The White Night

HEY YALL

so apparently the rainy season is just starting here, and it gets pretty chilly and wet...hopefully at least it will lessen the heavy amount of dust. i also forgot my camera today so pictures will come next week. your camping trip looked super fun, i miss the beach. sometimes life is like camping here, but it isnt too bad. ive offered myself as a sacrifice to open up a sector of sisters in the jungle to president richardson,but we will see if he actually accepts (i doubt it).  we just had lunch at mcdonalds in the mall that looks alot like southpoint. i know i know im a spoiled sister missionary. 

Editor's notes on missionary slang for the unfamiliar:

daughter - a brand new sister missionary that the "mom" trains.  Kendra is Hna Garcia's "daughter".

Sister (training) leader - A new extra leadership responsibility given to certain Sister missionaries to look after the other Sister missionaries.  Kendra did this in the MTC and Hna Garcia is doing it now. It seems to involve going to lots of  extra meetings and going to the other sister's areas.  Similar to what the guy "zone leaders" do??

P-day - "Preperation day", the one day missionaries have free to write emails, shop, do laundry, etc.  Often on Mondays.

Transfers - A six week period of time.  Some missionaries get shuffled around to new areas or companions every 6 weeks, although not every missionary is effected each transfer.  Transfers will be next week and Hna Garcia is finishing her mission and going home, so Kendra will get a new companion.

Trunky - When missionaries who are soon going home think about going home.

BOM - Book of Mormon,   

THIS WEEK

so as always, life as the daughter of a sister leader is hectic. we only have tuesdays in our sector without meetings, pday, church or transfers. the biggest thing that happened this week was our "noche blanca"in the stake. we brought the baptismal clothes for everyone (14 baptims and 2 baptizers, luckily the other two elders have their own) and we asked every ward to bring a cake....we only ended up with 3 cakes but somehow it worked. our service was supposed to start at 3...and it started at 4.30. so yes, not much has changed with the south american view of time since you left. the white missionaries were deffinitely a little bit more worried about the time than everyone else. but its good because 3 of the converts didnt show up until 4. the baptismal font room is pretty small in the stake center, so we had everyone in the chapel and skyped the baptism to a projection screen. president richardson, his wife, his daughter, the APs and the secretaries all came. i arranged a special musical number for the missionaries to sing. it was a mix of i feel my saviors love, when i am baptized (the rainbow song) and nearer my god to thee. luckily a ward mission leader is quite the musical prodigy so i DIDNT have to play the piano. i did conduct however. i kind of felt like i was conducting a primary program ....but we got through it and no one seemed to notice that none of us have any musical ability. the baptisms went well....we only had two towels, but no one seemed to notice that either. after the service, it was hermana richardsons birthday so we sang to her and gave her a cake. she seemed to be pretty stoked. Anyways that was the white nite. WOO first baptisms! the family we baptized also invited a bunch of people. apparently the mom has a few more kids we didnt know about (some of whom may or may not be twins with the ones we baptized, no one kjnows for sure) and her parents (the kids grandparents) they all live in our sector and accepted a date for the 19th. this might just be the golden family that keeps on giving. weve had a little disobedience in the zone with a few of the latin elders, but no ones gotten sent home yet so we will see what happens. 

Transfers are this next monday and i will for sure be getting a new comp when hermana garcia flies home. shes getting a little trunky but nothing too bad. im learining more and more each day, including but not limited to..

...mission jergas (slang), normal jergas (including cuss words), how not to almost die on the bus, names of various tropical fruits and vegetables (and which ones i do/do not like, there are SO many) and the family relations in the ward. 

im sure i will learn more as this rainy season continues, but i guess we will really see how well prepared i was in wilmington for the rain. 

this week we have meetings pretty much all day (various consejos (councils) and verifications) but were pretty sure im gonna get a normal comp this next change so i can actually have a set schedule with studying and sleep.it will be a nice change...i hope. i also hope i get along with my next comp but you cant have it all. i just finished alma in my 90 day BOM challenge (hallelujah) and in a few weeks ill be starting it again in spanish. (we will see how that goes)

thats pretty much all for now.pictures next week for sure! (if i get to write, we well see how p day goes with transfers and all)  thanks for the love!  

