Monday 30 December 2013

Merry Christmas


So I'm running out of time, but I finally found an internet center that can send pics soooo I"m hoping it actually works!  a picture's worth a thousand words, right?  So, actually I wrote A LOT!

This last Saturday we got to go to a super legit activity at the park by the temple with the family we are teaching. It was super awesome and the kids were all soo dang cute. Although I will say that it took all 4 of us adults to keep them all corraled together and in one peace. There were people dancing, different choirs and orchestras and just absolutely incredible lights everywhere!
But the coolest part of the night was when we crossed the street and got to take a walk around the temple. The feelings were just sooo sooo soo different. All of the sudden it was quiet and peaceful (even though the kids were still sprinting everywhere). We got the chance to talk with them about what takes place in the temple and that the sealings (marriages)  performed there last even longer then ¨until death do we part¨.  It was a really awesome ending to the night. I´m super grateful for them.



 My zone out here in Villa Mella!  They're awesome, and we love hanging out together, which is a huge blessing.

Our district - they are the best!

Apparently we've taken the super-hero thing to heart :-)




I've got a lovely bunch of coconutssss!


super cute gift from the tanguays & awesome photo album update!


Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree!


Christmas morning

Christmas Dinner


Hna Kofe in our favorite rocking chairs!

p.s. isnt this picture awesome?
also his name is Elvis -
double awesome!



all fancy for our Christmas and our Skype dates with the fam bam

Hna Mejia & Romero - we were over them last transfer; Hna Mejia is now in another area.

BBQ with our district, plus the other two girls we're over as STLs (Sister Training Leaders)

I finally learned how to play dominos (all dominicans are obsessed)
and another dominican game that is alot like Trouble or Sorry



love you and miss you
I´ll see you in no time!!!
your old fart, almost 22-years-old, daughter

P.S. Got a whole bunch of packages for christmas, halls, gma coe, doug & laurie and katherine. Am sending out thank you notes, but you can send them my thanks and gratitude if you talk to them. Also, I think I´m going to have to start running to start working off all the chocolate.... oops haha

P.P.S. Tell G'ma Irene I love her and loved her package!  We absolutely adore her potholders & dish rags! They make our home beautiful and we use them every dayyyy!  The old ones were getting pretty toreeee up - haha!

P.P.P.S. Got an entire box (24) of nut goodie bars from doug and laurie. I´m OBSESSED. Now I know why you are always raving about them, Dad!!! Don't be tooooo jealous ;)

Monday 2 December 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!


Haven't gotten any mail in FOREVER. And not because it's not getting sent, but they neverrrr come to drop it off!  haha   I cant wait until my leadership meeting on Wednesday so that i can go pick it up!  Also hna Christensen is moving to Gazcue, my very first area! So she'll be way closer and I'll actually get to see her!

Thanksgiving was weird, really didnt feel like thanksgiving since its not a holiday they celebrate here. Basically investigators just brought it up and asked how homesick we were since our family was all together eating..... heyy - thanks guys haha!!
But we ended up celebrating sunday with a yummy "thanksgiving" lunch after church. we had mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (from a can), turkey gravy (from a jar), steamed vegetables (from a bag), and bbq beef. It was yummy, but now that i'm writing it all out, it really doesn't sound that yummy haha... but it really was. We made do!

And the highlight of our meal came courtesy of our fave menos activo, Alberto. He told us he had a surprise for us and to stop by Sat night. When we got there. he had had to run out but his family told us he had left something for us ... and guess what it was? A DELISH cake-pie-thing called "tres leche" -- it is seriously the best.  He is seriously the sweetest. ANND he came to church again Sunday so we're pretty dang stoked about him.

We've been getting a loooot more lessons in recently, like we went from an average of 16/17 a week (not including with menos activos) to 24/25 every day. Its been crazy seeing the area explode, we visit our investigators a lot more times each week and we're seeing a lot of progress. I've literally never seen anything like it on my mission. Plus we gave BofM.s to the cute family we are teaching and the two oldest boys were super stoked.
All in all, we're excited to keep working and moving forward.

love you guys tons!

