Week Sixty-Seven: Change

Outside the Arvin building. I'm going to miss that place!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group

Companion: Hermana Luquette

This week was crazy. We spent a lot of time talking to people on the streets and meeting cool folks and at the end of the week, we got transfer calls. I will be LEAVING ARVIN! It was the saddest transfer call of my life, but I am super excited for moving on into the last couple of months of my mission. More on that later.

With Lucas. He is such a cute man, and I'm glad I had the chance to teach him!

With Refugio. He is so cute!

We tried to take a selfie with Julio.
I don't know if he understood what was going on. haha

One morning, we were walking down the street and we saw a young mother outside. She was sitting with her two-month-old daughter and we stopped to talk to her. She just talked about how much her family meant to her and how much she felt like her young baby was a gift from God. We were able to talk to her about how the gospel really does bless families and how she could feel more of God's love in her life. It really made me grateful for the family that I have and for all of the blessings that I have experienced from the gospel. I know that my family will be together forever and I am so happy for that! The gospel gives me hope and courage!

We are still teaching Guadalupe and Rafael. It has been really fun to see them growing and changing as we have been teaching them. Every time that we go over, there are seven or eight people who are wandering through the house and Guadalupe always invites them to come and sit in as well. Rafael always gives us fruits. I think that there are about 50 oranges and at least 1.5 watermelons sitting in our apartment right now. :) That is the benefit of being in this area of California right now. All of the fruit is starting to grow, so people give it to us. Everyone here is so nice and they always help us to feel comfortable, even if they do not want to hear about our message.

With the Familia Ocampo. I love them so much!

With Juanita. She is the daughter of a less active family.

Selfies with Herman Navarro. She is a super cute lady!

With the Familia Navarro.

This week, we got transfer calls on Saturday night. I was really hoping that I would stay in Arvin for another transfer with Hermana Luquette, but when we got the calls, we learned that I would be going with Hermana Galvez to open up an area called Delano for sisters. There has been Spanish speaking elders there for a long time, but we are the first sisters to serve there in the mission's history, as far as I know. It is going to be an adventure. Delano covers the now famous McFarland, USA, so we are pretty much living in a I am super excited to serve with Hermana Galvez. She is from Guatemala and she is one of the nicest people that I have ever met. She only has a couple of transfers in the mission, but she has a lot of excitement for the work and I feel like we are going to have a good transfer. I am super sad to be leaving Hermana Luquette, but she is going to be doing a good job in Arvin.

After church on Sunday.

We got a watermelon from Rafael.

Being Watermelon goofy.

Sunday was one of the saddest days that I have had so far on my mission. I had to say goodbye to everyone in the Arvin group and it was so depressing. They are some of my favorite people in the world. During the meeting, we sat with Refugio and Julio. I was conducting the music and while I was leading, I looked out over the congregation and thought about how much I loved all of the people in the group. They are so precious and I feel blessed that I have been able to serve around them for as long as I did. During Sacrament Meeting, one of the members gave a talk, but she started out by talking about how much missionaries have blessed her life and how much her life had changed because of the gospel. It made me grateful to be part of such a great work and to be out on a mission.

Our district.

All of the hermanas in our district.

Hermana Luquette after our district meeting.

That is about it for the week. I am super excited for the changes that are ahead and I know that I will be helped in all of the surprises as I rely on the Lord. This week, I was able to study the last week of Christ's life in preparation for Easter and I really do know that he died for all of us and that through his sacrifice, we can be happy and whole! I love the gospel and I am so happy to be a missionary! I hope that you have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Me sleeping after a hard day of work. Fun times!