6 MONTHS

Well hi so time is literally flying soooooooo fast it's insane! It's so crazy to think that I'm already 1/3 of the way done with my mission! WHAT IS LIFE. We celebrated our 6 months with a cake. It was so yummy. It was like almond or something. Not that you guys really care about the flavor. Ha.

So this week was pretty exciting and we had some CRAZY miracles!!

So we met with Magdalena twice this last week (the one that was listening to the Jehovas Witnesses) and we were talking about how she hasn't quite gotten an answer yet so we invited her to pray in that moment if the Book of Mormon is true and to take a pause and just focus on her feelings. And her being so cute and honestly wanting to find out, she did it. And throughout that prayer me and Hermana Newbold were just praying so hard PLEASE LET HER FEEL SOMETHING. And after the prayer she just BEAMED. She gets really giggly when she gets happy so she just started giggling and said that she felt something just go through her. WHAT. The church is so true!! We talked to her about it and asked if she thought it was her answer and she said yes! So she's getting baptized!!!!!.... Buuuuut she's leaving to the campo this week (the outskirts of Bolivia where there is literally NOTHING) to visit her parents and she won't be back till January. WHYYYYYYY. So we set a date for when she gets back, but it's just still frustrating. But it comforts me knowing that she knows. And every time we visit her and whenever she prays with us she can feel the spirit so strong and just giggles and says "the spirit!". It's so cute! and she hates when we leave 'cause she doesn't want the spirit to go with us. I just hope and pray that she remembers her experience while she's gone! But it truly was a MIRACLE.

We were also able to meet with pimpi and she is just so cute! We had a miracle with her this week and she just opened up about everything in her life which has really helped us find her needs! We also got her daughter to sit in with us in a lesson and she looks more white than I do! She has like blonde hair and green eyes... they're definitely not from Bolivia that's for sure hahaha. But she's great and always gives us free yummy bread so we just love her haha.

Marilyn is also doing good! And she came to church! The only problem with her is that she's so lazy haha. It's the only thing holding her back, but she's great. She knows for a fact that the church is true and we're just working on her to get that habit of getting to church Sunday mornings. Which is going to be hard when it switches to 8 next year instead of 10 so AHHH. But all is well haha.

Juana, our 83 year old less active is still cute as ever! We went and visited her this week and she just melts my heart. She was feeling sick this past week and couldn't walk and it broke my heart 'cause she was just in so much pain. But she was so cute still. We asked her if us reading the Book of Mormon would help her feel better and she said yes so we read and sang for her. Then we told her to go rest and she said "I can sleep well now that you've read and sang to me" SO CUTE!!  I just want to pack her in my suitcase and take her home! She's my cute Bolivian grandma.

Janet Russell, our other less active from Spain is doing great as well! She's starting to open up to us and show more interest, and her son is too and he's so funny! We think he has some sort of disability, but he's so funny and so smart! We just have so many cute people in this area and I never want to leave EVER.

We found a new investigator looking for our other one and she is so sweet! She's 18 and just loves our visits and even came to church! She's so sweet and we're hoping things go well with her!

Here are some other random facts for the week:

- We went back to the apartment one night and found a little cockroach friend in our food and it was horrifying and while my companion fled for safety I was brave and I squished that cockroach and it was horrifying and the juice went everywhere. So fun. hahaha

- We visited a 92 year old member and it was so fun. we just sat there, talked about the gospel while eating cake, fanning ourselves with Bolivian fans, and drinking coca cola. So classy. hahaha. She told us how she just used to be so hot and how the men would always whistle at her. Oh Elsa haha.

- We literally run from lesson to lesson Wednesday and Friday nights because it's the only night that anyone can ever meet hahaha. We get to lessons PANTING.

-Some angelic Bolivian woman gave us free bolos(they're kinda like otter pops) the other day when it was soooo hot.

