Emily sent the following email and pictures on Monday, October 6, 2014:

Hey family, 

Don't worry about writing to me too much and taking up time.  There is nothing I would rather do than read the things you've written to me.  I love it because I miss you a lot.  

I loved Conference very very much.  President Hall sent us an email telling us about the common themes that he saw in conference and...let me just say that that man has some really good organizational skills.  I'll paste some of his remarks later so you can read them.   

I also really liked Bednar and I think it was D. Todd Christopherson from the Saturday morning session.  He talked about justice and mercy.  I have thoughts on about every talk, but there isn't really any way for me to tell you all of them right now.  It is incredible that we can hear the words of latter day prophets.  

We had to take our car in because it got recalled.  We spent about 4/5 hours at the dealership and them they took us to get a rental car after they discovered an ...oil pan leak?  It was neat because the girl helping us had offered us to be driven wherever we would like so we could wait out the recall in a more comfortable place, but when I asked her if she had any female drivers and received the 'no' we resigned ourselves to wait it out in the dealership.  We met a man in the dealership who had served his mission in Venezuela.  It was neat to speak with him in spanish and see members even in the car dealership.  

Our helper at the chevy dealership found his only female driver from Enterprise to come and get us.  We met another member there that had served his mission in Guatemala.  

You'll never guess what I'm driving!  I told them to give me their most exciting rental and I left with a big black Silverado. :)

I accidentally left our keys in out little chevy cruz, so it has been an adventure getting into our apartment.  The manager is loaning us an extra key to our apartment, but getting into the complex is a little tricky and I don't have a mail key so I haven't been able to get mail.  Hopefully we are able to get our car back in the next few days.  

Our mission received the iPads.  They were going to give them to us on Wednesday, but then another mission that was given the iPads had some missionaries that decided to misuse them, so they have put us on hold while they decide what they want to do.  This is really sad because we were so close.  I know I'd said many times before that we were going to get them and then they never came, but this time it really was for real.  

We had MLC (mission leadership Council) on Wednesday.  I wish I could've had the perspective I felt in that meeting from the beginning of my mission.  The president spoke on a variety of topics that we wanted us to later present to our zones.  The president is very good at explaining the processes and context of everything that happens.  For instance, every transfer meeting, the president talks about callings and releases so that everyone understands that callings in our church don't work like promotions and it isn't a sign that you did something right.  Reciprocally, it also means that being released from a calling doesn't mean you did something wrong.  President Hall doesn't know why people are called, but the Lord does and he will call in the tool that he needs for the amount of time that he needs it.  He talked about the function of councils in the church and how once there is a council at any level (ward, stake, etc.) every member of the council is encouraged to have full expression of opinion and they speak for the whole, not just for their respective organization.  This means that the primary president doesn't have to keep quiet when they are talking about other matters in the ward and only gives input on matters concerning the primary.  Everyone on the council is a fully equal member.  That is part of the definition of the council and councils only work when they work like that.  That means that my voice isn't just the voice for the women, but that I can speak about our whole zone and our whole mission, not just the women sector.  President Hall is very good at being fair and just and showing everyone they are valued.  

We talked about Nefi and his bow, about the different reactions of laman and lemuel compared with nefi.  Nefi breaks his hi-tech nimbus 2000 steel bow and when Laman and Lemuel begin to murmur, Nefi gets some wood and does the best he can with what he has.  Then he goes to the prophet to ask for direction.  We also covered the mission training plan, working with members, and general conference.

We took all the messges back and planned a ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) and presented it on Friday.  I think we did a really good job at presenting the things that the president wanted covered, but incorporating the things I've been thinking would help out our area.  It's cool because usually sister training leaders are called to be companions of hermanas that are already sister training leaders, but Hna. Rodriguez and I both were called without previous time in this calling.  It's neat because this way we don't follow the traditions of our fathers.  It's just interesting how it worked out, and I think the president did it on purpose.  

