Seven Months to Sexy: Slayer Style

So happy 11 month aniversary to ME. and all my MTC buds. You are my best friends....

We´ve got 7 months, sisters... to have sexy bods.. and spirits. :) ha

I hate today. 

It´s literally the worst day of my life. And I´m not even being a diva or anything.

This morning, Hermana Cuevas found out that her ex boyfriend got married... So that sucked first off. We cried together.. and then we found out that they are shipping me off to white wash part of one of the top 5 most dangerous cities in the world. Ciudad Del Este. I have to leave my best half mexican friend compañera and my favorite little pueblito area with all of the people that I love most here in Paraguay. My heart is literally broken. 

I don´t know if it will ever be able to find me in that huge city full of drug trafficing and ladrones. I am NOT excited. Not one little bit.

The only good thing so far that I know is that cute little Hermana Juarez is going to be my companion. She is adorable. I just hope that I get more than 2 weeks with her. I only got like 2 weeks with Hermana Cuevas. SO UNFAIR.

And did I mention that we are whitewashing?? Like they just took out 2 disobedient elders and neither Hermana Juarez and I know anything about the area... We did that with Candelaria and it really was actually kind of a blessing. So I´m pretty excited really. I should be more grateful. 

I just really don´t want to leave my gente. This is SO HARD.

I need lots of prayers please.

Bueno enough of me being a baby.

We need some Vampire quotes. This one is my favorite today

 Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.

Thanks Angel.

The Lord is comforting me today with D&C 100

4 Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls.

 5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;

 6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.

 7 But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things.

 8 And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.

It will be fine... I will love the people there too. I think and they will love me back if I just follow the spirit. and submit to the will of the Lord.

My best friend in BA Argentina wrote a bom email to her family this week about succumbing to the will of the Lord. Here comes the trial of my faith.

It´s funny though. I am super unaccepting of this change, but the Lord has totally been preparing me for it.

When I did divisiones with Hermana Juarez the other week. I totally thought to myself, I would love to be her companion some day.

I so did NOT want to get sent to Ciudad Del Este. But I kindof had a feeling that´s where I would be going next. I just love the little towns that I´ve been in. Cities SUCK. 

So... there is this elder. One of my new Zone Leaders. That I soo so so so DO NOT like. At all. He is super cocky and full of himself and I just don´t like him. He goes home next transfer and I was like, cool there is basically no way he will ever be my Zone Leader. But I totally thought it would be a funny joke from God if by some 1 out of 1000 chance we got sent to the same zone. God is funny.

So. I´m sad. But I guess as prepared as I can be. I´ve been here for a LONG time and I´ve seen my share of miracles aqui in Coronel Bogado.

This week was also full of fun miracles. Mostly all on Sunday.

At church we had a record assistence of.

dun dun dun.....

10.

Yippeeee!!!!

The least amount of people I´ve seen at church since I´ve been here. What a great going away present. No?

But that´s okay because it motivated us. To get out and get looking. And all. LITERALLY  all of our appointments yesterday fell through. Every single one. But the Lord always has a better plan for His missionaries. And he guided us. He helped us to find the Familia Acevedo. They are a family of 4 girls. The aunt. Her daughter and two nieces. They are catholic. SURPRISE. But super receptive to finding a better relationship with Christ.

And then an even bigger miracle happened!! We met Adriana and her taughter Talía. Also Catholic. But Adriana listens to people from EVERY faith. 

I have not had such a spiritual experience as the one I had with her in a VERY long time. I don´t even know how to explain it to you. We were talking. And I was only explaining to her our desire for her to find out for herself if the gospel is true. I explained that we would never try to CONVINCE her of anything. But that God is the person who should give her the answers that she needs. And the spirit was so strong. It testified to me and to her that the Lord hears our prayers and He answers them. 

Marcos is getting baptized next week. We are so excited for him. Lidia is eccstatic! And he is beyond prepared. I love seeing that through the example of one person, whole families are blessed. The gospel is for everyone.

I know that sometimes life is hard, right?? Like the life of Jorge and Derlis. They have an outhouse. And Hermana Cuevas used it and thought it would be so funny to tell me that they have a nice bathroom and then make me use it too... But I didn´t have to pee that bad luckily. Anyway, back to serious talk. I´m really struggling focusing right now, can you tell??

