Week 27 (Learn to Dance in the Rain)

Dear family and friends,

Well, not much happened this week.

Monday: We found out that Hermana Santiesteban and Hermana Martinez had to leave for Torreón the following day. What!? Apparently Hermana Martinez had to renew her passport. So we prepared for that. Also, we prayed at the grocery store for a ride home and "ding" ....."Missioneras, can I give you a ride home?"......"Why yes! of course! We would love a ride!" Heavenly Father really does answer all our prayers.

Tuesday: Well, my compañeras took a vacation to Torreon and Monterrey while I went to stay with the Hermanas Lideres in their area. 

Wednesday: The Hermanas Lideres woke me up at......5:30!? What are we doing up at 5:30? Well , it turns out they play basketball in the morning. So we went to play with the rest of the zone. It was actually so much fun!! I still have a lot to improve on in my game. Note to cousins: need to practice basketball when I return. I don't think that will be a problem knowing my family ;) The rest of the day was good and normal. It was the usual hot, windy, sunny day.

Thursday: I was still at the house of the Hermanas. We bought these amazing giant donuts today for only 4 pesos! Best day ever! Then I met up with my companions again in the afternoon. We went home because Hermana Martinez was sick from all the traveling. 

Friday: Really nothing, again. Our area was like a ghost town!! There was no one!

Saturday: Today was a great day! We didn't have to contact anyone! Everyone contacted us! "Hey misioneras!" Everyone decided they wanted to talk to us and so we took advantage of the opportunity and taught them as well. ;) Today Hermana Martinez and I also secretly plotted a surprise birthday party for Hermana Santiesteban. We missed her birthday in March, so we decided to celebrate it now. We bought a cake and a blouse she liked and made a beautiful card for her! It was perfect! When we brought her home she was so surprised!! The best surprises are the unpredictable ones. ;) This was highly unpredictable, for many, many reasons. I will give more details when I'm home ;).  Anyways, we ate cake and watched a Mormon movie. It was a great birthday night!

Sunday: Nothing really happened today either. However, church was good! Two people walked into our meetings and said they were interested. Well, that is every missionary's dream! However, they were not from our area. So sad. We need more of these 'escogidos' in our area.

As for spiritual thoughts this week... Well, actually, something that has been impressed upon my mind a lot lately is tithing and fast offerings. My parents have always taught me about tithing and fast offerings and had me participate ever since I was young. We received our allowance and we immediately paid our tithing. This has helped me form a habit out of it, so that now, when I'm on my own, I just pay my tithing. At home, I never really saw much of the blessings, but now I can see them so clearly and so abundantly. In my home, we never wanted for anything. We always had enough. Even when hard times came we still had enough. I can see how in college I always had enough money for books, food, tuition, rent, night on the town. I always had enough money and I never stressed about money. Paying tithing put money in perspective for me-that money really isn't the most important thing and so I never really stressed about it. I paid for what I needed and saved the rest and I was always fine. Also, I miraculously earned enough money to pay for my mission. Really, I only worked from May until September to earn enough money for my mission. It was literally a miracle. Then, here in the mission, I always have an abundance of money. Even when my companions have none, I always have an abundance, I always have plenty. I truly know that when we give of our substance, not thinking of ourselves, but thinking of the Lord and trusting full-heartedly in Him that He will provide for us. He will always care for us and ensure that we have enough, that we are happy and comfortable and want for nothing. We read of the promise in Malachi 3:10, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat  in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a   blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

The key here is that we must bring our tithes WILLINGLY. We have to bring them rejoicing and with a full heart and then we have to prove Him. Trust in Him. Do exactly what He asks and then sit back and watch as He pours down blessings from Heaven. When we don't trust in our Heavenly Father, we hold up an umbrella and prevent Him from truly blessing us. WE only see the rain and get a little wet on our shoes, but we really don't EXPERIENCE the rain. So this is my invitation to you-trust whole-heartedly in the Lord. Do exactly what He asks and then learn to dance in the rain and truly experience this joy. Learn to fully receive His blessings so that you can fully live your life and experience the greatest joys! Life is too short to not dance in the rain! We came here to obtain a body and experience life. What greater way to experience life than with the blessings of God beautifying your path!

I love you all and hope all is well! 

