September 29, 2014

Hello family and friends,

I hope you are all just as excited as I am for GENERAL CONFERENCE! Woot. Mark your calendars and remember that it isn´t a vacation from church.
 

Monday.

The spirit works in subtle ways. We were on the bus on our way to a family home evening with the branch president, his wife, and our recent convert and his family. The plan was to get off at the recent converts house and then walk with them to President Rivera´s house. As we were approaching where we would need to get off if we were going to President´s house, I had the thought that we should get off there and then call our investigator. I looked at my comp, told her, and really quickly hit the button to stop. We got off and called Andres, and it turns out they had already walked up to the house. It was crazy how it happened. There were no problems, everything went perfectly well. However, if we would have gotten off at Andres' house it would have taken a half hour to get to presidents house and everything would have been delayed. It was so simple and yet so guided by the spirit. We talked about the spirit in the family home evening, and it was perfect because we had a simple story fresh on our mind. I love knowing that Heavenly Father knows more than me, it gives me comfort.

Also, I want to write a few pointers for relationships that I have learned. I love my companion that I have been with for the past 10 weeks, but we are polar opposites and that sometimes means we want to kill each other. But, here is what I have learned from the situation to apply to my future relationships…

First. You decide to get along. Let’s be honest, it is a conscience decision every morning if you are going to like them or not.

Secondly, food should not be a vice. If you don´t want to chit chat, there are better ways to say, ¨hey, I’m tired, can I read a talk or the scriptures for a few minutes?¨ than shoving a piece of bread or chocolate bar in your mouth.

Thirdly. Happy couples serve. If I haven´t done my part and tried to help my companion, chances are she aint feeling my love.

Fourthly. It´s not necessary solve every problem - just the big ones. The little things can be handled with patience and mercy and recognizing that we both have weaknesses.

Fourthly, it´s important to set goals TOGETHER. If there aren´t goals, there isn’t a chance in hell that we will work together in unity.

Fifthly, there is never a winner. The closest thing to a winner is just someone who decides to not get mad and tries to reason things out with love.

Sixthly, When the house or environment is clean, everyone is calmer and can feel the spirit better. Thank you Momma for teachin´ me that!

Seventhly. Now I am just making up numbers because I´ve forgotten English. IF NECESSARY, a little gift or card or something can being in the love. WARNING: NOT A WAY TO SOLVE EVERY PROBLEM. But everyone likes to be encouraged for doing good things and it is nice to receive a little something out of the norm.

Eighth. Confirming plans and talking frequently about what we will do during the day, hour, week, etc. is a good way to avoid miscommunications or overbooking.

Ninth. It´s ok to recognize that I am not perfect, and that it is impossible to fix everything at once.IM NOT PERFECT, OK? It´s a process that thankfully lasts eternally.

Tenth. I decided I will need to marry someone that shares my love of changing out the toilet paper roll and keeping the floor clean. That´s the bottom line.

Tuesday.

Today I had divisions with Hermana Inga. She lived with me for 6 months in my old ward and I love her to death! She´s from the jungles of Peru…intense stuff. Also, it is a tender mercy because she knows me so well and really helped me to relax and laugh after these last few stressful weeks. I can´t believe she is going home in 13 days! It´s insane. I was there when she completed the 9 month halfway mark! Awwwww….shucks.

Wednesday.

Not every day is a fun day. Some days are dark and cold, even if it is SUPPOSED TO BE springtime. Then you go to bed and pray for a better day tomorrow.

Thursday.

I feel like I got beat up. We cleaned the yard of an investigator and hauled huge branches out to the street, and then I got put on rose bush duty. It was fun looking at the bush, but not so fun sticking my bare hands and arms in to cut the dead branches.

I finished that mess up and then we went in to help her make lunch. I got put on salad duty. Chilean salad is lettuce with lemon and salt. My cut up and poked to shreds hands were stinging all afternoon!

