And for Breakfast I'm makin' Waffles

"Thanks for my taste buds  so I could know that the hashbrowns were not cooked". -A little investigator girl when I was on exchange. 

When I was on exchange the members made us breakfast food! Waffles, hashbrowns, and bacon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It made going English for a day, and leaving my area slightly better! :)

So it was a pretty busy week, but I don't have a lot to write about!

I'm just going to send pictures and random stories..... So like my usual email only shorter...

We got the miles on our car cut, so we are having to walk a lot more. It makes for some interesting stories, and sunburns for Hna Davis...

We were knocking on doors before night church. One lady got super excited and welcomed us in. Needless to say I was a little bit confused. It took her 5 minutes to realize that we were different missionaries than the ones she used to meet with. Hahaha. 

Then an ice cream truck lady waved us down! My life dream of getting ice cream from an ice cream truck was fulfilled! Turns out she's a member, and she wanted to do something nice for us!!!!!!! It was so cool!!!

There is a lot of roadwork around here. So on Thursday we had an interesting experience. We couldn't go right, and we could not turn left, so we had to drive straight into the west mission. We were screaming. "Sister don't hit the car" "Bro, I'm not going to hit the car." "I know. I know. I'm just stressing out. Sorry I'm just paranoid. Man I'm sweating a lot." Then she started fanning herself with a piece of paper.... Which she then started destroying, "Oh my gosh. I'm destroying things. rararar". (t-rex roar)  We turned around as soon as we could... #mentalbreakdown #westmission #freakout

We've gotten really good at teaching together! We taught 2 first lessons in one day, both under 15 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!! So crazy! :) And we found 8 new investigators this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Miracles!!!!!!!!!

Mark 10:27 is my scripture of the week!!! Read it! And also if y'all watched Because He Lives, let me know what you liked about it! :)

I love y'all!!! Have a great week!!!!!!

<3 Hermana Cordova

*we deep cleaned the apartment, and found twister in one of our closets! Winning!

*Trying to get out of exchange, by pretending to be hunchbacks..... 

*all the single ladies!!!!!!!!!!! A picture from a training the mission mom gave... I totally sang that song in Hna Davis' ear....

9 month Mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super amazing week! Crazy Stories from North!!!!!!!!!!!

So this week, we were walking down a street, trying to contact one of our former investigators. We were just walking, minding our own business, when suddenly we hear a bark. Then a HUGE black bear dog comes running up to us growling. It was literally about to attack us when the owner came outside and started yelling at it. My heart literally dropped, I was so scared, we almost died.....

Our recent convert Jose was blasting music outside of his house. We got a little closer only to hear that he was jammin' to MoTab! So proud of him!! haha.

Navy, my favorite member ever!!!! She comes out with us like 3 times a week! She is an amazing member missionary! I love her so so much! So we took her out after the Welcome Home ward party for Sergio. As we were dropping her off at her house we serenaded her by singing "Meow-ave Maria". Yes. We meowed the song. It was beautiful. Tears were shed, hearts were moved. ;)

 "Estoy sordo en mi butt"-Hermana Davis...... "Hermana sordo means deaf, not sore"-me "Oooooh......"

So we had a super cool experience on Saturday. Our appointment fell through, but we already had a member out with us. So we went to an apartment complex to try our backups. We walked around it, but no one was home. It was kind of frusterating. Then on our way back to the car, I saw a lady walking out of her house. I felt strongly that we needed to talk to her. So we did, she works at a soup kitchen, that is not in our mission, but our member (Stephanie, one of my other favorite members. She's the coolest youth ever) got interested in volunteering on the weekends. We talked to her for a good 5 minutes but she wasn't interested, and then went on our way. Then a boy who was limping stopped us and said, "Are y'all missionaries? I really need a prayer right now. My brother got shot last night, and I really just need you to pray for him". So we did. He looked like he was more at peace as he walked away. I realized as we walked away, that if we had not stopped to talk to Donna, we would not have had the opportunity to cross paths with the boy. It was a very humbling and amazing experience. 

"Mary will you live the word of wisdom" "I'm already living it, but yes." I love her, she is so prepared for the gospel, but now she wants to wait for her husband to be ready. We have an appointment with them tonight. 

Free fried chicken friday!!!! Was a no go. There were way too many people there, so we decided not to wait in line. BUT on Saturday we didn't have a member dinner, so we decided to go to Canes. Somebody anonymously paid for our dinner. It was such a surprise, and it was so nice! Free fried chicken saturday!!!! For the win! Also they played some of my jams!!!!!!! I was a happy missionary! :)

 So then on Sunday I was asked to translate. I wasn't really paying attention when obispo whispered in my deaf ear. I quickly realized what I had agreed to do, and went over to Sergio (the recent RM). I told him, "I cannot translate! I don't speak enough spanish. Will you please do it for me." He agreed, but then when I was supposed to go up, he whispered and said," I can't do it hermana. I think they want a girl to do it." Hna Davis said all the color drained out of my face, and I said, "I can't do it." "Hermana, you have to do it."-Sergio "I'll pray for you"-Davis. I've only ever translated for one on one interviews. I love doing translation work, but it was in front of 200+ people. I was so nervous and embarrassed  I realized that I really need to work on not just having gospel vocabulary, or missionary lesson vocab, I need to branch out and work harder to master this language. So yeah, I translated, not well, but the message got across. Then I wanted to die.

