¡Tengo gozo en mi alma hoy!

HOLA AMIGOS!

So I would just like to start out and say that WOW this week was something else! First of all, Marilyn cannot be baptized this next Saturday because she didn't come to church on Sunday. NOOO. And on Saturday when we met with her we could just see that she wasn't quite ready yet and needs a little more time. As soon as we put a date with her we could see that satan was working really hard on her and she started to fall. But we're hoping to help her back up this week! And in a way it's kind of a blessing that she isn't being baptized on Saturday because on Sunday we found out that it's going to be some sort of transmission this next Sunday so she wouldn't have been able to receive the holy ghost for a whole week and that could have been bad so I guess in a way it is a blessing. But I know without a doubt that she is going to be baptized. She is amazing and has such a great desire to follow Christ. I just love her with all of my heart and I may or may not have told her to come visit me next November when I get home. She said she's going to pray about it hahahaha. Love her.

Also, some other fun news, I LOST MY VOICE. Try shouting the gospel from the rooftops with a lost voice! It was super hard and I may not have talked much and just smiled at people, but my voice is slowly coming back and still feels like there are knives in there, but I'll be back to shouting the truthfulness of the gospel in no time! I'm just oh so grateful that I brought my yummy cough drops from home because the ones here are EW. Haha

This past week we had a conference with president and Hermana Willard and WOW I know I say this a lot but they are amazing! We focused on the talk by Uchtdorf in the General Womens Sesssion and it was amazing! If you haven't read it I highly encourage you to do so! We all came out of there edified and this past week I have been looking for sunshine instead of rain (it's just a metaphor, I want it to rain it's so hot here haha). One quote that I absolutely love from that is "As you walk along your own bright path of discipleship, I pray that faith will fortify every footstep along your way; that hope will open your eyes to the glories Heavenly Father has in store for you; and that love for God and all His children will fill your hearts."

Also, funny story, so once upon a time we got a text message during church from our Pensionista saying that there was an accident at home and wouldn't be able to make us lunch. First of all, we were freaking out because she didn't say what kind of accident. Second of all, I thought I was going to starve because I only had one apple and one small package of cookies in the apartment that had to last me till we went shopping. Words cannot describe the worry. But then the bishop came to our rescue and was able to feed us (I think the elders were left to eat at their houses. hahahaha us hermanas are spoiled) and then I realized how extremely GRATEFUL I am for our Pensionistas and how I will never complain about the mountain of rice ever again! You never realize what you have until its gone. hahaha

That's pretty much it for the week! We're still trying to find those that are prepared to receive this beautiful message of the restored gospel! I'm not going to lie, it's hard out here. There are ups and downs and at times it seems like there are more downs. But I know that I am not out here alone. I know that I have heavenly father on my right side and my savior on my left lifting me up and helping me with this work. This isn't my work, this is His work, and never have I ever felt His love for me more fully than I have out here in the mission. I hope you all know that you are LOVED and have so much worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. HE LOVES YOU. And he is always there to help you and lift you up, all you have to do is come unto him. I love you all and I hope you have the best week ever! Stay safe! And eat lots of Chickfila for me!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Higham

Milagros En Los Olivos

Woooowowwowowwww what a week! So first of all, I have some fun news that I just can´t wait to tell you guys. MARILYN IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! What a miracle!! When we visited her last week during our lesson she was just talking away about how wonderful God is and just said "When am I going to be a member? November?" Our jaws dropped to the floor and I wish I could've seen our faces cause we were both is shock. And then I said "Why not the 24 of October?" And she was like 'YA' And we got really excited and celebrated with cake (because it was her birthday haha). So yayyy! She's so great and you can genuinely see the change in her. She had no desires to leave her house and party with her friends, she's living the Word of Wisdom, she got mad at us when we taught the law of chastity, but she got over it and is living it, and she wants to be more modest! She's great and also one of the funniest people I have ever met and I could not be more excited to help her make this covenant with the Lord.

We have some other investigators named Marcos and Carmen (we aren't sure if they are married...) but they are great! He has a lot of doubts about the Book of Mormon and reeeeaallly likes his bible! But I see a lot of potential in Carmen! She's always so attentive and receptive to everything so we're hoping to visit her more! It was funny though, someone had given Marcos a flyer and it was for a different church, but all of the pictures on the flyer were pictures from our church. Hahahaha they just take pictures off the internet down here and use them. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Zac Efron's face on a poster outside of a hair salon. hahaha

So once upon a time I had an intercambio with Hermana Wilson and she is awesome! But also, she has one transfer less than I do so we were always completely relying on the spirit and the gift of tongues hahaha there was only a few times we could not figure out what the people were saying, but it's because they were talking about something completely random so we're good haha. But it was super fun, she's super great and it was good to talk english for a while!

