February 23, 2015

TRANFER DAY!!!  I have a new companion! Her name is Hermana Pleitez and she is from El Salvador.  To be honest that is really all I know about her right now because we have only been together for about 30 minutes but she seems really nice.  I will let you know more about her next week :)  

Well this week we had our baptisms!!!!  It went SOOOO good! We only wound up having 3 getting baptized because the 4th wound up having doubts on his repentence so he wants to wait a while more but we are going to keep working with him.  I think he will be ready sometime soon though :) But the baptisms went so well.  And I did wind up buying a violin haha and i did play it in the baptism!  It was such a cool moment for me :)  It is not by any means a very nice violin but for about 70 american dollars i got the violin, the case, a bow, and rosin so I just went ahead and did it :) So we didnt have our baptisms in the ocean either.... it was too dangerous so we had to drive about 30 minutes away to the stake center to the baptismal font.  But i think it turned out better than it wouldve in the ocean.  It was such an amazing feeling to see the people that I have grown to love make this decision and to see how happy it made them!  Afterwards they all shared their testimonies and the spirit really was so strong.  Gosh I dont think i had ever been so happy in my whole entire life :)  If i have time I will try and send some pictures :)

Well I am SSSUUUPPPEERRRR nervous for this transfer and im not sure why!  I guess I was just so use to Hermana Valle doing everything for me and what not and deciding everything but now its my area and I have to be the one to make these decisions and do all these things and for some reason that makes me nervous.  I just dont want to mess up and i dont want to make my companion mad at me or anything.  Gosh im just super stressed.  I hope this week goes better than I think its going to go haha :)  

Okay so another cool thing this week, so I bought a violin right? Right haha :) anyways, so the bishop actually asked me to acompany the congragation in church sundays so I took it this sunday and did.  But also in the middle of the meeting he annouces that I will also be giving a special musical number that i didnt know anything about..... so i literally just picked a hymn which turned out to be Nearer My God To Thee and played it straight out of the hymn book because I literally had nothing else I could play.  Well, afterwards in relief society a sister named Hermana Jeni was teaching and we were talking about the spirit and what not.  So during her lesson she stopped and looked at me and explaied that when i was giving my ´´special musical number´´ she just couldnt help but start crying because of the spirit it invited and how amazing of a talent i had.  Then another sister started saying how much i was blessed and now how much of a blessing i was to the ward because of the talent that i had.  I never realized how much we take these things for granted...  It made me cry!  Mother, thank you so much for not letting me quit violin and making me practice and go to lessons.  Now I realize why we try and devleop talents, its not for ourselves, its for others.  I think the violin was the best 70 bucks ive ever spent :)

So im flippin jealous of all of you going to California!  You couldnt wait just 14 more months for me..?  Dirtbags haha :)  Just kidding.  Have so much fun and send me some pictures!  And yes i am definitly down for running the Superhero Half!  Sign me up :)  And I have not met a Sister Stringham.  I havent really met anyone yet haha.  Im kinda in my isolated Tumbes...  Also I am offically the only American Girl in this part of the country...  No other north american sisters in Tumbes haha.  So thats cool :)

Tyler is doing good :)  He transfered pretty recently and I think hes pretty happy where hes at :)  I only get to send short emails and recieve short emails so I dont know much either but from what I hear he is doing pretty good :)  I miss him lots too momma :)

Well that is it for this week.  I love you all SOOOOO much!  I will tell you all about my new companion next week.  I am super nervous for this week so I hope it goes well!  UGH STRESS!  Stay safe whereever yall are and I love you all and miss you TONS!  Have such an amazing week and I will talk to you again next week :)

Love, 

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell  

February 16, 2015

Happy Valentines Day!  I hope you all had a great Dia de Amor without me hahaha :)  Thats so fun that everyone got to come down this weekend!  It sounds like it was quite a party :)  I mean you couldve invited me but i mean i guess its okay...... :)

My week was again SUPER busy!  We have our 4 baptisms that are comming up this week and we still havent finished teaching the lessons and the interviews are on Wednesday!!!  So we will be working super hard today and tomorrow to get them all prepared.  Its crunch time!  But i am so excited for this Saturday!  We are having the baptisms on the beach and i think our whole district will be having our baptisms together so that will be super cool!  I will for sure take lots of pictures.  They want me to do a special musical number on the violin but the problem is, no one has a violin here!  I can buy one for about 200 soles which is about 90 dollars but im not sure if i want to do that...  We are going to keep trying to find one haha :) 

