The field is white already to harvest

Hermosa familia,

That's our mission theme for September until the rest of the year: "The field is white already to harvest." Sister Toro and I have some great investigators and were hoping to have five people to church. That didn't happen, but we have the highest hopes for those we are teaching. We are teaching a woman named T who was a referral from a woman in our ward/an English ward. She switches back and forth, but for the time being she is going to our ward because her father from Mexico is here and was just baptized in July. This member, Hermana C, is hilarious. She was making comments in Sunday school class, and I was literally crying from laughing so hard. Sister Toro said that we can't sit by her anymore because we always end up laughing too much when we're with her. :) T has been reading the Book of Mormon and LOVES it. She told us in our last lesson that she keeps reading and feels like she just can't get enough. She wants "more and more and more." Sister Toro and I were sitting there listening to her, thinking "what?!" We are so happy! Unfortunately there's a little opposition there in that they go to church as a family and her husband doesn't want to come and this and that--but it will be worked out soon. We have faith!

We were planning on having a baptism this weekend for a woman and her daughter, but things aren't looking as bright as they were before. We had a really great lesson with her and her family on Tuesday and talked about faith and the blessings we receive from keeping the commandments. They were actively participating in the lesson and understanding the scriptures we were sharing about Peter walking on water and having faith and not doubting in the power of the Lord and also in Ether 12:18 and Mosiah 2:21-22, 24. Unfortunately we have not been able to contact her, which has been really disappointing! But we have been fasting and praying and know that everything will work out okay. I mean, we taught a lesson on faith and challenged her to have faith to keep certain commandments and to be baptized--we need to exercise that kind of faith, too.

Oh, I forgot to mention last week that I went on an exchange with the sisters in Folsom who are bike sisters. They are from Samoa and Kiribati, so they don't have licenses to drive. President put them on bicycles, and they love it! And I spent the day with them on a bike, too! It was quite an experience and really fun--riding bikes with helmets and skirts and backpacks and flats. I got really bad helmet hair--islanders' hair look good with helmets! And my bones were sore for a week after. I felt so sorry for the sisters, but they have a good time and are able to talk to more people that way. We all borrowed elders' bikes.

And Sister Toro and I were driving from an appointment to the mission office this week and saw a lot of smoke in back of a house. I was thinking, are they cooking something? It was a lot of smoke. So we rolled on by and saw a man walking his dog outside of the house who was kind of checking out the smoke, too. I asked, "Is that a controlled fire?" I don't know why anyone would be burning a controlled fire in their backyard. He knocked on the woman's front door and told her and we noticed the smoke was getting worse and there were flames above the fence. The man called 911 and the Sister Toro held his dog while I took the hose and tried to hose off wildfire in someone's backyard! It was a crazy sight--two sisters in skirts fighting a fire. I told Sister Toro to call the mission office which was across the street to tell them to bring fire extinguishers--I guess they started running around the mission office/church like chickens with their heads cut off looking for fire extinguishers. The good news is now they know where they are! The fire engine came and the fire was put out and we continued on our way to the mission office. Sister Farr in the mission office got a picture of us--the new firefighters. :)

Love you all,

kates