Tuesday, August 30, 2011
August 29
So we have a cita at 6:30 and it´s way far out in no where so I may need to cut this short! Oh there´s so much I want to say! Thank you for your letters and words of encouragement! I´m so glad to have you all and so blessed with such an awesome family! Ok, really fast. We had our zone conference this week and that was fun, we had it scheduled for the morning so the night before we planned that in and planned people to try to contact that night, then the elders called and said, yeah just kidding, it´s in the middle of the day. Yeah, we didn´t have time to see people that night! It was sad, but the conference was good. We have maybe.....10 ish or more, I could be lying there, companionships and then there were the assistants and the President and his wife. The assistants planned a half hour at the beginning to ¨Bajar la caña¨ or Drop the cane, like....tell us what we need to be doing better. That never actually happened that I know of (then again I´m not understanding half of it) but it was funny to look at.
The cita we have is with Laura, she´s in the same building as a member and so she has daily interaction with her so that´s really good. She´s progressing really well and can recognize Satan´s opposition, it´s really cool actually that it´s so aparent to her, the difference. We have her baptismal date as the 10th and I´m so excited for her, she came to church yesterday and Hna. Clark said that she(Hna. Clark) thinks she(Laura) liked it.We also went to see Ismael on saturday. He is such a joy! He´s older and in an old person´s home and I can´t understand a lot of what he says but he´s so great. I learned that he folk danced, sang and taught tango when he was younger. I´m enjoying him so much now I cannot wait to meet him in the next life! We also have been trying to work with Juan Carlos, he´s shown borachado to the citas and so we can´t teach him, then he didn´t come to the last one and when we were buying fruit today we saw him and he said he got a job. That´s good, I hope he can keep progressing though and realize that jobs are good now, but eternally you need more. Also! The Familia Moscuzza! They´re doing so well. I love going over there. The ward is helping them to make their house better, putting in outlets and redoing the walls and helping them like that. I´m so excited for them. (They´re recient converts).
This week I was reminded of the worth of what I´m doing by two different things: the scripture "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God", as well as the story of the little boy throwing starfish back into the sea, and when confronted by a man who told him that he couldn´t possible make a difference in such little time and with so many starfish strewn across the beach, he picks one up and throws it into the surf. "It made a difference to that one." It´s been so great to re-realize that this week. Tambien, there is a talk this last conference on chastening, it is SO GOOD! I need to remember that if things are hard and I´m doing all I can to be a good missionary or even just a good person, maybe God is refineing me, and showing me my weakness so that He can help me make it strong.
Los Lunes´are so interesting to me because it´s a time to reflect on what happened in the week and realize how much I´ve learned. At times it all runs together and I have a hard time seeing the moments, but it´s so good to look at the little things that make the week worthwhile.
"I must know! Are you ok? Are you happy? Are you eating ok? Are you warm at night? Do you need anything?"
Ha ha ha :D I´m Ok and Happy and I´m eating too much but will eat better this week, I´m kind of cold at night but it´s been better lately, we have bedbugs so that´s a bit annoying but we´re not getting sick so I´m ok with it. And all that I need is love, and I feel that is given to me with every email and during the week through prayers :) Thank you so much mom! (Oh! I got the Dearelder letter this last tuesday!)
I love you so much Mom! You may have no idea how much of a strength your words are. I´ll try to write more next week!
-Hermana Pixton
The cita we have is with Laura, she´s in the same building as a member and so she has daily interaction with her so that´s really good. She´s progressing really well and can recognize Satan´s opposition, it´s really cool actually that it´s so aparent to her, the difference. We have her baptismal date as the 10th and I´m so excited for her, she came to church yesterday and Hna. Clark said that she(Hna. Clark) thinks she(Laura) liked it.We also went to see Ismael on saturday. He is such a joy! He´s older and in an old person´s home and I can´t understand a lot of what he says but he´s so great. I learned that he folk danced, sang and taught tango when he was younger. I´m enjoying him so much now I cannot wait to meet him in the next life! We also have been trying to work with Juan Carlos, he´s shown borachado to the citas and so we can´t teach him, then he didn´t come to the last one and when we were buying fruit today we saw him and he said he got a job. That´s good, I hope he can keep progressing though and realize that jobs are good now, but eternally you need more. Also! The Familia Moscuzza! They´re doing so well. I love going over there. The ward is helping them to make their house better, putting in outlets and redoing the walls and helping them like that. I´m so excited for them. (They´re recient converts).
