What a fabulous week!  We got, I don´t no how many doors slammed in our faces and dealings with the sisters but seriously nothing shook the smiles on Hna Tomco´s and my face.  We just found the joy and blessings in the work this week!!  For example, ayer fuimos con la Hermana Mcmullin (Si!!! la esposa del presidente Mcmullin!  big stuff)  para visitar nuestra investigadora Martha.  Llegamos a su casa y nos dijo que si, iba a escuchar pero quería volver el Libro de  Mormon porque no querían mas.  Bueno, we asked if we could just share a little bit and she said that was fine.  It was unreal.  The spirit is seriously incredible.  It is our secret ingredient!  By the end of the lesson she was agreeing with us and practically telling us that there needed to be a restoration and promised to really read and pray about the Book of Mormon this time.  She then began to thank her Heavenly Father in prayer for all that we had taught her, clarified for her, and helped her see. It was unreal.   Hermana Mcmullin was awesome in the lesson.   She brought a mother´s point of view to the lesson and helped her a a more personal level grasp our message.  There is something magical about having lessons with members as well. It makes every lesson 50x better!  

Good news... we have a baptism in two weeks!!! Not this coming Sunday, but the next.  Her name is Analía.  She is absolutely darling!   She grew up in the Chacho (outskirts of paraguay).  Her father was always drunk and didn´t really care for her or her siblings and neither her mother.  None of their kids live with them anyway and Analia was growing up have the time in a near by orphanage.  So she recently moved into the bishop´s house, who adopt like everyone and anyone.  I love their house!  It is always filled with random people.  We´ll ask them, ¨Is that your uncle?¨ and they´ll say, ¨No he just lives with us.¨ They are the best.   Anyway little Analía is precious.  She was and still is a little bit quiet but she has this fire about her.  She surprised us this Sunday when she said she has been reading the Book of Mormon ever night since we taught her about it.  Her life situation has not only become substantially better, but there is just a light beaming from her eyes now and every time she sees us she is happier than can be!  The way she greets us and hugs... you can just feel her gratitude beeming.  Heavenly Father has really blessed us with her.  She was so prepared and is a really smart cookie.  She is in love with young womens and they all welcomed her in, I was so happy!   The other day we were teaching her she tells us she wants to be a missionary! I just love seeing this work bring a new life and new door to one´s life.  If they´re willing to take the key and unlock it they´ll find something that will change their life ever more.  

With ups and downs, I couldn´t be happier than I am right now.  My companion is absolutely amazing!! She is so dedicated (reminds me of Katie a ton!!!), so wise, so willing to do and achieve more, so fun (we laught a ton!), so charitable, and just one stellar missionary.  She makes me want to be better every day.  We are having a blast together, especially being able to help these Hermanas.  I am loving this calling and it really does catch me by surprise that they really do look up to Hna Tomco and I.  We are really blessed though to have such a strong group of Hermanas.  They are all incredible workers.  We are seeing numbers rise every week, slowly but surely, in the wards.   I love this work.  I love this gospel. I love my Savior.  ¨Oh let all that is in me, adore Him.¨ -From my newest favorite hymn ¨Praise to the Lord, the Almighty¨ Hermana Tomco and I sang it yesterday and just fell in love with it. 

xoxo Con Cariño,

Hermana Owen

P.S. Weather is still hotter than ever and I´m afraid only getting hotter but people give us ice cold water where ever we go.  The Lord has his hand in the work... we reap the blessings every day.

On the bus, hot chipa and writing letters

View from bus ride to Yby Yau

Cute family in ward.  I am in love with these kids !!!!!

The Ward in Yby Yau

Monkey Business

          Buenos Días!   This week was awesome!  Hna Tomco is absolutely a trooper... at everything.  You could ask this girl to move a mountian and she could.  We are getting along great and making tons of memories.  Friday we were out working and we had this prompting to clap at this one house who´s door was open. As we walked past I felt this ¨family spirit¨ just radiating from this house.  Well lo and behold, we got a new family who are super open and interested in the gospel.  It was probably one of the best lessons Hna Tomco and I have taught yet.  It just flowed by the spirit.  I love being with someone who knows the language and lesson material.  It is amazing how the spirit works.

   

Last week, I forgot to mention a neat experience we had.   We were out teaching an investigator (Heri pronounced Eddy)  with Araseli (18 yr old from the ward who i seriously want to be best friends with the rest of my life) and he was in serious need of help. We were trying so hard to teach him lesson one but he was just wanted to unload his sad life/ story to us and tell us how aweful his life is and that he has faith but God isn´t doing anything.  Well a conference talk popped in my head from Pte. Monson (didn´t have it on me then) about having faith through trials... from this last conference. He seemed so helpless. The elders were teaching him at first and I think he has kinda of adopted us more as therapy.  We have listened to him a ton and we really feel he needs to listen to us, or at least recieve lesson one about Joseph Smith.  It would help clear up a lot of things.  We finished the lesson and he then called the elders to see if they could come the next morning to visit.   He told them that we were over and how awful he was doing.  As we were walking to the gate to leave, it being 9:30 or so, the office elders pulled up infront of Heri´s house. A sudden wave of the spirit, as if crashing right at Heri´s front gate just hit us.  I am not kidding.  I have never felt the presence of the Priesthood so strong. It was unreal.  I am so grateful for worthy priesthood holders and the blessing they are to us.  

The mission is incredible.  I think I kind of got overwhelmed though with the new year and thinking i need to be perfect.  I found a great quote in my little book for missionaries from Elder John A. Widtsoe.  He said, ¨Expect perfection in no man.¨  He is so right.  We are all here to progress, all here to learn, and find the path the Lord prepared.  It said, ¨look for the virtures in man, not the faults.¨ I really liked that because it is so easy to get caught up about something someone doesn´t do, or doesn´t do good, and just faults in general. I am striving to have a better outlook, not only on others but on myself, learning to see myself as my Father in Heaven does.  

Love you all so much!

xoxo

Love Hermana Owen

Out first Big Meeting with Presidente

Merry Christmas with Hermana Buss

Darling uncle and his nephew in Yby Yau

Kisses for Clever, the monkey.