Valenzuelas en Paraguay

This week was GLORIOUS #GLORY WEEK

We moved into our new house. We have a KITCHEN SINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND ROOFTOP ACCESS!!!!!

#LUXURY 

We are Pizza, as promised! and celebrated like kings. We invited all our friends over (just this gecko) and danced all night, everynight (#NOTreal...but a little real).

 The best night was when we had a fire on the roof in this little hubcap stove thing and just hung out up there all night contemplated life.... mostly me, Hermana Ross isn´t leaving yet even though I´ve made her so trunky she feels like she is. 

Then for our Last P-Day we had all you can eat Pizza, because we´re champs and no one wanted anything but Pizza.

The least glorious thing about Glory Week was when the shower broke in the new house and we had go back to our tienda cave to take a shower in the NASTY bathroom... at night!

Also included: A glorious picture of Hermana Ross´s new Agenda.... I didn´t make one because I´M DONE!

And thus ended the eighteenth month of the rein of the Lib over the People of Paraguay.

That´s all folks. 

That was my last week.

For all intents and purposes I can say "mission completed"

And how do I feel about it all?

just grateful.

overly overly, to the brim, Thankful.

 This is the blessing I had to work hardest for thur far in my life, but nothing I have ever done has ever been this worth it. 

I won´t play "SUPER MISSIONARY" and pretend I don´t want to come home ever. There will be no hiding in a stone well. I look forward to the future happily,

but I will forever look back on these past 547 days just as happily. 

 And how could I not?

I have seen the Lord´s love in realer ways than ever before, in my own life and in the life of these brothers and sisters I was called to serve. I have seen God´s presence in good times and bad. I have had the opportunity to take bigger leaps of faith than ever before and have been astounded by His GREATNESS. I know God will never let me down. 

I learned all kinds of little lessons along the way and gained or strengthened my testimony of all the points of the gospel, but to be brief I learned "one" thing.

God loves us. He loves us deeply, uncoditionally, infinitely and eternally. He is patient, forgiving and kind. He knows EACH of His Children. He remembers all His children. God is aware of all.  He always gives bread. God did not give me a stone. A stone, when you want bread, is something useless. God does not give useless things. He gave me exactly what I needed. I’m afraid that sometimes,at my worst, I tend to say (or think), "if it’s all the same to you Father, I’ll take what I want, rather than what I need.” 

If I had been the brother of Jared, I would have said, “Lord, we don’t need these ‘Tight like a dish’ ships at all. Since waves are the problem, and waves are caused by wind, and wind comes out of your mouth—blow softly. Blow softly. Breeze us to the Promised Land. We’ll sit on deck, we’ll fish, we’ll get tanned, we’ll play shuffleboard.” How many here want the cruise version of life?

that’s me. I don’t always like mountain waves. 

but thats were this gratitude I´m feeling comes in.

God knows me better and knows what´s best for me. He places it in front of me and sometimes I look at it like a picky snot brat kid looks at broccoli.

but on the mission I made the best decisions of my life. I refined my ability to trust in a Being that is All Powerful and All Knowing and I learned that thats what I want to always do. Always!

I am not perfect, but I know in whom I have trusted and I am smart enough to recognize that it was the RIGHT move.

So now, past being Grateful, I will Raise my Ebenezer.

Ebenezer is a biblical name that means “stone of help.”

The stone Samuel raised and called Ebenezer was more than just a monument of gratitude, it was a visual symbol of the goodness of God to the Israelites, their total reliance on Him, their repentance and their determination to serve Jehovah, thus forsaking the false gods they had worshipped.

I will raise my Ebenezer for myself and any others who read this (now or in the future).

I have felt the Holy Spirit testify to me, and though I am prone to forget, or struggle or even fall, the truth will stand, forever unchanged;

I testify that Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God.I know He lives.

I know of a surity that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is, without a doubt, His restored church on the earth today. It has His authority, power, clarity and peace.

The Book of Mormon is a true record that testifies of the Saviour of the Earth. 

That book´s vital importance is hardly grasped, even by me, but I can say I know that it had to come first.

 It was sent before the second coming of Jesus Christ himself. 

All people would be wise to read from it, daily, and live accordingly to all it teaches and all that it´s existence means to God´s children.

The Son of Man speedily cometh. Do not delay in preparing for that glorious day.

