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Salem Oregon Mission - Spanish Speaking

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Monday, March 2, 2015

Yo Yo

Hello everyone!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week with lots of smiles! First off happy birthday to baby Abe today! And happy birthday to Hanah and Skalla later this week! I love you all and hope you have great birthdays!

It has been a great week! The biggest news is that I am getting transferred. I am actually super surprised.  I was expecting to stay and that Hermana Meise would leave since she has been in North Salem for 8 months. I am pretty sad about leaving.  I love North Salem.  Hermana Aubrey is going back to Hayesville, so our two areas will be split back again. There is a chance that I will go to Hayesville with Hermana Aubrey and I really hope that is the case because then I will get to stay in the ward!

It has been such a great opportunity to serve with Hermana Meise.  So, how they do transfers here is that you get a call Saturday night and they tell you whether you are staying or leaving.  If you are leaving all you do is pack all your stuff up but you have no idea where you are going or who your new companion will be.  Then transfer meeting is Tuesday (tomorrow) and you find out where you are going and who your new companion is.  I've been a little anxious the last couple days to see where I am going but we will find out tomorrow.  I am a normal missionary now! Woo-hoo!

We got to see Rogelio again this last week!  He read some in the Book of Mormon and said that there is so much that he wants to learn.  The next time he is visited, the sisters will put him on date for baptism.  He is very prepared. He has told us multiple times that he is looking for the truth but has never felt like he has found it.  He has so many questions of why there are so many churches and if there is a true one out there.  I am pretty bummed that I won't get to continue teaching him, but all that matters is that he enters the waters of baptism so the door to the celestial kingdom opens! :)

Margarita!  Margarita is the 17-year-old girl that her grandpa passed away that was a member.  We got to visit her and talk about the Atonement.  She is amazing.  She truly takes everything in and talks to us how it applies to her. She went to mutual with a girl in the ward and loved it!  She was planning on coming to church with us but her family went out of town for a last minute vacation.  We will be visiting her tonight and talking about the plan of salvation.  She is such a special girl!  She is in the North Salem area as well so I won't be able to teach her again.   :(

We were able to see Socorro this last week.  We had talked with her about getting baptized March 1st (this last Sunday).  When we saw her this last week she hadn't prayed and she told us she didn't remember what she read about. It’s a bummer because her husband that was baptized just a month ago has such a desire to keep learning. We are not giving up on her because we know that one day she can be with her husband for eternity!  If I stay in Hayesville I will get to keep visiting her!  Yay!  Please keep Socorro in your prayers.

Now...the story I have been waiting to tell...So after we had visited Socorro we were feeling a little down because we thought she was going to be ready for baptism but we thought, there must be somewhere Heavenly Father needs us now!  We all felt that we should go visit the Chavez family who are less active. The dad let us in and told us that he could talk to us for a while.  

As we walked in their son was holding a dog (pretty small brown dog) that was barking his head off at us.  I didn't think anything about it and we went in another room to start the lesson.  We were talking to him for a minute when we heard the dog barking super loud.  He came running around the corner bolting at us showing his teeth.  For some reason this dang perrito felt the need to come for me haha.  He took a nice bite out of my leg.  Unfortunately he didn't just let go.  He did that shaking his head thing that dogs do when they bite down on something. Haha!  It was one of the sharpest worst pains I have had.  I really, really didn't want to make a big deal out of it, because it was rare that Brother Chavez let us in his house.  He ripped the dog off of me and took him to another room.  

I tried sooo hard not to cry and held it in.  He kept apologizing and I tried to make it seem like it was no big deal.  I was wearing tights so all you could see was the hole from his teeth.  Fortunately no one could see because of my tights but I could feel the blood running down my leg.  I was thinking that I didn't know if I could sit through a whole lesson it was throbbing super bad.  (I know that I sound dramatic but I am a girl that just got bit by a dog so I have an excuse to be dramatic haha!)

After, I was thinking that I had a super peaceful feeling that we needed to stay and teach a lesson. We read 2nd Nephi 26:24-25 with him.  The Spirit filled the whole room. We talked about how it is never too late to change and use the Atonement. He told us that he isn't ready to come back to church but that he wants to start praying and reading the scriptures.

The Spirit was so amazing in that room and I know that Hermano Chavez could feel it. I know that Heavenly Father helped me forget about the dog for a little while so that we could have a great lesson with him. Oh and the dog didn't have a collar on and the bite swelled up to a baseball and pus was coming out so I for sure thought I had rabies but we checked and he got his shots. :)

It is such a great blessing to be a missionary and share my testimony every single day. The Lord blesses us every day sometimes we just need to look for it.  I hope that you have a great week and I challenge you to see look for how the Lord blesses you every day! Have a great week!

Love always,


Hermana Gifford

Me, Hermana Aubrey, Hermana Meise
​I was attacked by an ugly perrito...The picture doesn't look bad...haha but believe me..

​I was having a bad hair day...Hermana Meise cut my hair... haha yolo


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