Monday 25 November 2013

Great Week (and some bike riding ;-)

This week has been way good! Parts stunk (like waiting for 3 hours (not consecutive) for the Relief Society president who never showed, or Bishop bailing on our noche de hogar without calling or anything (and we'd traveled wayyy into the other sisters' area to get there...), but other parts were so awesomee!  

Like --

Our menosactivo, ALBERTO, coming to church and saying that he'll come back next week too!!  Successsss! - 

And, we finally got a ride for another old (former?) investigator and her husband -

2 youngish (20-year-old?) investigators came -

Andddd, a man and his WHOLE family (4 kids and him and his wife) -

We were running around like crazy, but it was awesome. We have worked soooooo hard for this so hopefully we can keep moving forward.


And today was way fun -- we ended up going to a zone activity that was at a gorgeous park. We weren't planning on staying very long so we didn't end up bringing clothes to change into, and we were the only sisters there, but Hermana Kofe talked me into volleyball and pretty soon everyone joined into our game. It was a blast, even though we were sweating like crazy in our church clothes (nast... haha!) -- and we all know that my volleyball skills are well... they're getting better.  

We're really trying to help our zone be more united, and to talk to us. (Note from sue: sounds like she an her companion are the only female missionaries in her zone) There's this awkward segregation because no one wants to cross the line of flirting, but it's dumb when we're always off to the side alone because no one will acknowledge us. Plus the elders are all like 12, soooo no worries there - haha. But it was good, and afterwards we rented bikes and rode them around the park/lake.  It was so fun, and weird to me that that's how so many missionaries get around.  weirdd
So, I was going for super hero, but ended up looking more like a cheerleader...
But it was gorgeousss day, and my bike even had a funny little basket up front!

So, we feel good!  I'm glad we got out of the house and ran around a little bit, sometimes we're just so cooped up. We're either working or sitting studying in the house. But things are good, we're gearing up to put in a second effort to work with the ward... and on the brightside, after last Sunday, they finally started to notice us and our efforts. Can't believe how fast time is passing, We're starting our last week of this transfer! And I'm quickly coming up to my first christmas away from home, and my 22nd (gross) birthday!

Love you all! Thanks for everything!

kenz

Monday 18 November 2013

Love yer dang missionaries, folks!!


Heyy thanks for all of your emails, I was so excited to get them since we haven't had mail deliviered in like 3 weeks! Also meaning I haven't been able to send anything out sooo, I´ll basically have a buttload when the time comes (next Thursday)!

This week has been looooooooooooong ... oh, so long. We´ve been in this waiting game with moving houses and it's been killing me. The elders kept telling us - oh, for sure last weekend; oh, for sure Wed or Thurs; oh, for sure Fri... And then we finally got the call Saturday that we were good to get the keys. It was so hard trying to think about when in the world we would have time to pack, how we would get everything there, taking down bunkbeds, rescheduling appointments. A compelete mess. But after four loads in a tiny truck that absolutely robbed us price-wise, in the RAIN, and hauling it all upstairs, with the help of our angel district and zone leaders, we got it all up there to our beautiful, brand-new, squeaky clean, never-been-lived-in-by-dirty-elders-or-anyone-else-for-that-matter apartment. But after dealing with having to buy waaay more things than we had planned for (like parts to hook up the gas) and not having electricity at first, we finally got everything figured out.

And even after a nap on Sunday, we´re all still good and exhausted, and still have citas and an old apartment to clean, not to mention that tomorrow Hna Kofe and I are supposed to do intercambios with the other two girls we are over (that have been pushed back way too many times to cancel again), then interviews with the mission president on Thursday,  which moves district meeting to Fridayyy ... holy bjoly. Literally this week is a big fat mess. But we're dealing and I'm proud of us for it -- holding the other girls together through all of it and just trying to make progress a bit at a time (like getting groceries we desperately needed and copies of the keys made today!)  Little victoriessss!!!!!!!!!


But here are my thoughts for the day...
(please excuse the venting; 
I feel like this speech has been preparing itself all week - haha!)

So, you know how in conference and every broadcast ever, and basically anything else that comes out these days from the church, they are always talking about how members and missionaries need to work together?
I´m here to testify that it's true, 
and that when members don't step up and help, missionary work is like
 swimming in cement.

