How are all of you?? I'm doing great. It's been a little
rough for me to adjust to a new mission, but as for the people and the
work, I am loving it!
First of all, I went on
my first Good-Will trip last week. Apparently this is a thing. We walked
into this giant store house of thousands of blue baskets filled to the
BRIM with smelly clothes and useless, broken items. We were seriously
digging through these piles for gold. I could not believe the culture I
encountered there...THOUSANDS of women, pushing and shoving, grabbing
and hogging, throwing and diving for...something they didn't know
existed! (By the way, props to me, has anyone noticed I found the
apostrophe key??) Anyway, I actually got two good finds. One is a dress
that i cut up and turned into a skirt (I am currently wearing it this
minute,) and another...oh my word. I wish you could all see it. AGH I
should have taken a picture. It is...a 'MURICA shirt. It's giant, red
white and blue MADNESS. We ran into the Zone Leaders there and they were
breakin some major "thou shalt not covet"s there. They wanted that
shirt. They called it a "treasure."
We also found a really pretty picture frame, but
when Hermana Homer picked it up, we found that it came fully-furnished
with a photo of the creepiest looking grandma I have ever seen. We
almost convinced the elders that it was my grandmother.
Then on Tuesday...I got hit by a truck and died.
JUST KIDDING APRIL FOOLS (...sorry guys. I just downed a Doctor Pepper
and it's showing.) We actually had our zone meeting that day, and the
sister training leaders made us a very creative lunch...ice-cream that
looked like hawaiian haystacks, meatloaf that looked like cake (topped
with mashed-potato frosting,) juice with straws that actually turned out
to be jello, and something that looked like water but actually tasted
like bananas. I was thoroughly impressed.
Also, great news...I HAVE A WONDERFUL BICYCLE. (Thank you, family!!!) I feel so much better on that bike. No more squeaking...
Speaking
of bikes, one night my companion and I were riding to an appointment.
It was a little late, but we were making sure to ride on the busy
streets with as much light as possible. The busy street made a right
turn, so we followed it...and...
Okay, first of all, it's a little funny because the
missionaries here told us that there were SO MANY DOGS HERE. Hermana
Berbert and I were like...yeah. We just came from Chile. Bring it on.
The truth is, there are a LOT of Chihuahuas. I'll give
that to them. TONS of little Chihuahuas. (There is one in particular who
is black with a red collar...I swear, if Satan had a dog...)
BUT...nothing. NOTHING compared to Chile. But these dogs do have a very
annoying habit of chasing people on bikes...for a long time. There have
been a few times where I've honestly had the thought, "should I run this
dog over?" I've seriously felt like Nephi when Laban was presented into
his hands..."it is better that one satanic-chihuahua dies than
thousands to perish in unbelief..." (or something like that.)
But...don't worry. Eventually, common sense kicks in. "Thou shalt not
kill."
Anyway, we turn this corner, and out of the darkness
this little itty bitty Chihuahua comes prancing out of his yard to
chase us away, so we start peddling a little faster...and then, out of
the SHADOWS of the DEEP UNKNOWN, RIGHT EXACTLY next to Hermana Homer,
THIS HUGE. GIGANTIC. MONSTER OF A DOG comes BOUNDING out of the shadows,
BARKING AND HOWLING AND BOLTING RIGHT FOR HERMANA HOMER.
I tell you, I have NEVER heard a scream from anyone
like I heard from her that night. This dog was full on FLYING after her,
and I just hear "
It probably only lasted, like, two seconds, but I
swear it could have been two minutes that I watched my companion peddle
herself away from this dog. Then he gave up and sunk back into the
shadows. But I think we both almost died of shock. It took a few
minutes, but we finally started laughing so hard I almost fell off of my
bike.
So there's your story for the week.
As
for things I'm actually doing...some of you have probably noticed that I
am cleaning out my Facebook. THIS IS THE WORST. All I'm going to say
is...nothing is more personally humiliating than to realize that you,
yourself, in fact, were that annoying eighth-grader on Facebook. I'M
DISGUSTED. But I'm actually really excited to just finish cleaning it up
so that I can use it as a missionary tool! I'll let you know more about
that when I start really using it.
This week was GENERAL CONFERENCE! Did you all watch
it? Let me know what you loved. I especially liked Elder Nelson's talk
about living ALL of our lives as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. Do your friends know you are "a mormon?" Do they
know your standards and believes? How about co-workers? Acquaintances?
WE SHOULD LIVE IT SO LOUD AND PROUD.
As a companionship, we really put an emphasis on
having sincere prayers this week, too. I loved this! We've tried to pray
for people by name and specific necessity. We've also tried to be more
grateful for things than we are asking for things. It's been a really
amazing experience. You should all make that effort with me!
And, I have news...last night we found out CAMBIOS,
and I'm actually leaving! In fact, everyone in the house is being
transferred except for Hermana Homer! I've got some mixed emotions,
here. I LOVE HERMANA HOMER. She is so great. I'm so grateful that I got
to come into the mission with someone who made me laugh so much!
In this mission, they don't tell you where you're
going or who your companion will be until a big meeting on Wednesday
called "Transfer Meeting," so...I'm afraid that's all for now!
I hope everything is awesome for you all! I love you
all so much! With all my heart! Read and pray every single day. Keep me
in your prayers, too!
LOVE, Hermana Thomas
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