"Hna Draper, what happened to my birthday cake? There is a hole in it."

Buenos dias :)

HEYYYYYYYYY

Hurricane didn't hit us that bad, just some power outages and a few fallen trees. We were instructed to stay inside, but started going stir crazy. The Elders called to ask us to stop by their apartment and grab a thumbdrive they had forgotten before leaving to go play basketball at the church. So we headed over to their apartment with a few things.... We may or may not have dyed their milk different colors, decorated with toilet paper, and written "Ministry of Magic This Way" above their toilet. And a few other things. We did end up eventually picking up the thumbdrive and delivering it at the church too. We played some volley ball with them to pass the time. Once it started to rain a little harder outside Hna De La Rosa and I headed back to our apartment. I spent 4 hours on our map. It now looks beautiful. With every member and less active and apartment complex and key points pinned with different colors and labeled. Ya. Perfectionist problems. 

So all in all, Irma didn't hurt us too bad thankfully. Blessings :) Thanks for the prayers!!!

Been doing a lot of knocking with not much luck, but that's ok, we still enjoy ourselves and the reactions we get when people answer the door :) 

Aracely is slowlying overcoming smoking! Step by step. We have been helping her process through what situations tempt her to smoke and how she can counteract them. Lately she has been painting her house, so with that to keep her busy she has been doing great! 

Missionary Leadership Conference! Ya, Sis De La Rosa and I are still Sister Training Leaders! The conference was great and it was so good to see dear other missionaries who are in different areas. Something that Sister Foote shared about the sacrament really touched my heart. She was telling us about the symbolism behind why we use broken bread for the sacrament. Instead of identical wafers, a loaf of bread is broken into pieces in front of us as we sing hymns. Each and every piece is different. Just as we are. We all have been hurt, we all have sinned, each and every one of us are struggling in unique ways. We have specific needs and different vices. But the Atonement of Jesus Christ heals all wounds, all sorrows, all pains. It is individual. Our Lord and Savior sacrifice and suffered for you and for me and for all of us. 

Just as the Savior loves us uniquely, we must also minister in the same manner. We must strive to teach, serve and to lift one by one as Christ did and does. 

We were trying to find some former investigators with addresses from some old teaching records and ran into a guy that the Sisters had met a few months ago! His name is Steven and he is from DALLAS TEXAS!!! The wonderful place of my birth. We bonded. His brother even knew where Farmers Branch was!! We passed his info along to the English Elders and they called him that night. The next day we got a text the next day saying "Steven is on date" He's getting baptized in a few weeks!!! Miracles. 

Lolita and Yadif got in a pretty bad car accident that was caused by another car crossing the median and hitting them. Yadif got some staples in the back of his head and a black eye, Lolita has some fractured ribs. We called the Elders as soon as we found out and they came to give them a blessing. 

Maria and the kiddos!! Another fun lesson with them about the commandments :) Finally met her husband Diego, he is reallllyyyyy shy. 

A really special moment in my mission happened Saturday afternoon. I was able to Facetime a dear friend of mine that got baptized later that day. (My mission president is that best and gave permission) My heart was SO happy to see her dressed in white and willing to take upon her the name of Christ. We also got to talk on the phone that night and boy have I missed her!! God works in marvelous ways my friends :) 

So, there was a fiesta. Everyone brought food from their country... so of course, I stuck a tiny pizza in the oven and brought that. Merica! They had a program and it was SOOOO cute to see the kids doing dances from their home countries and the parents as well. Us missionaries did the Macarena to a church parody of Despacito. We do what we can. Maria came to the fiesta too!!!! 

Lizbeth, Ricky and Linzy CAME TO CHURCH! Lizbeth hasn't had a full Sunday off of work in who knows how long, but she did Sunday! She finally got to stay for all 3 hours of church and she LOVED it. Sis De La Rosa sat with her during Sunday School and Relief Society and told me about a comment that Lizbeth had made about tithing (that was the topic in Gospel Principles). She had said that there is something that keeps drawing her to the church and she already has a testimony of tithing! After church was over Lizbeth came up to me with open arms (I had been playing the organ for Sacrament Meeting and then in the youth class and then in primary and hadnt had the chance to say hi yet) and said "Mi Hermana Cortinas!!" Sidenote: my last name. Spanish speakers can't say it right so most just opt for Cortinas... which is curtains (get it, drapes?) in Spanish. I asked her how she liked church and she looked me in the eye and said "It's just what I've been looking for." I felt such happiness and hugged her again. She is slowly traveling along the right path, Christ's path. She is finding more light and growing closer to her Savior. 

Also about church, I have become the unofficial Primary music person. I never realized how hard it is to control 10 kids under the age of 12 and to attempt to teach them to sing songs. I must admit, I have resorted to bribing. Cupcakes tend to do the trick. 

Found a cool lady named Maribel who was dying her hair bright pink when she answered the door. Her hands were blue and so I asked about that. "The blue dye didn't stay in, so I'm doing pink." Way to be you girl. 

SUNDAY WAS HERMANA DE LA ROSA's BIRTHDAY. She is a whopping 21 years old. In the morning I read her as many scriptures as I could about growing older, waxing old with age, gray hair. This morning she opened the fridge and asked, "Hna Draper, what happened to my birthday cake? There is a hole in it." She told me she at first thought it had been a rat or something but then figured it couldn't have been, it was in a plastic box in the fridge... "I was hungry. It's chocolate." 

Yo se que esta vida es un poco dificil a veces, pero valdra la pena. Tenemos que ser firmes y fieles en la fe y podemos hacerlo por medio de la expiacion de nuestro Salvador. El nos ama y quiere que cambiemos :) 

Con Amor,

Hermana Draper

Sarah posing with letters and pics from the Corinne 2nd Ward Primary