:)

Well hello there.

This week has been an exciting one. We went to the Yankees game last Wednesday and I found the BEST Yankees hat. Words cannot even describe it. Seriously. Let's just say Harlem is bringing out the best in me :)

We left the game a little early so we could get groceries. We grabbed all the things we needed and we were walking home (it's pretty much the longest walk ever... At least 3 avenues and 10 streets) We started feeling rain drops sporadically and didn't think anything of it...
Next thing we know it is POURING and we have no umbrellas and our arms are full of groceries.. We got SOAKED. Our grocery bags had puddles in the bottom by the time we got home! Everyone thought we were dumb for being out but we just had no choice. It was so gross because it was SO hot at the Yankees game and the we got drenched, so my eyes were burning because the rain was washing the sweat away right into my eyes!! (I know that's gross. But welcome to my life.)

We had dinner with an active member that night. She took us to get Indian food and it was SO good. We got to the restaurant dripping wet and I don't think they loved it. For our lesson we invited Darcee to teach us about the first vision and she rocked it! She was SO good! I was her companion and we taught sister Smith. She also taught sister smith how to pray and did such a good job at bearing her testimony!

The next day was MLC. I was kind of terrified, but it was actually really good. President talked about living to a higher standard as missionaries which is definitely something I need to work on. Harlem has rubbed off on me in the worst ways. My English is terrible!

There are a lot of changes in missionary work that are coming and it's really exciting. He reminded us that we do what we so because we love The Lord and not because somewhere down the line we are going to get "credit" for the things we did. I think that is so true in life. I don't think that at judgment day He will look at us and ask how many times we went to church or how often we read our scriptures, but we do those things because we love Him. And I do think at judgment day he will ask us if we loved Him, and we will be able to show Him by the things we did while we were here on earth.

Friday was the 4th!! We had correlation over skype because our ward mission leader is in Belgium right now. Did I tell you they are both from Belgium? Their little boy is SOOO cute and he laughs at us when we try to speak french. He is very European and always tries to give us hugs and kisses and his parents get REAL mad :)

Then we were supposed to have a ward party but they cancelled it because it was supposed to rain. We visited Lilianna and then we did a bunch of weekly planning. Pretty lame, right? We went to get ice cream with an Elder who was having a hard time that day (did I tell you our zone calls us the Mom Squad?... What a joke) We had an interview with two of the sisters, and then we were headed home for the day. On the way home we decided that we needed something to make this day more exciting so we got stuff for cream-soda floats! We also stopped at every single bodega to find flaming hot Cheetos but no where had them.
That's the only time I have been disappointed by a bodega.

When our roommates came home we quickly planned and then we went on an adventure... To our roof!! We weren't sure we could get on it but the door was open and someone else was up there so we went for it. :) it was sweet!! This was the second time I got to see fireworks over the New York skyline and it's awesome. I don't know if fireworks will ever be the same! :) we got a bunch of pictures but the iPad doesn't have a flash so I took them on my regular camera.

Saturday was pretty uneventful, I can't even remember what happened.
Oh yeah, we had a lesson with Karen who is still probably one of my most favorite people in the whole world. We taught her the restoration over again and she loved it. She asked us why women don't have the priesthood and we just laughed. She has no idea what's going on in the church and she was so sincere. We gave her a very simple answer and she loved it. We were on our way out and she started going on and on like she does but for some reason she was talking about Tommy Hilfiger, but she has a hard time pronouncing it so she kept saying "Tommy Huff-a-nigga" and I was DYING.

 Sunday was not my favorite. No one came to church AGAIN! It's hard to not get tired of trying and inviting again and again for people to come to church and then no one comes. I should know by now but I still am a little heart broken every time someone says they will be there and then they don't show up. Such is life, right? After church we did studies in the park and then went to dinner. After dinner we were doing a look up and I got POOPED ON! By a stinkin pigeon!!! That has been my biggest fear my whole mission... Seriously. I showed sister smith and then I made her run into a bodega to get some napkins. We got it cleaned up and I didn't die like I thought I might. I guess that's a sign of a true missionary or something.

Monday we had zone meeting and then an interview with some sisters.
They found out president is closing their area in a few weeks and I felt so bad for them. It really limits the work they can do and want to do for the next couple of weeks. Then we went to go meet with Nick.
He hasn't been keeping many commitments lately... So we went to have a "come to Jesus" with him. (Most missionaries call it a do or die) turns out he was thinking the same thing about us. He started off by telling us that he doesn't think the Book of Mormon is that important and he finds truth in a lot of places, not just our church. Then he said he has no intention of being baptized. I felt SO BAD! Nick is the miracle of my mission and he just dropped us hard. He was kind about it but the things he said really shook my testimony. That, I think, is the hardest part of being a missionary.  We get our testimonies ROCKED all do the time! We have to stand firm in what we know because there are people everywhere looking to prove us wrong. I am trying to be grateful for those moments because they help me grow so much and they help me know where I need to strengthen my testimony the most. We left him on good terms and he said he would call us if he ever needed anything.. But I'm still pretty bummed about it.

Yesterday we were on a split! I've decided that The Lord will make our splits exactly how they need to be. Yesterday we had a fairly good schedule and then every single thing fell through. The sister said it was exactly what she needed so I'm just trusting that as long as I do everything I can, he'll make of it what he needs to. I think I have been learning that lesson my whole life. He really is in control of things even when I am convinced I "got it"  

yesterday some lady stopped us and asked if we were Jehovah's witnesses and we said no and then she said oh! Cuz I was gonna say you the most stylish Jehovah's witnesses I ever seen! I love this place :)

Well. That's my life. Livin in the ghetto... Rockin the cheetah hat...

Gettin pooped on and dropped like it's nobodies bidness. Talking bout Jesus and loving every horrible minute of it! Love you!!