So one of our investigators getting baptized this week is really so amazing.  His name is Layder (pronounced later)  and he is 21 years old.  He is actually a friend of our mission leader, i guess they use to work together or something.  Anyways, he is for sure a golden investigator.  Hes really intelligent and super funny.  He always uses the funniest words and is so intense when he talks and it makes me laugh everytime haha.  Yesterday when we got done teaching him he just kept thanking us for changing his life and intruducing him to the thing hes been looking for his whole life.  It is really amazing to see what this gospel can do for people when they really try and apply it to their lives.  He is really excited for his baptism but is a little afraid.  Hes afraid that is his parents will reject him and that he will lose all of his friends.  We are trying really hard to get him through it and i know he will.  He knows that its true and i know that he will go throgh with it :)  He also told us yesterday that he wants to serve a mission so he can change other peoples lives like we changed his.  Its moments like that that make all the hard times worth it :)

So transfers are in exactly 1 week!  Gosh I have never been so excited or so nervous in my life.  I am excited for a new companion but nervous that it could be worse than the situation im in.  I am also nervous because its MY area and MY investigator and MY ward.  My new companion wont know any of these people or any of the places in the area and to be honest I dont even know all of them or the places either!  And with my still struggling spanish its hard for me to effectively communicate with people...  I just really hope shes not shy and likes to talk because if not we are in for a lot of awkward silences...  Wish me luck....  But it will be good.  Also Hna. Valle has been in her mission for almost 10 months.  I am the first person she has trained and this is her first time being the senior companion.  It has been rough but I really have learned a lot from her.  Not so much in the obedience department because she likes to go to bed late as well as wake up late but she teaches and likes to teach a lot.  

Oh and another thing... My debit cards decided not to work anymore. Both of them.  Today i tried to get some money out of an ATM but it wouldnt let me.  Im not exactly sure whats wrong but if you could go to the bank and ask that would be awesome mother :)

Well that is is for my week.  I love and miss you so much and love to hear how youre all doing.  Gosh mondays are just my favorite days in the whole world.  And its crazy to think that ive been gone for 4 whole months!  I know its not that long but hey 4 months is 4 months right? :)  I hope that everyone is doing great and is staying safe.  I cant wait to hear from yall again next week.  Love you!

Love,
Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell 

February 9, 2015

Familia!! Como flippin estan???  Gosh I miss you all so much.  It sounds like it was a pretty busy week for yall!  Im so glad everyone is doing good and is having fun without me ;) haha just kidding :)

Well my week was pretty busy!  We have 4 baptisms on the 21st so we have been trying hard to get all the lessons taught!!!  The 4 are, Hermano Jerson, Hermano Gumbercindo, Hermano Layder, and Hermana Marciela.  We have a little less than 2 weeks to get all the lessons taught and get them interviewed before their baptisms.  

So Jerson, hes really is progressing so much!  He reads the book of mormon every day and prays and now comes to all 3 hours of church.  It really is so amazing to see how far he has come in such a little time because about 2 weeks ago he didnt want anything to do with us haha.  We have pretty much taught him all the lessons so hes ready to go :)

Hermano Gumbercindo is an older guy.  I think he is about 67 or something.  But he really was a golden investigator.  From the first lesson he has read all the pamphlets, read the book of mormon everyday, prayed everyday, and has just done everything weve asked him and he knows its true!  Its really fun to teach and talk with him.

Hermano Layder...  He is the only one of the 4 that we arent completely positive that this date will work out.  We have been teaching him for about 3 weeks and he says he knows its true and he loves coming to chuch and he reads the book of mormon but he still has doubts and doesnt want to fully committ.  He said yes to our baptismal challange but he said he wasnt completely sure...  We think he will be ready though.  We have another lesson with him today so we will just have to see how it goes. 

Hermana Marciela (i think thats her name haha)  we just started teaching her yesterday!  I am really stressed out about it!  She is the niece of our mission leader and she has been to church a bunch of times but to teach her all of the lessons in just 2 weeks is going to be really tough with all of our other investigators and with her interview next wednesday!  We have to teach her everyday...  I think we should push the date back but Hna Valle wants to see 4 baptized before she leaves.  

The coolest thing about this is theyre all being baptized in the ocean!!!!  There is a baptismal font in Tumbes about 20 minutes away but they dont have money to pay for the trip and a lot of the members wouldnt come because they dont have money either so were having a beach baptism haha :)  I am pretty excited for that :)

Well the rest of my week was okay...  I am pretty flippin frusturated with my spanish.  I mean I can talk and teach some things but I just cant explain anything very well and it is killing me!  I have so many things I want to say and I want to be more a part of the teaching but my talking skills just kinda are not where I want them to be.  And Hna Valle is no help to me.  Pretty much after every lesson she tells me that I dont teach very well and I need to explain things better and talk more and gets kinda mad at me, but then again when I try to talk a lot and people dont understand me she gets mad at me too, so im afraid to talk and im afraid not to talk so im not really sure what to do.  I am definitly ready for transfers thats for sure.  I just hope my new companion is patient with me and helps me do things, not just tells me to do things and get mad at me after..  This week was rough with Hna. Valle if you couldnt tell haha...  But im trying to make the best of it :)  I JUST WANT MY SPANISH TO BE BETTER.