hermana harlos

Why missionaries go home at 9:30 every night

This week:

chillin with the alley dog, beto (named by the local grandmas) 

hes a fluffier rebel with all 4 legs and yellow eyes. 

hes very sweet and very very dusty.

we had a pretty good week. last monday night we went to go teach a woman that we found street contacting last week. shes pretty heavy duty evangelical, but said we could come by to teach to help her drunk husband and wayward children. so we had this plan set up that we were going to pass by her house and knock on the door like we were just tracting and happened upon their house so he wouldnt get mad at her for inviting the missionaries. well we passed by at the agreed upon time but the husband wasnt there. she says we can come in anyway because she likes to hear about God and the bible. about 3 minutes in her husband shows up, pretty drunk and very confused as to why we were sitting on his couch. so we start talking and turns out he had some mormon neighbors growing up and actually thinks the church is pretty cool. so an hour and half later were teaching the restoration, first vision and all and hes all about it. he said (with out being asked) you know, monday is my drinking day, but ill stop drinking on mondays if you guys keep teaching me. HOLY TOLITO you should have seen the look on his wifes face. she couldnt believe that he agreed to this. but just like the rest of missionary work all good things must come to an end. the clock struck 9:30 and apparently when hermana garcia is disobedient she cant feel the spirit. and when she cant feel the spirit she cant teach. we kept on teaching and the last few principles of lesson were horrible. everything after the first vision just crashed and burned. but hopefully this week we can teach him again and get done before 9:30. 

I'm too tall for the doorways. it happens here quite often. 

Apparently 5´9" is gigantic for latinos

Another experience we had this week was with the oña family. its quite an interesting story they have. basically theres a mom and 5 kids. she only lives with the first 3 and they all have a different dad. the first dad ran off with the moms mom, and so the mom tried to committ suicide by pills, but had a vision during her unconcsious state and god gave her another chance to live and she took it. anyways so shes had the dads of all her kids leave her and she makes a living selling street food for 5 dollars a day. regardless of all this shes super nice and her kids are really cool too. her boss is a member and referenced her for us (i think i already told that story) but anyways. so we have been teaching them every day and they are SO stoked to get baptized this sunday. its pretty cool because its hermana garcias last baptism and my first. with a family of 4. its the mom, the son (his name is stalin, which still confuses me) who is 14 and two daughters who are 10 and 9. stalin is really cool but has been struggling in school because of some not so good friends of his. this week we bought him a white shirt and his mom got him some black pants and i have never in my life seen anyone so excited to go to church. he was going to go to a youth conference, but his school had some activity. anyways he has been our main focus lately and after their baptismal interviews on sunday (which they all passed) we went into the chapel and asked them to pray to gain a testimony. so hermana garcia called on stalin to give the prayer. so its the 6 of us kneeling in the chapel and he starts to pray. about half way through his prayer he just stopped and started crying. he stayed like that for 10 minutes. it was incredible to see someone have a life changing experience right in front of your eyess. apparently a few days ago a few of his friends asked him to go out drink with them, but he said no, im trying to follow christ and im getting baptized next week and just left. crazy huh?

then on saturday we did service for my FAVORITE family in our branch. well, one of my favorites. they are all pretty cool. they are from esmeraldas and the mom (ana maria) only got baptized last october. the dad isnt a member because he works out of town for like 2 weeks at a time and to get him to church and a baptismal interviews and lessons is impossible. anyways he still really likes the missionaries and hes really cool. so we went over to paint their house but it was also the sons 13th birthday. ana maria is an amazing cook and loves to feed the missionaries...alot. if i ever have enough money to open a restraunt im going to move her up to the states and have her teach the cooks how to make her food because i am in love with it. everything is sooo good. this week we had rice (of course. in ecuador its not lunch if it doenst have rice) and whole fresh fried crabs. and a bunch of other stuff for snacks but seriously these crabs. they were boiled/fried in some coconut based sauce. and her homemade lemonade and cakes and empanadas....yum. the son is the president of the deacons and kind of reminds me of sam. but yeah she fed the entire district until we were stuffed. shes the bomb. 

            ana maria trying to shove josés face in the cake

i hope i can stay in pusuqui/mitad del mundo for at least a few more months. 

this saturday we have a white night for the stake and we have 21 with baptismal dates. a few will probably fall through but still to have 15 baptisms with at least one from every ward is going to be SWEET. and super long. but totally worth it. 

basically im loving ecuador and never ever want to leave. ever. and i only have 4 weeks here. 

