Septiembre ya!!!! YAY!

Sooooo don´t get so alarmed or scared...but last week on Pday we went to the cancha where its like swampmeet to buy a few things...and I got robbed :(....We were walking with many sisters and searching for the member that was going to go with us and well....a random stranger grabbed me from behind and yanked off my medallion....its not even gold...but to be honest I was in shock for a couple days. I still am scared though. And so I don´t wear anything that looks of good value already. But please don´t worry about me. I am safe. I am just glad he only took my medallion and not my life. There wasn´t any knife involved. He just grabbed me, yanked it off and ran away. But when it happened I didn´t know what to do because I couldn´t leave my companion. I had a rough time for the first few days, but I talked to President Hansen and left feeling better. But pleaseeeeeee do not worry about me. Thank you for all your prayers so that I can be safe. I know God is protecting me...just have faith :). But the sad part is that I lost my medallion and I can´t get it back. Marvy always set the example for me to wear it all the time and it helped me to remember the worth that I have as a daughter of God. But I don´t need it to remind me that I am who I am. sighhhhhhhhhh......but I am okay. I am working hard and moving forward.

I am enjoying teaching the gospel more and more because I can see how the spirit works through us and our investigators. It was a miracle in one of the lessons we had because one of the ladies we are teaching that has been attending various churches told us that she has always felt so empty in every church she has attended and that she is looking for the true church. IT MADE ME SOOO HAPPY. But she prays pretty scary as of now, but she´s getting better. We found a lot of new people who pray so seriously and repeatingly that it scared us so much. It was like they were calling the devil...hahaha We have many lessons with people who only speak Quechua but can´t read. And so my companion would try reading the bible in quechua. Its hilarious. 

I ate frozen yogurt at a store of a member of the church here in cochabamba after the incident at the cancha. I was pretty torn, but I´m better. Food always makes thing better!

It breaks my heart to hear all the sufferings that Sis. Jeremiah has went through, but it brings me so much comfort that she is at rest from her labors and is in a state of rest. I have been teaching about the plan of salvacion so much and I grow to love it more and more because we know where we come from, why we are here, and where we are going. I send all my love and prayers to the Clawson and Jeremiah Family. 

I have grown to be more brave in talking to people. I have learned to understand them and to teach them. I love my calling as a missionary so much. 

Funny story. My Zone Leaders are troublemakers and gullable me I sometimes believe their jokes. One night they called us and said, "Hey President gave us a goal as a zone. He wants us all to pray to Joseph Smith." And I was like..."THATS BLASPHEMY!" I almost did it....then they told me they were joking. They do lots of silly jokes....just wait til I get home. I will tell you everything about these clowns. 

I received a letter from Elder Wheeler.....how on earth does a letter from Japan only take 2 weeks to arrive in Boliva? And from Hawaii...I haven´t gotten anything yet...wahhhh oh Hawaii why are you so far.

Yesterday was pedestrian day and we walked CHOKE. A lot. I was dead tired that I plopped on my bed and slept early. I loved seeing all the faithful members who came to church despite that there weren´t any cars that day. Hermana Esperanza, the cholita that helps us in all of our lessons, she bore her testimony in quechua and it was so bonito..so beautiful because she expressed how there are so many people who don´t have an education here, they only speak quechua, don´t know how to read, but are so empty without the gospel, searching for the truth. She cried so hard saying how the people such as them need help...that the missionaries need the help of the members who know quechua to bring the gospel into the lives of others. 

Oh we made pizza with our pensionista one lunch day. It was fun!! We made it with ketchup....people make pizza here with ketchup..it was actually pretty good. But we hung out with our pensionista that day because it was the first time her husband travelled to work and she was sad, missing him. It made me think of ya´ll when mom would travel and I missed her so much. So we stayed with her and helped her feel better :). 

Gabriel....you make me so happy that you are choosing for yourself to serve a mission. Know that it will be the best years of your life. The hardest but the best...I want you to choose to go when you want to go based on your desire and not because I am here and not home with you guys. I want you to enjoy the mission and to learn the many things that I am learning. You will find so much joy in the service of the Lord and His children. You will have many companions that will drive you crazy...hahaha but you will learn from them and you will teach them too. You will become like our Savior Jesus Christ and get to know Him more than you can imagine. That I can testify. There will always be times of sorrow, and also times of joy. You will love the mission. I love it so much and I love you!

I hope this letter from this week finds you all in good state and good health. I miss you all and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family who loves the gospel. Go to the temple and be apart of this wonderful work of Salvation. 

Lo que quiero decirles es que estoy tan feliz de estar aca y que puedo servir mi Salvador. Y que les amo bastante.....que tengan una buena semana!!!!

Con Cariño,

Hermana Santeco

I forgot to mention about an article I found in the Liahona magazine. It is about a man from Brazil who walked 25 miles everyday for 15 years of his life just to go to church. Hes been doing since he was 14 years old. He had to leave the house at 3 in the morning and walked for 8 hours just to arrive there. In one year that is 300 hours of walking. He simply did it because he knew that the church is true. This is something I shared with all the members and investigators I had to motivate them to go to church. :)