Continued Drum Roll...

OKAY! Long story short? President Alba told me the wrong date!! I have one last week here in Rohnert Park to tear it up and then finish my goodbyes. (: So yes! I'm flying out at 6:15 am from Oakland next Monday. (:

-Nelo's mom, who loves us a ton. (:

-My last American Food experience for a while. Panda Express!

-Nelo!!

-My awesome districcct. :D

-The next two pictures are a couple of the kids from the Medrano familia. Tannn lindas!

-Us four hermanas, waiting for the elders to arrive for Prep Day!

-The last two=THE BEST. BATTING CAGESSS! It'll be my last for a while haha

Anywho, love you all! Next time you hear from me, I'll be in South America! LOVES!

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**Drum Roll Please**

Whaaaat an insane WEEK! I have several pictures from last Prep-Day, as well as some uhhh **cough cough** goodbye pictures...

Yuuup! That's right. You will ALL hear  the story soon. (: But first off...I have to apologize. Last week we all started Online Missionary Work!! AKA, we deactivated our Facebooks and started our missionary Facebook pages! Don't go searching for me and adding me or anything, but just a heads up as to why I'm not in your friends lists anymore. (: I still love you all, though!

OKAY. Are you all ready now?? So...Friday night, we (2 of the Spanish elders, and us 4 hermanas) were all finishing dinner at a member's house, just about to start the spiritual thought. It was the elders' turn, so they began. While they were talking, their phone rang. One of the elders quickly turned it off and continued talking...Again, it rang; again, he turned it off. They finish their message, and we're in the middle of our closing prayer when MY phone starts ringing. We quickly get it turned off, and we finish the prayer. Afterwards, the elders and my companion all look at the phones; they all say the same thing: "Missed Call from President Alba"

Stomach=KNOTS

Everyone looks at me, and I just tell the elders to call him back. So they call him back, and all I really register in my head is one of the elders saying, "Yeah, sure thing, President. We'll have her call you. Thank you. Bye."

...Note: President Alba does NOT just randomly call people. Just sayin'...So I shakily take the phone from Hermana Wallace, and I redial President Alba's phone...We exchange greetings awkwardly, because we both know what's going on, and he can hear me choke up just a tad. He says, "Well, Hermana Lybbert. Your visa has come. And we are so sad to lose you, but we know that you'll finally be off to where you're supposed to be...You'll be leaving Monday morning, and your flight leaves at 6:15. I love you, Hermana."

May the tears commence haha...Needless to say, all of us were in a bit of shock, even the elders. Who knew that I'd be leaving 3 days later!...

Well that's the thing. It's 3 days later, and I'm still here...

TO BE CONTINUED

- Mini-golfing!!

-All of us missionaries in Rohnert Park. (:

-Getting stoked for go-karts!

-She BARELY made the height for go-karts :P

-Whoots!

-Getting ready (and NERVOUS) for Facebook proselyting!

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Miracles, Quinceñeras, and Forgetting the Apartment Keys...

Whoaaa! It's been a crazy week. ALL good, but so crazy. I'll start off with just ONE of our many miracles we see every day. (:

MILAGROS! Cada díaaa. Es increíble (: Aun que somos nuevas misioneras, podemos ver milagros en cada situación. Last Wednesday, I believe, ALL of our plans fell through. We had a good 2 or 3 lessons planned and other plans, but one thing after another went down the tube. Even our backup plans! Ridiculous. BUT...We knew there was a reason for such things; there are never coincidences, I have come to realize. So we say a prayer, and we head to where we think we should go. We arrive, park, and feel like it still wasn't quite right...Say another prayer...We eventually decide to go tracting on a street we've never been before. We knock on a house or two and NADA. We keep walking to the next house, and there's a man outside, working on his car. What do we as servants of Jesus Christ?? Offer to help, of course! :D Sooo we had the chance to "help" (AKA hold the instructions and put in a screw and a bolt or two haha). Nelo was his name. He started asking about what we do as missionaries, what we believe, things about the church, etc. We shared with him a little bit about Joseph Smith and receiving answers to prayers, until we finally just asked, "Y'know what? Would you have some time later tonight that we could come back?" Nelo's response, "Yeah, for sure!"

We returned back at 8:00 pm, and we got to know him and his mom a little better, who speaks only Spanish. (: Nelo had shared with us about his dad passing away recently, so we taught him and his mom the Plan of Salvation...To make things short, we've been teaching him and Fransisca (his mother) every night since! We invited him to be baptized, and he said yes, but we hadn't come up with a date yet...