So funny story of the week, you guys probably wont think it's funny, but I'm going to tell you anyways. So close to where Marilyn lives there is this oh so super cute dog that is always just so happy! First to explain things here they have like a basket waaayy off the ground that they put their bags of garbage in so the dogs don't get it). Anyways, so we were walking past and someone had put our poor homeless doggy friend in the basket. So after laughing we took him out, gave him love, and went on our way. Then we walked past later that day and someone had put him in there again! Haha so we took him out again. I can't tell you how many times we've found the poor thing in the garbage. He's just so sweet and just sits there with his sad doggy eyes hahaha. I'm going to try to convince my president to let me keep him, we'll see how that goes hahaha.

Also, another fun thing. I had wet cement dropped on me hahaha that was a fun shower that day trying to get cement out of my hair hahaha. Oh Bolivia.

Well that's pretty much it for the day! Things are going great and I'm starting to love this crazy area. I hope you are all doing well and I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you all so soon!

With love

Hermana Higham

This is the cute dog that we found in the garbage basket

This is Marilyn (middle)

Marilyn is so great!

Hi

Holllllllllaaaaa. Sooo first of all WHAT EVEN WAS THIS PAST WEEK I FELT LIKE IT WAS LIKE TWO SECONDS LONG! And I can't even really remember all that even happened, but I'm going to try to remember! First of all, this past weeks weather has been the biggest blessing! It has been cloudy and rainy and COOL and I can actually not be as gross all the time, it's great! The only problem is walking through mud and puddles all day, but I'll take it for the weather! It's been wonderful!

Here's some random Bolivia facts for ya:

- so I saw a dog giving birth the other day and I have never been so traumatized in my life. And we were knocking on a door waiting for someone to answer and the dog decided to lay right next to us. Wow. it was so fun! hahhaha

-you would not believe how many random shoes there are in the streets. Like every 5 steps I feel like, there is a shoe just laying there. I haven't quite firgured it out quite yet WHY, but it's just... weird hahaha

-So there a bunch of litle store type things (like a snack shack kinda) and usually when people want something and the person isn't there they knock or say SENORA. Well, we were walking past one and there was a small child yelling Senora, but with like an echo effect and I could not stop laughing! "senora....enora.... nora...ora..." for like five minutes straight. Definitely made me smile after a long day of walking haha!

-we were in a micro the other day and man was that thing PACKED. I was literally hanging out the door holding on for dear life, it was pretty crazy but also really hilarious, especially when other people tried to squish on. There is no such thing as personal space here. hahaha

So let me get you up to date on Marilyn, so this past week we were a little worried that she was going to get back with her ex boyfriend and we did not want that! So we were like AHHH what do we do! BUT a miracle happened! We went over to her house one night and she was just SO sad, apparently her boy had said some mean things to her so we gave her lots and comfort and helped her realize that there is someone out there that will treat her with respect and will help her stay close to her savior. And she even said through her tears "I hurt, but I know that He knows the pain that I am going through, so that is helping me through it" WOW. She is awesome!!! She still hasn't accepted a day for baptism BUT we're hoping she does tonight! She's amazing! And is still teaching me words in Portuguese haha. 

Aaaand thats prettyy much it as investigators go, we haven't been able to find the other investigators we had before I got here. And its rough, not going to lie. We've been working really hard to find others to teach, but its not really working out. BUT I haven't lost faith! I feel like the Lord is working on me right now to make me worthy of the miracles and blessings that await us in this area! And I have very high hopes for this week and know that something great is going to happen! 

Also, General Conference was amazing!! Wow!! And I'm so grateful that they let us watch it in English!! They put all of us gringas in a little room with a tv so we could actually understand what was going on. It was amazing! And I definitely did not want it to end! If you didn't have the chance to watch it I definitely encourage you to do so! Those men are called of God and I know without a doubt they are representatives of Jesus Christ. And I definitely learned a lot about what I need to change, and that I need to ponderize a word every week. I'm stil laughing about that word.  Ponderize. haha.

Anyways, thats pretty much it for the week! I love you and and I hope that you are all doing well!! Have a wonderful week and always remember how much I love you all!

