Wasn't Conference Awesome?

Jericho Road

I'm so glad you got the pictures! I was worried that you might not get them. And dad that's funny about the Jericho Rd. sign! :) (FYI, Jericho Road is the name of an LDS musical group. Briana sent us this picture last week.)

Wasn't conference awesome?! I hope Eric was able to watch it in English. I was able to, and I think I was able to enjoy it more that way. I can't believe that sisters can go out at 19 now! That is so crazy!! 

Right when he said that, I thought of Brooklyn.  I was thinking about her all day since she told me that she's been thinking about a mission. Brook, I think you should do it! I couldn't imagine my life without these experiences. I think that so many more sisters will serve now, and I think the missionary work is going to grow a lot. 

I loved the talk by Elder Holland, and how bold he is. I thought the whole conference was really good and I really enjoyed the music. I wish I could go back and watch it all again. :) 

Hermanas Layton y Schofield with a local sister

We've had a good and busy week. I love working with sister Poulson. It's always sad when my companions get transferred out of the area, but every time a different companion comes, there is always so much to learn from her. It's been weird since they split the area but it's good too. We are finding more people and spending less time driving across that area to appointments. 

Mom, you asked about the sisters areas. Well, we have three. They had spanish sisters in Garden Grove, Anaheim, and here in Orange. When our area got split into two they gave the Garden Grove area to the Elders and so now the only Spanish sister areas are both halfs of the city of Orange and Anaheim. Maybe one of these days I will go to Anaheim, but if not, I won't be disappointed. I love it here! :) 

Las Hermanas

Anyway, there is not a lot to say this week. We found a lot of people, we had a lot of really embarrassing and awkward moments (that's just part of being a missionary), and got a lot done. I got to meet Hermana Breitenstein's new trainee. There is a good chance that I will be companions with her someday. She came out already knowing quite a bit of Spanish because she took Spanish classes before her mission. She is going to be a really good missionary. Sister Schofield is also training a new missionary right now in Anaheim. I can't wait to meet her. It's weird not being the youngest Spanish sister now.

Anyway, hope all is well back home. Love you all so much!! :)

The Best Decision I Have Ever Made

Sisters Layton and Schofield

That's so awesome that Eric was in my same zone!! Best teachers in the MTC! I cannot believe that he is headed to Guatemala. We have people in our ward from there and they were very excited when I told them that my brother was going. He will love it. I heard that there are really big spiders... that's why he went there and not me! :)

Ok, so this week has been crazy. I thought for sure that I was leaving this area because we knew that there were going to be changes with all of the spanish sisters. We got transfer calls Saturday night and they are actually splitting my area in half and I am taking the north half and Sister Breitenstein and her companion are taking the south half. I think I will just plan on staying here my whole mission! :) I was really sad at the thought that I might have to leave. We will have 4 sisters in our district now! That never happens. The half of my area that I will be working in has some good potential and most of our investigators are there, but the other half has our most progressing family. I'm glad that I will still get to see them at church but will miss teaching them. I know that sister Breitenstein will take care of them though. :) 

Anaheim, California Mission Sisters

Sister Schofield is going back to Anaheim and my new companion is sister Poulson. I am so sad that I was only companions with sister Schofield for one transfer. It was definitely my favorite transfer of the mission so far. I learned so much from her. Sister Poulson will be great too though. She is from Colorado and is going to BYU. Her major is history teaching. She came out with sister Breitenstein, so only has three transfers left. 

That's awesome about Michael's mission call! I love how many missionaries are coming out lately! He will do great! 

Mom, did you go to the women's conference? If not, you should watch it! I am getting really excited for conferences coming up this next weekend. I am grateful that we can listen to our living prophet and apostles. We taught Pati about Prophets this week and she thought it was really cool. She said she want's to come watch!

It is so amazing seeing the change in her from the time we started teaching. She is so great! Our new ward mission leader has been so great and helpful with the missionary work! He is getting the ward excited about doing missionary work. I am looking forward to this new transfer and am so grateful to be out here!