We´ve really been struggling with working with the members in this area and gaining their trust, but it has been soooo hard. This ward has a lot of desires, but just can't seem to make the time or put in the effort to make it happen. This ward just needs so much help. It is TINY on Sundays, but has enough members to make TWO STAKES. 

And last night we went to ward counsel and I seriously almost ripped my hair out, it was so frustrating listening to them talk about the menos activos, saying terrible things about how it's their own problem if they were offended, and that they want to focus on the people who 'had potential to come back'. (this coming from mouths of people who've done the offending) 

I finally couldn't keep quiet, I was so frustrated. My WHOLE mission has been working with menos activos. Literally the whole thing, and it looks like things are going to keep up that way. And I LOVE them sooo much, and it made me so frustrated because ALL of them have the potential to come back!  I´ve seen so many miracles working with them, and who are we to judge who is and is not ready to come back without giving it the time and effort that THEY deserve.

I finally told the members of ward council that, honestly, it didn't matter why they stopped coming to church; what matters is that WE are doing what we can to help them come back. They have all made covenants with their Heavenly Father, and if we can't do our part to take care of the sheep that we´ve been given, how can we expect to be trusted with new baptisms?

I´m not sure if i stepped on anyone's toes, but I tried to say it as respectfully as I could.  It just stunk.

Afterwards we went and met with one of our menos activos who we absolutely love. He´s 22 & one of the most genuine and funny, but incredibly shy person we've met. He is so weighed down with the mistakes he's made in the past, and it's hard to see because of his huge potential. He wants to come back, but it is just so scary for him, and honestly, I´m scared for him too. I´m worried about what some ward members will do and say, and I hate that -- I hate thinking like that, like if I was in his shoes I don't know that I could do it.

We just have to remember that judging others in a negative way and gossiping is soooo harmful. It doesn't have a place in this church. Seriously watching him cry last night as we talked about his potential, and how we were willing to do everything in our power to help him just broke my heart. Seriously it hurts, and I want the joy he felt after his baptism to come back to him. He told us not to take his issues on us, but we told him that we are a TEAM. He doesn't have to do it all alone, and we know it won't be easy but we also know that as far as it is possible, we will be with him every step of the way, so long as he keeps up with his side of the deal as well.

So thats my rant -- I love this area sooo much, I really, REALLY do. It has so much potential, and I just don't feel ready to move yet. Something's gotta give. And I super don't want you to think badly of this ward, because honestly it's a hole that we all can so easily fall into. Just remember that missionaries move on, and if we, as ward members, don't do our part, new converts and those with testimonies not as strong as ours will fall away.

So love your dang missionaries!!
(And when they move, give them some dang help, so that they don't have to take it out of the Lord's time, kayy?  haha  You ARE their families, you're all they've got for this year-and-a-half, and they need you.)
Love them and they´ll love you, and the work will explode!

...in the end that's what it's all about right?

Monday 4 November 2013

A Day in the Life




"The heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes, 
but with those who recognized that they were off course, 
and who corrected their way to get back into the light of gospel truth."
Dieter F. Uchtdorf


Missionary work is crazy.  We knock doors; we set appointments; we teach; we teach; we teach; we invite people to pray; we set return appointments; we decide who is, and is not, progressing and leave the ones who aren't; appointments fall through; we set back-up plans; we set baptism dates with people;  and then we start the whole process again the next day.  It's a crazy, never ending cycle.  People come and go. Some make it into your heart, and it hurts to leave them, and others leave you.  Some feel they already know enough, others don't even recognize the faith they have. It can feel overwhelming sometimes, but the times we make a connection make it all worth it.

Sterlyn is a menos activo we're working with.  
She is the best, no matter what kind of day I'm having
 she makes me crack up :-)

And local members are a HUGE help, when they're willing to teach with us, or share experiences, or call our investigators, or pick them up on Sunday mornings. That is HUGE.  I feel like I'm going to need a year-and-a-half-long nap after this!


District Picturee!

A few random things...

I was actually COLD this morning when it was cloudy and raining; I think I'm adjusting to the weather.

