Rain, Rain, Mud for Days

February 8, 2016

Hola todos!

Ant hill taller than her comp!

So this week I really have no time. My comp has surgery in like half an hour.Hahah. But this week I definitely felt like I was in a jungle because it has been SOOOOO hot and then when you get to the point that you think you can't go any longer it rains. Oh blessed hot rain....where vapor rises from the asphalt on the street. It is crazy! Then it is cooler for like 3 hours and then it is hot again. But hey...i will take fresh and cool for a little bit.

So this week we were able to work almost normally. I love my comp. She makes me laugh quite frequently. We are working to help those that are progressing to really make the big step towards baptism at the end of this month. We were able to teach Juana and she was able to accept a baptismal date for the 5th of March. We will see how it goes. The great thing is that she is already married! Win!!! Love that!! 

Our guide to an investigator's home

I have been studying a lot about how as a missionary I can make the sabbath day a delight when it really just feels like any other day, but as I have studied the scriptures I have found that the Sabbath Day is really all about forgetting oneself and trying your very hardest to do all the things the lord would do, say, and feel on that day. As we ask ourselves this question it becomes super clear and I can testify that the day becomes a delight and something different from the rest of the week! 

I also found a killer scripture in Alma 5:40 that really defines how I feel about the work and my part in it! I hope that you all have a great week and remember who you are and that the Lord is calling each and every one of us to do a great work. We just have to call upon him to know what, when, and how, and then be willing to go and do!!!

Love,

Hermana Albach

More photos:

Ouch!

Frozen bananas keep us cool!

Beautiful countryside

Ah! Blue skies.

Rural Paraguay

Don't Give Up...You. Are. Loved.

February 1, 2016

Hey all,

So this week was full of good-byes and hellos. It was definitely bittersweet to leave Rama 2 (Encarnacion) and so very many people that I love and hope for the best. You just end up giving your heart to these people and areas. It is amazing that I still have any left to give. But I do! Had a great finish to my time with Hermana Castillo. I learned so much from her and she made me a card with a dead grasshopper covered in glitter. That is unique and memorable!! ;) 

Thursday came way too fast and I was headed with my new comp H. Velàsquez to Obligado which is about an hour away from Encarnaciòn on bus. What the what? I left Encarnaciòn.....if I had stayed until the 25th of February I would have been in Encarnaciòn for an entire year!! Crazy! But hey. My new area is HUGE and gorgeous. It is a German community but they speak Spanish too. So it is really pretty and the people are blonde and white. Freaks me out. Not used to seeing so many blondes or people with colored eyes. 

We did some nursing stuff with H. Velasquez because she just so happens to be the same girl that was hit by the motorcycle. I have been able to do some infected wound care and that has been fun....maybe just for me and not so much for her. Hahaha. We visited a recent convert and then he came to church.....two weeks in a row now. Super great! Church was great. Way different. Still leading the music. Fun stuff. And rocking the primary participation where they give us snacks. All about that life. It truly is like a green version of Montana to me. Lots of farming and fields and open skies. I LOVE IT! I am excited for the weeks to come and to see the progress and work we can get done here in this new area. A scripture I found this week that was awesome for me was Acts 20:19. So true and just what the mission is all about. LOVE IT!!! 

Well I hope this email finds you all well and happy and that you remember how important you are all. Don't give up. In the words of Josh Groban "remember that you are loved!!!!" Sorry my comp is really trying to learn english so I write down lyrics for her in english and the last one/first one was this song. But it is SO TRUE!!!

Love,

Hermana Albach

Obligadooooooooooo!

January 25, 2016

Hola todos!!!

Just a few of the faces I'm going to miss most

Espero que tuvieran una semana productiva y buena!! <I hope you have had a productive and good week> So this week was spent almost none of it in our area. We were doing things for the health of my companion, for the hermana that was hit by a motorcycle, and interviews, and a worldwide missionary training for all 75 million missionaries. It was awesome. 