This week I was reminded of the worth of what I´m doing by two different things: the scripture "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God", as well as the story of the little boy throwing starfish back into the sea, and when confronted by a man who told him that he couldn´t possible make a difference in such little time and with so many starfish strewn across the beach, he picks one up and throws it into the surf. "It made a difference to that one." It´s been so great to re-realize that this week. Tambien, there is a talk this last conference on chastening, it is SO GOOD! I need to remember that if things are hard and I´m doing all I can to be a good missionary or even just a good person, maybe God is refineing me, and showing me my weakness so that He can help me make it strong.
Los Lunes´are so interesting to me because it´s a time to reflect on what happened in the week and realize how much I´ve learned. At times it all runs together and I have a hard time seeing the moments, but it´s so good to look at the little things that make the week worthwhile.
"I must know! Are you ok? Are you happy? Are you eating ok? Are you warm at night? Do you need anything?"
Ha ha ha :D I´m Ok and Happy and I´m eating too much but will eat better this week, I´m kind of cold at night but it´s been better lately, we have bedbugs so that´s a bit annoying but we´re not getting sick so I´m ok with it. And all that I need is love, and I feel that is given to me with every email and during the week through prayers :) Thank you so much mom! (Oh! I got the Dearelder letter this last tuesday!)
I love you so much Mom! You may have no idea how much of a strength your words are. I´ll try to write more next week!
-Hermana Pixton
August 22
Woot! Ok, English....odd. Ok not really :) I am able to understand it a lot better now, as in I can figure out what words I don´t know....I may have said that last week...oh well, I can understand better than last week by a few words, my speaking still needs work though. This last week was Hna. Arincibia´s cumpimes. It´s the day they arrived in the mission, por ejemplo, mine is the 25th. Which is this week. Yay! ALSO! Happy late anniversary! YAY!!!! and Laura and Steve´s is this week! YAY! That´s really all the enthusiasm I can get through an email, but I hope you feel my love and happiness. So yeah, 3 whole months in the mission, pretty weird eh? We have a zone conference tomorrow in Centro, it´s...I think Centro is a city but I´m not positive. Anyway, I´m excited for that to see what we all need to work on as a done. The work is hard because I don´t know what else I can do to be better. That sounded really cocky....I don´t know, of all the things that I am doing wrong, that I need to be doing better. Yes, that´s better. So hopefully I´ll get a better idea of that tomorrow. We don´t know when it´ll end so we´re having a hard time setting citas. Today we´re going to go teach Juan Carlos again, he´s the man we met in the middle of the street. He has a drinking problem but is working to overcome it. He says he can tell there is something different and special about the people in our church. The first day he attended the chapel, I think he was in the foyer the whole time but afterward two of the hermanos went and were talking with him and he poured out his whole life to us. He´s a really sweet guy and I can see this changing his life forever. We´re also going to go by some menos activos and give them an invitation for the 2nd of Septiembre por un noche de hogar. We´ll be watching the Joseph Smith movie and I think the ward mission leader will explain more about the apostacy and the need for a restauración. It´s so funny to me that we´ll be teaching about the restauración and people will say they understand when we say that after Christ and His apostles died, the gospel was distorted and the priesthood power was taken from the earth. But then they´ll say that their pastor or whoever has the power from Christ and we´ll be all....no, he doesn´t, remember, the apostasy......It makes me laugh sometimes but we need to help them as much as we can so that they understand que pasó. Other things that make me laugh: Hola! Somos missionaras de la Iglesia de.....O, no quiere nada? Verdad? Vida Eterna? No? Ok...we´ll just teach you later then.... Or the little hand wave that can either mean that they don´t want to listen or that they´re going to get the keys to the door. I haven´t figured out which is which yet. And the amount of dogs here. There are SO many dogs, and Hna. Vaughan wants to take them all home. I love my mission roomies! It´s so fun with 4. I also love when people see Hna Clark´s name and say it´s hard, and then see mine and are all, AAAHHH MUY dificil! I ALSO love when we have citas! It gets hard tocar-ing doors and getting the same little wave time after time. A member told me that half the people that do that think we´re Jehovah´s Witnesses. I´ve not had enough interaction with them to know how to fix that one yet. But when people actually are like, yeah I´ll listen! come on in! It´s so great! Or even like yesterday, it was La dia de los niños so people were at home and together and stuff, which is great for sort-of-ish contacting but you can´t teach them because they want to disfruitar the time with their family, but you can usually tell when people actually do want to listen and when they´re just rejecting you in a more polite way. But they love it in the end! It´s not easy but living this gospel is SO worth it. It´s like Pres. Packer´s talk last conference, it´s not easy to be a latter-day saint because we require people to actually do something with their salvation, it´s a process that isn´t set by one day or one act. I´m not going to be perfect when I get off my mission, I´m not automatically saved because I´m doing this work right now, everyone has their agency and that is something that will never be taken away. We can give it up, or to the control of something else, but I´d rather follow Christ than be lead down by an addiction to drugs. People need to know God. They need to know He is and that He loves them still, that He speaks to us through a prophet today and that if we pray to Him, He will give us answers through the Spirit and through the scriptures. Really, that´s what we need to do: Read, pray, and renew our covenants/keep our covenants.
