Things you never thought to be grateful for

Hey Mom and Pops!

I just started my half hour, so and I'm already writing you guys so this is great! Also, it makes me happy to hear that you are sending me letters. I haven't received a single one since my first day in El Salvador, and I was worried you had stopped sending them. It is incredible to me how much love I can feel in every letter and email you send. Today I made it my goal, since it is P Day to write more letters so that other people can feel the same love I feel whenever I get a letter from someone I care about.

One thing I really love is reading Mom's summary of the talks in Sacrament that week. For instance, last week she talked about a recent convert giving a talk about the importance of inviting friends to church activities (including non-Sunday ones, which are often way less scary for the inviter and the invitee), and this week, it just happened to apply perfectly to the ward of Las Arboledas! This month, we have a theme in our mission (as in the whole world, since last General Conference) of working with the members, so this short email from Mom was exactly the answer to our prayers! We have been working on encouraging members to bring friends to activities, and inviting our own investigators, so we'll seen in a couple weeks the fruit of this
advice.

Okay, here is my funny thing of this week. In honor of Thanksgiving coming up, I have made a list of things you never thought to be grateful for:
-A sink and a toilet that work every day
-Not having a lock on every door of your house (including inside your house)
-carpet
-doors you can knock on without something metal
-being able to wash your toothbrush with tap water
-being able to drink tap water
-showering from a shower, and not a bucket (although for the bucket, you have to give credit to the eco-friendly nature of such showers...much more efficient!)
-hot water!

This week, for various reasons, I have felt a little bit down, but today, I looked back at our three (almost four now!) weeks in Las Arboledas, and I realized we have achieved so much. Even though I am by no means a perfect missionary, I know that I am getting better every day, and that I am doing the best I can to help others enjoy the close relationship with our Heavenly Father and truly, the joy! that comes from living the principles of the Gospel and truly trying to follow Christ. Every time I open my mouth to testify, I can feel the Spirit confirming to me what I say. I can feel that this is an incredible work and that sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ really brings such happiness to me.

Love to you and the whole family and every friend that reads this blog! Enjoy this precious precious autumntime (seriously, that's one of the few things I miss)

Hermana Romero

PS. I am hoping that something really awesome happens this Saturday and that I can send you pictures, but until then, I am making no promises. Await my next email eagerly. :D