This week was really good! We taught a lot of lessons
with members, which is always more effective than just teaching alone.
(MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH: HELP THE MISSIONARIES PLEASE.)
Dad, you'll be more than excited to hear that I sang for our Zone
meeting this week..."Señor, te necisito" ("I Need Thee Every Hour.") It
was really awesome to sing! Hymns are so beautiful in Spanish.
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Speaking of differences between English and
Spanish...the other day, we had a lesson with a menos activo. In the
end, we asked who she wanted to say the closing prayer...and she said,
"Oh, la Hermana Thomas, porque me gusta como ella habla como una wawa."
(She said she likes how I talk like a baby.) I laughed, and said the
prayer, assuming that she was referring to the fact that sometimes my
grammer is wrong, and sometimes I don't know the words...like a baby.
Well, later I came to realize that she was actually referring to my tone
of voice. Yep! I guess I sound like a baby when I speak Spanish. I was
on splits with Hermana Bravo the other day (I LOVE Hermana Bravo. She's
the mexicana,) and when I said "¡alo!" at the first house, she smiled
and said, "Me gusta su 'alo', porque es como una niña." (I like you're
'alo' because it's like a little girl.) So...I don't have much more to
say about that.
Actually, I do. It's true! My voice goes up a little
higher when I speak Spanish...I don't know why! Maybe it's because I
have to think a little harder so it's stressful, or maybe it's because
I'm usually talking about the gospel and happy things, so I'm a little
cheerier, I don't know! But can I just say that when Hermana Pineda
speaks English, her voice drops and octave. I love it. She goes from
cute little Hermana Pineda to the worlds greatest base. It's awesome.
(Don't worry, I haven't said anything about it to her. When she talks
about my change of voice, I just smile to myself, and hear her voice
speaking English in my head. That's enough for me.)
Still on the topic of languages, I just want
everyone to understand very clearly right now that I am going to be one
of those people who comes off their mission and doesn't remember how to
speak English. Prepare accordingly.
But seriously, 8 times during this letter already
I've started accidentally typing in Spanish. Also, when I speak English
with the other Hermanas, I always accidentally revert to Spanish. I
laugh when I remember my cousin, Isaac Holiday...the last thing he said
to me before I left was: "don't come back with an accent.".......sorry,
kid.
BREAKING NEWS: I get the thing with cats. All my
life, I've wondered...what the heck? What's so great about cats?
Literally, why would anyone ever prefer a cat over a dog. It blew my
mind. WELL. The other day, I had the privilege of playing with a kitten
for the first time in my life. (Yes, Chloe Davis, and everyone else
reading this with their jaws dropped. You read that right. My first time
playing with a kitten in my entire life. I venture to say that I have
never touched a kitten before this time. Cats, yes. A kitten? No.) While
I still firmly hold my ground that I am a dog person through and
through, I can now say that I understand the appeal of cats. The
kitten-stage is probably worth it. Oh my gosh! Kittens love to play with
anything!! I played with this little kitten in my lap almost the whole
lesson. It was awful, because it was super distracting, but oh my gosh
it was a kitten!!!!
I think I'm just having an any-animal-but-a-dog withdrawal. Have I mentioned that they have DOGS IN CHILE?
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During
this lesson, a spider the size of Mount Everest crawled its way up the
wall opposite me. That's almost not an exaggeration. I am prepared to
say to you that this spider was probably the size of my palm. I have
never seen a spider of this enormity. If you could die from looking at
something...
(Side-note: Hermana Pineda sitting next to me,
practically beside herself. Her hamster died this week, I guess...and
her family sent her PICTURES OF THE DEAD HAMSTER. I'm laughing so hard
right now. She is laughing, too, but...¡que traumante! ¡Enserio! Her
hamster's name was "cosita"..."little thing." Hermana Pineda calls
EVERYTHING a "cosa" or "cosita." Dogs, babies, hair pins...)
In other news, I have read three scriptures this
week that have given me full permission to get SUPER FAT, so...message received. You all can look forward to rolling me off the plane in a year
and two months. (The only scripture I can remember is Proverbs 28:25.)
