when we were out in the street and passed this one church that was playing these drums and that one instrument that gypsies hold (I have no idea) [she means a tambourine –Carly]. But it sounded like some cool Indian camp fire jam sesh… and now that I am writing this I don’t know how to explain what I did..or in other words don’t really WANT to explain.. Haha! But it was pretty funny..all you have to know is that I went Indian for a second. She had a good laugh.

Oh! Also she is learning violin! The other day, I had it out because I like to pluck songs while I do Spanish study sometimes and she got super excited and asked me to teach her! So during lunch we practice.. I’m not really a good teacher but I tried to find stickers for her to know where to put her fingers and she has been practicing with a pencil how to hold the bow! She loves it!

The end of the week I lost my voice.. At first I thought, ok, either 1. God does not want me singing Ed Sheeran, 2. When I was praying in Spanish for help to communicate with my companion I said it completely wrong in Spanish, OR 3. I’m sick. I chose to believe it was number 2.. probably said something seriously wrong or in German or something.. It ended up being number…3! I just had a sore throat for a few days but I am all good now because I got a PACKAGE from my squad!! Thank you SO MUCH! It was seriously the greatest thing in the world.. ESPECIALLY because now I have my sugared almonds.. AND airborn :) The other Hermanas thought I was weird for being so excited for almonds. I laughed that you guys sent me DEVIL’S food cake.. Sheesh I’m supposed to be sharing the good word! Not Devil’s food! Haha just kidding.. I shared it. Thanks for the soccer jersey, too! The best part was all of the letters and pictures. :) I really treasure them.

I had a great birthday in Peru! The ward was hilarious. They surprised me with a birthday celebration.. at church. I honestly didn’t even tell any of them so when the APs walked in to the relief society room at the end I just explained, “Ok I had nothing to do with this!” It was fun though. But so awkward.. Birthdays are just awkward. Thanks for the emails too! I got the sweetest email from Megan Dial with pictures of my nanny kiddos and it was the greatest thing in the world! Haha I have Jack and Lainey to thank for knowing all about the cartoons that kids watch here.. My comp will look at me like I am crazy sometimes when I just go and talk to the kids about Sofia the First or Paw Patrol.. But then we became buddies. J

It has been pretty cool being full time in Spanish. Just in one week I have learned so much! Hna. Pattillo and I spoke in Spanish but usually just in lessons, at church, etc. because it was too easy to just slip back into English. Hna. Pattillo became a sister training leader! It was hard for her to leave though. The work here in Buenos Aires is about to explode! We have great investigators that I am now introducing to Hna. Torres and they love her so much already! We are making goals for families in the ward to enter the Temple, helping a few people prepare for baptism and helping bring back some less active members! There still are really hard days.. We had to let go of an investigator again and it was the worst! L It is still hard to see some peoples’ living conditions.. I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing somethings.. I get really frustrated thinking, “Why can’t I just go get blankets and buy them food or do something?! Why is that not allowed?!” The Church does a lot to help them, but personally as missionaries we can’t and I understand but it is tough!

This week I studied Chapter 4 in John about when Jesus teaches a woman of Samaria at the well. I LOVE verse 13-15 when Jesus says, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.. but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give shall never thirst…” This helped me when I had that thought, that I was useless when it came to helping these peoples’ living conditions.. because we COULD give them things of the world.. yes a blanket will make them warm, food will fill, BUT, the things of the world fade.. It is a temporary comfort. There is something that DOES NOT fade.. it brings warmth and comfort, fills not only just their body but their soul and makes them whole. And that is the Gospel! It is an eternal Well of Water and it is ETERNAL comfort and peace. We could give them the things of the world.. but only the WORD will make them whole. That is a very important thing that we are sharing and that has helped comfort me.. because it is a very hard thing to see.

I love you so much! Have a wonderful week. Read the Book of Mormon every day!! –Your Llama

Week 18: Sister Missionaries Sing as They Walk and Walk and Walk...

At first this week was pretty tough. It was the worst feeling ever not being able to just hug and cry together. Thank you so much for your sweet emails. Your emails about the ranch also really got me through! I LOVED reading about every day! I loved the part about when Mom was super hyper during card games hahaha! “I haven’t even been drinking! …Soda! I mean soda!” Haha I laughed so hard thinking of that. I loved reading about stargazing in the field of horses that sounds like an absolute dream of mine! I decided I’m just going to live there…maybe rescue all the inactive members in town and start a branch..haha. Obviously have no power over that but you never know!

