This is so cool...

Last night Blake and I were going through a bunch of random old pictures for this project we are working on. I came accross some mission pictures and in particular this one of the Romero Family... a very dear family to me. I met them in my very 1st area on the second week of my mission. They were my first full family that I taught to be baptized. Over a year later when I was transferred back into the city (after a bought of Malaria and almost going home) they had moved and were in my new area. SUPER LONG story short, my companion and I were able to help them prepare for the temple and when my Padres came to pick me up 4 months later, we took them to the temple (in cochabamba) for the first time.

As life goes in Bolivia, it is VERY hard to keep track of people (no addresses, let alone street names in most places), but a few months ago my one of my WONDERFUL peruvian companions - Milagros - was able to visit Bolivia and track them down. She told me they are doing great and put me in touch through email (yeah... Bolivia finally stepped into the 21 century!!!) with their daughter Yuselin (who was 12 at the time when I first met her).

ANYWAY... here is the entire point to my BLOG entry. Tonight I got an email from her that said she just put her mission papers in!!!! WOW, that is the gospel and missionary work coming full circle. It's crazy b/c I just found the picture of them last night and had been thinking about them all day, and then to get that news... guess it's hard to explain why it's so neat, but it makes a year and half of sweating your way through jungle and dirt roads, sleeping and showering with bugs, living in a Bolivian hospital for a month and half and so much more in between, even THAT much more worth it...if you've been there, you know!

I wanted to post these pics... but please totally disregard chubby perm girl... that was Bolivia for me :)