Afterwards we were dead tired and walked in silence to our next appointment… it was a joke. The woman spoke at 100 mph and not even my companion understood her…but her two little kids danced together so it was all worth it! We have a return appointment for a day when we HOPEFULLY are going to be more alert.

Friday.

Here is a list of things I saw today that prove that the second coming is near…

A baby drinking coke in her bottle.

A woman who could NOT look away from her cell phone for 2 seconds while we spoke to her.

A creeper man on a bike who was going uncomfortably slow. I turned around to see what his deal was and caught him in the act of staring at our bums. EW.

That is all. Apart from that, it was a great day! We shared the video about the restoration with the Navarrette family who we have been teaching for a while…and I kid you not, EVERYTIME we show that video SOMETHING happens right before, during, or after the vision. Someone falls off a seat, the video skips, the glass of water falls, the baby farts, the neighbors’ house explodes… it’s like, reallyyyy?! They FINALLY focused, and now Satan is jealous that their attention is on the message and goes in for the attack. The church is true, no worries. Thankfully we always teach and share the story the appointment before so that they can feel the spirit there…

Also, I made cheesecake to take to a less active that has no idea that he is a member, who is the partner of our star investigator and they have 3 kids together: a pair of 1 year old twins and a 3 year old, all boys. Slowly but surely we are gaining his confidence. We just need to be able to share with him more! Here´s to my nightly prayer and great faith that I am striving to have.

Saturday.

The cheesecake was a hit!

We watched the general women’s conference in the house of a member with all of the relief society. The LIVE broadcast was a little bit skippy and we ended up having a 30 second break every two minutes to ponder…haha. We had two investigators there.

Also, today we stopped by to invite an Hermana and her sister in law who isn´t a member to the activity. They were making empanadas…so my companion joins in to help them. I´m there freaking out because I haven´t made empanadas since last September. I decided to try one, and I put too much meat juice in it and it was all floppy and ugly. They all started laughing. The sweet Hermana starts trying to save my sad empanada with more flour whilst telling me that everyone has to start somewhere! Haha. I stopped and snapped a few pictures instead. Sad day. However, I was comforted knowing that the cheesecake turned out well.

Sunday.

I'm so tireeeed. PDAY IS TOMORROW.

Here is the good news… today at church…drum roll please…we had 3 investigators and two less active members who haven´t been to church for more than 8 years! FINALLY, they came (this is the woman who makes us sandwiches ).

The talks today were well prepared and the spirit was really strong. I think I feel the spirit more when I am not stressing behind the piano, too. Every other week I get to rotate with Hermana Volkert.

After sacrament meeting we went to primary because there were about 10 more kids than normal and only the primary president was there. THANKS TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER we made it out of there alive. I just kept thinking, ¨THIS is why my mom was the chorister for all of my childhood! ¨ I saw her preparation during the week and learned that you can´t just bring cookies and ¨wing it¨. The president was stressed and couldn’t control the little ones, but I started to lead them in some primary songs singing at different speeds and in different tones to start while the president organized the things. We also played ¨hide the picture of Jesus Christ¨ and then the kid had to find it while the rest sang. In the end we sang a ¨Child’s Prayer¨ in two groups and it was a miracle! We left that primary room sweating and zombieish, but it was fun. I missed my class in the Suncrest ward…they were all so reverent and well behaved!

Love love love,

Hermana Van Cott

September 22, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHRISTIAN! I realized last night that I will have missed his 17^th and 18^th birthdays, and his 19^th and 20^th we won´t be together either! How sad. Hmphf. Oh well, I hope you are able to party up your last pre-mission birthday!

Also, Truman, that was the BEST letter I have ever received! I miss you tons!

For the general public and everyone that is asking, I have NO IDEA what my post mission plans are. I am assuming I will be in California for the first week, and then from there travel back and forth a bunch. I will have to decide then because right now it just gives me stress hives. Haha.

