The sunsets here are pretty cool

So, bad news friends. I forgot to bring my planner with me today, which I usually write notes in of the interesting things that have happened. So this week you only get to hear the really memorable stuff I guess because all I have to go off of is my own memory! 

So we have a pretty legit looking day planned for us in the near future. Miguel is scheduled to get baptized on the 21st of the month! That's also the day that Elder Holland is coming to speak to us and our investigator Donna's son is getting baptized that day as well! So, it should be pretty awesome. 

This week I also heard a crazy story about a couple that met in our ward. They're 18 years apart! So, she was serving a mission in Chicago and he was in the area that she was serving in. Apparently they didn't super like each other but the start of the last week that she was there he thought that he should ask her to come back and date him. She told him he was crazy and he told her to pray about it. And... they got married like a month later and have been married for 30 years. It doesn't sound that crazy writing it out but when they were telling it, it was crazy. So sorry to be anticlimactic. 

This week we spent more time at the doctor for Sister Stokes so I took the opportunity to think about writing in my journal. Ha, no I did write in it but it takes soooo long to do! I'm so far behind. On Saturday though I got sick as well but, we still went to all of our appointments and followed all of the mission rules. I threw up all over the sidewalk on our way out of an appointment. It got cleaned up, I got febreezed down, and we were on our way to the next one. Although (this is a little gross so you might want to skip it) as crazy letter of the law as Sister Stokes might be, it's not everyone who would clean your puke up off of the sidewalk for you so that it doesn't dry out (it's really hot and dry in Albuquerque by the way, sometimes it creates so problems). So, that was a fun day. 

We had something super crazy happen to us yesterday, we were walking down the street and we saw a guy walking his dog. We stopped and talked to him for a bit and he looked at us and said "You know, you should really call my girlfriend, she used to be a member and has been thinking about coming back. She said that if she saw missionaries she would do it and you are the second set we've seen so I guess we better get on it." And then he gave us his number too because apparently he is thinking about getting baptized. So, that was crazy. 

I don't remember if I told you this already but the sunsets here are pretty cool. Part of it is because of the flatness, there is just a lot more sky to look at and change colors but most of it actually is because of the planes that are always around here. There are always planes flying around and the trails that they leave pick up the colors from one area and pull them into the next as they travel so the colors of the sunset are much more blended. I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out too great. Sadly, there is only so much that you can do with a few seconds and a point and shoot and minimal skill. 

Well, that's really all that I can remember that happened. I'm sure something else super legit went down and as soon as I send this and leave I'll remember but, I guess that's what I get for forgetting my planner! Ha, all of the days blend together; I can't always even keep track of what day of the week it is. 

Did any of you read Elder Holland's The First Great Commandment talk? If you didn't you should read it, it is awesome! What I have been reading about this week again and again is the idea that Christ talked about when he said "They draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me" While he was talking about the teachings of other denominations and practices, I have been thinking about how we live in our own personal lives. It's easy to recognize that something is good and right and that we need to do it and to tell that to other people and to even tell that to ourselves, but to actually do it, is another thing. To actually become as Christ like as we can and continue to do and be all that we can is something much harder and much different. And it requires a lot of work and a lot of humility. President Uchdorf's "Lord is it I" talk is one of my favorites, and it is all about that. 

Anyway, hope you all have a good and exciting week, a fun Valentine’s day and that you had a good and fun Austria day and New Zealand day! 

Love, 

April