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| One last pic with my CCM district |
Last week we had to say goodbye to the CCM and it was bittersweet. We left at 2am and had to say goodbye to Hermana Shick. Everyone cried....well except for me oops... but I was sad to say goodbye to her. She has definitely become one of my best friends. I really miss my district and the CCM, it was a lot of fun! So we were late to the airport and when we arrived at the gate is was boarding which means there wasn't enough time for me to call home! Sad! 3 missionaries called home for 60 seconds and it made me glad I didn't because they were bawling. It looked pretty painful. When we arrived in Piura right as we exited the airport there was a massive sign that said, "The city of eternal heat"...well in Spanish of course. And holy cow they aren't joking it is HOT here. You just have to be ok with the fact that you are always drenched in your own sweat.
We went to the mission home and it's amazing! We were pampered with yummy food and.... monster cookies!! It made me think of my mom and that was bittersweet. Later that nigh we knocked doors with a temporary companion, mine was Hermana Bazan and she is super cool! She told me this mission is not a baptizing mission and missionaries complete their missions without seeing a baptism so that was kind of sad but I'm keeping my expectations high! The next day we were assigned trainers and areas. There were 5 of us new hermanas; 3 gringas and 2 latinas. Then there were 5 trainers; 2 gringas and 3 latinas. So we were pretty anxious to see which one of us gringas would have a latina companion. Hermana Lang said she had been praying for a latina comp so that she could learn Spanish faster. But surprise surprise I was the gringa with a latina comp. Her name is Hermana Apeña and she is tiny and a little fireball. She works hard but I have a hard time understanding her all the time. My area is Morropon and everyone wants to be in Morropon! It's beautiful! Green, lots of mountains. hikes, and waterfalls. I love my area. My comp and I just opened it and are the very first sisters ever to come here. The first thing we did when we arrived was have a meeting with the president of the branch. He told us that if we don't get some baptisms or at least 30 more people to attend church the stake is shutting down the branch.. Yikes! This area hasn't seen a baptism since January. The president looked at us with a little bit of desperation in his eyes. So I have expectations for some serious miracles here. So far I have invited 2 people to be baptized and both have said yes. The culture here is pretty laid back and lazy so we'll see how well they will keep commitments. It's super fun to be here but honestly extremely difficult because of the language more than anything I want to be able to communicate with my comp and the people but I can't yet. So I'll just keep working hard and practicing my Spanish!
Other things..
-I AM SO TALL HERE!! Haha its hilarious! People ask me if I was a model in the US. I laugh out loud and I just want to tell them. "No actually I'm about a foot under the required height for that occupation." People ask me if my eyes are real or if I'm wearing contacts and say that I look like a Barbie.
-This Sunday we had a good 15 people come to church so we are going to need a lot more people to attend.
-In the mission we call gross old men snakes because they want to talk to white girls and they always have ulterior motives of course. The snakes ask me if I have a husband or a baby. I think it's to see if I'm available. Yuck!!!
-Also everyday at 1:00 we go to our pensionistas house for the big meal. It's HUGE! I basically only eat one meal a day because it's all I need. I love my pensionista. Her name is Hermana Jaunita and she is so cute and has three cute little kids. Her husband runs a restaurant down the street from my apartment. I love all of the food here especially ahi de guyina. I don't know if that's spelled right but it's similar to Hawaiian haystacks. Also mariciones which tastes like a bunch of sweetened condensed milk with coconut. It's delicious!
So I love being here but the biggest challenge is easily the language and it's hard not to get frustrated. Speaking and hearing only Spanish day in and day out is like constantly solving math problems. I feel like I'm simplifying an algebraic equation all day long! I get suuuuper tired but overall it's such a fun adventure. I'm looking forward to speaking the language. I know it will come with diligence and patience. Anyway, I miss and love everyone so much!
SOOO many typos so mom try to fix it all!! love you tons
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