My experiences were probably not THAT amazing to read, especially when written so poorly be a time-crunched missionary once a week as she reflected back and tried to remember ALL the blessings God had poured out on her for the duration of an entire week---- an impossible task. 

But I leave them here with my witness that, lived, they were unparalleled and phenomenal. Whether they were great or small, each has made me who I am today. 

God be with you, til we meet again

And may we all be ready for the day He sends once again His Son to gather His own,

I pray, 

In the sacred name of My Redeemer, My Brother and My Friend

Jesus Christ,

amen.

Eating at Don Vitos

This is me REALLY enjoying some Papas Fritas con Ketchup

#POTLEDOM

just a Glam shot of me doing some missionary stuff at my desk

#cheetahsisters#raven#OurSpotsAreDifferent

Filled out papers for my "final interview" with Presidente Mcmullin today at 3:00.

#interviewprobs #marriageprep #wifeylib #itsgoingdownforreal

Open Birthday Pacakge, Immediately start eating PicaFresa. 

just an action shot for the fans

classic "in church" selfie (but we werent at church we were at this multiZona thing

mis amigos fieles 

Elder Feilding (remember him from the Airport? yeah well we are still bestfriends), Elder Richardson (he goes by Elder Beyonce), Elder Turley, Hermana Whittaker and Hermana Lib

Classic Elder Lira pic (18 months? ¿¿Whaaaaattttt??)

The Blair Witch Project 2; Mision Paraguay Asuncion Norte

Well this is it. The last working week on my mission. 

big things are about to happen.

My companion and I have dubbed this: GLORY WEEK.

 there will be rooftops,pizza, a new house, flags, maybe a bounce house, G-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s...

it will be glorious.

¿are you ready for the pay off?, ¡the dreamboat is coming for you!

XOXO

Hermana Libertee Valenzuela

by Hermana Libzilla

THANKS GRANDMA FOR THE TINY CANVANS!!! I made tiny art for Hermana Ross (its cartoon temple square)

I found White Pants in our appartment...... I think at some point they belonged to an Elder used for baptism.... but I only know ONE thing to do in white pants..........

#righton #RELAY #Elbows #myREALcalling

Lots of things happened this week....

 but I will tell you all about them when I see you again.... but in case you wanted to know my feelings and not just the Day to day HERE: 

 "With my head on your shoulder 

You pour in my palm 

Will life have a purpose When you are gone?

 Without your wisdom And without your song 

Will life have a purpose When you are gone? 

You're crossing an empire 

But you're leaving my side 

Did you find another love song?

 We're sharing an atlas We're both skin and bone 

But I cannot go where you have gone 

Whenever I feel like giving up 

Whenever I feel I've got it wrong

 Whenever I fall you lift me up 

Show me how to be strong enough" 

 (strong enough, A Silent Film) 

 XOXO hermana LIBERTEE Valenzuela 

 p.s. I also realized I forgot to tell you all that Chloe Whittaker called me at midnight on my Birthday!!! She set an alarm to wake her up and remind her so she could! Shes the best and I love her!!

just me walking by this big ol´ tree

just me cooking with Jessica Martinez (we call her ica)

We´re all doing 22............... guess why 

This week was good.

We had a lot of meetings and things but at the end of the week found good contacting time and tried so hard to find new prepared people... well it looked like it wasnt working but THEN...

we found not NEW prepared people but rather ´recycled´ prepared people.

Remember when I mentioned the miracle of getting all our investigators to "meet the mormons?"

well 2 of those were the daughters of Joel and Lucia (my converts who both just recently got baptised)

Their names are Dalma and Lucy and they are cool and nice but... until this week , showed very normal "too-cool" teenage feelings toward the church and listening to us. Seriously we had to almost BEG to get them to "meet the mormons" but... in the end we thought they liked it Ok. 

Well last week they came to their Dad´s baptism so we took a chance. We took a shot! We went to go visit them and try to have their parents testify and open their hearts to want to listen to us. Well we showed up to where their parents were and they were NOT there........so .... we taught Lucias Sister and a neighbor but THEN we headed over to Dalma and Lucy´s house (because we knew they were home alone so it was a perfect DTR opportunity) 

When we clapped (Paraguay´s equivalent for knocking) they happily said "come on in". Well after me cracking some jokes to break the ice we basically said..... "the other day we were talking and thought about how terrible we would feel if in 20 years or something you guys said something like ¨yeah the missionaries came over and taught all the time but they never invited us to be baptised¨ so we´re here to do that... Invite you guys to learn more and figure out what we believe and then, if God tells you its the truth, get baptised too. Would you guys let us start teaching you and preparing you for baptism on July 3rd?"