Cooling off with the district on a P day

Dad you said in your letter that you wondered about all of the things I'm not telling you like anything negative. Haha... There honestly not much to say and really nothing to complain about. The language is hard but it's okay because I always have a companion if I get stuck. The hardest part of the mission is watching people not accept the message and not keep their commitments, but there are others who do accept and do keep their commitments and that is one of the most amazing things to see out here! Another thing that is hard is saying goodbyes to my companions, but hey, I'll see them all again so what is there to be sad about? Haha. Don't worry I'm not hiding anything negative. 

I love the mission more than anything. It is the best decision I have ever made coming out here. I know I am supposed to be here. I cannot believe that in a few days I am at my halfway mark. Crazy! Make the time slow down!! :/ Anyway, I have to go. Love you all so much! Tell Michael congrats for me. Oh and also tell Matthew congrats for his baptism. I don't know if I said that before but I meant too. I am proud of him. 

Have a great week!

Six Month Mark - Already!

Sisters Breitenstein & Layton at a Ward Activity - apparently held in Texas

Hello my dearest family!

We have had a great week. We have been trying to figure out new ideas for finding people so we decided to start teaching English classes. We are planning on doing them 2 days a week starting on the 18th. 

We will start the classes with a prayer and spiritual thought, and then end with a prayer. This Sunday we started inviting the members and asking them to bring friends and we've also been puting flyers all around our area. A couple people have called asking about them, and we have seen people pull our flyers down and take them, or read them and put the number in their phone. Missionaries have done this before and lots of them have had success stories, but others have tried it and it hasn't worked out in their area. We are going to see how many people come for the first few times and see if it is worth our time. We will see what happens though. The sisters from another area sent us their lesson plans that we are planning on using. :) 

My 4th of July was great! It was just like every other day and our exchanges got changed so I wasn't by the Disneyland fireworks for the 4th... but guess what.. the 4th of July was my 6 month mark! Woah, time flies! I really think the time needs to slow down. I just love being out here so much. 

This Saturday I went on exchanges with the sign language sisters. It was so cool watching them communicate. I learned how to pray in sign language, but thats about it. It was a fun day. 

Sister Breitenstein and I get to be companions again this transfer. I am so excited! She is the driver this time though. They made a new Spanish zone, so we have 3 zones now instead of 2. Ours is really small now. Our President asked for some more Spanish speaking missionaries so it will grow eventually. 

The other good news is that we have 2 more sisters in out zone now! Wooo! Growing up with all brothers, I always wanted sisters... and being around so many Elders all the time, has really made me want sisters even more! Haha! 

We are changing apartments this Friday. I am so happy. The Cockroaches are nasty. I was sitting on the couch and a big one crawled accross me. I screamed so loud and think I really scared my companion. Haha! But lets just say I am so grateful that we are moving. We are going to have washers and dryers in the new apt! Wahoo! :) Anyways, thanks everyone for the letters. Love you all. Thank you Nennemans for the cookies! :)

Also, dad I just have to tell you, everyone loved that "Biggest piece of Sacrament bread" pic that you sent me. Too funny. :) Oh, and just one question... How is Ginger? :) Haha... Love you all so much! :)

The Gospel Can Change Lives For the Better



Sister Layton at a Ward Party

Hola familia!

The sisters activity this week was a lot of fun. It is nice to hang out with sisters sometimes since our zone and distrect is all Elders.

We did a lot of tracting this week because so many of our appointments fell through. We had 17 set appointments this week with some pretty awesome people, and all of them fell through except for two. It makes me sad because these people don't know what they are missing out on.

The gospel can change lives for the better and so many people dont understand how great is is until they try living it. We changed the appointments for some of them and the others just weren't home when we went. Mom, you asked about the lady who had a dream about us. We went back this week to visit her but she was walking out as we got there. We are planning on going back soon but we haven't taught her again since then. 

Sisters Activity

We were planing on going by Sunday to try to get her to come to church but we got a phone call of an old lady who wanted us to come talk to her friend. She said that her friend was asking her about the Book of Mormon and wanted to know more about it. We happened to be right around the corner when she called so we told her we could stop by right then. We thought it was going to be a house and that she was talking about her neighbor but it was a rehabilitation center, and this elderly lady was talking about her nurse. The nurse had asked her about the Book of Mormon when she was reading it so she wanted to call us. When we got there we gave her nurse a Book of Mormon but she didn't really want anything to do with it so she walked out and the old lady started talking to us. We couldn't get out because she was talking so much and we didn't want to be rude. I have to figure out how to just tell people when we have to go though because we ended up not having time to get any of our investigators before church which was really sad.

