Don't shake what you're momma gave ya...

This week was hard.. but good at the same time. Ups and downs. Welcome to missionary work. Am I right? We have really had to discern what people are ready for the Gospel and to make these changes in their lives and who needs to wait for the next great missionaries that come along. It's taken a lot of faith.. I get connected to these people really fast and it's hard remember that some day they will be ready for what their Heavenly Father wants them to know. 

Update on Investigators!

Andrea: Keeps asking me if she has to be baptized.. YES YOU DO haha she's 9 and she can't make up her mind about anything (girl after my own heart ;)) Hermana Romero is so cool about it all. I'm freakin out and she's all "It's fine. She'll get baptized." OKAY HERMANA. haha she has so much faith. I love it. 

Gabriel and Jose: Well.. my heart broke. We had to drop them.. which means you don't try to see them/teach them anymore.. that was rough.. but like I said.. God has a plan and their conversion story isn't over. I just know it.

Isidro: Old teddy bear man. I sent a pic to grandma i think! This week his wife was like.."I feel like you're pressuring us.." and then Isidro was like "nahhh I know i need to be baptized.. I just don't know when" HOLLER AT YOUR PROGRESSION! Paso a paso, people. The other elders in my district have a baptism on Saturday so we're inviting Isidro and we're hoping that will either make it or break it. He basically said he wants to see God before he gets baptized.. and we're all.. that's not how it works, hombre ;) Necesita tener fe. 

Juana: (little older lady that prays with a scarf on her head) We had exchanges this week and so Hermana Toro, from North Sac came to East Sac with me. I felt like I was under a microscope... but I know I'm doing my best and criticism means improvement so I'm pumped to see my transfer report.. not to mention I kept saying "crap" and "rad" hahaha some things never change.

ANYWAY Juana is excited to keep learning about the Book of Mormon and said that if she recieves an answer that it's true, she will stop going to her church, which would make a serious dent in her social life and be a huge sacrifice, and go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. WO WO JUANAAA! 

Maria Orosco: came to the ward activity this saturday! And our ward members were great! super friendly! She even brought her esposo!

Jaime: Miracle man. We were miracle tracting, basically going to apartments and picking our lucky numbers to knock on haha. hermana Romero picked #5. Jaime had been crying. He was like "It feels like Jesus himself is in my presence. I know that you were meant to be here right now." so cool. He's had a rough life. Seriously, like he wrote a book about it and it's been published.. also turns out he's the only spanish person in that complex. Not a coincidence. There is no doubt in my mind that God's hand is in every thing that we do and every person we encounter is not by accident. 

WARD PARTY! If I have time I'll send pictures! 

LA CENA INTERNACIONAL! 

So fun. Ward members from Del Norte (our ward) and Rio Tierra (North Sac) brought food from their respective Hispanic countries. So delicious. I actually had a tamale for breakfast the other day.. I'm officially a spanish missionary. haha. 

IT WAS SO HARD NOT TO DANCE. They even played Ice Ice Baby (in spanish) Shout out to Taylor! One of the ward members, Hermana Mora, and I were talking about how I took a social dance class and so I like to think I know how to Salsa. Before I knew it, she grabbed my hand and forcefully took me to the middle of the gym.. Hermana Romero was freakin the freak, YOU CAN'T DANCE. haha 

Our investigator maria was there and she even brought food and Hermano Mora did a great job fellowshipping them. It's so important that people feel welcome and like they have a place. Members are so crucial! Don't forget that! There's always something you can do. Someone you can talk to! 

Hermana Melix (my lady jam) also surprised us all.. HER HIPS DO NOT LIE. and she got a hair cut. Basically a new woman. Come get her, hombres!

Fun Facts of the week: 

Hermana Romero and I got hardcore lost. like 50miles in the car lost. Yep. My sense of direction still sucks haha. Then the distict leader called us to remind us about something and I'm just screaming like AHHH ELDER LADUKE WE'RE SO LOST. and then i hit some button and the wind shield wipers were going.. then we were in this private driveway that look straight out of the "Goosebumps" books series (blast from the past haha). Then we were like reversing in the middle of an intersection and the hole time.. I was on blue tooth via phone in Elder LaDukes car so all the elders got to hear our stuggle hahahahaha. 

