Another week and another month have flown by. I am once again sitting here in the library in Rio Rancho. It was been quite the week with lots of exciting things happening. I can hardly believe that I have been here for 2 months now. I've been on my mission for 4 months. It was one year ago today that I told people that I was coming on a mission--I'm sure you all remember that well. Very well. I've been reflecting on that a lot the past couple of days. How grateful I am for the experience I had that prompted me to serve a mission. These past four months have been such a blessing in my life, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. No, they haven't been the easiest. There have been times when I've wanted to give up. But as I think about the ways I have grown over the past few months, I realize that there isn't anything else that I'd rather have in my life.
Onto my week:
Monday: We drove all over. We went down to Bernalillo to have a part replaced on our car that they finally got in that we've been waiting for for about 3 weeks from the time before that they had the oil changed and the service shop didn't put one of the hoses back on right and it fell down against one of the belts and wore away. Then we headed over to Albuquerque to get new tires put on the car to fix my boo-boo from Saturday night.
Then we went down to the post office in Corralles to pick up a package from my family. Then we headed to the far edge of Rio Rancho for all of our appointments. All that and we were only 17 miles over for the day:)
Tuesday: It was cold--inside and out. I wrote last week about how the heater in our apartment didn't work. We were wrapped up in blankets and coats and gloves and had as many blankets as we could on our beds. And it wasn't any warmer outside. Actually, it felt warmer outside. That night we went to the trunk or treat for the Star Heights ward. We had some investigators attend with us, and they had a dinner after wards. We pretty much froze, but that's okay. I'm a tough girl from Idaho, right? (haha--I've felt colder than Sister Michel) And oh yeah... another exciting point. We were going to an appointment after the trunk or treat and I went to turn on my blinker, and accidentally hit my high beams. And it just so happens that a cop was coming the opposite direction. Yep, last week Sister Good blew a tire, this week she got pulled over. But just to make sure everything is okay. Nothing bad happened--just that I almost had a heart attack. At least I know that the cops are doing their job.
Wednesday: We woke up to see SNOW in the mountains. And I'm not that far from the mountains. I just thought I was coming to a warmer climate. They called us from the office to say it was snowing in Albuquerque (remember, I'm only 15 miles from the mission home--and that's not as the crow flies) and that they were bringing us sweaters and more blankets since our heater wasn't working. Well, not too long after the Martinezes come with our sweaters and blankets, along comes Hermano Fonseca with a new thermostat for our apartment. When we walked in for lunch an hour after we left, it had warmed up a lovely 6 degrees. While we were eating, we got a call from Elder Frey with some sad news. Our area has been split again. They have taken Star Heights from our area and given that to the Elders as well. Yes, we lost the Lunas. We lost Norma and her family. We lost the Yeomans. We were quite distraught, but we know we're leaving them in good hands with the Elders. And we realize that it's for the best, and as we think about it, we realize that most of the people we had in Star Heights will probably progress better with the Elders than they did with us. It was a sad night when we went over to the Luna's to say goodbye... though if I'm still here in January-ish when the branch gets started I'll get to see them every Sunday :) Sister Luna has been my adoptive mom for the past 2 months, and Lily and her boys and Fer are like my brothers and sisters. Seriously. I felt like I was leaving my family again.
Thursday: Our apartment is nice and toasty. We woke up to 80 degrees. Actually, that's getting a little TOO warm... but we can't figure out how to turn the darn thermostat off. We've flipped the switch to off and turned it clear down to 50 degrees, and that thing is still blowing out hot air. We had district meeting. It looked like a nice day when we left, so we had our blazers and took a light jacket, just in case. Well, we were walking to an appointment, and Idaho found me. Yep, snow. Lots of it. And of course our jackets were in the car. And the snow stuck. Yep, it was cold. I felt just like I was at home. I decided that I really needed to buy some boots... which I did today. Now my feet won't freeze, because I can wear multiple pairs of socks underneath, and I can wear long johns under my skirts. Yep, Sister Good finally has a brain... I think. Wait, maybe not. Who knows ;)
Friday: We had another successful planning day. We went with the Elders to the Yeomans so we could say goodbye and introduce them. They were sad, but we think it will be good for them to have the Elders. Sister Michel and I really feel like we were preparing people for Baptism, but that Heavenly Father was saving them for the Elders. Now we can place our full focus in Bernalillo, where there is SO much potential, we just haven't had the time to go find it (and also Rivers Edge, if the Elders find anyone to give us a referral). We got a phone call from the Elders that Emma, one of the girls we were teaching and passed over to them at transfers, has a baptismal date! We were so excited! We called out of our area to talk to her and congratulate her. She is so excited, and so ready! Neither of her parents are members. She is living with her mom's sister and her family--and they are members. Actually, Emma's mom passed away when she was a baby, so this is such a wonderful blessing for her, to be baptized herself and then to be able to go do the work for her mom. We're excited to be able to go to that baptism.
Saturday: Today marks 2 months in New Mexico. Seriously? Already? All of our appointments fell through. We did lots of door knocking in Bernalillo. We're trying to find people who are ready to hear the wonderful message of the Restored Gospel. We had to be in our apartment by 7:00 because of Halloween, but were given an assignment to study. We had to think of the "questions of the soul" we have been asked and find answers to them in the Book of Mormon. It was a very enlightening study. When we walked in, we were greeted by a blast of hot air. Yep, the temperature is still climbing. It was a very toasty 90 degrees. We opened a window and the screen door and turned on a fan to try to cool things off, and it had dropped a few degrees when we went to bed 3 hours later. Let's just say that my blankets are not being used right now.
Sunday: November 1. Four months ago I said goodbye to my family for 18 months. One year ago I decided to come on a mission. What changes I've felt in my life in those times. Sister Michel and I forgot that it was daylight savings... at least it was fall back and not spring forward, right? Our alarms (cell phone and my clock) went off at 6, and I laid in bed for a few minutes then rolled onto the floor to pray. When I got up from my prayer, I looked at the phone because it was the closer of the two, and it was only 5:13. I was very confused. I looked at my clock and it was 6:13. Yes, VERY confused. Then I remembered. Daylight Savings. Sister Michel and I could have gotten up and done a little bit of study before church, but no. We both stayed in bed until the real 6:00, though neither of us went back to sleep. I think I was too hot to sleep, despite the fact that we'd left the door and window open all night. When we left our apartment to head down to church, I REALLY felt like I was in Idaho. I had to scrape the windows on the car. Seriously, I thought I was coming somewhere warm for my mission! The Idaho weather is following me! At our dinner appointment, we had a lesson with the members about the Book of Mormon, and the Brother went into his office and brought out his 1970 edition of the 1830 Book of Mormon. It was so neat to see that and to be able to hold it in my hands. I was able to feel the power of the Book of Mormon. After that, we headed up to Star Heights one last time so we could say goodbye to Norma and her family and to introduce them to the Elders.
All in all, it was a good week. Very productive, very busy. I am very much enjoying my time here in New Mexico and feel so blessed to be able to be here.
I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Oh... and Katey... Congratulations!!! You should have seen my face when I read your letter this morning. But I'm really happy for you :) More details coming in a letter, hopefully today.
Hermana Good
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