Hermana Mary Elizabeth Urie: Bug Week

Well, the last week was Catholic week, this week was bug week in our apartment.

In our house, we`ve got spiders, we`ve got mosquitos (luckily we dont have dengue from the mosquitos), cochroaches, other random small bugs. Yesterday we had a bee in our room. Also, yesterday we woke up to maggots EVERYWHERE (seriously there were a few hundred of them running around.. don't leave your garbage in the house overnight!... picture attached), the other companionship of Hermanas that live below us had an Ura in their apartment (I`ll explain that later), and this morning we killed a scorpian in our bathroom. And on the way here to write you guys we saw a huge worm/snake thing that they`ve got here in Paraguay (I`ll send a picture next time). SO, fun times in Paraguay.
Now to explain the Ura. I`ve seen about 5 of them in the last few weeks- usually in church. They are these huge black butterflies. They aren`t really that pretty, their wings are kinda tattered looking. And they apparently spit or pee (or something like that) some acid thing on your skin and you cant get it off. And then you get some parasite in your skin. I`m not really sure of the details, but that`s enough for me. Basically when people here see an Ura, they either kill it, or they leave the area.

Now on to more spiritual stuff...

I don't know if I`ve told you guys about Maria yet. So I will now. She`s awesome, kinda quiet and shy, so its hard to know what she`s thinking (if she likes church and stuff or not), but I think she`s starting to warm up to us. And she`s really seriously thinking about baptism. She`s just gotta keep reading and praying and going to church and she`ll know! Oh and she came to church yesterday by herself!! (well with her kids, but I mean no one had to pass by for her, she just came). And she`s basically just awesome, We love her! She`s hopefully going to get baptized the 27th of December (2 days before changes! fingers crossed!!)

Also, since it`s Christmas time, and we should all be seeing how we can personally come closer to Christ, this last week I started studying 3 Nefi 11 and onward. And starting making lists of: attributes of Christ, the mission and purpose of the Savior, ways to come unto Him, His commandments, etc, to better get to know Him and His love for all of us and His teachings. And I was going to bring and share the list I`ve made so far of the attributes of Christ that I`ve found, but I forgot, so I`ll do it next week if I remember. But off the top of my head some that I remember are:
obedient, humble, loving, peacemaker, comforter, leader, confident, direct, diligent, self-less, and a bunch more. I`ll give a better list next time. But basically I just want to testify of the Savior`s love for each of us. I know He came to the Earth to willingly suffer and die for our sins, so that we may be saved, if we but accept Him. You can give someone a gift, but unless they accept it, open it, and use it, it does them no good. That`s how the Atonement is for each one of us. We must personally accept and use the Atonement that has already been given. We must increase our faith, repent, make covenants with God (such as baptism and confirmation) and then keep those covenants so we can have the guidance of the Spirit. And then we must stay loyal and firm to the very end. I know this church is true. I know Christ is my Savior and loves me and every single person on this earth and wants everyone to accept Him and His atonement, so that they can be happy and be saved. Let us all help Him and our Heavenly Father in their work, and share the gospel with at least one person this Christmas season.

I love you guys a lot and hope you enjoy your week!!!

Love, Hermana Urie