Apart from that we are here in the spring time after a week of eating SO MUCH food. Now the diet starts…haa.

Well, love you all! Here are the journal entries. See you in 14 weeks!

Monday.

We went to the richest part of the mission today to be with my companions´ old comp. It was fun. Nothing else to say.

Tuesday. 

We were on a long dirt road talking to the ONLY person in sight. His name is Hugo, 70 years old and was on his mountain bike riding like it was no big deal! He was super nice and telling us about his family and beliefs in God when out of the blue, a woman appears about 50 yards from us. She is staring out into the field. The next time I look over, she is staring at me. We keep talking to Hugo because he is interested in our message…but gradually the woman starts scooting towards us. Hugo wraps up his sentence and then we hear the woman´s voice, RIGHT next to us.

¨Where is that pretty girl from?¨ She says, not diverting her glance from my face. I responded and we began to talk to her…but…she was ¨special¨. Those are her own words. Special and gifted because she can read people´s past….

Hugo ran away after we set an appointment, he was eager to get out of there before things got awkwarder.

Carmen, the woman, begins to smile and look into the eyes of my companion. Then Carmen tells my companion that she is glad Hermana Diaz has found God after all her suffering…

There were so many uncomfortable pauses that I had no idea how to respond to. We tried to share our message, but we were thrown off topic every 10 seconds by her divinations and comments about how I am SO beautiful and how my companion needs to be happy to be with me. ¨Oh, please, thanks, ok, that´s all, you are pretty, too…my companion is gorgeous, look at her!¨ All failed attempts. I wanted to disappear into the nearest gopher hole. Now I joke with my companion and say ¨You need to be happy that you are with me because I´m pretty!¨ I say it very arrogantly and nasally to add to the  effect. And she laughs. Because it{s ridiculous. And because my companion knows I am so imperfect in almost every other way which makes it annoying that people give me a ¨get out of jail free¨ card for every situation just because I´m a blonde. 

Here is my conclusion. First off, I NEVER in my life want to be told I am pretty or beautiful or Russian or anything like unto it. This may seem like a weird desire, but when you are the only blonde in a farming community, 3 minutes don{t pass by without a cat call from a cowboy on a horse or men in a tractor or some strange undiscernible comment whispered into my ear as I pass by a drunkard. I take it as a blessing that now I don´t care so much about my outward appearance… I mean, I still care, but it doesn´t mean I am going to be flattered and swept off my feet if someone tells me that I´m ¨Hermosa, guapa, linda, SEXY WOMAN¨ in the future. The bar has been raised, future husband. Be warned.

Also, we found a little chameleon thing on our way home. It was entertaining because it changed colors. We decided it would be a good photo op. We named it ¨wachita rica¨ (Chilean slang for ¨attractive woman I want to get with you!¨) to celebrate the day full of cat calls and Carmen comments. Then we let it free in the park by our house. 

Just a few more days of Chilean fiestas partrias drinking to survive. I might shove cotton in my ears tomorrowso I don{t hear all the whistles and yells.

(ps. I think I just needed to vent out  my disgust. I feel better now.)

Wednesday.

Today for studies I studied about Moroni´s qualities…  the whole time in my mind I had the image of Shane from Mulan and the song ¨Be a man¨ stuck in my head.

Strong and mighty man, man of perfect understanding (this means he applied what he learned to his life, not just in one ear out the other)  didn´t like to hurt others and wanted all to be free from slavery (or from addictions, satan´s slavery in our day), a man of GRATITUDE to his God, a good worker who provides for his people, firm in the faith of Christ, swore to defend his people, rights, country and religion.

Sign me up for the next war!

