Week 40

Hola!  So this week was strange big stressful.... We spent a lot of days sick, but we did a really good job with the Christmas program in Puerto Escondido (below), a town about 2 hours down the coast from Santa Maria but more on that in a minute. Photos attached of the town while I'm driving down the road really fast!

 We didn't have the baptism for Mary. This is so sad. She sent us a text last week and said that she made the decision not to be baptized. So we went and talked to her about it. Apparently she now has the fear of just dropping her first baptism for this one. Afraid it doesn't mean anything to her, her first baptism.  So she just wants us to come to her house to teach her new things and that's it... It's so sad because she was progressing so well! I am sure something happened between her dad or something because when she was talking to us it was almost like she was hiding something.... Hopefully we can do something before the time I leave so she can have that desire again...

 We were able to put on our Christmas program again but this time in Puerto Escondido! It is another coast town but we are considered the real Huatulco!! The performance turned out so good! Everyone loved it and the choir sounded great. I also got the great opportunity to sing “Oh Holy Night”! Also, Hermana Madsen asked me at last minute if I could sing a song with her called “Once on a Silent Night”. It was really pretty. And she translated it by herself! She's doing really well with her Spanish now :) But it was a fun opportunity to direct the choir again. I love being able to share my musical talents with the other missionaries, but also the people who came to see us. I'm really hoping that Pres. gives me another chance to do it again. Maybe for Easter :)

 And of course, what would one of my emails be without a health problem update?! I guess that's the highlight of the mish right now for me... me and Valverde started having stomach aches on Wednesday and Thursday… We thought it was just from the beans because we always feel that way when we eat them. But on Friday I had a constant nausea feeling... It was weird. And I couldn't stay in one spot for a long time. I had to be moving or I had to run to the bathroom!  It was still there on Saturday, but worse. That was really bad because we had to travel 3 hours to Puerto Escondido! It went away, but my comp started feeling that way... In fact, the entire day it was almost like when I felt bad she felt good, and when I felt good she felt bad. We were always running to the bathroom and stuff! It was weird. We ended up asking our district leader to give us blessings and that was very meaningful. And we had a sleepover with the Hermana’s in Huatulco because we would have gotten home at 11 pm…that was really fun:) But on Sunday after we got home we had to stay at home because my comp couldn't leave her bed. She had huge pains in her stomach, and we ended up going to the doctor… that is a story in of itself. He kept checking her stomach, but whenever he touched it she freaked out because it hurt so bad. So we made the conclusion that something happened to her appendix, so he walked us to the hospital and I had to spend time by myself because they wouldn't allow me with her.... I felt like I was in an insane asylum there with all the security and locked glass doors..... Freak!... But it turns out that she has a huge infection in her stomach and has to get injections for the next five days and we can't leave the house because it hurts her to walk... For me, I just have nausea a veces this time....

Okay, funny story of the week! So, I have this joke with my first companion, Hermana Olsen that I am always “picking up” a "boyfriend" in every area. Well, I found my “Santa Maria Boyfriend” this week in the form of a state trooper!  Me and Valverde had to go to the ATM to get money for the rent and there was this police officer there guarding the door of this government building. He came up to us and asked who we were and of course we said, “We are the Missionaries!” Then we started talking about safety in the area, like, “be careful of stalker investigators”, and “don’t go to those areas, or those, or well, don’t go anywhere at night…” But then he stopped us suddenly and asked if we know and have seen the movie “Titanic”.... Ummm, ya. I have....and of course, the standard comment comes out: “Did you know how much you look like Rose in Titanic?” see, I get this comment ALL THE TIME!! “you look and act like Rose in the Titanic movie!”.... “Oh thank you”.... We went on with the conversation and he just kept stopping us to tell me that.... so now, whenever we pass he always forgets that it's Hermana Walker… To him my name is “Hermana Rose”!!  I hope that gave you a laugh:)

 We are getting very excited for Christmas here, we have learned that we will be having Christmas dinner here on Christmas Eve with the MP and wife. I am excited to get some stuff from my mom so I’m excited when it all gets here! The weather is warm and sunny so that will be weird not having snow and cold but I hear that it is warm and sunny at home too!  At this point we are able to Skype family on Christmas Day but we are all learning that a bunch of missions are doing away with Skype altogether…! I see why, it makes us “trunky” when we see our families during the holidays! Thank you Stephen Alexander for your letter! I am planning on writing back to you this week! Everybody, I DO get snail mail occasionally so please write!

 Anyway, that’s what's happened this week. I hope y'all are doing well and happy. And I hope you're still reading the Book of Mormon. I hope it's now become a habit to read it :)

 Love you!!

Hermana Walker!