July 1st 2013

Hello family!!! What a special blessing this week was! We had the Farewell Conference for Pres. and Sis. Prieto...it was so wonderful! I got awesome pictures (which I'm sending to you guys) and had a wonderful experience. The entire mission was meeting together to say goodbye to them. We had a great meeting and learned a lot. At the end, we got to have lunch and then say goodbye to Pres. And Sis. Prieto. I am going to miss them a lot. They have been such wonderful examples to me and I have learned a lot with them.

When I went to say goodbye to them, Sis. Prieto hugged me and thanked me for all that I did to help them out. Then she told me that she would never forget my smile and how grateful she was that everytime she saw me, I was always smiling. This is something I have tried very hard to do and it meant a lot to me that she noticed! :) Pres. Prieto hugged me and said that he would never forget me. He thanked me for all that I did to help him and we both got tears in our eyes. I love him so much. His influence will be with me for the rest of my life.

The highlight of the conference was at the very end when all the 140 missionaries sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". We did it 'flash mob' style...so it appeared like it just happened onthe spot and wasn't plan. I swear, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. It has been a while since I cried that hard.

This week was a great week of work. We have a new zone leader here and the work is progressing. He and I are planning out new and awesome things for the zone to do to help the District Rio Verde become a stake. We are all so very excited!! We found lots of new people to teach and I am feeling a lot more excited and happy to be here. I am grateful for the opportunities that the Lord is giving me.

Here is a quote that I love from Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley....I read it often and I have used it to give advice to my friends here :)

" It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is.

It all works out. Don't worry.

I say that to myself every morning.

It will all work out.

Put your trust in God,

and move forward with faith

and confidence in the future.

The Lord will not forsake us.

He will not forsake us.

If we will put our trust in Him,

if we will pray to Him,