FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!

¿Cómo están ustedes?  Espero que todo esté bien...I don´t know if I used the subjunctive correctly right there...but here´s to hoping.  Lo siento if I´m wrong.

I´m so glad to hear you´re all doing well and that Sunkist is still alive.  I´m glad the Kupsa went well with the missionaries, too.  Can´t beat eating delicious food with your hands!  I wish I could have been there for that.  Also, I can´t believe how much snow you got!!  That´s so nuts!  I wish I could be there right now playing in it or sledding or snow ball fighting or snow man building it up with you all.  It´s hot here every day.  I already have my hair elastic and CTR ring tan lines back and I´m getting one from my watch.  Somedays it´s cloudy, which is really nice, except it never rains!  I never thought I would want rain, but it would just be nice at least every once in a while.  An elder here is from Guayaquil and he said it´s even HOTTER in Ecuador, so basically I´m going to die.  It´s ok, though.  I can do all things through the Lord who strengthens me.

Also, Christian, thanks so much for the note you put in my Preach My Gospel!  I forgot to thank you for that last week.  You are the sweetest ever. :]  I´ll definitely be keeping you and your surgery in my prayers.  Good luck being the best Juror #4 in the entire world!  I hope all those practices are going well and that you're proing it up.  I love you!

Parker, thank you for the DearElder you sent me!!!!!!  I totally forgot that that was a thing!  An hermano came into class and started passing out pieces of paper and I got one, and it was from you!  If people are reading this who want to write me, but don´t have enough time for a handwritten letter, write me at DearElder.com!  Parker, thank you so much for your uplifting and inspiring words.  I think you should be a motivational speaker/speach writer someday.  You are incredible and you have helped me so much in my life.  I love you!  Thank you. :]

William, I didn´t hear from you this week, but I hope all is going well for you!  I love you!

Mom, I've been thinking about you and your delicious Valentine´s Day cookies this week and how much I'm going to miss them.  People always complain about Valentine´s Day, but that´s probably because they've never had your cookies...or felt your love.  I love you so much and I got a laugh out of the covers you sent back to Dee.  Whoops!  Thank you so much for you loving words.  I miss you and love you.

Dad, I´m glad you survived the snow plowing/shoveling experience and that you were able to get the snow blower working.  And thanks for the fun facts on the presidents´ birthdays.  Whether they´re completely correct or not, I don´t really know.  But I can always count on you for the fun facts, which I love, so thank you.  I love you so much!  Keep practicing your Memory so you can whoop me when I get back! ;]

Speaking of fun facts, luckily this week I wrote down some things I wanted to remember to tell you, so I´ll give them now:

Hermanas get to cut to the front of every line because we´re "priveleged."  It´s so great!  I´ve been spoiled, though, by not having to wait in line, so that´ll be a news flash when I get back to real life.

The juice here is 100% fresh.  It´s incredible.  I can´t even tell you how delicious it is.  Every night at 9:30, the missionaries go to the comedor (cafeteria) to eat fruit.  They have some mandarin oranges-type fruits that are green on the outside, but look just like an orange inside.  The weirdest fruit by far I´ve eaten is a granadia.  Look it up!  When you open it up, the inside looks like alien goo.  It tastes like it, too.  So weird.  Definitely look up a picture.  I had to watch someone open it before I did because I honestly had no idea where to begin.  I only ate one, but I´m building up my courage/strength to eat another one this week.

Today ALL the missionaries left except the 5 of us in my district.  It´s been pretty empty.  I literally have no companion.  When I´m on the girl´s side of the dormitorios, I´m alone.  Definitely weird.  We´re going to be getting 24 new North American missionaries, though, including 4 hermanas!!!  None of them will be my companions because they´re just starting, but it´ll be nice to have people to speak in English to.  I don´t know how many Latin missionaries we´ll be getting, but I hope they´re at least half as awesome as the ones who just left.  There were so many wonderful elderes and hermanas that I got to know here.  It was sad to see them go.

I put my bug spray on every day and didn´t get any bug bites, so one day I figured I should just not wear it because I hadn´t seen any mosquitos, and then the one day I didn´t wear it, I got 7 mosquito bites.  Good news is now I know the bug spray works.

We get to go to the temple today!!!!!!!!!!  I´m so excited!  We´ll be going around one and get to do a Spanish session, so that´ll be exciting.

I received a letter from Dee yesterday (thanks, Dee!) and figured out that it takes 8 days for mail to get here, so you all still have time to write me!!  8 days.  $1.10.  That´s it.

On Saturday, we got to go proselyting!!!!  We were being REAL missionaries!  It was so cool!  I was with Hermana Huerta, and she and I got 12 referrals, taught 2 lessons, and handed out 2 copies of the Libro de Mormón.  It was a great experience.  I didn´t say a ton, but I was able to bear my testimony and TRY to understand what the people were saying.  They talk so quietly, but they´re really open.  The world here is so different.  You can´t tell what is a house or not, etc.  The people live in such poor conditions, but that means their hearts are really open to the message because of their humility.  It just made me grateful for our house back in NH, no matter how imperfect it is.  It´s much much more than any of these people have.

The Lord has definitely shown me some tender mercies this week, too.  These may seem like dumb things, but they were really wonderful to me:  (1) Hermana Connors from TX was wearing the same pair of flats that I wore practically every day, but in Black.  It was like I was back home with them.  (2) I met someone named Guillermo, and all I could think of was William.  I really wanted to call the elder Billy Gui from then on, but I don´t think he would have gotten it.  Apparently his mom´s name is Sarah, too, so it was just a fun coincidence.  (3) When we were proselyting I heard some One Direction playing and it just made me really happy.  Ash and Camille, I sure miss you!  (4) My Latina companion LOVES Just Dance 4!!!!!  And her favorite song is my favorite, too!  The India "Beware of the Boys" one.  So great.  Simple things that had a big impact on me, though.  Heavenly Father is so mindful of me.

One thing that really impacted me this week from Preach My Gospel was a quote talking about how many of these people have been prepared to hear this message.  I just felt the spirit testifying so strongly to me that I need to work hard so I can find God´s children and teach them about this joyful message.  The Gospel is simple.  The Gospel is life changing.  Only the Gospel will bring us the joy we desire now and for eternity.  I know God loves all of us and wants the best for us each and every day.  He WILL answer our prayers.  He DOES answer our prayers.  We just have to make sure we´re in a place where we can hear/feel the answer.

I love you all and pray for you daily.  :]

CON MUCHO MUCHO MUCHOOOOOOOO AMOR,


Hermana Sarah Yesterday

Ps most of the elderes/hermanas say my last name the way I say it if I were in the U.S. which has been really fun.  They just want to say it right, which is so sweet.

Pss Dad, don´t worry about the reimbursement for my bag--I got reimbursed yesterday for it.

Psss I hope the pictures work that I attached!  (1) My district [Woolner, Richards, Cooper, Duzett, (front) Stanley]  Elder Cooper is a mix of Napoleon Dynamite and Alana.  Just a ps.   (2) An apple an elder gave to me.  On the back it said "You´re a apple.  Remember me.  I´ll never forget you."  haha so good.  (3) Two of my roommates.  The hermana on the left was my companion!  Hermana Acevedo.  The one on the right could speak pretty good English, which was really helpful at times.  (4) All the hermanas here at the CCM.

Pssss Mom, don´t worry about my facebook or delete any emails I get.  I´ll just take care of all that when I get home.  I love you!

Psssss Tell Brooke thanks for the message!