Let me just start off with all the questions mom asked me...haha:
1. So how are you liking you apartment? I like it. Pretty boring a simple. Ill take some pics and send them to you soon. It is cement and it has been getting a little chilly lately so it is cold since we have no heating or cooling system. We have lots of wool blankets though!
2. Do you have any hot showers and how do you wash your clothes, cook your meals, etc.? Yes hot showers. The water heater in really dangerous though because sometimes it kind of warms the water and sometimes it is dangerously hot haha so you have to stay on your toes! Here cooking is different for many reasons. They eat a huge lunch instead of dinner here and that is why they have a siesta afterwards. We get fed about every other lunch which is amazing. The food here is very bland but yummy. Hermana Diaz (32 yr old from Argentina) is teaching me! There is bread with every meal which is so yummy and they cook very unhealthy so I am gonna have to watch it haha! I wash clothes in the sink but since I brought so many clothes it has worked out great! Only wash about 1x week. I always have tons of ironing to do though because we hang it in the kitchen.
3. Are you getting to take any siestas? Yes, President Lindahl is amazing and really willing to work with everyone. He gives the Hermanas permission to take a nap if we are done with all our studying which I usually take a 20 minute nap every day. I squeeze it in but we walk so much I feel I need it and he says it is good to keep us from getting over exhausted.
4. That will probably help you a ton! Is your companion teaching you a ton and how are you getting along? We have been teaching a lot. She lets me add in my few words every once in a while and more and more each day. We are getting along well. She is a little burnout I feel so I am trying to help her get over the 1yr hump.
5. Are your shoes and feet holding up o.k.? And how is your back? All is good!! My back feels the best it ever has!! WHAT A BLESSING NO? My feet really hurt but are getting better. Those Nike print ones you told me not to bring haha- I wear those almost every day. Most of the Hermanas wear tennis shoes (because President says they can) because it is so hard on your feet. So maybe for my bday or Christmas keep your eye on ebay for size 10-11 nike free mary janes. My blisters are finally getting better yes! 100 bandaids later haha.
6. How modern is the city there compared to us here? Well I´m not sure how to explain it. The city is decently modern. Not like the states but I might compare it to our house in Tumbacco. Outside the centro city area where our area goes to is pretty poor. Lots of homemade cement houses and outside bathrooms. I have had to master my holding my bathroom for long time haha because you never know who will or wont have a bathroom!
7.What are your members like and what size is your ward/branch? Do they feed you at all?
Well like Dad told me he looked it up, there are 6 wards here. Well, haha I was pleasantly surprised that our ¨ward¨had about 20-30 people in the congregation which was I guess a good day. 7of them were our investigators. So yes we do have a stake here (our building is the stake center) but there are sooooo many in actives that everything is like branches if even that. They are amazing. There are like 2 families that do everything and I am already really close with all the members. They always think I am from California haha!
Well, I think that is all. I love it here. It really is super hard work and some days it is hard to be energetic and excited to walk all day but it is what I want and need to do. We had zone conference yesterday which was a super spirit lifter.
Miracle of the Week: We were walking far out in our area about 45 minutes from our apartment and were a little discouraged because everyone was slamming the doors in our face. Well they don't slam in our face because we have to clap to get in but still. We were fasting for a few things as a companionship which is super hard to do while you are doing so much walking. But get this, we were walking down this dirt road when a guy on a bicycle pulled right in front of us. He said he was a member and just went to see his friend who was having a super hard time. He just ran into us will absolute perfect timing! We walked to his friend´s house and he was a cute 60yr man and his wife. He said he could barely walk, was running out of money and felt like God had deserted him. We taught him and I testified that I had felt pain lots of my life but knew God never deserted me and that because of my physical struggles I am closer to him than ever. He started crying and called us angels and that he felt his life was about to change. The spirit was so strong I couldn´t believe how amazing it all was. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted and went to Church with us this week! What a miracle series of events?! We left his house and Hermana Richins and I jumped and cried in joy for what we had been blessed to experience. We were walking so fast all morning but happened to be on the street right when that member saw us. There are miracles everyday here in the mission but that has been the best one so far. Look for all the tender mercies in your lives and your faith in Jesus Christ and gratitude for him will grown more than you can imagine! How blessed I am to be able to share the Gospel to the beautiful people here!
Funny things this week:
1. People try to practice English with me so I always make a bet out of it. If they want to speak English with me, the only place I will do it is in the Chapel. Just a little initiative to come haha.
2. The Five Dog Rule: at any given time you can see at least 5 dogs here. In the streets, sewers, in trees, in boxes, everywhere. I´m now officially annoyed but love laughing at how hilarious it is to see them everywhere!
3. The ice cream here is about 1.50 in US dollars. Like huge coldstone kind. I might be fat whhen I get back but gosh I am in heaven! Plus there is a Panederia on every corner! YUMMMM
With Love,
Hermana Thatcher
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