Wow! What a week! Also, what a keyboard, this is going to be interesting. Good luck translating. :) but before I get into anything, I am going to reply to your email, like usual.
– No, I have not gotten the package. I think it was because I got transferred; who knows? It could also be that it hasn’t come. Not sure, hopefully this week.
– The broadcast-hmm... apparently we were supposed to go to it, but we had no idea, so we didn’t. We are also supposed to be watching it right now, but it was 2 hours long, and we don’t have time for it right now. :( Next week for sure.
– Congratulations on your home teaching!! That’s great that you have been 100% for two whole months!! woohoo!!
– I did in fact know J. Beck was serving a mission. Can’t remember to where though... but I knew she was going.
– I am not playing the piano sadly. I miss it. We had a man from the WARD play on Sunday, and he wasn’t super good, but he was using his God given talent. So I applaud him for that effort.
– Ok, my area of service is called Independencia. B/ Invi calle peaton 3, house number 4. We live above a house, and it is SUPER small. Like, the size of our kitchen of AZUA, so it is definitely different. I will send pictures. Note – the pictures that you see are the only parts of the house. It is a 2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom house, and it’s crazy small, but we get by. It’s kinda claustrophobic. Good thing I don’t have that problem, huh!?
My companion is named Hermana Brook Beesley. She is from Sandy. Weird thing happened... When I was unpacking, she noticed my Inter shorts, and was like, "Did you play for Inter?" and then she went on to tell me that she played on the team younger than me. So we bonded over that pretty quick. We are VERY similar. It’s nice. We have had some comments that we look exactly alike, but I don’t think so too much. She has green eyes. She’s really sweet. I have already learned a lot from her. I like her a lot. One difference is that she thinks Mexicans are attractive. She wants to marry one, or a Dominican. And for me... well... no, I like redheads, teehee.
The only downside to this companionship is that she doesn’t know Spanish, but knows all of the people and area. So we both rely on each other mutually. It’s nice. I am the translator; kinda tough. Hurlburt understood more, but I think that Beesley speaks better. So yeah, other than that, we get along, and life is good.
We live with two other sisters, Herm. Stewart and Herm. Balanzategui. Yes – one is from New Mexico, and the latter is from Ecuador, but raised in Utah. But yeah. I love them all. We are all 21 except for my comp, she’s 20.
Yeah! that is my living situation. In our area, we can walk 5 minutes and see the OCEAN!!!... It’s been so long... but we took a few pictures of that.
Some random items of business...
Another good thing about my new area is that I have a flushing toilet!!! It is so weird. We have another toilet that you have to bucket flush, and I often use that because I am so used to it, and I pretty much mastered the art of it. I am the bucket flush MASTER!
So you know how I was not going to eat sugar? ha ha ha.... Yep, that sure didn’t last long. I am a failure.
We now have district meetings on Tuesday, so that is going to be weird. Maybe I will get some letters tomorrow. We’ll see.
Speaking of meetings, we had interviews on, Friday I think. We went to a chapel in La Paz, and I thought it was a temple!! Wow, so nice. It had 3 stories, and comfy chairs, and garbage cans, and a lobby! It was a nice chapel. We got weighed right after eating. Before I tell you my weight, just know that I had about 6 cups of juice, some soup, and then a nice big roll before I weighed in... haha.
I have gained 10 pounds!!! That is not ok, but on the bright side, it is less than 20, but still. It shows. I feel like such a lard. But I have a feeling that I might lose some this transfer... wanna know why? Because we don’t really eat much. I went from eating HUGE lunches in Azua to eating a package of Ramen. NO, that’s not gonna fill me up. But oh well, if I starve, I won’t get fat. But wow. Also, our area is a lot larger than the other one. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the end of it. We are in Kilometer 10, and our area is from K 10 to K 7. So it’s technically only 3 kilometers I think. If that is how it goes. I don’t really know.
Some people thought I was Dominican the other day. Quite the compliment, except most of the Dominicans are overweight, but whatever. I think they were talking about my accent and my Spanish abilities. I am so glad that I can speak Spanish. I love it. BILINGUAL!
Some of the area here looks like I am in California. It is so nice. Compared to Azua, this is a super rich place. Probably compared to Utah, too. Also, a nice thing is the people can read here. Maybe 1 on 5 people in Azua could read, so that made it super hard. But now that people are a bit more educated we can teach better.
We went into the supermarket on Tuesday, and my eyes got all watery. Seriously. I am not even kidding. I had forgotten about so much of the normal food in a supermarket. I was so used to the same isles of food-beans, rice, coke, olives, pasta, and sardines. But in this market, not only were things surprisingly cheaper, there are much more options!!!! not like we can eat them (because someone is super picky.. so we stick to the basics.) but wow. I sure love food, so much to make me teary to see it, hahah, so lame.
We have an actual ward here, and that is a nice change. The members do their part, and they have been in the ward for long periods of time, unlike ours in Azua where the oldest person has 15 years as a member.. also, there are people here that line up to go out with us, and in Azua, we had to beg people. It’s a nice change. The two areas are SO DIFFERENT! I feel like I am in a completely different mission. It’s insane. And the most crazy part about it is that I love this area. I love Azua, too, but they are so different. I thought I would hate the capital, but no. It’s not too terrible.
I love my mission. I have felt the spirit more this week than I have in the last few combined. It’s so fun to be step-training. I think it really helps to have Beesley here. She’s very good. I love working here. People just stop us to talk to us and they have heard about the gospel before. It’s neat. I love being here. I was thinking about it in church yesterday. Just being away from the family, speaking and understanding a completely foreign language, teaching about the thing that makes me so happy. Wow. It’s so cool that God trusts me so much. I love this. One more year is going to fly by. I have 200 days on Saturday!!!
Ok, so we have one investigator that I really love already. His name is Balentine. He was born on Valentine’s day, which explains his name. But before, apparently he was a delinquent, and I cannot even imagine that. He is such a stud. Like, we have him for a baptismal date on the 13th, and he loves this gospel. He has been such a joy to go and teach. He is 18, and talks about serving a mission. We are really stoked about him. Yesterday in one of our citas, the spirit was super strong. We gave him his own Book of Mormon, and he just seemed thrilled. He kissed it and just carefully flipped thru the pages. Ah, I wish I knew more about him. I know that they met him on the 4th of June, so he is pretty recent. But wow, if all goes this smooth, he’ll be a member before long!
Ok, well I don’t have much more to say. I love this work. I love serving. I have two giant blisters on the bottom of my pinky toes and it’s really painful, but it’s just one step closer to the pain the Christ suffered for all of us, right? Can’t really complain. I am so blessed to be here. I feel like I am growing. I don’t know how, but I think I am :) I love this. It’s so fun to be a part of this great work.
Thank you for your love. If you ever want to just write me dearelders every day, I wouldn’t mind. You can put that online. I wouldn’t mind. Speaking of letters, I sent one with Elder Reeder, and he said he’d send it off when he got to Utah, so it should be getting to you soon. Please let me know if you ever get it. Thank you much.
Well, I am going to leave now. I love you all. I am grateful for this gospel. I am grateful for our family and for being raised with such great parents that have taught me so much good. I am grateful for my Savior and the atonement. I love being able to represent Him.
Have a wonderful week!! ox ox ox
Love you to the moon and back!!
Hermana Erickson 1
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