Yes, good :) Love the gospel. I thought I knew how to do that before, now I know I´m still learning.
I´m so happy to see the pictures of Hawaii! It´s sounds like so much fun and so warm, it´s supposed to get colder this week than it has all winter...yeah. Animado all around. But! I´m still happy! Hna. Clark keeps me smiling with random awesome things that happen. Hna. Vaughan let me use one of her hats and it was small for mi large head. I put it on and Hna Clark looks at me and goes....You look like a pirate. Yes, it was a happy time. It´s getting easier to talk to people and easier to walk down another street of doors we may have knocked before.
Yes! Sibs can write me at this address, I´m pretty sure anyone can write me from email but I can only respond to family via email. I get actual mail once a week on Tuesdays and can write on Mondays (which doesn´t mean anything because I only have so many addresses in my book because few have actually written me). But it´s all good! The Elders say you have a dead year so I may as well get started on that one and let all my friends get married all at once. yes, it happens. Chiste. Creo que mi password is the same but I´m not sure, if not you can get into my email and change the facebook password, yeah, you have all the power as far as my home affairs go :) Oh, I also thought to tell you about crackers, cheese and jelly, try it. It may change your life as far as those three things go. What else have I eaten here..this torte stuff that was wonderful, it was flan on bottom with pudding stuff and cream stuff and cake stuff and chocolate frosting stuff on top. It was probably SO good for me ;) ALSO This thing with....it´s a pizza, only the crust is a very thin steak. Yes. wonderful. Lots of crackers here....yeah, it´s all good so far, just in case you were wondering.
I love you all and keep me updated as to what´s going on! Thank you for doing that already! How´s the extended family doing? Anyone have any advice? Oh, and tell Steve Clark I have not forgotten about the less active members! And tell Jim I´m not wishing away a single moment. Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I love them! Hna. Clark´s grandpa just died and it brought me back to knowing about life being short. Give the family big hugs from me and tell them I love them. Love the people you´re with! It makes things go SO much better! It´s hard to love people that don´t want to have anything to do with you, but it´s important that you do. I wouldn´t be able to serve if I couldn´t at least try. Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart :) I love you Momma, so much. Enjoy this time of the year in Utah!
Yes, good :) Love the gospel. I thought I knew how to do that before, now I know I´m still learning.
I´m so happy to see the pictures of Hawaii! It´s sounds like so much fun and so warm, it´s supposed to get colder this week than it has all winter...yeah. Animado all around. But! I´m still happy! Hna. Clark keeps me smiling with random awesome things that happen. Hna. Vaughan let me use one of her hats and it was small for mi large head. I put it on and Hna Clark looks at me and goes....You look like a pirate. Yes, it was a happy time. It´s getting easier to talk to people and easier to walk down another street of doors we may have knocked before.