A little study in Karma:  We were teaching a woman and she made a comment about my skin, so we asked her if she had any suggestions (because people here seem to always have crazy suggestions/cures; last week a lady told us that egg yolks make your hair curly!), and to our surprise she said, 'yes, go to the dermatologist."  Rude, but also weirdly normal - haha!  But karma stepped in and at the end of our lesson, the wooden chair she was sitting on broke (the 2 front legs just slid out forward), and she slid right onto her bum on the ground!  It was SO FUNNY, and luckily she wasn't hurt, and she & her sisters were cracking up with us -- so awesome :-)




Love you guys tons!  I can feel changes coming in this new area; and so excited for the energy Hna Kofe brings to our companionship.  She is so fun and my lifesaver sometimes!  We've started taking a picture a day, and let me tell you, they are ridiculous!


"Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people,
 a heart that forgives the worst,
 a mind that forgets the bad
 and a soul that never loses faith in God."

love, Hna Coe

P.S. This is why I love my crocs! 
(I NEVER thought those words would come out of my mouth!)


Monday 21 October 2013

Update

No time to blog this week -- but I have exciting news!

My companion, Hna Prestwich is leaving tomorrow for ARUBA! She's opening that area to sisters (so far only elders have served there).  She is so excited cuz she's hoped to be able to serve there for a long time.

I have been called to take her place as the Sister Training Leader in this area!  Kinda freaking out.  Hna Kofe will be my new companion - she's tongan and she is rad :-)



NOTE: from sue - I am having technical difficulties (imagine that?) dealing with the way kenzie has sent pictures the past couple weeks - can't make them post on the blog - sorry, will try to work it out soon :-)

Monday 7 October 2013

I love General Conference!

Just a note to say that life is good, 
and when General Conference comes around, life is GREAT.

 haha But really, it has been so fun listening to the words of apostles and prophets meant especially for us today. And it's even more fun when you get to invite people who have never attended to come with you and feel of that spirit too.

We took a super awesome investigator with us on saturday to a broadcast of Conference,  who came with her son and niece on saturday. They were soo dang cute. The little neice was drawing in my notebook and looking at the family pictures on it and asking who they were (very quietly, of course) and after naming them all she pointed up at the speaker on the screen (I so wish I could remember who it was) and asked  "Is that your grandpa?" haha It was the best.

And the talks were awesome! IF you haven't ever attended or listened I'm definiely going to have my mom post the link here to them when they are up on lds.org

(here's the link; currently you can watch or listen, 
soon you will be able to print :-)

and I'm challenging you all to read at least one -- Trust me, they are the best. Talks that were prayed about, prepared with the direction of our loving Heavenly Father, and given by some of the most precious men and women that i've ever seen. And the best part is they are speaking to you. Give it a try, see how you feel. What could it hurt?


We also had some super fun Noche de Hogares (Family Home Evening nights) this past week. (thanks for making the visual aids, mom!) We grew our very own faith flower and talked about the things that we do to grow in our faith, and the blessings we recieve from them. We invited the little girl to come with us to church, and in the same breath as she accepted, she asked if she could come out and "preach" with us too. haha  Can I just say that kids are my favorite, and Oli is one of the smartest sharpest 11-year-olds I have ever met.  Who knows, maybe someday she will be out here doing this!!


lots and lots of love
hermana coe

Monday 23 September 2013

At home in Villa Mella!

Ohhh heyy, so sorry for that whole falling off the face of the planet thing... But I'm back!  And even in a new area!  Will explain everything, but going to start with my last week in Gazcue ... which just happened to be super epic.

 Had our last district meeting. 
This is my whole district minus our district leader and his companion.
Seriously all girls, and keeps growing every transfer.


And, Elder Jn Baptiste is finishing his mission!
He has literally been my zone leader since getting here...sooo I just had to document it
with a good old, awkward missionary picture!


Said goodbye to Wendy, and the next day I was off for my new area.



Gazcue has seriously become like home, I´ll miss it tons, but it was also such a relief to have a change after 4 transfers (7 months) in the same half of one area. I was pretty sure I had missed the part of my call that said I would be serving in the "Santo Domingo East Gazcue mission" ...Haha



I´m now serving in Villa Mella, 
and back with my 1st trainer, Hermana Prestwich! 
It´s been way exciting and fun to be back with her!  
We celebrated my 7 month anniversary
(with my newest food love -- a huge colmado fanta)
and got right to work.