Obligado

Something that I learned from the training that Elder Bednar gave about the Spirit was priceless. It wasn't anything that he said. It was something that I felt and learned. It was about how we are truly the instruments in the hands of the Lord. So I was thinking of a violin. The Spirit is the music that we hear when we have tuned, practiced, and prepared sufficiently that the Lord can play a part. We truly have to do our part and then we are promised the Lord will do his. He will use our instrument and he will be able to make beautiful music that is truly the spirt playing through us. I also know that the Lord prepares us to face all challenges. I have learned SO MUCH about charity and loving even and especially when we don't want to. I know that as we turn to our Savior he will truly make all our challenges light and possible to overcome. 

Hermanas Merchan and Velasquez
She's sporting sunglasses to protect her eye.

I love this work and I am so excited to be headed to Obligado to work with Hermana Velàsquez and have some new exciting challenges!! You are all such great examples to me and I hope that all is going well! Remember that we are truly strongest, tallest, and supported when we are on our knees. Get working on getting that knee callus!! Hashtags: #realthinginthemission #reppinthekneecallus

Love,

Hermana Albach 

That time someone go hit by a motorcycle...SuperNURSE

January 11, 2016

Hey all,

So this isn't just a fun title. It is actually something that happened this week. One of our missionaries was hit by a motorcycle. I was able to visit her and assess the healthcare being given and then we were able to do divisions with her and her companion in their area after she had been released from the clinica. She was incredibly blessed. She didn't break even one bone. The Lord truly protects his missionaries. It was crazy. I was able to do some serious nursing this week and by serious nursing I mean I changed bandages and watched other nurses give injections. ;) 

But my testimony was strengthened so MUCH!!! We were able to only be in our area for half the week but my comp reminded me of my calling as a nurse and that it is my primary assignment and as I give my all to it the Lord will bless me with opportunities when I am available. It was incredible. The days we were able to leave and make visits we were introduced to 4 new investigadores by a member that have such potential to progress. We are still working with Richard and Carin and trying to help them progress but they haven't come back to church yet and we are unsure. 

We are changing a lot of the goals we have as a mission and going to be talking a lot more to those we pass in the street and focusing on not letting a single opportunity pass us by to talk with everyone!! I am SUPER EXCITED to get out there and get talking. I know the Lord will fill our mouths with what we have to say. I was able to share with two ladies in our time in the other area and on the buses. It was a great experience. I also came closer to my Savior this week. I know that when all is hard and wrong and that when we feel all alone he is there and he gives us the strength to carry on. he will help us have the love for others. he will give us the power to forgive others. he is truly the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE!! With him...we can do all things. I love my savior and I love the chance I have to testify of him and of the joy that can be found through this gospel each and every day!!! Have a great week and remember him....come closer unto hiM!!!

Love,

Hermana Albach 

Mujerdocio -- Not really but almost

January 18, 2016

Hola todos!!!

H. Castillo and K80

Como estan?? Well this week was super great!!! Loved it! We had a great zone meeting on Monday where we set up some other key indicators to help us talk with everyone and have people progressing towards baptism! Then we went to get ice cream and there just so happened to be a sale of 3 liters of ice cream for the same as one. So H. Bowen and I took them up on that and needless to say all the elders were REAL surprised. We had ice cream for the rest of the week. hahaha. Not good. but nice in this ridiculous calor <heat> that we have right now. Then our comps headed to Asuncion for tramites and Hermana Bowen and I were together for a day. it was SO MUCH FUN!

We got to teach together once again and it was just awesome to fit right back together without much problem.

We had a great day! Then we had a bunch of nursing things for my comp this week but even with that we tried to actively talk to people on the bus, on the way and just everywhere. I will admit sometimes I chickened out..yeah even still it is sometimes hard for me. But we are just loving life and the area. We are getting prepared for the capilla abierta <open house> that we will be having this upcoming Friday! 

