"HALF-WAY MARK!"

"Its June. Wow! Well the past week and half has been a good, busy, crazy one! Full of Zone Conference, baptism!, running away from a crazy man (don´t worry mom!) and transfers."

"Hermana Jara is gone. SAD. We had to be at the mission office yesterday morning at 630am.. We got there, took one last pic together and then she was off to do things with all the other missionaries who were leaving. I was surprised at how sad I felt about her leaving. 3 months ago I never would have thought she would have been one of my best friends. We even cried together a couple times during this past week when talking about all of our times together and how she is leaving. But when we said goodbye at the office it was so quick that there were no tears. The past 2 changes with her flew by like no other. I learned so much from her. We had fun together. We saw miracles together. I really am so grateful for the time I had to be her companion! I just love her! She left this morning at 4am for Peru....crazy!"

"Okay, so now my companion is Hermana Potter from Owasso, Oklahoma. She's 22, went to BYUI for 2 years before the mish...wants to study Physical therapy, 6 kids in her fam, and is 1 transfer ahead of me on the mission. We were actually in the MTC at the same time...she was Hna Renchers comp there, but I don´t ever remember meeting her. But anyways, we´ve only 24 hours together...but so far, so good. She's not loud or shy. Pretty normal...if there is such a thing. It's kinda weird walking around with another American. She's about my same height and has lighter hair and skin than me, so we sure do stand out!"

"PEDRO WAS BAPTIZED on May 28. It was awesome! Okay, so Hna Jara and I were talking about how there is always something though that takes place on the day of the baptism. I´m sure all you that have served missions can relate. Whether it's a big storm or whatever it is...there is always something that tries to make the baptism not happen. Well, we went to pick up Pedro at 715 for his baptism and found him sitting out on the curb and sad. We asked what was wrong...he had been robbed and the guy took his brand new tennis shoes he had just bought 2 days before. Pobrecito. Since he's only 17 and works a ton of hours digging holes to find water he was pretty bummed because all the money he saved up was for these shoes. His older sister, who he lives with, wanted him to go right then to look for the guy who took his shoes and not go to his baptism. ahh. To make a really long story short (like, when waiting for Pedro to get back from talking to his sister at her work his crazy neighbor came out yelling to us (me, Hna Jara and Lourdes) really bad things and walking really fast towards us..we literally had to run away, threaten to call 911 and take cover at a members house just at the end of the street! ahhh.), we talked Pedro out of going to find his shoes..we told him it was basically really dangerous to do that. we calmed him down, said a prayer, and headed to the chapel for his 8pm baptism. His baptism was great. Very spiritual, great attendance from the membes...a really nice service."

"On May 25, last tuesday, we had a zone conference with Elder Shayne Bowen...our area President and General Authority. It was AMAZZZING. Seriously. We had a 2 hour discussion with him about the Abrahamic Covenant and the Priesthood. The Spirit was so strong and filled the room. Each one of us missionaries were just soaking up every word. Elder Bowen told us his purpose in the discussion was to help us realize and understand who we are...children of the covenant, and for the elders, holders of the same Priesthood that Christ holds....and how when we know who we are and remember who we are, we act in a different form. It was seriously such an awesome conference!"

"Well, yesterday was my half way mark on the mission. WOW. Really I can´t believe it. I´m now on the down slope of the mission. To be honest, it makes me smile and want to cry at the same time. It's like all the sudden my 9 month mark came out of nowhere. It really kinda makes me feel like anxious. I feel like there is so much to do, help with and learn in such a short time. It really makes me want to do more and push harder this latter half of the mission."