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Het is de ZUSTERS!

Hey guys! This week was part awesome and part really sad, but then a surprise part awesome again. Some stuff....

--Ronny didn't get baptized. We were frantically planning his baptism, asking people to give talks, and bleaching the heck out of the baptism clothes in the church closet until Thursday when he called and told us he had talked to his brother about his decision to get baptized and his brother convinced him not to....we went over there 2 times to try to talk to him about it, but he wouldn't explain. But he says he still wants to learn more about the gospel, just "later". That was pretty heartbreaking to be honest, but everything is in God's plan, so when Ronny is ready, we will be too.
--Met the CUTEST girl named Deseret. We helped her clean her house Sunday. Both her doors were open, so the rest of the apartment complex was staring and looking really confused while  well-dressed girls scrubbed the stove and mopped the floor. We met her mom and are going to teach both of them on Tuesday! The best part is that Deseret shares a common love with us: Shawn Mendes ;) I'm super excited to teach her again.
--Taught another mother-daughter duo and folded their laundry while they played this ultra-Christian worship music for us. They pulled out this old photo album and showed us basically their whole life. It was so fun.
--Hermana Almonte turned 21!! We made a cake and ate some of Vaquero's amazing morro. She's the best! I love her to death. We got really close this week, so I'll be sad if she leaves.
--You know you've contacted literally the whole island when....we were biking yesterday and there was a party at one of the roadside bars that are all over the island. I looked over to see if our friend Gibi was playing in the band and some of the guys yelled, "Hey, come join us!" A lady in the crowd then yells, "No, it's the sisters!" We are well-known apparently, haha.
--A boy from the branch, Nephi, left to serve his mission in Iowa! Iowa friends, if you see him, tell him, "Kon ta bai?" (How are you?)  He's super cool and speaks all 4 languages fluently, so ask him to teach you some Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamento.

This week I learned just how amazing God's plan is. We were talking to Gibi yesterday about when we first met him my first couple weeks on the island. As we were talking, I told him some of the stuff he had said that I'd written down in my planner. It was a cool experience because it reminded him that THIS is the time to make changes in his life, just like he'd told us our first meeting together. God is just waiting for all of us to repent and change. Any baby steps that we make are celebrated big time in Heaven. And I know God sends angels to bolster us up. 

I hope you guys have a great week!
Love,
Zuster Mergenthaler

Pic 1: Mi hermana hermosa on her cumpleanos
Pic 2: Nephi!

 Bonni here . . .The pictures she included with the email didn't come through.  I want to see them as much as you.  Maybe she'll resend in a different format next week.

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