Dad, I love hearing about the sports :)  I actually don't see many fans or much team wear.  

Hna. Avila got called as a sister training leader too.  I don't think this has every happened before that someone as young as she gets called to be over missionaries all older than she is.  She is in the burbank zone and I am still in ECR.  I got to see her at MLC and then I saw her at conference.  

Our mission got together and we got a special preview of "meet the mormons". I liked it, but I didn't like it as much as I was hoping to like it.  I know the church is really excited about it and they are hoping it will go really big.  Did you hear about the conference Bednar did a bit ago to members teaching them how to do online proselyting?  He said something like, "I exhort all of you to sweep the world with social media as with a flood"?  Something to that effect :)  We saw clippits of it between conference and I felt the magnitude.  We watched conference at the spanish stake center.  They have one chapel where it is all in spanish and one where it is all in English.  The Spanish people watch all of conference with voice overs.  There was an English voice over for the spanish speaker, which was sad.  I probably wouldn't get the message as powerfully if I were to watch it is Spanish, but I would be able to understand the talks because...gospel language..it's what we do.  

German and Francisca invited us over to their house to celebrate Erick's 12th birthday.  They are so excited to meet you!  They are some of the best people in the world.  Having them here helps me while I don't have you guys.  They feel like family and they are humble and precious and sweet.   They would be willing to do anything for me.  I invited them to come to our house over Christmas break.  :)  I would love to be able to treat them and let them eat food at our house for a change.  I don't think this could really happen because German only has the 24th and the 25th off of work and Francisca only has the 25th, but I extended the invitation.  I even offered to call his boss to ask for special permission for him to get work off ;)  And then I volunteered you, Dad, to call his boss and ask for him to have work off ;)  They could come and go through a session at the Salt Lake Temple with you and me and Heidi <3  I can't think of anything cooler.  They would love to hear you, mom, play the piano and have us have a nativity program.  

We dropped Carmen because she wouldn't come to general conference.  The battle is real.  

This is President Hall's summary of conference:

Always follow the prophet and don’t get distracted, but strengthen your testimony through personal revelation.  

Always follow the prophet
• Elder Lynn G. Robbins: "Which way do you face?" 
• Elder Eduardo Gavarret: "Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee" 
• Elder Russell M. Nelson: "Sustaining the prophets" 
• Sister Carol F. McConkie: "Live according to the words of the prophets" 

Don’t get distracted
• Elder Dallin H. Oaks: "Loving and living with differences" 
• Elder Quentin L. Cook: "Choose wisely" 
• Elder M. Russell Ballard: "Stay in the boat and hold on!" 
• Elder Larry S. Kacher: "Trifle not with sacred things" 

Strengthen your testimony through personal revelation
• President Boyd K. Packer: "The reason for our hope" 
• President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "Receiving a testimony of light and truth" 
• Elder Jorg Klebingat: "Approaching the throne of God with confidence" 
• Elder L. Tom Perry: "Finding lasting peace and building eternal families" 
• Elder Craig C. Christensen: "I know of these things of myself" 
• President Henry B. Eyring: "Continuing revelation" 
• Elder Robert D. Hales: "Eternal life — to know our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ" 
• Elder Richard G. Scott: "Make the exercise of faith your first priority" 

I'll send you some pictures. :)

Love you, 

Hermana Christensen

Emily wrote, "Starting from the left, we have Edilberto, me, Oscar, and Teodoro.  Edilberto loves me.  He told me on Sunday that I was Peter's hand.  This is a reference from the last general conference.  There was a talk about how we don't just invite people, but then we reach out our hand to lift them.  He told me I was this hand for him when he needed it.  He told me he had something for me from Mexico and excitedly led me toward his car where he revealed: Teodoro!  Back from Mexico!  And Oscar too!  Oscar told me I was an Angel.  He got baptized after I left Arleta, but I found him and taught him his first lessons and didn't give up on him even when he disappeared to Nicaragua.  Soon after meeting Oscar the first time, we found him walking alone Van Nuys and in my excitement to see him, Oscar took me by a lot of surprise and nearly kissed my cheek in greeting.  