Hermana Romero was trying to describe a cradle and called it a "baby nest." 

In church we were asked to share a thought in Young Women's with about 5 minutes notice. It needed to be about Christ. Totally by the Spirit, I shared the story about the 3 men in the rooms waiting to go to heaven and how the angel visited them and was like "Who was Jesus Christ?" and the last guy recognized him. The story from Mitchell's mission? The Spirit was so strong and it really made the girls think. It's so true that it will be given us in the very moment we need it. 

Spritual thought:

 D&C 18:15 "If ye bring but one soul unto me...." IT BETTER BE YOU. Read that scripture and think about that. It's so true. As missionaries, our first and most important convert is ourselves. And it's not easy.

Vale la pena.

It will be worth it.

Con amor siempre,

Hermana Skidmore

creative title

Hola hola! 

CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS FOR A SECOND!?

We can't! haha but we can email about it (: 

So inspiring. Hearing from the prophet is like WOOO YEAHHH!!! And when President Utchdorf spoke about inviting others and reactiviating people my heart was swelling with pride. WE HAVE A PLACE FOR EVERYONE! 

"doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." yeah Presidnet Utchdorf! YOU GO, SIR! 

Love it. 

I really liked Richard G. Scott also. Normally I'd be struggling to ya know.. keep myself from staring at the inside of my eyelids but during his whole talk i was mesmerized! I loved how he talked about the fathers in the Book of Mormon and how they must have felt knowing that their past choices had negatively affected their wives and children even though they'd repented and everything. It was a perspective I'd never thought of before. But  how beautiful that through the Atonement we are all forgiven and it's important not to live in the past but to learn from it!

And the talk about women! and the importance of mothers! How he described that one woman as "love personified" oh my gosh I thought I would die I loved his sentence structure and word choice so much #geekinout :) I hope that's how my kids describe me one day! 

And finally - I loved the talk that said "I sent him to you because I knew you could and would love him no matter what." about the grandmother trying to do her best to love her wayward grandson. Totes got cloudy up top during that one. It's so true. Some people are just "wont to swim in deep water" as mom and dad always say. Meaning that you are meant to go through some trials because Heavenly Father knows that others of His children need you. So cool.

I've been thinking a lot about the pre-existance.. like how we lived with God before this life.. and who we've met so far that we already were friends with up in heaven. I think about that a lot with my investigators.. like "hm.. I bet we were friends up in heaven.. and I wonder if we talked.. and you said to me "I won't have the true gospel, so come and find me. and by you serving a mission, I'll be baptized. So please come and find me." " 

That's so weird. but it's totally possible! We read the story about the kid who served in Costa Rica and found "his friend" in Zone meeting this week so that's why that's on my noggin. 

ANYWAYS!

We had 3 investigators attend a session of conference! yyayay!

Juana - so cute! Just found her this week and literally had the most incredible lesson with her. Going back and forth from the Bible to the Book of Mormon, expalining that it's a second testament of Jesus Christ and how the Bible talks about it! and Joseph Smith and how we don't worship him or anything. He was just the prophet chosen to restore God's true church to the earth and she was like OHHHH. She's a bible expert so it was really intense but she sinserely wanted to know so it was a really cool experince to see her feel the Spirit and finally find those answers she's been seeking. Like how Heavenly, Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are all separate but one in purpose. Yes. 

She prays with a scarf on her head.. so we're working with that haha but she's the sweetest! 

Maria - found her this week! and she was like.. "I've been waiting for you! I've been waiting to find my place and the true Church." I was in shock... I just kept telling her "we found you. this is your place. we found you. your search is over." 

I love being a missionary.

