#letter33

Hello!

I'm sorry that I did not write last week. We had an appointment with a missionary and so we did not have a lot of time to write, but I hope you liked the pictures! This week we were busy in the hospital. We did not have a ton of time in our sector teaching our investigators, however, we did have two of our investigators come to church for the first time and we were finally able to teach Natali who is now a new investigator! I continue to learn every single days. It is amazing how much there is to learn.

Oh, and

THANK YOU

all for your birthday wishes! They made my day that much more special!

It's Great to be a NURSE

     We have a new doctor! His name is Dr. Burton and guess what...He was a cardiac surgeon in University of Utah Hospital! He said that he was there when the heart transplant program started. He called me about one of the Sisters who has been pretty sick these last two weeks and we started talking about my experience before my mission and I told him I worked in the Cardiac ICU at University of Utah hospital. I guess his wife was also a nurse in the Cardiac ICU many years ago. I am really excited to start working with him.

     We had a lot of calls this week. Mostly stomach pain and diarrhea. We also had one Elder who had to be admitted in the hospital for viral meningitis. He had a headache all last week and a fever that did not go away with Tylenol. On Saturday, we decided to go to the Emergency room because the doctors were not in the offices and he had a severe headache. Initially, they wanted to send him home with the same medications that we had tried, but after I talked with the doctor telling her that we had tried those medications it was decided to admit him to the hospital for observation. They did all types of exames which all came back normal, however, they finally found that he meningitis after they tested his spinal fluid. He is doing better now and should be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.

     I continue to learn more and more everyday. I miss working in the Cardiac ICU a lot especially when I am at the hospital, however, I know I am learning and growing here in more ways that I ever thought including in my medical knowledge. Every person reacts differently to every medication or sickness. Our bodies are super weird sometimes and are amazing at the same time. I really am so grateful for my education and the job opportunities that I have in my past and hope that I take all of that to continue to help the missionaries so that they can keep working in this important work!

     We had a preparation training for the volcano here in Quito. I am going to train the missionaries next month in first aide and the basics in case there an emergency.

                                It's All About the Little Things

"Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and ALL THINGS shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another."

-

D&C 90:24

If there is one thing that I have continuously learned throughout my mission is

HOW

SIMPLE

the gospel is, how it is all about the little things that will help us have more happiness than we can comprehend in this life and after his life. It is the little things that will give us

ETERNAL LIFE

which is greater than all other gifts we can receive. It starts with

FAITH

and next

ACTION

        Activity in Zone Conference - The Elders won (see below)

      We can't have true faith if we do not act. We cannot say we pray with real intention and a sincere heart if we are not willing to act on the answers that we receive. At times, I think we get set in the mindset that if we live parts of the gospel, here and there, than we are good. God will understand. If I went to church, it is ok if I buy food on Sunday. I read the scriptures yesterday, so it is ok if I don't today. She didn't serve me, so why should I do this for her. We can't have the idea that because we have entered in the waters of baptism and repented of our sins then that is an end of it. That one day we will change. Maybe next week I will do better when we should have the attitude to start today. I can repent for this later. Noooo. Excuses, justifying our actions, and putting worldly things above spiritual are some of Satan's strongest tools against us. Let us all remember what our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, has taught us: "

Decisions determine destiny.

" We must rise above ANY rationalizations or excuses that prevent us from making decisions, especially with respect to serving Jesus Christ.  Can we not sacrafice 3 hours to go to church each week? One hour to study the scriptures? At least 10 minutes to pray in the morning and the night? I hope each of us will strive to understand what our Savior did for us because as we do, I promise you will be more careful with the decisions you make and when you make good decisions your life will be filled with more happiness. He sacrificed his entire life for us. He suffered for every one of our choices. Not his, but the decisions we make so that we can start over and so we will not be held accountable for those mistakes we make if we repent.

As Satan is continuously tempting us, we will think of our choices before doing them. I hope each of us will remember our purpose and our eternal goal and we will live our lives consistent with those goals and objectives.

                                          Meeting with the President

We must have the spirit of repentance

continually

.Romans 8:6-9

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

We must pray

daily

.

Alma 37:36-27

"

Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever."

"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

Every night before we go to bed we should review the thoughts, words, and acts of the day and then repent of everything we have done that is wrong or that causes us not to have the Holy Ghost with us constantly. Live this way everyday and endeavor to progress everyday!

"And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.

