Arrival to New Jersey and First P Day Letter ( conglomeration of 2 letters included in this post)
Well the last couple of days in the MTC were awesome!! Second to last night we had like 15 people move their mattresses into the main room and we had a huge sleep over I guess you could say. Also like 2 nights before that Elder Marz and I got 2 dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, soda, chocolate milk and a bunch of candy that was for a "party" from you and dad and Elder Marz parents too. We had so much, we told all the people in our house to get all the food and snacks they had left and to bring them into the main room! We had a huge feast and idk how but we ate it all! Soon I will get pics from one of the elders who got pictures! To be honest I kinda miss the MTC! Everything was handed to us there and we had set schedules.
Here in the field it is much different! It was tough the first couple days because the house I moved into was dirty and disorganized. So today we spent a while getting everything clean. Also the apartment I live in is above a bunch of stinky garbage so that was a little bit of an adjustment. But I have it easy here compared to many other missionaries! I am beyond grateful for you and dad and your example. P.S. Tell dad I also miss having a lawn. Almost no one has one here. We have 4 people now with baptism dates and my trainer said that is super good! My trainer is from Peru!!! So my Spanish should come really quick! We work hard all day long and we talk to tons of people in Spanish! I thought I would have a car but I'm in a walking area... Luckily a member donated this area bikes! I'm so blessed to have bikes!
The food here has been pretty good but I'm picky so I've had a couple meals I've had to work a little harder to keep down... Some people are willing to listen to us but there are also a lot who don't want to talk to us...
There is so many people here who drive really nice cars! BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, and many other nice cars! The buildings here in some areas are super old which is pretty cool! We have a new investigator named Isidoro and he is the perfect example of someone who was made ready for us by the lord.
(Second letter)
HI MOMMA! I love you and miss you! The first couple days were really hard. I've never felt so far from home! Everything here is so different! The people here are not as nice as at home but at least some people want to listen to us which makes all the rejections worth it! We actually have 4 people on baptism dates! I'm pretty sure I got all my packages! Thank you so much for the surprise box! It honestly got me through this week! I haven't gotten the huge box you are talking about tho with my winter coat, winter boots, etc. I noticed I have taken family for granted. I am beyond grateful for all of you!! I work with people every day who haven't had a family most of their life! I miss every person individually in our family! My screen saver on my I pad is of Henlee ;). Mesa is an amazing place to live especially where we live! I haven't even had 1 person say "hi elders!" And I was thinking I would get it a lot but I'm not even worried about it! Oh yeah today we went to Wal-Mart and I got all the food that I will need and toilet paper and detergent. I had an amazing idea to buy a George Forman grill thing so I got one for like 18 bucks! It works amazing and I am making food like I would at home! I got myself some Tony's seasoning also!
Yeah it was super crazy to see my relatives here. They actually live down the same street as me. I'm glad Taylor and David live close in case I need anything! This is the picture David took of Taylor and I when we literally bumped into each other on Thursday night at the ward building. I attend the Spanish ward and she meets in the same building for the English speaking branch.
So many people here are Catholic! So me and my companion were on our way home and passed a big Catholic Church and we decided to go in. It was huge!! There was like 12 people in there. My companion handed out some pictures of Jesus which was fun. We didn't do anything to start an uproar tho, cause I respect all religions.
I got to do laundry in a laundry mat today! That was pretty different. It's like $2.50 per load which is quite a lot! And they don't even provide detergent... Luckily the other companionship we live with had some. They are Portuguese missionaries.
I'm super excited to get those pictures Taylor has! And about the chickens, I always loved hatching the chickens! That brings back so many memories! I think about the family everyday and it's hard but I think of how I will be able to help other families receive the joy I have and come unto Christ. This mission will be and has been the hardest thing I have done in my life but I need to keep my head high.
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!
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