My companion and I have like 4 old ladies in their 80's that we are teaching right now and we dont really know what do do about it because they just agree with everything that we say but I dont think they really understand much at all. I think they just like having people there to talk to them.

Sister Layton With Local Children

This week I am going on exchanges with the sign language sisters. They cover the entire mission, and I have heard that it is a completely different experience than working in the spanish areas. I'm excited for that. I wont be with my companion for the 4th of July, but I will be pretty close to the Disneyland fireworks which will be fun.

Mom to answer your questions, it is really hot here but I am not complaining. You know how I love the heat. :) You asked if you think I will be with Hermana Breitenstein for a while.. we have no idea whats going to happen but hopefully we will be together for a while. We have one week until transfers so we will find out soon if we are going to be together for another one. Hopefully we will though. And yes, training has been over for a while now. It is nice just having one hour of companion study instead of two.

It sounds like Curtis had a great birthday. Mom, way to beat the guys at bowling. We did that for our zone activity a couple of weeks ago, it was pretty fun. We usually still play soccer for the activities. I love it so much!

I heard that that Olympics are starting soon. Are you going to watch them? Oh and also, there are cockroaches all over my appartment. It's nasty. Haha. We have had the bug guys come spray our appartment but both times the cockroaches doubles in amount and trippled in size. Ewww! Haha! Oh and mom, I made banana bread this week. Yum. Good bye my dearest family. :)

Love, Hermana Tarde Sobre

He Answers Our Prayers

Hola familia,

Like always, it has been another great week! I love working with Hermana Breitenstein.

Mom to answer your question, yes we do have some new investigators that we found this week, but they are not progressing yet because we have only met with them once. We have appointments with them this week.

We only have one right now who is progressing. We had an awesome lesson this week with him. He loves reading the Book of Mormon and loves it when we come over but he works on Sundays and he can never come to church. We have invited him to talk to his boss a few times to try and get work off but he kept telling us that when God wanted him to come to church he would give him Sundays off. Well this last week we talked about acting on his faith. We talked about how faith without works is dead and he couldn't just wait for something to happen but he needed to act. He said that he had heard that before. You could tell that everything just clicked when we started talking about it. He got a smile on his face and said he knows that he needs to act on his faith.

This week he talked to his boss. He wasn't able to get off this Sunday but his boss told him that next Sunday he can. He called us and told us that he will be at church next Sunday. We are so excited! I will be praying that he will be able to make it. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.

Last week my companion and I made a goal that we would hand out 7 Book of Mormons each week. We prayed each day to have his help to find people who were ready for the message of the restoration and who would be interested in the Book of Mormon. When we had dinner with the members we invited them to pray that as we went out that night to tract that we would find someone we could share this message with. The first night we did that we handed out 4 Book of Mormons, taught two lessons and found two new investigators. We continued doing this each night and were led to people who wanted to listen. By the end of the week we had handed out 14 Book of Mormons and have return appointments with many of them! I know that it was because of the faith and they prayers of the members, and I know that it was only through the help of our Heavenly Father. :)

Dad you asked about the food. We almost always eat Mexican food, but this week we were able to have Salmon at the stake presidents house! It was the best. I really like Mexican food but they always try to feed me way more then I can eat!

I am looking forward to this week. We have zone conference again for my second time. The last one was a lot of fun and the talks were great! Anyway, I need to go write to the President. I love you all sooo soo much!

Hope you have a great week.

Love Hermana Tarde Sobre

Excited For Eric

Hermana Layton in SoCal

Woah Eric I never thought you would go to Guatemala. That is so awesome! Holy cow, I am so excited for you!!!!! You are going to love it so much. I am pretty sure that is where one of my companions from the MTC went. That is seriously so cool!!! :) :)

Eric I am so proud of you and the example you are to our family. The mission will change your life! All of the missionaries around me know where you are going too cause I just got super excited when I read it. :) I know that is exactly where the Lord needs you, and there are people there waiting for you.

