¿Qué Tal, Bolivia?: Ven. Sigueme

HOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

How are you all??? I really don’t even know where to begin with this email. I have so much to tell you! So I am going to pull a Kari again, and do bullet points (as usual...)

- THE RAIN AND HAIL AND THUNDER AND LIGHTNING HERE IS CRAZY. There were about three days this past week where I thought that I was going to either get struck by lightning or drown in the rivers that ran down the street. Literally, the thunder here is awesome. It is the loudest that I have ever heard. And when it rains in Potosi, it POURS. Literally, there was one night when we were walking to the church, and there were literally rivers running down the street! Our area is on a hill.... And then the next day, it hailed like crazy! That picture below is an inch of HAIL! Woah.... it was insane. But yeah... I don’t even want to tell you how cold it got this week. We were wet and cold. And I will admit, it was REALLY hard to work. I was freezing. It was in my dang rain boots. But we still kept walking. And Heavenly Father always seems to bless us, because we found some really prepared people that I am so excited to continue teaching. So yeah... it was worth it. Even though I felt like my toes were about the fall off....

- GENERAL CONFERENCE! AND I GOT TO WATCH IN ENGLISH! We watched it in a separate room in the chapel, and all the gringos were there. It was a really cool experience, and I learned so dang much! My favorite talks were Utchdorf, Bednar, President Monson, and Jorg Klebingat. I love how Uchtdorf talked about our gaining a testimony being a quest. It reminded me of The Hobbit or something! WE ARE ALL ON A QUEST! Also, Bednar`s was way cool for all the investigators that came. President Monson`s really touched my heart. The one main question that I had was HOW CAN I BE A BETTER MISSIONARY? His message talked about how we can walk as Christ walked. And there was my answer. I can be a better missionary by following in the footsteps of Christ. Would Christ be lazy? Would Christ talk to that person? Would Christ knock one more door? Would Christ be a macanero? Hahahahah NO! Christ is the perfect example. So I am going to pattern my mission after His, and follow Monson`s advice and "walk as Christ walked." Jorg Klebingat was also awesome. He gave some serious waska! We can have spiritual confidence by learning to repent fast, taking responsibility for our own progress, and exercising to take care of our bodies!

- So yeah, I hope you all had the opportunity to watch conference and learn something from our living prophet. How cool is it that we can listen to the voice of God through His servants? Pretty dang cool.

- MOM! Please learn how to make arroz con piña! I am going to try, but you know that I am no good at cooking. Look up the recipe! It is so mega good. ALSO, You have to learn to make platano frito. IT IS THE BEST. Those are both Colombian foods. DO IT.

- Oh... so I am going to send you a picture of this weird part of a chicken`s throat that I ate this past week. SO NASTY! It was in my soup. And it’s not that little red outside part... it is somewhere on the inside. I really am not sure what or where, but my pension told me that it was part of a chicken`s throat.

- Yeah, so remember how I mentioned that I thought it was getting warmer? NOPE. It was freezing this week! What was the temp here, Dad????

- MOM! So I just found out that we are allowed to do insanity for exercise. CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME SOME OF THE VIDEOS THAT WE HAVE???? I would love you forever.

- Hna Black is cool. She goes running with me in the morning. It is great.

- KYLE AND STANLEY! I have a homework assignment for you. Please read The First and Great Commandment by Holland. It is my new favorite talk, and I want you both to read it. PLEASE???

- WE FOUND A STORE WITH AMERICAN CANDY! We had to restrain ourselves from buying it all, but we did by Fun Dip for conference. I was happy. MOM! CAN YOU PLEASE SEND ME MINT M&M`S!? I would love you forever. MIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTTT (did you get that reference, Kay May???)

- Wasn’t it cool that the speakers at conference got to speak in their own languages? I did feel pretty good when the two spanish speakers spoke, and I understood them!

- GRANDMA JANET and GRANDMA DEE??? Did you notice how they prayed for the grandparent`s of the missionaries in the world? I thought that was pretty cool, and I thought of my grandparents that I love so much. I hope you are all doing great.

- Quotes that I liked from Conference....

"Are we prepared to leave our comfort zone and go to a better place?"... because I HATE CHANGE hahaha

"The guilt that accompanies mistake can be washed away." Packer.... I love this because I feel like I make mistakes on my mission every stinking day....

"Seek and you will find. Do your part, and He will give you more light. And it will be glorious. This is your quest." Uchtdorf. This was literally my favorite talk.

"Love can change the world." Oaks.... are we striving to be a little more kind each day??

- One more thing.... We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today with apples and carrots. I felt like I was at home! It was the best. My comp always says that I make her trunky when I talk about all the American food. Hahahah

That is all. I hope you all will apply all the things that you learned from conference into your lives. I LOVE YOU ALL. BE SAFE! AND SEND ME PICTURES!

HNA ROUTSONG