Sunday, August 24, 2014

I Still Hate Spiders


August 8, 2014

 

Howdy! 

I dunno why I picked that to start. It just felt like the right thing to say. Anyway … Highlights. Readygo:

 

-I swept dirt this week. Who needs rakes, right? Actually, the broom was easier to use than the rake, so there's that. With stuff like this I think, “Huh. Maybe I'll keep doing this after my mission.” Then I pause and say, “No, no … I will not sweep the dirt at my house when I go home.” Here it is practical. There it is crazy, and possibly redneck.

-When the streets flooded (again) this week, I saw someone else sweeping water. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and there's just no excuse to not care for your property. Not even a foot of semi-running water.

-While we were waiting for a bus we saw a cat crying on the other side of the street, so my companion said "Oh, give me some of your cereal! It's hungry!" The cat didn't eat the cereal. It half ran away, then kept crying.

-One of our less-active members was watching TV while we were over and I just happened to see that it was a documentary about black hair. First, why a documentary on any kind of hair? Second, why translate it to Spanish?

-We missionaries were talking in the hall after church on Sunday and Elder Bloxham said to Hermana Mendez, "Just so you know, there's a cricket under your shoe." For the past several weeks we've had a TON of crickets around, and they go pretty much wherever they want. Even into our second-floor apartment. Anyway, when she moved it ran and hid by my bag. A lot faster than crickets normally run. I kicked my bag, so I could maybe kick the cricket out the door but most likely just to squish it so it would stop bothering everyone. It ran again and tried to hide under the chair leg (didn't work, we all saw it) and wouldn't you know … it wasn’t a cricket, but a GINORMOUS SPIDER! Black and fuzzy and thick-legged with stripes and just all around nasty. I pointed to it and said, "THAT is not a cricket. THAT is a spider," and then promptly began to try to squish it. I looked like a sporadic clog dancer and one of my shoes nearly fell off, but guess who won. Not the spider. It was a baby Aragog (that's the giant spider in Harry Potter), and I therefore did not feel guilty about killing it.

-Sometimes, I get all fancied up for church: I do my hair (for once) I put on makeup (a serious miracle), and I actually think about what I want to wear (it's really hard picking clothes every day, ok?) and I look real purdy. It’s on these days that it rains harder than it ever has. And of course your lunch appointment is in the other side of your area.  

Not many highlights this week. Once again the week felt crazy short. But there should be some really great things to tell you all in the coming week. 

Con muchísimo amor!

Hermana Anderson

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Esperase para Agosto

August 11, 2014
 
Hello lovelies!
 
I can't believe that I'm saying this, but Happy August!! Tomorrow, August 12, makes three months in Mexico, and I am very proud to say that I have yet to be sunburned!! Huzzah!!
 
Alrighty, here's catch-up from last week:
 
Last week's highlights:
-Somebody legit thought I was 17.
-The city buses here are super fun and have all sorts of different stickers and decorations and stuff. I saw one pass that said TRANSFORMERS across the windshield. All I could think was "changechangechangechange!"
-For the very first time in my life I ate octopus. I even saw some of the sucker things. I covered it in lime juice (like everyone does to everything here) and it was uber tasty.
-Mexicans are super tough. I knew this, but I just keep seeing it more and more. Like when one member had a cut/burn thing on his arm and he just straight up put lime juice on it. Like It Was Nothing!!
-One day while waiting for our food I found myself randomly singing our National Anthem. Good news everyone: I still love America. (As if I could stop.)
-One of our investigators wants to close his Carneceria and open an Oxxo, which is kinda like a 7-Eleven without the gas. He asked me if I wanted to work in it. Not my companion, just me. He said I could split my time there and with the missionary work. I cannot even begin to explain how hard my companion and I laughed.
-Testimony meetings here are fun because:
  -People go up just to announce that they're engaged! And then close said announcement “in the Name of Jesus Christ, etc.”
 -Your investigator, who is sitting with members and not with you, decides to go up to the pulpit…
 -… and then calls you Senorita Anderson…
 -… and then offers a prayer because he's not familiar with what a testimony meeting is.
-My mission is making me (even more) weird because I say things like: “Woah! Someone ran over that mouse. Look! Wow, there's its brain! And its insides! Cool! Ok, let's go find that referral!"
 
This week’s highlights:
-“First Aid in Spanish” for a ward activity....uhhh......huh???
-That awkward moment when you street contact someone and they say "come over any time!" Then when you do come over she doesn't remember you and says, "Are you from a religion? No thanks." We laughed.
-Oh. My. Lanta. Mexican house numbers and addresses. I'm becoming more and more convinced that people just make up whatever number they want. "Meh, this is more or less close to my neighbor's house number. We'll go with this." We were looking for a less active member and the numbers went from 163 to 186, then 200 something. We were looking for #171. I suggested to my companion that the houses had been translated so we didn't have to worry about looking for them. We also laughed a lot about this. The numbers are just so bizarre!
-Teaching kids is fun. We have an 11-year-old investigator who is super-excited and just, oh man, gold. I wish every investigator could have his enthusiasm. Everyone would be active forever. But he is 11, so explaining things to him is fun. Like the Godhead and how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have bodies but the Holy Ghost doesn't. We spent a good chunk of time explaining “el Espíritu Santo” to him. Eventually he got it and said "Oh! He's a spirit, so that's why he's called the Holy Spirit!" Then when we talked about how he's invisible he said, "And if we throw paint at him? Can we see him then?" We laughed and laughed and laughed.
-He also told us he will be getting married in the temple. Again, he is 11. And he sings Families Can Be Together Forever all the time. And each time he sings it with a different tune. It's adorable and drives my musical ear crazy.
-Don't write "triste Satanás" (darn or stupid, Satan) in your scriptures. It's not missionary-like. I didn't do that. Almost, but not, I did not. Yet. Just kidding, I won’t do that.
 
Photos!
http://mail.outdrs.net/Download.aspx?fid=0&MsgID=B0141003764.MSG&ID=504901
I am petitioning for Disney Princess status. This butterfly stayed on my finger for a good 10-15 minutes of walking. 
http://mail.outdrs.net/Download.aspx?fid=0&MsgID=B0141003764.MSG&ID=504904
 
Surprise! I got transferred to Paris!!! Or not. But there's a random tower that looks like the Eiffel Tower in the Elder's area, so naturally we had to go take pictures with it. For all of you who guessed that I was going to France, here you go.
 

http://mail.outdrs.net/Download.aspx?fid=0&MsgID=B0141003764.MSG&ID=504903
 
 
 
 

My companion and me. She is adorable and a missionary machine and I love her. Also, she thinks I'm funny so that's always a plus. :D
 
OK, about the title: Ever since I got here people have told me that we are going to die of heat in August and that it's miserable. Well, it's actually been really great and rained nearly every day. It's not normal – last year it only rained two times in August – but this year has been awesome and quite possibly the best month since I got here. But sometimes we get a little bit wet from the downpour.
 
http://mail.outdrs.net/Download.aspx?fid=0&MsgID=B0141003764.MSG&ID=504899
 
 

And oh how I love it.
 
Till next week! Love you all!
 
Hermana Anderson