I love writing home about all our AWESOME miracles! This week has beeeeeeen beautiful! :D

We went on exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders, I stayed in my area and hna Jones went to Vista. We set 2 1/2 baptism dates! We went to visit a guy we contacted before and Hna W and I made it into a game. We both set goals for the lesson and whoever did the best had to buy the other a snocone. My goals were smiling while teaching (I focus too much on the Spanish and look angry when I'm trying to teach this beautiful message haha) and not correcting my Spanish. Hna Whicker talks a lot so her goal was to teach simply in 3 sentences. We both FAILED hahahaha it was SO hard! But the main goal was to teach a brief but effective Restoration lesson and invite to be baptized and we did! August 24. Then we went to visit J, she was raised in the church but never had the chance to be baptized. We thought something that would hold her back was she was living with the father of her child and we thought they weren't married buuuuut as of December I guess they are! So we read in the BOM about baptism and invited her to be baptized on August 24. She was s excited she said yes that's what Ive always wanted, I feel like I have the Spirit with me sometimes but it's only half way and I want my husband to understand that its a commitment, im not just going to get baptized and then quit going to church. She just has to find a way to get Sundays off of work. :D Annnnd we got a member referral who said a young lady wanted to meet with us. We had to skip language study for it but it was sooooo worth it! Her name is L, she's 17 and friends with Hna A's son because they do track together. She straight up told us she was to change to Mormon. Shes English speaking so we went ahead and taught her the first lesson but explained we'd have to send the English missionaries after. She's so excited to learn. She already had a BOM, For Strength of Youth, and Faith in God for girls hahaha all in her backpack! She said she wants to be baptized but needs to talk with her family first. Shes so cute! She told me before we left, "I was kinda scared to come because S wasnt here. but then I realized you were young and pretty so it was okay." hahahahaha! We taught E, shes pretty much a dry Mormon, comes t church ever Sunday with her girls, watches GC, todos. Weve talked about baptism several times but she always says theres things in her life she needs to fix but we knew there was something deeper, we just couldnt get it out of her! Hna W helped us find her concern so we now have more direction on how we can help her reach the waters of baptism. Yay!

We set ANOTHER baptismal date after the exchange with V. August 24 tambien! Im so excited he's golden! Im so glad we've followed the spirit in finding him.

We had another lesson with J (25) and A (18) and it was great. We taught the Restoration and they really liked it. J has been through a lot but is trying to change and get everything back in order. He has so much potential. A has a close friend whos a member but she wasnt able to make it to our cita. We invited them both to be baptized but Juan is afraid hes going to do it and then screw up again and doesnt want to do that. So we asked him to pray and read the BOM to find more peace about it. When we asked A he said hes learning a lot and then J TESTIFIED to his little brother. It was beautiful. He said Ive made a lot of mistakes in my life but youve been the strong one in the family and learned from my mistakes and youre propable the best one out of our whole family and I know that baptism will just make you even stronger and help you stay on the right path. MAN! The power of a brother testifying what so incredible. J gave the closing prayer and thanked God for putting us in his path so he could learn more and have this conversation with his brother that he probably wouldnt have otherwise. awwww!

We taught R again! We hadnt heard from him in awhile so we stopped by his house Saturday night to invite him to church. He said he was debating on going and when we showed up he knew he needed to go. We set expectations and told him we're hear to teach and help him but if he doesnt want to learn anymore then thats okay but our purpose as misisonaries is to help him learn but we cant do that if he always cancels citas or doesnt do his part. So we set a cita for after church and we invited our ward mission leader to come with us. We had planned to teach the plan only because that was the next lesson (bad on our part we teach people NOT lessons) we told R (mission Leader) and he was like do you think thats what he really needs? We were like NO! We both could not study for him that morning we were stumped something just wasnt right. So R helped us figure out what he needs and make a game plan. We had our lesson and R laid it down on him (in love of course) but pretty much talked about diligence, line upon line, todos. He asked him where he wants to see himself in 2 years spiritually and what hes going to do to get there. So he now understands he has to do his part to see changes in his life and to get closer to God. We stressed how much potential we see in him and R even told him that he can see him being not just a member of the church but a leader. And its true! It was a great lesson and we will be teaching him tonight and working on setting a baptismal date he can work towards. :) Say a prayer for us!

