PRAISE

 Hellooo everyone! Guess what?! Transfers are this Friday! I feel like this transfer flew by. I have no idea what's happening with me so next week will be a surprise I guess! I'm a little nervous, but I know I'll be sent where I'm supposed to be. I'll just miss my friends a lot here if I leave Paso Robles.

This week we went on three exchanges, so it was really busy but super fun!

On Wednesday, I was with Sister Ferre! She's awesome and so easy to talk to! Fun fact: She like lives like 5 minutes away from Post Malone in Utah! She said she sees his car all over the place and he's friends with some of the kids she knows in that area and will just go hang out in the Target parking lot with them sometimes when he's bored. So that's crazyyy! We had a lot of miracles during our exchange. There were a few people I wouldn't have even seen, but Sister Ferre pointed them out and we went out of our way to talk to them. They ended up being AWESOME! One of them, Carlos, came to church on Sunday! We talked to another guy named Pedro who I definitely thought spoke Engish, but once we started talking to him, he said he didn't speak our language. I started talking to him in Spanish and his face lit up! It was such a good feeling to be able to communicate with him, and he seemed so happy and excited to learn more. We also had one lesson that we were running late to, but we had an important call we had to take first. We took the call and then went to the lesson right after, and when we knocked the door, no one answered. Just as we were walking away, our friend pulled up on his bike, ready for the lesson. It was such perfect timing, and the call ended up being a blessing because we caught him at the right time!

On Thursday, Hermana Moon and I were asked to be in a recorded interview with a couple here in central California who's in the church's family history department. They asked us about the Mixteco people and about what it's like finding and teaching them. It was a really cool experience, and it's fun to share things about their culture and learning the language!

On Friday, I was on exchanges in Santa Maria with Hermana Andrews! The best part is that it was in MY old area, where I was trained and served for 4 and a half months! We were on bikes again and I got to see a few people from when I was there. It was soooo fun and I miss being on bikes soooo much! I feel like it gives me the energy and motivation I need between lessons. We taught a super cute family, and the Holy Ghost was so strong. The mom was talking about how at first she was embarrassed to have us enter her tiny home because they didn't have much, but she felt so much love from us. It was so sweet to hear and we talked about how amazing her family is and how there are so many things more precious than a nice home. I also got to see Jorge, who was a new member when I was in Santa Maria. He talks really fast in Spanish, so I struggled understanding him sometimes before haha, but he was always so kind and has the strongest testimony. It was awesome to talk with him again and actually understand his Spanish!! He prayed for me as I left and it was the sweetest thing ever. It was such a fun day with Hermana Andrews!

On Saturday, I was with Hermana Buhrley!! I love Hermana Buhrley tons and we had so much fun together! It always feels nice to be with her because she's such a good companion and friend, and it's fun to talk about memories we had together before our missions. She and I saw lots of miracles too! We had a little pizza party at the church, and our new member Brayan came and brought his younger brother, Carlos! It was exciting to meet him for the first time. Brayan is already being such a missionary! We were also able to start teaching a woman named Marta, who let us inside her trailer and really took us seriously as we spoke. She talked about her family's catholic traditions, and we were able to help show her respect while testifying of the blessing it is to find our own personal answers from God. We also had a good member dinner with three really cute older ladies. They made us the best rasberry cheescake I've ever had, but we were both so full by the end haha. It was such a good day!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Today I want to talk about a word that's been crossing my mind a lot lately. It was used multiple times by Elder Bragg when he visited for zone conference.

PRAISE.

He talked about how important it is to praise our friends, to praise our members, and to praise other missionaries. He told a story that he'd heard a long time ago from Elder Renlund. He had just become a Bishop in a little ward in Baltimore, and the missionaries came to him, asking how they could help. Elder Renlund was overwhelmed and didn't handle the situation as well as he'd wished or given them many suggestions. He said that the next Sunday, he walked into church and an incative member walked up to him and shook his hand excitedly. She said that she had come to church because the missionaries had visited and told her how much her Bishop loved her, and how he wanted to meet her. Elder Renlund was shocked. He felt like he hadn't given the best impression of help to the missionaries, but still, they chose to PRAISE him as they visited inactive members. The woman's love grew for her Bishop. The Bishop's love grew for the missionaries. And all because they chose to praise him as they spoke with others.

I want to work on praising others. I want to be the kind of person that talks good to people when they're with me, and even BETTER about them when they aren't. I know it's easier said than done, but I know it's possible for each of us! Whether we agree with how a leader, a member, or a friend acts, we can always choose to find the good in them. And when we talk about them with the enthusiasm that we would a dear friend, people will recognize a different feeling of love when they're around us.

I want to invite each of you to praise this week! Get excited as you talk about loved-ones, friends, coworkers, and classmates! Help other people see how much you love them!

I love each of you so much!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Included below are phots with Jorge as well as Teresa's cute family