They have a hard life. Their mom is sick and kind of crazy. And they are both teenagers just kind of looking for a purpose in life.

Jorge is actually an eternal investigator. That everyone tells us not to visit. BUT

We had the best lesson with him and Derlis last night. Derly pulled some bull crap lie out of his head to try and convince us that he had been reading his Book of Mormon. First he said he was reading on page 11... Then he changed his mind to page 39 and when I asked him what it talked about he read the chapter heading and told us that it´s talking about how the wicked will take the truth to be hard... and then said, in verse 7 it talks about that right?

No. Vs. 7 talks about Nephi getting married you liar!!

So then Hermana Cuevas and I pulled a fun lesson about the Liahona out of the air and the spirit just grabbed hold and we committed them both to be baptized. From lies to baptism... Priceless.

We talked about how the Liahona.. and I searched the chapter super fast and found this scripture!!

1 Nephi 16:28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.

So, dear jovenes. What can we apply this to? What can we compare the liahona to? 

The SPIRIT?? Ding ding ding. And how does the spirit work?

If we have faith and are diligent... and if we LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT.

So, my friends. May we all learn to listen to the spirit. Because it will prepare us for the big changes to come. It will help us to be able to submit to the will of the Lord. It will help us to be able to better ourselves and become more like Christ. Listening to the spirit strengthens our faith and allows us to have the ability to be more diligent and to bring people unto Christ. 

The Spirit changes lives. It touches hearts and speaks to our souls. It comforts us in times of need. In times of sorrow and in times of joy.

He is our constant companion and we are so blessed to have been given that gift. May we not take it for granted. Because when we do, like the pointers on the Liahona, he can and will stop talking to us. 

I´ve learned this week that the Lord is in charge. He knows me and knows what I need. and I guess right now, I need a change. And I guess that so does Ciudad Del Este.. and Coronel Bogado. Maybe this change is expedient for the salvation of souls.

Sometimes we need change. Because that´s how we progress. And sometimes, He allows us to be blind for a second so that we can learn to trust in Him and in the guidance of His spirit.

God loves us. The Spirit guides us. Christ LIVES.

Hermana Rupe

Angel is still alive too... We just had a fun Slayer SHoot in the cemetary this week.

Lots of pictures from last week and this week. Enjoy.

Clap your Hands. :)

What a week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY... AND WENDY!! Love you both so much.

Speaking of birthdays... I´m pretty sure I asked for a birthday list and I had like 5 people working on it for me as of almost a year ago. Can someone please get me that?? I have missed so many birthdays and I feel so bad!! Please forgive me.

Birthday list please?? :)

My week.....

A Mexican Man who speaks english hugged me this week.

I was SO RED and felt HORRIBLE.

And Derlis basically proprosed to me with a necklace with my name engraved in it. He came to church. He comes every week, but still won´t get baptized.

BUT Victor the security guard came. He said that he was only going to stay for 15 minutes. But he stayed for the whole thing. And he stayed in the Primary with us and watched living scriptures. He loved learning about Nephi. He is reading his Book of Mormon both in Spanish and Guarani and when Nadia spoke about baptism in la sacramental, he leaned over and asked me if she was talking to him.

Yes, Victor. If you want her to be talking to you, that´s what she´s doing. We can clean the pileta right now if you would like. :)

I tell you. The mission just gets better. But it also is just getting a lot harder.

I feel like I´m getting better and then the Devil throws big boulders at me and tries to push me backward.

I have been blessed to have the companionship of my Heavenly Father and my Savior in those moments. But I wondered a lot this week about the people that forget. I understand that our testimonies can be tried. That sometimes it´s hard to stay strong. BUT How do people completely forget the blessings of the Lord? How do they lose their testimonies? There are quite a few people here in Bogado. Others in the Scriptures and even some at home. But my testimony has been strengthened so much that even when the boulders come flying my way, I could never deny the testimony that I have.

So how is it that some people, who have received the same witness as I, can forget?

I decided to read my farewell talk this week. To see if my young pre-missionary self could help me out a bit and I found this quote from Elder Scott.

"As your testimony is fortified, Satan will try harder to tempt you. Resist his efforts. You will become stronger and his influence on you weaker. Satan’s increasing influence in the world is allowed to provide an atmosphere in which to prove ourselves. While he causes havoc today, Satan’s final destiny was fixed by Jesus Christ through His Atonement and Resurrection. The devil will not triumph.

