A New Adventure on My Horizon!

Well, life has been crazy since Saturday night and I forgot the paper that I wrote all of my notes on, and I don't have my brain about me, so I'll just have to update you all on my week next Monday because I can't remember a thing that happened all week except for Transfer calls (and I had quite the list of things to write). But yeah, transfer calls. I've felt it all transfer. I knew that I'd be leaving, so when i got the call Saturday night that I'm going to Cortez, I wasn't surprised. I didn't even cry--a big surprise because I'm such a crybaby. Sister Shade and I are both going up there, and Sister Michel is coming back down here. It was yesterday at church that things got hard. When I hugged Sister Luna, who was like my mom aqui, I started crying and I haven't stopped since. Saying goodbye to all of the people I have come to love so much over the past 7 months was not an easy thing to do. I really feel like I'm leaving my family all over again, and in a sense, I am because everyone here treats me like I'm a part of their family. It was really hard to say goodbye to the Marquez' last night. Brother Marquez asked me to say the prayer before we left, and I was crying so hard that I could hardly get the words out. And I haven't hardly slept the past 2 nights. I don't know if it's because I'm sad or because I'm nervous or what. I look terrible--as a result of crying almost nonstop for the past 24 hours and not sleeping for 2 nights. So yeah, I'm packing my bags and heading to Cortez in the morning for a new adventure.

I love you all.

Hermana Good

Bernalillo, NM, Transfer 5, Week 5

Dear Family and Friends,

Here we are at another Monday morning and time to e-mail. And once again I can't believe how fast the week flew by, and how jam-packed it was with missionary activities.

Monday: P-day. We went to Albuquerque with one of the Sisters in the Bernalillo Ward to play Volleyball. I am way out of practice, but managed to not get hurt. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Tuesday: It was beautiful and Sunny again. We went and visited the family of the dog that bit me in December, and the sister asked how my leg is doing, so I showed her the scar. She thought it looked horrible, and felt so bad. But in all reality, this is NOTHING compared to what it was 3 months ago when it was still bleeding and looked like it was infected. And I keep putting vitamin E oil on it, and it is slowly but surely getting lighter in color.

Wednesday: Guess what--another beautiful day. We did lots of walking, which felt amazing out in the sunshine--and at this rate I'll look like the Mexican people think I am in no time, although Mexicans aren't red like I was. One of our investigators gave each of us a porcelain doll from her collection. And I learned "Las Mananitas" a Spanish Birthday song to sing to Gloria, a recent convert.

Thursday: We had District Meeting outside and at 10:30 in the morning were nice and toasty. So yes, that means that we had another beautiful day here in New Mexico. We went and did some service for one of the sisters in the branch who is having some health problems and for Magda, to help her get her things into her garage so they'd be easier to move when the brothers came to help her. And we went and made gorditas with Socorro again. Yummy!

Friday: We had planning, and then went and knocked on doors. It was a little chilly, and overcast. Actually, while we were planning there was a wind storm that blew up the dirt so bad we could hardly see the trees across the field from our apartment. You should have seen us scrambling to close all of our windows when that came up. It was quite the sight. We had dinner with the Marquez family--who really have taken us in like we're members of the family.

Saturday: Happy first day of Spring--we woke up to a good 2" of snow on the ground with more coming down and the wind blowing. But I love New Mexico--by the time we left a few hours later it was gone. It was a little chilly, but we were fine with just sweaters on for most of the day. We knocked on a lot of doors, and found some possibilities of people to teach.

Sunday: Once again a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was nice and toasty. They had asked me to speak in Church, so I gave a talk on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That was actually the first talk I've given in the almost 7 months I've been here. I don't know how I've lucked out for so long, but I have. After Church, Sister Luna had invited us for dinner. Oh how I've missed her cooking and spending time with their family. We had a delicious meal of taquitos with homemade salsa, y sopa mexicana (that was too spicy for some of the people there who grew up with spicy but for me it was perfect--I told you that people think I'm a Mexican--I even eat like one) y brunuelos for dessert. I was in heaven!

So yeah. That's my week. It was a pretty good one. Here we are in the last week of the transfer. We'll find out on Saturday what will happen--we know that at least one of us is leaving because Sister Trunnell is going home and that will leave us at 4 Spanish Sisters in the mission, so we can't have a trio. And I'll be the only one of those 4 who can drive. So it will be interesting to see what happens. I'll let you all know on Monday where I'm going or if I'm staying.

Love you all.

Hermana Good

Bernalillo, NM, Transfer 5, Week 4

Another week has flown by. The weather is warming up. We are spending more time walking (though that is partly attributed to the fact that we don't have a lot of miles left and still have 2 weeks of the transfer). And we are getting very curious as to how transfers will turn out--because we know that at least one of us is leaving. We don't want to. But we'll be back down to 4 Spanish Sisters as Sister Trunnell is going home and so we'll be back to 2 and 2.

