I finally got some slightly old photos from some other hermanas
Psycho Semana
Alright, this is gonna be a long one, so buckle up haha.
Two big dates have come and gone this week! I hit 11 months in the mish, and it’s now been one year since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. PR still has a lot of regrowth left to do, one year later. I’m really grateful to finally be here and be a part of the regrowth, spiritually!
We have had a crazy, eventful week. On Thursday morning we set out on foot, but we accidentally locked the keys in the apartment! We decided to deal with it later, forgetting we would need the keys to get into the church for English class that night. After dinner, our member’s mom offered to drive us to the church. We pulled in and she was about to take us home to grab them, but just then the maintenance guys that had been working on the yard pulled away and locked the gate! We were locked in the church parking lot! It was actually pretty funny and we all sat there laughing until Hermana Cartagena could bring us her keys and free us haha.
On Saturday, we were super blessed! We set out to find 4 new people and found them all within like half an hour! It was an awesome day, even though we got absolutely drenched by rain like 3-4 times.
Last night, we had some very cool experiences as well! We went to go visit Bolita and Totino, and they had actually kept their commitment to read in the Book of Mormon! Bolita really liked it and had questions, and they both wanted to read a lot with us last night. The Spirit was strong and they were so excited when we started telling them that there is a living prophet on the earth today! I love seeing how a knowledge of the restored gospel just fills and comforts people who have been seeking for the truth.
Now, I want to share with all of you some cool things that were really impressed upon me in church yesterday. One is the idea of immediate repentance! This is something so important to me that has really blessed me so much. We never have to wait or procrastinate! The very second we realize, by the Spirit, that there is something keeping us from being closer to God, we can pray for forgiveness and change our actions! The Savior will help us change our hearts over time as we consistently keep trying to be better. Another related topic that was discussed by an hermano yesterday is that when you are unsure about whether you will be obedient to a commandment or not, give a self-evaluation: Do I love God? Can I see how much He really loves me? All of His commandments are for our good, our benefit, OUR safety. He doesn’t tell us to do things and command us to repent because He is controlling or hateful. He does those things because He loves us and knows what is best. He provided a perfect plan centered around our Savior to give us a way to learn and grow and one day, experience eternal joy with our families. Never lose sight of that goal and your purpose here on earth! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Hermana O’Barr
P.S. I am so old!! I turn 20 next Wednesday and then hit a year in the mission on the 18th! Yikes!
Make your home a temple
Okay, I will try to get out a better letter this week, for those of you that still read haha. First of all, we received transfer news last night and Hermana Rollins and I are both staying in Aibonito for at least another 6 weeks! Yay!!!
We have been finding a lot of solid people this week, many of whom have been prepared by meeting with missionaries a long time ago. We have also been finding a lot at the casa of a member named Ivetter by reading the Book of Mormon with her. Another thing that has helped us is that we have been walking a TON. We have barely any miles after all of things that have already happened this month, so September is going to involve a lot of walking for us.
We also had a fabulous zone conference this week! We got up super early and got ready in the dark because the power went out the night before, and then we drove all the way to Carolina which is about 2 hours away. We had a general authority come! Elder and Hermana Gonzalez taught us lots, and I got to talk to Hermana Cordova who finally got here in the middle of last transfer! That night, we also had a huge miracle. We have been trying to meet Irelyn’s mom because she doesn’t let her come to church anymore and won’t let her get baptized. Well, all 4 of our appointments canceled on Friday night so we ended up grabbing dinner in Wendy’s, and Irelyn was there! We talked for a while and then we got to meet her mom when she picked her up! That night we also taught some amazing teenagers, a brother and a sister. It is so cool because Elder Gonzalez told us we really need to focus on finding youth here in PR.
Yesterday we had stake conference in Caguas and it was super spiritual. They focused on a lot of basics like keeping the Sabbath day holy and paying your tithing, and then President Smart spoke and it was really interesting. He talked about how God created everything spiritually before he created it physically, and that’s what we need to do here with a temple. Basically, they need to be more spiritually prepared before they can receive a temple here in PR. One suggestion he had was to make your homes mini temples. I really liked that, so I want to invite each of you to first, make your home a mini temple, and second, attend the temple as often as possible! I promise that these things will bless and unite your families like never before! You will know God better and have more peace in your lives as you focus on the temple and having the Spirit in your homes. I love all of you! Never stop smiling and pressing forward!
Hermana O’Barr
A quick one
So this will be quick again, I am sorry!
This week we put Anangeli on-date for baptism, she is the cutest and I love her! She and her boyfriend both came to church this week!
We had interviews, which were good. We ate at a lot of yummy panaderias. Everyone is freaking out about a hurricane but I think we will be fine. I ate fish cooked by Hermana Cartagena and I actually liked it *gasp* I think it’s just because Hermana Cartagena is such an amazing cook haha. Ummm yeah, sorry for this trash email. I think I have finally reached the point where I am lacking in motivation to write a weekly haha. I love you all, and I will do my best to write more next week!
Love,
Emma
Les quiero! ♡
Highlight of my mission!
First of all, I am really sorry if I don’t get to respond to many of you, I am typing on the worst keyboard ever and I barely have any time.
This has been one of the most incredible weeks of my life! We got to hear from our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson!
We also found a lot of really cool people this week! Another thing that happened this week was that the brother-in-law of the member we live with was working outside in the rain and he fell! It’s a miracle that we were still at home because we were able to help him. He has special needs and is like 84, and he was covered in blood! He broke his nose and injured his hand, so it is a really good thing that we were able to help him. We also had a cool experience at our English class. Our mission president’s cousin came to the English class and she told us afterwards that she had questions for us and would like to meet! We’re so excited! This week we also had exchanges and I went to Juncos with Hermana Guido. It was a long, hot day and we spent hours painting a house. But, it was good overall.
Anyway, on to the highlights from Elder Renlund and President Nelson, which will be the actually exciting part of my email, today haha. We got to watch a broadcast from Santo Domingo for all the missionaries on Saturday and then he came to San Jan to visit all of us in PR on Sunday! It was without a doubt, one of the most spiritual experiences of my life!
Actually, I am running out of time!! I will send a letter with my top notes and have my dad upload it this week. Sorry for teasing you all! I promise it will be worth the wait!
Love,
Hermana O’Barr