Gabriel and Jose- my heart is breaking.. they have had to work SO MUCH, didn't come to church, and we found out they're not ACTUALLY married. Spanish culture is funny that way "esposa/esposo" doesn't mean ACTUALLY tied the knot..and Gabriel is saying he's going back to Mexico forever in November.. so we are kind of stuck on what to do with them.. My heart hurts. They are so incredible. Such miracles! It's one of those "I feel like we were friends before this life, PLEASE don't deny the gospel I promised I would bring you.." Yeah.. so that's a struggle but I know that Heavenly Father has a plan and it'll all work out, whether it's us that baptizes them or not. They won't be lost. 

Roxana - Ana Mata (recent Convert) sister came to conference and totally felt the spirit - we're giving her a baptism date this week (: 

SISTER SCHOW'S BIRTHDAY WAS ON the 3rd (: You know me. I went all out! 

We put streamers all over the kitchen and made her a smiley face out of pancakes and eggs for breakfast (: she loved and and told EVERYONE that called her that day about what we did for her. She's the greatest. She had been really sad about having to get surgery on her hand, she has MS and so her other hand doesn't really work and it's just going to be a struggle.. so her birthday was just what she needed to get her out of the slump. I'm trying to convince her to get a tape recorder and record stories about her life (like grandpa kluber!) because she NEVER kept a journal! But she's stubborn haha. 

I love you all so much! The Church is true and the work is moving forward. Heavenly Father knows each of us personally and is aware of what we need in order to grow and progress. Don't forget to pray & have the best week (: 

Siempre,

Hermana Skidmore

Startling and Fluffy

This week has been so funny with having a native companion. Hermana Romero is basically fluent in English but she still asks me about certain words: fluffy and startling. 

We're riding our bikes and randomly she goes... "What does it mean...fluffy?" hahahah It caught me so off guard and (SHOUTOUT TO TAYLOR) hermana Romero's accent sounds straight from Nacho Libre, I asked her if she'd heard of that movie and turns out - it's her favorite! ES FANTASSTIC!

I was a little baby when I had to leave Hermana Thomas.. having to put my big girl skirt on and actually learn the area because I drive now #rough but we're getting there. Hermana Romero and I have a map in the car - who needs a GPS? Call me a boyscout!

Hermana Romero is MUCH different than Hermana Thomas.. She's very quiet but super agreeable. I just have to get used to the quiet.. which we all know is a stretch haha. For some reason I feel a lot less stressed with her.. Like I have more time to do stuff.. I don't know if that's good or bad? haha. But I feel like I need to be doing things.. I want to plan fun activites and try out different things with the members.. but I'm struggling with my confidence because she's a native and I'm not.. yeah.. i dont' know. Working on it! 

 At the beginning of the week I was really stressing.. I felt super overwhelmed having to teach her the area and stuff. but I just put all my trust in my Heavenly Father and so far hell hasn't broken loose so I'd say we're doing alright (: I'm learning so much from Hermana Romero. She's an INCREDIBLE teacher. She knows her stuff... I hope I'm as knowledgeable as her when I get to my last transfer! 

It's also a little difficult because the natives know that she can speak/understand them perfectly so they just talk to her.. and I just sit there and struggle like OUCH. then I get embarrassed and it's just a whole lotta ugly. 

BUT I know the Lord put us together for a reason and I'm determined to take full advantage of having a native companion! 

Jose and Gabriel didn't make it to church on sunday :( So we have to push their baptism back to October 12th. We visited Gabriel last night and he said he is going to try and get work off on the weekends from now on. They also told us this week that they don't understand Joseph Smith and that's the only Baptism interview question they can't answer. So we're working on helping them be truly converted and pray to know that he was the prophet chosen to restore the same church Christ established to the Earth when he was here and that we still have a living prophet today to lead and guide the church (Thomas S. Monson) who happens to be HILARIOUS and very wise. 

My heart kinda hurts for Gabriel and Jose. They are so prepared. They want to do what's right.. but their monetary situation is preventing them from making this covenant.. I pray every day that they'll have enough faith to do what it takes to keep the commandments and trust that the Lord will take care of them. I fasted for them yesterday, too! Love fasting now. A nice chance to deny your natural tendencies for 24 hours and think about others, Holler. 

Oh! cool miracle! On the way to see Gabriel and Jose - our member that was going to come with us bailed. I was like crap.. how are we going to hit our goal? LADIES AND GENTLEMEN the Lord provides a way..

