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

Week 16

Pentecostal Church!

I attended my very first Pentecostal church yesterday. It was quite interesting! Our apartment manager Andrew and his family pretty much run show and he has been inviting us for a log time. He is the best apartment manager ever! Well it turns out his dad is the pastor and his sister directs the songs they sing and the band... It was a good experience but I still think the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the way to go:)

Its been a tiresome week! We pretty much ran out of miles for our car and have been riding out bicycles around all week. The good news is that its not as bad as we thought but the bad news is that we get a lot less things done. This week has made me supper thankful for the car.

Yesterday, an investigator named Roberto from Mayfield got baptized! It was honestly a miracle. Roberto has had three other baptismal dates and he would always chicken out at the last moment. He had been taught by some missionaries a while back and then his mom was going to get baptized and he had some how convinced her not to. They had been dropped but then one day Roberto saw us come in to the store that he worked at and had asked us to go and teach his mom. So we did and we have been teaching them for some time now. Roberto had had a baptismal date with us about a month ago and had decided not to because he had decided that he didn't have the right reasons because he had a crush on my companion! Anyways we learned our lesson and just had the Elders teach Roberto instead and now he is baptized and his mom is getting baptized on Saturday.

Funny story about that. This last Sunday was also Mayfield was having their Branch Conference and the stake president was there so he had the chance to attend the baptism. Well during the baptism Guadalupe, Roberto's mom somehow told him that she was getting baptized on Saturday and asked President Okuda if he would do it... haha when she told me about it I was like wow! Guadalupe you've got guts!

I love resent converts! They are so new to the church culture and really just outshine everything! Roberto called us this morning and gave us the number and name of one of his friends down in Paducah. Its really amazing to see the change this gospel bring to people like him. I know that there are great blessing in store for him and that he will grow so much.

Enjoy your summer:)

    Hermana Orellana

PS I have become a Facebook missionary! I will now be able to share the gospel on line. Search for me! (Hermana Julia Orellana) but just a heads up to friends outside of my mission and to family- I wont be able to message you or be in contact with you at all while on Facebook. You will be able to see what I post but I will be "unfollowing" you so that I can focus on the work that I was called to do. So please everyone behave yourself and keep the communication to email:) Love yall!

Week 15

Its been a great week! Its been supper hot and humid and sweaty and I am browner than I have been in a long time.

I had the greatest opportunity to ride a bike this month. We have a car but we only have a certain amount of miles every week and this month we had to get car inspections which means that we were 200 miles short this week and now we have to bike. It has been tough but I am glad that I don't have to walk. Hermana Winder and I make it as positive and we can.

We have a new investigator by the name of Juan Cortez. He was a referral from the Elders and has been to church twice. We invited him to be baptized on Saturday and he said yes! He is all for it and it is such a miracle! We are supper exited for him. He is one of those people that can just talk on and on and on in a circle and we struggle to try to change the subject back.

There is an investigator in Mayfield named Guadalupe who is fantastic! She has a love for the savior and wants so much for her children to be on the right path. A couple of weeks ago the Elders in Mayfield asked her if she would get baptized and she said yes! We will be preparing her for her baptism on July the 5. We don't get to see her often but plan to talk to her on the phone and have some lessons that way so that she will be ready when the 5th comes around.

This transfer is flying by! As my compa says "time flies when you are having fun".

I love missionary work. If you want to be happy all you have to do is become a missionary:) most importantly I have learned that obedience is the key to happiness. Heavenly father has made a plan for all of us to find happiness in this life and I am here to share that plan. I love this gospel I know that it is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I have been reading its pages and I have been praying to know if it is really true and every time I ask it is the same. The Book of Mormon is true and if you have not had the chance to read it I challenge you to do so and pray to know if it is true. I know without a doubt that you will receive an answer.

I love y'all;) stay cool

               Hermana Orellana

Week 14

I took a dry erase marker yesterday and I circled all my bug bites on my legs and then I counted them and they turned out to be 23 on my left leg and 19 on my right. If I counted that right it was 46.... kidding I actually got at least 4 more bites last night. Today I am making a trip to the nearest Wal-Mart and buying some bug spray and some anti itch cream.

It was a great week and a fantastic fathers day! So this last Sunday the Paducah ward split in two. The ward boundaries were pretty far some people use to have to drive more than 30 min to get to church every Sunday so last week they opened a Branch in the Calvert area. Everything is in limbo which means that we don't have a ward district leader and we probably wont get one for a while. Even then though, church yesterday was supper spiritual! One of the most amazing Sundays I have had on my mission so far.

We also did a lot of knocking this week because a lot of our appointments fell though but it wasn't too bad because at the end of the week we had 10 new investigators! Things are looking up in Paducah even on cloudy and rainy days.

We had some tough days this week but yesterday was by far my favorite. The Paducah boundaries cover a country town named Metropolis. Yes like Superman town. They even have a giant statue of Superman in their town square and the news paper is called The Planet and all that jazz. Its all country fields and rolling hills and we have some amazing members over there. We spend most of our Sundays up in Metropolis visiting these members (because most of them are less active). I want to talk specifically about three dads that have become pretty special to me.

First of brother LaRoe, he is fantastic! He is this big guy who has a chicken farm and a teenage daughter. Brother LaRoe has had a chronic cough for 12 years where he coughs and coughs until he passes out. He is hard working but was layed off a couple of years ago because of his sickness. He survived against all odds and has come back stronger than ever. He is still battling this sickness but he is a hard worker who loves his daughter and all he wants is to live long enough to send her off safely. He has a love or life.

Second is Brother McCraw. Bro Mccraw is a mix martial arts fighter. He is a prison guard and a fantastic dad! He has a tough time with the gospel but man do his daughters love him! He is funny and kind of scary but all I can say is that after dinner he will lay on the carpet by the kitchen (his daughters follow everything he does) and he will make noises (that his daughters imitate) and they will make music and it is the funniest thing in the world. He loves to have fun.

Lastly is Brother Schneider. Brother Schneider has a son named Adam who had a car accident a while back and was paralyzed. Adam cant talk or move by himself anymore and needs help from someone 24/7 and that someone is usually his dad. Adam is a whole other story but the guy who keeps Adam safe and alive is his amazing dad. Brother Schneider adores Adam like I have never seen before. He sits with him every day and watches over him. He is Adam's best friend. Brother Schneider loves service.

I am grateful for fathers all over the world who love their children and work for them so that they don't go hungry. Those fathers who would give their life up for their family, those who love their wife and who serve quietly and don't get the credit that they should. I am grateful for my father and the short time that we were able to spend together. And I am grateful for my Father in Heaven who has given me all I have and who blesses me everyday. I am grateful for his perfect love for me.

Con todo mi carino,

            Hermana Orellana