Yes! Sibs can write me at this address, I´m pretty sure anyone can write me from email but I can only respond to family via email. I get actual mail once a week on Tuesdays and can write on Mondays (which doesn´t mean anything because I only have so many addresses in my book because few have actually written me). But it´s all good! The Elders say you have a dead year so I may as well get started on that one and let all my friends get married all at once. yes, it happens. Chiste. Creo que mi password is the same but I´m not sure, if not you can get into my email and change the facebook password, yeah, you have all the power as far as my home affairs go :) Oh, I also thought to tell you about crackers, cheese and jelly, try it. It may change your life as far as those three things go. What else have I eaten here..this torte stuff that was wonderful, it was flan on bottom with pudding stuff and cream stuff and cake stuff and chocolate frosting stuff on top. It was probably SO good for me ;) ALSO This thing with....it´s a pizza, only the crust is a very thin steak. Yes. wonderful. Lots of crackers here....yeah, it´s all good so far, just in case you were wondering.
I love you all and keep me updated as to what´s going on! Thank you for doing that already! How´s the extended family doing? Anyone have any advice? Oh, and tell Steve Clark I have not forgotten about the less active members! And tell Jim I´m not wishing away a single moment. Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I love them! Hna. Clark´s grandpa just died and it brought me back to knowing about life being short. Give the family big hugs from me and tell them I love them. Love the people you´re with! It makes things go SO much better! It´s hard to love people that don´t want to have anything to do with you, but it´s important that you do. I wouldn´t be able to serve if I couldn´t at least try. Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart :) I love you Momma, so much. Enjoy this time of the year in Utah!
August 15
Woot! So I´m good and I´m really not THAT awesome at spanish yet, but I´m getting better! I can actually pick out words I don´t know yet and ask Hna. Clark about them later so that´s good! I´m teaching much much more than I was before and I´m happy things are getting a bit brighter on that front. I just got the photo...oh airplanes. It´s safe to say I´m glad not to have to be on one for another long while.....17 hours ish....ugh. Anyway! So it´s a no on the instant chat. Yeah, I thought as much but I thought I should ask and legitly tell you now. But weekly is still good. I don´t have much time this week because we have a cita in 20 minutes. Also, no picture this week.....I KNOW I´m sorry, it just didn´t happen. OH! but I found the train tracks! They run through the villa, the people build their houses on the tracks so they don´t pay anything. I can´t get a picture because my camera may be gone the next minute. But you told me to avoid the "trains" anyway, so I will, unless there is someone in there that needs the gospel, which would be all of them, but I´ll do my best not to be there at night! Not a lot a citas this last week so a lot of walking and lots of contacting, a few other citas but not a lot. They also had elections this week so people didn´t come to church because they were voting, so we need to move a baptism date further out. Yeah, sad stuff. Ok, so odd things that happened; This old guy on the corner shouted at Hna. Clark and me as we were walking out, in English "Oh! Lookin´good! I like you!" We walked past and then swiftly laughed at wrote it down. Also, we were going to see an investigator, and we say the end bit of a house getting robbed. That was interesting. Hna. Clark was all, I had a phone if no one else in their houses had a phone. And I was all, I´m in a skirt and really don´t want to run after them. It was interesting and we decided to see that contact later and just call her. Ok, your questions: "How are things there? What was the best part is your week? How are allyour clothes holding up? Any thing I can send you when I send the bookI WILL find?"
You totally NEVER/NUNCA let me down and never will, and a photo album is only a thing, I´m just glad it was somewhere and I didn´t loose it on the three flights. Things here are great, still cold but warming up. Once again, not a lot of citas but I´m getting to know the members a lot more and teaching them in spanish (so when I totally mess up it´s ok). Hna Clark and I will teach together with investigators but I´ll give the thought or whatever for almuerso appointments. The best part of my week.......Hm, that may have been the moment when I realized I could recognize words people said instead of just hearing blurrs and not much else. Oh, yeah, random note. It takes 9 pesos to get a letter to the states, that´s like 3 dollars. So people may not be getting bunches of mail from me ALL the time, but I´ll write back if they write me.....The elders say they have a "dead year" when people kinda forget they´re gone. I may already be dead. Or people just don´t know where I am, either one I´ll need to accept one of these hours. Ok, more. My clothes are all fine, a snap came off of my coat but it´s just for the weather flap and I´ll find a way to fix it. Everything else is good, I´m not sure what will happen by my birthday, which I realized is about my half-way mark as well as the day Hna. Clark goes home. Ironic eh? I can´t think of anything I need at this moment in time....OH! If people randomly get engaged and you see it on my facebook page, could you tell me please? I don´t want to be left out of that one. Ok, gotta go! But I love you and I hope you all have a great time in Hawaii and I love the picture from Kim´s graduation and am so proud of her and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOU! Lots :) Chao!
