Mud and toads

God loves the Colonia and obedient missionaries that fast even when it´s 122 degrees outside.

I love being a missionary. I love being tired.  I love being dirty and sweaty, because everything is worth it when you see the Gospel change lives.  

This was the only week that we have this transfer where we don´t have to travel, do splits or training's- so we gave it everything that we had.  I was so physically and spiritually tired that I started to fall asleep while we were in a lesson singing a hymn!  My eyes hurt the whole weekend, but I´ve never felt so content.

We are focusing a lot on completing families, and we´re planning 2 weddings!

This week we were with one of these families, just leaving thier house when the power went out.  It was 8:30 at night and it was completely, completely dark. We happened to be in a dangerous part of our area, I have literally never been more scared in my entire life.  We couldn´t see anything,just shadows as the people started running. 

Last week as my old companion was finishing packing up all her things to go home, she gave me a little key-chain flashlight and I felt the need to carry it with me that day!  I will eternally be grateful for that small gift.  I pulled it out of my bag,grabbed my companions arm and we started booking it.  The dirt roads had been turned into a  swamp from the storm, and we walked as fast as we could in mid-calf deep mud and toads. 

People started yelling at us- but we just kept going. When we got back home we knelt down and we said the most grateful prayer that I´ve ever said in my life.

The Lord watches and protects us.  If we listen to the spirit and are prepared He will guide us out of the darkness,   

 When I get back I´m starting a fundraiser to put emergency lights in the small towns of north Argentina. 

Our Branch president isn´t coming back.  We almost didn´t have enough priesthood for the sacrament but while we were singing the sacrament hymn one of the priests arrives. We ´re working our butts off to activate and ordain  priesthood.   

All mail has to go through the mission office. And....  Half of the town that I am living in doesn´t actually have named streets or addresses.  We have to basically memorize everything. The address section in my planner consists of drawings and really long descriptions.  When we invite people to come to church it doesn´t have an address so we just tell them that it´s in the yellow warehouse next to a funeral home and they all know what we are talking about.  The Lord work miracles.

I put Jenn´s testimony into a Book of Mormon, and thought a lot about who I would give it to. This week I gave to a woman who has her mother in a wheelchair and her son of 6 years has been left unable to control his own body from severe epileptic seizures.  She´s really progressing a lot and we are hoping to baptize her whole family  

Hermana Shumway