This week I have been leading the area! At first it was pretty stressful but I needed to stay busy! It all went pretty well..but you know with us we always get put in SOME weird situation..haha. Oh wait sorry side note..President just called as I was writing this and told me my new comp! She is from Argentina..so I’ll probably get that good thick Argentina accent.. so I’m stoked. I can’t imagine being without Hna. Pattillo :( But I am so excited to meet her and learn from her! Supposedly she is super shy.. I don’t think that will last. Hopefully I can get her out of her shell if that’s really the case! I think she sounds so awesome. Ok sorry back to this week…

As you know already, the 2 of the fantastic 4 of Buenos Aires (2 meaning me and Hna. Pattillo) always have a good story of the week.. I feel like we are always saying, “Why are we always put in this awkward situation?” This week thankfully it wasn’t anything like poisoned dogs, decapitation of chickens, trying to find pearl earrings, or accidentally walking into a gang meeting… Thankfully this week it was just us stranded on a bus out in the middle of nowhere. We were walking one day and I got this brilliant idea that we should take a bus that we had never taken before to actually make it on time to lunch… (we were out by the ocean teaching pretty far from home) SO we saw a bus and decided, “eh why not!” We got on the super sketchy bus and half ran/slid/flew to the back holding on to the railings because our life depended on it. (The bus drivers are crazy here..aka there are no signs for speed limit or speed bump warnings.) It’s always an adventure. Anyway, we got on and the bus kept driving…and driving…and driving (as we are trying not to throw up) until we were the last ones on the bus.. Then next thing we know it we are in the boonies and the bus stops.. The driver and the lady who counts the money just got up and left.. We just sat there like, “Ok... do we run? Orrr…” Then we realized there was nowhere to run to and so we just sat..and waited..and waited some more..then decided to write goodbye letters to our fams..ya know telling about the life lessons, what of mine I wanted to give to Jersey, the numbers to the Swiss Bank account (haha for Dad). Haha just kidding we just sat. FINALLY the bus driver came back (no idea where he went..). We became their buddies, talking about the States and how cool Peru is, etc.. Then he told us he could drop us off somewhere. So after a long drive we finally got off.. we were about exactly where we started… We sang that extremely annoying song about how the pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked annnnnnnnd waaaalkedddd.. all the way home. And missed lunch. Lesson learned.

I’ve learned a lot this week.. a lot about myself.. and a lot about this Gospel and Plan. Since Sunday it was pretty tough. I had a tough time feeling like I needed to be strong and wasn’t allowed to be sad.. and then just some really tough moments. But hey, we are human! If God wanted perfect robot missionaries he would have sent the iRobot army to proselyte… My comp really helped me out and helped me to realize that it is okay to be sad because I will miss Grandpa.

One morning during the week was pretty tough. The song, “Homeward Bound” played on my iPod during a personal study and put me in tears because it was also a song sung at someone’s funeral in high school who had cancer. I turned off the music and decided to find a talk to read. We have a HUGE stack of Liahona magazines.. maybe about 120 copies.. not kidding. I took them ALL out trying to find a talk to help me.. but what I found was even better! At the very bottom of the stack I put aside a Liahona that I wanted to maybe read (because its cover was my favorite really..haha). I looked through maybe 30 others but decided on that one still. Then I went to my desk and opened the magazine. In the pages of the magazine I found a letter that was addressed as, “My beloved daughter.” At the end it said, “With all my love, Your Heavenly Father.” I will send a picture for you to read it because I am not going to write the whole thing on here! Obviously I know it wasn’t typed out by Heavenly Father, I don’t know who wrote it or who left it in an old magazine.. but I know that I was supposed to find it! I just read a talk called, “An Educated Conscience,” and it taught a lot about how if we always just think, “Eh it’s coincidence” or “That’s just me thinking that,” then we are going to miss the Spirit. If it is good, it is of God! Anyways, it really helped me through! I’ve been counting 5 tender mercies a day, and it was for sure on the list!