Monday: It was p-day. We e-mailed and bought our groceries, and went back home. It was rainy and cold and we all sat down and fell asleep. Don't worry. We didn't miss any appointments. And it was nice to get that little boost of energy that we needed.

Tuesday: It was a really busy day that absolutely flew by. We received 2 referrals from the Elders that both seemed like good contacts when we went to talk to them. And there was a lightning storm. I'd forgotten how frequently we get those down here, because through the winter there weren't too many. But I've seen several in the past week or so.

Wednesday: We woke up to snow. We had planned on going outside and walking, but when I woke up with the alarm and looked out the window I laid back down and pulled the covers over my head until 6:30 when we have to be up (I'm the only one who ever wakes up to the alarm when it first goes off) It was cold and we did lots of walking. We were bundled up and I felt like I was back in Idaho.

Thursday: We had District Meeting which always inspires us to go out and do better. And then we went to our appointments and found a lot of people not home. But I guess that's a typical occurrence in la obra misional (missionary work).

Friday: We had weekly planning--hard to believe it was already Friday. We planned out a full week and should stay very busy this week. And we ate dinner with President Frank and his family. He's got 4 beautiful daughters, ranging from 18 months to 8 or 9. It was nice being back in his home (we had a lot of lessons there when his ward was still in the boundaries of our area).

Saturday: We went and knocked on doors, and found a street with mostly Hispanics. I don't know why we'd never knocked there before. Probably because we knew that the Elders had, but that had been awhile, and they must have knocked during the week when it's hard to find people at home because the people at practically every house spoke Spanish. But not too many invited us to come back. How sad. It was a beautiful day to be out walking and I was quite warm with my light jacket. We also went and helped Magda for a while with the yard sale she had again this weekend to sell what she could before she moves this week. And for the Marquez family it marked one month since their baptism. They are still continuing to progress wonderfully.

Sunday: It was snowy and cold, though when we left our apartment for our meeting before church the sun was shining and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day so I didn't take a coat or gloves, just my blazer. I had to pay for that later on. But I'm a tough Idaho girl, right? They called the Relief Society Presidency, and we were ecstatic to hear who had been called. They are all sisters who I love very much and have worked with at least a little bit for help with lessons. But when I heard the name of the secretary, I was so excited! It will be a wonderful opportunity and blessing for Sister Marquez to learn more about the Relief Society to be involved first hand in the Presidency and organization of the Branch. And Brother Marquez received the sacerdocio (priesthood), which will be such a wonderful blessing for him and his family.

All in all, it kind of looks like I had a boring week. But it sure flew by. I can hardly believe how fast the time goes in the mission. It is hard to believe that I have been here for several months, and yet at the same time I really can't remember my life before the mission. Of course, that's probably a good thing so I can stay focused and put my whole heart into the work here. Thanks for the letters and prayers from home. I love you all. (Oh--Leeann and John, I got your wedding announcement. You both look happy :) Congratulations!)

Hermana Good

Bernalillo, NM, Transfer 5, Week 3

Dear Family and Friends,

Here we are at another Monday, with another week having flown by here in the mission. I can't believe how fast the time is going.

Monday: We went and had the Bishop's wife cut our hair. I'm really starting to love the length of my hair as it is getting a lot longer so just had it trimmed because it needed it bad (I don't know if I've ever gone that long without a haircut--almost 9 months) And we had a few lessons in the evening.

Tuesday: We contacted a bunch of people Sister Shade knew when she was here, and some of them were really receptive to our message. What a blessing to have Sister Shade back here to the area where she was for 4 months and knows so many people, because Bernalillo isn't that big.

Wednesday: We went and did service for Magda. She is packing up everything in her house and was getting ready for the garage sale she had on Saturday. We spent a few hours there. We had the English class in the evening, and are hoping that the attendance starts picking up--it should now as the Elders know about it to tell their investigators, and it will be moving from Bernalillo to the Branch Building which is much more of a central location.

Thursday: We were good and got up and exercised which left us feeling very energized and ready to go for the day. And it was a BEAUTIFUL day! It was warm and sunny and we did lots of walking. (In fact, when I woke up on Friday, I had a bit of a sunburn on my arms) Because we were walking we were able to contact a lot of people. I got a call from a sister in High Range ward whose husband is a truck driver saying that they had a package from home for me. Her husband says that I've got a really cool mom and that the bread was delicious and to tell you thank you (me too! It's been yummy to eat that for breakfast)

Friday: We did planning, then went to District Meeting because we had our interviews with President. Then we went and taught a couple of lessons, and ate dinner with one of our investigator families (which was a blessing because we didn't have a dinner appointment)

Saturday: We went and helped Magda with her estate sale, helping her move things around, then we went back and helped her move what didn't sell into the garage so she can have another sale this next weekend. We went and met with President Frank and the Marquez family. We did lots more walking. And to finish the day we went to the chili cook-off for the Bernalillo ward and were able to talk to a few people there and eat a better dinner than we would have had at home (because we didn't have a dinner appointment again).