Oh! And everyone needs to read the conference Ensign again, it was so good!
You totally NEVER/NUNCA let me down and never will, and a photo album is only a thing, I´m just glad it was somewhere and I didn´t loose it on the three flights. Things here are great, still cold but warming up. Once again, not a lot of citas but I´m getting to know the members a lot more and teaching them in spanish (so when I totally mess up it´s ok). Hna Clark and I will teach together with investigators but I´ll give the thought or whatever for almuerso appointments. The best part of my week.......Hm, that may have been the moment when I realized I could recognize words people said instead of just hearing blurrs and not much else. Oh, yeah, random note. It takes 9 pesos to get a letter to the states, that´s like 3 dollars. So people may not be getting bunches of mail from me ALL the time, but I´ll write back if they write me.....The elders say they have a "dead year" when people kinda forget they´re gone. I may already be dead. Or people just don´t know where I am, either one I´ll need to accept one of these hours. Ok, more. My clothes are all fine, a snap came off of my coat but it´s just for the weather flap and I´ll find a way to fix it. Everything else is good, I´m not sure what will happen by my birthday, which I realized is about my half-way mark as well as the day Hna. Clark goes home. Ironic eh? I can´t think of anything I need at this moment in time....OH! If people randomly get engaged and you see it on my facebook page, could you tell me please? I don´t want to be left out of that one. Ok, gotta go! But I love you and I hope you all have a great time in Hawaii and I love the picture from Kim´s graduation and am so proud of her and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOU! Lots :) Chao!
Oh! And everyone needs to read the conference Ensign again, it was so good!
August 8
Whaaaaaa? Another week gone? Shoot dang! :) Hna. Clark say "shoo´" It´s wonderful.
SO! This week was really good, we have district meetings on Tuesdays and we had a baptism on Wednesday! Oscar. He is Hna. Vaughan´s first in the mission but I´m sure she´ll have many more. Our ward mission leader put Hna. Vaughan and me in charge of the "half-time show" aka while the people were changing clothes and so we showed part of the 12 witnesses movie of the testimonies of the Prophets and apostles and then bore testimony afterward. Before we got up to do this, Hna. Clark told us that investigators were in the audience and that we would be mostly talking to them. Talk about nervious! But I was told we did well.
This week has been a lot about not losing hope and keep going and knowing that there are people waiting for this even if they don´t know it. Yesterday we were contacting a bit and walking to a reference´s house and Hna. Clark decided to tocar a door on the street. The man let us right in and I was able to help teach my first real lesson with the parts on how to start and everything! We both felt that they felt the Spirit. It was so great to be able to do what I´m called to do and what I´ve been training for. We were about half-way home when we realized we never invited them to baptism OR set up another cita! Gah....I felt so bad! That was my part in the lessons this week, but we hadn´t had many new lessons so it may have caught me off guard. We´re hoping to go by again and see if they´ve read (we left them a Book of Mormon and a folleto on the Restoration) and see if we can teach them again, we´ll see.
We´re also working with new converts and less active members. One couple is having trouble knowing if they want to be sealed or not because of how some things are now. We went over last night and the husband was asking about the Temple and we directed him to the bishop because we didn´t know how much to say because of the sacred nature of the subject. I was listening and I thought I heard him say "when" they go to the temple. I waited until after to ask Hna. Clark if that is what he said and she said yes and I got so excited! What a blessing for them so be together and not have to worry about the life afterward! We are still working with them though to help them stay positive about it.
I´m doing really well! The Spanish is coming and yesterday when I was able to teach I got super excited! I´m understanding more and more and I know it´s only through the power of God that I´m able to listen to these fast speaking Argentine people and get the jist of what they´re saying! No other power could do that. And then on top of that I´ve been able to pray and bear testimony and help invite the Spirit! That is huge to me! If the Spirit is there the lesson, no matter how awkwardly said, can touch the hearts of the people. I am so grateful to be here and learn from these people as well as teach them what I know to be true. I have felt the Spirit in my life so much more now that I know I need it. I pray for it and I do all I can to keep it here with me.