- People are always burning their trash here so theres always random fires on the side of the street so we came up with a cool band name -Trashfire. hahahaha so lame but so cool

That's pretty much it for the week! Things are going great out here in good ol Bolivia and I wouldn't trade this time for anything! I love this area and I hope I never get transferred ever! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving this week and eat lots of yummy foods and pie for me this week! Mmmmm pie. And remember to always be grateful for all that you have and to serve others who might not have as much! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! oh. and P.S. I'm turning 20 this week and I feel so gross about it. Hahahaha LOVE YOU ALL.

Con mucho amor

Hermana Higham

6 months!!!

6 MONTHS!

Our beautiful cake that we bought!

I squished a cockroach! Gross!!

We went from plan A to Z back to Z to A

Wowowowww what a week! Things are sure getting hot here in los Olivos! It is always like a thousand degrees and when theres no wind it's like WOW. Hermana Newbold converted me to carrying around a two liter water bottle everyday because it's just soooo hot and if we don't drink water we would probably pass out and then some sketchy Bolivian bugs would eat us. So just picture me walking around with this ginormous water bottle... hahaha I look like a fool out here. There's no such thing as getting ready and at the end of the day we are so covered in dirt, sunscreen, and bug repellent and boy is it a sight! haha.

Anyways, let me just catch you up on Marilyn. SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!! Woot woot! Haha she's so great and all throughout church she was just panning her baby off to everyone haha, but she stayed which is good! She's doing great. She got a job so we haven't been able to see her as much, but she's still doing great and we're still working toward the 28th for her baptism so pray for her!! We also have recently started teaching her aunt as well which is great! We're hoping to just bring her whole family to this gospel!

Our other investigator Beatrice is also doing amazing! She like ate up Joseph Smith... not literally... we told that to another Hermana and she was like WHAT. NO she did not eat Joseph Smith. Haha. Anyways, she is amazing! Except it was kind of awkward, she thought we were testigos for a second, but she didn't turn us away when she found out we weren't so thats a good sign! We see a lot of potential and her and she is progressing so quickly!

Kay so JUANA. OUR 83 YEAR OLD LESS ACTIVE. She is literally THEE most precious thing I have ever seen in my entire life! We visit her like daily and she's just my favorite person! She cries like every time we come and she just laughs and laughs with her no teeth and she's just blind and she's just so cute! She told us that she had never finished the Book of Mormon cause she lost her eye sight so we've made it a goal to finish it with her. And she's starting to remember about things of the church and she makes me and Hermana Newbold cry every time she prays because she says "thank you for sending me these two angels to remind me I'm a daughter of God" and we just WEEP she's so precious! I'll send you a picture of her!

Fun Bolivia things:

- We found this other less active named Maria del Carmen Gomez and she is a HOOT. She's missing all of her top teeth and all of her bottom teeth are just halfway out so whenever she talks they just MOVE and it's the funniest thing ever. She was just sitting in a wheel barrow when we talked to her. She's a hoot!

- We also found this other less active named Gabriela Flores and she has a star on her front tooth. Whoa

- Yolanda, a recent convert, has this EVIL parrot. It kept trying to kill me and it like bit Yolanda's lip and was just being a bad bad parrot and laughing the whole time. We had to punish it to this pole and it couldn't come down. hahaha

- I started wearing my wicked awesome hiking sandals again now that it's not raining everyday and I forgot to put sun screen on my feet and my poor toes got FRIED. Like they were so burnt they were like purple. I'm going to get SKIN CANCER.

- We were visiting with a new investigator for the first time and she was making us like this coconut drink thing and when she was done she had the coconut pieces and just said "watch what I'm going to do" and then she just started putting coconut in her hair and we just staring at her DYING. People here are so funny!

- We almost had to give a talk on Sunday, but then it got pushed to next week which is great 'cause President decided to come to our ward this week and I probably would have said something dumb and got sent home or something.

