Category: Aibonito

Hi everyone! I am mainly just going to be sending a mountain of photos because I am finally somewhere I can send them haha. This week has been really good, full of miracles and crazy adventures like always. Today we had a zone activity at a river in San Lorenzo, we were just chilliando (real word in PR Spanish). It was cool! But on the drive back the GPS tried to kill us so we took all these crazy roads in the pouring rain (with people following us). I thought it was actually pretty funny, but I was glad I wasn’t the one driving.

We had a really good zone conf this week, and we talked a lot about how now that a temple was announced in PR, we just need to keep working even harder! PR still needs a lot of work among the members and a lot more people need to become members before we can be ready for a temple. I am excited to be here at this special time!

We also celebrated Hermana Rollins birthday and a LOT of people gave us cake! It was a fun day and we also found sooo many people to teach! One lady named Angie started talking with us and then I asked her if we could pray with her. She said sure, so I asked if there was anything in specific that she needed us to pray for and she started crying! She took us inside to pray with her 95-year-old mom (people live to be really old here) and to pray for her grandson who is in the hospital. It was such a miracle!

And yesterday, we had a really spiritual fast and testimony meeting, in part because people are so pumped up about a temple! We were also able to visit with a less-active member who has moved back in with his parents after college and is thinking about serving a mission! It was so cool to hear his thoughts and to testify to him about the things I’ve learned and say that I truly do not regret my decision to serve the Lord!

Alright, this is short and sweet but I don’t have much time! I want to invite you all to read 2 Nephi 2:6-8 and think about the immense blessings and knowledge you’ve been given and how to share those things with others! I promise that you will find greater joy than you have now by sharing scriptures, personal experiences, and messages from General Conference! Les amo!

Hermana O’Barr

P.S. If you’re wondering about my title, you should go listen to the Nashville Tribute Band’s new album about the Bible!

I apologize for not writing a weekly last week!!! I had all the craziness in the world happen last p-day all because I tried to get a new pair of glasses, but all is well and I finally got an eye exam today.

So, I turned 20 this week. 😯 Shout out to the Cartagenas for surprising me with cake! They are the best!

The only other thing I am really going to mention from this week aside from General Conference is that a cute 15-year-old named Tutino is on-date for baptism now!! He is so awesome and is going to get baptized on October 26th!

Okay, now on to General Conference! As I’m sure most of you know, a temple was announced in Puerto Rico!!! We were watching in our branch President’s house surrounded by people we love, and when the announcement was made we all jumped up and screamed and then started crying out of pure joy. The Spirit was so strong and I am so happy for the people of Puerto Rico! The faithful members who have worked for this for so long are going to be so blessed, and this is going to open up the doorway to blessings for so many more people, who will begin working harder towards this goal. Estoy tan emocionada!!!!

I also wanted to mention a few other things from conference. One is the invitation I gave last time to mark the invites in the talks! I’d like to invite you to do that again. And, President Nelson invited us to begin studying them THIS week!

I wanted to tell you my favorite talks as well. I loved Elder Brough’s on Saturday morning, when he talked about how asking “why me?” never takes away the problem and how the Lord requires hard things of us, but we can do them with joy! I also loved how Elder Rasband said that fear limits our perspective and that we cannot be afraid–we MUST do the work assigned!! I was very touched by a talk in the women’s conference as well, by Sister Michelle Lynn Craig. When she talked about the difference between divine discontent and discouragement, it changed my view completely! It was a message that I really needed because I often focus so much on my weaknesses and faults and feeling bad about them, rather than just striving to close that gap between who I am and who I can be with the help of the Lord. The last talk I wanted to mention was from Elder Gerard on Sunday afternoon. I was so inspired by his invitation to step back and evaluate our lives, and if there is anything we need to fix, to remember that NOW is the time to do it!

Really, all of the talks were incredible and uplifting! I hope all of us can continue enjoying and learning from them in the weeks and months to come! Have a good week!

Love,
Emma

I will send pics next week!

I finally got some slightly old photos from some other hermanas

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!

Okay, this email will be quick!

We had an amazing lesson about the Atonement of Jesus Christ with a lady named Anangeli this week. She is best friends with our branch president and his wife, so they came to the lesson as well. They are amazing, I love the Cartagenas so much!

We taught a new lady this week, her name is Dominga and she has a really fat chihuahua named Canela. I felt so bad for her dog. She pierced her ears! And she is scared of dogs with teeth, so she had all of hers ripped out. Crazy stuff.

ALSO, we received the amazing news that the prophet, President Nelson, is coming to speak to Puerto Rico this week! My companion and I both started tearing up when we heard the news. I am so excited to hear what he has to say to our little island. Our branch is renting a bus to take to San Juan for the occasion haha.

This week we had a PPP night, a night all about Personal Progress for las mujeres jovenes. It was so much fun and we had one of the people we are teaching working on Personal Progress! We also had food that all started with the letter p, so there was lots of pizza, popcorn, pie, etc. We ended the night by having them watch Once I Was a Beehive.

I finally saw some iguanas in the finca this week! Those guys are huge! Also, it has been raining here a TON. It was the first time I got to see lightning and hear thunder my whole mission, and I was so happy!!

One last thing (I am trying to include a few more funny details of my life as a missionary) is that we got to hear hermana Cartagena tell us the saga of Brida vs. Georgia. Brida is their dog, but their neighbors keep trying to call her Georgia and basically steal her haha. Poor Brida, she is so confused. It was a hilarious story, and while they told us, they made me try Malta! It is basically non-alcoholic beer, and Boricuas love it. I will probably never drink it again haha. But, they hate root beer and Dr. Pepper! I don’t drink soda often, but those two are usually the only ones and I can’t find them anywhere here haha.

Anyway, I love you all so much! I hope you enjoy the billion pictures I finally got around to sending haha. A quick reminder that I felt inspired to share after a sacrament meeting talk this Sunday–don’t overlook the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy! Choose activities that are worthwhile and honor the Lord’s holy day. I promise you will be blessed for setting that day apart from the others and spending time with your family or helping others!

Have a great week!
Hermana O’Barr