Week 37

There will be photos next week!

Okay. So this last week has been major craziness. Holy cow.

My trainer, Hermana Rajapakse, went home last week. She was on the plane the same day that I went to the mission office to meet my trainee. 

I met a tall, blond Hermana named Hermana Porter and she told me that she was Hermana Rajapakse's last companion. She told me that as we spoke, my trainer was on the plane. Ohhhh myyyy gooooosh words can not describe the wave of trunkiness that hit me. And it didn't get any better when I was sitting in the chapel listening to all of the orientation stuff from the leaders and President Warne. I was taken back to my first day in the field when I was waiting to meet my trainer. Sitting there in that chapel, I felt like a new missionary all over again. Nostalgiaaaaa

The zone leaders named off the list of trainers and their trainees, and finally they said, "Hermana Alvarez is from Ecuador. And your trainer is from California/Idaho." 

I was thinking, "Oh snap. I know that there has got to be at least one other person here who lived in California and moved to North Idaho. Anyone? Anyone? 

"Hermana Alvarez, you will be trained by Hermana Darley."

A 5'2 (ish) girl stood up at the other end of the bench and waved at me. 

During the break, I went to talk to her and I was like, "Compyyyyyy!!!!" And she started crying. I was like, "No llore! No llore! Tengo dulces! No se preocupe!" (Don't cry! Don't cry! I have candy! Don't worry!) We had a laugh about that, then got to know one another.

She's 22, she graduated from college with a degree in Social Sciences, and she was originally supposed to serve her mission in Columbia but was reassigned to the Chile Rancagua mission. And her date to report to the CCM was THE NEXT DAY. Oh my goodness I don't know how she got everything packed so fast. 

We had our first week in the field, and the fun began.

Hna. Alvarez has been super easy to train thus far. She learns fast and she is learning little by little about the rules of the mission. The nice thing is that if I tell her that we should do something a different way, She says, "Listo!" and changes right then and there. She has a sincere desire to be obedient and she's a diligent worker. Her first couple of days she was nervous to speak to people and talk during lessons, but by the end of the week, she was already showing more confidence. She asks good questions that really make people think. I love that. Inspired questions are the best kind. :D 
Anyways, being with Hermana Alvarez makes me feel like my spirit has been recharged. She's SO eager and excited about the work. :D

During the Training Meeting, the zone leaders extended a challenge to all of the new missionaries: They had to find somebody and set up a baptismal date with them before Sunday night. Then the leaders would call us and ask us how it went.

We did a lot of contacting this last week, but we didn't have any lessons with investigators because either they weren't home, or they didn't want to receive us. At first we were a little disheartened, but then during our Sunday planning session, I said, "I know that we have meetings up until 8:00, but between 8:00 and 9:30 we can still find somebody. I don't know who yet, but somebody." We moved on with the planning session, and we made goals to find specific people this next week and make baptismal dates with them. 

I was searching for a name in the Area Book when a name came to my mind: Marcelo. And the feeling that followed was almost a sense of urgency. 

I said, "Change of plans. We're going to see Marcelo after our meeting."

So with an hour to spare before we had to make the long walk back to our house, Hermana Alvarez and I went to Marcelo's house. His car was there, his wife was there, and MARCELO WAS THERE!  Marcelo is very interested in what we have to say. He said that he read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet that we left for him the last time, and he believes that it's true. We talked a little more about the Plan of Salvation with him, and then tied that in to talking about baptism. Then Hermana Alvarez extended the invitation to be baptized the 12th of September. And he accepted!!!!!!

Hermana Alvarez and I had a mini freakout moment when we were far enough away from the house. hahaha But anyways, it was awesome.

In funny news, Elder Flores showed us video evidence of something that was pure awesomesauce: Apparently the Elders left their window open in their house, so a pregnant cat came in, crawled into Elder Flores's suitcase through a gap in the zipper, and gave birth to two kittens in his baptismal clothing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Welcome to the mission!

In other other news, the lightbulbs in our house are so cheap that they break practically every time a moth lands on them. So with the two survivors, we unscrew the ones that still work and put them in the room where we want light in that moment. It's pretty funny, actually. I have never had to transfer lightbulbs so many times in my life.

Anyways, that's all for this week. Out of time. CIAO!!!!!

- Hermana Darley