On Saturday we went to the ward mission leader´s house and he had made the Argentine barbecue for us and the ward missionaries! Carne! It was so good! And we ate calamari. It was pretty awesome actually. Let´s see what else....Oh, I may need sheets and a pillowcase. Thank you for your emails Mom! I love you and I´m so glad things are going well. Give everyone a hug for me! Oh! and my mission office address is:
Mision Argentina Bahia Blanca
Chacabuco 1755
8000 Bahia Blanca
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Yes, that is where I´ll be for the next little bit and I think I get those letters every week if I´m not mistaken. So yeah. Life is good. I´m loving it here :) Love the Lord, Love the family and know I love you!
-Hermana Pixton
Monday, August 8, 2011
Monday August 1, 2011
And the Lord smote Aubrey with Argentina, and out came brown water....lots of it.
I´m sorry we weren´t able to communicate a bunch and this time will be somewhat limited because today we took a nap for our P-day activity and slept too long, so! We got here ok :) Typing is a bit more difficult because the keyboard is slightly different but I´ll try to keep it coherant. I´m not sure what the rules are for computer use, but I think it´s just still emailing. So from NY we took this HUGE plane to BA, then we missed our bus so we were in a bus station for another 7 hours, so of course we started singing hymns. We get done with one of them and an old woman comes over and starts yelling at Elder M, saying if he was a real man he would give her an answer yes, or no (we´re pretty sure there was no legit question). I started praying as I´m sure our whole group was and an LDS bishop walks by and starts speaking to the lady, it´s all in spanish. After she left he told us that she was asking when he was going to close down those illegal jails, yes or no. Also she heard that he had a big family. He asked her what she meant and she was all, you know! It was too funny. Anyway, we got on this double-decker bus that was super comfortable after the bus station. We traveled until about 5 and got to Bahia. They thought we were coming at 7. Yup, lots of waiting :) But then we went to the mission office and tried to do stuff with our passports and getting an ID for here, but that didn´t work for some castillano reason. Then we went back to the office and had lunch with all the missionaries, trainers and newbies. I saw Hna. Col and that was a cool one way connection. During that time I really wanted to be trained by a particular sister but I wasn´t anticipating it because I didn´t know if it was the Lord´s will or not, so after lunch we went into the chapel of the church and had a mission goals presentation. Finally we were paired up with our companions....................very last were me and Hna V...............with.............HNA C AND HNA A! (respectively). Hna C was the one I had hoped to be paired with! I know right! And no, as far as we know she´s not closely related to the Steve C. We got on another bus and traveled to Mar, we arrived at about 1 or 2. Oh, Hna. V and I live together! Yeah, that was another miracle here. Our apartment is the third floor up, there´s an elevator but sometimes it doesn´t work. We go through some shops to get to the stairs/elevator to get to our apartment. It´s pretty small but there´s love there so I couldn´t be happier. It´s also very cold here right now. Oh, and for the missionary moms, apparently you need sheets here. A sister left hers and I have the liner so I´m good, but they´re not really as stocked as we thought. We have a little space heater and THANK YOU for the thermals! They´ve saved my life I´m sure! Let´s see....They killed most of their investigators right before I got here and then this was also their winter break, so not a lot of lessons taught for the week, but I´m getting used to rejection! I probably won´t be totally always used to it but it´s not so shocking now. My "momma" aka Hna C, is so great mom! So cheerful and she helps me a lot. She made me an "esposo" out of a cake box so I can carry un Libro de Mormon and some folletos, along with my agenda and my hymnal. Bags get stolen here so we´re not supposed to have them. It´s a lot more city here than I thought it would be. I expected like dirt roads and far spaced houses. Nope! very packed and full of awesome/sometimes not awesome smells. It´s a port so lots of fish which Hna. C just loves! She really doesn´t..... :D Anyway! My spanish is so little! I´m told it will grow a lot as I´m here and I totally believe that but I still feel bad because I can´t really contribute to the lessons, I could say all I want but if I can´t understand their problem I can´t adjust my teaching....that´s my dilemma. I must look so funny to people! I´m next to Hna. Clark and smiling and nodding and suddenly I realize they´ve asked me a question, oh no....what did they say....I look at Hna C who is looking at me, look back at them and say: No intiendo muy mucho......They sometimes keep trying to talk to me but usually switch to Hna C and I go back to smiling and nodding, though I´m getting better at understanding. Hna V and I have these moments where neither of us understand. It´s really amazing how similar things are here, when I say "things" I mean "people", human interaction is the same, apparently it´s very similar to northern California....just to give an idea. I´ve got to wrap this up. Here are some pictures!