Thursday. HAPPY 18^th of SEPTEMBER, CHILE! (it´s like the 4^th of July, but lasts a week)

Today we had a stake activity in a church building that I´d never been to before. We called a Hermana in our stake to ask for directions. She tells me to walk UP the street, turn and keep walking. I took UP to mean NORTH (silly me and my Utah orientation)  so we got lost for about 5 minutes until I said to my comp ´I think I missed something, can you call again? ´The Latinas speak the same language and got it figured out. We walked south and then west to get to the church. Or, up and to the right. Either way.

The activity was great. We had an investigator there named Matias. We all ate Chilean BBQ and got to talk to the branch and see people from the stake. They had dances going on during lunch. It was fun to watch them dance the national dance…The Queca! It is such a spunky flirtatious dance where the two partners don{t touch. The man hops around doing fancy footwork and the woman just gets close and then pulls away. It{s cool and I am definitely youtubing ´how to queca´ in a few months.

Afterwards we went out to work, as normal. The streets smell like beer, the buses smell like beer, the people smell like beer…just the weekend to live through!

Friday.

Party and party and yeah. The festivities continue!

After lunch we always offer service to the members…and so today I said, ´Hey, can we help you with something?´ The Hermana looked at a pile of onions…ready to be cut for the empanadas. So, we began working. By ´we´ I mean my Latina comp that knows how to cut onions in the way that Latinas like them cut for their empanadas. I was just on fan duty with a card board lid so that the smell didn´t get too strong. My poor companion literally diced up 30 onions…and now she has a blister on her finger. I tried to sweep and do dishes as stuff, but it was easy compared to the onion affair.

In the end, we all ended up with smeared mascara and tears running down our cheeks…and now my comp won´t let me offer any more service. Haha.

Then we went on with the plans and found a family in the park that we NEVER can get a hold of. The mom works a ton and is a single parent, so it{s really difficult for them to get to church. It was good to talk to her and play with her kids a little bit. I always like being outside and letting people see that we care about them and want to help even when we don´t have a set appointment.

Here{s my mission horror story. I think I ate something that gave me food poisoning, because after our last lesson while waiting  for the bus, I NEEDED a bathroom. I won´t go into detail, but it was bad. We waited like a half hour for the bus, then we saw it. In this moment I am at the point where if I put pressure on my stomach I am going to go off like an atomic bomb… we watch the bus get  closer and closer and then, just like that, it passes us…full of people. I was like HERMANA DIAZ I AM NOT GOING TO MAKE IT! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE, FAST! I felt so bad. It was a nightmare. I started seeing stars and just prayed and prayed for a miracle. My companion got in touch with some members who were willing to leave their family party to drive us home. I felt so bad, but there was no other option. In the car the Hermana looked at me and said, ´Oh, you look sick.´ That´s the last thing I remember because I had to close my eyes and do some breathing exercises to keep from losing my cookies. All I remember is listening to Spanish music and running to the bathroom a half hour later when we made it home. Now I am in my sleeping-bag bed on the couch. I don´t think my stomach will let me sleep on the top bunk tonight. 

Oh, also today we took a picture with the Chilean flag and didn´t notice the sleeping dog…aka dead dog… til after.

Saturday.

Did I sleep at all last night? Not really. Remind me that I can´t eat empanadas with meat if they have been sitting out at room temperature for a whole day.

Today we met a reference from our recent convert…now I understand why we are supposed to work with recent converts in missionary work! The reference is great and Andres is bringing him to church tomorrow. He also accepted a baptismal date as a goal for October!

I am so grateful that these last few days we worked and worked. Everyone told us ´nobody is going to be home, everyone will be drunk, come BBQ with us because you won´t be able to work…´ It is a great feeling to know that the Lord´s work is NEVER frustrated. We met some fantastic people and now we can tell all the members what a blessing it has been to be focused on the work.

Sundee.

Whataday. We arrived at church to see the whole stake presidency…not a normal occurrence.