This area is the weirdest mix of city and jungle. We live right next to the metro and basically use it to get to the office for meetings.  It is such an adventure all the time.


I have a hugee list of things I want to write about, but it will have to wait until next week! Especially now that I´ve found an internet center that has space bars that work!!!  Scoree!

love you all, hope life is greatt

love, hermana coe





Monday 16 September 2013

Finally!!


Soooo, transfer day came and I'm actually in a new area!  I'm now serving in Villa Mella with  Hermana Prestwich again!  Crazy right? At first it looked like I would be staying (AGAIN!) in Gazcue, but Tuesday night I received a call fromoneof (ughh hate internet centers - this keyboard sucksssss) the A.Ps sayingI would be leaving, and to pack to go the next day. 

Talk about crazy.  I was excited and upset all at the same time.  But the change came and wentand I adjusted alot more smoothly than I thought I would. Nothing like my first transition into the field :-)  And being able to be in an equal companionship is awesome (not training this time). I feel like I'll finally actually be able to focus on fine tuning my teaching and I also willget tohelp Hna Prestwich out with her sister training leader responsibilities.

The house in Villa Mella is completelydifferent. Hugeeeee compared to gazcue. The power goes out A LOT, and we have a mega ant problem. But its also a very serious house soo I've beentrying myhardest  to lighten it up. Trying to have faith thatthis is where I need to be.

My bruise from the gua gua mishap is healing - and I had my first ride on the metro here (today) and it is so rad. The bright side is I will hardly ever be using gua guas or carritos here!

Also I'm superbummed at myself because I forgot my camera cord at the house, and this is a way ghetto computer with no memorycard slot. sooooooo you'll have to wait until next week for pictures!

love youguys tonsssssss<3
hna kenz

Monday 9 September 2013

Mr. Toad's Wild GuaGua Ride


(Preface from Sue)
So...we have been having some trouble getting some new shoes to Kenzie (sent a pair a month ago that either got lost our stolen) so, today, in order to ask a few questions about how to send another pair, I was working at the computer, at the time she usually sends her Monday email today, to catch her so we could email back and forth a bit. 

As luck would have it, I noticed just as her first email arrived.  It said "Are you on?"  I told her I was, and that I needed to talk to her about shoes.  She said OK, but asked if I would read her email first in case I had any questions or concerns to ask her, so she could answer me during the 60 minutes she is able to be online, and I wouldn't have to wait a week for answers.  So here's the letter:
  
******************************************

hi family, so this week has been an absolutely crazy one to say the least, I have kind of a crazy story and I've been debating if I should even send it or not, but honestly it turned into a testimony builder that is really close to my heart and I hope that you can take it in the same way.

This past saturday we had district meeting, it got moved from thursday, and on the way there in the guagua, we got into a car accident. Let me preface this with the fact that we are all fine. Luckily the car that hit us was a really small fruit truck thing and the gua gua just tipped a little to the side before we came to a stop. Unfortunately because of the speed we were going, and the lack of seat belts or doors, three woman fell right out. It was a really, really scary, eye opening experience. 

No one was injured too badly, some skinned legs, and possibly a broken bone but no one mortally injured. But what I learned is that Heavenly Father truly watches over and loves his missionaries. Not one of us walked away with anything more than some bruises and some sore muscles the next day. We walked the rest of the way to our meeting (I think we were a little in shock at that point)

The opening hymn at our meeting was "Senor Te Necesito" (I need thee every hour), and not  one of us could sing because of the realization of how true the words to that hymn were.

Literally no more than 5 minutes before the accident, I had made a joke to hna taylor about not wanting to slide off the guagua, and she had put her arm through mine. For some reason we never detached, and I think it helped me to stay as safe as I was. I know that Heavenly Father watches over His missionaries. I KNOW that there were angels there that day, and I KNOW that as crappy as that was to happen, it was something I needed to see and realize for myself. Talk about seeing the hand of the Lord in your life. We are so blessed and loved.

I really hope this isn't something that I should have just kept quiet, don't want to  freak you out, but I really am okay (except for a big bruise on my butt... and I lost my book of mormon.... must have dropped off my lap...)

