This week has been one of trial, but it’s not been without tremendous blessings.

In our mission, we have what are called OYMs (or, Open Your Mouths). We’re supposed to get 10 of these per day, averaging 70 per week (per companionship). And the promised blessing is that we will see our success DOUBLE. Well, usually Hermana Pullens and I have been averaging around 30-40 per week. Not the best. But this week, we got 75! It was awesome! And a lot of those OYMs turned into lessons — they invited us in and we were able to share with them either the message of the restoration or the plan of salvation. We got a lot of new potential investigators.

But the hard part about this week is how much out little Spanish group is struggling. Our numbers for Progressing Investigators, On-Dates, and pretty much everything plummeted because we are struggling to give all of these people all the things they need in order to be able to progress!

The people in the ward we’re attached to are all white, and they work with us (well, those that speak Spanish work with us) in our Spanish group. Our group meets separately, and does 1 hour church/sacrament in the Primary room during actual sacrament in the chapel. We have maybe 2 member families in our Spanish group, so we try to have as many white Spanish speakers in sacrament as possible. The white Spanish speakers bless and pass the sacrament, because the Hispanics are either 1. women, 2. wearing t Shirts, or 3. don’t have the priesthood. So while we would love to utilize the people in the English ward more in lessons, there’s nothing we can really do besides keep on doing what we’re doing. Those of us that can are working tirelessly to make sure we keep our attendance up, and we’re trying to get more members. It’s just super hard right now because our strongest on-dates for baptism just fell off and are giving up on trying to change their lives. In short, it’s been a rough week.

But we have high hopes for this area, yet. These people have more potential than they think. I wish there was a way to just tell them and have them know how much their Father in Heaven loves them, cares for them, and has provided a way for them to be happy!

For me, this has been a very Mosiah 24 week.

“13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”

I take great comfort in these scriptures. Not that I am in bondage, but I feel bound by my own expectations. I just need to remember that maybe my purpose right now isn’t to get everyone I meet into the baptismal font, but rather to plan the seed that will grow in some future time. And we do have A LOT of potentials. It’s just been hard to start realizing that the people we really have come to love aren’t as committed as we thought, and we have to move on for now.

I am really thankful for the prayers and support I get from back home, though. I know the Lord is working with us as He hastens His work. We just have to learn how to keep up! 🙂

Here are some more pictures from our hike on the cliffs around Lake Lenore, and from the day that Hermana Pullens and I personally rolled and fried over 400 flautas for a ward activity:

Semana Quatro en el Campo Misional

Holaaaa:) Estoy viviente. No se preocupe.

It is now week four of my first transfer, and I am in Ephrata Washington:) My companion’s name is Hermana Pullens, and she is from Sandy Utah. She’s amazing, and I’m really sad she’s leaving the mission in December 😥

Miracles:

>   So many people have been prepared to hear about the Gospel. It’s amazing. We have 5 new investigators this week, and we found them just by tracting! Elder Bednar encouraged the WKM (Washington Kennewick Mission) to get 10 OYMs (Open Your Mouth) per day. He promised that if we did, we would see our success double. We have seen immediate fulfillment of that promise:) In addition to those 5 new investigators, we have 5 progressing! So there is plenty to teach, and it’s wonderful.

Struggles:
>   There are tumble weeds e v e r y w h e r e. And I mean everywhere. I got two tumble weeds stuck in my skirt this week – one right after the other. #TractingProbs

>   I learned shortly after getting into the field that I didn’t actually know Spanish when I left Mexico! It was really humbling, and I’m working on it every day.

>   The worst struggle has been seeing people give up on the Gospel after they’ve progressed so far. When an investigator drops you, it hurts in the most spiritual way — because you know they were -so- close to discovering all the blessings that living the Gospel brings. Hermana Pullens and I have been riding an emotional roller coaster this transfer with all the On-Dates to Drops we’ve had 😦

I Am Thankful For:

>   My parents, without whom I would be next door to a perfect heathen.

>   French class, because after French, Spanish is a dream.

>   The Atonement of the Savior, because of it’s enabling power, and becuase when I struggle and I rely on Him, I can feel Him walking beside me.

>    Flautas, and the people who make them, because they are my new favorite food.

Some Of Our Investigators:
>   Mauricio (28) & Jose(24). These two are a miracle. They’re brothers from Mexico, and they are both progressing so much. We only met and started teaching Jose a couple weeks ago (and his first lesson was on the Law of Chastity, because we were teaching it to Mauricio — yikes! jaja) but he’s been keeping all his commitments, and just this week we committed him to be baptized on the 11th of October! We actually started teaching Mauricio first, but he’s been a little shaky about committing to an actual baptismal date. We’re hoping the influence of his little brother will help him out.

>   Adriana (40’s). She is SO special, and has been taught by the investigators for six. whole. years. Her progress record is 5 pages long. And at the beginning of her lessons, she wouldn’t even touch the Book of Mormon because she was so hard core catholic. But she read the entire bible, and decided that the catholic church wasn’t right. She’s been keeping her commitments, and now her husband even joins us when we come over to teach. She knows she needs to be baptized, but she wants to read more, first.

>    Mario (16). This kid is amazing! We found him while tracting, and out of his entire family, he’s the only one that has kept meeting with us, and wanting to get closer to God. The other week he told us that he has a hard time reading, so we assigned him a small section of the Book of Mormon to read (15 verses in 3 Nephi 11, when Christ comes to the Americas) and later that night he texted us saying he finished the whole chapter and was going on to the next! This kid is a spiritual giant, and he’s gone from being a street brawler, to a total good Samaritan.

Experiences:
>   Meth is such a bad problem here, that I’m pretty sure Ephrata High School’s mascot might just be a giant meth mouth. Just kidding. It’s actually a really sad problem, but everyone’s on it. My companion and I have tried to OYM so many tweakers.

>   The fruit. Fruit is everywhere. It grows in peoples front yards, in their personal orchards, EVERYWHERE. And everytime you talk with someone, whether they want to learn about the Gospel or not, they force fruit on you. Seriously, we’ve got apples and peaches and potatoes and zucchini and all manner of garden produce coming out our ears.

Parting Words:

This is the experience of a life time. I wish I could tell everyone absolutely everything about just what serving a mission is like, but I can’t. There aren’t enough words. I have a testimony that this is the Lord’s work.

I love and miss you all:)

Hermana Mrozek