#13 [Azua - 9] Mar. 4th, 2013

First off, thank-you for writing.

Zone conference was... super long! It was supposed to be from 10 to 4, but it was 9:30 to 6. I think I learned a few things. We didn't have interviews - there were 5 other zones there, and we were the only girls. We felt ostracized.

But oh my, guess what? So we always order stuff from Pricesmart, right? and the elders go and buy it for us and such. Well, we bought a huge bag of cheese, like 5 pounds, and so we put it in the fridge before the meeting, so it wouldn't melt. And when we get out, we go to pick it up, and it's opened. AND HALF OF IT IS GONE!!! WHO DOES THAT?! Who opens a random bag of cheese and just takes half of it!? gross. Hermana G got upset. I really couldn't stop laughing. She didn't want to eat it, but I didn't want to waste it. It cost us almost 10 dollars- I think, but yeah, she wanted to chuck it. I convinced her that I would eat it and once she saw my delicious food, she decided to eat cheese with it as well. We are both still alive. But I really can't get over that. People here have no respect for other people's things. Gosh.

Happy to hear about the missionary month. I remember that. I remember Louie got sent to France, Lyon - I think, and I was there too, and now she is going there! So cool.

Um – we are still doing the English classes. They are going well. We get a lot of children coming, and a lot of non-members, so it's fun. I mainly teach, because I know English a little better, but I enjoy them.

We are going to the temple on Friday :) super excited.

Ok, almost done with your letter- but our investigators. WELL -- that is why this week was so awful. So we had 6 baptismal dates two weeks ago, and now we have ZERO. Yes. So... we don't know what to do. We are working, and within the last two weeks, everyone failed us.
•    One of our investigators is amazing. He has referrals for us, he wants to go visit people and teach them with us, he invites his friends to lessons, and he loves reading the BOM. He is in 2 Nephi now, which is faster than anyone else. He's great. We love teaching him. We don't know why he won't commit to baptism though. He's always like, "Oh, my neighbor would make an awesome Mormon." And then we're like, "and you?" and he laughs and says, "we'll see" so I think he will eventually. :) He is the only reason that we are feeling successful.

    - People here make a spaghetti shake–it sounds gross, but I think it could be good. You cook the noodles, and then you put it in a blender with milk and sugar and then drink it. We are going to try it tomorrow :)
    - Also, we like to eat fried tortillas with sugar on top. I can see Jakey enjoying that treat, you should try it. :)

Ok -- so, the other day, we were teaching A.... I told you about him, right? Well, we haven't been able to teach him for a long time now, and we finally were able to. We taught him about baptism, and invited him to be baptized. The spirit was actually super strong, but he was unsure about the baptismal date. We kept going back and forth about it, and when he told us that he would tell us on Tuesday, it went all quiet. So I started asking about church and then as I was inviting him to church, the lady across the street rips a HUGE FART. Like, so big. I was trying super hard not to laugh, as was HG, because it's not professional. But then A... looks at me with a small smile and laughs. So, I lost it. We were all laughing so hard, and couldn’t stop. I felt awful, and I started crying. After about 5 minutes, we calmed down and invited him to church. hahahahah – But it gets better – after leaving his house, we walk home and keep replaying it in our heads. We get home, and plan for the day, and then we write in our journals. HG turns to me and is like, "that was so funny, and the best fart about was.." and we started laughing because she said fart instead of part. But then we stop laughing, and she takes a drink of water. But I somehow made her laugh, and she spews it out and that makes us laugh harder. And then she starts barfing!!!! Yes! What the heck?! The mood changed, quite dramatically. I didn't know what to do, cuz I was still laughing. Do I stop and clean up? or... what? Ummm. She cleaned it up and we kept laughing. She was actually laughing while barfing. I have never heard of that happening before, and it was awkward, but hilarious. That made the week better. But yeah, J... made the week bad, and so did everyone else failing us.

Well, that is all. I have nothing more to say that I can think of. Thank you for your love and prayers. I know the church is true! I love you all! I am going to send pictures to you! I hope you get them all!  Talk to you next week!

-Hermana Erickson.

PS, we met a guy yesterday named E G. Which is almost both of our names. He's K...'s friend. 
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Look to the other Emails for explanation. enjoy :)

I love you all so much! Thank you for being a bright example to me all the time. I want to have a family like ours when I grow up a bit. I am so thankful for our family. I have always been super grateful for it, but now that I don't have you all, I am so much more grateful. It makes me so happy that we are all members. I hope we stay active as a family forever, so we can enjoy the blessing forever.

Love you all!

-Herm Erickson