Then they released our branch president and called a new one. Hermano Rivera is the new president, and it is an answered prayer to have him as the president! He just moved into the branch in July and has been working like crazy visiting everyone and participating in the activities and everything. He shared last fastSunday about a dream he had where President Monson was speaking and everyone was doing their own thing, and then little by little he got closer to President Monson, until finally President Monson gave him a hug and told him he was needed in the work. Well, when Hermano Rivera shared this his point was that we need to follow the prophet and then we feel happy, but today he got up and said,

I think I understand a little bit better the dream I had…

hhaha. The good news is, he is TEAM MISSIONARY WORK. His only daughter is currently serving in Argentina and gets back November 3, so he loves and supports the missionaries and wants to help hasten the work.

Tonight we went to a family home evening in the Mormon compound…haha, that Is what we jokingly call it because there are 3 LDS families that live right next door to each other. They invited another family who isn´t members to join and we watched the movie about President Monson. Afterwards we had time to talk and get to know the investigators better.

It was amazing because the investigators (who are actually family members of the host family) felt really comfortable and got to see the other members interacting and understood that we are real people who try to do our best to be obedient and follow the prophet that the Lord has called to guide us.

Now I am exhausted. This week has been rather wild with all the food and celebrations and blessings and miracles. I have a good feeling about what is going to be happening here in our branch!

Love,

Hermana VanCott

September 14, 2014

Dear Family and friends,

Love you all SO much! Thanks for the letters and stories and laughs. Siblings, I sent you notes to your own individual emails…feel free to write me…I haven´t heard anything from the Little boys in a while!

Here is the week in journal entries. Enjoy!

Monday.

My companion and I met up with my ex…companion… Hermana Leishman, the one that lasted 4 whole weeks! She brought good news that Patricio, who was baptized while I was there, is doing well, is active, and has received the priesthood! His daughter is going to be a missionary in our mission for a transfer, 6 weeks! That girl is my hero and I want to be her best friend…it would be awesome to be her companion… 

We had a family home evening with a family in the Ward today and their cousin who isn´t a member. I tended with a game from minute to win it that Hermana Burnett (my other ex comp) always wins. It´s the one where you put a cookie on your forehead and then have to move your face to get it into your mouth, without the help of your hands! The kids were so funny to watch and they loved it.

Tuesday.

The gas ran out, so after exercises I woke up EVEN MORE in my freezing shower. How refreshing. The other hermanas thought I was crazy that I didn´t wait for the gas man, but I really wanted to start my studies on time because we had a mini zone conference today with President Wright. We talked about the talk by President Uchtdorf given at the new misión president seminar. I don´t know how to translate the title…I think it is ¨Don´t fear, I´ll give thee aid¨or something along those lines. It mentions 2 companions who had problems. One companion says to the other ¨There are two reasons why a companionship gets along. Either they are humble and obedient and work together, or they are both doing wrong things and being disobedient.¨

We did a lot of talking about that and obedience. I can also testify to that phrase said by the missionary. I know that conflicts disappear when we are being obedient and working towards good goals. I also think this applies to marriages…so, there is a good tip for my future.

We helped a few ladies at the neighborhood clinic take out a very stubborn pile of roots from the ground. They were so cute and said things like ¨no, your skirt is going to get dirty!¨but we just laughed and started working. I have to give props to Hermana Diaz on that one because she is the one that saw them and asked to help. I love that girl, she is very observant when it comes to opportunities to serve and I am learning a lot from her example.

Wednesday.

One year old Mateo is playing outside in the dirt. We are sitting with his mom on a blanket watching him. He starts putting the pebbles into his hood, one by one. They are small, not weighing very much. Over a space of time we see the pile growing, getting heavier as the quantity increases. His mom says lovingly, ¨What are you doing?¨He looks at her, as if he understood the question. Then he looks at the pebble he has in his hand. He contemplates a moment and then continues putting the pebbles in the hood, one at a time, not realizing that soon his hood will reach maximum capacity. His little hood is now heavy and it becomes uncomfortable for him. He lets out a whimper and looks at his mom, his eyes searching for a solution. His mom tells him, ¨I warned you…¨but instantly goes to his side and begins to take out the pebbles, a few at a time. Relief washes over Mateo´s face and he begins to cuddle into his mom and get closer to her as he feels the care that she gives to his self-created problem.

