Desert at Sunset

Famajam, the res is the most beautiful place at sunset. (BTW THE KEYBOARD I'M ON IS JACKED UP, AND GOES IN AND OUT OF CAPS LOCK, LOOKS LIKE SOME OLD FOGIE SPILLED THEIR YOGURT OR SOME SORT OF LOTION, IDK) i literally have never seen sunsets like the ones on the res, it takes you back in time. i would send pics of them, but i'm always driving so i'll recruit hna falcon next time we're up there, because oh, guess what?????

MIGUEL GOT BAP-TIZED!!!!!!!!! 

ahhlkjsdgil;asdguyiopehnildhafgjkdayghjkadngeruiatheuiahtngeklnsagasdjkgh! LITERALLY SO THRILLED. this is really annoying, the keyboard not his baptism. okay here was the shpiel: MONDAY NIGHT, WE BRING THE HNDZ FAM  to his home to talk about tithing (THE PAYING 10% of what you make commandment) AND WE ALSO WERE BABYSITTING THE NEW MISSIONARY SIS NOBLE AND WE HAD HNA SOLORZANO (LOVE HER) AND WE HAD A FULL HOUSE UP AT MIGUEL'S. AS WE WERE TALKING TO HIM HE KEPT GETTING MORE AND MORE UNSURE ABOUT HIS BPATISM THAT SATURDAY AND WAS LIKE "I DON'T THINK I'M READY" AND HE WAS REALLY FEELING UNSURE. HE DOESN'T READ VERY WELL, AND HE DIDN'T THINK HE KNEW ENOUGH TO BE BAPTIZED, SO ALL OF US IN THE room told him to pray and glenda too and we would all pray for him to receive the answer if it was time for him or not. we left feeling worried, because miguel is an open book, and his face was really troubled when we left. we came back on wed and it was a completely diff miguel, he was like "hnas miguel is ready!" and we went through the bap questions and he was like "is that it?" and we were like, "uh yeah miguel, you're ready" and he was super pumped. friday he had his real baptismal interview and he came into the vc, HOW DO I DESCRIBE THIS, HAHA WELL IT'S LIKE THE PICTURE I INCLUDED OF HIM, HIS SHOULDERS BACK, CHEST OUT, AND HE WAS JUST LIKE "ECHALE GANAS HERMANAS, ECHALE GANAS, SEGUIR ADELANTE" HAHAHA THE WHOLE TIME HE WAS THERE. SO FUNNY.  and then sat was his baptism and he came and was like "hnas help me!" this has been miguel's catch pharse for us since we met him, i adore him. he's so humble and he's like "hnas, help old miguel! i don't know how to pray! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ! i don't know how to express my feelings! hnas help me!" AHHH I LOVE HIM!!!! he slays me. anyhoo, the talks were great, miguel loved the white baptismal suit, his family and glenda's family came and tons of members from the ward came!! (funny story about our sweet rama, they want us to baptize 36 people this year, and they never come to our baptisms...oh okay), and fam, oh my word, i can't even describe the pure joy i felt as i SAW MIGUEL GO DOWN INTO THE WATER AND COME UP AGAIN. i was a proud lil hna. after he got changed and everything his face was just, i don't even know how to explain it, in awe almost, he said "hnas, i feel clean, i feel free" and then he said "hnas that water is dirty! that water is diiiiirty!" HAHAHA, OH MIGUEL. then he was confirmed with the holy spirit on sunday and after he received his personalized blessing, his face was all red and he was just like "hnas, i feel clean. i feel like i could run and run and run all around the place. i feel energized" he kept going on and on and kept talking about how dirty the water was hahahaha. But miguel has been such a blessing for me to know him. He was not the same person he was 32 years ago, he has given up coffee and smoking, he has learned how to read better, he finally is able to express his emotions. but the most impressive thing of all is that miguel made the choice to do so. no one forced him. he woke up one morning and he didn't like the person he was, and that morning he said he was going to change. he was going to be the person he wanted to be. and we all can do that. who we are is determined by the small things we do each day, by the person we decide to be that day. and that accumlates into who we are. yesterday i woke up and said "hna schwartz, what kind of missionary are you going to be today?" and i thought about who i want to be that i haven't been being and decided to be that person. granted, it's a process right, but yesterday i felt more like myself on this mission than any other day since being here. and i did the same thing today. and i'll do the same thing tomorrow. and i'll continue asking myself, just for the day, who i want to be, what i want to improve on, and by the end of the day, i will be that person, or at least closer to that person. change isn't easy. miguel really had a hard time changing, it took him 32 years. but the second we decide to, everything is possible. 

aLRIGHT, ENOUGH OF MY SOAPBOX. BUT I REALLY DO LOVE MIGUEL AND GLENDA, THEY'RE SO SPECIAL TO ME. anyhoo, we're in the res again! A NEW INVESTIGATOR, HER NAME IS ROSA AND SHE HAS 3 DOGS AND 6 PUPPIES THAT ARE SO PRESH I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE. HER DOGS ADORE ME, IT WAS SUPER FUNNY, DURING THE PRAYER HER DOG OSO (bear in INGLES) basically jumped/draped his huge body on me and started licking my face and i held it together haha but i love doggss!!! and she has a dog that must be some type of border collie or something because she has maxie's face, and her pups are presh presh presh. our other investigator blanca (love her too, SUCH AN AWESOME LADY), JUST GOT 3 PUPPIES SO WHEN WE WERE IN HER LESSON THEY WERE CLIMBING ALL OVER MY LAP AND BITING AND SUCKING ON MY FINGERS AND I JUST MISSED MAX AND PRIN TONS BUT WAS SUPER HAPPY TO BE WITH DOGS BECAUSE WE ALWAYS GET FOLLOWED BY CATS BECAUSE HNA FALCON IS A MAGNET FOR THEM, AND SHE ADORES CATS SO THEY ALWAYS FIND US EVERYWHERE WE GO. 

WELL FAM, TIME HAS FLOWN, BUT I LOVE THIS WORK, IT BRINGS ME A JOY I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE, AHH=]

WELL PEACE OUT, HNA SCHWARTZ

(pics: i forgot what order they're in, but they're from miguel's baptism, the zone activity we had at a members house, we made pizzas, played bag-o, volleyball, i got to be in shorts which was basically a dream come true, nuff said, uhh i think there's one in there of my district, one of the elder's crawford is from powder springs, ga, ironic being there are only 3 georgians in this mishmish, umm and i think there's a pic of me in granny glasses which i played with while waiting for hna falcon to finish her eye appt=])