LOVE YALL

hermana harlos 

Photos in of Kendra coming ashore

getting our assignments from the mission President...herMAMA Garcia

On the equator with Hermana Garcia

This ones gonna be a little shorter. basically this week has been really good. we had one family show up to church and they are super stoked about it. and im super stoked for them. two months ago today i was on a plane to the mtc, and its crazy how fast time has flown. my spanish, my testimony, my famers/clarks tan, my hairs blonder, im pretty sure im fatter (but nobody knows for sure) and now i can eat 3 mamaitas in a row and not puke.

typical restraunt food. i wasnt expecting the whole fish. it also cost 3 dollars

a sign for cuy (fried gineau pig on a stick, very popular, not yet tried it)

I cant wait to see what the next 16 months has in store. 

One funny story this week was that one of the members sells empanadas and food on the side of the road in front of their house. we went to go stop by and eat some food, and two policemen roll up to eat as well. so were all eating at this picnic table and the two guys are pretty young and obviously interested in us. so they leave and we start going to knock doors on the same street. the show up in their car (obviously looking for us) and start asking us if we can have boyfriends, how old we are, etc. we tell them no, but the girl i was with (we were on splits) is a little trunky and only has two months left so the one guy gave her his number and facebook.....so that was interesting. first time ive gotten hit on by an ecuadorian policeman. 

Then today we went and saw some sweet (and probably fake) ruins 

 part of our zone at the templo de sol

 a very dusty view from the ruins (it was quite a hike)

and then ate at a chinese buffet in ecaudor called toronto. it was canada themed.....why there is a canadian themed chinese bufffet in ecuador i dont really know. but it was delicioussss. 

im also gong to send picture today!! yay!!!!

puppies and girls, such joy

Ariels baptism (although he has yet to be confirmed) 

the little kids in our alley LOVE stickers and candy. alot. and white people, and funny faces

A family we ate with. the son (second to the left) just got back from his mission last month.
he reminds me alot of kyle.  They're a cool family.

 Another fluffy pile of love at a members house and their family. the littlest girl is my spirit animal.
The second we got in the house she grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs to show me her very pink room. 

They had an old school nintendo so we played the original mario brothers. it was a good time.

Thats all for now. LOVE YOU GUYS see  you in 16 months!

On bus rides and puppies

Editor's question to Kendra - What is a "mamita"?

yeah so a mamita is a lunch appointment with various members. some people do it every week, and some once a month.

ONTO MY LIFE. well life in ecuador is starting to be more normal. the other day on the way to church the bus was flying (+100 kmh) and there was a nice man and flute duet of that cher song (i think) from the titanic. you know like "here, far wherEVVERRR you are" in spanish, and the bus driver really trusts this bus so he whips it around the turn and im pretty sure we went on two wheels. i was also standing between a woman breastfeeding, somone selling bananas and a drunk man. i would say that pretty much sums up ecuador. theres alot of american influence but its all like 10 years too late. 

