You should get a prize for making it all the way to the end.

Hey there friends!! This week has been busy and absolutely delish. Let me start with last week. We got a referral from the Stake President who actually is english speaking - but at his request he wanted her to be taught by sisters and we can kind of see why. She's the wife of a man in our ward. Our first appointment with her was really great!

On Tuesday last week we had had three lessons planned and as we went throughout the day - they all got cancled or were no-shows. BUT, we still got our three investigator lessons! We felt very led to still be able to have those three lessons we had wanted and were really excited to have so many unplanned opportunities to practice teaching.

On Wednesday we had planned to call one of the members so we could come visit here later on in the day. We called and there was no answer so we just stopped by - we usually don't do that, but we were glad we did. She had lost her phone and so we wouldn't have been able to come over at all last week. But as it turns out, she was leaving to go to the pharmacy down street and instead of shooing us away (which is what we're used to) she invited us to come with so we could talk and enjoy the company of one another. We went and had a lovely time. We all came away a little bit spiritually strengthened and it was super fun!

Thursday we had a super fun dinner appointment with a family - we eat there every Thursday. This week Hna. Barrios taught us how to make a delish Guatamalan green sauce for chicken and rice. I'm really excited to try it some day :)

Friday we got SO much food!! We decided to go to Nick's Bistro (on Squire road in Revere) to get some food and come back to the chapel to eat with the other district and hang out. I decided not to get very much - I just got an order of sweet potato fries (I feel like all these things revolve around food...mmmh!). That was a REALLY good thing :) Because everyone else got too much food so I got to try some calzone and other things. Then, we went to a lesson but ended up not having a lesson and just getting Spaghetti with Meatballs - and these meatballs aren't little cute ones that you see on Lady and the Tramp. two of them put together would give you a pretty good size baseball - and Sis. Hildenbrand and I were each served 3!! We got SOOO full!!! 

Saturday we didn't get a whole lot of work done because we had to help the primary rehearse for Stake Conference on Sunday, and then we actually ended up getting invited to go to stake conference on Saturday evening, so we went. And in between, Hna. Fuentes took us to a delish taco place - Taco's Lupita in Lynn. (These really are all revolving around food...I must be related to my dad...and I'm proud of it!). But before the rehearsal we had an awesome lesson! A member from Cambridge had given us a call the week before to ask if we could come visit her great grandma and her aunt. So, she came an hour to be able to be in the lesson and it was awesome! She basically taught the whole 2nd lesson in less than 5 minutes. And the way she taught it was super clear. We knew we made a good impression because they invited us to EAT! More food!! That's the thing about the Hispanic culture - but you know you're in if they offer food.

Sunday we went to the 2:00 session of conference (our stake is too big to fit into one session so they split us into two). We got there early to help the primary get situated but they didn't all get there until 5 or 10 minutes before. They were AMAZING!!! They seriously put in 10-15 hours of practice and it totally paid off - out of all the musical numbers they were the best - they were the first right after the sustaining and it really set the tone and invited the spirit for the whole meeting. It was so fun to play the piano for them! I totally saw Jenn!!!! It was super fun!! She was so sweet and even brought me a cute little bag of goodies :) The conference was amazing! It was cool to hear how different people's reactions were but the thing I really got from it was the VITALITY of going to the temple often! It makes me with that we could go to the temple every week. Everyone who can go every week, go!!! or as often as you can - as long as it's consistent.

Monday was a blast!! We went to the reenactment of "The Shot heard Round the World" in Lexington. A member invited the missionaries living within 30 minutes to park at his house and have breakfast there after because he lives.4 miles from where it took place. While, we actually didn't see a whole lot (lots of tall elders standing in our way), it was fun to get to see all our missionary friends and meet a few new people. Then we got to go to the temple afterwards. We basically just got an extra p-day this week because of the holiday. We were going to go check out the Boston Marathon - but sitting out in the 80 degree weather just to watch people run past didn't really sound all that thrilling. We got to check out a couple thrift stores and then take a nap before we went back to work.

Yesterday was absolutely fantastic!! We decided to venture to Peabody - there aren't many hispanics there, but we got some information from a member in Revere and we picked the right street!! We seriously spent 2 and a half hours contacting and got lots of good solid contacts! We were totally just being ourselves and sharing the gospel in a meaningful way. I love being a missionary!! We were ringing doorbells on this one building, and a lady answered on the speaker thing but didn't let us in. But...a few seconds later, a little boy who can not be more than 1 or 1 and a half years old, comes out to the top of the stairs and beckons us to come in. The door was locked, but, undaunted, he climbed down a long steep flight of stairs step by step, holding on to the rail, and opened the door all by himself. he told us to come in...so we did! We followed him to his apartment and he ran in and yelled "momma!" she yelled back (in Spanish) "What are you doing with the door open?" And she came to find us at the door! She was a little surprised, but super nice and welcoming. So, we talked to her for 5 minutes or so and made a return appointment. That little boy must have known just how important it was that his mom talk to us.

This morning, we broke our tradition of going to Nahant every last p-day of the transfer. But, we played a sweet game of volleyball...we might even venture out and go play soccer at the Allwyfe field....but we'll see. We're kinda tired from our morning jog and some crazy volleyball (I got a little smidge of my volleyball's goodness - I made some pretty sweet returns and almost blocked a spike ;)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! This email is super ridiculously long!! You should get a prize for making it all the way to the end.

LOVES!!
Sister Kate