Dear Momsicle, Popsicle and friendsicles,
This week has flown by. I am realizing that a mission is really good for me. I am learning lots and loving it. Entonces... let´s dig in.
On Saturday we went to a city called Haural to contact, teach inactive members and investigators. We went by bus and it was a 2.5 hour drive. I would be interested to know how many miles away it actually is. I believe it is actually not that far but the traffic in the city is awful. I cannot believe it--I´m not sure if there is any place in the US to compare it to. Possibly WA DC. Mom you would like all the honking that goes on. :) It is a bit out of control. The best part of the drive was when we drove along the ocean. It was absolutely
beautiful. At some points we could not see the ocean because of the mist/fog, but when we did see it I just smiled with glee. The road was pretty treacherous--two lanes with a sand mountain on one side and a drop off with the ocean on the other. I am not sure how fast we were going since the speed here is measured differently. I think it was around 35 mph. It was an exciting drive...
Saturday was a really neat day. We walked around the city with a member from the area. We visited people and I got to share my testimony and beliefs at every home. I tried to ask questions and we invited lots of people to church on Sunday. It was really a neat experience. My shoes were completely covered in dirt by the end of the day. The people here live in very simple houses. We visited an inactive member and she was so welcoming. We sang her favorite hymn at the beginning, "Count Your Many Blessings" and she was so touched that she just cried through the whole hymn. She had the cutest little boy I just wanted to pick up and kiss. He did kiss me when we left which was sooo cute. What wasn´t so great was the father also gave me a cheek/air kiss.....No bueno. OOPS! I was so caught off guard I did not even know what to do. In this culture men and women greet each other with kisses so I´m sure he thought nothing of it, but I was soo surprised. Not exactly ok for a sister missionary. But I have repented and next time will make sure I only greet with a handshake.
Any ways, besides this and a few other shocking experiences (such as a man answering the door in his underwear), it was a typical day in the life of a missionary...Or so I think. I realized we gave away three
Book of Mormons and this is how many I have given away in my whole life I am pretty sure. How great is that! I love The Book of Mormon. My life is put into the proper perspective when I read it. I feel the peace and calm that comes from having the Spirit in our lives. When I gave it to people, I really felt like I was giving a gift. I loved getting to meet so many new people and just soak in the culture here. People are so friendly and everyone said hi when we walked down the street. I learned to say ¨"buenas dias" only for the morning greeting. I kept saying it in the afternoon and Hna Catu thought this was hilarious. I am not sure what percent I understood of what people said, but it took all my focus to figure the gist of every situation.
On Saturday we went to a city called Haural to contact, teach inactive members and investigators. We went by bus and it was a 2.5 hour drive. I would be interested to know how many miles away it actually is. I believe it is actually not that far but the traffic in the city is awful. I cannot believe it--I´m not sure if there is any place in the US to compare it to. Possibly WA DC. Mom you would like all the honking that goes on. :) It is a bit out of control. The best part of the drive was when we drove along the ocean. It was absolutely
beautiful. At some points we could not see the ocean because of the mist/fog, but when we did see it I just smiled with glee. The road was pretty treacherous--two lanes with a sand mountain on one side and a drop off with the ocean on the other. I am not sure how fast we were going since the speed here is measured differently. I think it was around 35 mph. It was an exciting drive...
Saturday was a really neat day. We walked around the city with a member from the area. We visited people and I got to share my testimony and beliefs at every home. I tried to ask questions and we invited lots of people to church on Sunday. It was really a neat experience. My shoes were completely covered in dirt by the end of the day. The people here live in very simple houses. We visited an inactive member and she was so welcoming. We sang her favorite hymn at the beginning, "Count Your Many Blessings" and she was so touched that she just cried through the whole hymn. She had the cutest little boy I just wanted to pick up and kiss. He did kiss me when we left which was sooo cute. What wasn´t so great was the father also gave me a cheek/air kiss.....No bueno. OOPS! I was so caught off guard I did not even know what to do. In this culture men and women greet each other with kisses so I´m sure he thought nothing of it, but I was soo surprised. Not exactly ok for a sister missionary. But I have repented and next time will make sure I only greet with a handshake.
Any ways, besides this and a few other shocking experiences (such as a man answering the door in his underwear), it was a typical day in the life of a missionary...Or so I think. I realized we gave away three
Book of Mormons and this is how many I have given away in my whole life I am pretty sure. How great is that! I love The Book of Mormon. My life is put into the proper perspective when I read it. I feel the peace and calm that comes from having the Spirit in our lives. When I gave it to people, I really felt like I was giving a gift. I loved getting to meet so many new people and just soak in the culture here. People are so friendly and everyone said hi when we walked down the street. I learned to say ¨"buenas dias" only for the morning greeting. I kept saying it in the afternoon and Hna Catu thought this was hilarious. I am not sure what percent I understood of what people said, but it took all my focus to figure the gist of every situation.