These are members of the Roque family at General conference.  The two boys you see on your right are Yoni y David.  David is on the end.  I couldn't believe that they came to conference!!  It might just be time to go back and see if they are ready to read in the Book of Mormon :)  Hope.

Proof that the iPads arrived

Zone Training Meeting

Erick's 12th birthday party  (L-R: Hna Rodriguez, Emily, Francisca, Erick, & 2 other sisters)

General Conference

Emily sent the following email and pictures on Monday, Sept. 29, 2014:

I love you guys so much!  :)

I am so happy. I am happy to be a missionary.  I was thinking about what is one of my favorite things about being a missionary.  I definitely like always having a worthy purpose and getting to see the hand of the Lord and associate with other outstanding missionaries and having adventures and weird/creepy things happen, but at the finish of it all, my favorite part has to be that I am able to introduce myself as a representative of Jesus Christ.  

Saturday, during companionship study......the phone rings.  I think every missionary’s heart drops to see "Pres. Hall"  show up as the incoming call.  The royal man with his calm, collected narrator's voice asks to speak to me.  And then he takes a moment to talk to Hermana Avila.  HE CALLED US BOTH AS SISTER TRAINING LEADERS!  It took us sprinting down the hall, past the testigos teaching our vecino, and all the way down to the mail room and back to get out all our extra energy before being able to calmly proceed with our study.  Hna. Avila went to Burbank with my MTC companion and I get to stay in El Camino Real with Hna. Rodriguez, the most beautiful missionary!  We're totally going to get jumped, but don't fear.  I have, and have practiced using my pepper spray.  I pity the fool....

She is so smart and spiritual and organized and hard working.  We have a special bond because we entered the mission on the same day and we spent out first night together at the white sister training leader's apartment before our first transfer meeting.  Ever since then we've always really liked each other but we didn't think we'd ever serve together, but the Lord makes things work the way they need to. :)  She is from Venezuela.  You should hear her talk.  The words just melt together and I don't think anyone will be able to stand a chance against the commitments we are going to propose.  ;)  

Neither of us have been sister training leaders before, so we just get to figure it out!  I love adventures and challenges.  The way the Lord works, callings like this are never a reward for or a sign of good behavior.  Rather, they are invitations to rise to a higher way of living.  I am grateful for the mercy the Lord has chosen to bestow upon me.  We will have a training meeting on Wednesday and then we will have our first MLC (mission leadership conference).  I can't wait to gather and receive direction from the Royal Man.  He is so wise and so inspired.  I know he will be a member of the 70 very soon.  

A lot of the wards here are struggling with church attendance.  This breaks my heart because...how can this be so when we are part of the only true church of Jesus Christ?  Apparently the ward in North Hills is having a lot of problems with chasms (gossip) and they are probably going to have to disperse that ward.  We heard that the Reseda ward only had 20 people at church 2 weeks ago...WHAT?!?!?  

We are part of the El Camino Zone.  Within this zone, we have the Reseda district and the El Camino district.  Each Spanish district is a ward.  When we heard that Reseda's church attendance was so low, usually there wouldn't have been anything that I could've done, but because we are the sister training leaders, we take care of the Reseda hermanas.  I am very protective of El Camino Real because this is my home and this is where I have family.  I will never let this ship sink.  I will fight until the end.  You would be impressed though, because I think El Camino Real is doing better than most of the other wards.  When I came back for the first time, my heart sank during sacrament at the sparseness.  In that instant, I knew that Avila and I would work until we made this ward strong again.  We spent a significant amount of time going on rescue missions and ...people are coming back.  El Camino is starting to look good.  You can't afford to be complacent in this work.  When I heard about Reseda, first my heart sank, but then I realized that we could help them!  We called our hermanas and made a plan to hunt down their menus actives and save Reseda!  None of these boats are sinking as long as I have any say in it.  Last night we split with them and took our 2 cars and went on rescue missions!