How often have I known that I have a loving Heavenly Father who is watching me and guiding me and still continued to put little pebbles in my hood?

The relief and peace come in knowing that I have a Savior who helps me take the pebbles out of my hood and allows me to feel the gentle care of my Heavenly Father.

I´m grateful today for this tender moment that demonstrated to me an eternal truth and helped me to understand the love my Heavenly Father has for me and for all his children.

Thursday.

Pioneer children sang as they walked. Missionaries, too, sing as they walk 40 miles. Just kidding, I exaggerated. However, we were walking all afternoon and only took 2 hours total of sitting time as we taught lessons. My legs want to run away now and never come back.

It was a sunny day. Birds were chirping, weird hornet things were stalking our heads, and the dogs were lazily enjoying the sun which took away their desire to bother us.

Friday.

Today Elder Resek from the area 70 spoke to us in our zone conference. It was such a great conference! I love it when they ask a lot of questions and really let the spirit teach. I am a terrible person and don´t like to answer the questions in front of everyone, mostly because its in Spanish and as son as I volunteer for anything my mind goes blank and I feel like I am speaking Chinese and don´t express my thought well. However, I DO love to write down the questions and use them to start off my studies. For example: Are we using good personal experiences to teach? Am I focusing on the atonement as I teach the lessons? Are baptisms a good source for references? How can we make the baptismal service be more efficient and a more powerful experience for everyone involved?...questions like that.

What was interesting about this conference is that I went thinking about specific situations that we have with investigators praying to receive revelation. The Lord answers prayers! It is so good to know that I don´t need to depend upon my own abilities and knowledge…if I do my part, the Savior always makes up the rest.

Saturday.

What´s going to work…teeeeeamwork. We got together as a branch to clean the church because it was a MESS. Also, it was national service day or some fancy holiday that nobody knew about like that. We said the activity was going to start at 11…so at 12 everyone showed up. Nothing more therapeutic tan cleaning public urinals and wiping the crumbs off of the high council room table!

Afterwards we ate empanadas…and the remaining two thirds of the branch showed up just on time for the empanadas and are SUPER excited to do that activity again in the future! Haha.

Tonight we had a lesson with an investigator and I was SO proud of myself because I realized she had a painting of Jesus at the tomb with Maria, the same one as in our gospel art books but a tiny bit different. It was up high on a shelf and super super dusty so it took me a moment to recognize it, but I asked her what it was. She told me she had painted it based off of a little card she had…FROM OUR CHURCH! We were amazed and began to talk about that. We showed her some other pictures in the pamphlet and the painting of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove caught her attention…how convenient… She told us she would come to church tomorrow after a really good lesson focusing on how Jesus Christ has established his church in our day, so here´s to praying!

Sunday.

FUNDAY! Oh my goodness. Today was the most dramatic Sunday I have ever had in the mission.

To start, we didn´t have any investigators at church…lame…but I still have faith for next week!

BUT, Jesus showed up. That is pronounced Hey’soos for all my gringo posterity. He is an elderly man who makes a living asking for Money to pay for his beer, and sometimes pretends to be a policeman. Anywho, he showed up and was the only ¨investigator¨, but he doesn´t even live in the branch limits. So, he comes in, sits by me, starts talking back to the people giving talks and whatnot, all perfectly normal. When we finished with sacrament meeting we asked if he was going to stay for the class. He said yes, so the four sister missionaries, Jesus, and our mission leader all go to class. Jesus gives the welcome and says the prayer, and then we begin the class on eternal marriage. Our mission leader was looking pale as he taught, and then something scary happened. He took two steps backwards, passed out, hit his head on the table, landedon the floor and started to convulse. My comp and I ran to get priesthood leaders, and our branch mission leader was stable after a few minutes but had cut his head open on the table. They gave him a blessing and then his younger brother and the first counselor of the branch help him. He asked if anyone had his iPhone, because he had it in his hand while he was teaching and when he fell. We searched the room, but it wasn´t there. Then, we all look at each other.

