Another Baby Came My Way

I´m training again! She is cute! Her name is Hermana Lopez and she is from Chile! She literally has 20 days on the mission. 20 days away from her family. She was only in the MTC for 2 weeks and then came straight here. So its literally starting from scratch. She is really sweet and I just want the best for her. I really hope that I can help her with everything so that she feels loved here. Our first planning day was a little rough and Homesickness hasnt hit her yet but it almost did! Im so prepared. I got chocolate and all that good stuff. Im thinking my last two transfers I will be with her, so that is really cool! We are doing training so I am remembering everything that I had to learn those first 12 weeks and Im able to see what I need to do better for my last 12 weeks. Our first day being able to work together we found this woman Paulina and Hermana Lopez threw out the Book of Mormon and really wanted to teach it. So we went with it, little did we know that Paulina was really looking for a way to learn more about Christ and feel peace. What does the Book of Mormon do? Helps us learn about Christ and feel peace. MIRACLE. She is so in tune with the spirit and she shines in every lesson. Im so grateful to be able to serve with her. Saturday the stake did a MINI CCM! It was so cool. It was a little Missionary Training Center at our stake building. There were 150 young men and young women who came and all of us missionaries went out and did contacts with them. We had 4 amazing girls who did sooooo good! We did a game to help with the awkwardness of contacting. That we had to say a specific word in our contact. Hermana Pipe and I did that a few times when we worked together and it seemed to work! So we did it with them and IT WAS AWESOME! At first I did the talking because yeah Hermana Lopez was just as nervous as they were, then the girls took it away! One lady talked to us but basically didnt want to do anything with the church and one of the girls bore her testimony! It was really amazing. It helped me to realize how simple it really is to share our testimonies and the gospel. We dont need to leave a 30 minute lesson with an opening and closing prayer with every person we know, but these girls helped me to realize that if all we have is our testimony, give it. And we will be blessed in return. AND I SAW HERMANA BEDOYA!!!!! I practically sat in her lap the whole meeting. Sunday Victor came to church again! What a champ. He so is getting baptized. He is such a humble hermanito and I love him to death. He has such a testimony already and every time we leave his house I feel like I got more out of the lesson with him because of the love he has for the Lord. I live with now Hermana Howard from Salt Lake! She and I have a lot in common and we are having lots of fun together so Im glad that she is here with me. We took tons of pictures on Sunday so I will try to get them out but if I dont, next week! Im super happy and everything is going good here in good ol Formosa. Love you all! Love Hermana Healey

Remember when Argentina almost won the World Cup?

Yeah me too! Everyone has been asking so Ima tell you how it was during this exciting time of our lives. Every day that Argentina played we changed the schedule and we worked in the morning and then we studied during the siesta when Argentina was playing and then we left at like 5:30. So we weren’t in the crazy, but we sure heard the crazy. Sunday was a total different story. They played here at like 3 or 4, so we went to church and then we came home and didn’t leave for the rest of the night. Yes, you better believe I took my first Sunday nap yesterday. We couldn’t tell if the game had ended or if we lost, until we heard fireworks and no screaming. That is when I knew that Argentina was in mourning. Enough about that, BELEN FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED!!! We were so excited for her! This time we went to her house, waited for her to get ready and then walked with her and her family to the church. Then later on her grandma and two of her aunts came! All non-members and they all came to support Belen! So cute! She was so excited and so happy! She had a permanent smile on her face all night. She asked Elder Hastleton to baptize her, and it was his birthday on Saturday! Happy birthday to him. Really all the good things of this week happened on Sunday. We told our investigator Victor that we would wait for him at church because he has his moto and everything. So we get there and I have to go straight to the piano to play, so Hermana Bedoya grabbed another Hermana and was waiting and waiting. I looked down and didn’t see either of them when Sacrament started so I started to panic. Then after the opening hymn they walked in!!! Part of my stress=gone. But then we were all panicked because Raquel still wasn’t there and she needed to give a talk during sacrament! Seriously I was looking through windows outside looking for her moto, listening carefully to see if I hear Lulu or Ariel. I was stressed. Finally she comes in! RELIEF. She did such a good job! She talked about baptism and talked about her own baptism. it was so beautiful. After sacrament we were making sure everyone was where they needed to be. Victor=his class, Belen=her class, Lulu/Ariel=primary, Raquel=our class. We were running around everywhere and then we wanted Victor to have a friend come sit by him. The member who helps us with victor usually wasn’t there so we were like "What do we do now?" (Really like the world was ending) But then we though Hermano Medina. He was glad to help! AND IT WAS PERFECT! In class he sat by Victor, helped him read, let him borrow his scriptures, then RAISED HIS HAND and talked about how he was so glad to have made a new friend today in church. Victor was so grateful he was brought to tears. He told us that he has been praying for spiritual guidance and that he knows the church is true. He is preparing to be baptized 2 of August...I think…ha but the point is…he is awesome, and maybe Sunday wouldn’t have been that great if Hermano Medina wasn’t willing to make a new friend in church. Well that was basically the great part of the week. Since we didn’t leave yesterday I read, slept, and then colored of course. And then we were all saddened by the loss of Argentina. Remember how it’s like "winter" here? Yeah I’m sweating. It’s been so hot this week I’m nervous that summer came a little too quickly. Transfers are this week already!!! I think I’m staying, I think I will stay here until I go home, I am PRAYING that Hermana Bedoya stays here with me for at least ONE MORE TRANSFER. But I will let you know next week! The time is FLYING! And there is no stopping it. I am so grateful for this time I have to serve the Lord, I know and I am reminded every day that this work is REAL, it is changing lives and it is helping so many families. That is what it is all about right there. Love you!! Have a great week!! Love Hermana Healey

First Cotton Candy - Not Bought on the Sabbath!!