There are just so many weird things that happen out here and I wish I could just share them all, but there's just not enough time! And my emails are just everywhere! But I just want you all to know that I am doing great and loving it out here! Sure it's hard - there are days when we don't visit anyone and we just walk around in the hot sun allll dayyyy long, there are days when people reject us, laugh at us, or are just super creepy. But it's all worth it!! The people that I have met here have changed my life and I just love them all so much! We're working with a lot of less actives and it's such a great experience to see that light return into their eyes and, with our investigators, watch their faith grow and watch that light touch them for the first time. It's truly incredible and worth all the hardships. I hope you all know that you are all SO LOVED and I hope that you all have a great week! Thank you for all of your emails! Keep me up on all the crazy stuff at home! Love youuuuuuuuuuu

Hermana Higham

It got suuuupeeerr rainy!

We had to poncho it up.

Selfie with the dinosaur bush.

Cute little family that fed us!

Our cute little Juana!

There's a Hole in My Boot

Well hello there! Yes, there is a hole in my rainboot! And with all this rain my left foot has been sooooooo pruny! haha. Anyways... This week was crazy and full of a whole bunch of funny random things! So first of all, me and hermana Newbold are still companions so that's a good time! We're hoping we stay here till christmas together, but we'll see what happens! She's great and we're working hard to bring so many people unto christ!

First of all, let me just catch you up with Marilyn. She's still amazing, she's still reading, her prayers are still amazing and she sounds like she's preaching when she says them, BUT SHE JUST WON'T COME TO CHURCH. Like just come to church! Every week she's always just so excited, but then something happens and she always has an excuse. And the baby daddy keeps coming back into her life and she admitted that he is just a huge temptation for her so we just need to get him out of her life and she will be golden. She's so great and has such a great testimony! We had a missionary activity in the ward on Thursday and it was like these scenarios on how you can share the gospel and she got up and bore her testimony to our fake investigator and it was awesome! She's going to make a golden member, she's just gotta go to church and realize how important it is! Pray for her!

But, on the other hand, we have this amazing new investigator! Her name is Beatrice, she's 22, and she has a 2 year old, but don't worry, the father is married so we don't have to worry about that! Yaya! haha.  We've only met with her once and she is just so ready! She came to church with us yesterday for the whole 3 hours and was so interested! It was kind of too good to be true! She is the sweetest thing ever and we are excited to get to know her more and bring her unto Christ!

Also, funny story. So once upon a time we were on the search for a less active named Gabriela Añez. Well, we found the house where the Anez family lives, but there was not a Gabriela. But there was a Gabriela across the street . But then we went back to the house another day and they told us that Gabriela Anez lived two houses down. So we went and asked for a Gabriela and they were a little confused at first, but went and got someone and a woman came out so we figured out it was her so we got an appointment with her. WELLLL when we went to go visit with her we found out 2 things. 1. Her name was not Gabriela Anez and 2. She wasn't a member. hahahahahahaahhaaha we were DYING. But now we have a wonderful investigator named Silvia Anez and we are very excited to start teaching her. hahahahahahaha.

Now here is an update with our friend in the chair. He still sits there every day and we indeed pass by and talk to him everyday haha. His name is Alberto (I got his autograph), and he has read like every pamphlet that we've given him haha. One day this week we passed by to visit him and he said "I won't be able to accept any more things from you" and we asked why and he said that the Jehovas Witnesses said that he wasn't allowed to anymore..... uh.. hahahaha. But then we talked to him and he accepted the book of mormon that we gave him so I don't think they scared him too much hahahaha. He's a hoot though. One time when we passed by he was reading the word of wisdom pamphlet, turns to the page with all the fruits and vegetables, points to the picture of broccoli and says "What is this.... broccoli... hahahahahaha'" and then he just laughed for a good while about broccoli hahaha. What a character. We told the elders to go visit that crazy Alberto. hahaha

We also have this less active and she is just the cutest thing in the entire world! She is 83 years old and for a while we were unsure if she was actually a member but yes, she is. She has no teeth, she's just soooo old, and she's just the cutest thing ever! She can't come to church cause she's just so old and fragile, but we just love visiting her! Yesterday we asked if we could end with a prayer and she said "Can't you guys just stay till tomorrow?!"and then she just laughed for like 5 minutes with her no teeth it was so cute! And she just waves at us at the door when we walk away and my heart just melts every time!! I want to keep this woman forever!!! haha. 

