hermana k. rife goes to texas: Hellllooooo to my peeps in provo

Hi Family,

How are you all doing? It sounds like you had another fantastic week. I am glad to hear it. Thanks for your email and pictures. Thanks for that little update on christian terry too. I am glad he is progressing and that is sweet of Eric to keep people updated. Eric is a special guy.

We had a busy week but it was great. We got our carpet replaced and our whole apartment painted and so we had to take all the stuff out and down and out and covered. We ended up putting pretty much all of our furniture in the balcony and our beds in the bathroom. It was quite the job but we got it done pretty quick. Its nice to have it all freshly clean. It had been five years since the first elders moved in and it is supposed to be cleaned and retouched ever year at renewal but I guess it hadn't ever been done so they just decided to redo it all. Lucky, Lucky us! :)

We had zone conference this last Wednesday! It was awesome. I always feel so energized when i leave. President Pingree talked a lot about the baptismal covenant and how important that is. He also was talking to us about how we have to talk to everyone. I guess that he has even been trying to do it and he said that the other day he was scared and didn't want to talk to this guy because his forearms were as big as his thighs but it ended up being really great and the guy told him " my mama always taught be a follower of Jesus and I think it is time that i get close to him again" If he hadn't had talked to him then he wouldn't have been able to help him. I think it is quite admirable that he gets out there to share the gospel too so that he can testify and share his miracles! As we tried to talk to everyone, we had some really neat miracles! God is always blessing us when we try to do what is right!

This is kind of a fun story. On saturday, our ward had an activity. They were doing a few games and did that one where you have those 2 2x6 boards that are kind of like ski's and they have the rope and you have to walk fast with everyone in sync and it is like a rely? I don't know if that makes sense but anyways. The elders tell us, sisters the members want us to race each other so can you two come over here (because we were talking to this lady) We said yes. We were in our skirts and all and I am like ok hermana I am going to say left right and just step in sync and hang tight. She hasn't played many of these mormon games...haha. She is like ahhh okay. We start to go and we were in the lead. The elders say, oh don't worry we are okay, they'll slow down. We just keep going and I am dragging poor hermana gutierrez. We ended up winning and she told me. Oh my gosh hermana you are so tough. You were like picking up the whole board and me and I was just hanging on and trying to keep up. They elders thought they were totally going to beat us but oh no, not with us. :) I guess I shouldn't let my competitive side come out. It was really fun though. The elders couldn't believe that they were beat. They thought they were going to beat us and that is why THEY brought up the idea to the members to have us race. Silly Elders....

Catalina, Kevin & Charlie; It has been a while since we started to teach them. I suppose it just wasn't right timing. We went over I think last week and had an awesome lesson about prayer. They hadn't been reading, praying or coming to church and then it was like night and day after we gave them some space. They have been reading and praying daily and Catalina, the mom is actually listening and reading. She told us yeah, we can't come to church this week but we will come next week! It is so exciting. The little boys are so sweet. Their prayers are so special. Charlie always has like a huge list of things he is grateful for and then hardly ever asks anything. I think he is a good example for me because sometimes when I begin to pray I forget to thank Heavenly Father for all the blessings I have and just start asking him for more things that we need help with. I am excited to see their progress!

The Rodriguez family: They are doing great. This week they will be getting their baptismal interviews. Yesterday, they all came to church and even her husband who isn't a member came. He is really nice. He is sooo quiet but said that he really enjoyed priesthood and expressed thanks for all the friend shipping he felt. Tirza's daughter who is 6, said mom I really liked this do we get to come again? Tirza said, yup, every sunday! Yay!! They are coming back. It is two weeks in a row. The ward was pretty good about fellow shipping them and helping them feel welcome too. Hopefully if everything works well, we will have a family night with them and another family in our ward tonight! I am so happy for them. We took a picture but it is on Hermana Guitierrez's camera. It was so fun to have them all be there. I really think they can feel the changes and they are going to be able to build that solid foundation for their children!

We are holding off on eddies baptism because some doubts have come up but please keep praying for him and that he can feel the influence and understand the power of the holy ghost. He is so sweet and he is just struggling a bit right now but he will be okay!

On saturday, we talked to this guy who wouldn't tell us his name. He came up to us with 2 beer cans and a beer bottle in his hand. He said..oh your the mormons? We told him...yes and He started to talk with us a bit. He had done some really bad stuff in his life and told us basically that he believed in Jesus and God but that he was going to have to pay for his sins because of how bad they were. We talked to him a lot and testified to him about the power of the atonement. By the end he got a little teary eyed and he told us that he drinks to get the pain and guilt to go away. It was so sad that he didn't realize the power that the atonement has and that he has to forgive himself in order to move on. He promised us he would start to read the book of mormon and that we could send missionaries to his house. It made me so sad that people don't realize that it doesn't matter how far they have gone or what they have done but that Jesus Christ and God are waiting for us to come back. It is true that we will have to deal with the consequences of sin but that we have a way to repent. What a terrible life it would be if we didn't have that hope. We have never gone to far or done too much. They are always waiting for us to let them help us.

I know that the atonement is real and that we have the power to change and become new people in Jesus Christ through the atonement. We can repent and be cleansed of sin at baptism and then every week as we take the sacrament. I am so grateful to be here in texas sharing this good news. I love my mission and I love the gospel. I am so grateful to be here at this wonderful time!

Next week is transfers, so you will hear from me again before changes are made. I don't know what will happen but a lot of hermanas are coming in. I will let you know when I know. I love you all a lot and pray for you daily. Keep making good choices and doing the best you can in all you do!

ps there is all kind of birds here and wildlife. This week I have seen, a bunch of cardinals, blue birds, yesterday I saw a woodpecker (that was really cool) and then A possum crossing the road. It is fun to see them all!

Off finding the 10s of 1000s. Remember who you are and to whom you belong too

Much love
Hermana Rife