Wow. Do I have a lot to tell you all. COMO ESTA?!! Hopefully all is well on the homefront. So I live on a farm. Lamas, horses, camels....true new mexico. We live above a big house up a spiral staircase next to the horses. Haha..pretty funny. It is actually really pretty and there is more green where I live than any other place i hear. The Water is gross..i smell like blood/metal. Im getting used to it. I think ill have to buy a filter or something cuz it makes me a little sick. They say its cuz it has all these minerals in it and makes it taste/smell metallicy. I'll try to get som pics uploaded to you. So i guess i will start where we left off on the phone Monday...i got on the plane and sure enough i am sitting next to this big cowboy. hahaha...he is reading this magazine about horses so i start talking to him because i know i need to talk to EVERYONE..he is from Draper so i assume he knows about the LDS church. He orders coffee..i know he isn't a member or active member. So we start having a conversation...i turn it into a conversation about religion of course. Then he tells me he is Presbytarian..and i asked him about what he believes and sort of talked about how those beliefs are similar to what we believe...then he asked why I was going to NM and I told him I am a missionary etc..and he said so how long...told him a year and a half and he is like wow that stinks..thats like saying your going to live in Tuwilla(SP?) Utah for a year hahaha..anyways he knew how to pull at my weaknesses. I told him I believed I was going here for a reason etc...anyways nothing much came out of it other than I realized the reality of talking to real people who do not wan to listen to you for the first time!
So then on Monday we got off the plane were greeted by our Mission President and the APs taken to the Temple then the Mission Home and fed like the best homecooked food i've had in what seems like a really long time...then they took us out knocking in English areas..English is hard. The people really don't every want to listen to you. But the missionaries we went with were really cool, kind of helped me get over the fear of knocking doors a little. (Spanish People are way friendlier:)) We slept at the mission home then got our companions early the next morning. HERMANA COPE rocks..seriosly i am getting really lucky I will tell you that. She is always happy, always laughing, not afraid to talk to anyone, an amazing teacher with lots of good little tricks for kids and stuff. She has really good Spanish. BUT before me she had a companion from PEru who was trying to learn English so she would speak english to her and the companion would speak Spanish back. So I am working on trying to get her to speak Spanish to me ALL THE TIME. It is so so so easy to fall into English when we are talking to eachother.
We teach all in Spanish. Hit an English door..pass it onto the English missionaries. So my first lesson I think was with a woman named Noemi on Tuesday. She is the sweetest. Just won't come to church because her Husband is Catholic and won't let her. We taught her about the Spirit...how to listen how to recognize and how to feel. Probably one of the hardest things to tell someone how to do. But I could talk in Spanish and get my point accross. Wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. H. Cope and I work well together....so far. Always things we can be improving but I am so blessed really!!! Some of the stories she has told me..she has been house bound for 5 weeks with sick companions..she is a trooper!! Anyway Noemi has a daughter who has a daughter. But the daughter just leaves to be with her friends and is never around..She knows the Gospel is true I think. She has read and prayed we just can't get her to church. I am realizing how frusterating it is to pour your heart out to these people, see them feel something or realize something and becasue they are lazy or under circumstances that don't allow don't come to church or don't DO. Acting is the only way for people to know. I am actually serving in Bernalilo which is like the more ghetto part of Rio Rancho..more Spanish..more trailors haha:) I am so lucky..really. Thank you Mom and Dad for all you've done. I've talked to some pretty sick lonely people and am so grateful to have what I do. And most of all the Gospel...there are so many churches here and EVERYONE is Catholic. So to get them to listen to US to make them believe that we have something DIFFERENT is the hard part. But I think if we can get them to DO something to Read to Pray that is when the magic starts happening. I am in a very new Spanish Branch. It was just organized in July. And so Hna.Cope and I are going to find a family! We are. It is our goal. THe branch needs more people and this area is so spread out. Bernalilio is the part that is lacking. So we gots to find the Espanol:) On Saturday we were walking through this street of all these little houses totally like a mini mexico and ended up finding one woman with four children after a couple hours. Her Husband died 4 years ago and as she told us that she almost started to cry. We taught her about the Restoration but I kept trying to move it toward the Plan of Salvation. That is what she needs to understand..the logicality of such an incredible perfect plan that will allow to her to live with her husband and family forever! She works all week so we can never meet with her but we will try to find a way. And she goes to a Christian church I believe so doen't feel a need to change. I think if she reads the BOM she might find a need to change. But we will see.
I could go on and on but this may get boring..no se pero, really it is so cool to see when someone is really listening to you. When you can see in their eyes they are listening and they are searching for something. And then you can tell when the people are just being nice. I am learning how to realize when people are listening to me just to be nice and when they are truly listening. Hna Cope is helping me with that. Becuase seriously someone just inviting me into their house and letting me have a conversation about religion for a half hour sort of blows my mind. But they are out there. We just have to find them. Spanish people are so sweet. They talk so fast. And sometimes I only get the main ideas, enough to talk about the lesson. But, it will come. COnversation about the church is so much easier for me than normal conversation.,..that is what I need to work on. And some people are SO HARD to understand. But my companion rocks..she helps me through it. I always always need to take more risks. Not be afraid to speak up. Story of my life.. im getting better. And a mission is the farthest thing from comfortable. Also two blonde girls walkin around trailor parks not very normal..we are careful. Especially at night. We have a car AND BIKES. The only sisters with bikes:) I look like a total nerd riding a bike with a skirt and a helmet but hey i get some exercise and with with Mexican cooking ohhh...they eat the weirdest stuff. We went to a less actives for breakfast yesterday and they fed us dinner..like pork soup hahah and they LOVE butter:) Oh well. I can do it. I can eat it. I have to. Okay im running out of time. There is so much to say. THis place is crazy. And I hear the more southern I go the crazier it is. The less normal it is.
The Gospel is incredible. Its all about faith. Stepping into the unknown. Realizing I have to just keep making the best choicesI know how to. Saying what comes to my mind. Talking to those who I feel I should. And I will look back and see His hand in it all. TRust..even when it doesn't make sense. And a lot of things don't make sense yet. But they will.
Grandma Holland I tried to get a hold of you at the airport. They started calling our names on the intercom i had the wrong number. I love you and hope you got my letter.
Grandma G, thanks for the BDAY card. Love you so much!
Psychologically still trying to filter out normal life, memories, and adjust to my new life. But I know the Lord puts people in our life for a reason. And as a missionary puts us in certain places for a reason. As I keep trying to do my best I know i'll start to see it.
Oh we had to be in early for Halloween last night.
Hna Cope taught me how to make BREAD! FINALLY:) our house smelled so good. DOn't worry i'll get a pic with the lama!
Enjoy the pics of our bread making--that is the extent of my excitement aside from missionary work this week! Love you all. Remember if the missionaries need help teaching make time for them. The lesson we had with a member was so cool. It helps so much. It is hard to make time but can really make a difference!
TE AMO!
Hermana Holland
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