GENERAL CONFERENCE!

Hey everyone!

So...Happy Birthday to my Dad! His birthday was April 7th, yesterday! The lucky guy got to listen to the prophet and apostles on his birthday... :) Happy Birthday Dad! You are the greatest Dad anyone could ask for. Thank you for being such a wonderful example to me and for being so fun and kind and for playing football with me and driving dirt bikes! Thank you for watching football with me during Thanksgiving! A tradition that will continue, no doubt. :) Thank you for supporting me and being proud of me, and for always being there for me. You are the BEST. I love you.

General Conference, people! Did you enjoy it or what?! I got to listen in English! It was aboslutely everything I had hoped for! I felt like every talk had something that was meant just for me. I received so much comfort and revelation! I hope you all did too! I know that everything they have to say applies to each and every single one of us. We are so lucky to have a living prophet and his apostles on this earth today! We are so lucky that we get to sit and listen to them from ALL OVER THE WORLD as they comfort us, warn us, help us, and cheer us on! 

These were a couple of my favorite lines from Conference. Of course they are not word for word, but they are what I wrote down! 

"Just trust in the Lord. Don't worry about the rest." -Packer

"You will receive a real, lasting conversion, and a continued assurance, if you do the things you should." -Davies

"Rely on the power of prayer. Always." -Dalton

"Heavenly Father knows YOU personally and loves you. You matter to Him!" -Dalton

"Understand who you are, and Whose you are." -Dalton

"How great is your role, how marvelous your contribution!" -Dalton

"Be different from the world." -Dalton

"If there is ever a moment of doubt in your life, turn more fully to the Savior. Trust in Him and follow His teachings. He is the light and life of the world." -Ballard

"This is His Church." -Eyring

"Peace comes from knowing that the Savior knows who we are, and loves us. Let your rejoicing never cease, for in Him ye shall have peace." -Cook

"Obedience to law is liberty!" -Perry

"We have reason to rejoice! Put your trust in the Lord, and He will help you, through whatever may be. Have faith that He can guide and bless you in your life. He hears the prayers of humble hearts." -Monson

Ok, that didnt even scratch the surface! There was sooo much more that I absolutely loved. I hope I get to read it in English soon, so I can get the exact quotes! :) But I know you all loved it just as much as I did. :) I just get so pumped after Conference! One of the biggest things I got from Conference was to pray always, and read the scriptures! Never stop looking toward the Lord and trusting in Him. And if you do those things, there is no need to worry! Everything will be ok. :)

My district celebrated my birthday, Elder Sliffe's birthday (ZL), and Elder Gremlich's birthday! For our district meeting Wednesday, my companion made Tres Leches cake, and Elder Umbach made oreo cheesecake! It was awesome. I also celebrated my birthday with Hermana Flor, a lady in our ward. Her grandson's birthday is on April 30th, so we had a party for both of us! I will include pictures. Her grandson, Kevin, is so adorable. He is 15 and is so much fun. Hes crazy. Hermana Flor also made me a navy blue and white scarf and some gloves! BYU colors! YEahhhh!

We visited Rafael one night this week. It was a little dark outside but we decided to go past his house. We got to his gate and saw that it had been locked up. So we started to walk away, and we heard a rapping on the window! So we turned around and little old Rafael was hobbling as fast as he could out of his house to unlock the gate. !!! Awww. It was so awesome that he wanted us to visit him. :) Hes great. 

I had a couple of funny experiences with people trying to talk to me in English. One day me and Hermana Garcia were walking along a street in the sun, past a guy working on his car. When he saw me he said, "Hi princess. How are you?" And I said, "Bien, gracias, como está Ud.?" And he said, "I am good!" Hahaha. He really wanted to speak English. Another guy in the colectivo asked, "When you back to your country?" And I told him, "June of 2014." And then when we got out of the car he said, "Goodbye, honey!" 

We had an awesome time in the chapel in El Centro for General Conference. There were so many people there, and we had one of our investigators, Mariela, come! She looked so happy, and was there with all her Mormon friends. :) Inbetween sessions on Saturday, me and my district got to go get some food. We had Churrasco, Chorrillana, and fries! It was so good! We went back to the chapel and all hung out in our little room for the English people. Elder Umbach drew a picture of all of us, which I have attached to this email. :) Its awesome! I love it! I am holding a JB doll and little Ricardito is behind me (the African chicken that Cecilia has). 

Another funny story. One night we forgot our keys at HErmana FLor's house, so we had to crawl through the window of our little casa! In skirts! It was loads of fun. 

We had a couple of young women come up to us during General Conference and tell us that they wanted to come with us one day to work! So thatll be awesome!

Oh, awesome story:  There is a guy in our stake who is...lets just say hes not all the way there. He met all of us missionaries and was really nice! But apparently, before me and Hermana Garcia arrived at the chapel for the second session of Conference, he went up to Elder Araya and Elder Umbach (Umbach is DL) and asked them who I was and what my name was. And they wouldnt tell him. They said, "She's in our district and it's none of your business. You don't mess with the hermanas." And then he got super angry and said, "I dont like you guys!" And stormed away. Later when they told me that story, they were like, "Be careful! Hes kinda scary." And I was thanking them that they didnt tell him my name and thanking them for sticking up for me, and they said, "Dont worry about it, Hermana. Youre safe with us. We got your back."  !!! I love them! I have the greatest Elders in my district. I am so lucky. I will never forget my very first district. :)

Today was P-DAy, obviously, and we had a district activity! We all hiked to a little lake outside of Quilpué and ate lunch and played Capture the Flag. It was hot and windy outside and we definitely had an adventure getting there. But once we got there, we had so much fun! We have the best district! But the lake was laaame. Haha. Well, compared to Colorado standards, it was super lame. It was tiny and the water was brown. But there were lots of rocks to play on and we entertained ourselves. :)

And Wednesday morning we find out what happens for transfers! And transfers are Wednesday evening! I am so nervous! I hope everything happens for the best! I bet that it will be. Everything will be just fine. :)

Well! I wish I could write more but I really gotta go! 

I hope you all realize how lucky you are to be here on this earth and have families, and have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares about you so much! Always turn to Him and trust in Him, and everything will be ok! Prayer is the greatest thing ever! I love praying so much! I dont know what I'd do if I didnt have a Father in Heaven there listening to my every word and knowing exactly how I feel in everthing I do. We are so lucky! Never forget that. :)

Keep in your heart everything that has been said at Conference, and more importantly, put it into practice! In the words of Dallin H. Oaks, Jesus' teachings were NEVER intended to be theoretical. They were always meant to be acted upon. :)

Have a great week everyone! Enjoy the Spring in the USA!

I love you all!

Hermana Amy Schrader