This week went by really fast! Let me try to remember what all happened...

Well, Hna Clark and I had a lot of awkward moments this week. Some super awkward contacts.. and we even had to run away from a few doors! I wont do into all the details, but I will say that I am so grateful that we are able to laugh those things of and continue to work hard!

This week we received a phone call from a random person. She introduced herself and we found our that she is a member and she had an investigator for us! (always super nice to hear as a missionary) She invited us to dinner to meet this person. And that was about all the details we had haha. So, the night the dinner came around and while we were walking over, I realized that only as a missionary would I have the confidence to go to a strangers house, to meet strangers, and teach them the most life changing news they will ever hear. We had no idea what was going to happen. However, it ended up being the most ideal situation! Like, the experiences that you read about in Preach My Gospel. Turns out that Ricardo is the boyfriend of Sonia (the member, baptized three years ago) and we were there to teach him. He told us that he had bad experiences with missionaries before but was willing to listen (which made me super nervous cause I was afraid of messing up) We had dinner with them and it was super great because we got them laughing, then we moved into the living to have a lesson and the spirit was soo strong!! We were able to invite him to be baptized and he said yes!! He is getting baptized on Halloween!! :) And it was so sweet because the first thing that his girlfriend said after he accepted was "Aww..Podemos tener una familia eterna!" (We can have an eternal family) It just broke my heart. Because it is so true! I am so grateful for the Spirit that we felt and for member missionary work! :)

Yep, other than that I am still loving the work!! I am learning something new everyday!

I love you all! Have an amazing week! :)

Hermana Spackman

Lots of crazy experiences this week! :) hmm.. where to begin?

First, I will share how Hna Clark and I became mechanics! We went over to our potential's house and found him (he is 19) and some of his friends working on a car. We walked over there and started talking to them, they were looking for a..some sort of sensor thingy...(they told us the name but I dont remember haha) And of course, the first thing that comes to my mind is that we should say a prayer! So, even though we hardly knew these people, and they were smoking and swearing a ton, I asked "Have you said a prayer?" And they all kinda looked at me funny...then Jesus (our potential) said.. "I should probably do that...how?" Then we taught him how to pray, he said a very sincere prayer, and we continued to look. And I few minutes later, Hna Clark found the piece they were looking for!! We were then able to point out the answer to his prayer and testify about the power of prayer :)  Then, they couldnt reached the piece cause their hand were too big haha so, then you had us, two little missionaries in skirts reaching down into this big engine and unscrewing stuff. It was so fun! we got pretty dirty, but it was worth it!  And as they were swearing, we asked them to not say words like that, and they stopped! :) It was so great, and now Jesus is our investigator!  He prays everyday!! :)

The next crazy thing that happened this week was, as a relief society activity, we got to learn how to make queso fresco from scratch!! :) I am so excited to try it out!

Annnd we also had a fun trip to the ER this week. Hna Clark was cutting a big stack of index cards and sliced her hand..you know that skin in between your thumb and pointer finger? Yeah, that. She cut a good half an inch..blah.. So, we went to the hospital to get some stitches. It was super busy and we were there for awhile. It was kinda cool though cause it was a Catholic hospital so, there was a big virgin mary on top of the building and while we were in the waiting room they read the Lord's prayer from the intercom. We tried talking to people but the people sitting around us were all in a lot of pain and didnt really want to talk. But, yeah, thats different from typical missionary life! :)

It's started raining more often now!

This morning I found something that made me laugh in the scriptures, in 2 Nephi 5:3-4. I was reading it and I love Nephi's comment in verse 4. "Now I do not write upon these plates all the words which they murmured against me. But it sufficeth me to say, that they did seek to take away my life" I can totally relate this to myself. Like, have you ever told a story and then said something like, " I am not going to tell you everything she said but.." you know? I just like how blunt he is about his brothers.. I guess it was only funny in my head haha but hopefully you can see that the scriptures can be fun! Especially as we relate them to ourselves! :)

Thanks for everything! I love you all! Have a great week! :)

Hermana Spackman

Lo haria si Cristo me viera?

Lo diria si El me pudiera oir?

Es facil saber lo que debo responder,

Si lo no hiciera con El, yo no lo debo hacer.

This is the chorus to Hna Clark's and my new favorite song! Its super cute and just imagine a little hispanic boy singing it :) (its a good message and also helps us practice our past subjunctive in spanish!) you can all look it up! its written by Janice Kapp Perry!

On Saturday, we had the chance to help out at a community parade! And after, there was a little after party thing in the parking lot of the Church! and we had free rootbeer floats for everyone, church tours, and booths set up with games and pictures of youth activities and everything! We met so many people! It was a great activity, Hna Clark and I walked around handing our napkins and striking up conversations with people about the church!

Also, we have been learning tons of vocab from venezuela! We have a family from there that we are teaching and they always teach us phrases and words that they only use there! No one else will understand us but its fun to get to learn so many different cultures all in the same place!

Everything is going good! We got to go to young womens this last sunday, and it made me miss all of my leaders and the girls who were in my classes! Also, I have a new goal to memorize the Young Womens Theme is spanish! So, that will be fun!  Hna Clark and I are starting Progreso Personal again! :) We are working on it with the young women in the branch! Its been really fun! :)

I hope everything is going well!! I love you all and I am so grateful for all your support! :)

Have a great week!

Hermana Spackman

Yesterday, I had my first experience interpretting!! The elder who usually translates for our sacrament meeting had an ear infection, so he asked Hna Clark and I to translate! because there are some americans who come to the branch to support but dont speak any spanish, so we have some equipment and we translate/interpret for them! We were super nervous at the beginning cause it was fast and testimony meeting and poeple can say anything haha. However, once we warmed up, it was really fun! and hard...but fun! I hope I get to do it again soon. One of the members from guatemala got up and spoke as fast as she could! and it was my turn...she is a really good friend of ours, and she did it on purpose... haha but it was good! I got to practice! :)

This morning I was reading 1 Nephi 17. (I have started the BoM over again in search of Christlike attributes) And found a lot of cool stuff about Family History, yes Family History!! :) Laman and Lemuel were murmuring (as always) and nephi just pulls out a whole bunch of stories from their ancestors and how God blessed them in so many ways and how he would do the same for them! It helped me realize that we really can learn from the experiences, not just from the bible or the book of mormon, but from our very own family members! It made me really excited to do Family History work! Which, to be honest I have never really felt before. anyway, thought I would share that with you :)

We have also been able to find a lot of great people this week and have heard a lot of interesting back stories! haha its been fun!

The weather has been pretty inconsistent lately..one day its pouring rain all day, the next its sunny, then windy and everything in between. Feels like Utah haha :) Our branch president showed us a picture of his son who did a hike in Provo Canyon..I didnt realize how much I missed the Mountains there!!

I love everyday I have here as a missionary!!  But, I am sad that the days go by so fast!

Well, I love you all and thanks for all the prayers and support! I hope everyone has a great Labor Day and a good rest of the week!

Hermana Spackman