Romonita...is a miracle.  She is so sweet and she had reached the point in her spiritual progress that she knows that what we are telling her is true.  She was a champ and courageously showed up to church on Sunday.  

German and Francisca are doing better than ever!  German is going to receive the 6 priesthood lessons all in one so they can start taking the temple classes right after General conference.  6 weeks after that and they should have their temple date.  Little Erick is going to have his 12th birthday on the 30th of september.  For his birthday, he asked his mom if she would invite all 4 of us sister missionaries over to his house for dinner, so on the 4th, that is where we will be come fire or come rain.  Last Sunday...oh I forgot to tell you this story!

Last Sunday was wonderful!  We showed up to German and Francisca's house bright and early to make them eggie pancakes.  They were tickled and loved it!  It was cool to be able to serve Francisca.  Erick rubbed sleep out of his eyes while putting down some eggie pancakes.  He would fit in perfectly with the pack.  I told them that you would always make pancakes for us and just rotate through giving whoever finished first the next fresh one.  German was so chipper and was excited for his first breakfast americano!  After church they invited us to have tomales with them for lunch.  We did and we talked about the next Sunday being fast Sunday and talked to them about bearing their testimonies.  I don't understand the fear completely, but let it suffice to say that the fear of public speaking does exist and is as serious as they say.  After tirelessly trying to convince German that he was ready to take this step and that he didn't need to be embarrassed that he thought he would cry, etc, etc, etc, we asked Francisca.  She was just as nervous.  He asked her if she would at least think of and write down some thoughts that she could say in case she felt the spirit and was feeling brave enough.  She faithfully agreed that she would.  Francisca is the most trustworthy, humble, faithful, patient women.  

Fast forward to this Sunday, German didn't make it because he was sick but Francisca was there.  Let me reiterate, German would rather jump off a cliff than bear his testimony (because the fear is so great) in front of the ward.  Francisca was just as scared, but when I went to her row and held out my hand, she nodded and without looking back rose.  She did her preparation!  When the day came, she didn't have to look back or look around.  She could heed the call because she was prepared.  She sat on the stand and held my hand.  Her voice shook her first couple or words, but then she bore a simple and heartfelt testimony.  She finished by telling the world that she wanted her family to go to the temple to be a family forever.  She is faithful.  She is an angel.  

Carmen.  This one was a victory and a half.  Her son, Chris, called us to let us know that they wouldn't be coming to church.  So we went over to their house.  We gave it all with Chris.  We gave him every chance to come to church and talked about how being there would help him to overcome his challenges and help him feel the peace and direction he wants.  He insists that he wants to come to church, but he just can't seem to make himself do it.  His mom is painfully shy.  Let me just tell you, the battle was real.  We invited and bore testimony and testified of true doctrine.  There are things that you can only say with a lot of love and we said them all and still the answer was no.  I knew there was one last hope: we asked to come in and pray.  3 minutes of silence later, carmen offered her prayer.  A simple "are you ready ?" after the prayer received a faithful nod.  We waited outside while she got ready and left her house looking the prettiest I'd seen her in a dress and with her hair down.  She apologized for not having makeup--little did she know she was radiating light.  As we walked with her step in step, I knew we'd beaten Satan and I knew the heavens were rejoicing.  