I am feeling pretty good right now...  It wasnt the best week but it wasnt the worst either haha.  And I didnt get to talk to the Rowleys for very long but it was so good to talk to them for the short time i could.  They really are amazing.  Im pretty sad that theyre leaving soon but im sure the next President will be just as good :) And im not sure how I feel about staying in La Cruz...  I mean i like it here but i am so ready just for a change of everything. But i think ill be here for sure another transfer and maybe 2 so i better learn to love it right? haha :)

Yes I am still taking the pills and i think i feel okay taking them haha.  I dont know how i feel without because i havent stopped but I feel good so i think ill keep taking them. And we did get drinking water this week!  Its a miracle!  It still tastes awful but hey its water :)  BUT I GOT YOUR PACKAGE!  Thank you so much mother.  You really are the best :)  Those things to put in the water really have saved me :) And no we are not running anymore....  Hna. Valle doesnt get out of bed until usually 7 everyday...  Its a touchy subject for me haha.  But maybe ill start again with my new companion i hope :)

Well I miss you all soooooo much!  Mondays really are my favorite and i love hearing from you all.  Its the highlight and motivation of my week :)  Stay safe and dont forget about me please :)  I love you all so flippin much I cant stand it!  Have a good week and ill talk to you all next week :)

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell 

February 2, 2015

WELCOME HOME MOTHER AND HUNTER FAMILY!!  I am so so so so so glad youre home and you made it back safely!  Tell the USA hello for me haha :)  Gosh I cant believe that its been another week already!  This week went by super fast!  And it was such a good week.  Probably one of the best of my mission so far!

So as of this week we have 4 investigators with baptismal dates!!!  This week we hope to have 4 more!  The day of all of their baptisms is February 21st!  Well some of them might have to be a little later but we have a least 4 we hope on the 21st :)  It was a busy week!  One of the investigators is named Jerson.  We have been teaching him for a while but I havent said anything about him because he was never really progressing and what not.  But his wife is a member that we actually re activated about a month ago.  So before we were teaching him and he wasnt really that interested and never read the book of mormon and never came to church and all that.  But about a week ago he lost his job and he was really concerned about what he was going to do and how to provide and pay for their house.  His wife told him to pray about it so he did and 2 days later he got an answer to his prayers.  (Im not really exactly sure what the answer was because my spanish is not yet perfected)  After his experience his heart completely changed.  He told us he knew the chuch was true and started to read the book of mormon and came to chuch!  He is really excited to get baptized and now hes talking about how excited he is to get to go through the temple with his wife in a year!  It was so amazing to see the change that this gospel can make in peoples lives.  It was an amazing lesson that we had with him and im really excited to see how he progresses!

Interviews this week were so great!!!!  President and Sister Rowley really are the greatest.  They are so nice and really love and care about all of us so much!  The interview was pretty short but the spirit was so strong and President Rowley said just the things I needed to hear.  He did say I would be in La Cruz for a while and im not really sure what that means or how I feel about that haha.  Hermana Valle thinks that when she transfers im going to be a trainer but no.  I would die hahah.  But transfers are in just 3 more weeks!!!  Im pretty nervous for that and to see who my new companion is going to be but its definitly time for a change..  I also had a short interview with Sister Rowley too.  She is so great.  So i am the new English Tutor for my district so we mostly talked about that but it was so good just to talk and talk in english for once haha :)  You guys definitly need to go to their homecomming!!!  For sure you have to go!  And you have to come pick me up in 15 months too :)

I am so glad that everyone is home and is doing good!  It sounds like yall have your hands full hahah :)  I cant believe that it was already the superbowl!!!  Gosh superbowl Sundays are my favorite!  And Addy you better be taking good care of my room :)  I miss all of you so flippin much its not even funny....  Dont forget about me while im gone.  Or else.  But im so happy that everyone is safe and is doing good :)  Hey question though.  Mother could you or aubree or someone send me some pictures of some pinterest exercises please?  Its hard to know what to do the mornings that we dont go running.  Thank you! :)  I love you all so much and I hope you have an amazing week!  Stay safe and stay happy please :)  I miss you all and love you so much!

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell