Hello everyone!!

This week was so great! Sooooooo many things happened! 

First, we had a huge party called fiesta de las naciones and all week everyone was getting ready and preparing for it and boy was it a lot of work. Everyone prepared traditional decorations and dishes frommtheir country and there were representatives from Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Uruguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, chile and maybe a few others. It was super cool to be able to participate and see little bits of their cultures and how they are so passionate about it! And everyone did traditional dances and it was so fun! I love being able to serve these people and get to know so many different cultures! God loves all of His children so much! 

Then, the most interesting and memorable part was on Saturday when we got the call that 36 sister missionaries that had been evacuated from Puerto Rico were arriving to our mission and we needed to have beds and food ready for them! It was a crazy day! Initially they were going to arrive at 6:30pm and so we dropped all out other plans and  drove all the way to the mission home to get everything ready, then we waited, and waited... Eventually all the relief society sisters left and we had to keep waiting, and made all their beds and stuff, and then they arrived around 12:45am... We were informed that they had been living in the mission home in PR (Puerto Rico) for a few days and had very limited water and almost no food. So we didn't quite know what to expect when they got there, but as they started to come in we had wonderful reunions and even though we had never met before became fast friends. They had the look of people who had been through a whole lot but they were also smiling. It was incredible. So despite the lateness of the hour we served them all spaghetti dinners and sat and chatted for a little while and got them settled in. Then, as everything calmed down we all knelt in a prayer of gratitude together. One of the sisters from PR said the prayer in Spanish and the spirit was so strong there with us. While the prayer was being offered there were a few sniffles that soon turned into sobs as the weight of everything that had happened settled onto all of them and all of us. It was truly a humbling but sweet experience. These sweet sisters had been through so much, but they chose to be glad for the blessings that they had seen despite the tragedy they had experienced. They all showered and went to bed and we went home and finally went to sleep around 3. The next day we still got up at 6:30 and felt tired but probably not

as tired as they were.  Most of them headed off on flights to their newly assigned missions in the morning with just an hour or two of sleep. On Sunday we had church normally and then later we got a call that the three sisters who had stayed wanted to go out tracting, American style. The best part was that these sister didn't speak any English haha. So we took them out and showed them how it was done for a few hours. They loved it, and so did we. Then we had to help the mission president translate for them so we didn't get home until around 11 last night. We were beat.

Seriously though, this week was so amazing and it was so humbling to serve and get to know so many people. The sisters that came were all such great examples of people who faithfully endure trials. With all that is going on in the world, it is so important to remember who is in charge, and that the Lord has a greater plan for us all. 

D&C 123:17

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

Love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Frank