We went to our apointment with L (the first baptismal date we set this week) and he wasnt home. BUT we were still in the right place at the right time because a member walked by who lives near him and we asked him how he was doing. He said not very good. he has a son hes been having a lot of problems with the last 2 years, he told us thats why he didnt come to church because they got in a fist fight and he was angry. I had just gotten a letter from my brother the day before that was so powerful describing the changes hes making in his life. I was able to testify to him with so much power that I know for a fact people can change. I told him I know how he feels and I understand how hard it is on the family. I told him Ive always had a spot in my heart for Alan because he does remind me of my brother. Hno R was like I understand now why youve been the one always trying to push him along, inviting him to church and lessons when everyone else just gave up. I told him that is the reason because I know he can change. I know because Ive seen the changes in my brothers life and Im going to help his son. He thanked us and gave us a time we can come over this week. I know A is one of the people Ive been sent her to rescue and Ive been pleading with the Lord to help me find a way to do that.

Our Zone Leaders were so excited this week because we met almost every single one of our goals. It was the best week so far. We worked so hard and stayed focused and Heavenly Father blessed us so much!

Man, how great is this work of our Lord and Savior?!

This week has been insane but great all at the same time. The good times outweigh the bad. Seems to be the theme every week of the mission. :)

Our district just hiked up this super steep hill that felt like a mountain today. It was intense. My calves hurt and I looked like a Mexican by the time we got to the bottom again I was so dirty haha I only almost died like 5 times but it was an adventure! So fun and then we ate donuts to make up for all the calories we burned ;)

We're teaching a lady named E, her 7 year old daughter said she wants to be a missionary just like us. :) CUTE!

We contacted a family the other day and had a beautiful miracle with them. This little 8 year old girl named L and her brother J and his girlfriend C. They said we could come back and we tried and tried but they were always busy so we've just been teaching L. She loves us and loves learning about God. One day we were teaching her and J said dont worry we want to hear what you have to say, come back tomorrow at this time. We were like well okay! We went there the next day and L answered the door and said they were about to fall asleep. We said we'd try another time but L was like "well you can just teach me if you want!" We had already taught her the restoration so we went back to the car to get the plan pics we use to teach kids the plan of salvation. We started teaching her and she was like hmmm wait a second im gonna go see if theyre awake. They were so she made them come outside and learn with her. She's our little angel miracle worker. The plan ended up being exactly what J and C needed to hear. If we had started with the Resto with them I dont think they would have felt the spirit as strong and allowed us back. But the plan ended up being perfect. In the beginning J said i just want to know what my purpose is in this life. We promised him if he would listen to our message he will feel and know what it is. By the end he said I feel something, something different, I dont know how to describe it but it feel good. He asked his girlfriend how she felt and she said good too. I testified to them that that was the Holy Ghost testifying that what we're teaching them is true and it is of God. J said I know what my purpose is I need to keep learning from you guys I need this in my life and this will give my mom the peace she needs to be able to leave us without worry because she'll know that I know God. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! Our little angel didnt even stay for the whole lesson but she asked for a Spanish BOM so she can read with her mom. We LOVE  her!!!

We finally taught R! Hes the one who chased us down for the BOM awhile back. He comitted to baptism but not a date yet. We'll keep working with him :)

We taught V! We found him awhile back right when he found out he had cancer. He's been in the hospital ever since but we walked past his house and I felt prompted to knock his door again. He was home and feeling better and said we could come back Sunday. We did and shared the Resto with him and he comitted to baptism as well! He said hes coming to church this Sunday as well. Yay!

