A new Companion!

Greetings from.....Guadalajara!

I'm staying in Guadalajara for at least another transfer.

But, I have a new companion, Hna. Peréz.

She is from Málaga, so I have another Spaniard for a companion...most missionaries don't get this lucky...it's pretty rare to have two native Spaniards as companions back to back...but on the bright side, my Spanish is going to be fantastic when I get back!

I'm not the Sr. Companion yet, it's very possible that Hna. Perez will finish her mission here in Guadalajara, so she has more time in the mission than I do, and I still feel very inexperienced, but I think that will change pretty quickly.

Everyone tells me that she is a great missionary, and in the few days she's been here, I can see it! She's different than Hna. Marín, and has a different way of working, so things will be different, but I am positive that they will be great!

It must be pretty exciting for Gramma and Grampa to be here, and spending more time at the MTC. I'm sure that the Russian is really coming along...(but just a little heads-up, when you get to Russia, you won't be able to understand a thing...I just don't want you to get discouraged when you get there )

Sounds like the movie (17 Miracles) was good...in the past few months we've been able to buy the Joseph Smith movie in the distribution center here in Madrid, it has a couple of good little shorts about a few of the pioneers, and they are really great stories...You should look into buying the movie if you can...

Yay for Tyler and Janae! I'm so excited for them, and what a fun way to tell everyone about it. I bet that the new baby will be just as cute as Harrison!

School really is coming up quickly isn't it. School doesn't start until September here, so I kinda forget that you all start pretty soon.

Glad to hear everyone likes the pictures! And I better be getting tan, we spend a lot of time in the sun...in fact, I have to tell a lot of people that I'm not actually blond. The highlights from last year are still pretty strong, and with all the sun we get, my roots and the top layer of my hair has lightened up quite a bit.

We do have a lot of fun in the mission, I think we would go crazy if we couldn't have fun, and it's super easy to laugh at the little things that happen during the day.

A mini-missionary is a lot what it sounds like, she gets to be a missionary for a few weeks or a few months, whatever they choose. And people can start to be mini-missionaries after they turn 16...if you think about the 16 yr. old boys can go on splits with the missionaries. It's not something that we have at home, can you imagine how many people would want to go on a mini-mission?

She lives with us, and is a missionary just like us. Mini-missionaries don't normally teach a lot, but do share their testimony in our lessons. It's an opportunity to get to work with the missionaries, and to see what it is to be a missionary. One of the Italian sisters in the MTC told us that she had been a mini-missionary, and that it was a big reason that she decided to serve a mission. So it is definitely a good thing.

I hope that you all enjoy Yellowstone this week. And I hope there isn't too much rain I'm sure everyone will have a great time.

Who gets to keep the cat? And now that it no longer lives with Gramma, do you get to call it Mouse again?

Anyway, back to the work here. It is going good so far. Hna. Perez and I get along pretty good. It's a little bit weird to have a different companion, but in a day or two it will be normal. And I can tell that my Spanish is improving, I can know follow a conversation, and most importantly, I can mostly follow a phone conversation! Yay! It's harder to understand the people when we are talking on the phone, but now it is much easier.

Yesterday, we fixed a baptismal date with Patricia, our pregnant investigator. She had some problems with one of the commandments, and what turned out to be a sad situation for her personal life turned out to be a great one for her spiritually.

She is going to get baptized next Saturday! It is super exciting. She is fantastic, and I have really been able to see her grow and progress in the gospel. We have had some super spiritual experiences with her, especially when she talks about the difference the gospel, and we, have made in her life. This baptism is going to be different than the one we had with Brayan. Patricia is at a different point in her life, and I think that the gospel means a little bit more to her.

Today, we had a couple of visitors from Barrio 1, the last area of Hna. Perez. We tried to rent some bikes for the day, but it turns out that you have to rent the bikes for at least a week ( you can leave them at bike stations in various spots throughout the city) and that you have to go the bank and get a money order, because the city hall can't actually accept money...and a bunch of other things.

In the end we went to McDonald's, had lunch and just chilled waiting for the bus. Because it's August, the buses are running their summer schedule, and the buses come by less frequently. So, if you miss the bus, you have to wait for 20 min. for the next one. We spent a lot of time waiting for the bus today, but in the end it was pretty fun.

Love, Amber