Friends and family! I dont even know where to begin!!!!

So first of all….2 things I love about the little towns and being back in Candyland……first of all I remember where everything is and everyone remembers you! I will like be walking down the street and people will be saying my name and like people always waving and stuff – hahaha - I feel famous! Also this little town is so cool because here…Everyone lets you in! In the city we would spend ALL day contacting and knocking Doors and not get into one home but here every single door we knock people let us in with a smile and are just so nice and humble and loving…I love it!

So something awkward and embarrassing…ALWAYS! So we are still using and riding bikes here, and they are way nice, more like road bikes and I feel way glam on them. But the seat on mine broke so I have been still using it because we have been riding around to appointments like crazyyyy. One day we were going down a hill and I always sit on the edge of the seat and just ride down right….NO! haha - first I forgot my seat was broken…so I was so wobbly then I went into this huge awkward ditch, and that threw me off balance and then my shoe came off and by this time I was such a mess and then…I TOPPLED OVER like slow motion! It was SO awkward and it was like next to a busy street so all of these cars were going by slowly and like seeing what went down, and if I was ok…..my comp was like laughing her head off and I was just like flustered - my huge winter coat like flopping over me and I was just a mess…so embarrassing! Love it.

So it has been a great week! It honestly was sooooooooo good to come back here and see all the members…I felt like I came home after a long trip! I was so happy, because they all really missed me and said my Spanish is way good. I love being senior companion. First of all, I feel soooooo involved and lost in the work finally and just so ready to give it my all and work my hardest! I am just going crazyyyyy!!! So my comp is Hermana Mccdonald and she is from a little small town called Swan Valley in Idaho. She is a cute little farm girl and I LOVE HER! I actually met her in the MTC and I thought I hope we would be comps someday. We have a lot in common. She only has one transfer less then me, so that has been fun. We are working with a ton of good people and already seeing so many miracles!

First of all - 25 de Mayo is like a hugggeeee Holiday here and we were in San Fran. for a meeting that day and there was like a HUGE parade and tons of people and cotton candy - haha - I bought some and felt like I was at an ethnic Disneyland…..it was great. So the big tradition here is to eat locro on this day, and we had this huge ward party all planned and we were soooo stoked, but there wasn’t a bus going back till late since it was a Holiday, so we got stuck in San Fran and hung out with the Ward there half the day. Then when we got back we went to the church and they gave us locro, and it was so good! It’s like a stew, but I loved it and so many people were at the activity! There were tons of investigators and fun members!

Also right now we are working with a girl named Myra who is a friend of a member and is just so great - going to seminary and to church and activities and is pretty much a member and has a testimony. Buttt the problem is that her mom is having problems accepting her daughter getting baptized in the church and doesn’t think she is committed enough. So we are going to do a fast with her and she has a date for the 25th of June! She is so great and I got to share the story of Rocio with her - how her dad didn’t want her to get baptized, but she read, fasted, and prayed - and with her faith and strength was able to get baptized! She has tons of support and we are way stoked for her!

Also we are working with a family of like 6! Only a few of them have been to church and have dates to get baptized because its really hard to find them all but they are friends with people in the ward and love everything about the church and are just so cute and positive and praying and reading and definitely progressing fast! One night the daughter who is like 17 said the cutest and most sincere prayer I have heard, and when we were about to leave she said she wants to go out and work with us to learn more about the church and prepare to be like us one day and be a missionary! She is a gem.

We also have been seeing and passing a ton for the family Domínguez - the family of 10 that I found here with Hermana Brown, but then I left and didn’t get to see them baptized. But it has been so fun to come back and bond with them and we all just love each other so much! They are such strong converts and help with the work so much! They are always willing to feed us or go to citas with us or give us references. One day after lunch we were just sitting there and I had no idea what to share with them and I felt really prompted to share in Mosiah 24 13-16 one of my favorite scriptures and decided to talk about the atonement and Christ and faith. As I shared my testimony and spoke of Christ the room was just filled with peace and I looked over and this women who I didn’t know who was there was crying really hard and was just really touched. Later that night we were with Hermana Domínguez and she said its her aunt and she is not a member but has listened to the missionaries before and has a Book of Mormon. Her husband just recently passed away and she is going through a really hard time and is alone and looking for her. We taught her Sunday night too and talked a little about the plan of salvation and we are going to pass by her house this week and teach her more!

We also went by LUCY!!!! My first investigator in the misión who I found and taught with Hermana Dickey and she loves the church but is soooo stubborn and hard and still hasn’t gotten baptized. But she has been to baptisms and church and read the Ensigns and Book of Mormon and everything and we just always have bonded. When I showed up at her door she was just crying and jumping for joy! She showed me a picture she printed out of me and her and Hermana Dickey and said she missed me. We took over Hermana Domínguez to teach her with us since they are neighbors and knows her and they are friends. It was soooo perfect! Hermana Domínguez got to share her whole conversión story and how much the gospel has change and blessed their lives and she talked about for years and years the missionaries passed their house and that one day - when me and Hermana Brown were fasting and passed by their house and found them - it was different and it just changed everything! I was so happy to hear here story and realize how much it really did help that I was with Hermana Brown in that very moment to pass by and talk to them! And it really touched and helped Lucy and she said she is going to pray and try to get different work so she can go to church.

So many miracles are just occurring every day! I love the misión soooooooo much and would be nowhere else! I really just love studying the scriptures and finding new ways every day to teach and help the people here to understand how to come unto Christ and find joy and peace in this World. I love the scripture in 3rd Nephi 9 13-14 when Christ is talking to the people and he doesn’t just say that they need to come unto him to be healed but to FOLLOW him as well and do and act so we are able to show our love and dedication and willingness and FAITH that we do and know we can be healed through him. I also love and was studying this week in 1 Nephi 17:41 the story about the children of Isreal and they were simply asked to look at the serpent and believe and it was truly such a simple task! To look and to live and to believe but even then the way was just so simple and the things were so sincere but people still couldn’t do it. We are truly asked as members of the church to look and live and we are promised sooooo many blessings! I can promise anyone who is reading this email that we can overcome tribulation and hard times and difficulties if we just take up our cross like it says in the scriptures. Christ invites his disciples to do and FOLLOW HIM! Drop whatever you are doing and make the actual decision to focus on and not just go unto Christ, but choose to follow his ways. He hasn not promised us that his way is easy but he has promised us TRUE HAPPINESS and eternal life. Always remember like it says in John 16:33 in this life will come tribulation but our Lord Jesus Christ has overcome the world and through him we are promised peace. I LOVE YOU ALL and I am praying intently that you are just enjoying the blessings that this gospel has given us and always remembering who you are and to shine that message to the World!

Love Hermana Pond