The Arch!

     Thank you so much for making my birthday so awesome!!!!!!!! I have the best family ever! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister Clark also called me and sang me happy birthday and that was so sweet.

     Alright, mom and dad, you are going to love this but anyway. So usually we are pretty clean in the apartment but sometimes we get a little carless and our desks get messy and dishes don't get done and clothes don't get put away and so I told my companions that we really need to keep it clean and put things away when we are finished and just be clean! So we spent a few minutes cleaning up and everything and okay... it's amazing the difference that it feels like!!!!! Hahahaha like seriously it just feels way better in the apartment and it totally makes a difference in how we study.  Anyway, so on Wednesday we tried contacting a couple of  referrals but they weren't home so we tracted and didn't have any luck. We also had a lesson with Gracie on tithing and fast offerings.  She seriously gets everything so well it's nice.  Her friend sat in on the lesson and it was really cool because Gracie didn't act like she was embarrassed about prayer or reading the Book of Mormon or anything.

     Friday I was thinking about Alyssa a lot.  It was kinda a hard day for me because I was sooo happy for her but just so sad that I was missing such a big part of her life.  Anyway, we had a lesson with Yomairra on the plan of salvation and it did not go like we hoped it would at ALL!!!

     Like she's from Columbia and the reason we mostly go over is to teach her son Santiago but he was busy with finals so it was just her.  But like she just did not get what we were saying and she didn't make any sense and I think there's a little bit of a language block there but it was just not successful to be honest but we made a date to meet with her again when Santiago could be there too so I think we are just going to teach the plan of salvation again.  So anyway, that night was really awesome!!!!!!! Theres a member in our ward that has a friend he has worked with for like 7 years and he agreed to take the lessons! So we met at the members home and his friend, John, was there and we talked about the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon and stuff and it went really well!!! John is really really smart and so he was making a lot of connections and it just made sense to him and it was really exciting!!! We have another lesson with him tonight so I will let you know how it goes!!!

     Saturday we had a lesson with Eugene and it was AWESOME!!!!!! He was so talkative and he's really working hard on quitting smoking.  We talked more about baptism and about his family being okay with it.  He said he would talk to his family this week and that he is also going to talk to his doctor to see if it's okay.  I asked him if he would like a blessing to help him stop smoking and he said yes so we are going to do that on our next lesson with him.  Well.... WE aren't but we found some men in the ward that will haha.  But it was seriously probably our best lesson with Eugene.  He was really open and agreed to come to church for sure!! I asked him if he had any snazzy clothes to wear to church and he was like, you tell me, so he opens up his closet and he had a ton of clothes and they were all really stylish!!!! It was so funny!!!!! Because he also just sits in his robe and pajamas during lessons so we never see what his style is like!! And then, he gave us a gospel choir CD to listen to in the car. Then, we visited the Crocketts and we had a talk we had printed out for them from April's Ensign about equality in marriage and even though the Crocketts don't want to have any more lessons, Mrs. Crockett said she really learned a lot and she was happy with what she learned about our church.  For her, women being equal to men is really important so she liked the talk a lot.  Then, we visited with a new family that moved into the ward and the wife was home and we just sat down and she gave us a bowl of icecream and then like told us her whole life story and she was so cute!!! Hahaha it's so funny how some people are like that.  And then, we tried visiting Robert again, and still no answer.  So that was a bummer AGAIN!!!!!!

     And then yesterday we had a lot of meetings before church and our mission leader presented the mission plan in ward council and I just hope it really does work!! And guess what!!!!! Eugene came to church!!!!!!!!! It was so great - I think it helps that we have tried to become friends with him and not just people that come and give him a lesson and leave.  Last night, we met with Gracie's mom and asked her about baptism and when works for her.  Gracie's cousin is getting baptized on the 11th and Gracie's mom doesn't want to have too much family stuff back to back so she's thinking of pushing it to June :( So I will most likely miss it but I know it will happen - Gracie is so excited too.  So ya!! That's pretty much my week!!!

     Today we are going to go to the arch and I think I'm going to go to the top of it today! I heard it's kinda lame but I feel like it's just one of those things you have to do at least once!!! I can't tell you guys how EXCITED I am to talk to you!!!! 2 more weeks BABY!!!!!!!!