That is pretty awesome that you will go to the CCM there. My companion said that when she was in the CCM in Guatemala she couldn't understand anything but learned way faster there then the Provo one becauseshe didn't really have another choice. You should take mission prep at BYU. :)

Anyway, this week has been probably the busiest week of my mission. My new district is awesome! Three of our Elders left and we got three different ones. Two of them are on bikes. :/ I feel bad because the areas are pretty big.

I am so blessed to have Sister Breitenstein back. She is such an amazing companion and is teaching me so much every day. I love working with her.

At Balboa Island

This week we had something pretty cool happen. There was a guy that we were teaching right when I got to the mission and he was wanting to make changes in his life but he had to move because of his job. We'll just this last week we had an appointment with a lady but she wasn't home so we started walking down the street and this same guy rode by on his bike. When he saw us he stopped and was so happy to see us. He had just moved back here because the job hadn't worked out and asked us if we could set up an appointment with him. He wants us to teach him again! We are so excited!

We had baptism date last week for one of our investigators but she can never get to church so we had to move it back. She always tells us that she will come but sadly hasn't been able to yet.

The sister that just got baptized in our ward has been helping us out a lot. She always is giving us names of her friends to teach. She is a great member missionary!

Well, thats about all for this week, not a lot new. I am so excited for Eric's news and know that he is going to be a great missionary!! :D Love you all so much!

I Feel Him Helping Me Each Day of My Mission

Hermanas Layton y Breitenstein

Hola familia!

Today was transfers and has been a crazy day. Sorry if I don't have as much time to write. Hermana Vilches went back to English speaking and I am with Hermana Breitenstein again. I am so excited!
This week we had exchanges. For the first one I stayed in our area and another Spanish speaking sister came with me. I spent another day in Newport Beach in an English speaking area and was able to go to a baptism with her. I love the feeling of watching someone get baptized, it always reminds me of when I was baptized, and makes me want to be so much better. It was at the chapel right by the temple, so afterwards we were able to walk around the temple with one of her investigators. It has been fun to be able to see different areas in the mission, but I am glad that I won't need to do exchanges every week now. They are fun, but can be stressful.

Did you know that missionaries in Cali all drive Mercedes?

Last week our investigator was able to get baptized on Tuesday and confirmed on Sunday. She was the same one that just got married. She is so amazing and such a great example to her family and friends! Her husband still doesn't want anything to do with the missionaries but he likes to come to the ward activities. Their family always helps us out and always bring different friends to the ward activities. They are great!

I am happy to be staying in this area. I just love the people here. I know that this is where I am supposed to be. I know that Heavenly Father knows each person that we are working with individually and He knows me individually as well. I feel Him helping me each day of my mission, and I know that I would not be getting very far without Him. I love the Gospel and love being a missionary! :)

When you're from Oregon, pumping gas is a new experience

That's so cool that Ariel got her mission call. She will do great! That is also awesome that she will be in the MTC with her brother. OK, I am not saying this to take your guess, but I was just telling my companion in the car ride over here that I was going to change my guess to Germany before I read that that is what you were thinking. That's where I think Eric will go. Haha... and for the states... Kentucky?

And to answer Grandma's question, we get letters on Mondays after we email, during our zone activity. And actually anytime we see our zone leaders they can give us our mail. They are in our district so we see them quite a bit. Wednesdays are district meetings so we get mail those days for sure too.
Mom and dad, thank you so much for the package. I got home from an exchange after a long week and when I saw it, it just made my day. Mom I love the outfit of course. :) Curtis always has the best letters. Love him so much. I pray for you always. Eric, the mission is the best thing that has ever happened to me and you are going to love it! :)

The Mission is Changing My Life

That is awesome that Eric's papers are going to be in. I am going to guess Brazil. Even though I kinda have a feeling he might go to some weird crazy place. I know he doesnt want to learn Spanish as much, but I'm kinda hoping he goes Spanish speaking. :) 

Newport Beach Temple

We have a new rule in the mission that temple days are no longer on P days! Wahoo! That means that I probably shouldn't ever have a problem emailing home on P days. At least I hope anyway. Transfers get crazy, but I will try to make sure that email is at the top of the list. :)
The Hallmans and the Adams sent me a package. I loved it, and the letters from the kids made me want to cry. They were so sweet! I miss them!

