So much happened this week there's no way I can write it all in the time I have, but I'll try to talk about the best parts. First of all I love my new Branch! The Hispanic people here are so friendly, open, and straight-forward- I love it. Even though most of the time I don't know everything that they're saying I can tell that they're amazing people and they really care about the missionaries. In our branch there's a good mix of members from lots of different countries (Chile, El Salvador, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, etc.), and its been fun to talk to them about their traditions and about Argentina at the dinner appointments we've had with them. One thing that's been a little different for me is that every lady/girl we meet automatically gives us a hug & kiss on the cheek instead of a handshake. You guys know how I feel about hugs (my roomie Nea Bleker especially knows what I'm referring to) so that's taken some getting used to, but I've come to really love a lot of people in the branch so it's really not that weird anymore.
We had the coolest activity with the youth in our branch this Saturday. A couple weeks ago they got pretend mission calls in the mail to places like Italy, Vietnam, and Brazil. On Saturday they reported to the "MTC" at the church building with their suitcases, got their pictures taken, got their name-tags, got their companions (the real sister missionaries got paired up with a new companion too), and then we had language class where we learned how to speak a few phrases and pray in the language of the country we were called to. We had gym time too after lunch where we played dodgeball with basketballs.. Yeah it was a little sketchy and slightly dangerous but we had fun and no one got too hurt. After that we had a bunch of other classes too about how to teach lessons, get to know people, ask good questions, etc. and then the kids had to go out and apply what they learned at a dinner appointments at the homes of branch members. They loved it and I think it got them excited about serving real missions some day.
As far as the missionary work that I've been doing this week it's been hard but I'm learning so much. Since we're relatively new to the area we're still trying to get to know people but we do have a few to teach who have a lot of potential. I had two lessons the second day- the first was with the Velero family. They are such a sweet family- religion has never really been a part of their lives but they really want to know the truth about God and about what this life is all about. We taught them El Plan de Salvacion and one of the best things about them is that they listen so intently to everything we say and we can tell that they really want to learn and understand because they ask really good questions and made sure their kids are listening and learning too. There's still a lot they need to know, feel, and do, but I really think they'll get there. We also taught the Toledos- a part member family whose young daughter wants to get baptized, the dad is a member but is inactive, and the mom is Catholic. We taught them "El Evangelio (Gospel) de Jesucristo" and the mom was pretty closed off at first but towards the end we could tell that she was becoming a tiny bit more open and was starting to consider maybe coming to church and seeing what it's all about. We have another lesson with her tonight and hopefully she opens up a bit more so we know how we can help her come closer to Christ. I think she and the rest of her family will get there too though.
The rest of the week our lessons kind of fell through or got rescheduled, but we knocked a lot of doors, trailers, and apartments and had some great conversations (as well as some not-so-great ones, of course). Obviously going around and talking to people I don't know about the church and about Christ is quite a bit out of my comfort zone but I'm forcing myself to do it because I know that there's no other message that these people will ever hear than the one I have to opportunity to share with them. It's difficult but I'm getting better at it every day and I'm starting to enjoy it more and more.
One thing that's also really been amazing to me is how good Heavenly Father is at knowing how to time things perfectly and prompt us to do certain tiny things throughout the day that don't seem significant or purposeful at the time, but looking back it's obvious that we did certain things because of the Spirit and without doing those things we wouldn't have been able to talk to the people that we needed to or catch certain people at the exact right moments. It's pretty crazy stuff and I know that none of it is coincidence.
My Spanish isn't doing so great though because a lot of the people we meet end up being English speakers and so I don't get to practice my Spanish much, but I'll be fine. I could have it worse- Herm. Page (from the MTC) whose in St. George isn't in a Spanish speaking area, she's working in the visitors center. Anyways, Easter was awesome too. Thanks so much for the package- that "clucking" bunny is hilarious and the trail mix is delicious. We also got Easter baskets from the Russels (whose house we live in) and then the family we ate dinner with was so cute, they had us do an Easter egg hunt in their backyard.
Herm Hales is making me include her in this letter right now so just in case you were wondering it really is the best getting to talk to her every day. That's about all the time I have. I have 2 lessons tonight so wish me luck!
Good luck with work, Mom & Dad. Tell Rustin, Chloe, and Liv to stay out of trouble. Also tell Anne I'm so excited for her!!
I love you guys. Ciao!
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