Long week...

hello everyone.
this has been a really long week. i think because so much happened in it. it should have been enough to have lasted us a month.
transfers happened and we got a new sister in our apartment named sister bevan. she came from my old area in laredo so she was able to give me updates on everybody. i love frank and jesus! the two brothers who got baptized the week after i left.. they are the sweetest. they sent me a note with her. apparently they have both read the book of mormon like three times now. they are preparing to serve missions. and are just awesome. and i guess all of these things that we would do with them have started a tradition. like my last night with them we took a picture by this dead end sign by their house, and now they do it with every missionary that leaves. and they still go to wendy's every wednesday. they're so cute. it's been nice to have someone to talk laredo with.
sister petersen and i found the most awesome people this week. isaac and his grandma. we first started teaching isaac. he, like nearly everybody in the valley, has had a pretty sketchy life. when he was 12 years old he was high and on shrooms and crashed a four wheeler into a trailer home and was in a coma for 3 months. enough said. anyway, we had this amazing lesson with him about the savior and forgiveness. after we shared this powerful scripture with him, he tooked out his pack of cigarettes, looked at it, looked at us, and then asked us if he could give to us. he said, "i don't need these. i don't want to smoke them anymore." he hasn't smoked one since. it's been six days. he still has a problem with the marijuana, but he is trying to quit. he is amazing. the next time we came over we had a great lesson about repentance. his grandma sat in on it. she cried. she has had an equally rough life and wants to change. we love them. we are going to work hard with them to help them overcome all of their addictions and change their lives around. they are so sweet and willing.
sister bustillos and sister call went home this week. i am suddenly becoming one of the oldest sisters in the mission. five of my seven companions have gone home now, if you count sister carlos who is home on medical leave. it's pretty crazy. where does the time go?
anyway, this week we started this "purification challenge" that our district leader challenged us all to do. we thought of all the things that distract us from the work and decided to cut them out of our lives for forty days. he promised miracles. we're already starting to see miracles in that we randomly may have a baptism this week. this young boy who's parents are coming out of inactivity (they've been back for four months now) will probably get baptized this sunday. we just met him yesterday and his parents said they need to get him baptized. he's so cute. he's been coming to primary and everything so we don't really need to teach him anything. hah.
well. i am out of time. hope you are all doing well. until next week..
xoxo
me