The first person we taught I was able to understand quite a bit of which was really fun. I think I usually get the general idea, but sometimes I am not exactly sure if I just turned the words into what I want to hear. Slowly but surely I am understanding more espanol. THANK HEAVENS I am learning Spanish. Truly, I am so thankful to learn this language. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to learn a language like Flemish that sounds nothing like English. I can say a word in English and often times we can figure out the Spanish word.
Hermana Catu is a great companion-- she has a lot of enthusiasm for the gospel and is good about letting me talk in our practice teaching appointments. We are very different from each other--- it is hard to know what are personality differences and what are culture differences. Hna Salmon and I have such similar ideas about study and time and teaching so it is very different to be with a companion who has opposite ideas. Sometimes I think that I must not have understood what she said in Spanish, but then I realize nope! I understood it's just a different idea. This is a good growing experience for me. :) We only have one week left together because she will go to the field (a name in Peru that I have no idea how to spell...Piuda?) and I will get a new companion. One thing I have realized is that even when we cannot easily communicate using words, there is a feeling that exists between us. I try to always keep this a positive loving feeling instead of a distant isolated feeling....which can happen when it´s hard to understand the words she says or when it´s hard to understand why she does things differently. I am glad though that both of us like to laugh and we both love the gospel.
I am overwhelmed by the lifestyle here. Last Pday, I taught all the Latinos in the laundry room how to use the washer and dryer. None of them had ever used a washer/dryer and had no idea how to use it. Hna Catu was sooo funny about it. She wanted to prewash her clothes in the sink first and then she insisted that we separate her whites, lights, and darks. I know this is good practice to separate your clothes, but what was funny about it was that she just had about 3-4 pieces of clothing in the lights and darks. I think her clothes were really clean in the end though. I felt completely overwhelmed though. I did not know whether to laugh or cry about the whole experience. I chose to laugh.
On Pday here we get to ride the bus to the temple and to the grocery store, Totus. Totus is similar to Walmart. This is really interesting because all of the foods I am used to are very expensive. But Hna
Salmon and I found oreos!! I also bought some kind of banana chip things and a few other things I needed. The bus ride is an adventure in and of itself!
Hermana Catu is a great companion-- she has a lot of enthusiasm for the gospel and is good about letting me talk in our practice teaching appointments. We are very different from each other--- it is hard to know what are personality differences and what are culture differences. Hna Salmon and I have such similar ideas about study and time and teaching so it is very different to be with a companion who has opposite ideas. Sometimes I think that I must not have understood what she said in Spanish, but then I realize nope! I understood it's just a different idea. This is a good growing experience for me. :) We only have one week left together because she will go to the field (a name in Peru that I have no idea how to spell...Piuda?) and I will get a new companion. One thing I have realized is that even when we cannot easily communicate using words, there is a feeling that exists between us. I try to always keep this a positive loving feeling instead of a distant isolated feeling....which can happen when it´s hard to understand the words she says or when it´s hard to understand why she does things differently. I am glad though that both of us like to laugh and we both love the gospel.
I am overwhelmed by the lifestyle here. Last Pday, I taught all the Latinos in the laundry room how to use the washer and dryer. None of them had ever used a washer/dryer and had no idea how to use it. Hna Catu was sooo funny about it. She wanted to prewash her clothes in the sink first and then she insisted that we separate her whites, lights, and darks. I know this is good practice to separate your clothes, but what was funny about it was that she just had about 3-4 pieces of clothing in the lights and darks. I think her clothes were really clean in the end though. I felt completely overwhelmed though. I did not know whether to laugh or cry about the whole experience. I chose to laugh.
On Pday here we get to ride the bus to the temple and to the grocery store, Totus. Totus is similar to Walmart. This is really interesting because all of the foods I am used to are very expensive. But Hna
Salmon and I found oreos!! I also bought some kind of banana chip things and a few other things I needed. The bus ride is an adventure in and of itself!
Believe it or not, I have found myself missing random foods here. Like E.L. Fudge cookies, rainbow chip frosting, and teddy grahams....I cannot find them here and they are mine and Hna Salmon´s favorite. I think I´m going to pull out the peanut butter from my bag. A whole month without peanut butter may be my limit. :)
I am thankful to be serving a mission. This is the neatest experience. I am astounded all the time that I am actually on a mission!
Love,
Hermana Garlock
I am thankful to be serving a mission. This is the neatest experience. I am astounded all the time that I am actually on a mission!
Love,
Hermana Garlock
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