Cockroaches and Gratitude.

Things are crazy and I don't even know what time is anymore! I can't
even believe that it is already September. Within the past two weeks,
a lot of good things have happened! For one, we have taken over
another ward. We are now working with an English ward along with H10,
so we are SO BUSY. There is literally always something to do here.
Sometimes I feel like there just isn't enough time in the day to get
all that we need to do done, but the Lord always seems to provide the
way.

We are working with some really awesome new people! As a zone, we have
a goal to talk to 15 people at least four days each week and we have
seen so many miracles from doing that. We have found part member
families that nobody knew existed, people that tell us that we have
been sent from God into their lives for a reason, and a lot of other
cool things!

Something that has really stuck out to me this past week is the power
of the Book of Mormon. We were visiting Lupita, Adam, and Gabriel this
past weekend and they bore incredible testimonies of this holy book.
It is amazing to me that even an 11 year old boy can see the
difference that reading each day makes in his life. When we asked
Gabriel about he Book of Mormon, he told us that it makes him happy
and so did his 8 year old brother who has read the entire children's
book!
The Book of Mormon has so much power and can change lives. That's why
we have to read it EVERYDAY! It's the little things that make the
biggest differences. The Book of Mormon is the best! Don't
underestimate the impact that it can have on your life!

The other day, we went to a really sweet lady's house to visit her. It
turned out that she was in need of some help cleaning because she is
pretty old, so we went to work.The house was pretty dirty. There was a
dog covered in fleas trying to get some loving, and cockroaches and
dirty everywhere.
To show her appreciation, she cooked for us as all of the sweet
Hispanics do! As we finished up cleaning, she sat us down at the table
to eat. I looked at my plate of food that was made with so much love.
Spaghetti, bread, rice, and meat. As I began to eat, I noticed a
cockroach run a crossed my plate. I hit it off with my fork and
continued to eat. Then I noticed another little guy running across my
plate. Naturally this just made me a little bit worried about what I
was eating, because I am a big baby when it comes to bugs. It's funny
though because it seems that at the weirdest times, I have spiritual
moments. As I looked down at my plate and the little bugs all around
me, my heart was just filled with so much gratitude. Never in my life
would I have had the opportunity like this again where I would get to
spend time with such amazing people who show me so much love. I have
been so blessed during my time in the mission and that is all I could
think about.
I love the people out here and I love all of the opportunities that I
have had that have helped to to grow. Missions are the best!

Love,
Hermana Rupp