Just so happened that another member of our ward was walking home from work and decided to take a different route to change up the scenery RIGHT down Gabriel and Jose's street! hahah YESSS! We were like "hey.. wanna take a detour and bless some of God's children?" so cool. 

ALSO! Get this:

We were going to stop seeing Isidro (the old man teddy bear that is waiting for fireworks in the sky to tell him to be baptized) but for some reason I felt like we should call him to invite him to church. 

Hermana Romero called and Isidro was like "yeah I'll be there!" WHAT!?

I was freakin the freak. That has neverrrr happened with him! Hermana Romero was looking at me like I was crazy hahaha. I was sooo happy! 

THEN Church started and he hadn't showed up :( I was like all bummed out on the inside but then he walked in ALL BY HIMSELF! PROUD MOTHER MOMENT! ahhhh. Still doesn't know when he wants to be baptized but hey. baby steps. poco a poquito. 

Andrea is still set for Nov. 1st. She loves brownies.. i don't blame her but I really want to make sure she's not just getting baptized for the refreshments haha. 

Loved the General Relief Society meeting. I really liked how they talked about how we need to really understand what we're doing when we take the Sacrament, I've been working on that! And understanding and pondering the scriptures like President Monson talked about, so great. AHHH I love it. It's like the Super Bowl for missionaries. General Conference this weekend YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!

Quote of the Week:

"Want to talk to God? Pray. Want God to talk to you? Read your scriptures." 

Amen, Hallelujah! 

Con todo mi corazon,

Hermana Skidmore

Pics and Pirates

Hi everybody,

Sorry this week is sparse on details, but look at all the pictures :)

I already committed not to eat ice-cream next transfer!

This woman is my favorite, love her. She sits in the back of relief society and cracks these hilarious one-liners and she's always late for everything. adore her. 

We call them the pirates :)

We took Rosie on a temple tour in the rain.

Transfers: Hermana Thomas (after being in East Sac since the beginning of her mission - 8 months!) is leaving to Lodi! and I will be companions here! Staying with Sister Schow and my new companion is Hermana Romero! She's a native from Mexico City and this is her LAST TRANSFER!

I feel so blessed to have her. I haven't even met her yet but I know it's gonna be great. I will learn a lot of spanish and together we will make her last transfer great (: I've heard she's really humble but funny, too and a little shy sometimes. I think i'm gonna like her (: 

ALSO I HAVE TO DRIVE! She can't drive in the United States.. so.. this should be interesting haha I don't ahve my Iphone GPS anymore.. just the Spirit, HOLLER! 

This week:

Andrea (Ana Mata's 9 year old daughter) Came up to us after sacrament this week and was like. "Hey, can I be baptized in December close to Jesus time?" UH OKAY.

She was supposed to be baptized in August but yeah the date fell through. Hermana Thomas bargained with her and she is now set for November 1st (: YAYAYAYA 

Mas tarde que nunca! (better late than never!) 

Took Rosie (16 year old investigator) on a temple tour! It rained! I'm sending pics! 

Jose and Gabriel are great! Gabriel thinks he's already Mormon or something..? haha we're working on figuring that out and trying to see if he has a record anywhere. That's kind of the difficulty with Spanish.. they move around a lot and are hard to keep track of! 

There's lots of russians here.. So "Privette!" is hello. I'm tri-lingual what uppp!

I love being a missionary and I love all of you so much. 

Hermana Skidmore

Yo creoo en milagroooos!

I belive in miracles!!

Hola (: As I write this to you, I have never been more happy in my entire life. That sounds crazy, but it's a kind of happy I can't even describe.. It's a different kind of happy. The kind of happy that comes from sharing the Gospel and being so full of faith you think you're going to explode and the Mormon Tablernacle Choir is going to sing every time you open your closet doors to start a new day. 

IS THAT CLICHE OR WHAT? 

But it's true. Yo estoy muy contento. 

Okay. First little miracle this week.