It's been a crazy week, but so good. We changed the dates for our investigators baptisms. One of them just got married this weekend and is getting baptized tomorrow night! We are so excited for her. Her husband and boys are going to come. The husband hasn't wanted anything to do with the missionaries, but has opened up a lot lately. He has been talking to us now and even coming to some of the ward activities.

Our other investigator still hasn't been able to come to church and is not keeping all of her commitments so we need to move her date back. We are meeting with her today, and hopefully she will be able to come to the baptism tomorrow. We had another temple tour this last week.

Our recent convert came with us and he loved it! We haven't had a lesson with him yet about temples so it was good for him to go on the tour.

Next Monday is the end of transfers so there is a chance that I will have a different companion then, and like I said before, I have heard rumors that Hna. Breitenstein is coming back! :)
Grandma and Grandpa Layton asked a question about our lessons... When we are teaching men, we have to have a member come with us unless there is a woman at home. We can teach women with just the two of us though. That's what was nice when I had two companions, we were able to teach anyone. It's always good to have members with us though because they can be friends with those we are teaching and it helps a lot and makes them feel more comfortable at church.

Well time is up, but I know that the church is true. The mission is changing my life. I love this gospel! :)

We Give Them a Chance to Exercise Agency

It was so great being able to talk to you yesterday! I wish the call could have been longer. Feliz dia de las madres to the best mom in the world! :)

I don't remember if I told you about the church tour that we did at the end of the ward activity. A member from our ward brought a family with them and we gave them a tour of the building. They really seemed to enjoy it and said that we can come teach them. It's the best when the members help with the missionary work. We started teaching member missionary lessons to help the members in our ward be more comfortable sharing the Gospel with their friends. Here is a quote from the lesson plan that I really like. "God did not give the free agency of other people to us, he gave it to them. When we decide not to share the Gospel with others, we are depriving them of their agency to choose. When we give them the opportunity to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ more deeply, we give them a chance to exercise the agency that God gave to them. It is our responsibility to invite, and their responsibility to accept." If we do our part by inviting them then we are a successful missionary. Then it is up to them to use their agency to accept the message or not.

This week on Tuesday we have the sisters meeting again with all of the sisters in the mission. My companion and I are in charge of it, so we have been planning the lesson and activities. It's hard to find time though so I hope it turns out OK. I will be going on more exchanges these next couple of weeks before transfers.

I am so excited for Hermana Breitenstein to come back to our area next transfer! We have two baptismal dates right before transfers are over, one on the 26th and one on the 27th. We are praying that they both will happen, but are not sure because we can't get one of them to come to church. She usually leaves Sundays to visit her mom.

I told you about the other one on the phone. We are so excited that her boyfriend finally agreed to get married! We have been fasting and praying for her every month and I know that fasting and prayer work. She has a son that is also at the age where he could get baptized and he likes to come to church every Sunday with his mom. :)

I know there were a lot of Vegas Birthdays this month. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU! Love you all so much!

Eric, you are a stud for having two dates to prom. Mom... I don't think you sent an email... but I will check again. We emailed at the library today instead of the family history center so we started earlier. Maybe you just wrote one cause it says one in my inbox now.. sweet. LOVE YOU ALL! BYE!

The Gospel Has Changed His Life and He is So Happy

I'm glad you got my email from last week, I was getting worried when I read that you didn't get it. That is so weird that it sent out that night. Dad I am sorry sorry to hear that you were in the hospital. :( I will be praying for you and I am glad you are doing better.

For the phone call on Mothers Day, I can't call the day before to set up a time. We are not allowed to do a pre-call. And they just barely made a new rule that we can't skype anymore so it will be a phone call. Also I was sad when I heard this, but we are only allowed to talk for 30-40 min. That's what president said and also what it said in the white handbook. We have church at 11 and I think we will call sometime between 2 to 4ish depending on what we have going on. I hope that is ok for you guys.

Eric you are getting so close to turning in your papers. I can't wait! I am so excited for you!! That is just so awesome! I'm proud of you big lil bro.