We have been contacting and knocking with members.  This has afforded me some of the most wonderful, inspiring, and touching moments on my mission.  I know that defending your faith makes it grow.  I know that the members of the church in these valleys need to be strengthened in their testimonies and in their commitment.  I know the answer is missionary work.  I know it is taking them out with us for the cites we have scheduled and then keeping them with us the full time that we knock or contact if the cita falls through.  It is by small and simple things that God realizes great things that confound the wise.  There are too many hiding variables in missionary work that can't be identified, but that fulfill and satisfy needs and work miracles.  I know this work is true.  I know the Lord works with us in his vineyard.  Sammy, maybe this can help you in your work.  I promise you that if you take a member with you for a couple of hours and have them accompany you to apts or just help you look for people, that you will have more people say yes to your message and the testimony of this member will strengthen.  I promise.  I have been blown away by the difference in response we get when we are with one of their own kind. You won't know the truth of the doctrine unless you give it seed, and then you will know if the doctrine is true or if I speak of myself.  

Love, Hna. Christensen

Emily with her former companion, Hna Avila (left) and ward member, Francisca (right).
Emily wrote, "Francisca came to be a missionary with us! <3" 

Emily & Hna. Avila ~ Emily wrote, "Corazoncito y yo."  Emily has loved her companion!

Emily:  "We made this birthday cake for our zone leader."

Note the outside temperature reading on the dashboard...  

We received a letter from Emily on September 20, 2014.  She had written it earlier in the week.

Tuesday, Sept. 16

Heidi y Peter!

I love you guys so much!

We had a wonderful night tonight!   First we had a lesson with Octavio.  We tried so hard to find a member to come with us, but after many phone calls, we just had to go member-less. 

Octavio.  42 years old.  Male.  Humble, smart, gentle, kinda reminds me of Peter.  We arrived and called him and he let us in the complex.  We told him we were going to try to get the member that lives in his complex to come with us too.  He waited at his house for us while we didn’t find her, called more members and prayed for help.  After the prayer we were feeling pretty confident that something would fall into place.  We invited the lady just getting home if she would like to hear a spiritual message we were about to share with her neighbor and she almost agreed.  In the end we just taught him at his door.  It was such a wonderful lesson. :)  He read the foyetto we left with him...all of it.  He even tried explaining it to his wife even though she is less open (mas duro) to things like this.  He was almost apologizing when he was telling us he wanted to come to church, but he needed to take it slowly with his wife because she didn’t understand why he wanted to meet with us.  Keep in mind, this is our second lesson with Octavio.  He than tells us that in order for him to know if all he read in the foyetto is true, he has to read the Book of Mormon.  Wednesday, he intently ready Moroni’s promise and he agreed to pray.

Rebeca.  We stopped by her on the way home.  Rebeca has been one of our favorites for a long time.  With our luck she should have her baby this Sunday.  We stopped by after giving her a little break so she could miss us.  She was overjoyed to see us on her porch again.  We were warmly and excitedly welcomed in.  She was there with her husband Julio, and we just laughed with them and left them with a prayer and a commitment to have a family prayer nightly.  Jessenia is the member we picked to be her friend and today Jessenia drove her to her doctor’s appointment.  They are genuinely friends.  It’s perfect because they both have fire in them so they can find each other exciting.  I’ll send you a picture of Rebeca.

Wednesday, Sept. 17

I’m beat.  The heat is killing us slowly.  We found Mariade los Angeles for the first time in 2 weeks (since we found her).  She is back from Mexico and recovering at her house. 

Today we met the neatest Persian man.  He was looking for an apartment along Saticoy and Mason where we were crossing.  He is a modern-day pilgrim.  He felt undeniable feelings that God lived, which caused him and his family to be persecuted in Persia.  He fled to Turkey so he could have religious freedom.  His son is currently in a Persian jail because of his beliefs.  Ali told us that he was still looking for the truth about God.

Ali is too smart to be thrown off or diverted from his desire to learn about God.  He petitioned us for the difference between “Mormons” and the other religions.  He kept saying, “this is the same, this is the same,” until se told him God called another profet named Joseph Smith and his eyes lighted up as he exclaimed, “this is different.”  He latched onto the picture and wouldn’t let us get through the First Vision because he insisted on being told exactly who the 2 personages were.  Upon being answered, he exclaimed, “Oh yes, I know!”  He had a dream about receiving an answer like that from God. 

