Happy July 4th!

Hi Mama!

Well, you said you'd send a part 2 to your email, and nothing else has come yet, but that's ok. Happy July to you too! I can't believe Jodi broke her collarbone...again! Pobrecita. So you might have told me already, but are they living with you right now? (In between trips all over the place, of course).

That's cool about Landon's fairwell! I can't believe he's leaving already. What day does he go into the MTC again? Which Chile mission is it again? I'm sorry to hear you can't sleep, but I'm glad I got an email out of it. How did class go? I hope you sleep better tonight! Wow, that's a lot of festivals. So are you actually telling stories or just hosting them or what? Sounds like a lot of fun! Pictures? Ok, I just got your email, so I guess that answers some questions about Landon. So is he flying straight to Chile then? I'm glad he got his passport in time! Whew! He's going to be a rockin' missionary! I'm so stoked for him :)

Ok, I guess I can answer some of your questions now.

So, it's been an interesting situation that last week actually. We got a lot of surprises at the mission conference (which was awesome - I have tons of pictures but I'll probably have to upload them later) and this last week I have been covering two areas with Hermana Villaseñor, or I should say Sister Villaseñor, because although she is Mexican, she is an English missionary. She was whitewashed into a new area and we have been temporarily together and covering both here in Escondido and over in San Marcos until our new companions arrive today. Yep! That means I'm training again, haha it's great. I'm actually really excited.

Hermana Sheffield is over in Vista and will also be training! She was absolutely SHOCKED when she heard she was whitewash training in Vista - haha it was so great! I miss working with her though, she is super awesome. I'm excited to see her at transfer meeting today too! So I'll meet President Kendrick in a few hours (I believe he arrived yesterday) as all the trainers will head up early to meet with him so that he can then interview the new missionaries and decide whom will serve with whom. He will then come around to every area over the next few weeks and personally interview and get to know each missionary, so that should be pretty wonderful.

It's been a fun week bring in English work part of the time! It's definitely different, but still great. We actually didn't spend a whole lot of time in San Marcos because we were so busy here in Dido with lots of citas and stuff. We did teach a couple of schizophrenic less actives in her area, and also had dinner with a family. We stayed in my apartment though and went to church here and everything since the transfer didn't actually start until this week and she doesn't have a lot of work over there right now anyway. Hermana Villaseñor is good missionary and a fun girl...though I'm happy to be getting a new companion :)

Hermana Ruiz went home last Tuesday! Wow! It was great to see her right before she left. I sure do love that "little brown girl", haha. Oh yeah! Other news - Hermana Jones is in my ward! She is greenie-breaking/senior companion with Hermana Gutknetch and Hermana Eskeets will be training in Escondido. Hermana Schwegler did not go to the Irvine mission but did get switched to English work! Crazy! Poor thing, she was pretty bummed, but she's happy to be staying in the Carlsbad mission too.

So, we had a pretty sad situation arise recently. Mauricio (who just got baptized a few weeks ago and actually received the Priesthood not last Sunday but the last) decided he didn't want to come to church anymore or do any of those "churchy things", like reading, praying, or working towards going to the temple. I was absolutely devastated and shocked, because up until about a week ago, he was SO solid! I guess he has been getting a LOT of hassle from his family, friends, coworkers, and everyone he lives with. They bully him like crazy about it. His girlfriend broke up with him, and I guess he was having a hard time with some other temptations. Poor thing. The good thing is, is that we've been able to talk with him about it and we know he still has so much faith, he just doesn't have a lot of patience and doesn't like what he's been going though. Poor thing. It's so sad how hard Satan works, especially right after baptism. That is when people are most vulnerable. The ward is getting really involved though and trying to help give him more support that he has been lacking elsewhere.

Alfredo (a recent convert who was baptized just a few weeks before) is as solid as a rock though! He went to do baptisms for the dead last week and LOVED it! He's so sensitive to the Spirit! We were walking over to his house yesterday to set up an appointment and also to ask him to go visit Mauricio (because they are neighbors and buds). Before we even got there, he come out of his house and walked right over to us. He told us about how that afternoon he felt the Spirit and had the prompting to go visit Mauricio (he never just goes and visits him, by the way). He said they had a good talk, he read with him in the scriptures, and committed him to coming to church on Sunday to talk to the Bishop about the situation. Man, Alfredo is such a baller! He is so solid and such a good missionary! He actually came out of his house as we were contacting a lady and he come over and bore his testimony in the contact - haha it was so great. Alfredo is a spiritual giant and going to help many lives - including his son's hopefully.

Things are going fine with Cristian, but hopefully we can help progress a little more this week and resolve some of his concerns and questions. He's doing well though. Rosa is great, but will be moving soon, so she will be learning from the other missionaries, but she'll still be coming to our ward. She really wants to work towards baptism, so hopefully her Fiancé will give us a chance and come to church with her on Sunday. We've picked up a few more investigators, but we'll see if how things go by next week. Like I said before, we are trying to work more with members and less actives, so hopefully that will be fruitful soon.

I'm so excited to meet my new compy today! I'm sure she'll be wonderful! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed because this ward is really demanding and this area has so much going on and I still feel like a new missionary and I'm training again, but it should be great fun, right?

Oh yeah, some Mexicans on the street the other day told me I "almost" sound like a Native! Yes! I'm getting there! Though I don't have a Mexican accent, which is funny because I've learned most of my Spanish from Mexicans.

Well, I'm sure there is a lot I've left out, but I can't think of it right now and I'm almost out of time. I sure do love you mama and all the fam! Tell Chaddy to write me! Ariana too - she forgot to write me back this week. Lame. Ok, well, I love you a lot. I love the scriptures so much mama. They make so much sense. We talk to all sorts of people and get all sorts of arguments and bashing and every time I can just turn to the scriptures and the answers are right there! I love that the Gospel makes so much sense - it fits my green personality ;) I know this Gospel is true with all my heart. It's all true. I love my Savior and I love His work, even when it's hard and I'm tired, because I know it's all worth it. I love you all and hope you have a good week! Pray for me and my new compy!

Con muchisimo amor,

Hermana Alyssa Nicole Escalante