A long time ago, I met this mother who is a friend of one of our ward members that we had dinner with. Her name is Jessica and she has a son named Alejandro. She is from a different ward but she shared that her son is 16 and having troubles.. doubting the truth of the Church/Gospel and asking all the wrong questions. She was super worried about him and he had shut her out because.. that's what 16 year olds do to their moms.. 

I had the thought come to me to write Alejandro a note. So I ripped a brown paper bag and wrote as fast as I could. In the note I told him that...

 " His mom knows he has a good heart and that he needs to prepare himself now to serve a mission for the Lord. Questions are good but only when asked in an environment of faith. Alejandro, it's true. Don't believe me? Ask Him yourself. Your Heavenly Father loves you more than you can even imagine and wants to have a relationship with you. Remember what you Savior did for you. Hang on to your testimony with all you've got. It's the most unique thing about you. Don't let it slip. With love, hermana Skidmore - Cal Sac mission from KCK." 

So that was like a month or 2 ago. 

We just had dinner with that member and Jessica again. Guess what she said?

Alejandro has completely changed. He goes to church and seminary and has mentioned serving a mission which was something Jessica NEVER thought would happen. 

I wanted to cry when she told me. Like woah. I know it wasn't just the note.. and Alejandro didn't really tell Jessica why he suddenly changed.. ya know.. still a 16 year old and not wanting to open up to him mom. But she said it was a lot of little things combined. 

I know it wasn't just the note. But just knowing that maybe I had a tiny part in that kids life.. no words can describe. The teenagers, guys. I seriously love them. I have so much faith in the youth of this Church and youth that just don't know they're mormon yet ;) 

Now Gabriel and Jose...

They're cousins. Gabriel was the random guy we picked up on the street on the way to church one day and put him in a members car and found out he wants to be baptized... WHATUP. 

But get this. 

We text them to invite them to church, baptisms, ward activities, etc.. and we kept getting these sketch answers.. "si, te quiero!" "Adios mi amor!".. at first it was cute.. then it was like.. "miamora.!" (my girlfriend)... ew. no. I'm your minister not your eye candy, fella.

We thought we were going to have to hand them off to the Elders.. or drop them completely because they didn't have real intent.. WELL

We went over there, fully prepared to have the most awkward lesson of our lives accompanied by Alfonso, our body guard/Ward mission leader. 

They come outside.. and the drunk old neighbors are like making out and their music is super loud.. I'm so mad.. . COME ON PEOPLE TRYING TO FEEL THE SPIRIT HERE! 

I can't take it anymore... I march over there and they unlock their tounges and look at me.. LA MUSICA!!!!! And I give them a hearty thumbs down. He's like "oh geez who is this nun telling me what to do..?" But he turns it down and I march back over to Gabriel and Jose who are cracking up. 

We then talk to them about how we're they're ministers and how we need to know if they're really willing to change..because they haven't come to church (we didn't mention the texts though).

Jose thought I was getting mad at him so he's like... Esta enojada? Esta triste? and I'm like noooooooo I just care about you a lot and want this so bad for you!!! 

We figured out that they share a phone with all their cousins.. so it's the cousins that have been messing with us. Figures. Gotta get those men the Gospel. 

So we had a really good lesson about having a change of heart and we gave Gabriel and Jose their very own Libro de Mormon and Santa Biblia with colored tabs (thanks for sending me those tabs mom (: ) marking Hermana Thomas' and my favorite scriputres and some other good ones.

They were so grateful. It was humbling. We read in Alma 5 about having a change of heart and coming unto Christ. They promised to read and start doing all they can to get off work and come to church. They plan to be baptized on October 5th. 

But what happened at the end was probably one of my favorite experience so far.. Jose came to shake my hand as we got ready to leave and he asked me again.. are you mad? are you sad? I said...

"noooo! I'm excited for you! i just wanted to make sure you knew how important this is. Do you have any idea how much we care about you guys? We pray about you every night!"

Then I told him.."I've been thinking about your little son.. (he lives in Mexico with his wife while he's here making money).. and they example you're setting for him. I believe in you, jose. You can do this."

he was all.. "Pues, gracias.."