¨Jesus has it…he has to have it…he was the only other personhere…¨

The problem? Jesus had fled the scene.

So, the whole 20 people in the branch go into CIA mode. The priesthood class that day tracked the phone by GPS while the 6 of us Relief Society women learned about the temple sealings. When we left relief society, we got the story from all the men talking in the hall.

A man from the branch had contact with the brother of the mission leader. They were telling him where to go, using the GPS system. He ends up a few miles from the church in a street market where they sell all sorts of things. He finds Jesus, puts his arm around his shoulder, asks if he has the phone, reaches into the chest pocket of Jesus and says ¨Thank you!¨ leaves Jesus there in the market, without anything to sell.

Now, the story gets even funnier because in the meantime the other Hermana´s had called their district leader that knows where Jesus lives because it is in his area. The elders go over there after church to talk to him, and here is Jesus´story:

We had the class, like normal. Then the devil entered and possessed the pastor´s body. He grabbed the phone because he noticed nobody else was going to protect it. Then he suddenly got really hungry and went to the market to buy some food. His intentions were to give it back to the pastor, in person.

Hahahahaha. Anyways. It was an entertaining day. I think the elders taught Jesus about repentance and all is well. No hard feelings from anyone, just an exciting story!

That is one thing I love about the branch, everyone is so close and when something happens, EVERYONE gets involved. Hahaha.

Oh, and Sebastian now has 10 stitches in his forehead. Poor guy.

Have a good week! Love you tons!

always,

Hermana VanCott

September 8, 2014

Dear Family,

The letters and pictures are so great! You are all looking so darn cute and I miss you tons! 16 more weeks. And no, that doesn´t mean I am trunky. I am working, but I am excited to be a member missionary!

Here is the week in review:

Monday.

I thought I would mention another part of Chilean culture that I love. It is called ¨THE BUSINESS MARKET¨.

First thing first, you can open up a business right in your own driveway. A functioning market, a shoe repair hut, a liquor store, all in our local suburb!

Then, we have the bus sellers. They come on the bus after having bought something in bulk and make us listen to the schpeel about how (I dare you to read this in your best infomercial voice to get the full effect)¨THIS TOOTHBRUSH HELPS YOUR TEETH BE CLEAN¨, or THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC UMBRELLA, IT OPENS WITH THE TOUCH OF THIS BUTTON AND KEEPS YOU DRY WHEN IT RAINS, OR PROTECTS YOU FROM THE SUN WHEN IT IS HOT¨¨…it is like, pure random junk! I wish they said these things in English because if they did I would film it and make an infomercial spoof and everyone would laugh.

Thirdly, it is funny when they are obviously selling stolen goods in the street. It´s like…why would you sell an ipod and two pieces of gum and band aids together?! I don´t know.

Another part about the culture that I love is what I call ¨Bad customer service¨. You can wait in line at a fast food place…for example, McDonalds, and it takes a good 10 minutes to get your food! It´s a scandal! That is even including the 40 workers they have standing around. The problem is they are making out while making my food…and then they tell your sorry for the delay as they hand you the wrong food. I am so grateful for the US of A, for health codes, and for real FAST food services.

Tonight we went on a search for some people. The adventure included puddle jumping, an invasion of snails, and a new resolution to run a Little farther this week during exercise . We´ll see how that goes.

Tuesday.

Rain rain go away. We ate a fast lunch at home and I didn´t have much of an appetite so I made scrambled eggs. Then we left to work. We were in our first appointment when we got a call from a member who had prepared lunch and was waiting for us…something got lost in communication and we didn´t have it written down…so, we ran to lunch and ate and got back on track.

