Service
Waiting for the bus
Fellow Beings,
Here is a list of the things I do stupidly ever day.
I trip in the random pot holes.
I step in cow poop.
I say HOLA to people who say HOLA to me, or wait…to the person behind me…
I forget my name.
I accidentally call people.
I burn lunch.
I fall off the bunk bed.
I drop the Book of Mormon that I carry every five feet.
I sing my own versions of the Spanish hymns, usually mixing three different songs. Makes sense to me, to my companion, not so much.
I get bus sick. Everyday. At least trice a day.
I trip over the space heater when I need to go to the bathroom during studies, hit my face on the door, and bite my tongue so I don´t say any naughty words.
I cut myself on thorn bushes and rip my nylons.
Apart from that I am still alive and kicking! I am grateful that my companion takes everything humorously, or else I´d feel pretty lame. I am pretty much a walking disaster 98% of the time.
I forgot to tell you last week the story of the miracle sandwich! Here´s what happened…
We were hungry. It was a dark cold night and we were gearing up to walk a few miles to the branch party. We stopped at a little shop that a nice lady owns. The nice lady always prepares us a sandwich, which is a hassle because she has to cut the two slices of cheese, turkey, and bread and then put it together.
Well, Luxiola, aka nice lady, asks us whilst making our deliciously simple sandwich what time we finish working. I tell her. She then says, ¨I used to be a stake missionary. My husband was the ward mission leader.¨...
and we´re all like…WHAT?!
How are you hiding here and not going to church?
How can we get you to come back, very nice sandwich making lady?
And she´s like, come visit me! I have two kids that aren´t baptized. So, we visited them and it was fantastic and her two kids are now receiving the lessons.
Moral of the story:
Now every time I am hungry I am going to think it is a prompting to randomly find less active members.
Now for the journal entries:
Tuesday.
Today in district class Elder Lambert, the cousin of Ellie Eyestone, brought us a delicious homemade dessert of some sort of almond bar. I was quite impressed with that elder.
Can I explain my feelings about food here in the mission? Here we go.
Breakfast is a bowl of cereal with fat free lactose free milk. It´s the only type of milk I approve of that comes in a box.
Usually there is a pre-lunch snack, a piece of fruit or yogurt.
Then we journey to lunch. By the time we get there, we are starving.
Lunch is like Russian roulette. You never know if you will be dead or alive post-meal. Either way, you have to smile and say thanks for the plateful of rice, noodles, and potatoes…and yes, they serve them all together. Its a miracle and a blessing that I don´t weight 400 lbs. There is always sufficient SALT, and no other type of seasoning. Oh, and mayonnaise. Too much mayonnaise.
Then, after eating all that you possibly can, the hostess announces dessert. Which is usually fruit. I am still puzzled about why we can never eat fruit with the meal.
Afterwards, my mouth is parched from the SALT and allI want is water…and real dessert.
Then we work. All day. Sometimes we get hungry around 6, so we buy a little sandwich or something.
The end.
THE SCARE.
Remember how we have to walk home every night for a few miles in fog and darkness? The only sign of life is when my flashlight passes over the eyes of a horse, and that is enough to make my heart race.
Well tonight we got stranded like 15 miles from our house waiting for a bus. Turns out two busses crashed on the bridge. We waited awhile and finally a bus was able to pass by. At that time we heard a few people had died in the crash, which kind of shook me up because they are the exact same busses we take all the time. We got off the bus and started to walk the long stretch home. Then, out of nowhere, I hear footsteps running towards us. Then my companion screams. Me, with my super great defense system, ended up in fetal position…knees collapsed and tears running. It was like the dang bruin mascot all over again.
Thursday.
The only thing of note today was that somebody told me China is planning to drop an atomic bomb on the US of A. Sweet nightmares.
Friday.
We woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Hermana Volkert couldn´t find her running shoe. Then we tried to hang up a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign and it did NOT want to stay put. Thankfully I had all the birthday nick nacks Colton sent me for my birthday so we were able to wear the hats and sing to Hermana Lastra for her 1 year mark in the mission.
Hermana Diaz and I had appointments in the morning so we got ready and went straight to work! It turned into a happy day because it was sunny and warm! I even got a wee bit tan.
Soon it will be spring here, which is an exciting thought. I am not sure if I will get allergies or not, but either way I will be fine because I am not breathing in the city smog everyday.
Sunday.
That is Saturday and Sunday mixed. I didn´t write last night because we were fasting and let´s face it, ain´t nobody got energy to think when not eating. We had a really good day yesterday (Saturday). We went and dedicated a few hours to visiting members and teaching and coordinating missionary work within the branch. It is not going to reflect in our numbers very well this week, but I know that meeting the members and getting to hear their testimonies and figuring out how we can work with them is going to help us in the long run.
Today was fast and testimony meeting with the whole 20 of us that were there. It was like….uh…your turn! I think we heard from the whole branch, kids and all. Andres was confirmed! All day he kept saying ¨Now that I am a member¨… I think I will screen print a tee shirt with that phrase for all of our recent converts. Just to remind them.
NOW IT´S BACK TO ME WRITING RIGHT NOW REAL LIFE.
I am so grateful for all of the amazing people here and at home who do their callings. It amazes me how those who are ALWAYS trying to serve others never lack the time they need to do their own work and help their own families. I can see that they are blessed, temporally and spiritually. Please do your callings, and not only do them but MAGNIFY them. Look for what the Lord wants you to learn and what traits he wants you to develop. You were called to do that specific thing at this specific moment in life for a reason. Take advantage of the learning opportunity!
Well family, I love you. I hope you have a fantastic week. I am thinking about you and praying for you. You have no idea how much I miss you, but I do know that the mission is worth all the homesickness…or so I am told… ;)
Con amor,
Hermana VanCott
No comments:
Post a Comment