Bernalillo, NM Transfer 2, Week 4

Family and Friends,

Yes, another week has absolutely flown by. I can't believe how fast the time is going. We're still here working hard to find people who are ready to hear this message of the Restored Gospel.

Monday: We had time to catch up on letters, so if you'd written me but hadn't heard from me in a while, you probably got a letter last week. If not, it's because I haven't received your letter :) We had an amazing lesson with Magda--I started talking and I couldn't stop, and Sister Michel told me later that she wasn't going to interrupt because that doesn't happen very often. I used words that I didn't know that I know! The gift of tongues is truly an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father.

Tuesday: We spoke all Spanish, all day--except for maybe 2 hours. My head felt like it was going to explode by the end of the day, but I felt very accomplished. We were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, and I collapsed into bed and fell right to sleep. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! I took a jacket with me, but it stayed in the car all day long. Yeah, I could get used to this. They tell me that the cold-front that came through a while back is unusual, and some of the members have been blaming me for bringing it from Idaho. Oops. My bad ;)

Wednesday: We had absolutely no success, but it was a very humbling experience for Sister Michel and I who are so used to having at least some success throughout the day. We had lots of doors slammed in our faces. But we didn't let it get to us, because we knew we were just that much closer to finding people who are ready to hear the beautiful message of the Gospel. And I'm not gonna lie--I bet all you people in Idaho wish you were here, because I know that by now you all have snow on the ground and it's here to stay until Spring. I'm still able to go without a jacket at least until it gets dark, sometimes all day.

Thursday: We had District Meeting. We talked about overcoming the "fear of man" and opening our mouths to talk to people. Yeah... about that. Sister Good has a hard time opening her mouth when people speak Spanish because she has a tendency to not understand everything and get lost in the conversation. Needless to say, I have a new resolve to open my mouth and speak more--especially to Spanish-speakers. The Bernalillo ward invited us to their Relief Society Holiday Dinner. (They also asked Sister Michel to translate because they invited the Spanish Sisters as well) They had traditional Mexican foods--tamales, posole (sp?), rice, beans, pastel de tres leches. Boy was it yummy! And even better, we had 2 of our investigators and 3 less active sisters there!

Friday: We had our weekly planning session. We took a break in the middle to go to a baptismal interview for Magda. Then we went back home and finished planning. We had a couple of appointments that evening. Our dinner appointment fed us fish. When I called to confirm Thursday night, she asked if there was anything we didn't eat, and I thought about saying fish remembering the bad experience I had with shrimp a few weeks ago, but I figured that the chances of being fed fish were small. But no, we got there and she said, "I hope you're okay with fish." But ya know, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't super tasty, but it wasn't horrible. It was probably better than the cooked spinach she fed us. Okay, enough complaining. I really am grateful that we are being fed... though we went to an appointment right after that and got fed again. But I feel bad. The Elders have seen our dinner calendar. Apparently we had 5 people sign us up for Thanksgiving dinner, or try to, and they don't have anyone yet. And we may not even be here at Thanksgiving! Transfers are 2 days before. So anyway, if you're reading this and have a chance to sign up to feed missionaries, please do, because I feel bad when I find out that they aren't eating and we're eating enough for us and them.

Saturday: It was another long day of knocking doors with no success. All of our appointments except one fell through. We're trying to get more miles so we can go out to Pena Blanca to work, because we're running into a lot of dead-ends down in Bernalillo and we've been told that there's a lot of Spanish speakers out there. It's just a really long drive--Sister Michel says about 45 minutes, so I'm guessing close to 100 miles round trip. We called the Assistants last night, and hopefully we'll find out today if we can get more miles or not.

Sunday: The Bernalillo ward had their Primary Program, so we had sacrament meeting combined with them. It was so fun to see that! Magda really enjoyed herself. They had a sister in the ward translating for the Spanish-speakers, but for fun, I sat there and translated to see how much I could do. And ya know what? I was able to say a lot more of the things in Spanish than I thought I'd be able to. That was a confidence booster!

Umm... yeah. So that's been my week. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and letters. I appreciate knowing that you're thinking about me. I love you all!

Hermana Good