i got kissed this week lol

HOLA!! first off, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! literally I cried like 1.7 thousand times yesterday because I feel so loved. I'm the luckiest gal in the whole world and I love you all a lot :')

this week's been a little up and down, but hey it's still important to enjoy the rollercoaster so it's okay!! also i realized i hit 2 months out on the mish and I peed my pants a little bit. time goes too fast.

spiritual updates:

-we finally met a potential whose 9 year old daughter has been super interested and we've visited her a few times. we were so stoked to meet him and he was super excited to meet us too!!! it had been the hardest day and we had just come from an appointment where the dad pretty much yelled at us to leave their family alone and that they were sick of missionaries, so finding Javier was definitely a miracle. he is the nicest guy and asked US when we could meet again (like what? that never happens) We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he'd start reading right away so we'd have something to talk about soooo everyone please pray that we have the opportunity to keep teaching him because hes golden.

-we talked with 10 LATINOS IN ONE DAY! literally finding hispanos aqui is like finding freaking needles in a haystack so the fact we found 10 in one day was a miracle within itself

-one of our sweet members has been talking with a friend about the church and shes super duper interested. we met the friend when we were having lunch with the member and she was asking us when we could come over and start meeting with her and we were blown away. turns out, weve met her 13 year old daughter before sooooo coincidence? I think NOT. the gospel is true

-also found a lady named Lucila this week who's been found like 5 times by different missionaries and the fact we randomly ran into her is also not a coincidence.

-ZONE FRIGGIN CONFERENCE!!!!! literally this mission is so awesome. we have the best president in the whole world but it's no biggy. it was so uplifting and powerful and just made me so excited to be a missionary.

-my Spanish be takin off!!!!!!! I'm understanding like everything!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO

fun updates:

-some 60 year old dude was hitting on us the whole time we were teaching his buddy. this happens too often sadly haha

-played ball with the boyz aka the elders twice this week which is always fun

-we had a free car wash and it was SO FUN. we cleaned like 10 cars but honestly there was more water and soap on us because elder budd and I got in a large water fight and so we were both just soaked haha. whatta hoot

-we had a fun ward activity on Saturday and so my comp and I just gotta chillax for a bit. some members in our ward live right on lake Sawyer so we just had a little barbeque and talked and relaxed and it was fantastic.

-we literally taught some lady every lesson (including word of wisdom, law of chastity, temples, and even polygamy haha) in 1 hour and she was telling us how she was a drug dealer and went to jail and kept asking us about our past transgressions which was wild.

-finally, the subject line story. we were talking with these 5 dudes in their mid twenties and they were all somewhat interested, but one of them kept flirting with us and kept saying things to his buddy that we only somewhat understood, but were not very missionary appropriate and so I was already feeling hecka awkward, but then when we were leaving we went and shook all their hands and the flirty one had a STRONG GRIP and pulled me in before i knew what was was happening and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. not just a customary kiss like the women do when they hug, but a full on kiss on the cheek. I haven't even been in close proximity of any males in 2 months soooo definitely got freaked out for a sec haha good times

funny moments with selvin this week:

-came to the door with his hair down (it's usually in a man bun) and a string tied around his head like a headband and said 'look I look like a lamanite or a disciple of christ!'

-gave him a liahona and he felt like he needed to give us a magazine too so he went and got us a tabloid hahaha. good thing too because I've been needing to keep up on all the gossip (Miley and Liam split up????)

-texts us like everyday about how he loves the book of mormon and the gospel. such a sweetie.

literally had the best birthday EVER! I woke up to my sweet comp making me breakfast, opened some presents from my family, and then we gotta go to church which was so so nice. a sister had brought me a rose and candy and her daughter wrote me a sweet note and everyone was wishing me happy birthday the whole meeting... these members are amazing. came home after finding to 10 members on my doorstep with a cake and I cried a lil because I do not deserve them at all. we ended the day with a bang by making 2 different kinds of cookies and watching the testaments movie which was so fantastic.

crap I ate yesterday: biscuits, candy, oreos, chocolate bar, reese's puffs, more chocolate, cake, arroz con leche, no bake cookies, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and cheesecake. needless to say i almost died yesterday thanks to a sugar coma

scripture of the week:

mosiah 5:8

8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives

what does is mean to take his name upon us? 'take' is an action word... likewise, it requires ACTION! 'it means taking his teachings, characteristics and his love into our beings so they become part of who we are'. we do this through the sacrament, but also by standing as a witness at all times and in all places. take also means to align with a cause. we need to advocate his cause. we need to be His hands on the earth!

I love you all! thank you thank you for all the emails! please pray that we can find some hispanos to teach!

the church is true, the book is blue!!!!

hermana hess

fotos:

"do the chickens have large talons"

RAIN!

found this bad boy at a garage sale

our little lamanite selvin

our nice gift from selvin

freaking beautiful lakeside property

evening after the birthday celebrations

our little cookie fiesta hahah