Miracle again! A woman's son from our branch was supposed to be baptized in the next couple of weeks, but due to some other events, they chose to change it to yesterday! So we stopped by Nelo's and invited him to come, which he did, and he loved it. Had a quick, powerful lesson on baptism right after with a soon-to-be missionary from the branch. Inspired Question of the Evening: "Nelo...Is this something you want for yourself?"...A quick moment to think, and he confidently responds, "Yes. Absolutely."...Nelo is now preparing to be baptized for the 28th of July. (: 

We've come to decide, however, that although he speaks Spanish, he prefers and is more comfortable in English. Entonces, we're handing him over to the English elders, who Nelo already loves! (: We're super excited!

Annnd yes, quinceñeras. :D Hahaha the great thing about serving Spanish-speaking. These great parties are considered "branch activities" hehe. There will be a picture or two, no worries. But the funniest part? Every so often glancing over at the four elders who serve with us in the branch and watching them attempt to not dance. :P Good try. Good try.

So a couple Sundays ago was Fast and Testimony Meeting, annnd I came to realize something...Well it started with the very first testimony given: our branch mission leader's. He has such a strong love and devotion for missionary work, I LOVE it...But then it just kept going...I mean EVERY single person from the branch testified of "la obra misional". All of them...And then in Sociedad de Socorro (Relief Society), something one of the women said truly hit me. Summing it up in English: If it weren't for missionary work, almost NONE of us would be sitting here right now."...It is so true. So many of these people are what we call "First Generation" converts. THEY took that leap of faith. THEY prayed and read to know if this was the right path. All of these people have such a strong testimony of missionary work, because they--at one point or another--were on the other end. Being taught by the missionaries. It truly amazes me, because I often wonder if I ever would've listened to missionaries and changed my WHOLE way of living. Would I have had that faith? I don't know, but I hope so. Regardless, I get to help people now take those steps. (: Paso a paso.

Anywho, I don't have a ton of time. We're off to go mini-golfing, maybe go-karting, annnd (OJALA!) BATTING CAGESSS! :D Here are some pictures!

-Yup! That's right. I caught Hermana Wallace attempting to help out Nelo here. :P

-Quinceñeraaas!

-Hna. Wallace. She's a party animal on occasion. (; Just kidding, of course.

-Zone Conference! SOOO great, I loved it! Talk about having your cup filled. (:

-Annnd we forgot our keys to our apartment. So what do we do? Sit on the sidewalk and talk about daily planning as we wait for the other hermanas to get home from their lesson. :P

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Whoops!

I forgot the pictures!! Sorry, there's only four, buuut we've been crazy busy. (:

1- Mi compañera! We went up to talk to this elderly gentleman on his porch and asked if we could help with something. He looked to be working on something with all sorts of wires and stuff. Sure enough, he says, "Why yes! I shake like crazy now, and I need to get this put together..." Lo and behold, we helped fix a microphone! Super interesting and crazy fun. (:

2- The flowers. I've told ya. I don't know WHAT has gotten into me, but I've found that I have a fettish for picking flowers. At least one each day. Typically just one, I'll smell it, and then stick it in my hair. **Shrug** It's a new hobby.

3- Anyone care to see part of our apartment? Probably not, but whatever. Off to the left is my study desk, looking semi-clean and uncluttered. (; Little kitchen in the back. Table by my desk. Behind me, where the light is all coming from, is a sliding glass window to get to our bikes and such. There's an upstairs where the other hermanas live, and my room is around the corner to the right. :P Maybe more pictures later. We'll see.

4- Hermana Zuritaaa! We were pretty stoked we got to see each other at the meeting. :P Hahaha okay! That's all for now! Love y'alls!

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Honestamente...

I'm WICKED tired. Haha. We got home from a Stake Missionary Meeting dealio last night to find that the tire pressure in one of our front tires was low...So we go and look, annnd...Well! What have we got here? A screw, eh?...

LAME.

Needless to say, we've had a hectic morning and will likely be homebodies today. Which means a nap. Which means sleep. Which means I'll probably be dreaming and talking in my sleep again and freaking out Hermana Wallace. :D Baha. No, but she said last night was the first time she has ever heard me. I remember exactly what was going on in my dream, and I remembered just barely beginning to wake myself up, then I hear: "Hermana...?"

Me: **Hmph??**...

"You uh...You know you're talking, right? Are you awake??"

...Me: *Sigh* "Yeahhh."