Upon hearing about the Book of Mormon, he wanted it in his hands while the magnitude of the book rushed over him like waves.  “Give it to me”...  I suppose it was a request, but it was not very negotiable.  I wish people would stand up for their salvation like Ali did.  You had to witness it, but it was like a child discovering a treasure or unraveling a mystery and having too much uncompromisable desire to even be able to hide the anxiety.  I would call it the best contact of my mission.

Bezos y abrazos, Hna. Christensen

p.s.  Hna. Avila thinks I should go by “Harper” when I return to the real world.

p.p.s.  We get transfer calls this Saturday  xoxo

We received the following email from Emily on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014:

Dear Familia,

Hna. Avila and I are still together.  We have transfers in about 2 weeks....AHHHH!  One of us will stay in the area, one of us will leave.  

German and Francisca are going to start taking the temple classes.  

I prepared a lot for my talk last Sunday and I think I did a good job.  I was amazed to see that God could take a girl that didn't know Spanish, and after a year have her give a talk in very understandable Spanish.  I definitely can feel that he is the one behind all that I do.  

Teodoro took an unexpected trip to Mexico.  

Adrian is getting married this month!  I should give you his phone number so you can call him!  I really love him.  I wrote him this week and asked him if he'd like to meet you when you come.  

I think driving home together will be really fun :)

Our district is working really hard.  We have a lot of quality investigators, but getting people to actually come to church is like pulling out their teeth.   Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't have to push them as much as I do.  

I experienced desanimo and frustration this week after our investigators didn't come to church.  I recovered though :)

We have brought back a bunch of menos activos.  

We had some finding miracles.  Maria de Los Angeles and her husband Constantino were just waiting for missionaries to knock on their door.  The only way we even made it to their house is because we set a contacting goal and I was determined to die of thirst and sweat into a puddle before we were going to surrender.  We got further and further into this neighborhood following our hispanic sensors.  Maria has a Book of Mormon that was given to her by her cousin.  It seems like he did a wonderful job gently planting seeds so that we could find them.  We had them find their Book of Mormon so we could teach them about what it was.  They felt the spirit and both ended up crying.  They said that if it was true, they would want to be members of the true church.  She wanted us to pray for her because she was going into surgery the next day.  She was still recovering Sunday from her surgery, but she is a very tender woman and she feels like she should already be a member of the church.  

besos y brazos, 

Emma

We received the following letter from Emily on Monday, September 1, 2014:

Hey familia!

How are you doing? :)

I feel like I never have even 2 seconds to myself and sometimes that is really hard for me.  We are having Elder Larisen (70) come to visit our mission pretty soon.  We are all supposed to be preparing a short talk on how to be a more consecrated missionary.  Also, I am giving a 15 minute talk this Sunday on Christlike attributes.

This is good news:  tomorrow we have our a quick every-other-transfer interviews with the president and I have everything ready for the ecclesiastical endorsement.  It’s weird to me how this option sort of came out of the blue.  It feels a lot to me like I am re-living my deciding to go to SUU.  The idea came...  would never really be an option...  but then we open that path as a possibility and then once open it presents a more tempting option and you feel the spark of excitement.

Yoni y David

They are the cutest boys, but they are not progressing.  We can’t even get them to pray out loud.  They are so shy it is painful.  It is so sad, but I think we will just have one last lesson with them and then hope missionaries find them in the future.

I was hoping to sell my bike but instead someone is borrowing it because theirs broke.  Maybe she’ll want to just buy it because the one she was using before is really old and mine is still nice.