The joys of the misión and the reason why it is impossible to maintain a good fitness program…gotta love those second lunches! I'm definitely thinking about adopting hobbitism permanently when I get home.

Wednesday.

Today I went on divisions with Hermana Ramirez from Lima, Peru. We left without an umbrella and ended up being stranded in the rain about an hour. Smart move, Hermana Van Cott. We met an elderly lady who was trying to weed her garden in the rain. She was doing a marvelous balancing act: bent over and supporting herself with her cane and weeding all at once. My mind did a flashback to Concord Heights and it made me miss home. We helped her finish in her garden and then accompanied her back to her house…every step taking about 3 minutes. We tried to say a prayer with her, but during my heartfelt prayer she continued telling us about her dog, so I don´t think anything stuck. The point is she felt loved and knew that Heavenly Father is looking out for her.

Thursday.

Today I decided two fundamental things for my future.

The first: I will never study the Old Testament when I am tired, or else I will doze off.

The second: I will somehow make a ferria cart for my grocery shopping at home. They are these cool little 2 wheel carts that everyone has to transport their groceries. I want them to be a thing in the US of A.

Friday.

Today was POURING rain all morning. Not the most motivating thing in the world when you know you have to walk miles of dirt roads during the day. Miraculously we were able to confront the environment with our faith and have a great day. An hermana who is a convert of 2 years accompanied us during the afternoon. We went to Fernando, the one who always tells us the book of Mormon isn´t the bible…and he told us, like normal, that he refuses to read the Book of Mormon. We told him that we wouldn´t be able to teach him what we had to share without the Book of Mormon. If anything it was a great moment to bear testimony and feel the spirit testify to us (at least) that the book of mormon is holy scripture.

It wasn´t in a fighting or demeaning way, either. It was just simply that if he wanted to keep learning he would have to accept that God still speaks to us today through prophets. We prayed with him and all, but we will probably give him some time to ponder the bible before returning.

We puddle jumped all day and my companion bragged every step because her boots were longer tan mine, so they made her invincible. You can imagine how hard I laughed when she walked into a puddle that passed her ankles and water entered into her shoes. Hehe. TELL ME AGAIN YOU´RE INVINCIBLE!

Here is a list of things that will be weird in a few months when I don´t have my companion 24/7.

-I won´t have to inform anyone when my bladder has reached maximum capacity.

-I will have to make all my own pone calls.

-I won´t be able to speak at any given momento and know that SOMEBODY is listening.

-I won´t get my clothes confused with anyone else´s clothes.

-I won´t be able to discuss plans a week in advance and know for certain that my companion will be right at my side for all the activities.

Saturday.

Today they said there would be sun. There were a lot of clouds. Lies.

I got to clean a bathroom today for service! It was therapeutic. I love anything that gets me out of the ¨routine¨.

Tonight we ¨get to¨move the clock ahead an hour…yipee, as if we´re not tired enough! Go missionary work.

On the plus side, the Lord continues to hasten his work! Members are getting more and more involved. They are inviting the investigators to church and offering to pick them up, praying for them, and when they do arrive a church they are good to sit by them and help them feel comfortable.

Sunday.

Cream cheese brownie for breakfast. SCORE. I love my roommate, Hermana Volkert.

Church was good. Like normal the whole branch bore their testimonies. One investigator showed up, but we visited all the others today and it seems that they forgot we had a change in the time…either that or it is just a valid excuse…I still have faith.

We tried to go down a small road to visit a family and there was a horse tied to a post in the middle. Hashtag Pirque Probs. We thought we could pass, but when it jumped and kicked up its back legs we thought again. In order to get by we called a neighborhood meeting and ended up with about 20 neighbors all watching the spectaculo. The delays of farm life.

Les amo con todo mi corazón! Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Van Cott