Hospital Visits, Service, It's SO HOT, and Sad/Happy News!!!!!!!

What even happened this week? I only took 4 pictures, and I have nothing written down to put into this email. LAME.

On Monday Carol made us pork chops! We ate it while watching a church movie. We're so classy!!! We napped the whole day away on pday. because there is literally nothing for missionaries to do in Lake Havasu. Haha. The struggle is for real!

Tuesday a less active member who is actually a pastor for another church preached to us. It was literally 9pm and I kept trying to tell her that we were going to be late for curfew, but she kept preaching away. Ijole. I did learn a lot more about the old testament...

Sister Tui got heat exhaustion again. Obviously I need to go all mom on her, and tell her to drink more water. It's too hot here not to!!

We got cheap ice cream with money a sweet member gave us. Thanks McDonalds.

We went to visit Shirley Rader pretty much everyday this week. Poor girl is still in the ICU, and I almost cried when Chuck told us that he has melanoma again. :( I love them so much, and it's so sad to see my adoptive grandparents so sick!

"Well doctor. You know that I eat oatmeal every single morning.....Oatmeal cookies". An 80 year old investigator, who is in great shape but only ever eats sugar.... I love him. He's going to teach me the helping verbs song before I leave here!

It has been a long time since I cried as much as I did on Friday. We walked into our appointment with the Mccoy's. Before we even started with a prayer, Brother Mccoy told us that they had made a decision to no longer take the lessons with us. He cried, Sister Tui cried. His wife and I had dry eyes. Then as I was bearing my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, it hit me, and I cried like a baby. The more I thought about it, the more I cried. I just know how much this gospel of Jesus Christ blesses my life, and how it can help all people. I felt so bad for the member who came with us, because Sister Tui, Bro Mccoy and I could not stop crying. Finally we pulled ourselves together, invited them to continue reading the Book of Mormon, and to come to activities. I love that family, and I'm grateful that they  are letting us come back to tell them about transfers next week. I'm sad that it isn't their time to accept the gospel, but I know that one day they will!

As soon as we left that appointment, we were discouraged. "Sister, we literally just lost our last 2 investigators." I felt prompted, however, to try one more family. They welcomed us right in, and we taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It was so powerful, and they are excited for us to come back!!! What a blessing it was!

The next morning we woke up early. We did service for all the members who were moving. We cleaned, painted, and used our muscles to move things. We worked from 7am-12pm. 4 different members!!!! We are professional painters now. Hahaha. It was a blast to just completely immerse ourselves in service, it kept my mind off the heartbreak of the night before.

My mission mom Jodi, told me that my baby brother was born on Saturday!!!!!! Alistair Duncan! She printed a bunch of pictures out for me, and I have a set in my scriptures and the other ones on my picture wall! He's so cute, and I love him so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent most of our day on Sunday visiting members who are in the hospital. We have a lot of older members, and it seems like bad things happen in three's when it comes to the people in our ward. I made Minion cookies for Bro Rader's birthday, and we sang to him in the hospital! :)

"You know that you're Devany's favorite sister missionary EVER. That's saying something because there have been sooooo many!" Testas <3 one of my favorite families here.

We find out our transfer assignments on Saturday. July 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope I don't leave, but it's a 50/50 chance. Sister Tui and I are definitely not going to stay together this transfer, so who knows what's going to happen.....

I love serving the Lord and His children! I know that this gospel brings the hope of God's light into our lives. Hope In God's Light Mormon Message. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, He listens to our prayers, and guides us! I am so thankful for Him. Even when things are hard, I know that He is with me!

Happy Independence Day y'all! I love you!

<3 Hermana Cordova

*Ice cream, dinosaurs, and wanna be selfies with my baby brother! :)

Taking Care of "Bees"-ness

The craziest thing happened to Sister Tui and I last Monday! We had just finished planning, and I was gathering my laundry to throw into the washing machine. Sister Tui went to clear out the washer and all I heard was her whisper, "Sister.... sister.... sister." She opened and shut the garage door a couple of times. I walked over, and saw that our entire garage was covered in BEES! I quickly closed the doors, convinced her that the risk of dying wasn't worth it, and there was no way that I was going to get her clothes out of the dryer. Then we spent the night at the STL's house. It was past 9:30 when we were driving over, and the District Leader called on the way, and asked me to sing at district council the next day. Worst night of my life man. Sister Tui and I couldn't sleep at all, because the floor was so hard and the neighbor dog barked....The entire night. 