Even now, he must operate within bounds set by the Lord. He cannot take away any blessing that has been earned. He cannot alter character that has been woven from righteous decisions. He has no power to destroy the eternal bonds forged in a holy temple between a husband, wife, and children. He cannot quench true faith. He cannot take away your testimony. Yes, these things can be lost by succumbing to his temptations. But he has no power in and of himself to destroy them."

It´s succumbing to the temptations of the devil. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Which is kind of scary no??

The time is slipping away from me....

There are 7 days in a week.

I spent about 3 days this week in my area.

Monday, we went to the Ruins. You knew that.

Tuesday, we had Reuniones. And I was almost going to have to stay in Encarnacion until Thursday but you best believe I threw a FIT about that. No one had organized for someone to come back to Bogado with me. I called every person I could think of and I ended up taking matters into my own hands and stole Hermana Juarez and brought her to CB. :) Luckily, I didn´t get into trouble for that. ha

We worked really well together. She is Hermana Trillo´s hija and has about 6 months in the mission. She is a rockstar teacher and she is such a hard worker and such a sweet heart. She loves the people with her whole heart. She was so humble and willing to learn but she taught me.

I almost didn´t want to give her back

But I did. On Thursday. Then Hermana Cuevas and I had about 3 hours to work here on Thursday and we had to go back to Encarnacion Friday morning for entrevistas con el Presidente LaPierre.

He shared some fun Isaiah scriptures with me. Many times we only read 8 and 9... But keep reading! :)

Isaiah 55

 8 ¶For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my wayshigher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Gotta love Isaiah

Entrevistas were incredible. I learned so much from him. And learned that I have a LOT to get doing. :) This transfer has kindof just flied by me and I have no idea where the time has gone. It´s been so difficult.

I asked what President would like me to do now. And he gave me a great answer.

MAGNIFY your calling. Do what more you can do to be the best missionary possible. He basically quoted my patriarichal blessing and told me to use all of the talents that the Lord has allowed me to bring here.

I wonder why everything I have been studying lately comes back to being myself... Developing my talents. and working hard..

Something interesting.. He told me to find a way to not let myself burn out.

I must look tired or something. :)

Hermana Cuevas has a really bad back. That´s been rough... So we went to the doctor and he gave her some drugs. She´s been feeling better but she got sick last night and we had to go home early.

Basically Saturday was our day of miracles.

We decided to work in an area that I have never even been in. I don´t know why I never went down there before.... The cemetary just creeps me out. But we basically tracted a 2 mile long 2-way street on 2 sides. It was actually fun.

Who woulda thought??

But I was just about sick of no one inviting us in. Until we get to the end of the road. And we saw Fabian. We had to cross the street to get to him but It was totally normal and he didn´t seem weirded out. We said hello and introduced ourselves. And he invited us in. Without us even saying anything.

OKAY.

This never happens. 

We had a great lesson with him and talked a lot about how the world is a mess and we just need to save it. He does NOT like hypocrites. And that´s why he doesn´t like going to church. Because people go to church and act all Christ-like and then they leave and drink and party and act totally opposite.

So we explained to him that even in our church, we are trying to be better and to be more like Christ. Not only on Sundays but always. We are trying to develp our testimonies of the gospel and to live how God wants us to live.

He ate it all up and promised us that he would come to church NEXT week. He didn´t come yesterday but we have a cita with him tonight and basically he is going to be the next branch president. I promise. Pray for him!

We also met Marisa. She is 15 and we invited her to church. She said that she had to ask her mom. So we wrote down her number to call her in the night time and see if she got permission... But Hello, the Lord´s hand is in all things and on our way back to el centro after meeting Fabian, this nice lady stopped us. And asked us if we were the chicas who had met her daughter only 2 hours earlier.

Marisa had ALREADY called her mom for permission. And her mom just loved us too. We invited her to church and told her that we wanted to pass by during the week.

Another lady had walked past us and entered her house. Which we were standing in front of. 3 minutes later, as we were wrapping it up with Marisa´s mom, Angelica came back out and asked us if we spoke english.

NOOOOO.

She needs someone to basically tutor her son because he is failing in his ENGLISH class. Well, you´ve come to the right missionaries.

They then invited us in and we taught a mini Plan of Salvation because their cousin has cancer. We are going to go back this week and help Franco with his english and teach them all about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Baptism. Love and

share our testimonies and our talents!!