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 27

Querida Hermana Lutze,

I hope this week was as great as last week for you and your companions. How long with you be three? I saw a picture of Elder Osborne on KSL last week. He was standing next Elder Hamilton that was killed in Taiwan.. I looked at the picture and said, "That looks like the guy Rachael went to prom with..." I don't know if you heard about the death in your mission. I guess Elder Hamilton's foot missed the pedal on his bike and he was pulled under a car and was killed. :( Sorry I know that's not great news but I thought you might want to know since you know Elder Osborne.)

Life here is crazy busy as usual. We're two weeks away from go live with our new EMR at work, so work is incredibly busy. Here at the house we're working hard in the yard... it's that time of year to clean out flower beds, fix sprinklers, and plant new plants. Shawn is finishing our cabinets in the kitchen and an entertainment center for upstairs... so there will be much work associated with that as well. 

Hannah continues in her boot. I just let her be off crutches. It's been one month this week. We found a prom dress for her. She's excited to go with this group of 16 girls. I'm so glad she's not letting the fact that she didn't get asked to prom hold her back! She's been busy with school and work.

Natalie has been busy with choir, piano, and guitar this week. She just told me last Sunday that she wants to take violin now! We'll see... She enjoyed a party at Morgan Rowley's house on Friday. I'm glad she has a good group of girls to hang out with. I'm not as worried about her knowing the friends she has chosen.

Jakob's busy with school, soccer, and space missions. They lost their game yesterday. I cannot wait to get him off this team. We'll have him try out for an Arsenal and Surf teams in a few weeks. I'm not sure what that will look like with the new age brackets.

Well enough of my rambling... We did pick Stephanie and Kyle up at the airport on Thursday. He's here to attend Spring semester. We all went by Marissa's apartment that night to surprise her for her birthday. She happened to be outside and came running when she saw Hannah. She recognized her on crutches. Hannah threw her crutches to the ground and they gave each other a big hug while Marissa cried. Kyle had lied to her and told her they weren't coming to see her that night for her birthday. It was a great surprise.

I want to end with my testimony on the Sabbath day. I'm leaving in a few minutes to attend the 23rd Ward conference and I've been asked to bear my testimony of the blessings of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Thus the topic is on my mind...

Rachael I testify that Saturday is a special day because it is the day we get ready for Sunday and preparation is so important. I also know that Sunday is an extremely special day because it is the day we get ready for the rest of the week. We receive so many blessings when we observe it properly. We are renewed and refreshed. It is a day to re-center ourselves on Jesus Christ. It is a day put on the full armor of God in preparation for the battles in the coming week. It is a day to stand still and know that I am God. I know that as we are obedient to this commandment, we are blessed with a greater ability to obey all the commandments. We have greater strength to do this. Let me share with you three experiences regarding the blessings our family has received from keeping this commandment.

1 Do you remember when I worked extra shifts while we lived in the apartment? I made a commitment to Heavenly Father that I would not miss any church meetings even though i often worked the night before until 6 am. We were blessed. We had the money we needed because I was always able to get the extra shifts even though we didn't have many patients on the unit at the time.

2. Do you remember dad always taking you to church from the time you were babies on the Sundays that I worked? (Even if you went with hair that didn't look so great.) He learned this from Grandma. She always took them to church even though Grandpa did not attend. What an incredible example to you and your siblings of the importance of attending our Sunday meetings? This behavior of church attendance will be perpetuated for generations to come. 

3. Do you remember me talking about partaking of the Sacrament at work? My weeks were always very different after working on a Sunday when I could not partake of the Sacrament. About 15 years ago that changed and we were able to partake of the Sacrament at work. This was life changing for me. My week went better. This is when the sacrament became personal for me. Imagine having someone kneel on a cold, hard hospital floor to say the sacrament prayer just for you...

I love you and I'm so grateful for your desire to serve and to serve with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength.

Love,

Mom

Look at Alma 58:11 and read it in relation to the blessings we can receive as we keep the Sabbath day holy!!! Helaman is talking about the blessings they've received as they received additional strength for their army but isn't that what we receive on the Sabbath day.

Week 26 (Finally...a fortune cookie with great insight)

Dear family and friends,

Wow! Another week has just flown by! Well, I have been in a trio this week and at first, I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. But in reality, we have seen so many miracles!! We have worked so hard and it has really paid off. I love my companions! They are like best friends from college! I'm going to have connections in all parts of the world! Woo hoo!

Monday: Hermana Martinez arrived. We literally rearranged the entire apartment to fit the three of us in! Our house is way too tiny for 3 people. But it's okay, we are being creative in how we live together.

