Tornadoes, exchanges, and old companions

We received roses from a worker lady at the food pantry!‏

Hola,

I am happy to tell you that of the 4 tornadoes that touched down in
our mission this week, none of them were in Aurora. It w

as a bit
exciting though when we finished teaching English class and the sky
was green. I was told that is a sign of tornadoes. But all is well! We
are safe.

What a week! I wish you could all experience the miracles and crazy
moments we have here. Everyone should go on a mission! It is the best!
I don't have much time today because we have a zone activity today,
which takes up at least half of our preparation day time. We are
playing volley ball, frisbee, and soccer.

Last week I sent a picture of us with two girls- that's the Del Toro
sisters. They haven't been to church in a long time, and we have been
trying to visit them every week to help and encourage them. We had new
missionary training on Tuesday (which was amazing) and as we were
driving home, Hmna Buehner asked if we had anything on the phone. I
jokingly said that Alondra texted us to have us come over (because
that's what we were hoping for). When I checked the phone, guess
what!? ALONDRA TEXTED US TO COME OVER. We were so excited!! This is a
huge step for her and the lesson went really well. And to top it off,
she came to church yesterday!! Miracles are real.

We had exchanges this week- I stayed in Aurora with Hmna Osborn. It
was so fun! She is an amazing missionary and a great example to me.
She only has 2 transfers left, but is still so powerful and
enthusiastic.

Ana and Andres are doing great. Ana is very set to not read the Book
of Mormon, so we are going to back off a bit and pray her heart is
more open as time goes on. Andres on the other hand, has been reading
a bunch! He said he prayed to know if it was true, and felt peace. He
also came to church yesterday! We have a noche de hogar with them
tonight, so all is well!

After months of trying, we finally got in with an inactive recent
convert named Francisco! He is a wonderful older man, but seems to be
very confused about the fact that he was baptized and is a member of
the church. He also has some different influences in his life, trying
to steer him away from the church. He is so sweet and genuine, and
wants us to come back next week and teach him about how the bom and
bible work together. We are very excited!

We stopped by the Rodriguez family to bring them children's Books of
Mormon, and ended up staying and teaching the plan of salvation! It
went very well, especially with their non member friends there. They
were busy this weekend so they weren't at church, but we hope to see
them next week.

We've started teaching a man named Manuel. We saw him one day outside
his home, and got an appointment for that weekend. He is amazing! He
has such a strong testimony of God, and a genuine desire to learn
more. He said he would come to church this coming week! He has a wife
and two young kids. We know this message will change his life, so any
prayers for him would be great!

I am so lucky to have you all in my life. Keep being awesome. And love life!

Hermana Hokanson

We "cleaned the sink" at Colonial cafe‏

So much icecream!! These are the hermanas on our district.

One of the members fed us comida de Peru.

‏