Almost 13 months

okay, I swear that I just made a year....but how is it possible that I will be making 13 this week...

Potosi is beautiful and I can not stop saying that because it really is. But this week....was a long and fast week. My companion and I went to Tupiza to do companion exchanges with two other companionships of sisters. It was awesome to be with one of my ex-companions Hna Castro! She is awesome and she still makes me laugh til this very day. But this week was a lot of learning for me. A lot....and I am so grateful to be able to learn here....I learned a lot to be humble and to accept the Savior in my life.

Tupiza is full of red hills and lots of dirt. Going there was a huge climate change for us. Traveling there was a pain. We took a bus from Potosi to Tupiza for 5 hours and had to sleep. We left around 9 and arrived there at 2 in the morning and when we left tupiza we left at almost 11 and arrived home at 5 in the morning. There were lots of snoring people and the seats were not the best but I was tired enough to knock out dead. It was hot in Tupiza. It was nice to go back to breathing normal in Tupiza, but the hot....it made me miss the cold. I was able to really bond with my companion Hna Crawford as we traveled together and did companion exchanges with the sisters.

The cold is getting colder and I am about to buy some clothes today. Do not be surprised if I take out some money out of my card....Its seriously cold here....but its awesome! Last night I made dinner and made some rice with egg flower soup. It was delicious. I missed me some shrimp and good old soup. I came to a conclusion with my companion to ask you to do me a favor and send me curry paste??? hahaha and tell me how to make stir fry noodles......I would love some ideas to cook because now that we are cooking dinner, I am really loving to cook and to eat. Or if not we eat out and this past week, we ate some good pizza and lasagna! 

But on the spiritual side...I honestly learned so much from my companion and our Savior to be humble. Being sister training leader in Potosi is....not easy. But its really a humbling experience. Its lots of sacrifice and lots of work. As I mentioned last week, my companion and I are the only sisters in our ward as missionaries is not very common in Bolivia. There is usually 4 at least. We both are new to the ward and the area and having to leave to Tupiza, we lost 2 days of work in our area. We are still getting to know our area and the members, but we honestly take on the challenge really excitingly. I learned this week, that sometimes you just got to really let people be as they are....when they do not want to change...you just can not do anything but love them and invite them....I know that the Lord understood me of how I was feeling these past days and He could honestly see that I needed Him.

Hna Rumualdo called me the other night and told me about the miracles that are happening in Villa Luz. One of the Martinez family members finally accepted his answer to his prayer and will be getting baptized. It filled me with so much joy and I thank God for preparing him and bringing us to him. I love to see how that area continues to be filled with so many miracles.

Last Pday we went to the mines. It was totally like an underground hike, It was interesting and really an adventure. It was cool to see how things goes under there.

My companion and I are working really hard here not just with our area, but with all of the sisters that we are in charged of. Its really a challenge out here, but I honestly love it. I am so excited for general conference. It is coming up so quickly. I can not believe how 6 months went by so fast. But its just a beautiful ride through it all...

I am hoping that you are all excited for conference as I am! It is really what we need right now.

I know that the Lord lives and loves us and truly understands what goes on in our lives.

Crazy thing....the mission secretaries are already asking me what airport I will be having to go to and if my parents are going to pick me up. (I believe not right? I would like you waiting for me there and the vaccinations will probably make mom sick i believe?.)

I love the mission life. I love it a lot and I hope that I can just keep working hard til the very end. I want nothing but to be here and serve the Lord. I give it all to Him for telling me that I needed to be here...and I am finally here and loving it all...

I love you all and I hope you all had a wonderful week. Until next time,

Hna Santeco