Facebook pictures

So I had 2 sweet ladies contact me through Facebook.  They are both in Hailee's ward and wanted to send me pictures of her!  This ABSOLUTELY MADE MY DAY!!!  To see pictures of my sweet girl (on the day they were taken) was amazing.  These ladies had so many nice things to say about Hailee.  They said I had a beautiful daughter who is an amazing missionary, so happy,an angel, and so kind and compassionate.  They said she sends her love to us!

The Mission is a Dream

Wow I love the mission! I cannot even express my love for the mission. It is literally a dream come true for me. This week was pure magic. First I want to say thank you to all my family on my moms side that sent me letters this week. I recieved a letter from each cousin and aunt and uncle and it made my whole week to get to hear from all of them.

Fun fact for you this week!!!! Here in Uruguay during this time of the year there are tons and tons of whales passing through!!! At the beaches here you can sit and watch the whales and they are pretty dang close. There are about 30 right now that are super close. After writing you all I will be heading back to the beach to watch the  whales. It is spectacular!!!

This week started real rough. It was hot and all our charlas fell through so we basically walked in circles for two days straight. But man there is opposition in all things and how grateful I am for that. After the hard times comes the greatest of miracles. We have a new investigator ahora that i think is going to be my first convert!!! He is 16 and his name is Franco and he is what we call oro (I don't remember this word in English, haha) but man he is awesome. He knows nothing about Christ or anything so we are starting fresh and I have high hopes for him. He is super interested and just awesome - wow! We taught the Plan of Salvation and he understood and accepted everything!!!

We had our conference in the temple this week and what a blessing to get to go to the temple and be spiritually refilled. We talked a lot about how God literally cannot give us the miracles we want without faith and action on our part. I have worked really hard this week on having my faith stronger and then acting on it and man it is changing my mission for me!

So Marcela, as I have said, is an extreme alcoholic dealing with very serious issues. We visit her each day and usually she leaves or just cries or says nothing. I was starting to become really discouraged and then miracles happened. The last 4 days she has smiled and laughed. I have learned the trick with her is talk about the US because she misses it so much. She prayed for the first time this week. I cried the whole time. The ability to watch someone change because of the spirit is absolutely indescribable. I have never felt like this! She has started reading the Book of Mormon with us and she danced with me in the kitchen and laughed. Quite the change! She is still dealing with extreme depression but she is changing 'Little by Little'. I  truly can see her in the temple 3 or 4 years from now. What an amazing momento for me!

We endured a flood this week. Our boots were literally full of water, it was windy and cold, but we endured and walked all day in water up to our shins almost, haha. The roads were completely flooded but once again opposition in all things and después is the miracles. We have been using the Young Women here a lot for charlas and I absolutely love it. We usually have a noche de hogar about 3 times a week. This ward is amazing haha. I  never want to leave Maldonado.

I would love you all to read the talk by President Uchtdorf called "He will place you on His shoulder and carry you home". It is amazing and really explains the power of our Savior as our friend. This gospel is real. It changes lives. It makes people truly happy. I love my mission. I have never in my life made a better decision. It kicks my butt sometimes but man after that it gives me the sweetest of moments. Thank you for the love and support. Have an amazing week.

Le quiero,

Hermana Labrum

104 Days

Wow I literally have 104 days in the mission. Man how time flies!!! This week was awesome. We are making a lot of progress with our investigators and we are getting work done, haha!! I will not lie, Saturday was one of my hardest days in the mission because well as you all know my best friend for my entire life got married. Michelle Perdue is now a Gillhouse. It was a hard day for me in the mission but I am so, so proud of her.

This week we had a noche de hogar every single night with one of the ward members. We have an awesome, awesome ward. They are literally like family and it is amazing. We explored a new part of our area for the first time this week and it is the area right beside the beach and wow! It is absolutely stunning! It is literally nicer than most places in the United States haha but when you have areas like this people are not quite as receptive, but it was a great time with lots of contacts but no futures. I had a fun moment during this, haha. A man we talked to only wanted to talk in English so of course that is my responsibility and guess what??!! I literally could not speak English for anything. Every other word, if not more, was in Spanish and it was absolutely horrible haha, but it really showed me how much my Spanish is improving. It was a great moment for me.

So we are visiting Marcela everyday and it is really hard. Addictions are awful but she is trying and we are slowly making process. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see her situation but she said her first prayer this week and it was such an awesome moment. I had a very strong impression to have the elders give her a blessing so I asked her and they gave her one and it was an extremely powerful moment. We also have a girl named Venus who was baptized when she was 8 but left the church at 11 so she knows really nothing but we are working with her and I have never felt the Spirit so strong as when I testified to her that I know this church is true. It was absolutely spectacular and guess what?? She came to church this Sunday!!!! What a blessing to teach this gospel every single day.

I read in 2 Nephi 4 this week and wow it is one of my new favorite chapters. It talks about the difference in praying and pouring out your heart and it is amazing. I have really been working on praying with real intent this week and I have seen a change in my life because of it. I am so grateful to have the gift of prayer and be able to talk to my Father in Heaven whenever I want. I hope you all have an amazing week. Know that Hermana Labrum is enjoying every moment of her mission.