Anyway, I love you!  I’ll talk to you soon!  Love, Emma

Emily sent us the following email and pictures on Monday, August 11, 2014:

Hey family!!!  I am so good!!!  La mas linda (Hna. Avila) and I are doing SO good!  We are happy and exhausted and conscientiously working to put into application all the things that we are being asked!  The days run by and we just marvel how fast monday comes every week.  Transfers are this coming tuesday.  The transfer calls came on Saturday and we could not have been more happy then to have been safe from any changes!  There have been a lot of upsets this transfer time so I'm just so grateful that we are outside of the madness!  

Yep, all the missionaries that are finishing will finish Tuesday and then fly home on Wednesday.  Speaking of!  Are you guys going to drive here to pick me up?  OR do you know what you want to do?  I mean also, I could just fly home too!  Nothing is really too set at this point!  For your vacation are you guys going to drive here?

When la mas linda and I got transferred into this area, there weren't any investigators that we could even salvage because the missionaries in the area before us had had a sick missionary so they didn't really get outside of the house and work.  

We started fresh with a lot of energy and faith.  I feel very committed to this ward and I felt it was a privilege to be entrusted with this area I love so much.  We started by contacting and talking to literally every person.  We kept good track of all our potentials (people that are interested and give us contact information) in the area book.  We would follow up to make sure that we tried to contact them and give them a chance to respond to us.  

I don't know if I already told you about this, but we also started visiting a bunch of the menos activos.  Menos Activo work is hard for me, but it is important to care for them too and the numbers in the church at sunday were sadly low.  Mostly menus work makes me frustrated and feel like I'm not fulfilling my missionary purpose.  It was hard because as much as I cringe pouring time into menus actives, I had to have Hna. Avila think that I liked helping them.  I became their advocate because countless places in Preach My Gospel tells you that there are better ways to find then just knocking doors.  

Sometimes with menoses if it takes so much pushing to get them to come to church, they will only come to church if they are pushed that much and when the pushing stops, they stop too. But then, there are others that are ready to come back.  

We got Erica Martinez to come to church and she has been present the last month after not coming to church in years and years!  She is adorable!  I'll send you a picture of her.  She was asked by a member of the bishopric to lead the music in the sacrament meeting.   I practiced with her right before the relief society meeting because she was nervous and wanted to do really well.  She is young..28 and she has a cute little Carlito who is probably 5!  She is on the verge of being divorced with her non-member husband.  I know that Erica had been practicing leading all week.  Yesterday at church, she lead and you could hear little Carlito singing because he KNEW the songs!  He had listened to his mom practice them all week.  And then....her husband showed up at the church to support her because he had also watched her practice for this all week.  She couldn't speak for a moment and was glowing with happiness.  

Another menus family is the Madrid family.  They are the cutest family and there is so much love there!  They are very sporty kids!  They live in a very private gated community.  They have to check my id every time and make a phone call before they can let me in.  The mom's name is Delmi and she works for someone who used to be in movies when she was younger.  They live in the smaller house on the property with the Jefa's house.  You guys will have to see this neighborhood because the architecture is INCREDIBLE!  Their houses are ginormous!  The Jefa's house is going to be demolished and rebuild for $18 mil.  Have you heard of Kim Cardashian?  (SP?)  She lives here too..just to give you an idea.  It's like the most elite and rich community I've (obviously) ever seen or that I knew existed.  When you wonder where movie stars live...yea, it's here!  We have started doing family home evenings with them, and this next one (friday) is planned to have them for sure be at church.  We will play soccer with them for the game.  3 on 3 should be pretty fun and I've gotten better at soccer too ;)  I'll keep you updated on them.  And I'm attaching a picture of them!  They might come visit utah in December!

The Roque family!  This family is just half menos!    

(maybe the description of them will come next week)

Hermana Judith Diaz Lizano

(her description too)

These are menos, but they are like investigators.  Through them, we've found people.  

We have a lesson planned on marriage for Erica and her husband for tonight at 7:00.  We are teaching the 2 grandchildren of Hna. Roque.  I love Yoni and David!!  We are teaching Hna. Lizano's husband and he has a baptismal date!

