Tengo veinte años

We got stake and shake to celebrate my birthday. On Friday, so early,
but that's ok!👍

Family and friends,

A lot of interesting things this week! The first is that I turned 20 on Sunday, and that was weird. I still feel like a teenager! That will probably never wear off. But I had a wonderful birthday, we ate with hmna Smith (from Guatemala) and she invited her sister and mom over, and we had my favorite meal and dessert: tacos de carne asada and chocolate tres leches cake! She didn't even know those were my favorites, so that was a tender mercy. We also had our branch conference at church, and I got to translate for a member of the stake relief society presidency that doesn't speak Spanish. The hardest part
was saying the translation in English grammar after hearing it in Spanish. :) but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! Also it's been super warm this week, and we've barely even needed coats. 

We had new missionary training, which sometimes I feel is more for the trainers than the new missionaries, because I loved it! I learned so much. We also went on exchanges with the hermana training leaders Hmnas Craner and Gowens. All 4 of us served in Wheaton, and it was so fun! I was with hmna Craner and we were running the whole time, and taught two lessons in English which was actually kind of difficult for me.

We had another awesome lesson with Ivan, this time about the plan of salvation and how baptism ties in. He has a lot of desires to change, but has a few doubts and worries to work through before he'll commit to a baptismal date. He also didn't come to church, which is really hindering his progression. But we have high hopes for him, and the spirit to guide us, and awesome members to help him. 

We went by to teach Ción and the girls with Hmno Carroll (member), but Ción was sick. We ended up teaching Monica and the girls! it went well, but we feel like the family just isn't ready. We are praying to know the next step we should take. This family means the world to me, and I will be devastated if we end up dropping them. But something I've learned a lot here is that the Lord's timing not only is better than ours, but also is for the best interest of everyone involved. I know there is a reason we found this beautiful family, and that the Lord is preparing them in a His own way. Before we left Hmno Carroll
gave Ción a blessing of health.

We taught our new investigator Maria again, the lesson went well. Her husband Aldolfo is very strong in his beliefs of worshiping the Virgin Mary, so that sometimes makes it difficult to keep the spirit. But they have a lot of potential and desire to learn!

Edgar! Edgar is doing so well! We had a great plan of salvation lesson with him, where he pretty much said everything we are teaching him makes sense. We had Hmna Casado with us, an awesome member from the Dominican Republic. She bore her testimony and ended up driving him to church that Sunday. I love members! At church Edgar connected with a bunch of members, participated in the classes, and said he wants to come back next week!

Norma and Karina are doing well, we had an awesome lesson with them and Hmna Montesinos and her daughter Mariana. We felt inspired last minute to change our lesson to family history, and it tied really well into baptism and eternal families. Step by step this family is coming back!

We received a call a while ago from a member named David (I don't remember if I've told you all about this yet so sorry if this is a repeat). He was adopted into an LDS family. He just recently reconnected with his birth mom after over 30 yrs apart. Her name is Olga, and she has been inactive for longer than I've been alive. When she met her long lost son and saw the success and happiness he had in his gospel-centered family, she wanted to come back to the church! So we got a call from David, we got Olga's info, and have been trying to contact her for weeks. We finally got a lesson with her! She is so amazing and has a light in her eyes. She asked for a Book of Mormon, a bible, and all the info for the church. She was out of town this weekend so she couldn't come to church, but she is trying to change her work schedule so she can come this following week. We are going to be visiting her regularly and teaching her the basic lessons again. I love people like this, that are so prepared and so ready!

Also Clarita came to church again! Best birthday present ever! Ok well, that's pretty much it for this week. The church is so true and the work will never stop moving forward.

All my love,
Hermana Hokanson