"As we extend our hands and hearts towards others in christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit." Dieter F. Uchtdorf

With love,

Hermana Higham

One Week Down In Los Olivos

Well hello there! I would just like you all to know that I have survived my first week in los olivos! And wow, is it soooo different than Tarija! First of all, the weather is soooo different and it is SO HOT! Like I thought I understood hot before I came here, but NOPE. I have never been so sweaty in my entire life and no matter how many times I shower, I am never clean! I'm always super sweaty and then in the beginning of the week it was sooo windy and all of our roads are dirt/sand so the dirt would just stick to me and at the end of the day it looked like I had either got home from the beach or a really long softball tournament. Lets just say that cold showers at night are my best friend haha. Luckily we have been so blessed with overcast skies and cooler weather these past few days, I am truly counting my blessings! Also, there are no mountains here so that was a big change from Tarija! Buuuut you are never going to believe how spoiled I am! Ready? So where I live they have security guards that guard the entrance to our building, we have an elevator, AND THEY HAVE WASHERS FOR US TO USE!!! I WANTED TO CRY I WAS SO HAPPY!! My clothes are finally going to be clean and I don't have to spend countless hours trying to hand wash them! ah! I am so blessed it's insane! So yeah, I'm being spoiled here so you don't have to worry about me! Also, they have grocery stores here. Also, my pensionista is amazing, she doesn't give us a mountain of food so I don't feel like I'm going to die after eating lunch every day! I might lose all the weight I gained in my other areas hahaha. Although I miss Tarija and Paraiso like crazy, I am definitely counting my blessings!!!

So this past week was pretty great and I'm still trying to figure out this confusing area haha. But it has been good! We have one investigator who is a hoot, but sometimes I just want to slap her because she's so frustrating hahaha (don't worry, I won't actually slap her hahaha) She's 18 and just had a baby a few months ago. She has struggled with drugs and has problems with her boyfriend, but even just in the week that I've been here we can see the change happening within her. She so great!! And she really likes to practice her English with me and we sometimes pray in Spanish with her... and sometimes she practices her Portuguese by praying with it hahah. So it's a whole mix of 3 languages whenever we go, she's a hoot! Maybe by the end of this area I'll know some Portuguese too. Her boyfriend also knows a few phrases in English and when we saw him the other day he said "y'all take care now ya hear. Peace out" and it made me feel so uncomfortable it was insane hahaha. But Marilyn is great and we're praying that she keeps progressing and doesn't move in with her boyfriend haha.

We also have another investigator named Daniela and she is also great! We only ever teach her in her doorway which can be a struggle, but she's great and we GOT HER TO PRAY LAST NIGHT! She started to pray and then stated to say "I can't do this" but me and Hermana Nahuel just kept our eyes closed and kept our heads bowed and finally she started to pray again and it was beautiful! And after she teared up a little bit and she said "I feel weird. But it's a good weird feeling". IT WAS AWESOME! We're hoping she progresses, the Jehovas Witneses have been visiting her to soooo... those silly Jehovas Witnesses haha.

That's pretty much it for investigators! We had a rough week trying to find people in there houses and we don't have very many people to teach which is hard. And a majority of our ward went to Cochabamba to the temple this past week so I still don't really know the ward, but with time I know I will grow to love them as much as I love my peeps in Paraiso haha. But it's great here. Hermana Nahuel is really nice and pretty much the prettiest person I have ever seen in my life. She will be dying in December so if I'm lucky, I might be killing her off. It's kind of fun to kill off missionaries because they leave behind things so it's pretty much like Christmas haha. But she's great and I'm glad to have her! Except I miss Hermana Arave soooo much (I hope you're reading this Hermana) hahaha. I hope you are enjoying your time with your family and that you gave my mom a big hug at your homecoming! Don't get married too fast, ya hear? hahaha

That's pretty much it for the week here in good ol Bolivia! I hope you are all having a great time in the good ol USA and are getting super excited for general conference this next week! I'M SO EXCITED!!

Here's a nice quote for the week by Neil L. Anderson

"We have taken His name upon us, and each week as we partake of the sacrament, we pledge that we will remember Him and keep His commandments. We are far from perfect, but we are not casual in our faith. We believe in Him. We worship Him. We follow Him. We deeply love Him. His cause is the greatest cause in all the world"

Love you all and have a fabulous week!

With love

Hermana Higham