we had our first baptism this week, although it doesnt really count for us. it was in the ofelia ward (like 2 sectors over from us) but its a closed sector so we had to teach him his last few lessons (i think i talked about this last time, the kind of weird old guy) and it was a pretty good baptism. but it was cool to see my first one. we also have 2 people with baptismal dates in our sector right now (although neither of them showed up to church on sunday). the work is progressing slowly but surely, but i guess thats the way things go when you open a sector. one of our mamitas this week is a sweet black lady from esmeraldas (the beach town) and her food was AWESOME. apparently the best food is out there. and my trainer gained like 50 pounds in her 8 months there. this woman was baptized with her two kids last year and just got called to be the second counselor in the relief society. her fried plantains are to die for. 
another thing i love about ecuador is the PUPPIES. so. many. puppies. we went and visited an inactive family and they had 4 little puppies that were only like 2 weeks old. (the also have about 10 other dogs, cats and chickens but thats beside the point) seriously the cutest puppies i have ever seen. or at least thats what i thought. our mamita yesterday is this german family who somehow ended up here in ecuador and theres a bunch of people that are somewhat related. their son is serving in germany right now and hes the first person to ever serve a full time mission in germany from ecuador. theres also a german serving here in ecuador and somehow or another his aunt is best friends with this lady. (it really is a small world in the church). she wants to know what part of germany our family is from...i had no idea. so if you could figure that out that would be great. anyways they have half dalmation half boxer puppies that are around a month old and i wanted to take them all. theres about 7 of them and they are the sweetest, most ferocious puppies of all time. im really bummed cause i cant send pñictures right now. were in quito because we had to go to the office and i left my camera chord in mitad del mundo. maybe next week. 
im trying to think of what else happened this week. missionary work is kind of weird. time doesnt really exist and the days all run together. theres so much to do and your always late to things, but somtimes theres nothing to do. its especially hard when your trainer is the sister trainer and your always on divisions. but its pretty fun. we also went and ate chifa (editors translation: Chinese food) this week. it was a somewhat sketchy half chifa half beach food place but it was way good and the inca kola....YUM. i think im addicted. we had a really powerful lesson with a part member family. the mom and kids are super active but the dad is way smart and is having a hard time trying to gain faith. anyways so we had a lesson with them and the bishop and his wife and us. the bishop apparently felt the same way back in the day and shared his testimony. it was pretty good. so much happens every day its hard to write it all or even think of it. sorry if this is totally scatter brained and makes no sense....but thats my life. 
i guess ill tell you the story of rocío. so we were on divisions, and i was with the quadrilingual sister whos wayy coool. we were out contacting after a lesson with an inactive family, and we werent having too much luck. so we sat down to take a break and decided to pray. after we prayed we started walking and about 10 minutes later we turn the corner and theres this shoe shop with only womens leather boots. like super high heeled SWEET boots. i was like okay okay we will just go look and see if they have any that are missionary appropriate (there wasnt) but we started talking to the girl thats working. shes telling us about her life in columbia and how she came here to work and ended up teaching the restoration right then and there. she was so down with everything we explained and accepted a return appointment. the next day we stopped by and ended up teaching the plan of salvation. she also accepted a baptismal date. the only problem is shes living with her boyfriend and they want to get married but theres some problem with her immigrations status so they cant right now. hopefully it can get resolved because she is sooo cool. it was just a really good feeling to know that the spirit brought us into her life and that shes prepared and open. it seems like pretty much everyone here is a part member family with a husband that for whatever reason doesnt really wanna either get baptized or come back to church. its a bummer because we have enough people to make a new branch in mitad del mundo but there isnt enough preisthood support to make it a functional branch. but thats our goal and we can just work as hard as we can to achieve it.  
another thing that happened this week was a big soccer game between ecuador and colombia. colombia won by one point and everyone was super bummed after. i cant wait to see what its gonna be like during the world cup. today for p day our zone had an activity where we made pancakes and played dodgeball. but instead of dodgeball we used toilet paper rolls wrapped in packing tape. (i guess because its safer?) things like that are the essence of ecaudor. they dont have much sense, but somehow it works. thats pretty much it for now, i hope to be able to send pictures next wekk (i have alot). also shout out to sister hagan for sending me a dear elder. (first mail in ecuador) i PROMISE i will send some snail mail next week as well. (its things like snailmail and shopping that we never seem to have time for) oh and theres also a high chance that after my trainer leaves at the end of this transfer i will be training because they dont have enough sisters to train the new ones coming in. almost every sister is training right now, so we will see in 4 weeks. 

peace love and ecuadorian blessings

hermana harlos

News from "The Middle of the World"

WHAT A WEEK. 

i dont even know where to start. 