Here are our investigators (and remember we are still in the process of rebuilding this area)  ....but actually, we are doing better than ...most others.

• Yoni (grandson of Hna. Roque)

This kid is really cute!   He has 13 years and is from El Salvador.  He is so expressive in his language and he only speaks spanish.  [i have to be more brief so that i communicate more of the most important things to you.  I'm going to work on this through all my next letters]  Here is a story that shows you the type of person Yoni is: he was being held in the immigration center and there was this boy younger than he was that spoke a more obscure dialect of another language.  Yoni (*I spelled his name johnny last week) He took that little boy under his wing and told him "anda conmigo" (which is like come stay with me, with the connotation that he'd care for him).  Yoni was explaining the story to us and you could see the compassion that he had for this little boy.  He explained how he was young and scared and didn't understand anything people were saying to him.  Yoni helped him do what he was supposed to so he wouldn't get punished when the people would get mad that he wasn't understanding quickly enough.  There was a time when a man pointed a taizer right at the little boy and Yoni saw the fear in his little face and Yoni stepped in front of him and he took the electric shock for him because in his words, "his eyes were so big and he was so scared he was shaking so I stood in front of him".  

I tell the story to make Yoni sound like a hero, but he didn't tell it that way.  He just recounted an experience he had, but I saw his heroism and his compassion and his instinctual understanding for how we should care for our fellow men.  

He shared this during our family home evening on Service.  After this our member present loaded up the 2 boys and 2 of the Roque girls and we went to the bishop's house to doorbell ditch a little pie.  My heart was bursting with joy the whole time.  The bishop texted the older Roque girl and thanked her about 5 times for the pie.  *I'll send a picture of this too.

• David (hermano de Yoni)

David is a good boy.  He is pretty shy, but you can tell that he and his brother are both really smart.  David is 16.  I love watching him understand more.  This week they all have someone that they were secretly doing service for.  We decided to serve them so we went to their house one of the mornings with banana bread and ice-cream to share with them.  I don't know exactly what they think of us, but I do know they have to know that we care about them.  David especially loved the banana bread.  We had a lesson first, and....they like us and they are trusting us.  :)

• Angel (esposo de Hna. Lizano)

He...(his description willl have to come next week too)  But he was a baptismal date for the 14 of september.

• Romanita

description to come: baptismal date 7 september, came to church yesterday, cried during the talk about prayer

• Jorge (esposo de romanita)

Well, they're not actually married, but we are teaching them chastity tonight and we will commit them to getting married.  They both have a baptismal date for the 7th

• Rebecca **<3  (knocking miracle)

She might be one of my favorite people!

• Marcos (found on a blitz)

He builds pianos and is very spiritual.  He is married to a white girl that doesn't speak spanish. 

• Elizabeth (Marco's wife)

She is really nice and understood the magnitude of the 1st vision.

• Antonio (result of "talking with everyone")

I think I told you his story..

• about 7 others that don't have enough interest and don't keep commitments.

Basically, i would say that we have about 5 or 6 that are progressing.  To be progressing, they must be keeping commitments.  Usually I make this directly to mean coming to church, but if they are reading, that is good too.  Church really is the most important thing. For investigators to progress, you have to meet with them 2 or more times a week.  We meet with Yoni and David about 3 times.  We made a calendar for Romanita and Jorge, and we set pats mon, wed, and fri.  We have their whole teaching planned out up until their baptism.  Angel we only have thursdays, but that needs to change for him to keep his date.  Rebecca we used to get about 2, but then an apt was cancelled and we need to find her tomorrow.  

The sad truth is that a lot of people are passive.  Rebecca has a lot of questions.  When we are teaching people that are invested (have a date) it changes the game and they start having more questions.  That is why I like it so much after they have a date because the investment changes.  

Thank you SOO much for the FHE ideas!  I'm definitely going to use what I can because the missionaries putting on Family Home Evenings is very popular here.