Tuesday: We had our Zone Conference which was awesome! We always have amazing zone conferences. This time one of the Elders put his hymnbook in front of the projector to block it. A few minutes later we discovered that the bulb had burned through at least 30 pages of his hymnbook! It looked like the Diary of Tom Riddle in Harry Potter. ;) 

Wednesday: Today was swimming. We met a woman named Margarita who really has great potential! She was interested in the Book of Mormon from the start. We actually gained 8 new investigators today. We also contacted my first drug lord. So that was exciting! As we were talking with him, about 10 different cars passed by and to all of them he said, "in a minute, in a minute." Yah... your selling drugs, how lovely. Pretty sure the address he gave us was false, darn it! I need to fulfill my dream of  converting a drug lord ;).  

Later in the day, once it was dark, we were walking home when we saw Hermana Belen and Debany walking in front of us. Debany is a convert of Hermana Martinez. We saw them up ahead and decided to sneak up on them. Just as we came up behind them, they saw 'something' following them. They both jumped, ran, and screamed!!! It was so funny! We got them so good! Afterwards, we hugged and repented of our sin, but it was just too great an opportunity to pass up! 

Thursday: We contacted a Cristiana? we think-of what religion we're not sure. Let's just say she did not like the Book of Mormon. She really battled hard with us. She didn't win but she was very defiant. It is so much fun to be a defender of the truth. We all need to be defenders of the truth. No, not all churches are good. There is only one that will bring eternal happiness. No not all baptisms are fine. There is only one place with the authority. No, Christ is not the same for all churches. This is the only church that has the truth and is His church. He is the head of this church.We must help them understand why this church is the only true and living church.

Friday: This was literally the most amazing day yet!! We went on splits with the members. (We almost had a three way split but one member cancelled.) Margarita and her family accepted a baptismal date of the 14th of May!! And Hermana Santiesteban and Hermana Gloria contacted the wife of Fernando (Family Limones who we contacted earlier.) She has read the Book of Mormon and they want to be baptized too!! We ended the day with 6 baptismal dates! (So we had 10 in total as of Friday.) We also gained 10 new investigators!! We saw so many miracles. I can't even begin to write them all down but I know the Lord is finally revealing some of His chosen ones!!

Saturday: Nothing really really interesting happened today.

Sunday: We had 5 investigators at church!! Hermana Margarita and her 4 sons came to church alone!! It was actually funny because they arrived and were in the other ward´s sacrament meeting. When we finally showed up, we couldn't find them. However, one of the counselors told us someone from our ward was in there. So we went to go look and there they were!! Elder Black and his companion were sitting one row in front of them. When they saw us and then saw the investigators leave, they began to laugh. Yes, their only investigators left and went with us ;). This family is so amazing!! They really have the desire to be at church. In addition, Kevin  (family Limon) went to church with us. So we ended the week with 5 baptism dates for the 14th of May!!  This week was incredible. I can't even describe it, but I hope we have more weeks like this! I really hope we can baptize these 2 families!!

I have learned so much this week! First of all I learned more about being a peacemaker. Hermana Martinez and Hermana Santiesteban have been companions in the past and didn't get along. Hermana Santiesteban was actually really worried about this trio. I was too, for a while. But I have learned this week that I am a peacemaker. I am the middle person that they both like and really I have helped keep the peace and their relation has improved tremendously!! In one week we have grown so close! I would consider us best friends!! We should be able to be friends with everyone, to  live in peace and love one another so that we can have joy. With this peace and love we really have accomplished great things this week. Miracles have been wrought! 

I also received a fortune cookie that actually had some good insight. It said "Courage is the MASTERY of fear-- not the ABSENCE of fear". This is one thing I am really learning in the mission. We all have fears-fear of things we have to do in the mission, fear of people, fear of what is happening at home, fear of the future. For everyone it is different. Those who have courage are not those without fear. They are actually those who face their fears, who master and conquer their fears! They are those who overcome their fears. They have always said in church that faith and fear cannot coexist and that is true.  We need to have faith in God, trust in him and conquer our fears. We need to have faith in him and not fear.  "Fear not, for God is on our side!" We can really do anything!! We are unconquerable with Him!! So be of good COURAGE, trust in God and conquer your fears. Trust in his power and goodness!

Love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 26

Querida Hermana Lutze,

Estamos contentos con las cosas estamos esuchando de ti! Esperemos que esta semana fue muy bien!