Dad, where in Mexico did you serve your mission. about 98 percent of the people we work with or the people in our ward are from Mexico and when I tell them about my awesome dad who served in Mexico they always ask where... but saldy I forgot.. Love you familia!!

Hola mi familia! Este semana fue muy buena!! Tuvimos un bautismo! It has been amazing to teach this investigator and watch him learn and grow. He had a pretty hard life and was in depression before he found the gospel. The gospel has changed his life and he is so happy. He struggles a lot because they cut his hours at work to only two days a week. I was nervous to teach about tithing, but he has so much faith and didnt even worry about paying his tithing. He knows that he will be blessed for it. Also I taught the law of Chastity for my first time and invited him to live it. Awkward.. My companion made me do it.

Haha. We are working with another investigator who is so awesome! He told us that he wants to be baptized and he said that he knows God sent us to him. We found him knocking on doors. He felt the spirit so strong in our last lesson. He said "Me da mucho sentimiento". I love it when investigators feel the spirit for the first time. We invited him to pray about a date that he can get baptized. It's hard because he can't ever come to church because of his job. We also invited him to talk to his boss about getting off work and to pray for a way that he will be able to come to church.

Tonight and am going on exchanges in an English speaking area (East Bluff). I will be there all day tomorrow. It is one of the richest areas in our mission and I am kind of nervous because white people scare me. Haha... They are always the ones who get mad at us.

Last week I went to Anaheim with the spanish speaking sisters. Hermana Breitenstein comes back on the 15th so I wont have to leave our area as much. I can't wait for her to come back! Sorry I don't have a lot of time. I think I say this a lot, but I love being a missionary!! :) Adios!

Investigators on Temple Grounds



Briana's District

This has been a crazy week. I was worried that we wouldn't have time to email today but luckily we made it. Transfers were this weekend and they usually leave your trainers with you until you are done with the training program. We were told that we would all be together again this transfer. 
We had our day all planned out and we got a call this morning from the Assistants to the President saying that there was a last minute change and my companion Hermana Breitenstein needed to go to Anaheim for a couple of weeks. One of the sisters didn't get her visa and isn't here yet. We had to go to the meeting right then during our usual email time. Now I just have one companion.

Hermanas Vilches, Breitenstein and Layton

It was sad that she has to go, but I'm glad we will get her back in in a couple of weeks. She helps me out so much. Hermana Vilches is the coordinating sister so she goes on exchanges a lot. It is going to be way different now because I won't have Hermana Breitenstein to help.

Let's just say that I am really hoping these next two weeks will be exchanges with the Spanish speaking sisters so I have some help communicating with the people. :) If not then I know that I will at least have the Lords help. I know that if I work hard and am prepared then he wll help me know what to say. It will definitely be a good experience even if it's hard.

We had our temple tour this weekend. It was great! One of our investigators came with her three boys and there were many other investigators who came as well from all around our mission. We walked around the temple and a member from our ward talked about the it. We went back to the church building and they were able to walk around and look at the paintings on the wall. It was such a good opportunity for the investigators to feel the spirit. I am so grateful for the temple. I know it is the house of the Lord and love the spirit that is there.

Newport Beach Temple

Mom that is awesome that you signed up to go out with the missionaries. Member lessons are the best and they help so much. You would be great! Eric, congrats on winning 1st place! I am excited for you!! That's seriously awesome! I can't believe that you can turn your papers in so soon. Santa Vaca!!!

You should ask bishop for a copy of "Preach My Gospel" and read through it. That would be one of the best ways to prepare for a mission. I am sooo excited for you and can't wait to find out where you are going.

Curtis, stop growing and do not change until I get home. Pretty please! Ok, good.

Hope all is well with the best family in el mundo. Love you guys so much.

Preach to me!



Outside the Apartment

Hola!!! It's been another awesome week! Last week for the zone activity we got to play soccer, and we get to play again today. Sooo fun! Before I forget, I want to tell you that my p day next week is on Thursday because we have a temple trip. I will email you then.

I love the people we are teaching! There was one night when we went to teach, but the man wasn't home. There was a guy right outside his house that said "He's not home? Preach to me!" So we found out a little bit about him and started teaching.

