Week Nineteen: A Week of Firsts

Me with Chris and Stephanie. I love them!

Area: Littlerock Spanish Branch
Companion: Hermana Gonzalez

Another week, another email. This week marks the end of the transfer, and I guess that the big news of the week is that I am getting transferred! I think that I will miss this area. The people here are really special. More about that later in the letter.

This week has been really interesting. We have talked to a lot of interesting people and done a lot of interesting things. I am still being introduced to the food of the people who I am serving here. It's kind of funny. We were having dinner with one of the members here and we were telling her about all of the food that I haven't tried yet. She asked me why I hadn't and I told her that there weren't a lot of Latino people in Missouri. She told me that I had no excuse because I have been here for almost five months. This week, I tried my first pupusa (I am not sure if that's how you spell it). We went to a dinner with a member and she gave us mangoes for dessert. At that point, I realized that I don't really know how to eat mangoes. It ended up okay. I just looked at Hermana Gonzalez and followed her moves. I end up doing that a lot during dinners when we are eating strange foods, and I think that she has started to notice because she starts giggling when I do it. 

This week, we have been trying to find more quality people to teach. In addition, we don't have a lot of miles to drive on our car, so we have been walking a lot. I officially got my first California sunburn. It wasn't that bad, but I think that it is a bad sign for the times ahead. One morning, we were knocking on doors in an area where we hadn't been before. At one of the houses, a man opened the door just a crack and poked his head out. We asked him how he was doing and he replied, "I'm naked". I guess that he must have seen the strange looks on our faces because he said quickly, "just kidding". We talked to him a little bit, but he wasn't really interested and he kept saying strange things, so we asked him if we could leave him with a card. When he opened the door to grab the card, we could see a little bit more inside the house. That was when we discovered that he wasn't really kidding when he told us that he was naked. Awkward!

This week, we had an exciting event. Before all of the departing missionaries go home, they go down to the Los Angeles temple for the day. The one of the Hermanas from the other side of Palmdale is going home this week, so her companion, Hermana Van der Toolen came over and stayed with us for the day. It was really interesting being in a trio instead of just having one companion. It was really awkward because we didn't know who was going to say what or when we should say it. Trio life is weird.

Later that night, we got our transfer calls. I am leaving and Hermana Gonzalez is staying. The exciting part is that I am not going very far away. I am going to be going to the Esperanza Ward in. . . the other side of Palmdale. I am still going to be in the same zone and the same stake as this transfer. My new companion is going to be Hermana Van der Toolen. I am really excited to be going to a new area and meeting new people, but I am sad that I will not be here with the people who I have met and the members here. I love the people in this area and I feel like I have been learning so much about Spanish and the Gospel here. I will miss the dirt roads and giant pit bulls of Littlerock, but I think that I will be going to a place where I am needed.

Well, that is it for this week. Nothing really big happened, but I bet next week is going to be really interesting. I love being a missionary and getting to love the people in this area. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and for the love of my Heavenly Father. 

I love you all so much. Have a good week!

Hermana Blau

Palmdale Zone Meeting