Week 20

This week we have preparing for Juan's baptism! He will be baptized  on Sunday and we have been struggling to teach him everything that he needs to be taught. This week we had a slight problem with mosquitos. Since Juan is a single man we teach him outside and for some reason the mosquito population of Paducah gathers right at Juan's house to listen to us teach. Well Hermana Stokes and I had prepared with some repellent but even then I counted at least 200 bites on her legs, arms, and head. I myself was bitten but it was nothing compared to hers. I have been trying to nurse her limbs back to health ever since.

It has been HOT in Paducah these days and our numbers have seen better days but we are happy missionaries.  In all I would say that It was a good summer.

This Saturday we had our Pioneer activity in Mayfield. The whole stake gathered together to celebrate with some food and games. And then on Sunday Hermana Stokes and I got asked to give talks in sacrament meeting. We talked about hastening the work and aimed it toward the mission aged teens. We were each just suppose to take 10 min but I don't know what came over me and I above and beyond my time. That has never happened before which was why I was not very worried abut going over my time but not filling it up. Lets just say that when I finally sat down I was extremely embarrassed and probably wont ever get asked to give a talk again in this ward.

Well, that was it for this week. As I said to one of the recent converts in the ward, the life of a missionary rarely changes and I start to feel like my life is not as exiting as it was at the beginning.

Talk to y'all later!

             Hermana Orellana

PS I finally got my camera back! Here are some pictures of my silly companions and Hermana Winder and I at transfers.

Week 19

Hey y'all!
Well I am still in Kentucky! And I have a new companion. Hermana Winder went home this last week and I will miss her like crazy. My new companion actually served with her the transfer before me. Her name is Hermana Stokes and I was so STOKED to serve with her! She is 5'1" with brown, almost blond, hair. She has a great smile, writes shorts stories, lives in Idaho but grew up in Oregon and she does not eat meat! She is a blast! I cant wait to see miracles this transfer.

This week was great! Some of the highlights were the fact that I am driving again! Whoo! And of course transfers. I got to see my mission mom Hermana G who is currently on her last transfer before she goes home. And I got to send home one of the best companion that I will ever have and a new life-long friend.

We are currently working on getting our investigator Juan Cortez ready for his baptism. He has a date for this Sunday but there are still a lot of lessons that we have to teach and we are struggling to get a hold of him in order to teach them all on time. Ether way he will be entering the waters of baptism soon. It was a real challenge to teach him but I am starting to see that change in him and as we continue to teach him we can see him opening up and being humble about learning. He is an old stubborn man who believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that this church is true and that is it! We have the hardest time getting him to accept anything else. But he is willing to live a righteous life and that is all that matters.

Cool story! As we were knocking doors the other day we ran into this house that we thought for sure would be Hispanic. This lady answers the door and begins screaming at us to get out of her porch. I try my best to calm her but she screams out "I DONT BELIEVE IN JEHOVAH WITNESSES" Ha! My companion then says, "we aren't Jehovah Witnesses we are Mormon!". This totally confused her and so she asked, "so could y'all help me? My husband just died and I need someone to mow my lawn". We said yes and then worked our way to teaching her a little about the Plan of Salvation but not too soon into that she starts crying and saying that her husband loved Jesus and crying out "PRAISE JESUS" "OH LORD YOUR WORDS HURT ME", "WHAT WILL HE LOOK LIKE?", "WHAT WILL HE SAY TO ME?" ... We spent 20 min on her porch trying to calm her down and to look at the pamphlet for some guidance. We eventually left and will be going back to mow her lawn this week. We will see if she read the pamphlet. Maybe she will be baptized?:) I love my mission!

My brother is going on a mission! He got his call and is going to serve a full-time Spanish speaking mission in San Fernando California for 2 years. He will be leaving October 22! I cant even say how happy I am! I know that he will see miracles and that he will grow more than ever.

Did anything crazy happen to y'all this week?

Hasta la vista!
      Hermana Julia Orellana

PS I left my camera in Tennessee and it is currently being mailed to me so there wont be many pictures until next time.

Week 18

Sooo........ I went fishing last Monday! And I caught 2 and 1/2 fish! Two of them I actually got on shore and the other one didn't stay on the hook too long. Fishing was amazing! Brother Schneider bought two special poles for Hna Winder and I. They looked like really long bamboo sticks with string attached to them. We got to fish in the little pond behind their house and use real worms. All of the fishes I caught were little Blue Gills and I actually healed one of them! No one else would but I really wanted to make my fishing experience complete and so I pulled up my pants, found some courage and grabbed a hold of that fish while Bro. Schneider pulled the hook out of its mouth then I released him back into the pond. It was a great day and one of the best P-days I have had so far:)

This week we have been trying to avoid the fact that Hna Winder is going home on Wednesday. We had a celebratory dinner in Mayfield with Guadalupe. She made chilles rellenos and they were supper good. Yesterday we also got transfer calls and it turns out my new companion will be Hna Winder's last companion Hna Stokes and I will stay in Paducah for at least 6 more weeks!

I got some good news from home today too! My brother Gizmo got his mission call last Wednesday! He hasn't opened it yet but I am so exited! Going on a mission is the best decision that I have ever made in my life.

Enjoy the pictures!

              Hermana Orellana

Week 17

Guadalupe was baptized! I will be completely honest... there were many times that I thought that day would never happen. This is just proof that Heavenly Father can make anything happen. He is a God of miracles.

We spent a lot of time on Saturday helping Guadalupe prepare the tamales and the atole for the refreshments/dinner that she made for everyone. I am getting pretty good at cooking! This whole time I thought it was a talent that I didn't have but now that it is a necessity I have had to step up my game. I can now proudly say that I can cook beans and rice, make tamales and tuna pasta:)

The baptism itself was amazing! Both Roberto and Luis were there (Guadalupe's sons) Roberto as you all know was baptized last Sunday but the real miracle was Luis! Luis has never set a foot inside a church building. He is stubborn and we have tired to teach him before with no success. He is the most down to earth guy I have ever met and reminds me soooo much of my own brother. It has been tough to get to him but last Friday Roberto took Luis to a barbeque over at the Stake presidents house and latter that day Luis drove Guadalupe to her interview in Paducah and actually came inside! The test was getting him to the baptism (Luis had not attended Roberto's baptism). So we worked with him and with a little help from Elder Carlson we committed him to come to the baptism. Also during the time that we were over making tamales Luis finally brought down some of his defenses and we were able to see Luis for the fun, playful, and jokester that he is! Luis came to the baptism and I know that it wont be too long now for Luis to also be baptized.

Im sure I have said it many times but I LOVE my mission! I LOVE the gospel and the change that people go though when they join this church. No matter who it is or what their story was before you will always see a light in them the moment they are baptized. They are happy. The gospel brings happiness because it is true and anyone who is close to someone who became a convert cannot deny the light that it brings. I LOVE being a part of this change and I love the change that I see in myself. I know without a doubt that this is the true church and I cannot deny it.

Until next week:)

            Hermana Julia Orellana