**Hermana Wallace chuckle**

It was pretty entertaining. (: Anywho! This week has been crazy...Rollercoaster-ish haha. You see, Hermana Wallace stresses out a TON. Annnd I've come to see that the way you're trained can kind of set the pace for the rest of your mission. Pobrecita, she was trained by the strictest and hardest sister, I think. She is a PHENOMENAL missionary, but wow it's intense. Whereas I was trained a bit looser...We have come to understand why we are companions right now. I'm better learning how to contact in the street and such (since we didn't get to do much of that in Novato), and I'm helping her relax, laugh, and learn to LOVE this mission. We're not only out here to help others and change their lives, but we're out here to change our's, too. BUT. I'm not out here to change ME or who I am. I am here to "mejorárme". Better myself. I'm serving here, and I've also been called to Argentina for WHO I am. So why would I try changing that? I'm here to be ME--simply a better version of me. To be me and touch the lives of others through my personality and love for them. This has been our goal this last week, as a companionship: To really LOVE the mission and LOVE the people and ENJOY this experience. And that is why I'm here in Rohnert Park, serving with Hermana Wallace. (:

Good news!! We had the Stake meeting deal yesterday, and since Novato is still in our stake, I saw all of my Novato elders and Hermana Zurita yesterday! :D I had to ask her updates on some of the investigators, and of course Alex came up...He again has a baptismal date for the 4th of August! His mom has approved of it all, and he is absolutely ECSTATIC. He's going to scouts, young men's, and has said that he wants to serve a mission! Haha. He's incredible, really. I'm sad I never got a picture with him. ):

VISA info: Absolutely Nada. :D Baha. I'll admit I'm a bit antsy and would like to get there, but I've got somethin' to do here for now! I know that several of my MTC district people are already there, including Hermana McBride! :D Buuut the other gal here in the Santa Rosa Cali mission who is also waiting to go to Mendoza is TRAINING now! Sick! Haha. She's super excited and loving it, though. (:

Whelllppp...Not much else that I can think of for the moment. Except for one thing! My name...Lybbert...Something about my name and the way it is pronounced in the Spanish accent makes EVERYONE want to pronounce it as "Lybbert-y"...In Spanish, it sounds like: Her-maw-naw Lee-behr-tee. And I've just kind of accepted it haha. So the new spelling of my name is now: Lybbertí (: It's hilarious. Anywho! I'm outta here to get some letters written for Trista, Christian, and Ryan West for their BIRTHDAYSSS!! :D Nos vemos pronto, mis amigos y mi familia. Les quiero!

-Hermana Lybbert

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Rohnert Park Adventuresss

Whoaaaa! What a crazy week it has been. Rohnert Park is...Haha. Well...A little difficult at times. It's a new area, and my companion (Hermana Wallace) and I are obviously SUPER new. We're follow-up training one another, which truly isn't that hard. We rely on prayer A LOT haha. My poor companion, she stresses out quite a bit, and I certainly don't blame her! I would NOT want to lead a brand new area with such little experience. Nevertheless, she does a great job, and I try to help out where I can. We balance each other out pretty well, and we're also extremely similar in some ways haha. I, oddly, have come to find that I don't stress so much anymore. As long as I'm on time to things, at least. :P But just the other day and this morning, Hermana Wallace has randomly told me: "Hermana Lybbert...? Thank you so much for being so...chill. Relaxed and easy. It makes me stress less."

 

:D It made me happy haha. Anywho! So our mission has been coming up on this month of July with HIGH expetations. We're aiming to do what has never been done here: 101 baptisms in the month of July. About 5 days ago we had 103 planned, and we have been challenged to double that...Hermana Wallace have seen MIRACLES as we've contacted people and invited them to be baptized; we have two new investigators who are excited to learn more and to be baptized in a few weeks! :D Anywho, I don't have a ton of time, but I do have some pictures!!

 

-This is what happens when we're waiting for Presidente to get home and feed us. :D Chill on the front porch and snap a picture or two haha.

-Life of a missionary? BOOKS. SOOO many. This wasn't even all of them, since I had already packed a good chunk of them.

-Elder Fonsecaaa...No, he didn't hug me haha. But he enjoyed seeing our reactions when he pretended. :P Yes, he's the crazy one from Argentina haha.

-Presidente Majía and his gorgeous wife, Judy. (:

-Almaaa! She was a menos activo, and we had some GREAT Noche de Hogar nights with her. (: (Noche de hogar=family home evening).

-Las hermanas y Elder Fonseca.

-Faine, one of our investigators, and I. (:

-Annnd the last two pictures just describe the relationship Hermana Zurita and I had. (:

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