After all, God has given them to us so that we can bring others unto Christ. I´ve learned that that´s the purpose of this life.

Love you

Hermana Rupe

Extraordinary Gift
The Power of a Strong Testimony

Forgot my camera today... I had to steal pictures from Hna Cuevas. They are mostly from last week. but I will send double the pictures next week!! LOVE YOU LOVERS.

OREOS

No Corbin, the Argentine people don´t hate anyone. They are just super Christ-like and love the whole world.

Especially Germans. And I am now German. All of our new investigators that we met yesterday think I´m German. That´s how we got in their doors. :)

But that really is a lie. I don´t know who Argentina doesn´t like. I´m not even in Argentina but I totally was rooting for them.

WHO IS PREGNANT!!?!?!?!?! I have to know NOW! This is literally killing me. Like so bad it hurts.

We made yummy mexican food this week. 

We ate oreo truffles. Made those too.

We watched Saturday´s Warrior. I am upset that I have never seen that before. Who is to blame?

We can´t speak either language and we can´t tell which one we are speaking.

We wanted Argentina to win.

then I pretended to be German. Oops. Already told you that one.

We share clothes

We still get rejected sometimes

We started running this morning.

We cleaned out Erico´s foot. (I cleaned Erico´s foot.)

We made breakfast with Lidia

We spoke in sacrament.

We talked to everyone.

We went to the Ruins. That was cool.

We met some people from Indiana at the Mexican restaurant. (wend. your people!!) They only speak english.

This week was another fun adventure. It started with getting chased away by a mad man calling us lesbians and saying bad things...

And it ended with Maria coming to church and the most beautiful lesson with Ada about life after death.

I love Maria. She is Lidia´s grandma. I love their family. Someday they will be a great strength to for the Church here in Coronel Bogado. Like Lidia is now.

We have been trying to get Maria to come to church for 4 months. And SHE CAME. She even came the day of the finale of the World Cup. She even came on a day that she had a ton of work to do. It was a MIRACLE. Prayer works.

She even shared in class and she shared the most beautiful comments about how much she loves the gospel. How she loves visiting with us because she feels that what we have to share is truth.

And it is.

Even though some people choose not to follow it. Like Derlis. He still doesn´t want to get baptized. He´s kindof turning into a creep, but HE KNOWS it´s true.

But then there are people like Ada. We met Ada about 2 months ago. Walking in the street. We found her again a week later and we taught her about the Plan of Salvation. And the next day, her husband passed away. She´s been really busy and not had time to meet with us. But we had an appointment with her on Sunday and we went. She was so confused and had so many questions about the death of her Husband. We didn´t have much to say because we didn´t want to repeat the same old, "you´ll see him again we promise."

We wanted her to feel the spirit.

So we shared a few scriptures with her. and let her know that God loves her and that He does have a plan for her. We reminded her of her strength and encouraged her to stay strong. And she thanked us for not being like everyone else. For inviting a good happy loving feeling into her heart. And she told us that she knew that it would be okay.

The Gospel blesses lives. The spirit testifies and touches hearts.

Something that touched my heart this week was Elder Bruce R. McConkie´s testimony of the Atonement.

So many people struggle to understand the Atonement. I struggle. But I love what he says... Sometimes, we just "rely on the Lord and His goodness to see us through the trials and perils of life." which is okay. But we should try to have faith like Enoch and Elijah and Nephi. We should try to have a sound understanding of the Atonement. Because through the understanding of the Atonement, all other principles and ordinances in the gospel are made easier to understand.

And we can do it by studying the Book of Mormon. I really realized the importance of CONTINUALLY studying. Everyday. because with lots of travel and moving and craziness I´ve lost some study time. But I had the opportunity to read Elder Bednar´s article about Lehi´s Dream this week. It´s attached at the bottom so that you can read it. :)

In Lehi´s dream, the people who fell away in the end. Even after partaking of the fruit, were most likely those who just casually held to the Rod. They didn´t CLING to it continually.

I have made a promise that from now until the rest of forever I will continually hold fast to my Book of Mormon. :) It´s THAT important.

I learned so many more things this week. And as always, I was taught again of the Love of God. He loves us so much.

xoxo

Hermana Rupe

The Purifying Power of Gethsemane
Lehi´s Dream: Holding Fast to the Rod