July 4

hello again, it's just a normal winter day here in sta cruz. Sorry i am writing a little later than usual, we had a zone activity.

this week my companion was sick so we didn't work 3 days, that was sad, she is still a little sick, just with a really bad cold, the problem with the humid cold is that it is hard to get warm, and even if you're bundled up when walking around, the wind is strong. so far i have been ok, a little bit of a runny nose sometimes but overall i'm ok, just trying to take care of my dear companion and help her get better. we have a little more than a week before cambios so we are trying to take advantage of this time and really enjoy it. she has been a good companion, and she is my friend.

happy 4th of july! sure doesn't feel like it, haha, i think we are going to order american style pizza today to celebrate :)

Thanks for your encouraging words in your letters!! it always helps me! today it was exactly what i needed to hear.

I got my birthday package this week!! Thanks! I got it the 30th so it still got to me in the same month as my birthday! good job!! Thanks! I love everything i got. I also got a package from my friend Eechien, so that was fun to get 2 packages at once. I will think this week and let you know what i would like from the u.s. I have a millon stickers now!! so thats kind of fun.

We had a mission conference this week, with 4 zones, we presented our numbers for the last month and talked about the goals we have in the mission, were instructed, etc, it was really good, it made me want to be more obedient and try harder to learn the scritpures and PMG so that i can better help people be baptized, also it helped me have more HOPE that i can find poeple that are ready for the gospel, there was a companionship that had 13 baptisms in june, and also i'm happy to report that Hna. Castro, who is still in the same area, had a baptism about 2 weeks ago of a family of 4!! :)

Interviews with Pres. CAlderon are pretty short, he just asks how you are doing, what kind of things you have been working on personally and in the work, and gives you time to ask him questions, when we go the office we also have our area books and emergency money checked, and we have to do a little practice with one of the assistants, and repeat a few scritpure masteries.

Hna. Larsen went to el centro last monday, to send letters, and we also found a place to buy souveneirs, kind of a tourist trap place, we saw other americans there and it was kind of weird, the only thing i bought was a nativity set, it's really cute, hna. larsen bought these flute things for her family. it was fun to see what there was, never really had been to a place like that before.

Don't really have many stories about members or investigators because we didn't work much this week! We do have a new investigator named Paula who wants to learn more, and be baptized. the problem is that she is only 17 and president has a new rule that we can't baptize people under 18 unless their family gets baptized too or are members. so now we need to work on her family, she lives with her grandma and her aunt.

Love you all! have a great week! love hna. Tibbitts