Other random facts:

- Hermana Newbold fell the other day when we were walking. That's twice now. She's so clumsy.

- I've walked out of the bathroom TWICE now with my skirt tucked into my G's. So embarrassing. 

- There are now 3 missionaries in our ward that are from Utah and only 1 Latino. This will be a partayyy

-I GOT THE PACKAGE AND THESE CHEETOS ARE TO DIE FOR SEND MORE WHEN YOU SEND ANOTHER PACKAGE. SEND LIKE  20 BAGS. THANK YOU YOU HAVE SAVED MY LIFE. 

That's pretty much it! I am now going to end with a nice thought about gratitude. If you guys have the chance, go read the talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf, April 2014 talk called grateful in any circumstances. Here is a thought I just loved from it! "How much life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God there is rain?" Because thanksgiving is coming up, I encourage you all to look for the things you are grateful for and be grateful in your circumstances, no matter what they may be! Thank you all for your love and support! Keep me updated on all of your crazy lives! Have a wonderful week!

With love

Hermana Higham

Our feet after a long day of work.

Our pensionista hermana dearly explaining how to get somewhere with food.

Partyin In The Olive Trees

Hello everyone! So time is definitely flying, I can´t believe it´s almost November! It feels like just yesterday it was May, but then at the same time it feels like 5 years ago, time is sure weird!

Anyways, so this week was pretty great! It's pretty great having a gringa companion and we´re hoping it isn't just a week thing and we´re hoping we don't get transferred on Wednesday haha. We've been working really hard trying to get this area up and running! It's been hard and we haven't had very much success, but we know that if we keep working hard we're going to see so many miracles in this area! There is so much potential and all this area needs is love and work.

First of all, Marilyn is still my favorite person ever but she's also super frustrating! She knows everything we could ever teach her, she's reading her scriptures, she's praying, she has this spirit about her and she continues to change her life, but she just wont come to church! She has the hardest time coming and its just like AHHH it's not that far! And it was raining yesterday and apparently that's an excuse for everyone not to come to church. Silly Bolivians and their excuses. "It was too hot so I couldn't go. It was too cold so I couldn't go. It was raining so I couldn't go" it's a good thing it doesn't snow here or they would never leave their houses hahaha. Gotta love these Bolivians. Anyways, so we're still working towards baptism with her, but we're trying to help her understand the importance of church. Pray for her!

We also have this other investigator (i don't know if I've told you about her) but her name is Pimpi... well, her real name is Ida but she goes by Pimpi.... hahahahaha. She's like this forty... fifty year old woman that just cooks all day long and makes the most DELICIOUS bread ever. It's so good so we're constantly passing by to "check up on her" and buy bread hahaha. She's great though and is super sweet. We see lots of potential in her and hope she progresses! Also, when we went to go teach her our little doggy friend (HE'S SO CUTE) was following us and followed us right into Pimpis house and she kicked him out and it was just so sad. I just want to keep him and love him he's so precious! haha.

That's pretty much it for investigators. This past week we've been looking for the millions of less actives in our area. We have so many it is insane!! So we've been looking for a lot of them. It's just hard because they don't really have addresses here. It's like "street simon bolivar" so its like WOW lets knock on every door haha. Sometimes we get lucky and they say the street name and the color of their house. "street 2, yellow house. blue door" and then their will be like 5 yellow houses hahaha. So fun. looking for houses is a struggle but we've found a lot of less actives so thats good!

One of them that we met with was a lady named Janet Russell and that lesson was the funniest weirdest thing of my life. While we were trying to be spiritual and ask her why she isn't coming to church, her son was like dancing behind her, he had this monkey puppet( the kind on strings) and was putting that on her head, he was licking his moms hair and curling it, and all the while she's just acting like nothing is happening. And then near the end of the lesson she whips out english on us! That happened a lot to us this past week! In church people were just whipping out all the English that they knew on us and it was really funny. Ah. English.