I love you!!!!!
I´m sorry we weren´t able to communicate a bunch and this time will be somewhat limited because today we took a nap for our P-day activity and slept too long, so! We got here ok :) Typing is a bit more difficult because the keyboard is slightly different but I´ll try to keep it coherant. I´m not sure what the rules are for computer use, but I think it´s just still emailing. So from NY we took this HUGE plane to BA, then we missed our bus so we were in a bus station for another 7 hours, so of course we started singing hymns. We get done with one of them and an old woman comes over and starts yelling at Elder M, saying if he was a real man he would give her an answer yes, or no (we´re pretty sure there was no legit question). I started praying as I´m sure our whole group was and an LDS bishop walks by and starts speaking to the lady, it´s all in spanish. After she left he told us that she was asking when he was going to close down those illegal jails, yes or no. Also she heard that he had a big family. He asked her what she meant and she was all, you know! It was too funny. Anyway, we got on this double-decker bus that was super comfortable after the bus station. We traveled until about 5 and got to Bahia. They thought we were coming at 7. Yup, lots of waiting :) But then we went to the mission office and tried to do stuff with our passports and getting an ID for here, but that didn´t work for some castillano reason. Then we went back to the office and had lunch with all the missionaries, trainers and newbies. I saw Hna. Col and that was a cool one way connection. During that time I really wanted to be trained by a particular sister but I wasn´t anticipating it because I didn´t know if it was the Lord´s will or not, so after lunch we went into the chapel of the church and had a mission goals presentation. Finally we were paired up with our companions....................very last were me and Hna V...............with.............HNA C AND HNA A! (respectively). Hna C was the one I had hoped to be paired with! I know right! And no, as far as we know she´s not closely related to the Steve C. We got on another bus and traveled to Mar, we arrived at about 1 or 2. Oh, Hna. V and I live together! Yeah, that was another miracle here. Our apartment is the third floor up, there´s an elevator but sometimes it doesn´t work. We go through some shops to get to the stairs/elevator to get to our apartment. It´s pretty small but there´s love there so I couldn´t be happier. It´s also very cold here right now. Oh, and for the missionary moms, apparently you need sheets here. A sister left hers and I have the liner so I´m good, but they´re not really as stocked as we thought. We have a little space heater and THANK YOU for the thermals! They´ve saved my life I´m sure! Let´s see....They killed most of their investigators right before I got here and then this was also their winter break, so not a lot of lessons taught for the week, but I´m getting used to rejection! I probably won´t be totally always used to it but it´s not so shocking now. My "momma" aka Hna C, is so great mom! So cheerful and she helps me a lot. She made me an "esposo" out of a cake box so I can carry un Libro de Mormon and some folletos, along with my agenda and my hymnal. Bags get stolen here so we´re not supposed to have them. It´s a lot more city here than I thought it would be. I expected like dirt roads and far spaced houses. Nope! very packed and full of awesome/sometimes not awesome smells. It´s a port so lots of fish which Hna. C just loves! She really doesn´t..... :D Anyway! My spanish is so little! I´m told it will grow a lot as I´m here and I totally believe that but I still feel bad because I can´t really contribute to the lessons, I could say all I want but if I can´t understand their problem I can´t adjust my teaching....that´s my dilemma. I must look so funny to people! I´m next to Hna. Clark and smiling and nodding and suddenly I realize they´ve asked me a question, oh no....what did they say....I look at Hna C who is looking at me, look back at them and say: No intiendo muy mucho......They sometimes keep trying to talk to me but usually switch to Hna C and I go back to smiling and nodding, though I´m getting better at understanding. Hna V and I have these moments where neither of us understand. It´s really amazing how similar things are here, when I say "things" I mean "people", human interaction is the same, apparently it´s very similar to northern California....just to give an idea. I´ve got to wrap this up. Here are some pictures!
I love you!!!!!
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