Week 31

Hola y'all! I hope everyone had an awesome week, especially with the chance we had to listen to our prophet and leaders. I really hope you felt the spirit. And thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes. It means a lot:).... I really do not feel 21.... I can do more things than buy dry ice now.... But this is what happened this week.

Lunes: Today we woke up and cleaned the house so that Hermana Molina's comp would feel good in the house. Then we went out and tried buying stuff, thinking that since we only have two days before the new month they would put money in for the new transfer.... No.... These girls are living off of tuna and bread because that’s all we had money for... I also cut Hermana Molina's hair again.... I need to get mine done so bad...:P And we got to hang out with another Hermana while she waited for her comp to come from el Istmo. Her name is Hermana Jones from Tennesee... I will live there one day:) We ate pastor again.. Well actually I ate a gringa (if you guys know Spanish, no it doesn't mean a person). It's this huge tortilla with pastor, pineapple, jalapeño, and other stuff. It's super good:) Then we met Hermana Cortes, Hermana Molina's comp. She's a little quiet, so I'm hoping that they get along. We were only able to see Hugo today and we talked about families. It was a great lesson because he has a serious love for his family and he learned a lot of things that he can do to strengthen his relationship with his daughter.

Martes: Today I went on the LONGEST bus ride ever.... Well actually choir tour was longer, but I slept for most of that so it doesn't count. But I rode on that bus for 9 hours:P Gross.... And we had movies playing so that made it even harder... But now I know what I want to see when I get home;) But I came out with a few elders, and Hermanas Coles, Bigelow, and Mamani. Bigelow and Mamani are in my zone right now:) And my comp is super adorable. She ends her mission after this transfer and so she's going through mixed feelings right now. But she loves the work:) We were only able to go see one person due to time, but we found an Hermana named Soledad in her house with a friend named Eduardo. She made me a memela because I hadn't eaten all day and we taught them about Joseph Smith and invited them to baptism and they said yes:) I'm excited for the work here:)

Miercoles: Today I did more work than I have done in a long time. We had tons planned out and I loved it:) First we went to an investigator named Mary and her family. She has a fecha for October 25 and she is progressing really fast. Her family still has questions, especially her dad. He's catholic, but with the beliefs of a Jehovah's witness and a Baptist... A little hard to work with, but okay... Then we went to our comida and it was given by our investigator Silvia. She has been investigating the church for years and has been so ready for baptism for a really long time. I at first thought she was a member because she has tons of pictures from the church all over her walls. The only thing that's stopping her is that she's not married to her husband and he doesn't think marriage is necessary. But the food was awesome and we read with her a chapter in Mosiah to see how she can apply it to her life. Then we met Monika. She is a catholic and she’s  progressing a lot too. She just doesn’t know if she can be baptize because her husband doesn't know that she's interested in listening to our church. But we taught her about the spirit world after this life and invited her to the church for conference. Then we saw Dianna. She is 12 years old and is super smart. And her family loves when we come and read with them. We taught them about faith and read Alma 32 with them and invited them to conference as well.

Jueves: Today I think I showed off my Penelope side because I was sweating like a pig. It's so humid here!!!! First today we saw Adrianna, a less active. She wants to come back to church, but she doesn't want to come alone without her family. But we talked to her about the importance of the sacrament and she really enjoyed the fact that we can have that mini baptism every Sunday. Then we went over to have the comida, but the family completely forgot. They weren't even home... So we went over to the house of Hermana Fransisca and she quickly made us eggs and beans with homemade tortillas. That's what I love about this place. It's so small and tranquilo, but everyone makes tortillas por mano:) Then we saw Hermana Dulce, a less active as well. And we met her sister in law and taught them all about our Heavenly Father and why he loves us. I think they liked it, especially her kids. Then we passed by the house of one of our contacts... I can't remember how to spell his name so I'll call him Tamale Man because he makes tamales. But we went and taught him about our Heavenly Father as well and told him that we will help him stop drinking because he has that addiction. Then we saw Soledad again and talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. She told us she's going to start reading every day:)

Viernes: Today... It was hot again...:P..... But we went and saw Mary again. We talked to her about prayer and how she can receive answers from the spirit. She's really progressing. Then we went to the comida with a recent convert named Mary with the cutest little boy in the world:) We weren't able to share anything with her though because she was going to get her other son from school. So we went over to another less active named Jose Luis. We're trying to help him get over drinking too. We also saw a couple of other recent converts named Luz and Dalia and helped them understand the importance of Personal Progress because they are trying to do a few experiences. And they're going to teach me how to make piñatas:) We also saw Silvia again with Hermana Fransisca and read a chapter in Mosiah again. After that we had to go home because I wasn't feeling too good. And the heat made it worse :P

Sabado: Conferencia!!! And mi cumpleaños:) Today was so awesome because we got to hear our prophet and other leaders... In English:) And I found out that Hermanas Palominos and Sullivan are in my zone... They're from my generation of missionaries. But I was able to get so many things from the conference that I'm going to apply with our investigators. And I almost killed Palominos... She went to go buy ice cream for me in Sorianna for my birthday and she totally slipped on her knee and couldn't walk. And it was the funniest thing to see her and three other Hermanas trying to carry her across the street back to the church. But it was super sweet because the zone planned a surprise cake after the second session.... And I took the challenge to bite it... I got a lot of frosting on my face:)

Domingo: Today was really great too. Conference was awesome and I was able to receive a new bag that I have desperately needed for a really long time. Thanks family and all who put stuff in it:) Oh ya! And Mary came with us to conference. She was really excited to go. And we were able to see her and her family that night too:) We read from Enos about prayer and tried answering questions from her sister and dad... They have some really wild stories about the gospel and we still don't know where they are getting them... But we will work with them:)

Well that is my first week in Santa Maria. I hope you enjoyed:) Thanks again for the birthday wishes. And don't forget to read this week! This time we will read the first 10 chapters of Alma in a week.

Love y'all! Hermana Walker