Later that day, we went to teach a lesson to one of our wonderful investigators. She is always so full of light and excited to listen… But we got a different, unexpected approach. She opened her door and immediately told us she did not want our religion anymore and that she was confused. We were devastated. There was something wrong. We talked at the door for a long time and then asked if we could just pray and then say goodbye.. She let us in and we prayed with her. After the prayer she had tears in her eyes and began to cry. She then burst out that her daughter had cancer. She told us that she didn’t know what to do she is so terrified and that if her daughter dies, she will too because she is her life. I began to cry, too. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she just cried the entire time, we all did. She asked us to please come back. After the lesson Hna. Pattillo said that it was probably the greatest lesson she has had in the mission.. I think it was for me too. We went and sat by the ocean and I just broke down crying again but this time I realized that the pain wasn’t there that I wasn’t with you guy, but instead an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that we are an eternal family… and that we KNOW we can see Grandpa again. Then all of these little kids that we see almost every day saw us on the rocks and ran screaming, “Hermana Espringhairr! Hermana Pateeshoo!” They came and sat looking at the ocean with us. I thought in that moment how there is no place I would rather be during this all. It was so hard seeing someone who is scared to lose their family member thinking that they can never see them again. I am so excited to tell them that they can be with their families for eternity.

I am so grateful that I moved to Utah and spent so much time with Opa and Grandma. I loved waking up in the morning and knowing Grandpa was awake because of his squeaky office chair.. or finding him reading the newspaper or sitting by the fire. We had a great system going where I brought home Tagge’s jam to them in exchange for cornflake chicken, peanut M&Ms, a place to stay haha! I absolutely loved it.

I am so grateful for the tender mercy Heavenly Father gave me right before the mission to accidentally run into Grandpa at the Salt Lake Temple. I am so grateful to remember him like that. I am so grateful to have such a strong missionary on the other side. I am grateful that we are an eternal family! You are truly a Pearl beyond Price to me!  Continue to share the gospel that Grandpa loves.

Siempre,

Ash

P.S. Oh yeah I turned 20! Haha best day ever.. it was also Dia del Nino.. That’s for next week though. ;)

P.P.S. I am SO grateful Leah is okay!! I am praying for her and the girl’s family who passed away. They are all in my prayers!

Week 17: Ashley's Last Letter to Grandpa and a Brief Update

(As I mentioned on Facebook the other day, Ashley's grandpa passed away last Sunday, and so she didn't write a family email on Monday. However, she sent us a snippet of her companion's letter to home, which I just haven't posted until now because I've been busy with family and the funeral. Here it finally is, along with the last email that Ashley got to send to our grandpa right before he died.)

Here is Hermana Pattillo's email that she said I could just take a picture and send for everyone so you can type it out and everything! I did not have the energy to write I am so sorry :(. I'm having a tough time.  I sent a picture that you can post though of our baptism! I hope you like it. Love you so much.

Hermana Pattillo's Letter

Well, I'm not really sure what to say about this week to be honest. On Monday my companion left me to go do her papers in Lima (she's legal now!). I was left in a trio with Hermana M. and Hna. B. It was fun, but I was glad to have Hna. Springer back. Especially cuz she brought dunkin' donuts back from Lima with her! :D Monday night Hermana B. left. That was really sad. I may have shed a tear or two. Now Hna. G. has joined Barrio Buenos Aires. She is super great! It's been fun having her. She is literally ALWAYS smiling and happy. It's so great.

On Saturday the familia B. got baptized! (They are the couple that got married a while ago). It was so special! We sang a musical number and Hermana Springer played the violin. It was awesome. Then we went to the familia Q. She played the violin there too and it really helped them out. They are currently in the fight to get sealed as a family in the temple. It's been a hard fight for them.

This week I have learned a TON about loving the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon really is everything. All of our questions, concerns, doubts, can all be resolved in the Book of Mormon. I've been so blessed to have a companion who really treasures the Book of Mormon. She has really taught me that before anyone can actually be converted, they have to read the Book and when they know that's true nothing else will be an obstacle for them. They will always remain faithful followers of Christ if they read the Book of Mormon. So I really want to encourage all of you, whether you have done so or not, to once again take the time to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in your hearts, and the pray and ask God if it's true. I promise you that like I have and like Hna. Springer has, you will receive an answer. God will respond to YOU. Because He loves YOU. I promise your testimony will grow, your faith will increase and you will draw closer to your Savior Jesus Christ and your Heavenly Father.

