October 27, 2014
'Ello lovelies!
Is it just me, or is it
a really long time since I wrote you all? Probably just me, but it feels soooo
long since last Monday, which is really weird for a missionary.
Sochiloa is back to its
usual self again. It's still very different but it feels a bit more like the
area that I am used to. That is both a good and bad thing. Anywho; happy
Monday!
Highlights:
-I am becoming one
tough lady. This week while we were teaching, a little baby cockroach ended up
on my hand. Recently-arrived me would have freaked or gasped. Right-now me just
swatted it real quick and kept going with the conversation.
-My companion and I have
been working on her English and this week we've had a lot of fun with it. The
best moment – well, one of them – was when I was trying to teach her how to
pronounce 'faithful' and she said, "It's like baseball?" Wait, what?
No! Then I laughed. A lot. And so did she, once I explained it.
-Cool thing about
learning Spanish as a non-native: sometimes I teach natives things like the
"vosotros" form of speaking (in a few words, it’s how you talk
informally to a group of people, but they don't use it here in Mexico any more.
It's kinda like using “thee” and “thou” in English). But one investigator was
reading from the Book of Mormon and asked if it was a different language. I
almost told him yes, but then realized that didn't really apply to him.
-I had the thought
yesterday that getting all the investigators and less-actives to come to church
sometimes feels like herding cats. Except you are also trying to change their
lives at the same time. Ay caray.
-I got to do some
really fun service the other day. A sister received a message from someone who
seems, well, a little lost. So I was a good missionary and tried to help her
out :)
-This past week, Ben
and I reached our five- year anniversary (yes, we are still a thing). I
celebrated by painting my nails for the first time since before I left. And I
worked really hard as usual. Then took the nail polish off the next day.
Something cool this
week! We held tours of the church as a district! We all got together early to
clean the chapel; I helped with the baptismal font again, which was super gross,
otra vez, but all of the bugs were dead this time! Here's a photo of me getting
rid of the last of the nasty water (it smelled like a fish bowl. Yum) by
getting paper towels wet and squeezing the water out into a bucket, Elder
Tanner, who actually did most of the work, and Hermana Capps, who I love and who
is just so cute. She helped too, but mostly she just handed us the broom and
mop, haha.
There wasn't a ton of
success from this, but there were some really neat and powerful experiences.
Plus we all learned from it.
And also we had a
party! Elder Tanner had his birthday last week but didn't tell anyone, so we
threw him a surprise party and it was pretty much the best, because he had no
words in either English or Spanish.
To sum up the week, I
have one more story. It was a really hard and really hot afternoon on Tuesday
and I didn't want to work. I felt like all the responsibilities of the ward
were on my shoulders. I felt pushed and pulled in every direction and didn't
know where to start with anything. While we were walking from a failed contact
to an appointment that later fell through, I was thinking about everything –
feeling miserable and nearly to the point of tears – when someone called
"Hermanas!" It was a man we didn't know who ended up being a recent
convert from the other ward that shares our building. A happiness radiated from
him as we talked for a few minutes, and that alone made me feel better. Just before
he left he asked, "Will you let me give you these cookies? I'm just so
grateful for missionaries." This is rough; I know it, and Heavenly Father
knows it. But He also loves me, and is taking care of me, and does things like
give me cookies when I feel really bad. What a great dad. :)
Love you all!
Hermana Anderson
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