Yes, it was crazy busy as usual. We came home Sunday from St. George and turned around and left for Goblin Valley on Thursday with lots of work at work and at home in between. It was Spring break for the kids and we finally made it to Goblin Valley with the Millers. We hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon which was an awesome slot canyon! Of course, Hannah hiked it on crutches in her boot! She was determined to go! We spent time in Goblin Valley as well, playing in the Hoodoos... We walked between them, climbed on them and played a few games like monster tag and sardines. We, of course, missed having you there but know you are where you need to be! We're so proud of your dedication and hard work! We found out last night that Alexandra is pregnant with a little girl. So you will have another little cousin when you come home. She's due in November. :)

I want to know more about your rebellious phase? What were you terrified of?

I've been reading in Helaman and eventually 3 Nephi. Emily was telling us that these two books also actually speak of our day and what will happen before the Second Coming of the Lord. It's really interesting to read them with that in mind and to see how it is happening in front of our very eyes. I was thinking of you and all missionaries as I read Helaman 5:8. Helaman's desire for his sons as they preached the gospel... "That ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life." and of course 5:12 is one of my all time favorite scriptures... "And no, my sons, remember, remember that is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." He goes on to relate that they taught with POWER and AUTHORITY in verses 17 and 18. As you know, you too, were given that power and authority when you were set apart as a missionary!

We love you! 

Love,

Mom

Week 25 (I Love My Mountains!)

Greetings from Hermana Guera!

Apparently that is my name because everyone just says "Hey Guera....." or "Guera...." and then they start talking to me. I have also had quite a few people declare my beauty to me. I guess if I can't find a husband in America I can come back here and there are plenty of options ;). It is also a good contacting technique. Just "flip the hair" a little, they talk to me and then I invite them to Church! ;) Jk.

My week: Well we worked, very, very, very hard this week. I am literally exhausted and my legs are done. My legs better be sculpted after all this walking! ;)

Let's see...

Monday: Nada. We went to district meeting which was great as always! My compañera rocked her Scripture of the Month in English!

Tuesday: Today was absolutely AWESOME! We taught 11 lessons-8 to investigators and 3 to other members. We found 6 new investigators and set a baptismal date! We visited with a contact (Sandra) and invited her to be baptized and she accepted! Yay! However, the rest of the week we couldn't find her in her home to teach her! So her date fell. But it's OK, we are going to work with her this week and she will be baptized and partake of all these wonderful blessings that we have! We called our Hermanas Lideres that night and they didn't believe us! They couldn't believe we had had these numbers!!! To be honest, neither could we, but this is what happened!!

Wednesday: We taught people and found more new investigators. Hermana Najera, an eighty year old member,  accompanied us today.  She has this wonderful, fiery testimony!! It was so amazing to teach with her because she bore such a simple, direct and therefore powerful testimony! Later she told us how she didn't even know where those words came from and that God was speaking through her! It just goes to testify of the power of members! She helped us gain 3 new investigators today!

Jueves: Nothing really happened out of the ordinary today.

Friday: Another very successful day! I love seeing how the gospel changes lives-how someone can change from being closed off and hard-hearted to being open and humble! Today we met a woman named Sonya. At first she kept saying, "No, no, I'm Catholic...." But as we talked about the power and authority of God, covenants and the temple, she began to humble herself and accept us. I hope that the missionaries in her area will have success with her and help her make these amazing covenants!

Saturday: Really not much happened today either but General Conference was awesome!

Sunday: Awesome General Conference! They all declared that this is the true church and no other church has the authority! And that Jesus is Jehovah! There is no denying it now! Today we were really rejected. So I said "Hola" a lot to my companera. ;) because she was the only one that listened. Even so, we did encounter some wonderful people today. My companion and I talked even more about the power and authority of God. This is one thing people cannot say they have, but we can. WE HAVE THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF GOD and no other church has it. We are the only ones that can effect these ordinances so that they are valid on earth and in the heavens. We talked with a Testigo and that was the topic that he could not reason with or conquer. Others can say they have prophets or apostles or scripture or revelation but none can truly say they have the Priesthood-the Power and Authority of God. The more I learn, the more obvious it becomes that this is the true church of God-a church of order, a church of miracles, a church where God can carry out his work.

Well, that is all that really happened that I can remember. This week was a blur. I will try to be better at remembering!

However, I haven't forgotten about the mountain and I have been thinking about it a lot this week.