The next night we saw a guy in a complete bee suit standing outside our house. We talked to him for a little bit. He told us that bee hives grow a foot per year. He found the one in the wall. It was three feet tall, and had plenty of honey. He said all the bees in a 10 mile radius gathered in our walls for the honey. I was so upset that we didn't know earlier! Bro, honey is expensive! ;) Anyway. I'm sad to say that the bees were killed, and now we have a giant hole in the wall where the hive used to be. They didn't call us so I could take pictures. Sad life. 

We did a lot of member service this week. Especially for girls camp. The Deru's bought us sushi for helping. I think Sister Tui died and went to sushi heaven. 

I went on exchange on Friday with Sister Herman. I love her so much! She's has been my STL for 3 transfers now, and we've been on 3 exchanges together. We had a great time and saw many miracles in Crossman Peak. 

Quotes from the week

*"Sometimes, when you realize you're down to the last 3 squares of toilet paper, you have to pray really hard and somehow it always works out. It's like the miracle of the fish and loaves!" -Me to Sister Herman

*"Don't play with that! They're not brownies."-A less active member to his son.

*"Sister....Is the car still moving?"-Sister Tui, when our car died because of the heat, and I had already put it in drive....

*"If that happens I will jump in the lake and pray that a giant catfish will eat me".

I hope dad had an awesome father's day. And I can't wait to find out when the new baby is born!!!!!!!!! :) 

I've been reading a lot on the New Testament! I so grateful for the example that Jesus Christ is in my life!!! It has been amazing to read about the way that He led! I've been focusing on applying His example into my missionary work, especially being bold and loving, and teaching with the spirit!

I love y'all!!!

<3 Hermana Cordova

*Favorite family! <3 Testa's! And I totally used my Chill skills to make a fancy dessert! :)

*Best exchange ever!!

*Sushi date!! :)

Tui and I..... "How Can I Be"!

LONG Email...... #busyweek #Havasu #adventures #rockin'themissionlife #temple

Carol went to the temple this week!!!!! It was probably the best moment of my mission! I've never had the opportunity to go to the temple with any of my recent converts. (I always get transferred out before they go to do baptisms.) Exciting news! My favorite family ever, la familia Lozano, are going to be sealed in July! I'm hoping to go. And a bunch of my favorite reactivated members are going through the temple too! I'm going to have a lot of temple time coming up! I'm so excited for all of them!!! It literally makes my heart so happy!

I've been getting lots of emails from some of my favorite people from my past areas. So many of them have been doing missionary work, preparing for the temple, and progressing in the gospel!!!!! This is the best part of missionary work. I love seeing people change as they accept and follow Christ! I really needed their emails and messages. This past transfer has been frustrating for me. We knocked on doors all week, and no one answered or let us in. I haven't gotten to use or practice Spanish at all!And other things.....Entonces, Satan has been working super hard on me. I am back on my feet now, and won't back down!! My mission isn't for me, it's for the Lord, it's for His children! I just have to remember that! :)

#operationgummybear

We were at the church to run some copies of a cool talk that a member gave us. The ward secretary unlocked the library and made the copies for us. His stomach was growling super loud, and he mentioned that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, because of work and his calling. As we were driving through the parking lot I had the impression to give him the bag of gummy bears a member had given us. So I drove to the door, "You ready for this Sister Tui?". Then she  used her mad ninja skills, practically jumped out of the car, she ran as fast as she could, threw the bag into his hands before he could object, and ran back to the car. Then we made our getaway. He thinks we're crazy, but he loves us..... Sometimes it's fun to get creative when following through on promptings.

I bought $3 shoes at Walmart last Monday. When I walked in to District Council the Zone Leader yelled,"Holy crap Cordova! Your shoes are always so fly!". Then he was embarrassed and later apologized for not being professional. I though it was hilarious!

We've been doing a lot of member service lately. Because a) half of the ward is moving this summer b) it's too hot to tract c) we love service. So on Wednesday we were taking a nap during lunch. We were super exhausted for some reason. During the nap a member called, and asked us to come over to help her clean. We showed up, I told her I would take over the kitchen. She was so relived. The kitchen literally sparkled when I was done. Another day our service project fell through, so we felt prompted to visit another member. They were super stressed out, and trying to pack and paint. So I took over the kitchen packing, and Sister Tui painted. The Lord knew they needed help, and He really did guide us to them! It was so awesome to literally feel like His tools! #memberservice #SOGREAT 

I love the members here so much! We had a LONG ride to Vegas with the Deru family! It included an unexpected pit stop off the highway, poor Tori got sick. And then a walmart run. It was awkward because people kept stopping us.... I was like "Guys. Yes we know it's not Pday. We're not from here. Don't worry about it." Hahaha. The temple was amazing. I've missed it. I haven't gone in so long!!! I'm so grateful for it! :)

We got mooned by a member who just had surgery. I saw WAY more of her than I ever wanted to. She was like "do you want to see my incisions" and before I could answer, her pants were down. So awkward....

