Mira Hacia Arriba

Hey everyone!!!

Ok I don't want to make this insanely long lol, but I'll just give yall a lil recap of the past few weeks cause last I checked, I haven't written one since the first week of this transfer! Holy cow sorry!!! And now transfers are coming up next week...oh well hahaha.

Highlights from past few weeks:

- visited Churchill downs where they have the Kentucky derby, dream come true

- ALEJANDRA GOT BAPTIZED!!! She's the sweetest, sassiest girl, reminds me of my lil sis:)

- pet so many dogs

- ate a raw egg 0/10 do NOT recommend

- went door knocking in this real sketchy neighboorhood, gotta make it an adventure of course, and we brought a whiteboard where people could write who they're thankful for. This one door looked a little scary and we were gonna skip it, but hna stokes said "everyone needs Jesus" so we knocked it and this guy who looked kinda rough around the edges opened it and we showed him the board and he talked about how grateful he was for his mom, it was so sincere and straight from the heart, really caught me by surprise and as we talked with him he opened up and told us a lot of the stuff he'd been through, he was so kind to us and let us meet his bernese mountain dog which is my DREAM dog, he was the cutest thing ever

- same complex, we helped this syrian family bring their groceries in and I pulled out my one word arabic thanks jacob:), they were so cute and welcoming, we literally had a whole conversation by Google translate, they kept offering us stuff to drink and we were like sorry we don't drink coffee or tea, we actually had to go cause we had a lesson, but we weren't allowed to leave until we drank something, its their custom apparently, so we were kinda held captive until thankfully we got away with drinking water lol

- invited Abel to be baptized, he wasnt ready to say yes or no, still thinking about it, we're working on helping him learn to recognize answers from the Spirit and obtain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, so prayers up for him!

- had coordination at BJs for Elder valentines bday because the pizookies are half off, Orlando and the other muchachos were supposed to meet us there, but he thought I said pizza so they were lost waiting in a pizza restaurant for us lol

- Monday first zone pday!!! Played gator ball for like 6 hours straight and felt like I got hit by a truck, probably looked like it too

- took the whiteboard to the mall and walked around talking to people about who they're grateful for until we got kicked out by this security guard lady, crushed our dreams of spreading gratitude, but it's ok we got to talk to lots of people before she caught us, she just stood there for like 30 min and called this other guy to make sure we left lol.

- thanksgiving we had lunch with the Dodds and honestly beforehand I was kind of not looking forward to spending thanksgiving with them because of things I'd heard about going over there and it was just me judging all over again, but we got there and they welcomed us in and we ate, the food was amazing, and Sister dodd had made like 5 pies, we shared the Because of Him video and just had a really tender spiritual thought with them, I left feeling guilty for having judged them but also a greater love for them as God opened my eyes to really see His children

- already stuffed but went to mamá lizs for more thanksgiving, thankfully we played games for like 30 minutes first, but still felt like someone needed to roll me out of there by the end, I really didn't know if I could get out of my chair hahaha

- district council about obedience, I wrote this down as we were talking: if you dont love the rules, follow them because you love the rulemaker, and remember who the rulemaker is, a loving Heavenly Father who wants the best for us, I'm working on being obedient for the right reasons

- had a lesson with Giovanny on 2nd half of resto and went really well, the words felt like they just came to me in spanish and the Spirit was so strong as we recited the 1st vision, found out he's moving cryyyy but hopefully we can keep having videocalls

- went over to the sapons to share a message and we told them not to worry about food but of course they still fed us and it was so good, pasta and rolls, my comfort food:)

Ok finally, this week!

On Monday we had a little sisters pday and went shopping at the mall. I was doing really good with resisting until I found this sweater and skirt, then I knew it was over. Tuesday we started this contest to see how many testifying contacts we could get, so we did a ton of finding at stores and door knocking. Wednesday we went helped the Dodds out with their gardening, made me miss getting up on saturday mornings to work out in the garden with my family hahaha. Sister dodd gave us a mini family history lesson which was so helpful! I really want to get more into it when I get back. We went over to help kathy pack up cause they're moving, but staying in the branch yay!!! Had a crazy lesson with alejandra, I love that girl and her whole fam, it just gets a little hard for her to focus sometimes. Went to vball night, always a party. Friday we got to go do service at the local food pantry and then we had district council and went to mamá lizs for dinner. Soccer night was crazy as always, somehow ended up making two guys fall over, I felt so bad I made sure they were fine though. Saturday we spent a lot of time at anas house helping her out and playing with her kids. Sunday....sundays are just insane hahaha. We helped out with ana and her kids for most of sacrament meeting, but I was able to focus during the sacrament part and really make it meaningful for me, so that was a tender mercy. We had a stake activity called cookies and carols where people from every ward did a musical number and after we ate cookies, then we had the christmas devotional, which yall need to go listen to it was amazing!

Sorry this whole email has been a lil chaotic, but here's my spiritual thought for yall!

When we visited the Sapons last week, we spent a lot of time talking with Hermana sapon about how much this world is in need of face to face communication, just listening, talking, showing that you genuinely care about the person. As missionaries it's something we get to do everyday, knocking doors, having lessons, greeting at church, all of it real time, being present with the person. It teaches us to put away the screen, to look up, to reach out, and to love. So many of the experiences I had these past few weeks just reminded me again to always seek to see God's children the way He sees them, to not let our tendency to judge get in the way of touching someones heart. You have so much to give, you have His light to share, so go out and share it! Let yourself see as He sees and love as He loves.

I love you all!!! Make it a good week!!!

- Hermana Neil

Photos!!!

- made us pull over at a tree farm

- finding at walmart

- dr Pepper makes the day better

- turkey trot was absolutely freezing

- prepping for the cold

- thanksgiving with mamá liz

- thanksgiving with the Dodds

- lesson with the muchachos

- BJs pizookies 10/10