so we flew in and went to the presidents house which was WAY nice. it was all like marble and stuff in this really nice apartment complex. they had a fancy dinner set up for all of us coming in, there were 22 new kids. only 3 white people though. in fact, over 80 percent of the mission is latin. and theres only 5 white sisters right now...so im pretty lucky to be here. after the dinner we had a testimony meeting with all the new kids. then on wednesday we had an all day training session that was like a mini mtc. the did it mostly because the latin missionaries were only in the mtc for 2 weeks and they had to go over mission specific rules. and we had to go get registered as volunteer aliens or whatever at the government office and that took about 3 hours. 

then on thursday we got our first assignments! the presidents wife made these pictures things with our qualities we wanted to develop and our favorite colors. they called us all up one at a time and then announced our trainers and zones and areas (they are called sectors here). my trainer is named sister garcia, and shes a very small guatemalen woman on her last transfer. apparently she had been praying to finish her mission as a trainer, for a gringa, in pusuqui, where she started her mission. when they first brought in all of the trainers to the meeting apparently she saw me and immediately said thats going to be my last daughter (shes already trained 7). lo and behold, they call up sister garcia for me. she was so stoked, but it was an awkward first hug to say the least. 

so we are in the ofelia zone/stake in the pusuqui ward BUT its a big area so they just split it into two sectors. my sector is oficially called san antonio but its better known by mitad del mundo and wouldnt you know it, the equator is a five minute walk from our house! many pictures to follow.  (Editors note: "mitad del mundo" translates as "middle of the world", here's a photo from the web as Kendra couldn't send any yet)

Mitad del Mundo monument on the equator

there are 8 sisters/4 companionships in our zone (2 companionships in each district). so after transfer meeting we all got in a taxi and went to the first sisters house. there are two sets there, and the view is AMAZING. we went (all 8 of us) to our first mamita. Instead of dinner here, they feed you lunch and its called a mamita. this specific mamita was ever so kind to feed all 8 of us and it was delicious. later on we had to call another member to take the 4 of us that dont live there to our house about 45 minutes away. the  3rd set of sisters live in one half of the ward and we live on the other half in mitad del mundo. so since technically we are opening a sector we have a new house, which is pretty big. its got a big kitchen, study area, dining area, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Its a very interesting place. some things are very nice like the tile in the bathrooms/floor and the appliances, but somethings are a little bit more sketchy like the cielings are all plywood and the showers are just heated by electric shower heads. (i.e. not very well) we also got there right as the sun was going down, but surprise there were only 2 lightbulbs. so we had to go out and buy some light bulbs, toilet paper, and food just enough to last us until p-day. we also had to start a new area book (called carpetá de area). after we did those two things it was already time for bed. it gets pretty cold at night here, but our blankets are good enough. getting out of bed is the hard thing. 

then on friday we had district meeting. our district leader is a white guy from utah who doesnt have too much going on upstairs and probably said bueno 50 times in the lesson. there also and elder from the san francisco area but both his parents are latino, so hes not too gringo. We ride the bus...alot....with what seems like all of ecuador on the bus, breastfeeding, selling things, sleeping, etc. all the busses are different on the inside, but they seem to have a pretty regular schedule and route. each ride is about 25 to 35 cents depending on where you  are going. we get 90 dollars every 15 days, so its not too bad. food and housing and gas is really cheap here, but clothes are pretty expensive. i dont really get their economy, but i try to not ask too many questions. some busses are tricked out on the inside with fringe and various depictions of jesus/other saints and any amount of detail of fake wood/flames / whatever design they wanted to do that day. you never really know what your going to get. 

after district meeting we started doing some street contacting. since its a new sector with no area book and we hadnt been to church yet, we didnt know any members, have any references or know our way around. so we just started walking and the first person we contact, SURPRISE! member. we went to go see an investigator whos a 60 year old woman named rosa with about 10 teeth and wayy long black hair. she wants to get baptized but is waiting for her significant other to get a divorce so they can get married and hence get baptized. shes way nice though and her kids are all baptized. the youngest is like 11 and the oldest is 30 or so. 