Le Quiero,

Hermana Labrum

3 Months!

I have officially been in the mission for over 3 months. Pretty crazy how quickly time flies but also how slowly time moves. I have to say this week was amazing and definitely a game changer for me in the mission. I absolutely love the mission! Every part of this week was amazing. I am learning to forget myself more and more and I am watching myself become so much happier. Spanish is really starting to come!!! All of the members say it is great (but they are just nice) haha. This week we found 6 new investigators and had a noche de hogar with a member each day so we have definitely been staying very busy. I am absolutely loving my companion; she is such a blessing for me and I am loving the mission life.

Some fun things that I love about Maldonado for ya: There are beautiful green and blue parrots that fly around everywhere here, there are gorgeous flowers, we eat lots of tortas fritas (like fried tortillas with dulce de leche), and drink a coffee that isn´t coffee that all the members give us. We have a panaderia across from our house so we eat lots of sweets during the week. We have the absolute best ward in the world. They are amazing! They have really become my familia and are always helping us with whatever we need and bringing us food and just wow!!!

There is one of my investigators I want to talk about. Her name is Marcela and we found her in the street. We passed her and then automatically Hermana Guth and I turned back around and she started crying and told us she needed help. She is a heavy alcoholic but wants to quit and so we walked her home and had a charla about Gods love for her and then the next day we came back and cleaned her house with her. All of her family lives in the USA so she is super lonely and does not want to live anymore. We are having daily contact with her and sometimes twice a day to help her move towards Christ. We have set goals for her to stop drinking and it is really hard but we are going to get there. Sharing with her about Gods love for her was amazing! It is so neat to watch her start to understand this.

I am so grateful to be here. There is not a better feeling in the world than touching someone's soul and watching them change but also watching yourself change. Every time I teach I feel a joy that is indescribable. I know without a doubt God loves each of His children and this church is the true church and has the power to change every single persons lives. I hope you have an amazing week. Thank you for all the love, support, and prayers.

Le Quiero,

Hermana Labrum

Week One in Maldanado

Well let me start by saying I am in a whole new world, haha.  This place is nothing like Pando. I miss my sweet little Pando but man this place is beautiful. I am in one of the main parts of the city where there are people with lots of money (very different from humble Pando). Now since this is a white wash area, we are completely starting fresh. I do not think I have ever walked so much in my life. We walk about 7 hours straight each day. It is absolutely exhausting but it is great, haha. People are friendly here but not quite as receptive to hearing our message. We currently have nine futures for this week but no investigators at the moment. But we are working hard! I am absolutely loving it. It is the best feeling to go to bed each night absolutely exhausted because I know I put my all into the day, The ward here is awesome!!! There are about 90 members which is so different than the 30 in Pando and I love it. They are so friendly and so grateful to have sisters because there have not been sisters here in over 5 years.

My companion is amazing. This is her last six weeks so that is a little hard watching her have to leave but she is a hard worker and we work great together and I am learning a little Portuguese, haha. 

We have been working a lot with the young womens president here and with the youth. We assisted young womens this week and went to visit menos activos and I am loving it. They have a lot of them struggling in this ward and I love being able to be with them and teach them and share my testimony. It is amazing here!

Today we were in Punto Ballena which you will see pictured below. Wow!! It is absolutely beautiful. Casa Pueblo es aqui tambien and wow it was an awesome day. We did a zone activity and my zone and district are awesome. I am definitely in the most beautiful part of Uruguay.

Also I have a new favorite food.....but I am very scared of it, haha. I have no idea what is in it. Someone please look it up for me, haha. It is called Chorizo. What am I eating????

I had a really amazing opportunity to finish the Book of Mormon this week and this was my first time to truly read it and really read each part. I know without a doubt this book is true and is capable or blessing and changing every single life in this world. When we read it with real intent our possibilities are endless. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to serve.  The mission is hard but it is so amazing to watch how much my life is already changing and how I truely am becoming my first convert. Have an amazing week. Thank you for the love and support.

Le quiero,

Hermana Labrum

Se Va Pando

Well the week of cambios has come and I will not lie, I am absolutely heartbroken...and happy. I can not explain it, haha. But I am definitely not your normal typical first missionary. I have a new trainer! I am on my way to Maldeñado to open a new part of the mission. The area had elders about 8 months ago and Hermana Guth and I are reopening it. She is from Brazil and this is her final 6 weeks in the mission. I will not lie, I am so sad to leave Pando and my friends here but I am trusting in the Lord.

 

This week we had a red alert!!! This is the first time this has happened here in at least 7 months which is when the weather gets so bad we have to go home. Well we got to run through this storm for about 30 minutes because we were so far out and it was awesome haha!!

This week I was with my investigators Elana and Felipe and they told me about this hidden village about 20 minutes from there. Well of course I wanted to find it. Pictured below you will see me crossing a river. Yes this is missionary work to the extreme. I crossed a river and hiked through a forest for 20 minutes and found a village. Well the first two people I talked to became investigators! I have my sweet Maria (the one on the bike below) and Alejandra. They live in an extremeley humble area and it was amazing. I cried for about an hour, but man I love the mission. They are keeping commitments and I have big hopes for them in the future with the new missionaries here.

We got to go to the temple today which was of course amazing. I have just had a great week. I loved the mission everyday. I love finding these amazing people and learning so much from them. Ether 12:4: Remember to anchor our faith in Jesus Christ. We can literaly do anything if we put our trust in the Lord and remember what He has done for us. 

Tomorrow morning I get on a bus to Maldeñado to start over. I have realized it does not matter where I am because my Heavenly Father is in charge and is sending me where I need to be right now. I love you so so much. Thank you for the love and support.

Le quiero,

Hermana Labrum