I just want to send this off so that you can have a chance to respond or ask any questions if you need to, so that its not like an ended conversation that you have to think about this week without being able to ask. We've all been checked out by the doctor, and even got a chance to watch '17 miracles' at the bishop's house last night so that we wouldn't have to just sit in the house and we're back to normal schedule today!

*********************
(More from Sue)
So needless to say, we emailed back and forth a bit, and I thought I'd share a few excerpts from  her comments.  She is doing well, and I am unbelievably grateful for her safety. 

********************


 . . . thanks for everything. I got a blessing saturday after our meeting cause I was feeling a little scrambled and freaked out to get back on a guagua.... but it was a beautiful blessing promising comfort, and that I would have the health I need.  Everything will be okay, and on the bright side, I'm getting to see each color of the rainbow display itself on my bumm as the days go by...we're on to green and purple and pink right now... haha.  It looks a lot like a lower back tattoo, we've made lots of good jokes about it

. . . got the call re: transfers yesterday, and I'm staying in the same area with the same companion for another 6 weeks.  Can't say I'm not disappointed; feeling pretty ready for a change.  I literally will have spent more than 8 months of my mission in the same area.  But apparently there is someone I haven't met yet, or something I haven't done yet, and I gotta stick it out.

 . . . I will make sure to be extra careful and obedient to the mission rules ... and always sit in the backkk of the guagua!  I know that you are sacraficing a lot, and also that I'm so blessed by all the people I've got looking out for me, I'll do all I can out here!

LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!   STAY SAFE,
 hna coe



Monday 2 September 2013

Hna Coe, the terminator :-)



So I might have broken my second fan.... in our house....the same way both times.... and that way might have been by tripping on it and knocking it over causing the blade to shatter everywhere.

Hermana Lecheminant sent in the request for a new fan blade to the housing elders and it looked something like this:

Zone: Santo Domingo
Area: Gazcue
Need: new fan blade
Problem/Reason: Hermana Coe

Awesome haha, they are now both hidden under a cabinet in the kitchen which we call the fan graveyard. But don't worry I'm paying for it at our study desk every morning..... (Note from Sue:  I think this is the FIRST mention of how HOT and stinkin' HUMID it is in the D.R. -- I would be complaining DAILY - kenzie never does -- amazing!)


Although I will say my luck with plants hasn't gotten any better either. A less active member gave me a cactus to grow when she heard about another flowering plant that I had somehow managed to kill in a week (I just wanted something pretty for our house).
I am sad to say the cactus is now dead and gone.... but at least it lasted like 2 months... I don't know how I do it. I think its a talent.

ahaha, but it was a good week!  Almost hitting the end of another transfer, time is flying. Hope to get a better post off next week!


Hope you find a moment to laugh 
and that the happy moments keep rolling on by!

lovelovelove
hermana Coe

*************************************


NOTE FROM SUE:  Kenzie spent most of her computer time (60 min) writing to her 'baby sis' who has decided to serve a mission, just like her big sis!  Due to the lowering of the minimum age that girls can leave on a mission about 6 months ago (from 21-yrs to 19-yrs), both Kenzie & Abbie could end up on missions at the same time.  Kind of overwhelming to me (Sue), but their commitment to sharing the gospel and willingness to make a personal sacrifice to serve & share with others is a beautiful thing, and not something I can put the brakes on.  I LOVE the knowledge and peace that comes to my life from the gospel of Jesus Christ, how could I deny anyone the opportunity to solidify their testimony by teaching others, and give that peace to others in the process?

Anyway - thought I'd share Kenzie's letter to Abbie, full of advice & support & love that a mom can only dream of having her daughter #1 give to daughter #2.  I feel very grateful.



***********************************
abs

baby sis

twinkle toes!

I've got butterflies in my stomach right now, its blowing my mind. I can't believe its almost here, have you decided when the earliest you would leave is? This makes me so homesick for you! I miss you tons and tons and I hope you know that!

Read your scriptures every day and mark ones that stand out to you or that you like, you will usee them on the mish, let me tell you!

