62nd Blog and Happy Birthday week
Happy Birthday to Hermana Broccoli….
Hey family and friends!
I am sure there are going to be a ton of birthday wishes from you all, so just in case I don't get to respond to everyone: THANKYOU!!
It was a great birthday; a very happy one in fact! I woke up nice and warm in my bed to a cloudy Chilean day... to get up and go to the gym. :) I woke up to a sign from Hermana Tingey (which she got up at 6am to make - I didn't hear a thing), hugs from everyone, and a text message from Vania (te quiero amiga).
We had our district classes and afterwards the entire zone got together. They sang to me in Spanish, English, and Portuguese; we ate cake (made by Elder Neira), candy, and cookies. I ate a bowl of jello without hands (thanks to Hermana Berthelson) as a game. We laughed a lot and I truly felt loved. :)
THEN I noticed that my phone had 5 missed calls. Well needless to say I think people made up health concerns or waited until today to call me. Hahaha. It was really cute to hear the Latinos (elderes and hermanas) signing Happy Birthday in English with their accents. Loved it!
But here's the most tragic part of the day, I THOUGHT SOMEONE HAD STOLEN MY CAMERA! I literally almost died on this birthday; my gut was sick and my heart pounding. I even called a member to see if I had left it at her house. Until I found it on the floor under a table because my bag had fallen over. THEN I smashed my finger... Oh bother! It's all purple now. :(
Anyways, one of the missed calls I had was from Hermana Wright. Telling us that she was going to be in a trio with us for the evening for my birthday. What a surprise! So we set up and time and met up with her a little later. We went to our lesson and President Wright came to pick us 3 up and off we went to the mall (surprise!). Hermana Tingey says she was so confused as to what we were doing there. Hahaha. Anyway, we ate frozen ice cream and talked for a little bit. We tried to find a restaurant that was not a pub that had karaoke going on... and after a while we decided just on a treat. It was a wonderful surprise. I truly am loved and appreciated here. I can and will never deny that. And Hermana Tingey said, "wow, I guess there are some perks to being your companion". Hahaha. :)
We got home after being with President and Hermana Wright and the Hermanas (Berthelson, Allalba, Tingey) made pizza and chocolate sandwich cookies. Yuuuummmyyy.
THEN, I opened up your packages! Can I just say, they were perfect! Thankyou so much! We partied hard! There are pictures attached from the day (there might be a lot in order to tell the story of the day). Be assured.... It was a very happy 23rd birthday!!! :) Quite the unforgetable one.
I'm trying to become more creative with my contacting, teaching, nursing, etc. Or maybe I'm just becoming more bold... I dunno. Anyway, it's been working.... maybe not to find a golden investigator who will get baptized in 2 weeks, but I tell you what, I'm having fun. :) Story time. (1) I bought Hermana Tax a package of Starburst and wanted one. So I asked her for one, she gave one to me, and I had it in my had. Then I saw a parking lot guard outside of the hospital and the thought came to my mind, "give him the Starburst.". I tell you what, it was a great way to start a conversation! "Hey, you wanna piece of candy?" Who would say no to that?!?!? (2) We were trying to teach someone the principle that: blessings come after the trial of our faith. So I used the example of the priests of Joshua carrying the ark when they needed to cross the Jordan. I told everyone in the lesson to look out into the park and imagine that the Jordan was out there and we needed to cross it. But no way Jose was I going to cross first because I was gonna drowned. I didn't have the faith to take the first step and trust God and His promises. So no big deal, we're just gonna wait there.... Until, these priests carrying the ark trusted in God and stepped in the water... and the Jordan parted (Joshua 3:14-17). But not until after the trail of their faith! It's the same in life. Sometimes we think the trial (tithing, Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, keep the Sabbath day holy, etc) is too hard, but if we look at the promises of God if we obey, we understand that we have no other choice other than to act. We need His blessings, but have to act first and then he will bless us! (3) I told someone to stop walking (stop working as a missionary) for a day due to a sprained ankle. He didn't want to. So I told him if he hit his finger with a hammer, he wouldn't do it again; in fact, he'd protect his finger so it didn't happen again.... He understood after my analogy and stayed in his house. Hahaha. It really has helped me to laugh and enjoy myself, to make our lessons real, and get my point across. :)