Oooo! So fun story! So we were walking down this one street one day and there was this old man just sitting in a chair reading and we said hi and he said 'ARE YOU THE MORMONS' in his raspy voice so we went and talked to him and wow he is so hard to understand hahaha. We gave him a pamphlet of the restoration to read and tried to get his address but we could understand him because he has like 2 teeth so then we asked if he had a phone number and he said "I have 2 bibles" hahahaha. So he's fun. He just sits on his chair every day and we just give him a new pamphlet everyday to read haha. We're going to invite him to church and if he comes we're going to tell them to go teach that man in that chair. haha.

That's pretty much it for the week! It's been pretty great and we're working hard to find those people that are ready to hear about this gospel! Oooo one more thing! So once upon a time we didn't have anyone to feed us again on Sunday cause our pensionista went out of town so in relief society they stood up there and asked "Who can feed the missionaries today." And the response was horrifying. No one said a word for about 2 minutes. And then they just ended with a prayer. It was so awkward hahahahaha. So invitation for the week or month or whatever, FEED THE MISSIONARIES! Anyways, that is all.

I love you all and I hope that life is going well for you! Keep me updated on your crazy lives! Have a wonderful week and always remember that you are LOVED.

With love,

Hermana Higham

Blessed in Los Olivos

Hello everyone! So first of all, I just want to say that this week has been the craziest week ever and so much has change and WAAH. So long story short, there were some things going on in the mission so for five days I was on an exchange with Hermana Wilson which was amazing! She is so cute and I consider her my adopted companion for sure! We were in her area for a majority of the time and in my area for one day. And boy are we able to testify of the gift of tongues!! She has one less transfer than I do so the Spanish thing is a little rough but we were able to teach powerful lessons and understand all that people were telling us. Except one of her investigators was asking us really weird questions about anti christs and stuff so we were just kinda like uhhhhh we´ll answer these questions tomorrow haha it was a weird time. But it was awesome just being able to be with a gringa! She had a baptism in her area this past Saturday so that was fun to go to! It was beautiful being able to watch someone come unto Christ through their first covenant with God. He was weeping throughout his whole baptism and it was so precious! Also, we had this broadcast thing for church this past week and Elder Anderson spoke and I´m not going to lie, it was pretty funny watching him trying to say his talk in Spanish... he had a french accent and it was pretty funny. And then I remember when I first started this whole Spanish journey and how I probably still sound so gringa hahaha. At least I´m not learning like Korean or something or I would be toastttt. hahahaha.

Anyways, so some fun news. Last night I got a new companion! And you are never going to guess who it is! It's.... (drum roll please...) ... HERMANA NEWBOLD!! She's from my mtc group and I love her to death!! She's from South Jordan Utah, went to Bingham, is 23, and is just the cutest thing ever. I'm so excited to work hard with her and get my area up and going! It has so much potential and I'm so glad that I get to stay! Transfers aren't until next Monday so we're hoping this isn't just a week thing and that we get to stay with each other for a transfer haha. I AM SO BLESSED IT'S INSANE!!

That's pretty much it for the week and I want to end with a GRAND lesson that I learned this past week. And this lesson is to LOVE EVERYONE AROUND YOU. Whether it's people you pass in the grocery store or people that you are really close to, LOVE THEM. Express your love for them as much as you can. Everyone is going through a trial of some sort and everyone needs help through these trials, so show them how much you love and care about them. Serve them!  I read a quote this week that changed my life

"I have wept in the night

for the shortness of sight

that to somebody's need made me blind;

but i never have yet

felt a tinge of regret

for being a little to kind"

LOVE EVERYONE. BE KIND. SERVE. That is the advice that i have for all of you! I love you all with all of my heart! I hope you all know how much worth you have and how precious you are in the eyes of God! He loves you! I love you! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I know i will! Love you all and talk to you so soon!

With love

Hermana Higham

The cool dinosaur plant!

Hermana Newbold and I. We are cute!