And they quickly responded YES!

This all seems like it was too easy... but if you know the vibe they were sending before you´d recognize the Change of heart miracle.

God prepares, we search them out and invite. His Spirit converts and then He changes their lives!

So.... 

My "last" baptism might be the daughters of the family that we have been working with and baptising little by little... one by one.... and my PARENTS would be able to come.

And then in a year Hermana Ross could see them all be sealed.

Hows that for a new dream worth fighting for?

PRAY FOR FAMILIA BENITEZ AND PARTICULARLY FOR DALMA AND LUCY

also... please continue to pray for Luis Souza (Enda´s husband). He is....kind of trying.... so God is kind of helping him. Luis needs to know he needs to know this!

And the search for more and more sheep goes on.

I have animo and ganas (most of the time) and I am still blessed with THIS chance so I will continue to try my best to take it and make the most of it that I can.

For all that we've grown

How could we forget

Those who don't know

Or just don't know yet

Let's harvest this field

From sunrise to sunset

The Master is coming

We are not done yet

Also it was my birthday.

I love being 22 a lot. I sing T-swift´s song on the daily. 

Almost everyone that I wanted to remember it did and some that I didnt think would remember not only did but gave my sweet showings of affection! (including phone calls, songs sung AND suprise presents sent from YbyYau!:D)

Hermana Holly Ross Decorated the wall by my bed like a boss! #RossTheBoss

The Elders bought me pie de limon and surprised me at English Class (which went extremely well). They had prepared exactly 22 candles... which makes me so happy!

Also Luis and Edna hosted a small gathering in my honor for hot chocolate and cake. #Cutest

I bid adeu to my 21st year of life with fond memories of service to the Lord EVERY day of it. It was probably the year that marked the most growth in my life thus far. 

I´m stoked to see what my 22nd year of life has in store for me.

It seems like one of those [years], we ditch the whole scene and end up dreaming

Instead of sleeping.

nothing much else to report but in a fitting close I will say that there are 22 full days until I am hugging mi Mamá y Papá.

until then...

I don´t know about you

but I´m feeling 22

XoXo

Hermana Libertee Valenzuela

p.s. I just feel like I have to mention how often Hermana Whittaker and I still are in contect, which is every night. We talk about a lot of things and we´re always feeling the EXACT same as each other. Also... we´re both equally FREAKIN´ STOKED for DISNEYLAND. 

ok bye

#Champions

Well... I already sent the pictures from the Best Day ever so... Idk what to talk about for the week. 

It rained a lot and then got super hot. (Im a poet)
We set a Fecha for Luis to be baptised. PLEASE pray that he will LOOK to LIVE!
Joel got all his legal stuff figured out and will get Baptised THIS SATURDAY!!! So will Kimberly Nicole!
We have been contacting A LOT. Pray that we can find those who are WHITE and ready to HARVEST.... Like... RIPE... because time is ticking. #5weeks
We had a SUPER great English Class this week and 3 investigators came! Plus it was WAY fun!
We had changes but we didnt change. Our Zone gained some newbies... among them ELDER LIRA!!!! MY BEST FREAKING FRIEND (the one I take pictures with throughout my mission) so... look forward to one of those coming. AND Elder Carpio is now our ZL and ELDER CHAVEZ is our DL!!!!
I love rendiring now. Its just Jokes on jokes on jokes (but like... we´re still focused and awesome missionaried and stuff)
but yeah.
my whole zone me cae super bien! 
Im just working hard and having a ton of fun.
I love my comp. We may move next door to a better house so that will be tight. FOR THE SAME AMOUNT. SCORE!!!
I gave an improv talk on sunday and told my ward that if they wanted an awsome ward full of fiel members... ITS ON THEM!!!! Basically I just talked about responsability. The Buck Stops HERE!
it was good and realllllllyyyyy guided by the spirit because the bishop literally told me right before the opening Hymn (which I lead.... I do everything... Im not bragging im kind of complaining... not because I care but... I want the ward to struggle to grow and they cant if they lean on missionaries)
Life is good.
I love this
xoxo Libbbbbbbbbb
p.s. got my FLIGHT PLANS today. oh gosh.
see you all soonnnnnnnnnnnn #ILOVEYOU