First, I was thinking, well, a mountain is huge and normally we can see it coming. However, in life we are blind and walk by faith. Therefore, the Lord prepares us daily for these mountains (or problems). He prepares us so that when they come we succeed. We can climb the mountain and be successful. Who knows what the Lord is preparing us for right now! We should be preparing ourselves as well.

Second, I was thinking about why we climb mountains. So many of us love to hike, enjoy the scenery, get away from the world and be alone in nature. Well the problems in our lives are there to help us do just that. Our mountains (problems) help raise us to a higher level in our lives and help us separate ourselves from the world and draw closer to our Heavenly Father. We may feel like we are going down and falling at times, but we should only be going down to our knees in prayer, so that the Lord can work in our lives and lift us higher than we ever imagined!

Third, the first rule of hiking is always hike with someone else. We must always hike with a buddy! And what greater buddy than our Heavenly Father who knows everything? We also have good people in our lives that we can rely on in times of need.

Fourth, there is a path prepared to make it to our destination. We don't have to go cutting through the wild. The path is clear, marked, and the safest route. We only have to be willing to listen to the Lord and travel the path he indicates.

Fifth, when we have reached our destination, we feel accomplished, powerful, and pleased. We can see what we have accomplished and can say that is was worth the climb-worth the effort and that we are better off for climbing.

In our mountains, don't stray off the path and don't try to make your own path. I did that once, in my "rebellious" year in college and let me just say it was not very fun. There were points when I was actually terrified. Luckily I was with other people that helped me but the lesson learned was always stay on the path. God has a plan that is perfectly laid out for us. It is our job to be humble and follow the path. Follow the path that leads to eternity. Follow the path that will bring happiness and success. With His path we cannot fail and we will pass through much more quickly than on our own. These mountains or problems may seem hard, but I promise there is an end. I promise that you can make it. I promise you will not be alone. You will overcome it and be so much better than when you started! One of my favorite songs is "Beautiful Heartbreak" by Hilary Weeks. It talks about these mountains and how we can climb them and find our place of peace.

So this week, go climb the mountain, stay on the path and go to be closer to the Lord. Don't quit in the middle of the journey. Make it to the end. After all is said and done, one thing I know is that it will ALL be worth it.

Well, I love you all! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 25

Querida Hermana Lutze,

Espero que esta semana fue mejor! We've been busy with you guessed it... work at home and at work. I spend most of my time on the new computer program at work. Hannah's leg is slowly getting better. They are all working hard in school. I put a deposit down for housing at the Riviera for Hannah. We'll see if anything opens at Heritage. Jakob's team won on Thursday.. not sure about his game  yesterday because we were in St. George  helping Brent and Amy in their new house. It's really nice and has great potential!!! It's in a cul de sac.  Dad helped paint shelves and I worked on curtains and design ideas. I hope they liked some of them. I've been reading in Jeremiah this week and thinking of your mission. I especially like Jeremiah 3:14. He will truly take one of a city and two of a family. Jeremiah 16:16 in which missionaries are fishers and hunters. You are seeing the fulfillment of these prophecies. You are also seeing the fulfillment of Jeremiah 5:21-25 and 17:5-8, 10, 13-15. I love you! Have a great week!

Love,

Mom

P.S. Bruno's missionary address is popping back to me. Looks like he came home early?

Week 24 (Two Dogs or Guardian Angels?)

Dear family and friends,

Well, I feel like nothing has happened this week it passed by so fast! We'll see what stories I have for you.

Monday: We bought food, cleaned, washed clothes, and went to our district meeting. We met all the new people in our district which was fun! I met an Elder Ames from St. George. Brent, Amy, is he an acquaintance of yours?