I only get an hour of personal study every day so I usually just study a chapter or 2, I've decided to study in 3rd nephi and work my way to the end, so far i'm a couple chapters of ether and its awesome, soo stinking interesting, then I try to read the same chapters in spanish during my language study

study the lessons and points to the lessons in preach my gospel and just prepare yourself emotionally too, I just dont think people always understand how emotionally hard missions are, they are exhuasting and you're going to be dooing a lot of new things. But also remember that you are so lucky to have the power of the atonement backing you up. I was talking to hna lecheminant the other day about this; that really I don't understand how so many people make it through missions because you really have to be strong, I feel like more people should be going home or giving up, but it is true that there is so much power that just doesn't come from you. I couldn't do half the things I do, under only my own power. This sunday I felt like I really needed to get up and share my testimony in sacrament mtg, which I've never done before here or in spanish, but I did and honestly dont remember what I said but afterwards I just kept hearing from people how good my spanish was in it. I know that that is the gift of tongues and it comes in the moments that we really need it. Later I found out that one of our investigators, an 18-year-old girl who I thought I would never see again (we stopped teaching her because she can't join the church because her boyf doesn't like it) was sitting in the back, I'm grateful that I had the chance to do that for her, especially because I might be leaving this area in a week (chances are pretty good i'll be transferred)

but I love you lots, I know that you will be an awesome missionary, I know that in the back of our minds, we always knew that you would be doing this -- it's just so rad that we could do it at the same time!  Dont be afraid, remember that you know enough, you are not the only one who has been preparing you, yourr heavenly father has been there every step of the way, giving you the experiences you need to change the lives of those who are prepared.

much love
big sis

Monday 26 August 2013

Miracles happen every day!

1 Peter 3:13-18

And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?

But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye; 
and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

For it is better if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

Found this this morning, and LOVE it!  Wanted to share with you all :-)


Love you all lots, wish I had the time or the energy to write more about everything that's been going on because, let me tell you that behind every one of these pictures is at least a million words -- haha!

I really am learning the truth that satan works the hardest on us right before and after great things happen, it kind of surprised me, just another reason that it's so important to have our backup supply of spiritual experiences and faith for when things are a little overwhelming and you need that extra boost and drive!

But all is well, life keeps moving forward (and I'm pretty sure it's getting faster tooo!) Learning lots, changing lots, and just plain growing up. Miracles happen every day, and there isn't a night that I don't fall asleep in about five seconds after my prayers. 

It's a crazy ridiculous beautiful life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything :-)

lots of love
hna coe
Cute family in our ward with their stinkin' cute kids!  
(I never realized how hard it was to get a picture
 with everyone smiling and looking at the camera!)


 Haydee and Joseph were baptized this past Saturday - it was awesome!


Can you tell that we celebrate everything with food? 
I think that's a mission thing, it is a gooood thing we walk allll day.
Yesterday we were in a cita (lesson appt) with Haydee, and we were talking about cooking and how I neverrr liked to do it before my mission, I'm not even kidding -- microwave was always the way to go. Abbie would cook, and I would eatt.  I told her my mom was basically going to die when she found out it was my new love.... sooo shhh I won't tell if you dont;)
In our last cita with Haydee, we realized that we had somehow gotten weirdly matching burns? Turns out cooking is dangerous, but how funny and sassy is this picture? Love her soooo much.
 Another one from Haydee's baptism

This is Susan, she is my life saver!!  She got home from her mission my first transfer and ended up going out with us for a few hours before she got released.  She's so awesome, and is in our ward, also super helpful that she was born in the states and speaks perfect english and I love her guts (and did I mention she has awesome hair?)

Tuesday 20 August 2013

P-day Tourists


Hey lovelies!
Hope you're prepared for the major picture overload 
I'm sending your way this week!

First off celebrated my 6 months in the field! 
It was pretty much the best!  
Made the most delishh tacos I've ever had - with mango, fresh avacado
and pineapple. 
Do elders eat like this?
And finished it off with brownies and a surprise diet coke, let me tell you, food is by far the best way to my heart:)

 6 months!
Needless to say it was a great day and I super love the girls in my house.

Also got a surprise package of letters from the Halls for my 6 month anniversary that literally got there that exact day. Thank you for your awesome timing skills:)
Love you guys tons!!

