My Companion and I Were In A Car Accident

(The comments and translations in bold blue italics are from Lauren's mom.)

It’s been a very eventful week and the Lord has blessed us with many miracles for which we are very grateful for! Para que sepan (translation: just so you know), we were in a little fender bender the other day. Some members from our branch were giving us a ride from the train station back to our apartment when their car got hit, but we're all good. I thought you would want to know. The Lord has protected us and we are all safe. We were in the turning lane and someone tried to turn into the lane next to us, but they didn't see him and hit us. I can send pictures. I took several for them. We were hit on the driver’s side, but we are all fine aside from a little soreness. The Lord really protected us. My companion was sitting behind the driver, the side that was hit, but is totally fine as well... She was playing with the broken glass. I kept getting after her and she's all, "NO! Sister Perez you don't understand, I learned about this in my physics class, “It’s made so it won't cut you." The driver had a small nick that was bleeding from that "It won't cut you glass," so the knowledge she gained from her physics class didn't have me convinced. She eventually stopped playing with it. Ha-ha! It was oh man... You'll have to meet her, she's awesome. (I was very tempted to call the mission home to see how they were doing, but Robin convinced me not to.)

NEWS FOR THE WEEK!!!! WE GOT A NEW WARD MISSION LEADER!!!!! Hermano Perez... TIO!!!! (translation: UNCLE!!!)  We are so excited to work with him! He is a very hard worker and is very excited to start with this calling. We are so, so, so thrilled to have him with us. We will be starting to meet with him this week to help him know what his calling means and stuff. I LOVE his family, his wife is SO, so, so good to us. They are like family, which is funny because we have the same last name. Their daughter and I might room in school together, we'll see!

This week was the Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque, which we didn't get to go to, but the skies were full of balloons which were beautiful. We've taken out all the winter gear because it’s getting chilly and rainy it reminds me of home it’s beautiful. The sunsets are great here.

We are getting very familiar with the Alcoholic Recovery Program because we have a few investigators with substance abuse problems. We talked to LDS Family Services and they have ARP meetings every week that we are trying to get a few of our investigators to attend. We have a member in our branch that has been very helpful. She's a social worker and works at Mats, a detox center here. She has taught us a TON about addictions and recovery from addiction and substance abuse. They are.... well many of them are repeat addicts.... so as far as progression we've seen... they say they want to change. We are working with them. I'll keep you posted on how they are doing.

We have a few families that haven't been to church in awhile that we have been visiting. A few of them came to church this week, YES!!! You feel more whole when more of your branch or ward family is attending and enjoying the blessings that come from being at church.

I gave the lesson in our Gospel Principles Sunday school class about the Word of Wisdom . People said it went very well which I was happy to hear. One of our investigators said that she was planning to go to Starbucks after church,  but after my lesson felt that she shouldn't. I’m so happy for those times Heavenly Father helps inspire those changes in people!

My companion, Sister Furman has what is called “Turners Syndrome” (Most girls are born with two X chromosomes, but girls with Turner syndrome are born with only one X chromosome or they are missing part of one X chromosome). She has been out on her mission for about 9 or 10 months and has not been called to be a senior companion because of her Turners Syndrome. Right now we are on temporary exchanges. Sister Obrien (a sister missionary serving in Santa Fe) is in our area with Sister Furman and I'm in Sante Fe with Sister Jarmin (I really love Sister Jarmin, she is awesome, very fun loving, sweet, and an excellent missionary.) Because Sister Obrien is not familiar with our area, my companion Sister Furman will be acting as the senior companion. Sister Furman has been very scared about whether or not she can be the leader. She doesn't realize how much of a leader she is. She is SUCH an example to me. She is such an incredibly humble and teachable person. I truly love that girl and I am so very grateful for all that I am learning from her. She has been a huge blessing in my life.

I have learned a lot on my mission about the role “joy” plays in our lives and that it is a feeling that we deserve to feel. I have found so much happiness in my mission and feel so blessed that my Father in Heaven has given me to help me to feel his love.

We have a few other people we are teaching that are progressing well, and there are many other miracles that have occurred.

Family ~

To answer your questions, the young man we turned over to the Elders, because he was “in love with me,” isn’t going to church anymore. The Elders are still meeting with him once a week. I pray that they can help him make the progress. He needs to and that will change his life.

Please know  that Our Father in Heaven is helping and protecting us. I have been very aware of the many spiritual prompting I have received while here which have kept us safe in many situations. I am so very grateful for the warning voice of the Holy Ghost and his guidance in our lives. We are guarded by angels, we are guided by God's love, and we are SO grateful for the trust he's put in us to help share this beautiful message of happiness with our brothers and sisters. We are learning a ton! Thank you for all of your prayers of love and support. Keep following the teachings of our Savior, I love you all!

Hermana Perez