On a slightly different note, the other day we received a call from President Marble saying that Hermana Springer's grandpa has passed away. I took her to go sit under the stars and we both just cried.  I don't know if it's just cuz I'm on a mission or if it's because Hermana Springer just has a soft spot in my heart or what. But my heart truly goes out to this family. I haven't met any of them but I truly feel like I too have lost a member of the family. I seriously just get teared up thinking about it. I'm so glad to know that through temple promises and covenants, families can be together forever. Going through all this with her has really brought back a lot of memories for me. But I know without a doubt that Grandpa Pattillo and Grandpa Springer are best buds now. I told Hermana Springer that they are probably companions now. They are BOTH our guardian angels. I know it. I have felt the presence of my grandpa so many times. Too many to deny it. I know that God calls everyone home in the exact moment He needs us. It's hard for all of us left behind, but the Lord really carries us in our times of trials.  Siempre, Hna. Pattillo

And here's Ashley's last letter to Grandpa Springer:

Dear Dad.. I just got the news from the President. I dont know if this will even make sense because it is hard to see the keyboard with tears. 

Can you give him this note for me?

Dear Opa

I love you so much. You have been such an impact in my life and I can honestly say I wouldnt be the person I am today without your influence as a father to my father and as a grandfather to me. A few days before I left for my mission I went to the Salt Lake Temple to meet my Mom and Carly..I got lost because it was my first time there and went through the baptism entrance instead to ask the temple worker " Which way should I go?" I looked up to see YOU dressed in white and ready to help me. I remember how excited and surprised we both were to see each other. I loved seeing you there.. And now I will always remember you in the Temple wearing white ready to help me when I needed guidance. I know that you will be there right beside me, helping me decide which direction I should go on the other side of the veil as well. I know that Heavenly Father needs you back home.. I know that you will be with me in Peru and also helping all of our future family in Heaven and those who have past. You are one of the greatest missionaries I know. I am grateful to be on a mission and have gained a testimony about the Plan of Salvation.. God really is planning a GRAND family reunion! I am so grateful for the knowledge that our family is an ETERNAL FAMILY. We will see each other again. I KNOW IT. I will always remember you now standing tall and strong in the temple wearing white, as a missionary, in the Lords home, guiding people into the Lords house. I love you. I cant wait to hug you again! 

Forever and Always,

Your Grandaughter / Llama in Peru  

Week 16: How to Save a Poisoned Dog

Hey guess what! Estoy viviendo! Or I guess I would just say vivo… I can’t Spanish right now.. I am so tired. So I tried to get ahold of Obama to tell him that I was not going to write Monday so that he could inform before a war commenced and all peace was lost.. but I don’t think he told ya’ll… must have been golfing or something. I tried.. I tried. Just kidding I know life just carried on as normal haha BUT just so you know, your llama lives. I just got sent back to the ccm in Lima to learn more Spanish. Best P-Day ever. I forgot my nametag, we lost a passport in McDonalds, I may or may not have seen the pope and was on camera, drank 2 hot chocolates, bought a dozen Dunkin Donuts (for my comp…) gave away an ENGLISH Book of Mormon, had a really nice nap in a taxi, AND became legal in Peru. It was about time to become legal…

Plus our new Pensionista is from Canada… and her food is AMAZING so I decided to stay forever. She is awesome. Her husband is from Peru so they are living here! They have THE CUTEST little girl named Isabell and we just adore her. She makes me miss my nanny kids a lot because she is the same age and she is always watching the same cartoons that Jackey loved in the morning. It’s interesting going over because they don’t like speaking Spanish at home so we speak English! So we are getting use to that. Her house is super American (or Canadian I guess) It looks like Target (one of the 7 wonders of the world) Oh also she is our land lord! So she just lives right downstairs.

We successfully moved into our new apartment on the 5^th floor! We are on the rooftop again and can see the mountains, city lights, and ocean!! But the best part by far is that our best friends in the entire world (The other 2 hermanas) are right next door! They call us the “Fantastic 4”… We have all been super close working together since I very first got to Buenos Aires. Sadly our world got flipped upside down this week when Hermana B., one of the fantastic was released early because of her stomach and problems with her feet. She had parasites in Cahamarca and also has had problems with her feet for a while. President Marble booked a flight for her asap because he wants her to get help from a good Doctor in the states. He is sensitive about feet problems and stuff because on his mission in Peru he was super sick a lot and had feet problems and it still affects him to this day. So she left when I was in Lima. I was surprised how much it hurt to say goodbye because I know I will see her after the mission.. but it also just made me realize how most of my mission I am going to become close to people and then they are going to leave or I will have to leave. How do you cope with so many goodbyes?