<This sister was hit by a motorcycle driving too fast down a sidewalk. Her eyelid was sliced open along with her leg. She is doing much better now and on the mend.>

Carne asada!

And now for the reason behind the title. We were officially the only two women at the elders quorum home teaching activity. There was no one and I had been at the church doing nursing. THey invited us to eat the asado they had prepared. so we accepted but little by little more and more sacerdocio <priesthood> arrived. It was pretty awkward  but the branch presidente said I only have to come to two more activities to be actively assigned as a member of the quorum. MUJERDOCIO! <women in the priesthood> I laughed pretty hard. Good times.

Also was able to give a talk this week and I realized something really great. Our conversion to the gospel is best measured by our desire to share it with those around us. Are we taking an active part in the obra misional <missionary work> in our specific parts of the world or are we laying back thinking "oh the missionaries will do it". We are all a part of this precious work and when we truly have participated in the atonement of Jesus Christ, we naturally want to share and bring others unto this joy!

Love you all,

Hermana Albach

Oh, how I love this girl!

Feliz 2016!!

January 4, 2016

Hey everybody. It has officially been three days and it is already p day again. So not much new stuff has happened. I am super grateful for my companion who has designated herself as the official nursing secretary and she even takes phone calls sometimes. It has been a great relief because we have some pretty sick missionaries that have taken a lot of my time lately. But as she reminded me today, I am doing things that are really changing and helping those around me. It was a good reminder that even though I may not be helping those in my specific area, I am helping the Lords children and even more importantly the Lord missionaries so that they, in turn, can help even more of His children. 

I love this work and we are excited to get working and helping others to come unto their Savior Jesus Christ. I am currently reading in the New Testament and I came upon a verse in chapter 24:24, i think. It talks about even the very elect being led away by the false christs that will come and do miracles. As I was thinking about how much I don't want to be led away, the thought came to me, or probably inspiration: I won't be led away if I KNOW and have FELT the true love of my Savior. We must come to KNOW him so that we are NEVER led astray. How do we come to know Him? We do all the things he asks us, we pray and talk with the father, and we read the words that he taught. I have felt much closer to my Savior as I have read the new testament and thought more about who was and is Jesus Christ and what was he like? How did this happen? I know that as we strive to come to know our savior we can have the experiences and confirmations that the apostles or authorities have. We have to determine what we want and then ask in faith believing and it will be given unto us. Incredible promise. Try it out!!

Love you all,

Hermana Albach

Prospero Ano Nuevo

January 1, 2016
<Happy New Year!>

Hola todos!!!

I LOVE this girl and will miss her immensely!

I hope you are having a wonderful first day of year 2016. We are spending it having p day instead of on Monday. Don't have much time but being able to see my family for Christmas was a special treat but also to be able to spend so much time with those that I love here in Paraguay for both of the holidays and feel so wanted and needed was incredible! I know this church is true. It is so interesting to me when we contact people and ask if they have ever asked if their church is true and they respond with "no but it is tradition of the family." I am so grateful every time I can reflect to myself and be grateful that I have asked, and I have received an answer and I know that this church is true. I do not attend just because all my family does, I go because I know it is the only way to come closer to my Savior and renew the covenants I made with Him at baptism. What a great promise. 

K8, Elder Hodson, H. Castillo, Elder Gosch
New Year's Eve Dinner with Familia Sanchez

So we had transfers this Monday and surprise, surprise I am STAYING in Rama 2 and I am now with Hermana Castillo de Lima, Peru. She is chiquitita <small, petite> but super spunky and sassy and is so strong! I am very privileged to be her companion and learn from her and her experiences. She has been a member for 6 years and she is the only member of 11 people in her family. What faith...and whenever we talk about struggles our investigators have she always says, "they can do it, they just need more faith." 

