The church is true- October 27, 2014

hey guys!!!! i hope you guys have had such a great week BECAUSE I HAD THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!! haha but really this week has been unreal!!!!

This week started off with me catching a robber and saving a dog! haha 

Then  I had a feeling we should knock on this random door (partly because i really liked their Halloween decorations) and an old lady(consuelo) answered and she let us come in and teach her and her 18 year old daughter (connie). consuelo told us that they had been visited by the missionaries 18 years ago! so cool right! she told us she was catholic and that she didnt need to be baptized in our church cause she has already been baptized. Then on our 3 visit to their house Consuelo says she needs to show us something... so she pulled out 6 papers. THEY WERE HER AND HER KIDS BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION CERTIFICATES FOR THE LDS CHURCH!!! LIKE WHAAAA!!! haha it was super confusing but really funny! but connie hasnt been baptized and she is super interested! haha good one Consuelo! You sure tricked us! haha

I decided to start eating really healthy this week.... but the same day i made that decision, i was offered ice cream at every lesson we taught!!!! and i know you are all thinking "why didnt you just say no?" and if your asking that its because you dont understand hespanic culture... YOU CANT SAY NO!! (i dont even like ice cream:( ) haha but its all good! i love it here!

I could keep going on about this amaizing week but i dont have that much time:) haha but the last thing ill tell you about is this guy named David: we have been teaching him for about a month:) he is 23 years old and his family all lives in Guatemala. He is the sweetest guy i have ever met in my whole life and i had the privilege to teach him about the gospel:) and i got to watch him make the decision to be baptized this Sunday! it was the most beautiful thing i have ever seen! ive never seen anyone smile as big as he did! THIS GOSPEL BRINGS TRUE HAPPINESS!!! 

This scripture pretty much sums up my week:

 "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and i glory in it.I do not glory of myself but I glory in that which the lord thath commanded me: yeah, and this is my glory that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance: and this is my JOY!

And behold, when i see many of my bretheren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy: then do I remember what the Lord has done for me yeah even that he hath heard my prayer: yea" then do i remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me." -Alma 29:9-10

I love you all so much and i hope you are all doing so great! and if you aren't doing so great then i promise this gospel can make you whole! love you! 

Live tweet selfies

We Love Julios

Go big or go home... we are going home big!

me, kiko, hna allen and moises! gotta love em'

our decorations are to die!

soccer is the best!!!! 

Could not be more happy for this awesome guy! oh and shout out to kiko for baptizing him for his first time!! woohoo!

almost fell off my bike into these cactus! good thing I'm coordinated and didn't!

-Hermana Ihrke

Partying hard, maybe too hard!- October 20, 2014

Hey guys!!! 

I hope everyone is doing great and had a fun break from school (unless your byu, then you don't get breaks haha)!! this week has been so much fun!!! we had good food and met A LOT of really cool people:) 

The weekends here are CRAZY!!!! people seriously LOVE to party out here... it can get kinda scary actually:) The other day we were getting out of a lesson when right around the corner from us a gun shot goes off, my companion almost jumped into my arms! haha it was the loudest scariest thing I've ever experienced! so we went back into the apartment for cover... i was shaking so bad!!!! haha but its all good now ill be ready for the next time it happens:) 

Another funny/scary thing that happened this week was when we were at this apartment complex, it was about 9:15 pm and we could not find our way out  to save our lives. So finally we stopped and asked a group of guys, they were parting hard... but we didn't know who else to ask. so we asked them how to get out and they all kinda pointed in different directions. Then this one guy pushes his way through the crowd of guys and in a really creepy voice said "te llevo" which means "Ill take you". So me and hna allen hopped on our bikes so fast and started to bike away, but my bike is kinda handy and doesn't work when its in 2nd gear, so its always in 3rd gear and trying to start up my bike in 3rd gear takes a little bit of time for me to get going... haha so as I'm struggling behind hna Allen and she turns around and her face went white, and she yelled "hurry!!!" so i turned around and the guy was running behind me about 1 foot away from me and swung to hit me off my bike... the whole time he was doing this he was yelling "te llevo! te llevo!" luckily he missed me by an inch! I've never been so happy to be riding a bike!!! haha but it was really funny thinking about it after, but in the moment it was kinda freaky! haha 

So many cool things happened this week i cant even begin to tell you! but its just so cool the way the lord is protecting us out here! I LOVE LOVE LOVE BEING ON MY MISSION! it is the best choice I've ever made! I've never felt my Heavenly Fathers love so strong before!  This gospel really changes lives and i know that because it has changed mine:) I love you all so much and i hope you have a great week! enjoy all of the little things and don't take anything for granted!! HAVE FUN! love you so much!!! 

