Week Twenty-Three: In the Fiery Furnace

Look at the temperature! That isn't even the highest that I have seen it at. Sometimes it is a struggle to be out here because no one that we teach uses their air conditioning because it is too expensive.

Area: Esperanza Ward
Companion: Hermana Van der Toolen

This week has been crazy! We have been working a ton and trying to move the work forward in this area, and we have seen some pretty cool things!

I guess, first thing first, I should talk about the Licona family. I am pretty sure that I mentioned them a little bit in my last letter. We went over on Monday night to see them and talk to them about getting their marriage license. It turns out that they were able to go and buy the license during the day on Monday! That was a super big miracle. It has turned out to be a little bit harder to pick up the license because they both work in Los Angeles during every week day and have a hard time getting off work. Hopefully, they will be able to pick up the license during this week and they can keep moving towards baptism. I don't know if the entire family will be baptized all at once (the mom and some of the children are still super attached to the Catholic church), but the Lord is certainly helping them along the path!

We are still having a little bit of trouble finding people to teach right now, so we have been getting creative in our finding methods. One of the things that we have decided to start is an English class. We went over to the church on Tuesday night and set everything up, but we did not do very well with the publicity. In the end, we had one member and one investigator there along with the Spanish speaking elders in this area. It was super fun to teach English. It brought me back to the MTC. We were able to play some games and by the end, we all introduced ourselves in English. We are working on publicity and are passing out fliers for the class. Hopefully, this week, we will be able to have more people come and maybe we will be able to find some new investigators from it!

This week, we got a ton of referrals. It is always super fun to go and try to contact them all. Our area is huge. We cover the areas of four or five sets of English missionaries, so anytime they find someone who speaks Spanish, they just send them over to us. It's funny sometimes because the English missionaries can't really communicate with the people that they are referring us to, so sometimes we go over to see them and they are clearly not interested at all. Sometimes, however, we do get referrals to people who are super cool! For example, the other day, we went over to see a lady named Marlene who was a referral from our District Leaders. She told us to come right on in and sit down. She was super excited to see us and to learn from us. She already knows a lot about the church because some of her family currently attends the English ward in this area. She really likes the church and wants to come! Hopefully, everything turns out well with her.

One of my investigators drew this for me.

The weather here is super strange right now. For the first part of the week, I felt like I was burning up. It was so hot! The last half of the week, however, has actually been a little chilly. It is super strange. The other afternoon, I actually had to put on a sweater. I don't know if that is because it is actually cold, or if it is because I just want to believe that it is not a million degrees outside.

This week, we don't really have a full p-day. After we email, we are going to go right back to work, because we are going to go to the temple in Los Angeles on Wednesday! I am so excited! I love the temple so much and I have really missed going. It is also going to be really nice to get out of Palmdale for a little bit. I haven't left the city for four months! It feels weird to be going out into the big world again. I will be sure to send you some pictures of the adventure next week!

Not a whole ton of things have happened this week, but it has been a good one. I am so glad for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary out here in the Bakersfield California Mission. Even if it is like being in a fiery furnace all the time, I know that this is the area that I am supposed to be in. The people here are so nice (mostly) and I am able to see the hand of the Lord so many times each day. I love being here!

Thank you so much for all of your support! I love you all so much. Have fun back at home and have a good week!

Hermana Blau

My watch and feet tan lines. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself!
[Mom note: Savannah doesn't usually tan. She burns.]