 Besides having to say goodbye to one of our Hermanas, this week was very good. We have been super buys, super tired, but as always, happy. We have awesome investigators! We’ve been focusing a lot on finding our inactive members. We have prayed a lot about how to find people and have felt strongly about focusing on less active/ inactive members. As we have we have had crazy success in finding people. They are literally just put in our path! When we have the same will as God and re-align ourselves with what he wants, we have more success! It just shows that we should always be aligned with Him. We are a team!

Our lessons have been pretty good! There was this one lesson where we were right in the middle of Joseph Smith’s first vision when we realized our investigators were looking over our shoulders with this super concerned face… next thing we know everyone is screaming, “the dog was poisoned! The dog was poisoned! He poisoned her!” Then we turned around and their dog was walking sideways and foaming. Then they grabbed soap and water and started WASHING the dog frantically (not sure how that was going to help) then that didn’t work so they started putting soap in its mouth then it ran to where we were and went under my chair and shook soap and water all over me… THEN the cousin grabbed her by her hind legs and started swinging her in the air… just envision this for a second.. You know how you grab a little kid’s hands and spin them in circles and their feet don’t touch the ground? That’s what was happening (This dog is as big as Jersey) We decided then was not the time to talk about Joseph Smith’s first vision..

 Well, other than moving, sending Hermana Bronson home, and a poisoned dog, and flying to Lima, this week was pretty normal… One of our easier, less stressful weeks for sure… haha

Siempre, 

Hermama (no name tag)

I borrowed Hna. M.'s nametag for the Lima trip and when people would try to pronounce it I just wanted to say, "No, it's pronounced ESPRING-HAIR.." or I just let them call me Hermana M. haha Ok really ending now. Love you all!

Shaving on the way to the airport...

Squad takes Lima

Hermana Obrien sneaking sleepy pictures.

Hermana Obrien back at it again sneaking non missionary like photos..

Week 14/15: A Few Earth-Shaking Weeks

[Due to our family vacation in the mountains, where we could only get Wifi by creeping in someone's backyard, I am VERY late in posting Ashley's last two letters. I apologize profusely and hope that it won't happen again! --Carly]

I love my beautiful country!!!!

Week 14

I survived my first earthquake! We were in a lesson when the ground started to shake.. So at first we thought the Spirit was just so strong that it shook the house but then sadly found out it was just an earthquake and that we aren’t that cool.. haha just kidding. All of Buenos Aires was talking about it though and everyone got pretty scared because it could cause a sunamee (sorry Carly..no idea how to spell that but it’s that big wave in the ocean hehe). Houses have already been washed away a little because the waves came over the rock wall they built! An earthquake is a very scary thing this close to the ocean. They have drills for sunamees supposedly and about a year ago they had to take missionaries out of this area because of the sunamee warnings. So that’s crazy! But anyways, still alive.. not too worried about that stuff.

For Jackson! Look Bud it's a PERUVIAN firetruck!! 

I’ve been kind of stuck as to what I should write this week (is that correct grammar? It sounds weird. I can’t English.). So I asked Hermana Pattillo, “How/what would you say to sum up this week?” She just said, “What?” So I asked her again and she just answered, “Yeah, to sum up the week I would say ‘What.’” Thanks for the help! Haha but then I thought about this week.. and yeah she’s right.. WHAT is the perfect word my friends. What is this? WHAT is she feeding us?? What just happened? Did we just teach a Jehovah’s Witness? Wait, what did she just ask? Did she really just ask us to be her daughter-in-law? Hermana Pattillo, WHAT is he saying?! What is Spanish?! He was speaking Spanish? WHAT?! How did I get sunburned AGAIN? Basically that sums it up! Should I go on?

[Some random pictures of a parade...]

GO UTES!! Haha..