"-

Alma 38:2

Spoiled Birthday Girl

I was spoiled for my birthday. I never thought that a birthday in the mission would be like the birthday that I had. I felt so loved. I thought it was going to be lame, but I was wrong. I woke up to a cake waiting for me on my desk with a paper cake around it with my name and a note from my companion. Next, at church the Elders sang to me and they announced it was my birthday in Relief Society. All of the members came up to me after and gave me a big hug. Family Calderon made me a special lunch for my birthday with a shrimp appetizer and meat. Then, top it off a chocolate cake! They sang to me! It was funny because it is really hard for the people here to pronounce my name. Some do not even try. When they were singing to me they came to the part Happy Birthday to...and Sister Calderon leaned over to look at my badge while her daughter was taping it. After lunch, we had a lesson with Mary and Maria Teresa. They are investigators. We watched a movie about Christ and then they also made me a cake! They sang to me and put my face in the cake. I got lucky because it wasn't very much. Then, afterwards the Williamsons invited us over for dinner. We thought we were going to throw up everything we ate by the end of the night because we were so full. I am so grateful for the people that I have met in the mission! They truly made me feel loved on my birthday! Here is to another year, one year older and wiser too...well I hope wiser! :)

Each Of Us Have a GREAT Purpose

     I love this work. I have learned to see the individual worth of each person. That we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. I have learned that each of us have the potentional to help one another more than we can imagine. As the members bore their testimonies this week, they shared simple things that changed their lives that others helped them recognize. Sometimes we are so busy with our own lives we do not reach out to see how others are doing or how we can help. Each of us have different experiences that teach us different things in our lives and with those experiences we have the potential to change other people's lives. I hope each of us will look for opportunities to serve. Even if it is just always saying hi with a smile or how are you and really meaning it...could change someone's life. People are put in our lives for a reason and everything happens for a reason. I hope each of us will continue to strive to be better and to help others also to be better.

I love you all and miss you everyday!!!

Love always,

Sister Pemberton

Dunno when, or if, I'll let you read these...

Still missing you. We've spoken for approximately seven hours in a matter of a week. That's not nearly enough time to show you how much I love you and how I care. That's not enough time to relieve the frustration that builds every second we're apart. Not enough time listening to you be your loud self; singing, yelling at retarded League players, just trying to make me laugh. We may only have talked for so little as seven hours. But the thing is: I'm ok. By realising this, I've also noted how I still continue to learn from you. I've learned patience. I'm now learning independence, self-value, and how to be alone. We spent practically a whole month talking to each other literally 24/7. I did get used to it-and I loved every second of it-and I do miss it, but it's gotten me to a point of neediness that I hoped to never allow. Things slowed down very quickly, it seemed. A bit too quick, I might add-those withdrawals kicked my ass. Times like those, I'd see myself resenting you for not wanting me. But that's changed. I'm still very much in love with you, but I've realised-finally fucking realised-that I don't need you. I don't need anyone in particular to keep me occupied or entertained. This lesson took five years of trial-and-error and a hell of a lot of tears to learn. Alas, I'm o-fucking-kay.

Kala ko di na kita makikita. Bait talaga ni Lord no? Nasa likod lang pla kita. Haha! Gwapo mo, grabe! (Laki ulo! HAHAHAHA) Pero seryoso, ang gwapo mo sa Pink mong shirt. HIHIHIHI. Real men wear Pink! ;) Tas yung boses mo, love na love ko! <3 Sumigaw ka ba naman sa tapat namin eh. -__- Naririnig ko pa nga hanggang ngayon eh. Hahahahaha!Wala kayong sembreak? Wawa naman kaw. :( Kaya mo yan! Masipag ka naman eh. Nuxxx! :> Kamusta exam sa Algebra? Sabaw ba? Hirap mangopya pag nasa tapat mo si maam Lopez no? LOL. Feeling ko naman you're good at it. Magc-CBAA ka ba kung hindi? Psh. Sana sa next sem mas madamign landi moments. Nyahahaha! Magenroll ka ha? I chose you over L! You should be grateful and happy! Ching lang! =)) Basta, kahit malandi ka, bet kita. May something sayo eh. Basta.Oo nga pala, nagseselos ako dun sa "acting" girlfriend slash yaya mo. Lagi mong kasama, katabi, kausap. Sakit ah? Diba joke lang naman yung "Kayo"? Bakit ganun? Kupal ka forevszx! -_- Sarap niya kalbuhin. JK. Nakakainis na. Ano ba talaga? As if she's really your girl. I don't think so. You two doesn't look like couples. More like classmates with "benefits". Yea, really. And I'm jealous as fuck. Haaay. Hope to see you soon. Di na pwede sa meeting place eh. No more class na. Siguro, around the campus nalang. SANA. I'll miss tht 3hrs of eching. Wahehehe. Behave ka ha? Wag malandi! Sakin lang dapat. CHARING! Mehehe. Kbye, bby.