Also, it turns out that, without fail, every time it's ready to downpour, I have either forgotten my umbrella or wearing white.... or both. This night it was an absolutely unreal lightning and thunder storm!  I have never felt one so close in my whole life. 
Of course I didn't have my umbrella, and since we were more worried about our backpacks (and the package I was hauling around in my backpack), Hna Petersen ended up taking them both ... and I danced in a tropical rainstorm the whole way home.
Needless to say we were soaked, but our backpacks and my package survived!


And now for the tour!  Our p-day got switched because one of the elders in our zone got us a rad tour of the presidencial palace. It's in my area and I walk by it every single day, so needless to say I was pretty stoked to sneak a peak inside. I was talking to one of the dominican elders in my zone and asked him if he was excited to go in. He looked at me like the crazy white girl that I am, and informed me that he'd already been there when he was in High school... so no. 
Haha, oh well -- I continued my disneyland-like excitement basically the whole time and it made for a fantastic p-day today.
all of us

view from the outside

It was mostly just a whole bunch of really huge rooms like this. 
Basically I just kept singing the 'once upon a december' song from Anastasia since they all reminded me of the ballroom dancing scene in that movie :-)

 We spend a little time taking classy juice drinking pics at the end of the tour

 one with a guard, these guys were all around the palace



 and then we went home...
(note from sue:  check out the guy in the background...looks like he was about done with silly girls :-)


affirmation band-aid as an added bonus :-)

Monday 12 August 2013

Happy Bday! and the Magic Lays :-)


Hey loves!

Today's shout out goes to baby brother,
who, I guess, officially, is not even close to a baby anymore! 
THIRTEEN?
Is this real life? 

I seriously remember being 8, and super stoked on having a little brother. You were tiny with huge eyes, a bald head, and a birthmark between your eyebrows that got super red when you cried. I rememver you crying a ton when babysitters would try to put you to bed, and I would end up rubbing your back and making up songs to sing to you until you fell asleep. You were basically hudini (sp?) trying to crawl out of your crib and even learning to unzip the crib tent we eventually put on. My favorite was pushing you around in my "double stroller" aka, two plastic play strollers taped together with you and my doll in either side. And then you got older and paid me back by taping the door handles together of me & Abbie's room until I yelled to mom to "let me out cause I gottaa peee" who cut through the entire roll of masking tape wrapped around it so I could escape!

Needless to say I love you lots! 
Can't believe how tall you look in the pictures mom and abs have been sending me, and I hope you're living it up fishing and doing all that other icky little boy stuff this week!

Just know big sis is thinking about you from all the way over here! 
(even if you never write me...
...I digress)

Happy thirteen, I'm literally refusing to let you get any older!
<3


*****************************************************


So its been a great week!
Hit 6 months on the mission tomorrow and that is basically the weirdest, these month marks are freaking me out, passing way to fast, I think this whole counting thing is gunna need to stop!

So I'm running low on time, but gotta share my "Magic Lays Story"!!

So we bought some snacks (chips, carrots & sandwich stuff) to have a picnic before intercambios instead of ordering food, so we hopped on our gua gua with our stuff & headed home.  A few minutes into the ride, Hna Taylor somehow dropped the tube of Lays potato chips, and they flew right out the door of the gua gua. She immediately yelled, "Stop!" (in spanish, of course) but the driver didn't hear her, and we flew right through the intersection!   

Before we knew it, everyone on the gua gua was yelling for the driver to STOP! STOP! ...  so he did. I was watching out of the back window as the light changed in the intersection, where our poor container of Lays had landed, and cars started driving again but, somehow miraculously, every car was missing it. 

Then out of nowhere, one of the men in the gua gua jumped out, ran through the cars, holding his hands out to stop the the cars, and then ran back & hopped into his seat.  He then casually handed Hna Taylor the container of chips, and we started moving again. He was so nonchallant about the whole thing!  I was cracking up.

You seriously would have thought that Hna Taylor had dropped her first born child out the door, from all the commotion that happened afterwards!!  Anyways, he was so embarrassed as she tried to offer him oreos or anything else she had in her bag, to thank him! 

Just basically a kind superman saving our day, and our 80 pesos worth of of Lays.

I love this country --  A big chunk of my heart is making its home righttt here in Gazcue:)

Until next week<3

hna coe

our "picnic"



failed attempt at walrus teeth