Haha but anyways, this week was full of miracles, trials, tough decisions, and more miracles.. always. We have 5 new investigators! We keep finding people in the most random ways.. A taxi, buying water, tying our shoes, petting a day, or them just coming up to us! Sometimes little girls come running to us and hug us like they have known us for years and then we start talking to their mothers. This week we sat on the curb teaching a woman named Anoria and we got our hymn books out and sang, “I Am a Child of God.” As we sang all of these little kids stopped playing soccer in the street and crowded around behind us or sat by us and listened. They loved it! That tiny moment changed my week. I had been a little discouraged because we made the tough choice of pushing back Teofilo’s baptism.. even though I know it feels right too, it was hard. He is SO ready.. SO even though we had decided it and even talked to the APs and other leaders about it and they felt good about a different date, I still felt like a failure and worried about it. But it’s not about just throwing someone in a pool of water! It’s the door to the road to become more like Christ and return to our Heavenly Father. He is doing great. He is SO excited because we are having family home evening at his house tonight! He has probably asked a billion times what he should do to prepare, what he should make, how many chairs etc. We tell him that the missionaries will take care of all of it.. but he still asks and I don’t think there’s any stopping him from making his famous fruit salad haha. He loves having the Church as a big family now. And the whole ward just loves him!

Anyways, the rest of the week was just crazy.. Especially Sunday.. Oh boy. I love Sundays haha.. You just never know how it’s going to go. This week we had 5 of our investigators come again! Plus all of their cute kids! We went to pick up one of our families (Omar and Karina) and we walked to Church with the little kiddos holding both hands on each side. This Sunday I learned 2 things. 1. Singles wards are a blessing. 2. I really appreciate my mom. I think I am still getting used to a family ward after being in a singles ward for a year and a half… And mom.. how did you survive with 4 little girls?! You are an angel.. because I was SO exhausted just from one hour trying to distract 4 kids. We really wanted Omar and Karina to enjoy sacrament meeting. SO we were distracting the kids with tick tack toe, pictures, food.. Half the time I was trying to listen to the talks in Spanish while one kid was telling me it was my turn in tick tack toe, one baby was ripping out my Preach My Gospel book (need a new one now). Another kid was asking for more water from my water bottle (then spit it all over his cousin). Oh but it gets better.. then a random stray dog walked into Sacrament meeting… From there it just went downhill. BUT on the bright side they had an awesome time at church! The kids did awesome in Primary and the lessons were PERFECT for the needs of our investigators. Lydia and Teofilo’s testimonies are so strong. I love watching and seeing that light inside of them grow! It is so cool.

So anyways.. my two sisters, enjoy the peace and quiet in singles wards now while you can.. and Mom, teach me your ways.. Well you have been of course, but WOW you angel you.

When you can't find your companion... Look for the nearest puppy.. Haha sorry Hna. Pattillo... 

Well this week I studied a lot on temples. I kind of just studied a bunch of random stuff this week but then have been three specific things caught in my head and that I keep thinking about. The first, temples, like I just said. We have so many beautiful temples in Utah.. We are SO blessed with one even 5 minutes away from the house! Yet I feel like I hardly appreciated it much.. I didn’t realize how extremely blessed we are. We have members who left their businesses, lives, EVERYTHING when the Trujillo temple was built just to be near it. Some came totally homeless and just got up and moved.. not knowing the future but knew that they needed the temple. How cool is it that we get a piece of Heaven literally almost in our backyard in Utah. We need that piece of Heaven each week or whenever you can. Second, prayer in families. We should never underestimate the power of prayer. It is ALWAYS a direct line to calling on the Lord for support. I have really seen the change of some of our investigators because of family prayer! The change is incredible! One time we just walked into our investigator’s home and felt that something was different.. They seemed happier, the whole family united, and just full of light. We asked them how they were and they told us all about how they had been praying as a family! And every time we go over the little boys are so excited to pray that we stay on our knees until all three have said a prayer. Heavenly Father awaits our daily calls. Prayer is powerful.

Ok and the last thing isn’t really something I learned but something I want to do! You know how we have the family fitspiration Facebook page? Well I was thinking we should do something like that but as a group email each week and share a spiritual experience, a scripture, etc. from our week! You can add anyone to the email! Maybe just send an email asking who would like to be put on it. Also, if anyone wants to join it doesn’t have to be a scripture or something it can be how someone helped them or how anyone in the fam helped someone else! What do you think?

Well if the rumors are true, you guys are driving up to the ranch today! I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t homesick thinking of the family all at the safe haven. Not like you guys even saw me at the ranch… Lexie, Riley and I are always stuck in mud wih the quads somewhere haha! I can’t believe this will be Mickey’s first ranch trip! Play lots of tennis for me, shoot lots of clay pigeons, eat lots of sweetish (Swedish) fish, take Jackson to go see the old firetruck for me, and be SO SAFE. Please please please. Have a blast! Tell Greylock hi for me. I love you!