The work is going great here and it's amazing to see how Heavenly Father has every tine detail planned out so perfectly. I know this church is true. Every bit of it. The work is joyful, it's hard some days but these beautiful miracles make up for it even more! We walk when we don't want to walk and we talk when we don't want to talk. I love being a missionary and I love serving my Heavenly Father.

I got a blessing the other day from our DL and a part that really stuck out to me was that I need to push forward and keep working hard to find those that I promised Heavenly Father in the pre-existence that I would help find the Gospel. Tears came to my eyes as I realized this was the reason I've always had such a powerful desire to serve a mission. I promised to before I even came to earth!

Hermana Gutknecht :D

Greenie Break!

Wow. One of the most trying, insane, tiring, growing, learning, miracle weeks of the mission. I don't even know where to begin...

Tuesday we said goodbye to President and Sister Cook. We had a special transfer meeting to say goodbye and switch things around to get ready to welcome President and Sister Kendrick today. Hermana Schwegler got switched to English work... =O She was sad but she loves the work more than the language so I know she'll be okay. Remember that Hermana I went on an exchange with that was older than me in the mission but I had better Spanish? She's my companion now... Needless to say it was rough the first few days. She's Senior Companion but I feel like I am because it's in my area so I know the people and I have to be the one to plan know where to go because she's still leanring the area. I know that Heavenly Father prepared me for this through all the exchanges I went on taking "the lead" in my area.  But it was still REALLY hard.  Tears were shed, overwhelming feelings of fear, hesitation, doubt, frustration, todos. But prayer, dilligence, and hard work can fix anything! I was trained well, I know how to work, and I know how to rely on the Lord. We're both really young in the mission so sometimes it's hard to communicate in Spanish because we're both at about the same level. But I've noticed when it's something important, we're able to understand, when it's not then we don't as much but that's okay. The Holy Ghost helps us understand what we need in order to do the work. It took a few days to get on our feet but we ended up seeing miracles and having one of the best weeks we've had in awhile! I'd been praying for paciencia and Heavenly Father answered haha He's so funny sometimes. :p As I pray for paciencia (I dont know how to spell that in english anymore) and love for my companion and the people, I'm able to recognize more clearly the attributes they have that Heavenly Father loves about them. I'm learning the true meaning of "the pure love of Christ." It's crazy how much my feelings have changed for people and how I can see the good more than the annoying things that don't really matter. 

We had 4 investigators at church on Sunday! The most we've had all transfer! Miracle? I think, yes. 

C and C! Oh my goodness they are golden! They told us that they had been going to a church previously and just didn't feel right about it. They decided it was between Jehovahs Witness or Mormon. They felt like they should go to the Mormon church so they walked to the church on a weekday, banged on the door but no one was there. They wanted to know how to contact someone from this church. The landscaping people were there and told them what time it opened on Sundays, so the next Sunday they were there. They went to the English service 3 times and said they felt like this was the true church, the feeling there was different than anything, they found the love and peace they were searching for. They found out that we services in Spanish and they searched for the missionaries. They found us and asked us to teach them. We've been teaching them ever since, they come to church every Sunday, and always tell us how much they love us for helping them know the truth. We just have to finish teaching them and they'll be baptized soon! Beautiful miracle!

We have a lot of investigators who want to be baptized but something is holding them back. We're trying to find their concerns or doubts but man, it's tough sometimes! We picked up 4 new investigators this week, Escondido is the land of miracles! 

We're praying for 3 baptisms this transfer! We've been working our faces off, Heavenly Father is going to bless us to help these people come unto Him. Im so tired. But I feel like a real missionary now without my trainer, doing everything on my own. (well with the help of my comp and the Holy Ghost of course)

We contacted this man in his yard, he was looking at us so I just said Hola como esta? and he was so surprised he was like you speak spanish? We were like of course! He died laughing he was like that's so cool I would have never guessed you two white girls could speak spanish! We invited him to English class because he wasn't interested in our message BUT maybe something will come out of it if he comes. :)

It's been a rough week, I'm exhausted, but I feel good about the work we're doing here. I know Heavenly Father is pleased. :)

LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!