Tuesday: We had another lesson with Blanca! I hope that she can really feel and recognize her answer and have the time to come to church and be baptized. We also taught a Menos Activa Hermana Bursiaga. A long story short we were not well received. She really wants nothing to do with the church now. As we listened, I began to realize that what she really doesn't want are commitments. She doesn't want the commitment to go to church, to partake of the sacrament, to have callings, baptism, etc. Something my dad told me last week is so true. If we are not willing to commit to anything, we will not gain anything. The church of "Nothing" is easy to join, but the problem is that you also gain "Nothing." In reality we should be excited to have commitments, to help us grow and change and experience life. They are not always easy but THEY ARE ALWAYS WORTH IT! If there is one thing I know, it is that the things of God are ALWAYS WORTH IT. I mean it does determine our eternity, so I would hope it would be worth it. My companera and I talked yesterday about the Kingdoms of Glory. We talked about how, yes, the Telestial kingdom is better than this world, but why settle for that when we can obtain the highest kingdom possible-Exaltation, the Celestial Kingdom. We can LITERALLY live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Can you imagine sitting down to dinner with them every night? The conversations you could have?! We have the capacity to obtain all the power, glory, blessings and happiness that our Heavenly Father has!! WE CAN ONE DAY CREATE OUR OWN WORLDS!  I promise you that this power and happiness will surpass any entertainment from an app, game, or other worldly things. And as for my eternity I want to spend it with my family, my future husband (whoever he may be), my Heavenly Father, my brother Jesus Christ, and do marvelous, creative things that only gods can do.

Wednesday: This was a fabulous day. We went to a different part of our area where we have never been and we gained 4 new investigators!! The test now is whether they will progress!! We also had this interesting experience. We were walking in this new area and these two dogs started to follow us. We thought they would leave when we taught. They didn't! They continued to follow us! They followed us for 3 hours!! They even went to other colonies with us!! We have no idea why, but maybe they were our guardian angels for awhile? I will have to ask when I get to heaven.

Thursday: We ate Little Caesar's pizza!! So fun! Hna. Santiesteban and I bought it, ate it, and enjoyed every moment of it! That night we had to come home early-seven o'clock. So we bought Chinese food which was also fabulous! (They have Chinese Mexican food! It exists! And Chinese Mexicans exist!)

Friday: We had intercambios, but instead we all went to the area of our Hermana leaders? I'm not sure why, but that is what happened. 

Saturday: Still in intercambios today and nothing really happened. In the evening Hermana Moronta and I went to my area and we taught Baltazar and we got him to commit to a Baptismal date!! I hope that he can keep it.  We are going to work really hard with him!

(P.S. So there are actually 3 Americanas here. Me, Hermana Moronta, y Hermana Sarabia. I am the only white, non latino of the three. It was so fun to be with Hermana Moronta from Miami all day!)

Sunday: There was a toy truck stuck in a tree, so we helped get it out, shared a lesson and got a new investigator!! Yes best day! Then as we continued to walk we went up to talk to a woman who was pushing her mom in a wheel chair. As we walked up she dropped everything and ran away from us with her kids!? Ugh...... I think you forgot your mom?! Poor lady. We talked to her quickly and gave her a tarjeta. and pushed her to her daughter so she wouldn't be abandoned! I was so astonished at what had just happen!! I was thinking, what did we do, is there something on my face? I have never had that effect on people! ;)  However, later that same day someone told us our feet were beautiful? What?.....Then he explained "beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of those who proclaim the gospel......ohhhhh! Here I am thinking of my dirty, dusty feet with strange tan lines! ;) And then to top the night off, we were walking by when this drunkard came up to us. He talked with us and we continued to walk and he followed. We came to a busy street to cross and and stopped and talked with him. He was crazy, happy, sad, crying, and cross-eyed all at the same time. Finally, he spoke to me the only English he knew. "I like to move it, move it, I like to move it move it!" from Madagascar! But he said it like this! "I like to move it move it move it move it move it!" Oh dear, this is probably why the Lord said "no" to alcohol. It takes away our dignity and our agency. It controls us. 

Something I have been thinking about a lot lately are the mountains in our lives. Sometimes we ask, "Lord, why is this happening? Help me!"And sometimes we may feel like he does not help us. But what I am starting to understand is that one, there is always the opposition trying to tear us down and two he gives us mountains so we can learn, grow, and be diligent in all things - in the good and the bad. We may have mountains, but with the Lord we can take the ski lift up and then ski down the other side. With the Lord our trials are the same, but our capacity to overcome them increases significantly! Here in the mission, there are a lot of rough days of rejection and times with no success. We pray and pray and sometimes it is hard to see how the Lord is helping. But I feel right now that he is waiting to see how I react. If I continue to work diligently and be patient, I will grow closer to the Lord and use His help. I can grow despite my circumstances because even seeds can grow in the desert. I'm still learning about this and will have to tell you more once I have learned more! But I want to be strong, so give me mountains to climb, rivers to cross, something that's going to make me better than I was!

Love you all!

Hermana Lutze

Hermana Lutze and Moronta with Herbie

Hermana Lutze and Moronta with Familia Ibarra (Herbie's owners)