Later at night church I gave a talk on the atonement. I know that through our SAvior, Jesus Christ we can overcome ANYTHING! I know He loves us, He has passed through everything before us, so we never have to be alone. I'm so grateful to be a missionary! I get to help others feel His love, and the peace of the gospel.

Y'all I hit my 9 month this week. NOT okay! I'm so sad!!!!! I'm going to try to make the next 9 months even better than the first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I love y'all so much!!!!!!!!!

<3 Hermana Cordova

*Free canes

*St. Patrick's day cupcakes :)

Death Symptoms, Bob Marley, and Vicious Giant Rat Dogs

So I was super sick for 4 days this week, and we only went out to appointments. We could not figure out what was wrong with me. I was dizzy, nauseous, feverish, and had a hard time eating. It was rough. I slept a lot. I was super sad, mostly because I was in full missionary mode, and tried to convince Hna Davis to let me go out. She wouldn't let me... I guess it was for the best though. 

I got attacked going up to a potential investigators house. There was an ugly rat dog barking at us. Usually they get scared an run away. This one went after me. We both screamed and ran backwards. The lady was in her garage the whole time, she laughed, and told us that she didn't want to talk to us. Ijole. 

One of my green smoothies exploded and went everywhere. That was fun. 

We had an awesome family home evening with a few recent converts. It was so awesome! They are all so amazing!!!

I learned how to make tortillas, at our investigators house!!!!! I was a pro by the end of the night. "I can get married now. I can make tamales and tortillas, now we'll never starve."-Hermana Davis. 

So, yeah....... That's pretty much all that happened this week. 

"We are surrounded by those in need of our attention, encouragement, support, comfort, and kindness. To find real happiness we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves. No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of others-the fulfillment of which brings true joy". -President Thomas S. Monson

This week I started the New Testament during personal study. I'm hooked. I'm reading it side by side with the Book of Mormon. Oh my goodness!!!! I have never been happier to be a representative of Jesus Christ! Oh my gosh! He is amazing! I love the parables He uses, and the love that He had for the people! I'm so grateful to Him! I'm grateful for the amazing opportunity that I have been given to preach this gospel, to bring the happiness of His gospel into the lives of others!!!!!!!!!

I love y'all! Choose the right. Remember who you are! Serve and love each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Les quiero! 

<3 Hermana Cordova

Oh..... Darn. I totally forgot the Bob Marley story.....

So we were walking down one of the streets in our nicer areas. We were going to talk to a group of people in a garage. Sister Davis said no. She said she didn't have a good feeling about it. We then realized that they were playing beer pong, on a Wednesday night..... They were awful at it, by the way. Then they turned the stereo up as we past them, and they were blaring Bob Marley, singing and swaying. Defiantly drunk......

<3 Hermana Cordova

Unexpected Blessings!!!!!

So not going to lie. This week was so hard. We started off the week by getting dropped by 7 of our investigators. In one day we went from having 10 people, we were actively teaching, to 3. It was the saddest thing ever. It was really really discouraging too, because we were also struggling to find new people. So to help myself not stay discouraged I decided to look specifically for unexpected blessings.

List of Unexpected Blessings/ Cool Experiences:

• We find a lot of pennies on the ground here. So we like to pick them up, and we both have jars of change that we through them into. Since week one we have been hoping to find a quarter. Quarters are a rare species in street money. So we were walking down a street on Thursday  we talked to like 5 people in the course of a few minutes, and pretty much none of them wanted to talk to us. I was feeling kind of sad, and then I looked down, and there was a shiny quarter sticking out of a couple of rocks. Not going to lie I almost cried. I know that finding a quarter is not a big deal for most people, but it was a way that my Heavenly Father let me know that He is aware of me, and that He loves me. #magictoken #quarter #blessings
• A few seconds after I found the quarter, we started to talk to a guy in his driveway. We found out that he hasn't been an active member of the church for 20 years. We are the first sister missionaries that he had ever seen or talked to! It was so cool! Then he told us about his home teacher, he has been dilligently going over to visit him, since he moved into this area. He knows the church is true, and we encouraged him to go to church this Sunday, to start his journey back!!! :)
• I saw 2 big guys run out of their car to help a little kid with his bike tire. He was riding home from school and he fell. The guys helped tighten his bike tire, and helped the little boy back onto his bike. So cute.
• Member Miracles: All the members who were going to come out with us canceled this week. It was super frustrating  because we couldn't get into some of our investigators houses. We went to dinner on Friday, super stressed out of who we could ask to come out with us to a particularly important appointment. The members we were eating with said, "Hermana's we are really tired, and it was a really long week for us. We remembered that you have an appointment with Jose at 7 tonight, and we would love to come with you". I was so relived. Heavenly Father listened to our prayers, and we were able to have an awesome lesson with them!!
• Then as we were walking in an apartment complex, we met a member from the West mission. (he's the landlord) He stopped us, and totally made our day by giving us 3 referrals to hispanic families in the area!!! 
• Also we saw a cute little boy practicing his ninja skills.....It was right in front of our car and we couldn't move for a couple minutes. But it was pretty cute to watch. 
• Because we don't have investigators, we've had the opportunity to start biking again!!! Which not only helps us find people to teach, but also to make room for the triple dinners.....

