The Adventures of Hermana Patten

  Hola amigos !! Yesterday night, we got transfer news. Basically, that means that I found out that I will be staying in Elko for at least the next six weeks! Yay! We also found out we're getting a third companion (another newbie) so that will be exciting as well. We'll get to meet her Wednesday! Other exciting stuff that happened this week: - Last Monday, we had to call the fire department. We had pulled up to the church to decorate for a wedding and the alarm was going off! Fire trucks came and everything but nothing was wrong, I guess it was just going off for fun. - We also went on our hike which was it's own little adventure. It was super pretty up the canyon, but the Elders told us to take the wrong trail (we were headed up the horse trail for some reason, don't ask me why) and my companion, who has asthma, ended up passing out. It was so scary and I thought I was going to have to use some of my (no longer) certified lifeguard skills, but don't worry, she'...

  Hey everyone!!  I hope your weeks were absolutely phantasmagorical. I know mine was! - Last Monday, we played the most epic game of kickball as a district. It was 100 million degrees and me and the district leader were talking smack (all fun and games, dont worry) so they made us be on a team by ourselves. We still won. Mostly. Today for pday we get to go on a hike and I am absolutely over the moon excited. I'll let you know how it is next week. - BLESSING. Basically, my retainer broke. We went to a dentist out in spring creek and they took a new mold (if you've never had to do this, count your blessings, it tastes disgusting and just triggers your gag reflex... yay). We went to the front, and I was prepared to pay like $200 to get it fixed but they said that it was going to be free! It was a huge miracle :) - We painted some Libro de Mormóns with members and it was super fun. Then we went to English class and my comp made fried oreos. They're basically just diabetes on s...

  Hey friends! This week was a little bit of an emotional roller coaster. Last Monday, my mom told me that my  puppy died and that was really hard for me. On top of that, so many people cancelled lessons and we got a flat tire. HOWEVER the tender mercies of the Lord are great!! We also saw so so many good things and miracles this week! - Yesterday at sacrament meeting, our chapel was fuller than I think I've ever seen it! One of our friends who we weren't expecting came, along with an inactive member we met this week who hasn't been to church for at least the four years she's been in Elko! I was so happy when I saw them that I felt like my heart was going to burst, it's so hard to put into words. - We didn't get T-boned at a stoplight, so that was amazing amazing amazing! We were about to turn (our light was very much green, don't worry) but me and my comp both had the feeling to pause for a second, so we did. And then this giant red SUV comes whipping throu...

  Hola hola hola amigos!! Saturday I hit two months on the mission! Man, does time fly when you're having fun. And this week was absolutely amazing! - On Tuesdays, we have English class that we go and help out at. This week, we were learning all about food words and cooking words... so our awesome awesome teacher decided we were going to cook! We made orange julius and probably the fluffiest German pancakes / Dutch babies / whatever you want to call them I've ever seen in my life. It was so delicious and fun! Also, Hermana Rivera and I gave the spiritual thought and she made me do the translating to Spanish part... it was terrifying but really good and everyone was really nice about my spotty spanish. - I went to my first district counsel! I also had to give a training that I'd never even heard of before, so that was cool. However, it was a blast! This spirit was fire and my district is pretty cool. We also went to subway after which was good vibes too. - okay so we have th...

  Hey friends! I hope your lives are all so so good :) and if you haven't already, I would still love it if you sent me your favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon! I love seeing them and getting to hear a little from y'all! This week we talked to the police!! We saw a fight break out at the foodbank we were serving at and the police were called and we were witnesses! They took down our names and recorded our story and everything, it was crazy! Besides that, nothing too crazy happened. Here's a couple highlights: - I made the worst cookies I've ever made in my life... don't worry we didn't deliver those ones. - MORMON CRICKETS ARE HUGE AND GROSS AND DISGUSTING. I find it ironic that I've never seen one until now (given that I grew up in Utah) but they're everywhere here and can I just say...  EW! - We had a fiesta with our rama (branch) that was a potluck and someone brought taco lasagna to share... it was SO good. We also played games and watched t...