HAPPY LATE FOURTH OF JULY!!!!! I celebrated by rocking a red sweatshirt most of my time in the pension and hummed the national anthem through the day. Then drew fireworks all over every single paper I found. I hope everyone enjoyed their day!!! I also said the Pledge of Allegiance...? Yeah if that’s not how you spell it it’s totally Pipes fault. haha This week was a good one! We had divisiones this week! I was with Hermana Otiniano! She is really sweet. Really strict; I... thankfully... stayed in my area and we went around and she got to meet a lot of people we are teaching. She really is straight forward... and kinda strong…haha I was kind of embarrassed at some of the things that she said to some people. But she probably meant it... with love. haha In the end she said that I didn’t have to work on anything…but I told her to be a little bit nicer to people. haha But all in all it was a good time. She bought me cotton candy in the end so she earned the brownie points that she needed to earn. Friday was the interview for Belen for her baptism. She passed!!! Before we left I looked at her and said that we were going to stop by at 5:30 to get them and then I turned to the mom and said the exact same thing. Belen has had her invitations to pass out to all of her little friends since Thursday, and they say the time and date of the baptism. We passed by again on Saturday in the morning and I said, again, we will pass by at 5:30 to come get you! I hope we are all clear that we were going to pass by for them at 5:30 because the baptism started at 6:30. We show up... No one. So we think they went on their moto! So we head on over to the church and the young men are there playing soccer outside, so we pass by the brother of Belen and he said that everyone went home already. Excuse me? APPARENTLY, EVERYONE in Belen’s family came at the church at 5, thinking it started at 5... Why you may ask? I have no freaking idea. But all of their family members are non-members and so they all thought we forgot about the baptism blah blah. Some were pretty mad. Did I not say...?whatever...! We called the mom and she said that Belen had told everyone that it started at 5. And so yeah. She didn’t get baptized. But the coolest kid Max got baptized! And hardly any members were there so we stayed and I gave the talk on baptism. He is such a cool kid! Sunday Belen didn’t go to church…so that worried us. But we went with Raquel! Last week we did a Noche de hogar with her and her family and then yesterday she invited us to one tonight that she is doing all by herself! And she is making cake, so of course, Ima be there. But she also got asked to speak in sacrament next Sunday about baptism! Talk about an assignment!!! We are so excited for her! She is growing up so fast. haha Sunday night we went to see Belen. She was, I think, embarrassed and so she said that she wants to learn about the church more before she gets baptized.. So that was a setback. I don’t know if she really has problems or questions or if her grandma said something or someone in the family, all I know is that we will see if she gets baptized this week. Please keep her in your prayers!! Well This week basically was like that. It just keeps going so fast! But I am so thankful for my time here. I love it here and what I am doing more and more each day! I hope that everyone has a wonderful week! Love you!! Hermana Healey

Could this rain count as our baptism?‏

This week went by way too fast!!! I don’t even remember what happened this week. Little things… Wednesday we went and saw Epifanio. That man frustrates me… He went on about how he still hasn’t received his answer and there is only one God! So the churches that talk about God are all true! Blah blah blah. The wall of his house is progressing faster than he is. So we decided to take a little break from little Epi pen. There is a girl Sabrina. Literally makes my life. She is like 19 years old, loves 80s music and is the cutest girl ever. She always is so happy and we see her everywhere. We tried teaching her! It was really good but she didn’t come to church on Sunday and wasn’t there for the next appointment. We are thinking that she just wants us as friends so we haven’t been back to see her. But literally I love her to death. She asked me for my home email so she can send me an email the day after I go home. haha She makes the week a lot better. Last night we had a Noche de Hogar with the Familia Cabaña! They are amazing. We talked about the family and how our families are ordained of God, I think that is what it is in English…we read Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life with them and how Lehi when he partook of the fruit, he wanted instantly for his family to eat of it as well. It was a really good lesson and the spirit was there. Then Hermana Cabaña made LEMON PIE. Yeah that’s right. Pie from a lemon; so good. Best part yet... I know that you are all waiting for this… RAQUEL AND ARIEL WERE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! They did it! Even though it is freezing cold here and has rained all week and we walked to the church in the rain, and the water was cold! They came and got baptized. Raquel is amazing. Poor Ariel was so scared he didn’t want to go far in the water because it was so cold! But afterward when we were walking home I asked him how he felt and he said "Like an angel from heaven" haha OH MY LIFE I just wanted to hug that kid. He gets it! He knows that he made a very important step in his life. He knows there was a change and that he can be happy. Raquel still is amazing. She said that that Saturday morning they woke up and laid in bed and talked about what baptism means and what Heavenly father expects of them after they take this step! They know it is a responsibility and are taking it seriously! I love them so much. I feel so blessed to have been able to see them take this step in their lives. Such a wonderful family that has joined the Latter Day Saint family! Hermana Bedoya and I called Pte and Hermana Heyman last night just for a chat. It is so weird that they leave TOMORROW! We asked them what they were doing and Pte Heyman said, "Hermana Heyman is packing and I am taking out what she puts in!" haha good job Pres!!! It is really sad to see them go but I am definitely excited to get to know and love Presidente and Hermana Franco! That’s how my week is going so far!! Belen is going to get baptized this Saturday! She is just a joy. Her parents support her but aren’t members and her brother just recently got baptized! We are excited to be working with this family. The weeks are going by and by and before we knew it, it’s July! What the??? I love my mission and I am so happy to be here. Here’s to a new week! Love you! Hermana Healey