Week 52! "A Blast From the Past"

From 1/19/15

Okay, well. I´m afraid to send pictures because my companion just did and the computer somehow erased all 2000 pictures she had on her camera (from throughout her mission, AND this is her last cambio)...:0 So now I don´t know if I will. :p

Where do I start? ....

Ahhh yeah.

The more I think about being here, the less deserving I feel. In every sector I get changed to, I always go in asking the Lord what He would have me do. And usually He orients me to know clearly what behaviors I need to take on, how to adjust, and how to work. But, in this case, I don´t know what the Lord wants me to do. I feel adjusted to the climate (as in I don´t get tired so fast like the first few days), and the people are just so friendly, (direct), and open. But...maybe it´s because I´m put with another Hermana lider who is a good worker, has time here, and a lot of experience....I don´t feel like I´m "adjusting" to my missionary role here as I should. I feel more like I´m being led, rather than leading. But, it´s true, I need to work hard and trust the Lord to lead me.

Pretty much, this sector is like a BLAST FROM THE PAST!!! I don´t know if it´s because Dad is in my head all day, thinking of what his mission experience entailed when he was here, or because of the little reasons it appears like we´re living in the 80´s. jaja For example:

FANS. Every home (including ours) has outdated ventilating fans blowing in the living room or kitchen.

KIDS. There are many who run around almost naked or in shorts and play in water using...water hoses!!!! jeje

SHORTS. Yes, it´s true. Full grown adults still wear stylish 80´s Bermuda shorts around town....

CARS. They are old. Remember the first car our family ever owned?....yep.

I feel far from mission life civilization. Now I can see why President is always strict with the missionaries who come here. The Hermanas who have been sent here is the recent months have done a good job, but there is still a little "confidence building" to do with some of the members.

Well, I´ll have more experiences to share as I begin to know more of the people. I feel that we´ve worked really hard this week....but I realize the adversary won one day when we were trying to get to a cita [appointment].

Okay, to paint a little bit of a picture:

The streets are mostly dirt and get really soft and slippery when it´s wet. One morning, we left the house a little early to make it to a cita at 9 am (oh btw Ash, here we study 8-10a, then return home at 8pm to have the last hour of study. It´s the policy for the coast to come home early). Kay, back to the story. :p

Well, it was raining that morning and we did all that we could to step around all the mud puddles in the streets. We got to a small big fairly steep hill that we needed to climb to get to the investigator´s house. Hna F was wearing flat shoes and, as we climbed, the mud stuck to the bottom and sides. A few steps ups, she had more mud than shoe!! We struggled to get even a couple feet up the hill, because every time we took a step we would SLIIIIIIIIIDE. It was intense. I just didn´t want to end with a skirt plastered in mud, but we fought our way up that slope! ....until we decided that it was impossible for the time limit we had to do it in! We carefully baby-stepped-it back down and looked back to see slide marks about 2-3 feet long all down the side of the slope....yep. That was us. :P

Also, the church we go to is built right off the main road. The first time I stepped foot through the outside gate, there was an air of "familiarity". There is an air of familiarity in a lot of things I am seeing and doing here. It´s kind of cool. It makes me wonder....about stuff.

But anyway, it's not just about walking the steps that Dad made here not long ago, but maybe even like an ancestral environment for my mission....or maybe I´m just confusing it with the humidity. jeje Either way, it´s a good environment to be in.

I love humidity!!! I love sweating!!! I love that I have to turn the fan on level 3 at night or it´s too hot and thick to sleep! I love that we found a little white salamander in our bathroom one day, and a line of little ants eating a cockroach the next!!  I love that we have no running water in our house so we have to go downstairs to fill a pail of water from the well! I love that the people here just kinda stare at us when we´re talking with them because they are so focused on our accents jaja ("DIGA"). I love that they speak so differently and leave out a lot of letters in their pronunciation...for example "pescado" is pronounced "pecao". And say "diga" a lot which is like "tell me" [it actually translates better to "you know"]. It´s just.....paradise. It just makes me really happy to be here :) Like really.

I just hope to do what the Lord needs me to do here.

I love each and every one of you :) Take care and hopefully I won´t be scared to send pictures next week :P

Hna Fernelius