later that night we went on divisions (splits) with hermana muir (from the mtc) and her trainer hermana quizhpe. hermana garcia (or as i call her, my herMAMA, im so funny) is the sister trainer so usually we go on splits, but since it was only our second day for both muir and i we just went as four. we went to go teach this family, but on the way there we had to get off the bus and take a taxi because it was a little bit of a dangerous area and it was dark. so we were already late for our lesson, and there were NO open taxis. eventually one stops with a woman inside and shes like "hermanas get in". turns out to be a member who let us hop in her taxi and paid for us too. the members here are seriously so amazing but more on that later. 

so we go into this lesson and its a young family with one daugher whos about 5 and the moms sister and her kid whos also like 4 or 5. so its 3 adults, 4 missionaries and 2 kids. their whole house is a kitchen and one other room with two twin beds, a tv, and a makeshift closet. the moms sister and her kid were only visiting, but it would still be tough to live in basically one room as a family. they were way nice though and progressing really well. they are also just waiting to get the paper work to get married so they can get baptized. 

then on saturday we had to go to ofelia for our mamita. its about a 45 minute bus ride. we get off the bus and its this WAY steep hill like steeper than the top of stateside and its way long and my comp says "see that house wayyyy  up there? start walking." it didnt end up being that bad and the view at the top of the hill was also amazing. the couple is a newlywed couple who are pretty well off and still in the newlywed stage. he served his mission in argentina and they just got married last year. every mamita has rice, a mixed vegetable salad of peas, carrots, corn, other mystery vegetables and mayonaise, and a mystery juice drink. but boy is it good. im pretty sure ill get fat here, but we will see. we dont really eat dinner and theres alot of walking. i havent been too sore yet though. 

so we came back to our sector to do some more contacting and met a few cool people. also passed by a house with a sign that said carolina. i didnt even notice it and my companion stops and starts yelling "california california!" it took me a minute but i finally realized what she was talking about. she also has some trouble with my name, but shes getting better. then later that night we had to go back to ofelia to meet with an investigator with a baptismal date for this sunday. they pulled the missionaries out of the ofelia sector of the ofelia stake because the members werent helping with the missionaries or feeding them or anything so this is their punishment. 

anyways so hes a single guy whos about 50 and we could NOT find anyone to go with us. (Editors note: missionaries aren't allowed to teach or even go inside the house with a single person of the opposite sex unless there is another person present, not counting the 2 missionaries who are always together anyway.)

so finally we decided we were going to go get him and take him to an FHE of a family one ward over. we go in and he runs a little sketchy herbalife smoothie shop in the front 30 squarefeet of his appartment. there was a family in there with a mom and so we were like okay well go in and then just leave whenever they are done. well appaarently this is a 10 course smoothie dinner on plastic picnic chairs and plastic little ottomans with the dad, a breast feeding mom (to a kid who was eating the fruit and granola as well) and a 9 yearold. so we start talking and ask if we can share a spiritual thought. they say yes and we start to do our thing. my trainer and i werent totally on the same page and in the middle of it the breastfeeding 3 year old LOSES IT and starts screaming. absolutely no one is listening and it was just a trainwreck. the family leaves and its just us and the old guy and were back at square one. 

we had to go sit out on the side walk but it is what it is. so were talking to him to see where hes at and hes telling us about how he wants to go to the other ward because theres a 20 year old that hes in love with and hes going to another church and has NO idea what the restoration is and its just bad news  bears. apparently the elders who were teaching him before werent doing so well. so we just get out as fast as we can and get home at like 10 oclock. whoops.. we arranged to have a church tour with him the next day to see if we can salvage any sembelance of a progressing investigator. 

so then on sunday we show up at church and theres this mid-60s year old lady who comes up and just hands us a bag. she had knit both of us scarves (thank heavens cause it gets real cold on the bus at night) and apparently regularly gives hand knit gifts to the missionaries. she also was wearing almost everything she had knit herself. since my trainer had already served in this ward over a year ago everyone was way excited to see her. 

