Wow, this week was so full of amazing things, all of which were full
of the sweet and the bitter.

First of all, saying goodbye to Hermana Osborn.  WOW.  It was almost
as hard as saying goodbye to all of you when I left home.  She really
has become like a sister to me.  It was so surreal to give her a hug
and see her get on the van to go to Oakland.  I'm glad I'll get to see
her soon.

My new companion is Hermana Jensen!  She's really great, and we get
along just fine as well. :)  She's just an impressive missionary all
along and I feel blessed to be her companion.  I know I'm going to
learn a lot from this experience with her.  I've been so blessed with
my companions on my mission.  I've never had a companion who was
difficult to get along with, which makes things so much easier!

We saw incredible miracles this week.  One miracle happened while I
was on exchanges in my area with Sister Boac.  Our appointment with
our recent convert fell through on Friday, so we went to our back-up
plan.  I was surprised at the back-up I had planned, because
logistically it didn't make a ton of sense, but we decided to go with
the plan we'd set.  We ended up knocking doors in the rain.  We
knocked on the door of Jessenia, a 21-year-old girl.  We started
talking to her and I asked her what was important to her in her life.
She said, "Is that a trick question?" I said no, and she eventually
started opening up and we began to talk about the restored gospel.
After a few minutes, she invited us to come in and talk with her.  We
got to know her a little and started teaching about the restored
gospel.  She told us that she felt something different from us, and
that she was sure that God had sent us to tell her it was time to go
back to Him. We told her about the Book of Mormon and she requested a
copy before we could even offer one to her.  She said that she
couldn't explain what she felt but she knew it was from God. We
invited her to be baptized, and she accepted a baptismal date!  It was
incredible.  The Spirit was so strong and it was all I could do to not
cry.  Within 30 minutes of us knocking on her door, Jessenia showed
incredible faith and accepted the invitation to be baptized.  It was
an experience I will never forget, and it taught me that it truly is
the Spirit that does the work, and that there are people who are ready
to receive the gospel. I think it was a blessing for the sister who
was with me on exchanges as well.  She's had a difficult mission, and
it was a tender mercy to be able to have such an amazing miracle to
build our faith in the Lord and His work.  There will definitely be
opposition in working with Jessenia.  We knocked on her door last
night and her mom answered and told us to get lost because her
daughter wasn't interested, then slammed the door in our face.  We're
praying that Heavenly Father will soften her mom's heart, or at least
strengthen Jessenia's, so she can make the choices she wants to make.

Another miracle is that Liborio (apparently I've been spelling his
name incorrectly all this time) came to church again!  We were
disappointed because he hadn't showed up yet, but he walked in about 5
minutes before sacrament meeting started.  Just like last time, he was
greeted by lots of members and had a great experience.  We'd been
praying all week that he'd be able to come to church, and he did!
He's progressing more and more each time we meet with him.

It's been a little crazy to try and work in our area this week.  It's
been raining like crazy--literally pouring night and day--which makes
it a little difficult to contact people at times.  It's also pretty
fun though. :)  We had Hna. Rodriguez, an elderly sister, come out
with us to visit people a couple nights ago, and she was a trooper,
running through the rain and giggling like a little girl.  It was
memorable!  Unfortunately the rain and cold are not helping me get
over whatever illness I have.  When I wrote last Monday I felt like I
was getting over it, but unfortunately I got the second wave of it the
next day shortly after sending Sister Osborn off.  Sister Jensen is
sick too, poor thing.  But DON'T WORRY--we're being well taken care
of!

It's been a challenge being the senior sister trainer and getting
exchanges all arranged for the transfer.  I've truly felt the help of
the Lord as I've tried to do things that I've felt are way over my
head.  This is pushing me a lot, and making me rely more on Heavenly
Father.  It's definitely humbling, and also wonderful to see how much
help He is giving me to help me overcome my weaknesses.  I feel
blessed to be here, and I know that this work is a sacred work.  I've
felt that reality many times this week.  I don't ever want this to
end!