"Faith sees the invisible and achieves the impossible". I got this quote from a plaque in a recent converts house. I wanted to use it to preface the big news. We had a ward fast last Sunday. Part of it was for an investigator family we've been teaching since we got here. The wife and daughter have been coming for 2 months now, but he can't because of his truck driving route. They both have a sincere desire to be baptized, and it was a problem that we presented to the Bishop. He asked all to fast so that he could receive revelation for this situation. This past Sunday he told us,"The Lord wants them to get baptized". I almost passed out because I was so surprised and excited! We have to wait until Friday (when the husband gets back) to tell them. We are hoping that they will be able to get baptized by July 5th! :) #ExpectAMiracle

<3 Hermana Cordova

*The members now provide me with bibs. #thanks #duncans #messyeater

*TEMPLE!!!!!!!! and Deru family! <3

Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel!!!!

Last P-day we party hopped all afternoon!!! We went to the Bishop's house for a bbq, and dropped off food for their friends who are potential investigators. Then we drove all the way to the middle of nowhere, because we love the Cambells and the Duncans....No actually... I'm pretty sure it's just because we love oreo ice cream cake! ;)

We went tracting all week! All my missionary and former missionary friends! We need advice! Our mission doesn't really tract. We are doing it out of necessity, so pretty much we are wading into uncharted territory!!

The Lord has blessed me! Even though it was 110 degrees outside, I could function! We went tracting every single day, and it was awfully hot. Sister Tui at one point, sat on a driveway and declared that she was not going to move. I took her home, poor girl had heat exhaustion something bad. 

Rejection, rejection, rejection. I miss Hispanic people, they at least pretend to be interested...

I got trapped in a member's bathroom by her dog. He wouldn't let me out, I had to call for help, because he kept growling at me. Haha. That was an adventure!

One of out recently reactivated members asked us to sing "The Iron Rod" at dinner for her and her friends. She was moved to tears, the spirit is so strong through music! I love it! 

We went on splits Saturday night. I took Sister Lanifoti (her name in Samoan). She is naturally super shy. We talked to ever person that we saw on that street, and she broke out of her shell! It was so awesome! She is the best member missionary I've ever seen! She invited the people to church, and bore her testimony!!!!

This week I learned a very important lesson in Ward Council. "Lift where you stand". We all can lift another no matter where you are spiritually, physically, mentally. Our Heavenly Father has children that WE can bless, our labors are never wasted, our time never spent in vain! As we serve others, the quality of our lives improve, and we become the hands of the Savior. "The more we serve our fellowman in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. We become more substantive as we serve others--indeed it's easier to find ourselves because there is so much more of us to find." This week I invite each one of you to find someone to serve, someone to help lift THEIR burdens! This is not an empty comittment. I want to know how it goes. "When ye are in the service of your fellowman ye are only in the service of your God". (mosiah 2:17) What more can I say?

I love y'all. Have a great week!

<3 Hermana Cordova

*I made dog toys for a service project!

*We painted the hauck's house! They are moving to dumb utah! ;( (Mom: I even cleaned their baseboards and walls. Oh the things I do for service! ;) Hehehe. I promise I'll do it when I go home too....)

*I love these people!

*None of us no how to take a normal picture.....

*My companion the day after getting heat exhaustion....#braindamage? ;)

So yesterday I got really sick. We had dinner in the middle of nowhere and we were driving back, but we also had an appointment that we had to get to. I was like," Sister. I'm so sick. I HAVE to use the bathroom." Of course there was nothing but rocks, and mountains. We had already passed the one walmart in town.... Finally I saw the glowing orange letters of Hobby Lobby! "Sister! I'm saved! I'll just go to Hobby Lobby!" I sped up, as we got closer it dawned on me,"Dang it! It's Sunday!" I ran into the run down grocery store next to it, and narrowly escaped eternal embarrassment. When I got back to the car sister Tui whispered,"Sister, did you make it?" I said yes, and almost burst into tears when I told her it was a close call! "I almost didn't make it". She got really serious and said, "I prayed for you. I prayed that you wouldn't embarrass yourself. Then I did a little fast too! I didn't drink water until you got out of the store." (it was an emergency, I didn't even turn off the car, so she stayed outside....#dontjudge #emergency #sorrywhitehandbook). So yeah.... That happened.