How has everyone been this week? I hope you all did something fun to celebrate Jessica’s Birthday. And it looks like MJ got an e-mail address so that’s way cool. I put it on my contact list so let me know if you get this one or not okay janey? My little baby’s all grown up and saving china!
So are you all ready for another one of my amazingly witty, inspired, all at once laughter-inducing and tear-jerking e-mails? Good. Because this one isn’t going to be any of that. There’s just no time. I need three men on this job. THERE’S NO TIME! Have you seen my desk?
That having been said, I guess I’ll start in on my actual e-mail:
One thing I noticed this week about why I think I was supposed to go on a Spanish-speaking mission: (one thing among millions) We teach people named Israel. And this past week I had the joyful experience of being stood up by Mr. Israel and therefore found myself standing dismally on his front porch with my companion, in a light drizzle, disappointed once again that he wasn’t answering the door. Then, in a stroke of pure genius, I started singing: “Israel Israel God is Calling!” hahaha. And it was actually TRUE! You tell me what other missionary can do that.
Now it’s bad because whenever we go over I secretly hope he’s not home. Haha no but kinda. Little bit. (ghost town!)
We met a woman last week named Graciela and went over to follow up with her this week. She talks A LOT. Like a lot a lot. And she basically told us that she loves us but probalby won’t ever come to our church. NICE. Then she went and got us some orange juice to show us how much she loves us. She poured it for me (talking a steady stream) and then as I went to take my first sip she launched into this time when she got sick and how she was coughing up blood and all this nasty nasty stuff! Hahah. There I am with my lips against the cup, making sympathetic noises with my throat and opening my eyes up wide to show how sorry I am about her nasties but in my head I’m wondering why in the world she chose RIGHT after she fed me to tell me about that stuff. Come to think of it, why bring something like that up at all? I don’t know what it is about being a missionary but everyone wants to tell us about their sicknesses (maybe to show how god healed them or something) but I’ve seen more moles and bruises and scars and heard about more gross experiences than anyone should ever have to. People just see our tags and start pulling up their shirts and their pant legs and asking us to poke weird bumps. Gross. I think there is a special blessing awaiting me in the afterlife for the weird mole I hade to touch on some lady’s leg.
This was actually a really really good week for us. We had some crazy experiences finding people. One night after an appointment in an apartment building, we were walking back to the car when I saw these two people standing on their back porch. I was going to have to walk right past them and I knew it would be an awkward contact over the fence so I starting reasoning with myself that it was kinda dark and kinda late and I didn’t need to contact them, but then I realized what I was doing and we had just had a really good lesson and I was thinking that one way I could show God that I was grateful for his help in the lesson would be to contact those two people that I really didn’t want to contact. So I did. And yep, I was awkward. They didn’t want to set up an appointment or anything but I felt like I did my best. Then, as we were walking away I hear this leetle voice call out “excuse me!” And we turned around and realized that their neighbor who lived right above them had been standing out on his deck the whole time listening to our contact. He asked us where he could get a Book of Mormon! He had an LDS friend years ago and recognized that we were from the same church when he heard me contacting that couple. We are going back to teach him. You tell me that’s not a miracle. Especially given how bad my contacting skills are.
Our investigator Veronica who had a baptismal date looks like she’s going to be waiting a little longer to be baptized. She just got a second job but doesn’t have a set schedule and so it’s basically impossible to find her at home and she hasn’t been coming to church because of it. Dang. I hate that! It’s so frustrating, but we’ll keep working with her and keep finding more.
Maximiliano is progressing nicely! (he’s the one I told you about last week who already had a book of mormon in his house) Oh yeah, and Hermano and Hermana Palacios (our ward mission leader and his wife) have us over for dinner every Sunday and feed us mexican food and they said they’d teach us how to make some of it if we want to sometime! Awesome.
Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all and miss you. Hasta luego!
-Becca
p.s. just to clear things up: Elder Seeburger puts his HAND on my shoulder, not his head. Peter, did you hear that? His HAND. He’s a good guy. I used to think he was way weird but he’s just touchy that way. Kinda like someone else I know (cough dad cough) it’s not a bad thing. But it does make me kinda nervous given the circumstances.
We met a woman last week named Graciela and went over to follow up with her this week. She talks A LOT. Like a lot a lot. And she basically told us that she loves us but probalby won’t ever come to our church. NICE. Then she went and got us some orange juice to show us how much she loves us. She poured it for me (talking a steady stream) and then as I went to take my first sip she launched into this time when she got sick and how she was coughing up blood and all this nasty nasty stuff! Hahah. There I am with my lips against the cup, making sympathetic noises with my throat and opening my eyes up wide to show how sorry I am about her nasties but in my head I’m wondering why in the world she chose RIGHT after she fed me to tell me about that stuff. Come to think of it, why bring something like that up at all? I don’t know what it is about being a missionary but everyone wants to tell us about their sicknesses (maybe to show how god healed them or something) but I’ve seen more moles and bruises and scars and heard about more gross experiences than anyone should ever have to. People just see our tags and start pulling up their shirts and their pant legs and asking us to poke weird bumps. Gross. I think there is a special blessing awaiting me in the afterlife for the weird mole I hade to touch on some lady’s leg.
This was actually a really really good week for us. We had some crazy experiences finding people. One night after an appointment in an apartment building, we were walking back to the car when I saw these two people standing on their back porch. I was going to have to walk right past them and I knew it would be an awkward contact over the fence so I starting reasoning with myself that it was kinda dark and kinda late and I didn’t need to contact them, but then I realized what I was doing and we had just had a really good lesson and I was thinking that one way I could show God that I was grateful for his help in the lesson would be to contact those two people that I really didn’t want to contact. So I did. And yep, I was awkward. They didn’t want to set up an appointment or anything but I felt like I did my best. Then, as we were walking away I hear this leetle voice call out “excuse me!” And we turned around and realized that their neighbor who lived right above them had been standing out on his deck the whole time listening to our contact. He asked us where he could get a Book of Mormon! He had an LDS friend years ago and recognized that we were from the same church when he heard me contacting that couple. We are going back to teach him. You tell me that’s not a miracle. Especially given how bad my contacting skills are.
Our investigator Veronica who had a baptismal date looks like she’s going to be waiting a little longer to be baptized. She just got a second job but doesn’t have a set schedule and so it’s basically impossible to find her at home and she hasn’t been coming to church because of it. Dang. I hate that! It’s so frustrating, but we’ll keep working with her and keep finding more.
Maximiliano is progressing nicely! (he’s the one I told you about last week who already had a book of mormon in his house) Oh yeah, and Hermano and Hermana Palacios (our ward mission leader and his wife) have us over for dinner every Sunday and feed us mexican food and they said they’d teach us how to make some of it if we want to sometime! Awesome.
Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all and miss you. Hasta luego!
-Becca
p.s. just to clear things up: Elder Seeburger puts his HAND on my shoulder, not his head. Peter, did you hear that? His HAND. He’s a good guy. I used to think he was way weird but he’s just touchy that way. Kinda like someone else I know (cough dad cough) it’s not a bad thing. But it does make me kinda nervous given the circumstances.
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