Sunday, February 22, 2015

God's Army and Valentine's Day


Oh dear goodness, so many things to tell you all I just have to get started right this minute!!

Highlights:

-That awkward moment when you are talking to a fellow American and for some reason your words come out in English, not Spanish, and he tells you, "Hermana, no; don't speak English. You sound dumb." :(

-We got fog a couple mornings this week! It was really cool and crisp and wonderful. Then hot in the afternoons. Tis my mission, what can I do about it?


-I am now certain that I will never have an American companion. We would just be too crazy. We had exchanges this week and this time I got to go work with Hermana Garry, who is fabulous. But also crazy.


After taking this picture we looked at it and died laughing. Then we said something like, "Oh no, we're missionaries? This is who makes up God's Army!"

-While waiting downtown for the STLs to start said exchanges, Hna Siza and I were waiting outside a shoe store and they had sandals and flip flops on display. It was a warm day and while looking at them I thought. "Oh, summer is coming." And I started remembering all my lovely summer memories, and getting out of school and going to the mountains … Then I realized, "No, summer is NOT coming. It is FEBRUARY! Where do I live?"

-I got to eat asparagus this week. For those of you who don't know, I love that tasty green vegetable. And I was super-duper happy.:D

-While talking with some members about weird national holidays I found out that in Peru there is a Día de Pollo, or Chicken Day. And people just buy and eat chicken. Guess who will have her own personal chicken day when she returns to the U.S.

-That really frightening moment when you are teaching a lesson outdoors and hear something like a dinosaur growling (I know I sound like a nine-year-old boy, but that’s what it sounded like). That frightening moment turns into a hysterical one when you realize that sound came from a nearby rooster.

-So, this week was Valentine’s Day. If you don't know how I feel about February 14th you can check out my blog post from V-Day last year. Or you could look at the following picture, because it pretty much says the same thing.


-BUT!! It was a really great Valentine's Day, because we had a baptism!!


This is Roberto Razo Luna. He's 28, shy, has had a really hard life, and is so, so ready for this gospel. Because none of his family lives here he has to live in a rehab center, even though he lives completely clean. But because he lives there he has to follow the rules, and so we could only teach him on Sundays during Sunday school. And that meant that we had to teach all five of the lessons in exactly five weeks (the entire Plan of Salvation in an hour-and-a-half). But because the Lord prepared him super well, it worked out. He's a real sweetheart and it's been wonderful to see him grow more confident and understand more and more of what it means to be a son of God.

-And another one on Sunday! Kind of. I'll explain:


This is Angie. She's eight years old and both her parents are members but are inactive. So, she's not really "our" baptism, she's "the ward's". But since her parents are inactive (she goes to church with her aunt and uncle who are super strong members and really cool), Bishop said that she needed the missionary lessons first before she could be baptized. And that we had less than two weeks to do it. So once again we taught the five lessons, in only a couple weeks. But this time to a child. We've learned a lot this transfer about teaching simply. But Angie is super smart, and super excited about the gospel, so it was actually pretty easy. She's such a sweetie and way fun. 

 

Well, transfers were this week. And nothing changed. I will be spending another six weeks in Del Valle with Hna Siza, and with both Elder Rodriguez and Elder Cutler. This is starting to reflect spookily of my time in Sochiloa ... but we'll see what this transfer brings.

Love you all!

Hermana Anderson

Saturday, February 14, 2015

No Title


Hellloooo.

I have nothing clever to say right now. So … highlights. Readygo.

Highlights:

-Something I never thought I would do: Sweep the ceiling. Parts of it keep falling on my bed so I moved the bed swept it to just make it stop.

-Fun things to try and do: Explain what a mission president is to a six-year old nonmember. I went with, "The guy that's in charge of us." To which she said, "Oh, you mean Jesus." Ok yeah; technically He is in charge of us.

-I was talking with my district leader, Elder Wight, about learning Spanish. Before coming here he worked as a mission secretary. He told me that my Spanish is more or less famous, and that "hasta las oficinas," they talk about my Spanish. Let me just tell you that it was weird to feel all humbled like, "whoa, people talk about me? Who am I to be talked about?" but also feel my head growing really big at the same time.

-One of the funniest things that has happened on my mission happened this week. As we were getting ready for church there was a knock on the door. I opened it to see, well, …missionaries. Jehovah's Witnesses, to be more exact. They were really nice, even when I told them that we, too, were missionaries. And then we exchanged pamphlets and websites. Then I closed the door and couldn't help but laugh.

-Last summer I got an email from a gal who had also received her mission call to Obregon. She found me through my blog and asked me lots of questions about the mission and things to do to get ready and it was really very neat. Well, she got here in November (oddly enough, in the same district as Sochiloa, just one ward over), but last week she moved down here for special transfers! So, at long last, we got to meet each other! ‘Twas super cool, to say the least.


 

-We had stake conference this weekend, and an Area Seventy, Elder Ortiz, came and spoke to us and talked a lot about the family and how to strengthen it. He was talking about how husbands (and wives) should find what their spouse likes and make an effort to get it for them to do something special. Then he said "Why do women, all women, always want roses and chocolate? Roses and chocolate. Why don't they ever want cucumbers!?" We were all dying. So, on Valentine’s Day, if you really don't know what to get for your girl, maybe try a cucumber. (That's a joke don't do that.)

Well, one more week left in the transfer, so we're going to give it our all and see where I end up next week. Sometimes I feel like I'll be here another six weeks, but I've also gotten some feelings like I'll be leaving. But we'll see in less than a week!

Love you all! Have a terrific week!!

Hna Anderson

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Just Like Home and Milestones


Alrighty,

 

Highlights:

-One night this week we came home to no power. We flipped all the switches and … nothing. We'd paid the bill on time, our neighbors had power, and we had no idea what to do. So we called the elders. They said to check the interruptor electromagnetico ... because I know what that is. After flipping all the switches in the electricity-related-looking-thing we called the elders again. Fortunately they were with a brother from the ward in his car, so they could just drive over to help. They got here with Brother Ortiz and in about five seconds we had power. There was one master switch at the front of the house that we had no idea existed. On the bright side, it was an easy fix. On the cloudy side, the elders thought it was really funny, especially Elder Cutler. Oh wells.

-My last name is still difficult. This week I was Hermana Alison.

-Things I never thought I would be told: "No, Hermana! You can't use that bucket as a chair because it has urine in it!" One of our investigators is really old and hurt her foot so she can't get out to her bathroom. So she has a five-gallon bucket to ...do her business. I'm just really glad she told me, because I was totally going to flip it over and sit on it.

-The weather has pretty much gone crazy. Hot, cold, rainy, misty … all in one day. If you added in some snow and mountains on the horizon it would be just like home.

-Speaking of rain, Hna Siza and I have a new fun game: walk on the wet dirt and not in the mud. Since we have some dirt streets in our area the rain has made things really fun. And I'm not saying that in a sarcastic way. Especially when the really proper member that is accompanying you falls in the mud.

-Yesterday the elders in the ward, who are also the Zone Leaders, called us and told us that today we were going to do a practice over the phone; that we had to do our very best baptismal invitation. And we did it. And it was the weirdest thing of my life, teaching to a cell phone.

 

Well, this past week, I hit nine months. I have passed the halfway point and am officially on the downhill in my time here in the mission. The good news is that I still have nine months to learn, get better, and just all around serve. But the bad news is that I only have nine months to learn, get better, and just all around serve. Yikes. No time for slacking!

Love you all!

Hna Anderson