Sunday: We had church. We were so excited about the branch! There were over 80 people there. For those who know how the seminary buildings are set up, you know there isn't a lot of room. Yes there is an accordion wall, but for the time being, the Stake offices are in the seminary building until the stake center is done in about a month or so, and the high council room is on the other side of the wall. There wasn't space for everyone who came to sit down. There were a few brothers, including the Elders standing in the hall, and the 3 sisters were sharing 2 chairs. We were so excited to have such a good turnout! And we were also way excited that there were 2 callings given (and only 2) to the Branch Mission Leader and his wife as a Branch Missionary. They are a family we work with a lot for lessons and whatnot, so we are very excited about that.

Well, yeah. That's my week in a nutshell. It's been a good one, and we've got another busy week planned this week. I hope you all enjoy your week.

Hermana Good

LA RAMA CORONADO!!!

Okay... I am SO excited about what happened yesterday, but I'll wait until I get there and will go through the week like normal.

Monday: P-day. It was rainy, which was okay because it was a warm rain. Well, relatively warm, considering it is still February (or was). We went over to Albuquerque to where the elders have their p-day basketball games (because that's all they ever do) so I could practice. Yep, I volunteered to sing a song again for Zone Conference. Actually, this time they called me in desperation and said "Sister Good, we need someone to sing." But before I said yes, I made sure that it wasn't as difficult as the last song. This one was a song out of the Primary song book, "Baptism" and President wanted a duet, so yes, Piece of cake. The elder who played the piano also sang.

Tuesday: We had Zone Conference. I LOVE Zone Conference! It recharges my batteries for 6 weeks. We all came out of the Conference feeling energized and ready to work and help people come unto Christ. The song went very well. That night for dinner we ate with a family who just moved here from New York where the brother just graduated from school. But as we were talking, I found out that the sister, Chantelle Blight, is from Moreland (I think?) but she graduated from Snake River and knows TaNece and Angilee and she thinks her older sister may know Aunt Heather. Small world, huh? And she sent us home with a loaf of homemade bread that we thoroughly enjoyed with the jam that mom sent me.

Wednesday: We did lots of walking, and it was a little cold, but nothing that I can't handle. Every time I thought I was cold I remembered the e-mail mom sent me last Monday morning saying that they were -1 outside and I felt nice and toasty. We also had the English class, and had one of our investigators show up which was good. That's the goal--to have our investigators come and bring friends so we can find more people to teach.

Thursday: We went out and did finding. We also contacted several people we hadn't seen in a while to see if they were interested to learn more about the message. It was cold and windy, but we survived.

Friday: We had our weekly planning. It is hard to believe how fast the time is flying by here in the mission! I had a bit of a sore throat and didn't feel super-duper great, but we were in the house for most of the day. That evening we went to the Marquez' for our Friday night appointment, but this one was a little different. Becky turned 15 (which is the big birthday for people in the Latin culture) so Sister Marquez had us over for dinner, and later had invited her sister and some friends who aren't members (as kind of an impromptu Mariachi band) and we were able to talk to them.


Saturday: We went and did service for Magda, who is packing up her house so she can move so we helped her with some of that. I still wasn't feeling well, and actually wondered if I was coming down with the flu. That was NOT a good feeling, knowing that we're too busy for me to get sick and not be able to leave the house. Our last appointment canceled, so we went home early and I was able to get to bed early (not that I'm not in bed early every night compared to 8 months ago)

Sunday: I was feeling better, thank goodness! That was an act of faith and helped by sleeping early. We went and knocked on doors all morning down in Bernalillo, then headed up to Rio Rancho for the meeting that we have been waiting for for months! Yesterday was the meeting to create La Rama Coronado! We walked in and there were so many people! We were way excited. There were more people there than anyone was expecting--they had to open the overflow! The Spirit was so strong in that meeting. They had called and asked me to lead the music, so I was able to stand up in front during the songs and look everyone in the face. It was a beautiful meeting. I was very surprised, but excited to hear the name of the Branch President. I am also excited about his counselors. They are all men who I have worked with (well, we haven't worked with one of them, but are excited to start) and they are all very much supportive of the missionary work to help the branch grow. This branch is off to a strong start! There was so much excitement and the people are all ready to start attending church in their native tongue and be able to understand everything. That left us all in very good spirits for the rest of the night. The people of this stake are going to be so blessed by having this branch!

So yeah. That's my week in a nutshell. Mom, don't worry about my health. I am feeling much better today--other than my nose being all stuffed up I'm perfectly fine today. I can hear out of both of my ears and my eyes don't hurt like they have been. Yes, I'm dosing up on vitamin C and taking care of myself. Can you all believe that I have been gone for 8 months now? We went and had the Bishop's wife cut our hair this morning and she was asking how long we've been out and I'm pretty sure that my eyes bugged out of my head when I realized that I have been on the mission for 8 months, here in this area for 6. The time is passing so quickly! I can hardly believe it! What a blessing to be here!
(This is what the dog bite looks like now)

I love you all! Take care!

Hermana Good