WE had 3 dinners in one night. Hahaha. I prayed for more space in my stomach!!! 2 of our investigators wanted to feed us when we went to our appointments with them after dinner.

Rosa and Alejandra got baptized this week!!! Oh my goodness, it was so spiritual! And their mom told us, "Hermanas. MY kids are so happy here. I want to be baptized too. I'll do whatever it takes, I know that this will help my family so much!!!" We will be teaching her the first lesson tomorrow!!!! 

OH my goodness! And our recent convert Jose is already such an amazing missionary!!!! He asked for the number and address of a less active family he met on Sunday! He also invited a family friend to come to church with him! AND he is sharing the gospel when people ask him questions about why he doesn't drink coffee or alcohol any more!! SO proud of him!!!!

I know that the Lord loves us! I know that sometimes we might feel frustrated, and disappointing  I know that those feelings drive the spirit away! I have a testimony of prayer!!! I know He listens! I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven. He has shown me so much love, and so many miracles. I'm currently sick, so that's not fun, but I know if I continue to pray for strength and push through, we are going to see miracles this week!

I love you all! Never forget that you're not alone! I encourage you all to prepare for General Conference! It's coming up pretty quick! Think about questions or concerns that you would like to resolve, and then prayerfully prepare to feast upon the words of the prophets and apostles!

HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK!! I LOVE Y'ALL!!!

<3 Hermana Cordova

*Cute amazing family! <3

*Got my first intense bloody nose at sports last monday!!! Thanks Elder Kempton!

*Cold pizza dinner....Standing outside of the car......In the church parking lot. #homelessmissionaries #rockingit

Punked, Avoided, Bathroom Horror Stories, and a Baptism!!!!

We got hard core punked by the singles ward sisters this week. We were chillin' in our   apartment (they live in the same complex), and getting ready to do daily planning. I was sitting in my spiny chair, when we heard a very threatening sounding knock at the door. We both screamed like little girls, and then we ran into each other. We kept running back and forth from the peep hole, to the sliding door, "Do you see anyone "Nah man. Do you see anyone". WE got out our big knife, and then opened the door, only to see a little sticky note from the Singles Sisters saying, "Jesus Les Ama". "NOT okay, singles sisters. NOT OKAY". They laughed at us the next morning and sports, and said they heard the screams.....

"I feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel"-Quote from high karaoke guy. Drugs are a problem in this area......

Ways we got avoided this week:

• "Bro, just tell them you don't speak english". Suckas! We speak both! :) Hahaha
• A heavy lady squeezed through a tiny hole in the fence so we wouldn't have the chance to talk to her. It was slightly hilarious to watch
• "I don't believe in your religion. I worship el santo muerte". She worships the devil....I've never gotten that one before...

As a missionary I'm put into a lot of awkward bathroom situations. Mostly because I drink a lot of water.... This week I used the worst bathrooms ever!!! (Inside joke time: One was a throwback to poop rainbow) I've started carrying toilet paper, and soap in my backpack now... Y'all be nice to the missionaries and clean your bathroom!!

We drove past a teenage member walking down the street this week! She gave us a popped popcorn! It made our day! :)

"Hermana, I just broke that plant with my butt". I accidentally backed into a dying aloe plant. It snapped and I got aloe on my skirt.

"Jose Juan and Cristian, the angels are dancing in the heavens. I'm sure batchata". Ohmgee I love Spanish ward!!!

I was sitting in Relief Society, and my chair suddenly decided to break. I ended up on my back and dazed.... It was super awkward, and my pride was wounded...

We had one of the best baptismal services ever!!! The spirit was so strong the whole time. We were freaking out, because we weren't sure if any of the suits would fit Cristian, but everything worked out! It was amazing! Our member fellow-shipper was able to baptize them both! It was incredible! I almost cried, and I never cry at baptisms!!! It was beautiful!!!! Also the member who referred them actually was able to come!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I encourage y'all to pray about your friends, and ask to find those who are prepared to receive the gospel!!

Hermana Davis and I will be together for at least another 6 weeks! :) We found out on Saturday! We are rocking north! :)

<3 Hermana Cordova

*Joselyn....... *sigh* Every single picture! :)

*My favorite member ever! Mayren comes out with us all the time!!!!! 

*"It's just me, my family....Oh and the Virgin Guadalupe"....

*We like our food...... Reason #309093092 why we haven't lost weight...

*Vazquez family! Best fellowshippers ever!!!!!!

*Our recent convert, Jessica takes such good care of us! She gave us bowls of lucky charms before the lesson! #winning #magicallydelish

<3 Hermana Cordova