I do all that for this‏

 Ashley and I at her birthday dinner

 Bowling

 Sometimes your third flat tire of the week leaves you stranded at a bus stop, but it's okay because there is hot chocolate at home.

 Yuri's baptism!

She was really really happy I promise. We just cannot get the girl to smile or look at the camera.

All I can really say is that it's been one of those weeks. Hermana Johnson and I were basically at the end of the rope this week. But some General Authority said "When you're at the end of your rope tie a knot and hold on!" So we held on, with a lot of help from a lot of different people, and we saw the blessings of it.

Last week ended with the birthday dinner for Ashley, Lorena's s the usual carne and other meats asada, and then a cake. The food was really good, as usual, the problem was that we had eaten lunch only a few hours before. Shout out to Elder Pugh for finishing his own plate and Hermana Johnson's and mine when we failed. The boy can eat. The over eating was all worth it though, to see Ashley get so excited about the simple things like getting her face stuffed in the cake, and opening her present from us, a piggy bank and stickers from the dollar store. It was so sweet.

Monday was fun, we went bowling with the elders and some of our ward missionaries. We learned three things 1. Elder Pugh is really good at bowling. 2. Elder Chavarria is very competitive and doesn't like to lose. Especially at bowling. 3. I am spectacularly bad at bowling. I probably had the most fun though because I flat out didn't care about the game. What can you do.

And that's when the crazy started. The main reason for the crazy would be our primary source of transportation: the bikes. We got a record of 3 flats with some other random problems thrown in there within like 4 days, so that was fun. Hermana Johnson managed to pop both of her tires somehow, I popped my front one, her chain got wonky, and my front wheel got busted, so we had to replace that. It was as much of a nightmare as it was an enormous headache. Thank goodness for the elders who brought us rubber cement (twice), random members who helped us out, and the fairly decent bus system to get us where we needed to go. Hermana Johnson is convinced that she was never supposed to bike on her mission. But we survived! We conquered! And it lead to one of the biggest miracles of them all....

YURI'S BAPTISM!!!
I can't even describe all my feelings about this baptism. First of all it was almost zero stress. The font was filled on time, and was the right temperature and depth, she passed her interview (which finished 15 minutes before the baptism was scheduled to start, that was a little stressful) everyone who was supposed to be there was there mostly on time, the talk showed up (well the talk was given by me), she remembered her towel, she was early to church on Sunday to be confirmed, the Spirit was felt by all, basically it was perfect. Yuri was happy, her family was happy, the branch was happy, the elders were happy (it was Elder Pugh's first time baptizing and confirming someone, he was really excited) and we were happy. Though I still wish that she didn't have to wait a month it was well worth the wait.

Which leads me to my subject line, I do all that for this. I eat way to much so I can see the joy in member's faces knowing that they are feeding the missionaries. I ride my bike and endure all the fun things that comes with that so I can go and teach people. I have sometimes quite awkward conversations with everyone so that I can find just one person who is prepared. I tolerate the elder's shenanigans because really they do so much. I put my own pride, and comfort and choices on the line everyday so that everyday I can grow a little bit closer to the Savior, who did the very same, and who did it perfectly. And He did it all for us. So that way we could have bad days and good days. So that we can feel the joy in the simple things. So that we can repent and change and grow and become better. And at the end of the day, everything I do, I do for Him.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Hermana Christensen