He lives with his cousins who drink and go out with women a lot.. He told me how hard it is.. knowing the difference between right and wrong but being surrounded by negative influences... I totally felt for him. Been there before. But he can do this. I know it. 

Then I realized why I feel a particular connection to him..I said...

"jose, ya know what... I have 2 older brothers. They are incredible. Good men in the gospel. And you remind me of them. That's why I care about you so much. I want the same things for you. The same blessings that my brothers have seen in the gospel, I want that for you.. but more than that.. Your Heavenly Father wants that for you. and that's why we're here..God loves you so much.. you know that right?"

He was all... "Pues, si, gracias..." hahah man of little words.

Also side note - All of that was said in horribly broken spanish.. still relying on the Spirit to carry the message to the heart of the listener ;) haha. 

But nonetheless! I love being a missionary. I have so many more things to tell you but I'm running out of time!

Please look for the little miracles that you see every day. 

Also, epiphany this week.. sometimes we go through hard times so that we can be an instrument in the Lord's hands so as to empathize with another one of his children when they're experiencing a similar trial. Cool how that works. God's a smart guy. 

The Church is true. The Book of Mormon is anther Testament of Jesus Christ and I have had a front row seat to seeing it change lives. 

Alma 5:13

Con todo mi corazon,

Hermana Skidmore

Tengo Ganas

Hola! 

Tengo ganas.. is like saying.. mm yeah I really want to.. but something is holding me back.. it doesn't really directly translate haha but it's what everyone is saying about coming to church. it should be "SI YO VOY A IR!" yes I'm going to go! COME ON PEOPLE! 

En todos modos, (anyways..)

We had a Church Tour! What up. new favorite thing. Yolani (found out we were calling Yolinda the wrong name.. #awk) and her daughter Jennifer and their huge fat baby Miller came on a church tour with Ana Mata (recent convert) and her daughter Andrea.. who was going to be baptized last week but.. didn't have tons of support from the other members of her family. crazy how much influence older siblings have. fo realz. But Andrea took charge of the whole thing haahha it was great! She even used her spanish which she doesn't do very much, totally befriended Jenifer and Yolani was BA DA BA BA BA lovin it.

But they didn't come to church. poop. Things happen. Next week though, she promised!

Lemme tell you about Jose and Gabriel. Gabriel was the miracle guy on the bike that we randomly invited to church and he was like "pues.. SIII!" then we lost him because he moved but then we found him agian! They live with like 50 of their cousins in this apartement and work in San Juan during the week so we always teach them on the weekends. 

Gabriel wanted to be baptized since the first time we met him. And Jose did too. They're incredible. They have such pure hearts. and we found out this week that Jose has a baby son and a wife that live in Mexico while he makes money here. They're like his pride and joy. He talks to them every day on the phone and has been sharing what he's learning about Jesus Christ and the Gospel. SO COOL! 

I was really worried about them having friends at church.. our congregation doesn't really have many 30 year old single or newly married hombres. PERO our ward mission leader, Alfonso is 24 (looks like he's 14) and he is now their friend (: they LOVE him. Last night we had the Chastity lesson.. BUM BUM BUM, clean thoughts, no sex before marriage, the works, and then talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentence, baptism, gift of holy

ghost, endure to the end) and the whole time they were like.. "Alfonso.. digame.. este.. digame eso.." Tell me this tell me that. hahah then they wanted him to say the closing prayer hahah. SO WOO they have a friend! 

It's crazy to me sometimes.. I sit back during a lesson and just look at where I am.. sitting on a side walk in a dingy apartment complex with 3 mexican men and a white girl at my side. we're all criss cross apple sauce talking about God.. LIKE WHAT!? If anyone would have told me that this is what I'd experience on a mission, never would have belived them. Never. 

It's incredible that we make the most random places (sidewalks, front porches, stair wells, laundry mats) into an environment where people feel the Spirit for the first time. For the first time these people realize their divinity. They feel the love their Father in Heaven has for them FOR THE FIRST TIME in the WEIRDEST places. I'm laughing to myself right now. 