Hermana Springer (Ash)

P.S. I forgot.. Dad, it’s ok that you accidentally went fishing illegally.. I’ve been living in Peru illegally for 3 months now.. So I win.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! [on the 24th]

WEEK 15

The life of a missionary is a very interesting one. There are moments of success and pure joy, moments where you laugh until you cry, moments where you cry until you laugh, moments where it takes all you got just to drag yourself to bed, moments where you find yourself dressed up like a clown at activities to try to bring more unity to your ward, moments where you walk until you no longer can feel your feet, moments of enlightenment and friendships that go way deeper than just a season.

And that my friends just about sums up our week. To start out with… LIDIA AND TEOFILIO GOT BAPTIZED! It was so beautiful. We also had a super cute 14-year-old get baptized at the same time. Lidia was so happy she threw herself in our arms right afterwards haha. Even though she was still wet I enjoyed her enthusiasm. Both of them are so awesome. They both came up to us to ask about how they could pay their tithing the day after they got baptized. Right after the baptism we had a HUGE ward activity. Our ward mission leader made us dress up to help keep people excited. It was pretty fun. We played a bunch of crazy games, like an apple bobbing, newspaper dresses, pie-in-the-face. (And yes Hna. Pattillo got to mash cake in the bishop’s face!) And a game with a cuy [guinea pig?]. Overall I think it went really well and we had a lot of fun… But talk about STRESSFUL! We were so dead by the end of that.. 

Cuy

Elder Arranes with Angie! 

3 new souls on the road to heaven!!

We have also made a goal to find all the recent converts who aren’t coming to church anymore… there is about 37, so we spent two straight days just walking to try and find them. So far we haven’t managed to get ahold of a single one. Hna. Pattillo got a fat lip by hugging a little kid who then jumped in her face. “Be careful…he jumps.” That was her advice. Hna. Norma and her husband are adopting a super cute little girl! It’s quite a process so they won’t actually get her until December but we got to see pictures. She is a little chub! She is way cute though and Hna. Norma’s got that baby glow! It’s super exciting. J

We also decided to be extremely Peruvian and up and move. Today. So that’s what’s happening in our world today! Love you all. Have a great week.

Amor siempre,

Hna. Pattillo y Hna. Springer

Awesome Zone Leaders and District Leaders came to help! Just found this on my camera..haha

Moving!!

Things I Have Learned:

·      Prayer is powerful

·      The scriptures have all of the answers.

·      Peanut butter is a very underappreciated food.

·      God has a plan for everything.

·      You only really need to wash your hair once a week.. (in the mission)

·      Humility is key.

·      It’s ok to cry.. but laughing is the best medicine

·      My family is a Pearl beyond price.

·      Always be yourself.

·      Talk to God like He is your best friend.

·      When everyone tries to tell you your mission is always warm.. They are liars. Don’t listen.

·      Sometimes you just got to eat it.

·      The Spirit speaks Spanish.

·      Be good, people are watching.

·      You can have fun while being obedient

·      BE PATIENT

·      It’s ok to need people

·      Always kneel when you pray

·      All members are missionaries.

·      God doesn’t keep secrets.

·      How to bargain for taxis.

·      God keeps his promises if you work hard.

·      There is instant relief to heartache..prayer.

·      Temple light is even more beneficial to your spirit than sunlight is to your body.

·      Toilets that can flush toilet paper are a luxury.

How to Be a Great Missionary!!: as outlined in the Book of Alma:

·      Teach according to the Spirit 8:4

·      Work hard despite circumstances 8:10

·      It’s okay to sorrow/be discouraged 8:14

·      Obedience 8:18

·      Resilience 8:18

·      Trust God’s way 8:18&20

·      Patience 8:31

·      Boldness 9:7

·      Courage 10:4

·      Listen 10:6

·      #1. Establish an understanding as to why you are there 18:34

·      #2. Start simple 18:36

·      #3. Use/know the scriptures 18:36

·      #4. Relate your message to them 18:37

·      OBEY 19:3

·      Let the Spirit work 19:6

·      PRAY 19:14

·      Have faith 19:23

·      Don’t quit 19:28-36

The reward: Alma 19:14, 33, 35-36

If you could lift the veil and see how strong you were before this life, you would be surprised. DyC 29:7