hello, from me....

Dear family,
Wow what a week. I can´t ´believe it is over. Well I´m sure learning a lot. Thank you very much for all of the emails! Mom, I´m sorry it is still so cold there, sounds like about the same kind of weather we have here. Actually the Autumn here is very similar to home. Aunt Janie, sounds like you are in for some good eatn´ in the fall with all those veggies! Matt C. yes I did get your email, thank you so much. It is great to hear from you. I can´t believe you´ve been home for two months already. Give a thanks to brother Herman for the great letter. Dad, sounds like you had fun at the poetry thing, keep up the good work.

Well I´m sure you all have just been bursting to know who is my new companion........... her name is Hermana Vargas, she is from Guatemala. It was pretty interesting last week. We got a phone call last Monday, saying that we didn´t have to pick up our companions on Tuesday, because all of the North Americans flights had been cancelled. Then about 5 min. later another call saying that I didn´t have to go, but hermana Keele yes. because she was training a Latin. Then about 2 min. later another call saying that I need to go too, that we should just forget the other calls and proceed as normal because we were training Latins and the Elders had called all of the trainers at first and then realized that there were some of us who did need to come. Well long story short, I met her and she is great- Oh and that Volcano's and their ash, really make life interesting around here.

Okay as for my week....Well here I am in Vicente Lopez and trying my best to be everything the Lord needs and wants me to be. I am humbled everyday at the challenges before me and trust in the lord to see me through them. I know that I am doing his work and pray that he will continue to guide me in everything I do.
My companion is amazing. I think she is the one training me. Hermana Vargas is just bursting with energy. She wants nothing more than to go out and baptize all of Martinez and Vicente Lopez. The other day I said that we could knock a few of the doors on the street where we had an appointment. She was actually excited about. She said that she had been wanting to do it. Well it helped me some, since knocking doors is not my favorite thing in the world to do and not the easiest either. She did great. We also have been passing by for a few former investigators and seeing if they have any interest. The majority said no, and we scheduled a few appointments. One of them Carmen, said come on in. So Hermana Vargas had her first opportunity to put a baptismal date yesterday. She did great, a little nervous, but she followed the spirit and I know that the practices that we do every morning really helped her know what to do. I really love the extra hour of companion study, when I was new it felt like we never had enough time to practice, most of my kinks I had to work out in actual lessons. Don´t worry I´m still working on that, I am far from perfect, but I trust in the Lord and I think the best thing about practices is not that we are learning how to teach the material, but that we are learning how to listen to the spirit and teach the things that he brings to our remembrance. This is why it is so important to study every morning so that we will have the needs of our investigators fresh in our minds while practicing and teaching.
Hermana Vargas is an amazing missionary. I am doing everything possible to help her become the kind of missionary that the lord needs. President Gulbransden once told me that using inspired questions to teach, isn´t only for the investigators, it is for every facet of our lives. I am really finding that to be true. By asking my companion the needed questions, I think she is learning so much more than I could ever teach her.
I am really looking forward to this time that we have together and I am grateful for this opportunity responsibility that the Lord has entrusted in me.

Love you all tons!
Aleta