A picture speaks a thousand words.....right?

This week was another crazy week so I'll just give you the summary:

Hna. Anderson and I had an adventure planning the sister activity for our zone.

Hna. Luz made me an Hna larsen doll (it's super accurate!)

I went on exchanges with Hna. Rodriguez in Humacao.

We had an amazing baptism.

And we had our sister activity!

Here's the pics!!!

I Can do Awkward Things

I can do awkward things. I feel like that has been the theme of my entire mission! I think I'm just an awkward person in general and so I find social situation uncomfortable. However, this week seemed to take it to another level. 

So to start out, our investigator didn't get baptized this weekend.  So we went to go see  her on Wednesday and everything was fine but that night we got a call from here saying that she didn't want to get baptized. We were of course sad but then she told us her reasoning and it was a little uncomfortable. She didn't want to get baptized because  a Bruja (Witch) put a curse on her with Black Magic and the curse won't be broken until she's older.  This is really weighing heavily on her. We tried to explain to her that God is more powerful than any "witch" or the powers of Satan but she wouldn't listen to us. We finally decided to give her some space but we told her to pray about it. 

We invited her to church on Sunday and after the services she told us that she had received an answer and that she wants to be baptized on the the 28th!! I made her pinky promise me that she was sure about this decision and only God is more powerful than a pinky promise, right? We're really excited that she was able to make this decision and overcome the powers of her "curse".

This weekend we had intercambios with the sisters in Aguas Buenas and I was able to stay here in Guayama and work with Hna. Guevara who is one of the cutest people I've ever met. I think I learned more from her than she did from Me!

On Saturday we had the baptism of Luis and he looked so cute in his gigantic  baptism suit! His mom was also reactivated this weekend and I'm so thankful that I was able to help them return to the gospel and make some steps in the right direction!

Well I hope you all have a great week and always remember that you too can do awkward things!!

Luis' Baptism

Luis's Baptism

Luis' Baptism

Hna. Guevara

Intercambios with the sisters in Aguas Buenas

Peleando con una peluca y algunas cosas (Fighting with a wig and some things)

Wow, what a week! I probably start most of my emails like that but seriously, what a week! We had un MONTON  of miracles happen this week!!! 

To start off the week we had a zone meeting on Tuesday and Hna Anderson and I were in charge of teaching to subjects of acting in faith and what it means to be a successful missionary. I was soooo nervous but it's as soon as it was our turn to speak, all of the nerves went away and we were able to teach everything without too many mistakes! 

After the meeting we went to our investigator, and talked to her about moving her baptismal date to the 21st and she was all for it!! Her only reservation is that she cut her hair super short and she's been using a wig, waiting for  her hair to grow.... Yes, a wig. We explained that she didn't need to wear her wig and that she seriously looked better without it. At the end of the lesson she was all for having a baptism on the 21st.

On Wednesday we were teaching my recent convert, Joan, and her 13 son who originally had a date for the 21st. We had a fun interactive lesson at a park by their house and at the end I explained that Edward ( the son) had been taught all of the lessons and could be baptized on Saturday if they wanted. Joan looked at me and said "Pues no tenemos planes por este Sabado" (we don't have plans for this Saturday). And they then accepted to move the date to Saturday the 14th!!! We had to rush to get everything arranged but by the end of the day we had everything set up!

Thursday morning we got a call from our investigator saying that she didn't know if she wanted to get baptized anymore. We were so confused but we passed by later with a member. Her worry was still about her wig!! The member explained that she looked better without the wig and she gave her advice about relaxing and coloring her hair. 

Friday to Saturday we had intercambios and the baptismal interview of Edward... Well his interview was scheduled for Friday but Joan called me an hour before and told me that they were walking into a movie and wouldn't be able to make it....I started frantically coordinating with the district leader and we were able to move the interview to Saturday morning. Saturday morning came around anddddddd HE PASSED! We had a beautiful baptism and many of the youth in the ward participated. It was a great way to end such a crazy week!

Sorry for the novel! I love you guys and I hope you have a great week!!

Hna Larsen

What a Week!

This week has been A BLAST!! We had MLC on Wednesday and we went down to Old San Juan and had a scavenger hunt!! We were split up with our zone leaders and we had to take pictures of the things on our scavenger list. We later talked about the attributes of leaders and what makes someone a good or bad leader. I loved it and had a ton of fun!!

Hna Anderson and I are killing it!! We have made it our mission to baptize all of Guayama and I think we might end up doing it!! We have been able to set a bunch of new baptismal dates and find a lot of people with potential. For example, On Thursday while we were contacting we prayed that we could be lead to a middle-age, single woman, who didn't have a specific religion. Well as we were walking down a street someone from the other side yelled at us to come over and talk to her. We did and after talking and teaching a lesson on the restoration, we invited the lady to be baptized and she said yes!! She was in church on Sunday and she is REALLY REALLY excited for her baptismal date. BTW she is a middle-age, single woman, and didn't have a specific religion.... God is great.

Well have a great Monday and enjoy the cold!!

Scavenger Hunt Group

Headstones

San Juan

Tourists

Cruise Ship

Well it's been a minute.... or a year!!

Happy New Year!!!

Well I had to end 2016 in a bitter-sweet way. I said good-bye to two of my companions, Hna Vega and Hna Keith, but Hna Anderson was moved to Guayama with me!! We are from the same MTC group so we already knew each other a little bit! It's so crazy to think that I spent the entire year of 2016 here in Puerto Rico! I absolutely love it here and I'm sad that I won't get to spend all of 2017 here as well.

This week I learned just how important prayer is in our lives. My companion and I made it a goal to pray more often and we were able to double the amount of investigator that we usually find and we were able to set more baptismal dates. I saw a huge difference in my week just from taking time to pray a little more often. 

I hope that you have a great day and enjoy the new year!!

Les amo un MONTON!!

Hermana Anderson's first Sunday in Guayama

Hermana Keith and I with Hermana Anderson

Good bye to Hermana Keith

Good bye to Hermana Vega

Group of sisters on transfer day

Our drive through San Juan

Catholic church in the center of town