So I challenge you all to evaluate your faith and read Ether 12 and Hebrews 11 and strive to be as the people written about!!

love.

hermana albach

Not sure I want to let her go

Elders Hutchison, Cabrera, Gosch

Cheeeese! Happy Day, Alejandro

Gosh! Elder Gosch trying out my sun hat.

Elder Cabrera

Lightning, Luz, and Tuesday Emails

December 14, 2015

Hey everybody,

As usual don't have much time but I just want to share my simple yet strong testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that HE is the reason for the season. That without Him there would be no happiness. That He is truly the greatest gift that has ever been given to mankind. No amount of time, money, or chucci <fancy> wrapping paper can one up the gift of a Savior to the world. The gift of an ever present  and loving best friend. The gift of repentance and true and lasting peace. 

I know that He LIVES that He loves, and that He is HERE. He is in every act of service, in every smile, and in every tear. The Lord is always WAITING with open arms. So let Him in. Let Him be a part of your life, who you are, and what you can truly become with Him. My favorite scripture and one that has brought me comfort time and time again...when I have to eat something really gross, or when I am watching someone that I love so much make poor decisions and turn away from Christ is this: Phillipians 4:13. TODO LO PUEDO en Cristo que me FORTALECE!!! <I can do everything through Christ which strengthens me.> He is the way, the light and the truth!! 

I love you all and hope you take time to come to know your Savior a little bit better this holiday season. What are you going to give to your Savior? It is HIS birthday and a time that we should focus on how we can truly make Him happier? I am doing great and loving where I am and who I am with and the great potential and power our area has for change and growth!!! 

Love, 

Hermana Albach 

**Not sure what her title means this time but so thankful to read and enjoy her testimony. Mom Albach

Gracias a El

November 30, 2015 

Hola todos! So....this week was a bit rough with health but yesterday was an INCREDIBLE day.

Surprise delivery from home!

We left to go and bring a possible investigator to church when I had the impression to go to another house of an investigator who is NEVER home on Sundays and we have passed by multiple weeks in a row without any success. We went with the feeling and SHE WAS THERE and was able to accompany us to church. She is only 13 but has incredible fe <faith>. We are going to continue working to see if she can make church attendance a solid habit. 

Quite the bday party!

Such a miracle, but only the first of many this day. We went out with a member during the tarde <afternoon> and through no success ended up just contacting a señora to ask about another house. Had a good visit and are excited to get to know her more. Then we headed to help with a birthday party of a menos activo for a little bit where we found out about a crisis that was happening in a member family with their daughter. We were able to pass by and offer some words of comfort that come from some personal experience and the scriptures. Then I felt clearly in my mind the next person we should visit and she let us in. Then as we were with this person, I felt sure of the next person. And they were there. And then the next. It was an incredible night and such a testimony builder of the power of the Holy Ghost and a testament that this is NOT my work and that if I truly ask, listen,and then follow the spirit will lead us to those that the Lord is preparing. 

We are really excited for this next week and there is not a day that goes by that I am not extremely grateful for Hermana Lopez as my companion. She is a delight and a joy. SO much so that I had a nightmare about having cambios and finding out I would be training and not with her anymore. I have learned and am learning so much, and not just Spanish. Really, I just have reflected this last couple of days and felt the urgency of the time I have left and the need and desire to give even more then I have and to run hard to the tape and not look back, because I do not want to have regrets! My ponderizer for the week is Isaiah 28:10 about the rock which is Christ. It talks about it being tested. He has been tried again and again and HE NEVER FAILS and GRACIAS A ÊL we can also get back up and have the reassurance that if we build upon his rock we will NEVER FALL! Incredible! Hope you had a wonderful dìa de gracias!! 

Love,

Hermana Albach
 

My bonnet :)

Our little tree

P.S. We bought a fake little christmas tree and lights. Should be wondrous!! Oh...and I caved a bought a bonnet after getting SUPER sunburned this week and HATING using umbrellas. Pictures to come..... 

