I Hate Surprises.....

SHOUTOUTS.

To my Aunt Char. She is like one of my bestest friends.. and the only one that I will ever let cut my hair. And I'm actually going to get a hair cut today and I've never been so scared in my life. Kill me. HAPPY BIRTHDAY this week!

And... Happy Birthday to my Uncle Flynt!  He's too freakin' cool for his own good and its also his birthday this week so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Flynt!

ALSO. To the people in my family having freakin´ babies.. Mikel... My Mom sent pics and he is so stinkin' adorable!  I love him already!

And to Shalee Hiskey. I don't know her. But she always writes me and she was on Drill, so she´s actually way cool haha!

And one more... To My Uncle Roger and Aunt Jennifer.  I love them.  They are going through a hard time right now and I wish so much for Jen to have a speedy recovery!  I know God answers prayers and I am praying for you and your family daily. 

Alright.

I'll start with Monday. Monday was actually so awesome. Hermana Blanco and I went to the Bishop´s house for a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with them and the Elders, Wilkinson and Bailey. We used the recipe book that my Aunt sent me and made BROWNIES. AMERICAN BROWNIES. So they actually tasted so good haha

The Elders came over and The Bishop gave a quick lesson and then started choking up as he explained how grateful he was for us as missionaries and all that we do. He knew that Hermana Blanco and Elder Wilkinson would be leaving because they've had 6 months so he said his goodbyes to them. I was like.. chokin' up a bit haha It was just so touching and It kind of hit me how much I was going to miss Wilkinson and my dear mom, Hermana Blanco.

 Saying Good-Bye at the Airport... So freakin' hard...

Tuesday, Hermana Blanco and I put another date on a Golden Investigator!! In the past week we had put 2 dates!! I love watching people follow through with commitments and making the goal to be baptized, you can just see the difference it´s making in them, its so unbelievable.

A lot of the day we went to members so that Hermana Blanco could say goodbye and get pictures and leave notes, addresses and such. It was so sad to see her say bye to everyone!! I just left with handshakes and hugs and ´´Hasta Luego´s´´ (See you later's)

Well. TUESDAY NIGHT. CAMBIOS.

We sat on the phone for at least 30 minutes waiting for Elder Peredes to call... and finally when he did, he said that Hermana Blanco would be leaving. We knew it!! She was going to Tabledita, the neighborhood right across the street!! She was looking forward to leaving Tarija.. but looks like she is still here haha

I asked who my new companion was.. and he says HERMANA LYON. Hermana Lyon is from Utah!! And the first thing I yelled into the phone is ´´ELDER PEREDES IF HERMANA LYON IS MY COMPANION.. I AM NEVER GOING TO LEARN FREAKING SPANISH´´

Well.. i said it in Spanish. But that's like all I know. I just need to learn Spanish.´But I was soo excited! Hermana Lyon was in my Zone, so I already knew a lot about her, and she is seriously the sweetest!!!

So I'm like.. ´´okay, so when is she coming??´´

And Elder Freaking Paredes tells me that She isn't coming.. THAT I'M LEAVING. That I'm going to the other zone in Tarija, called zone Andaluz. Seriously. I was freaking out. Hermana Blanco even stayed in the same zone and I was.. LEAVING. Elder Paredes explained that Hna. Lyon and I were OPENING AN AREA. So neither of us would know anything about it.
Great.

The worst part was.. Hermana Blanco had been saying her goodbyes to the ward all week, and I hadn't said goodbye to anybody. Anyone. I couldn't leave my investigators with.. strangers!! They were all progressing so unbelievably well, I was seeing changes in them and in the Less Actives that we have been visiting. I grow to love and I get attached so easily.. And it´s a problem.

Before I knew it, Wednesday morning, I went to the Bishops house to say my goodbyes to them and I was in my new home. I'm in the ward Paraiso.

I STILL CANT BELIEVE I LEFT AHHHHH!!!!

It's rough. It was weird going to the zone meeting on Thursday... and not knowing anyone. But actually... Elder FRUEHAN from my group in the Colombia MTC is in my District here. haha Its kind of nice to have a friendly face, I haven´t seen people from my group in so long!!

I had a suuuuper hard time Thursday and Friday... and Saturday trying to adjust. We did a LOT of contacting.. and made lots of appointments, got lots of phone numbers. But THEN Hermana Lyon, poor thing, we lost her planner!!! AND THAT HAD ALL OF OUR INFORMATION IN IT FROM THE PAST 3 DAYS.  All of the work we had done to get new investigators... GONE. So hard!!!

I finally got a little comfortable yesterday when we got to know everyone at church. The bishop had me bear my testimony and i just explained to the ward that we are learning and that the work of the Lord really can't go on with just us missionaries, that we really need the members help! And that we are so excited to get to know them and work with them.

After, the members were all over me, telling us references, asking when they can come with us to teach and it was just.. awesome, really. We really do have awesome members in this ward.

The Elders in my ward are Elder Silvestre, from Peru, and Elder Boman from Grantsville, Utah. They will both be HOME in the next 4 months, so they are just finishing up their missions. But they are really awesome, they have helped Hermana Lyon and I a lot. We had a Noche de Hogar with them last night with a family and I just.. felt better. 

Sister Lyons is from Utah and she is seriously the sweetest thing!  My new companion....

My mom sent me a quote a while ago and It applied perfectly to my week, I wanted to share it:

´´What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty and every difficulty has an opportunity.´´

-J. Sidlow Baxter

Maybe Heavenly Father is just trying to teach me.. that not everything is going to go the way I want or the way I plan.. but sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches, ya know? There is literally nothing I can do about my switch in wards... but hey, I can grow to love it here just as well as I could in Senac. Before I know it, I'm going to be crying because I'm leaving here! So I might as well stand up, brush off the dust, and enjoy my time while I'm here.

Because honestly.. I don't remember anyone ever telling me that my mission was going to be easy.

With love,

Hermana Cedeño