Also, I keep forgetting to tell you guys that I have
felt four mini earthquakes while here! Super small. Like...you hear a
really big noise, and then the chair under you shifts on its own, and
you hear the house creak a little, then it's done.
Another thing: the houses for missionaries are
littered with old things of missionaries-past. I usually avoid these
things, though, because whenever I accidentally use something around the
house, then find the name "Hermana So-and-so, 2006-2007," I feel like
I've found bones in a graveyard. It's super creepy for some reason.
In terms of investigators...still loving all of them
so much! Sometimes it's hard to keep them progressing, though. Our
family of investigators is struggling a little...because they aren't
keeping their commitments. They aren't reading the Book of Mormon for
themselves...some of them read when we give them specific things to
read, but...I told them the other day, we aren't here to bring the
spirit into their house for an hour. We're here to bring the spirit into
their lives for forever. If people don't follow through with their
commitments, how can they integrate the gospel into their lives?
Sometimes it's frustrating. But I love this family so much. It was so
sweet, the other day the mother gave Hermana Pineda and I each
"pansitas"...it's a little container with quotes from the
bible...specifically things that the Savior has said. While I understand
that this is probably more common to have for people of other
religions, I dang love it. It was so sweet of her! I love them.
We also have an investigator of GOLD. GOLD, I TELL
YOU. GOLD. She has been searching for a church that she feels at home
in. She came across the webpage of the church online one day, and
requested a Book of Mormon and a visit from the missionaries...three
times! So we hurried over there, and started talking with her. Guess
what? She asked us if we pay tithing. We said....yeah...and she was so
excited about it! Then she asked if there are ways to participate in the
church other than just sitting and listening to preachers. We told her
about callings, and she was thrilled. She said, "do you drink Coca cola?
Because I'm an addict, but if I have to give it up, I will." BOOM. Word
of Wisdom. And she's married. Legally. I just don't know how to react to
this. She also said that she wants to be baptized the way the Savior
was...full immersion. She doesn't totally understand the part about
having authority from God, but we can get to that next lesson.
Basically, this woman is so prepared for the gospel.
The only thing is...she went to church yesterday
with us. Everything was going great. Two members asked if they could sit
with her, and everything was falling perfectly into place. Then....we
had the absolute worst sacrament meeting of my life. Kids were running
around screaming. Not your usual chaos...I'm talking SCREAMING. So much
that we literally couldn't hear the speakers more than half the time. On
top of that...the talks were about "how to spend your money wisely."
Yes. Mmm-hmm. I don't think a single scripture was shared. Also, we only
had two talks, and we went super over time.
She stayed for the rest of church, and she seemed to
like the other classes, but she didn't seem super excited about having
another lesson super soon. Still, we have a lesson scheduled on Friday with her. We're going to have to bring the spirit into this one...a lot.
Really, it was a huge test of my patience. This
whole week was so great, things were going perfectly, and then we had
that one experience, and it killed my attitude for a little bit. I was
so disappointed.
This is when I need to remember to put my faith in
the power of the spirit. I know that despite the catastrophic events of
Sacrament Meeting, if we can be worthy of the companionship of the
spirit during our next lesson with her, she can gain a testimony that
this church contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
it's the truth that she's been looking for for so long!
Everyone, I love you so much! Thank you, thank you,
thank you for all your letters. Sometimes it's difficult to respond to
all of them, but I print them all out every time to read! I LOVE YOU
GUYS. SO MUCH. Keep reading the Book of Mormon. Keep praying. Keep
emailing me. And if one of your kids is making a bit of a fuss in
church...maybe take them outside! ;)
Just so everyone is clear, I love the kids/families
in our ward SO MUCH. This week was just...out of control. The weird
thing is, almost every ward in our Zone had the same problem with kids
screaming during Sacrament Meeting. Maybe we all needed to learn a
little patience.
I LOVE YOU. WOW I LOVE YOU. I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERY DAY. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Love, Hermana Thomas
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