The Deets

December 7, 2015

Hola familia (if you are receiving this email you are considered family)!!!

H. Lopez and K80

 Hope all is well and looking like a winter wonderland where you are at and if it doesn't that you are making a winter wonderland in your heart. This week was spent with a lot of members and a lot of service. A girl in our rama had a panic attack and had to go to the hospital and we were able to visit her there and then check in with her every day after she was released to be at home. She has felt very alone but we try every day to have a little bit of contact with her to help her remember she is never alone or forgotten. It was a neat (hard) experience for me. I felt for many days that a part of my heart was being squeezed really hard. I was a bit emotional and it hit me how much I love these people and this country and my mission. I truly was called to serve among these people and it is easier now for me to understand how the sons of Mosiah could stay and live with the Lamanites for 14 years. (Don't worry, mom. I won't do that....you hope. ;)) But you truly are so filled with love. You forget about your own life and fill your life with the worries, disappointments, successes, and concerns of others. Their lives are your lives and their struggles are your struggles. It is something I still don't understand it fully but I know the Lord loves these people because I LOVE Them.

We are now teaching Richard and Carin who were able to come to church yesterday. They are so cute and have SO much potential. We are hoping that they will progress towards that nasty green water that should be clear before the new year. We will see how it goes.

H. Lopez and I are doing great. We do our Christmas devotionals every
night....my ability to be google translate is about as reliable as the real google translate is....which is NOT reliable. ;) But we have fun with it. I know that the Lord helps us to change and become better.

I also know that we are stronger than the elders...want to know why? We sandpapered three walls to the one wall the elders were able to do in the same amount of time. Good times. Love 'em all the same. This week was great and I truly know that the sacrament is SO IMPORTANT, putting goals is how we take advantage of this gift of the sacrament, and as we truly let the Lord make us His we will become sanctified and a better person each and every single day!!!

Love you!!!

Remember the reason for the season!

Love,

Hermana Albach

It's SUMMER! So hot!!!

The Dragon

November 24, 2015

Hola mis queridos! 

This week was super great with a couple of hiccups but if there weren't hiccups then it wouldn't be the mission. We were able to do divisions this week and my comp is a beast. She found so many new people and was able to have a lot of success with the others we had planned for. I was able to get to know the hilarious H. Quispe better who makes me laugh all the days. She is from Peru and she is just great. We found some menos activos that we hadn't know before and then I had to do some nursing. It was super great. Then we were babysitters at noche de rama on Wednesday where I ended up teaching piano and those that know me know that I don't really play. Exciting stuff. 

Then the "dragon" hit really bad and strong on Thursday night. (This is what the missionaries call food poisoning.) But luckily I was still able to work and we were able to go to lunch on Saturday and be with Vanessa. She was really struggling this day with the cravings to smoke again but we were able to call the elders and they came and were able to give her a Priesthood blessing. I am SO GRATEFUL for the priesthood and the blessing it is in our lives to bless and help us at any given moment. That is why those who possess it have to live worthy to exercise it siempre <everyday>. 

I had a presentation I had to prepare to give in the zone conference we had yesterday. Worked out pretty well and I was also able to sing "Savior Redeemer of My Soul" with Elder Umbides (Elder Hutchison at the piano) and it was awesome. I couldn't think too much about the words or I just started crying. It is so true what they say. "Chasten my soul till I shall be, in harmony with thee. Make me more worthy of thy love and fit me for the life above." Truly when things are hard are we BECOMING...are we CHANGING...because as Brad R. Wilcox said in his talk about grace...."have we been saved by grace? YES! But the real question is have we been CHANGED by the grace of god? That is what we are after. That is what we are seeking!"

