Hey y'all!

This week was pretty interesting. LOTS of things have happened, but I have so little time to share about it.

I'm learning that going to Church softens hearts--including mine, bus drivers that try to speak their memorized phrases in English are slowly stealing bits and pieces of my heart, Satan does all he can to try and stop the progress of our investigators, but if we do all we can and keep pressing forward, we can see the progress we want to see, annnnnd there are so many different religions here. I truly have lived under a rock up there in Utah. 

I already wrote my mission president about two of those experiences and in the interest of time, I'm just going to copy and paste them for all y'all. :)

Another crazy thing from this week--we were teaching this senior couple who attend the iglesia profetica. Annnnnd.....every time we pray with them, it's super crazy. The first time we met them, I had to pray. And I was NOT expecting what happened. I began to pray and they started to pray, too! OUT LOUD!!! Yes, I've heard people whisper their own prayers before while we've prayed for their families, but I have never experienced that. I think the man must be a pastor or something, because it was just......wow. I honestly could not think, I repeated some phrases several times and then just decided to end my prayer and wait for them to end theirs. It is SO interesting, President, to see the different religions here. I have never experienced anything like it because I've lived in Utah my entire life. This mission truly has been an eye-opener in many different ways.

One last thing I want to share. Last Sunday, I wasn't in a very good mood. We were late to church, losing time to teach investigators, and there was a whole chain of other things bugging me. As we were walking, various men attempted to talk to me in English, and I just brushed them off. It was actually a little irritating. I just wanted to get to church and get back home. Well. We only went for Sunday School (because we were attending the other ward and had already gone to church that day. We only went with one of our investigators....) and then we took the bus on the way back. The bus driver immediately started talking to me in English. He used every phrase that he knew--everything from "Hi, how are you?" and "It only costs 25 cents..." to "It's nice to see you" and "Bye, bye!" I.....it was hilarious, President. I was so happy and could not stop smiling. I realized that my attitude had completely changed and I know that it's because we went to Church. The Spirit truly softens hearts and I'm living proof of that. My day completely turned around and things improved from that moment on. I know that if our investigators come to church, they'll be able to feel the Spirit and can see a change in their lives. We NEED the Spirit that the Church and Sacrament brings. Without it, we won't be truly happy. THAT'S why I want to bring people to church. Because I know what it can do for our lives.

Umm...another funny thing about that couple that prayers quite fervently is that the second visit we had, I actually fell asleep during their prayer. It was more than fifteen minutes long! That's like....more than a Conference talk! Luckily my companion woke me up for they ended their....praising and supplication.

I wanted to share a couple of other experiences/milagritos, but I don't have the time. Just know that God truly is aware of our situations and needs and will always send us the people and help we need. Make sure you look for opportunities to help others as well. Maybe God is needing you to provide that comfort or assistance that people are praying for.

I know this Church is true and I am so blessed to have the power of the Priesthood in my life. Keep studying the General Conference talks! They're here to help us endure through the six months until the next Conference. I know that Thomas S. Monson, his two counselors, and the Twelve Apostles truly are men called of God to be prophets, seers, and revelators in our day.

I love you all! Keep moving forward!

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch

A week of much happiness and miracles

This week has been amazing! Yes, it's had it's downs, but we've ended on a high note and we're hoping to continue to improve with this upcoming week. 

Hna. Ferreras and I are getting along REALLY well. We really are meant to be companions. Every day my testimony of that is strengthened as I see how well we get along and the experiences that we are having with meeting people on the street and the lessons we are teaching.

This past week I received a new companion--a mini missionary from here in El Salvador. She was originally going to go to her mission in Guatemala on the 28th of May, but.....her stepfather was drunk and she had an accident, so spent a week in the hospital. She obviously can't return to her home with that situation, so she'll be with us for three weeks. It's been a little difficult because she hasn't been the CCM and doesn't have any training whatsoever, but we've been working with her and she's improving little by little. 