He spoke English which was nice because I could actually understand everything. He agreed with everything that we were saying and just kept saying he wants to make a change in his life. He kept talking about how he had made so many mistakes and felt so guilty. Then I asked how he would feel to be free from all that guilt and clean from his sins. He said that would be the most amazing feeling and he wanted that more than anything. We talked about the Atonement and how he could become clean. I asked him if he would be baptized and he said yes! Then he just kept asking what he needs to do to change and get ready to be baptized. It was awesome! 

Great weather and good food

Since he speaks English we have to pass him to the English missionaries so we won't actually get to continue teaching him but it was an awesome experience.

This week we have a sisters conference with all of the sisters in the mission. I will get to meet the other spanish speaking sisters. I will most likely be companions with some of them because I guess there are only 7 of us who are spanish speaking in this mission.

Mom, you asked where my companions are from. Hermana Breitenstein is from San Fransisco (Her dad is in the military so she has moved all around. That was just the last place she lived.) She has been out here 6ish months. and Hermana Vilches is from Dayton Ohio, kind of where Uncle Steve is from. Hermana V has been out for a little over a year.

Dinner from the bar-b

Please tell the Pullans that I loved the package! I got it right after I sent my email last week and it totally made my day! Too bad I didn't get to see them and they were right here!! Yes mom, I saw Hermana Christensen when she was leaving. And thank you for emailing Alta's mom. That will be perfect.

Eric... What the!... You can put your papers in so soon! (Eric is getting ready to start his mission papers.) I am soooo excited for you!!! You will be such a great missionary and you will absolutely love it! Sorry about the wisdom teeth. Good luck!

Love you so much! Have a great week!!! Anyways, I am running out of time. Love you all!Adios! :) :)

Spanish Is Pretty Hard But I Love It

MTC district

Hola! This week has been another great one. I love this area! My companion's names are Hermana Vilches and Hermana Breitenstein. Hermana Vilches is the one that is fluent with the language. She knew Spanish before her mission. They are really helpful with the language.

Spanish is pretty hard but I love it. There was one day this week where I was talking in Spanish all day and I knocked on one door and said something to them in Spanish. I was so used to speaking Spanish that I didnt realize that they answered me in English and I kept replying in Spanish and he kept talking in English. The conversation probably sounded really funny. My companions were laughing at me the rest of the day. So funny. :)

So this week I extended the baptismal invite for the first time. It was the first lesson that we had with him and it went really well. When I asked him he sat there for a couple minutes thinking about it and then he said that he would, but first he wants to know for sure that this is true. He has been reading his scriptures and praying so I know that he will find his answer.

Hermanas Vilches, Breitenstein and Layton

We are working with a lady that set a date to be baptized on the 26th of this month but it all depends on of she gets married or not. She really wants to but her boyfriend doesn't quite yet. She knows that the church is true and she has a really strong testimony so hopefully they will get married before the 26th.

We had my first zone conference this week. It was awesome. We heard from my mission president and his wife. It was a really great experience! They have amazing testimonies.
I am starting to get to know the people in the ward a lot more. They are great! The little kids are the cutest! On Sundays we stand by the door and greet everyone coming in and sometimes the little kids will just run up and give me a huge hug. It's sad that I'm not supposed to hug back but their hugs still make my day.

I don't have a ton of time but I want you to know that I know that the Gospel was restored to the earth and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I love teaching the first lesson and especially the first vision because it brings the Spirit into the room so strong. I love the gospel. I know that it can bring so much joy into our lives. Don't be afraid to share it with people. Find names that you can give to the missionaries in the ward. That is the best way to do missionary work! :)

Oh and a question that I think you asked last week that I forgot to answer... I was told that most likely I will be serving in all Spanish speaking areas. The only reason why they would move me to an English area is if they really needed drivers. A lot of the missionaries from out of the country can't drive. The mission president really likes to keep you where you have been called though so my companions said they really do not think I will serve in an English area. I guess there is a chance that I could though.

I love and you miss you all so much. Tell Aunt Karen that there is a letter on the way. It takes me forever to write back especially now that I am out in the field. Tell Grandma, Grandpa and Sean that I love them so much!!! and the Vegas family too! :) Gracias!