Also, this past week with Hermana Tingey I might have done something really silly/funny. So we were contacting someone outside of their house and I hear *clip* *clop* *clip* *clop* coming down the street. I looked behind me and here comes a horse and wagon with two young guys driving. (they were selling plants I think). They stopped next door to talk with an old lady. I was so excited and saw the excitement on Herman Tingey's face. First thought: we've got to get a picture. Hahaha. So I'm thinking how in the world do I do it? We're talking to this lady; I can just interrupt her and say 'sorry, I know we're missionaries but this Gringa really wants a picture'. Nooooo. But then the panic kicked in... the horse started moving. NOOOOO! I tell you what, there are miracles every day in the mission... Cause then the lady we're talking to says, "would you like a piece of fruit?". My saving grace. I say 'yes!' but inside I'm screaming 'go into your house so I can yell at them to come back for a picture!'. So she leaves and goes into the house (miracles I say). Luckily, the guys with the horse and wagon aren't that far away, so I yell hahaha. "JOVEN!!" One of them turned around and looked at me in a funny way. I asked if we could take a picture and they had the biggest grin on their faces. So they backed the wagon up, we took a picture, off they went happier than ever, and off we went laughing hysterically. :) (btw, we did finish the contact and we do have an appointment with her... Hahaah).
Hermana Tingey and I have been doing a lot of talking and we decided that this past week was just like being in college together... It feels like we've been friends for forever and we've been companions for like 7 months, not 7 days. I do not know if that's a good thing or a bad thing... Hahaha. We are enjoying our time together, seriously. We laugh literally all day long at the stupid stuff we do and the stupid thigns other people say about the blonde "gringas" with pretty blue eyes. We're gonna start using it to our advantage this week.
We ate some crazy; carmel consistency stuff called 'pallar' from Peru. It was interesting. Sweet, but not too sweet. You can eat it how you like, spread on things or with a spoon. It's good, but with all of the cake and candy that I have, my body is screaming "no more sweets!".
I went to the temple with Hermana Filomena this past week to receive her endownment. It was absolutely wonderful to see her there and to enjoy the Spirit that resides in the temple of the Lord. I left feeling wonderfully renewed and ready to finish the week up. Poor Hermana Filomena, though, it was very hot in the temple (due to the weather changing) and she felt faint and unable to stay long. She is diabetic and had not eaten for a while as well as hypertensive. So the combination of the excitement, stress, and heat just put her under. She said she felt better once she got home, thank goodness. She plans on going back ASAP. =)
We had another CVC - Capilla Abierta. It was a quick notice one. We got a call from the office asking if we would step in and help out. The only thing was... They called with 2 days notice. Well Hermana Tingey hasn't really done one before so we needed to practice... and we didn't have the materials to do such. So we went scrambling to find a way until I remembered that I use my iPod everyday and that the office could send me an email with the materials. Solution! Yes! So we practiced a little and went to the CVC... it was wonderful! We contacted lots of people, I cut my hand open on a broom, we taught lots of people, and received over 40 references (what they usually get in a 2 month period). Wow. Go Chile Santiago Este, Javi Cavi, Las Gardenias!
I am going to give you all a picture of the cyber I am in... #1 the Flintstones are on the television and they are driving me crazy! It's no wonder I never watched them! Why do they yell at eachother all of the time and sing that annoying song every 5 minutes. I have no idea how it got popular enough to have a Spanish version. #2 there is one guy singing TERRIBLY across from us. I'm just laughing listening to him. #3 theres a man next to Hermana Tingey that's singing a Christian song and reading the Bible. Let's just say I feel like I'm in a mad house! I can't wait to be in my own house, in silence, cruzin the internet.
Let us follow the counsel of today's living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. "As we arise each morning, let us determine to respond with love and kindess to whatever might come our way."
Love you all.
Brooklyn
No comments:
Post a Comment