No Car, No Problem!

We ate with the Zambonino Family from Ecuador!

Branch Noche De Hogar

Crazy week! So we haven't had a car for the past few days because it's getting fixed from something that happened before I got here (I can see my dad giving me a look right now, I promise I wasn't involved😇).
So, we've been walking and sharing with the other hermanas in our branch! It's been great actually, I LOVE Hmnas Cleveland and Nogueira (there are plenty of pictures). It's been pretty good weather too.

So I forgot to tell you this crazy story from last week: we were eating at this members house, and she doesn't have a lot of money, and she gets a bit offended if we don't eat everything she gives us, so Hmna Eldredge ended up eating way too many tortillas and I ate way too much pineapple, to the point that my tongue swelled up! It was hurt for a few hours but then got better. I think I am forcing my body to have an allergy to pineapple. Speaking of crazy food, we had chow-mein in tortillas with salsa at a memeber's home, Hmna Smith from Guatemala. #spanishprogram We also made an industrial amount of cookies to bring to less active members to invite them to church and activities. It's worked ok so far.

We went to support the young women at their yard sale, and got hot cocoa!

We ate salads because we ate too many cookies!

Carroll family: We had a Noche de hogar with the Carroll family, the one white family in our ward. They are so cool! They both served Spanish speaking missions and decided to raise their children speaking Spanish. It was great to get to know them! Hmno Carroll also gave us a tour of the library at the church and he pretty much knows everything there is to know about church material. I'm super glad that people like him exist so somebody knows what's going on. :) a bunch of us
missionaries and members were talking and someone asked if there are any temples in the Philippines. No one knew, but 20 seconds later a guy walked into the library to do something. One of us asked "are you Filipino?" He said "yes, I am." Turns out there are two temples in the Philippines!

Karla: I don't remember if I mentioned her last week. She is a member that is in a wheelchair and has some disease that makes her forget things quickly. It's super sad because she has the biggest heart and is always smiling. We visit her every week, and this week we brought the other Hermanas and sang Karla some hymns. She started crying, and it was super sweet. We love her dearly. She is the only member in her family, but her husband will drive her to church and wheel her into
the building every week. Pray for Karla!

Ruby: we finally got to teach Ruby! She is a less active member that's our age, and has gone through so many challenges in her life. We love her so much! We talked to her about the atonement and she is really wanting to come back to church. She also loved the cookies! We are excited for her!

Diomara: we taught her the Restoration and it went really well! She loves our message and wants us to teach her whole family!! She shared some cool experiences she has had, there were tears and the spirit was strong. She is such a genuine person and so intelligent, we are excited to see her progress in the gospel. She doesn't want to come to church yet because she wants to know more. But we can tell she is genuine and excited!

Ción and the girls: we taught the Gospel if Jesus Christ and have a lesson with them tonight! Goodness, they are doing so well! I can't explain how much I adore this family. The girls want to be baptized, but we don't have a date set yet. Ción is a bit more hesitant and wants to learn more. They didn't come to church though, so that was sad. We will see how we can. Help them tonight.

Noche de hogar with the Branch: we had a branch activity where we had a Noche de hogar with everyone, teaching them how to have a Noche de hogar (meta? I think so.). We were pretty scared it was going to fall apart but God works in mysterious ways and we had a great turn out! We had each family build houses out of popsicle sticks, marshmallows,
straws, tape, twine, and newspaper. Each house was different but each had a Book of Mormon as their foundation. We read Helaman 5:12 with them and talked about the importance of having our homes set on the foundation of Christ and His teachings.

"Truth is a knowledge of things as they really are, were, and will be.It does not change with conditions or time. Truth is the same in every age and culture. God is the source of all truth. We can have faith in Him because we know He will teach us only truth. God wants all His children to know the truth. Therefore, He reveals the truths necessary for salvation through prophets and apostles. He reveals truth to us personally through the scriptures and personal revelation."
-Preach my Gospel

I know that Christ lives and that He guides His people! The church is true! I love you all!
Love,
Hermana Hokanson

The Hermanas of Bloomingdale 2nd Branch

Being Adorable!