This is the day which the Lord hat made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Hello to you all! How is everyone doing on this fine Monday afternoon? Sounds like everyone is doing fantastically!
And yes, I've been thinking about piano music. And wishing I had some! What about yeah, some prelude music but also a couple of random copies of such things as Clair de Lune and the pride and prejudice "Liz on Top of the World" and Chopin Opus 72. I think they're all copied in my green notebook. Anything in there. I dont know. Hymns make me feel a little crazy.
Today is a little crazy too. We got a call last night after 10:30 from our DL telling us that p-day schedule would be different. Normally we get up and go straight to laundry and grocery shopping at 7am and do internet and go to zone activity and some doctor's appointment and clean and put stuff away and barely have time for much else. But we were told we needed to do basic personal and companion study this morning. We're not sure who that came from because as far as we know, only our zone did it. Hmmm. But we did it and now are doing internet at a family history center in one of the buildings here because being Columbus Day, stuff is closed. They don't celebrate that in Minnesota, right? And we are on our way down to another area so H. Ochoa can go to the chiropractor. We are going to meet two other sisters and go eat frozen yogurt because it was H. Fatkin's birthday yesterday. And then tonight we are coming back down again to do an exchange with the sisters. One of the sisters that used to be in this area will come up with H. Ochoa and I and H. Fatkin is going down to Irvine to be with H. Chriswell for the day. It will be interesting! And I don't know what's happening with the weather here. It was probably 100 degrees last Tuesday, it was ridiculously hot. And then this weekend it really cooled down and it's been really windy all day today. Maybe it's those Santa Ana winds. I hear there are some big fires going on around here. Who knows. But it's definitely not snowing here! Last week was an irregular week. It's been so hard to make everything go the way we planned and reach our goals. It's also the middle of the transfer though, and to me, that explains it all. We got to go to the temple again last Wednesday. FULL session. There were probably 60 or something people in there. They stuffed it full of chairs and people
We also had zone conference last Thursday and it was also amazing. We had these two guys speak to us from the missionary department in Utah. They are also fantastic speakers and I felt like I was in the MTC again. They talked to us a lot on contacting people and just interacting. Apparently this mission, and the western US in general has been struggling for years with baptisms. 300 a year is the goal, and they're usually pretty lucky if they get it. They said that we are just under 200 now, and each companionship needs to work for 2 baptisms in the next two months to reach the goal. President Watrous is just a funny, goofy type of guy. I would love to have seen him on his mission, with some of the things he says he did. And Sister Watrous is just this sweet, emotional, little woman.
They're great.

I think the conference really got everyone excited. I know that we went out last weekend and tried some new contacting methods and it was really fun. We talked to a lot less people, but we taught more lessons. So that's better. It's hard sometimes, because I feel like I need to do what my comps do. But in general I think I'm more forward than them, so it's not my favorite to sit back. It's kind of weird knowing you're being "trained." I've never really been given any type of words of wisdom or encouragement from the sisters, sometimes H. Ochoa tells me things I need to change. Unfortunately she's a little more uptight at times and I don't know if it's that she's getting burned out or what, but mostly I know it's not a big deal and try to get past it. They're both great missionaries and we all have different styles, and that's good.
We have heard that in general they're trying to keep missionaries in their areas a lot longer. Even up to 8 or 9 months. And I think our mission president is aiming for that. H. Ochoa leaves the end of January and it will be interesting to see if they keep H. Fatkin in here up until then and beyond. Who knows!
Eulalio. He bailed out of one appointment last week and didn't come to church yesterday. He had a little trabajito. Bad. So, we are changing his baptismal date for probably about a month away. Apparently he just doesn't get it and needs more time to understand. So we'll give him time. But we're going to commit Araceli to being baptized this week. She is sooo ready. We know she has to be. It will still take a lot of faith on her side, but we all know it's time to ask her. And as long as her husband consents, we know Cibelly will want to be baptized too.
We also are now teaching a family that some elders in another district gave to us. And the mom in this family is definitely super close to baptism. We've picked out a day for her, and might talk to her about it this week or next. We had 9 (!!!) investigators at church yesterday. It was ridiculous. And a miracle! We're not planning on that being normal, but we will definitely aim for it!

I just read the last church news-the one with the young women general president on the cover with the temple. I liked the scripture thought on the inside and think that I will use her scripture as a little theme. Psalms 118:24 (?) about today being the day the Lord made, so enjoy it. Something like that. ("This is the day which the Lord hat made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.")I like it.
I don't know what else is happening around here besides lots of missionary work. The work in Orange, California
is going fantastically and mostly because it has to! It's not always perfect, but hey, it's not my work, I just get to be apart of it, and hopefully I can help a little.

Muchisimas gracias in advance for the package that I'm sure is delightful! I'm excited for it! I love you all and hope everything is happy and wonderful for everyone right now! Thank you for everything!
Love,
Hermana Emily