Week 8: Ants, ants, ants, ants, ants...

Hola!

First, things I liked from the conference: Quintin L Cook, Dieter F Uchtdorf (probably my favorite talk), M Russell Ballard (you guys should buy a pmg and study it like he advised in his talk), Jean A Stevens, David A Bednar (the burdens in our life are what give us the opportunity to rely more on Christ), Thomas S. Monson (I just love him-his talk was one of my absolute favorites as well). You guys should all pick something from conference that you need to work on and then improve it! They aren’t just fun talks to listen to, we need to apply them and use them to help change our lives. :)

Bertha, her granddaughter, me & my companion

Bertha is one of the members. She comes and teaches with us a lot and she is extremely friendly. We spend a lot of time with her family because her daughter is less active. They are so nice and fun! The little girl is Betha´s granddaughter. She is so cute and loves talking to me. Most of the time I just smile and say “si” because I have absolutely no idea what she is saying to me, but she’s okay with that because she loves to talk. lol The other day she found my sparkly hand sanitizer and has fallen in love with it and the way it smells.

Family Home Evening with Bertha's family & neighbors

Monday we had family home evening with Bertha’s family. They invited tons of people: their neighbors (investigators), other neighbors (hopefully future investigators), and some family. It was so much fun with all of the little kids! We played games, had little prizes (this nasty spicy candy that everyone loves - I gave mine to my companion later), watched a little Bible movie, and had a yummy meal. It was a great opportunity to socialize and let families become more comfortable with us.

Yummy Food!

Bryce, Dad, and Dallin would never be able to live here! They never use the ovens, which means no brownies, cake, or cookies. lol They usually don’t have snacks unless they buy it from the store. We usually have some type of jello if we have a dessert after the meal, but it’s rare. Dessert is a luxury here because they don’t have much money.

My District

Surprisingly we have more sisters then elders and more Americans then natives. How crazy is that? They say that never happens. All of the missionaries are encouraged to learn English. It’s in the pmg (Preach My Gospel book). It says that it will bless them later. All missionaries need to try and learn English and at the end of their mission they take a test. 

Doing my laundry

These past two weeks I have become best friends with the ants. We eat, sleep, bathe, use the bathroom, study, teach, and do everything together. But the other day they crossed the line. THEY ATE MY CADBURRY EGGS AND SOUR CANDY!!!! I was so mad. I was saving it for Easter! Then they were all over my stuff - like a million of them. And then I found they were in my retainer! I sadly had a girly moment and kind of freaked out, but my companion saved me. Two nights ago, my companion said, “oh come here.” There was a cute little lizard in the bathroom and she said it was eating the ants for us! We were so happy and decided it was our friend. Then the next morning at 7 am I went to take a shower. I was half asleep and I looked down and there was the lizard…dead…with a million little ants eating it! THEY KILLED THE LIZARD!!!!! I had another freak out moment and my companion again had to save me. lol It was sooo gross. Ew ew ew! Poor lizard friend...I hate ants.

There are pretty much no mirrors here. We have a tiny broken one we can use for makeup, but that’s it. People don’t really have mirrors in their houses. I guess it’s a good thing, because I kind of look like a hobo everyday. It’s sooo hot! This is one of the hottest areas in the mission. I don’t wear much makeup because it just melts off, and my hair consists of different up-dos. I’m becoming pretty creative with putting my hair up. lol I’m very glad that no one has mirrors. It would just make me depressed.

My companion told me that way before we met each other she had dreamed of me a few times. She said she had no idea why, until she saw me the first time and knew we were going to be companions. I think it was the Lords way of preparing her for me, letting her know that I’m kind of really broken and will need a lot of help! lol 

There are fruit trees everywhere and people give us mangos all the time. People just pick up fruit off the ground, wash it, and eat it. 

At lunch people always give me a ton of food! They don’t put the food on the table. They put it on a plate and serve it to you. I think they think that once you become a missionary your stomach grows two sizes. The other day I absolutely could not finish a meal. They gave me sooooo much. I think the mom thought I didn’t like the meal, even though I assured her it was really good. I felt so bad. I need to learn how to say that I don’t eat very much.

Everyone here kisses each other on the cheek. Way weird! It’s still something I’m not used to. My companion thinks it’s weird that we don’t do it in the U.S. 

Last thing. Every day people yelling outside wake me up. They are selling some type of breakfast or something. I can’t understand, but it reminds me of a part in the Monty Python movie...you have to think of it yourselves. lol