-Love Hermana Ihrke

This is us this morning at the Chiropractor 

Oh ya, we got into a car accident, but dont worry... Im okay....

JUST KIDDING!

Mission Life is Good- October 15, 2014

hey!!!!!!

I hope everyone is having a great week!!!! i had the best week! its going by way too fast though!!! ive already been out here for 3 MONTHS!!! it feels like ive been out here for 3 weeks! I dont wanna go home yet!!! haha but seriously the time is flying by! I LOVE IT OUT HERE!!!! alot happened this week! it was another crazy week. But legally im not allowed to talk about some of it:) haha 

but seriously... :)

This week was kikos birthday!!! it was sooooo fun!!! we went to the Favelas house and we helped hermana Favela make Chili rieno! OH MY GOSH IT IS TO DIE!!! haha and then kiko got his face smashed into the cake! i love hespanic traditions!! haha the cake was UNREAL!!! it was a chocolate tres leche!!!! YUMMMM!!! 

a member of the quorum of the 70 came and spoke to us! it was super cool!!!! i meet a bunch of people that live near me and know of me somehow? idk but it was really cool to get to hang with a bunch of the missionaries, cause we dont get to see them alot. AND I SAW ELDER MATT WEBSTER!!!! he is doing so great! speaking his asian language! haha i forgot what its called but it starts with a 'B' haha:) but yeah this week has been great!!! i love you all sooo much! have the best week ever!!! 

-Love Hermana Ihrke

Kiko and I

me at the Favelas making some Chili Rieno!

We know how to party!

Me and Elder Webster! loved seeing him!!!! 

Bonfire parties are the best!

Eating soup with a bunch of unknown meat! haha love it here

Thanks mom for the decorations!

General Conference Weekend- October 6, 2014

Hola erry one!

This week has gone by sooooooo FAST!!!! its so crazy how the time works out here! haha but its been a good fun week! right now im just sitting in the library dripping wet because there was like a freak hurricane outside! but now it looks like a perfect sunny day, so people are wondering why i look like i just got out of the shower... AWK haha anyway this week was sooo good! 

Last monday we went to the mall! I LOVE THE MALL!!! im so glad missionaries are allowed to shop cause i love it! haha Also this week we played SOCCER!!!! i cant even tell you all enough how dumb i look playing soccer with all of these mexicans, THEY ARE UNREAL! but i scored a goal!!!!!! we just play in the church parking lot:) it reminds me of playing at byu in the parking garages! haha so fun! 

And we had a service project this week.... now i really love service but this was a whole new level of service. We offered to help a member clean their house. lets just say i am so grateful for my mom and how good she is at cleaning because i have never been more grossed out in my whole life! there were some posters of half naked girls on the walls so of course i go to take them down, and when i did a family of cockroaches fell from behind the poster all over me! i literally was screaming my head off! someone thought that i was getting stabbed! it was AWFUL! but its ok cause i took about 6 showers that day to make sure there werent any hiding in my hair! haha NASTY!

But yeah this week has been great! our car likes to break down a lot... at night...in really sketchy areas... but its ok cause i know that we are being protected! haha Oh and i just found out that the reason that one of our investigators hasnt been home this week is because hes in jail:( so sad!!! but its all good cause we will be here when he gets out! haha 

oh and conference was the best thing in the whole world!!! if any of you haven't gotten the chance to see it you should do that! Remember, "DECISIONS DETERMINE DESTINY" -Thomas S. Monson. I hope you all have the best week ever! Make good decisions and i love you all so much!!! cant wait to hear from you all next week! Love you!

-Love Hermana Ihrke

My soccer crew!

This is how my girl Jess watches conference. Soak it all in Jess!