March 18, 2013

  One day we were driving down the road and saw a huge gathering so we stopped, 

it was a historical park ground breaking and there were people in costume all over.

Hola!

Sounds like you are all doing just great!

How was the week of birthdays?!

Happy St. Patricks day! Don't worry....I still had all the green food. The sweet mission office secretaries had a little party with everything green, and even that cabbage and corned beef stuff. They are like the grandmas, and I adore them.

Thank you so much for the package!!! :)

I have been a real missionary for 3 weeks!

I can say I like it now:) Actually, I love it. There have been a lot of miracles and things this week. It just takes some time to get used to, but I am to the point of enjoyment:) But.....still hoping for a Visa!

This week I also felt like a real missionary because we walked in the mud on the side of a road. Yep, usually we just sit in a car forever. So now I have officially tested out my shoes, and they are walkable.

Yesterday a family we are teaching came to church! It was the best...we had 6 investigators there! The  kids are the sweetest ever, and they had such a good experience.  They are such good people,  Tonight is a FHE with them and a member family. Their boy, is the most sincere kid ever. He had such a good experience during the sacrament, and after was telling everyone that 'his chest just felt so warm and burning and he felt the great spirit." They are golden.

Saturday afternoon walk and talk we always meet interesting people. There was an american lady, and she was a talker. But I guess I wasn't quite following her, she said she used to go to some church, (which I later realized was the name of a ward). So I even gave her a mormon.org card and told her about our beliefs...and then half way through the conversation I came to realize she has been inactive for 14 years. Haha oops. She already has a collection of BoMs from different missionaries...and just wanted to know what to do with them.

We also met some other super great people. One man was the last door we knocked on. He is VERY interested in our church, has actually been a few times in California.....but it made me realize that there are people that are prepared. Not everyone is ready to accept the gospel at this time, but there are people that are prepared to hear, and it is no coincidence we run into them.

I have wondered what English missions are like...it's different here, because we focus on the hispanics.  I have thought a million times I wish I was english, but have realized that Hispanic people are the best, I need to be humbled, and teaching in a different language makes you focus on simplicity and sincerity.

We got a new companion. She is from Utah. She is adorable, and has been here only a few months longer than us. We went to transfer mtg this week, I got to see my MTC comp, and also the elders from my MTC zone who just got to this mission! After we went to lunch at a mexi restaurant. When we were leaving, we ran into a man. Luckily, he speaks english well:) But he was SO interested in who we are, and what on earth we were doing in Virginia. He is very religious, but could not belive that we paid to do this for 18 months. haha. He kept referring to the light about us, and that he felt so good talking to us about religion, compared to other people that he talks with. So now we have a potential investigator, we will see how that goes.

Ok Mom, for the important food update. I eat more jello here than I have ever in UT, so not sure about that stereotype....haha. We went to a fro-yogurt place here!! Oh boy I have missed that. Theres also some mexican ice cream place, with a million flavors, and we are probably the only white people to ever go there. Chicken Fiesta is the best, and it must be the top spot for missionaries because they all know who the missionaries are! They roast whole chickens over a fire in the middle of the restaurant, and it is delicious. The grossest thing I have had yet is fried pig skin, what a waste of calories. Yesterday we had dinner with a family from Purto Rico.  I will never again comment on our family being loud.....They are one of the strongest families in the ward and have 5 kids. It is funny because they are SO tech savy, they all sit in sacrament mtg with a tablet or phone in front of them the whole time.

We focus a lot on less actives and inactives. It is sad how many people become inactive, especially soon after baptism. So now we follow up with people who miss church. The ward relies completely on missionaries - for translating, doing the program, visiting people. It is cool that it is a ward full of converts, there is only 1 person who served a mission, who is in the bishopric. ( except the bishop who is american). But the youth are great, and there are 2 boys who will hopefully be serving missions soon!

This week is crazy busy...We have a baptism and boda. Mom, I am adjusting to cultural differences..haha. Wedding planning here is a little different than Magnolia Grove! There was actually a ward easter egg hunt the same day, so we are combinging everything. There is an egg hung, then wedding, then potluck. We are just hoping people show up, food shows up, and everything goes ok. haha. It has been different, as I cannot communicate with everyone, and get everything done, so I am limited in what I can do.

 

love, hermana andrews

p.s. Mom and Dad, I just read an article from the Liahona, July 2012, 'lesson inside the learner'. You would both like it, it's about teaching. Look it up, so good!

p.p.s. Sometimes I feel like I am at EFY, because we listen to the music all the time in the car. Yes, the mission pres does not have a lot of rules....basically we can listen to any music we feel appropriate :) , and he allows us to email anyone, it is different for each mission.

p.p.p.s. The scritpure case was made out of ducttape:)