like i said before the members here are AWESOME. they would do anything for the missionaries with no questions asked. i think alot of them are converts and so they feel a special connection with the missionaries. i have never recieved so many hugs in my life. they are all super imprssed with my spanish but sometimes its tough to understand anyone over the age of 50 or with any particular accent or speach impediment. also impossible to talk on the phone, but that will get better (i hope). its tough to understand english on these phones though too so we will see. back to church....during relief society (sociedad de sucorro, or called suck-suck by the members) the sisters were literally arguing over who got to feed the missionaries. i cannot explain the passion they have for us and for missionary work. 

after church we were all standing in the hallway and one of the other missionaries passes out boom right in the hallway. so shes out cold and everyone starts freaking out. shes like convulsing and all sorts of craziness. they move her into the relief society room and she starts to wake up. they sit her up and chair and start to give her a blessing and she starts vomiting and it just a bad situation. so the 4 of us sisters (the sick one carried out by some of the elders) hop in the back of a midsized hatchback sedan, with the sick one going in and out of conciousness, convulsing and dry heaving and the bishop takes off. if theres one person i trust to drive in an emergency in ecuador, its the bishop. they do not mess around about driving down here. i mean we were just flying through red lights and the other sisters are crying but i was just like...i mean what can we do about it. so we get to the hospital and shes complaining of chest pains and all sorts of crazy stuff. aparently the last few nights she had been vomiting up blood but well get to that later. so my trainer goes into the e.r. with her and so its me and another new girl from guatemala and the bishop. we had to call the mission nurse and the  mission president and its just all sorts of crazy. finally the bishop is like, your mamita is waiting and theres not much you can do here, so we will take you two greenies to the mamita (we had been fasting for 30 hours by this point) and then take you back. 

i have to write the mission president before  6 so ill finish in a minute in another email 

Part 2

so we went to go eat with the mamita (who was also so gracious and cariñoso) and she packed food for my trainer and the nurse too. we got back to the hopsital and they all ate and left again. 

that night we had our church tour with our investigator. we started out with the classrooms and stuff like that and we get to the painting of christ in the garden of gethsemane and my companion asks, what is the atonemtent? he had no clue. i was like there is no way this guy is gonna get baptized in 7 days. so we explain it and he totally got it right away. we were asking inspired questions and spitting out scriptures right and left. our mojo was on POINT. he also didnt know anything of tithing, word of wisdom or law of chastity but we were able to explain it all clearly and he was down with all of it. totally a golden investigator once we were able to get the spirit involved. the elders didnt arrive until 8 for his baptismal interview so we were just hanging out with some of  the members who were  waiting for something else (i dont really know what). again, they were so nice and i was able to have like a 45 minutes conversation with a couple who used to live in new jersey near ocean city. (they didnt realy speak much english though, it was all in spanish) my spanish is getting so much better. i bet in only 2 transfers ill be able to understand and communicate (correctly) whatever it is that i need to say. 

so the DL finishes up the interview and he was totally good to go. we start to walk out and the elders are like....oh the busses stop running at 8 on sunday. so its nine oclock and were a 30 minute bus ride away from our apartment......great. luckily the first 4 sisters lived only a five minute walk away from the church so we tell the DL, eitheir you can pay 10 dollars for our taxi or approve us to sleep over with the others. so there we were walking to their appartment. oh man what a sleepover.  we made all sorts of food and if you put 6 sisters in one room with mattresss all pushed together you are gonna have a good time. all of the sisters are seriously so cool and we all get along really well. there are two from guatemala, one from ecuador who speaks english, spanish, french and chinese (fluently) and 2.5 gringas. muir and i are the two and then theres one whos parents are latino but grew up in california and doesnt really speak too much spanish. 

then today was p-day and we just went grocery shopping and to mitad del mundo and cleaned. we have to wash everything by hand so the two guatemalans did that while we swept and mopped, etc. it worked out pretty well. we cleaned their place this morning and since our house has the best washing...stone? rock? sink? they brought their clothes over here. everything goes so much better when everyone works together. then we went to  mitad del mundo and now were here! 

its been a great week and i cant imagine what the next year and a half are going to be like. Smell ya later. 

hna harlos