There are angels among us, and they have cookies.

Illinois Sunset

Some Awesome Members of Our Ward

Familia y amigos,

Thursday night we didn't get much sleep, and by 4 pm Friday we were
dragging our feet. An inspired and wonderful worker at the food pantry
gave us 10 homemade chocolate chip cookies, and they literally saved
us! The sugar gave us just the boost we needed to get through the day.
Your prayers of protection and strength are being answered, in the
form of delicious treats. :) 

We decided to set our iPads to Spanish to help us practice, and it is
much easier than I thought it would be. I guess I actually am
learning! 

 This has been another week of miracles! Last week I mentioned that our
English students were coming to a Noche de Hogar (family home evening)
at the bishop's house Monday night. That went far better than we ever
could have planned! Not only did Irene and Ricardo come on time, but
they brought their 4 kids and Irene's parents that are here visiting
from Mexico! The bishop invited some ward members, and we grilled
hamburgers and just sat outside on the back patio, talking and
laughing. Everyone got along really well. Hmna Buehner and I shared a
message about eternal families and temples. The spirit was strong and
everyone (especially Irene's parents) were involved and paying
attention. Bishop piped in at the end and shared his testimony that
Irene's parents will be able to live with their children again who
have passed away. Other members shared their testimonies of eternal
families and temples. It was so awesome!!! It was a missionary's dream
FHE. The spirit teaches so much better than we can!

 A miracle I forgot to mention last week- we had 2 investigators at
church! Ana and Andres, a brother and sister. Ana is very dedicated to
her church and doesn't like the idea of reading anything except the
bible. But they both agreed to come to church and they seemed to enjoy
themselves. Andres is definitely more interested than her, but they
both participated a lot in Gospel Principles. When one of the elders
asked "who was the prophet of the restoration?" Andres answered "José
Smith!!" We were so proud! 

 This week we also had an inactive part member family come to church!
The Rodriguez family is so awesome. We were driving by their house and
Hermana Buehner felt inspired to stop because she recognized the
grandmother who was in her front yard. We've met with them twice, and
they came to church and the Father's Day activity! They are amazing
and want us to come over and do a noche de hogar with them. Guadeloupe
(the grandmother) and Berta (the daughter) really want to start coming
to church regularly and be a good example for their kids (who are not
baptized).

 Life is good here! Keep working hard and loving God!

 Hermana Hokanson

Banana Boats

Molcajete Salsa