´´WHAT. WHAT IS THIS? BIGGEST LOSER?´´

SHOUT OUTS!

Martin Luther King Jr. Happy Birthday, buddy.

My cute Cousin - Austin Reynolds. Happy Birthday, I love you love you LOVE YOU.

Landon Foust. My bestest friend. Happy Birthday. 20 YEARS OLD.

Hermana Blanco!! My sweet companion just hit 6 months. Holla.

AND ME. I HIT MY 100 DAY MARK LAST WEEK. HOLY CRAP.

OOOOhhhhh. kay.

So. If one more person in the country of Bolivia tells Hermana Blanco and I that we need to lose weight.. I'm going home. haha I made a ´´Bolivian South-Beach Diet Plan´´ and hung it up.

Hermana Blanco´s reaction:

´´WHAT. WHAT IS THIS? BIGGEST LOSER?´´

Yes. Yes it is.

Alllright. So. We found this AWESOME family. La familia Villa. I have never met a more prepared group of people. They are SO ready for the Gospel in their lives. We found them a couple weeks ago and they have already come to church TWICE! They loved it! But, last week after church, they were a little.. not so happy.

Hermana Blanco were so confused about what had changed their minds, what had happened to completely switch their attitudes towards the Gospel?

Anyway. So we go throughout our visits for the day, and we go visit a woman named MARTHA. Now, everyone remember Martha, she´s coming up later in the story too. So Martha is a member in our ward. And she is freakin´ weird, okay? After she tells us we´re fat, she starts showing us different exercises and then runs and gets her sewing kits and cook books to tell us that.. we´re not smart enough to be woman. And that she is going to help us. It was just a visit that I am totally okay with completely.. forgetting.

They next day, last p-day, Hna. Blanco and I are at lunch with La Familia Landivar, like always. And we are talking to Carmen, the Bishop´s wife, and we are telling her about this crazy visit with Martha and we´re just laughing and laughing about how.. weird she is.

So THEN we mention the Flia. Villa and how sad we are that they were sad after church. And then CARMEN ALL OF A SUDDEN REMEMBERS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT.

Carmen informs us of what happened on Sunday with the Familia Villa.

Apparently, after sacrament, Marianela Villa, the mom of the family, was walking with her sister to the next class and MARTHA (i told you she would come up again) has the nerve to approach Marianela and say:

´´You know what, here at the Church of Jesus Christ, we don´t wear mini skirts.´´

ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

The members can either fix everything. Or ruin everything.

So after that, Marianela had, fortunately, sat by Carmen Landivar and told her about what had happened. And Carmen informed her that she can wear whatever she feels comfortable in at church.

The poor woman. She is an investigator!! She doesn't know! ugh, Hna.

Blanco and I were so upset. We haven't been able to find them since, and they weren't at church yesterday. We are hoping to be able to meet with them on Tuesday, but we´ll have to see. Rough Stuff.

Yesterday was really awesome though. A lot happened.

In Relief Society we talked about Mothers. And the teacher was having us thing about our mothers. And I was getting.. ya know. A little choked up, I miss my Mom!

And the teacher, Celilia, turns to us Sister Misisonaries and says to Hermana Blanco:

´´What would you do if I had my phone right here and said you could talk to your Mom right now?´´

Hermana Blanco explained that we had just talked to our families Christmas and she would still be soo happy to hear her voice.

Then the teacher turns to me: ´´Hna. Cedeño, how would you feel?´´

And then I get so choked up I cant talk, and I just kind of laugh and stare at her and my tears are spilling over driving my mascara down my face.

And She says ´´Las esta extrañando mucho?´´

And I just shake my head yes, because I CAN'T TALK I'M CRYING SO HARD.  And then like 6 women hand me their rolls of toilet paper that they brought to church with them. Good thing I have so many mommies here.

We knocked on doors all day and that was rough.. and I was getting pretty bad blisters so we went home for a bit to change my shoes.

After I finished changing, I look up at Hermana Blanco and she is crying. Hard. And this was her 6 month breakdown, and I was lucky enough to be her companion.

She vented and cried for about 20 minutes and I sat and listened.

The mission is hard. Its just so hard. It broke my heart so see her like that, and I did what I could to comfort her after. But This. Is. Hard. Physically, emotionally, mentally. I don't know. But its just so worth it. Its so completely worth it.

Hermana Carmen Landivar gave us this scripture one day when we were having a hard time:

Alma 26:27&30

27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about the turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Goamongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

That scripture.. I read it like every 10 minutes. haha THAT IS MY LIFE. I want to make a difference. I don't care if the person I'm supposed to meet, I'm not going to meet until the last week of my mission. But I'm going to work so hard. I'm going to work So hard.

Because honestly, what´s a year and a half compared to Eternity?

Sometimes the little time we spend in one persons life can change everything.

I bought Crocs, Please don't judge...

We did a service project cutting grass and when we asked someone to borrow their gardening tools... they gave us machetes hahaha!

Love you all,

Hermana Cedeño