Happy Birthday

Hello my family! Oh man....this has been quite the week. I'm not sure where to start. Ha. So first of all,  just question/answer. LA stands for Less Active, although sometimes it could also have the dual meaning. I’ll get to our investigators in a second. And yes, it is SO stinking hot (I almost just said bloody. Haha.).

And thank you for the package!! Ha, but for reals though. Honestly made my day. I love the skirt. Actually wore it to district meeting earlier. Super cute and light. That's how we like to roll around here. We had a movie night with the Emma Smith movie. SO great. Like, a for reals movie night. Usually when you have a movie playing you're cooking, or cleaning, or updating the area book, writing letters.....but we just turned off the lights, huddled on the bed and enjoyed. So fabulous. Kind of missing my relaxation moments like that. Also, can I just tell you, I'm just so grateful for our family.  I'm most definitely spoiled. 

So my birthday was pretty good. Just worked, but we had some great things happen this week which I consider to be birthday presents for me.  We bought a cake and Sis Shoukat made a Pakistani snack for us. It was low key, but good. Just another day. There's pretty much no holidays in the mission. Not even Christmas. But there's plenty of those in the rest of your life to make up for it. SUPER excited for general conference. As in, you have no idea. I just need a boost. This week has been rough, kind of one of those roller coaster weeks. I pretty much feel like I'm dragging my companion around, and I'm just loosing steam. And also, it makes me ornery, which makes me not have the spirit. I feel like I've been fighting for a month now and I'm just about to break. Shoot, not good. Also, I've decided I really just don't like sisters. Ha. Doesn't that sound horrible?  Today we had a zone activity and I just hung out with the elders all day and it was so much more enjoyable. There's a reason I have the girl friends I do...they're not drama and wusses. And guys are just way more fun to hang out with. Just chill. Oh man, I need a patience pill or something. Do they make those??

So for my updates this week. So I'm gonna tell you about our investigators that I'm so super excited about! Sister Macaranas and I found them the last week of February and we've been working with them ever since. It's a family. They're young. Anthony is 24 and Dina is 18 and they have a baby that is 1 year old. Dina used to be a Muslim, but not really. Her dad was just a Muslim who had a ton of wives, so they didn't ever have any contact with him. Also, her mom left when she was little, so she honestly doesn't know her parents at all and hasn't had communication with them for years. When she was 14 she moved to Makati, up in Manila metro area to live with her uncle and finish high school. And while she was there, she met Bro Anthony. Through texting, but for reals. They started just texting randomly one day (that's super super common here) and then decided to meet. Dated for the next 6 months, got prego, and here we are 2 years later. Brother is from Cardona and only went to the first year high school, never graduated. But he's so hardworking and humble, it's crazy. Last Saturday they came with us to a service project for Sister Riza to plant a garden for her so she can have food (p.s. Her husband just left her last week, poor lady). And Bro Anthony basically planted the whole garden. So awesome. So the happy news for the week, Sis Dina got her answer to her prayer. We went to visit them and she was just so excited to tell us. "I prayed last night and I know what you're talking about. I felt it". You wouldn't believe how spiritual she is, even though she didn't even know who Jesus Christ was until she met brother. And yesterday, it just clicked for brother. It's taken a while; he has a strong catholic background. But it finally clicked for him that it's not about churches or religion, it's about the plan of God.  So they have a baptism date now!!! Yay!! Of course, gotta get married first, but no big deal. I'm so excited for them. They will be full and active members, I can just feel it. And they're so excited about the temple. I wish I could describe how happy it makes me. So that is my birthday present for the week. I feel pretty satisfied and a little overwhelmed with gratitude. The longer you're in the field, the more you start to realize you don't do anything. The Lord prepares them and the Spirit teaches them. Without that....nothing. 

 I can't think of anything else off the top of my head and I really want to send pictures so that's all for now I guess.  I love you all though and hope you have a fantastic week!!! Bye!