Hermana Elena Aburto: What is life?!

July 18^th, 2016

We received our transfer calls yesterday!

I knew that I was leaving!

But there's still a plot twist! As usual...

I'm going to serve in English!!! I will be companions with Sister Miller. We'll see how that goes. That's crazy unexpected though. It reminds me of that quote from Ratatouille that goes something like, "The only thing predictable about life is it's unpredictability."

Sister Gundersen is leaving too, which was strange since we thought at least one of us would be staying.

Anyways, this week I have a story to tell, which may be kinda weird but bear with me.

One day we were walking with one of the sisters in our branch, so that she could accompany us to see some investigators. She is really awesome, but she has been having a really hard time in her life right now, and the one thing that gives her the most happiness in her life is her dog, Manchas. As we were walking, her dog suddenly caught up to us since he had escaped from their front yard. So he followed us as we kept walking, and he's followed us before, so we didn't think much of it. But then we heard this loud noise on the street and I looked and saw Manchas get run over by a car. This sister started freaking out and bawling and took Manchas in her arms and it was just awful. My companion and I were just in shock. I don't want to go into details of his injuries but he was dying in her arms, and we all cried and didn't know what to do. Then a very nice woman saw us and she called the vet and took this sister and Manchas to the vet, since we missionaries couldn't since we don't have a car, and it was late in the evening so we couldn't go at all. After they left, my companion and I prayed and were just so sad for this sister since we knew how much she loved this little dog. It was so depressing. The next morning I studied about death to receive comfort, but then when we called this sister she told us that Manchas was still alive, and that he was at home. I seriously cannot believe that he survived. It's obvious to me that God was watching out for this sister, and I'm so grateful to know that anything that is important to us is important to God.

Yesterday we stopped by a member's house, and the young daughter Brianna, who's like 12 or something, offered to come with us as we knocked on doors. She is seriously so awesome! She was testifying without any fear and she was super nice to everyone we talked to. She will for sure be an awesome missionary someday.

Best news for last: Our investigators came to church yesterday for the first time!!! We had arranged for a member to give them a ride, and when we got to church and saw them there I seriously was so happy I freaked out a little haha. They seemed to like it! The wife said she wants to come back next week. Sister Gundersen and I are kinda sad that, since we're both leaving, we won't get to see them progress more. We pray that the missionaries and the members here will take good care of them.

Love you,

Hermana Aburto

Painting at an investigators house