I SIT ACROSS FROM 3 MEXICAN MEN ON A REGULAR BASIS, CHEESE GRADE A LANGUAGE I JUST LEARNED, and somehow.. these people are brought to the knowledge of their Savior and Redeemer. WHAT?! 

I guess not "somehow"..I know how all this is able to happen. It's all the Lord. I open my mouth, not sure what's gonna come out and with His help, it makes sense.. God could soooo accomplish this himself but how lucky are we to get to participate?

Don't forget to smile this week. Say hello to people. You never know what a difference you can make. Con Dios todo es posible. Todo. 

Yo voy a enviar fotos (: 

Con amor para siempre,

Hermana Skidmore

 

This Week

Sorry the title isn't more creative! 

Hi hi hi! 

SOOOOO This week! 

Zone Conference was on Friday. 4 Zones gathered at our Stake Center so we didn't have to travel far. It was like BAM BAM BAM so uplifting! One of the AP's left everyone a voicemail the night before and was like "Get pumped and ready to receive revelation!" hahahah #missionaryhumor

Random cool thing: I was about to sit down: ready to chow down on regular american food (kind of) Ravioli and salad that the Stake provided us for lunch.. when President comes over to me like.."Sister Skidmore, would you and Sister Thomas join us at the Table over there?" pointing across the room.. "Uh.. yeah!" 

So we sat.. and the Mission President, his wife, the Stake President, and his wife, and our zone leaders ALL watched me eat.. hahhaa. Obiously we all ate together but you know how I feel about like eating in front of important people.. also it was SO AWKWARD! because no one wants to say anything that might be inappropriate.. it's hard to explain.. like everyone wanted to be proper.. 

yeah.. well I got over that real fast. Silence just won't do!

 I talked about the car wash we went through. and how some day Hermana THomas and I are going to go through a car was in the back of a pick up truck.. and then President was like "I like to bungee jump.." OKAY PRESIDENT. YEAH! and then the conversation picked up. Holler at your getting everyone to talk like normal people. Missionaries can be normal, too. Just so everyone knows (: 

The stake president's wife talked about her daughter and how she has 3 older brothers. We really connected on that topic over the dinner table. I basically just told the whole table that the boys (like Cameron and Mitchell) just to clarify, are my heroes. They made me tough. I was never allowed to be a sissy. and when I was a sissy, I wasn't allowed to play with them anymore so it was best just to not be a sissy (: hahahah I will be forever grateful for my homies. 

Then Juancarlos' baptism!!! 

YAYAY! He was so cute!!! ahhhh!!! I'll send pics!

His less active family members and non-member family members were all there and his less active brother Wilson, came to church the next day to see him get Confirmed in Sacrament meeting. We could just tell that Juancarlos was beaming. Hopefully this will spark something with the family. We wrote Juancarlos a note just to tell him how he is really setting such a great example for his family (: I can't wait to see that little guy serve a mission!

The reason I'm emailing on a tuesday!

We had a Spanish activity at the temple!! ahhhh! There's like a huge field around the Sac temple so 1,200 of the Spanish people around Sacramento gathered for the holiday. We ate carne asada and did zumba! Hermana Thomas and I were in charge of maning the door to Zumba haha it was SO HARD not to dance!! It was a great time. Lots of comradery (no idea how to spell that) among the people and my Spanish is slowly getting better! We even got to go INSIDE the temple waiting room with Ana Mata (recent convert) and her sister! The temple worker was like Yeah! Come look real fast! I felt so awkward.. but it was really special. I think Roxana realized that too.  

Spiritual thought:

Do you know the name of Beethoven's piano?

Exactly. No one knows the name of the instrument. But we know the artist.

As a missionary, I am an instrument of the Lord. This is His work. 

Preisdent Martinez (assistant to Mission Preisdent Lewis and over the Spanish) shared that at a Spanish missionaries meeting this week and it kind of blew my mind. it's so true! Hard to remember sometimes, because we want the people to remember our names haha but the big picture is whose work this actually is. 

Used Jacob 3:1 a lot this week. Did I already share that one? Sorry (: I just love it. 

Les amo para siempre y con todo mi corazon.

Hermana Skidmore