Also I read today in Ether about after 344 days the first thing the people did when they stepped on land after being in a closed boat without natural light and with lots of livestock was not to run around and yell, "I'm free" or "LAND!!!!" (like I would do). They dropped to their knees and thanked the Lord for their safety and arrival to the promised land and the companionship of the Lord siempre. We all must strive to search more to be like this pueblo <town/group> and look for and always be first to give this thanks to our Father in Heaven for what He gives us. Trials and all. 

Love you and remember you are all loved by the greatest creator of all the worlds,

Hermana Albach

I Love to See the Temple...I'll Never Go Inside in Paraguay

 November 16, 2015
Hey all! 

Sorry if the title is a little bitter. We were able to go to the temple this last week and I couldn't go inside! Sad day. I mean, I have a cool missionary tag that should get me all the special deals right? ;) But as for the rest of the week it wasn't anything too crazy exciting.

We had some (a lot) of surprises that limited our ability to be able to work as we would have liked too but we were able to show a bunch of our investigators the Restoration video because we are now allowed to take our portable dvd players to lessons. It was a hit! The spirit was so strong and it was made so much clearer each and every time that Joseph Smith and what he did is so vital, not just for the church, but for each and every one of us. He showed us that we can truly go to our Father in Heaven and receive an answer and then he showed us what we have to avoid and what we must do after we receive an answer. Stay strong! Follow it! And keep the faith and trust that you have in your Father in Heaven. Truly we have living prophets and apostles leading and guiding this church today, but we can always confirm for ourselves what they say through our personal prayer and desires to understand the will of God.

Beautiful fountains at the Asuncion Temple

I love this gospel. I know it is what makes us happy. I had the joy and privilege to give a talk on ayuno <fasting> this week in sacrament and as I was giving my testimony I just felt it confirmed to me so strongly that the Lord loves us and truly is trying to help us and answer us in each and every moment.

Well....love you all so very much! Remember who you are and more importantly whose you are!

P.S: Funny moment was when the elder in our branch made brownies with wine that he thought was vainilla. It wasn't. And then he gave them to all the members. My comp was like, "this tastes like wine or something alcoholic." Good times. Later he fessed up and we about died laughing. 

Love,

Hermana Albach

Hermana Gonzales - she's been home for
4 months but happened to be at the temple
the same day we were. So good to see her!

At the temple with Elders Smith and Graves
and Hermanas Cannon, Watts, Hartley, &
Gonzales

H. Lopez -- she LOVES her chocolate!
(on the bus ride that lasted forever!)

H. Lopez is the BEST! I haven't had toast
in FOREVER! and she made it with
smiley faces :)

Tegucigalpa or bust!!

November 11, 2015

Meet Hermana Lopez

Hey all! So this is going to be sweet, short, and spiritually super! :) I am now with the Hermana Lopez and I am SO happy! I was happy before and I am sure I will be happy after but it is nice to be with another Latina and to see the world through new eyes!! She is so incredible. Funny, sweet, really patient, and a hard worker. It is shaping up to be a GREAT transfer. 

New Scripture Cases

 We are now waking up an hour earlier so we can do an hour and a half of exercises. It is pretty awesome. Love her! This week was a lot of getting to know the area, each other, and others. We have been working a lot of find new people to teach and helping those we are teaching to progress. We actually got to go to Asuncion all day yesterday, and I got to go again because I have been in Paraguay so long. Reunited with some of the elders that came with me, and went to the temple to take pictures outside. (I'll send those next week.) It was super great. Other than that my ponderizer for the week is psalms 62:6-8. It is so true that as we truly put our trust in the Lord we cannot fail. I love this gospel. I love that as I continue to question and pray that I continue to receive answers and that the Lord truly is at the head of this work. The lord loves each of us and blesses all who strive to do it. I know this is the work of the lord and that I am SO BLESSED to be a part of it and to be continually learning more each and every day!! Love you all and hope you have a great semana <week>!!

Chau,

Hermana Albach 

P.S.: Got Tim Tams from mom and dad so H. Bowen and I HAD to do a Tim Tam Slam :)

So long, my friend