Then, on Friday.....we received another companion! From El Salvador who is finishing her mission here. She had been serving in Ciudad de Obregon, Mèxico (Kallie, does your roommate know her???) and had some health problems so she came to finish her mission in her paìs. So now there's four of us in our area. Apparently I'm in charge of everyone, buuuuuut I don't know the area too well. So I'm just going to trust that the Lord will help us A LOT.

A lot of miracles happened these past couple of days, but I don't have too much time, so I'll just share an experience I had yesterday.

Yesterday was amazing! Hna. Ferreras and I were in the exact places that we needed to be in the exact moment that we were needed. That happened the entire day, too--not just for only one of our lessons. One of the experiences that I want to share however is about a lesson we had with a certain family yesterday. There were all sorts of miracles that we were seeing with this lesson, but afterwards I was talking with Hna. Ferreras as we were walking to another cita we had programmed. In this lesson, the people asked us SO many questions about different aspects of the gospel. Questions I have NEVER heard before, questions that truly test your testimony. I told Hna. Ferreras that I know I really need to be in this area because in Miramonte II, the lessons we had weren't like that. I feel like the lessons we had in my first two changes were lessons to help me learn and be able to understand the language. Now, the lessons are going to help me strengthen my testimony. So as I was telling her about this, I started to tell her that I know that BOTH of us are supposed to be companions and that we're supposed to be in this area and in that exact moment, I happened to look down on the sidewalk and there was the name of Hna. Ferreras! Engraved in the sidewalk! It was so bizarre, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that we're both supposed to be in this area. It was just.....I can't explain it. 

This mission has been incredible. Every day my testimony is being strengthened and every day El Salvador is taking another piece of my heart. I'm seeing miracles both here in this country and also with my family back home. I hope y'all are learning to trust in the Lord and looking for the miracles that God blesses us with every day. Proverbios 3:5-6 just came to my mind! I know that those words are true. God will direct our paths. I'm living proof of that. If we trust Him withevery aspect of our lives, we will never need to doubt if we are where we are supposed to be.

Thank you for all that you do and for all of your love and support. I love all y'all and am praying that everything is going well. Keep saying your prayers and study the talks from General Conference! :D

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch

Hello Family and Friends Outside of El Salvador (Unless you have recently decided to reside here in this lovely paìs and have neglected to inform me....)!

The field is white and ready to harvest and we've got plenty of rain to help it grow (Literally and metaphorically.....)!  But seriously. It's raining. A ton. We have now hit the "winter" season. haha If they only knew what Winter really meant..... But I love it here. So we had transfers last week. I switched areas. :( Buuuuuut....I'm still in the same ward. The èlders here however neglected to keep up the area book, so it's just like opening a new area because we have NOTHING. 

My new companion has three months in the mission, just like me. :) Her name is Hna. Ferreras and she is from the Dominican Republic. She's 26 years old (so girls, never feel like you're too old to go on a misison because you're NOT!), and she speaks bastante English. It's awesome. She loves to eat--especially postres--and I'm pretty sure we're going to get along really well. I may have just found my "favorite companion" on the mission. And the cool thing is that President Hintze mentioned in transfers meeting about having a companion for 8 months and being in the same area for 11 months. I hope he's serious, because I'm super thrilled about being able to work with Hna. Ferreras. We're already seeing miracles. 

So we don't have a lot of time to write today because of the rain, so I'll try to write more next week. Just know that we really are seeing miracles and I hope that y'all are taking the time to look around and note the miracles happening in your lives as well. I'm so grateful to have the friends and family that I have. Y'all have helped me immensely to get to where I'm at today. I pray for each and every one of you and I know with all of my heart that Heavenly Father will bless you with the things you need when you need. We all have to wait for something, but it's the wait that makes that blessing extra special. We wouldn't truly appreciate it if it came immediately. Trust in Heavenly Father! He knows what He is doing!!! :)

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Look for "missionary opportunities" because they are YOUR opportunities, too!

Love Always,

Hermana McCulloch

                                               Hermanas Ferrars and McCulloch