Adventures of a Tall Girl: grilled cheese

WELL THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SUCH A ROLLER COASTER AND SO COOL

so, my new companion, I don't remember how much I said about her but she is SO COOL she should be the star of a cool superhero TV show, literally she is so amazing. Hermana Alonso is from Mexico and she got baptized when she was 19. She also is a doctor (SURPRISE) and she speaks English SUPER well and she is just SO AMAZING. Her story is amazing and she is so funny and we both LOVE AJÍ [chili pepper] and I'm pretty sure we were friends in the pre-existence.

Hmm, okay, so... let's talk about how we're opening this sector.

Basically the first day we had NO IDEA what was happening or where to go or what to do, so, we got out the list of members and started visiting them and also contacted EVERY PERSON WE SAW. It was crazy and awesome and just GREAT.

And let me tell you...

props to Vivaceta because this ward...

THIS WARD IS SO COOL AND SO WONDERFUL AND IT'S JUST SUPER COOL. The bishop and his counselors and all of the leaders are really young... like... Andrew's age. But that's because it's a ward of older folks :) there are two sets of missionaries in Vivaceta and we have the more flaite [gangster] half of the ward, so that's super cool too :P I'm the first gringa on this side of the sector since sister missionaries started coming here, so that's been fun! I'm lined up to teach about 40000 english classes...

What else... Literally this week just has been a lot of work and has gone by super fast, but I love Hermana Alonso and I love working with her and I love the sector, even though it's weird to be so close to my old area... yet so far... haha, yeah, that...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Hna Alonso was telling me about one time in one of her sectors, they had a food festival thing and all the missionaries were from different countries so they all brought different foods from their countries and she says, "And the sister from Brazil brought this special thing and the elder from Peru brought this thing and the elder from Honduras brought this and I brought this and there was one gringo and he brought just cheese on bread and cooked it" and I COULDNT EVEN TAKE IT BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER EVEN THOUGHT OF THAT SHE WAS LIKE "is that really a food you have in america? it was like he didnt even try...?" AND I COULDNT STOP LAUGHING FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE LITERALLY WHO ARE WE

WE PUT CHEESE ON BREAD AND COOK IT AND THAT IS A TRADITIONAL DISH FROM THE UNITED STATES

THAT'S WHAT I CALL FREEDOM

But anyway...

I feel like I have so many stories from this week but in this moment I literally cant think of a single one... pucha... we bought cotton candy in the street one day... and for some reason, I have heard the song 'Back in Black' about 400000 times this week, not sure why it's so popular in this sector... it's kinda weird...

What else have I even done?

We have put quite a few people with baptismal dates, so we'll see how that goes... we're also teaching some Haitians and they are SUPER super dooper cool. This ward is considerably smaller (is that correct grammar??) than Los Olivos, but it's really great as well. The bishop seriously is so great; we had a coordination with him and he asked if there was anything he could do for us, so I jokingly said that I needed chocolate and I would expect it the next time and then on Sunday HE BROUGHT ME CHOCOLATE.

Also, brownie points here are very real now. People know that I can make brownies now and they are starting to demand brownies. But, if you get brownie points, you are more likely to recieve brownies.

Hmm...

What else...

Sorry I'm a bit boring this week. I'm just pretty tranquila [quiet].. Not much to report; we're working and it's getting HOT OH NO I THINK I'M GOING TO DIE ACTUALLY FORGOT TO MENTION THAT IT ALREADY IS GETTING HOT AND IT'S NOT EVEN THAT HOT BUT I ALREADY AM DYING BUT IT'S SUPPOSED TO GET UP TO LIKE 38 AND I AM POSITIVE THAT I AM NOT GOING TO SURVIVE. I'M TOO WHITE TO BE SUBJECTED TO THIS KIND OF SUN, I AM GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT COLOR WHEN THIS SUMMER IS OVER

Also, the 18th of September is coming and that means PARTIES EVERYWHERE BECAUSE IT'S CHILE'S 4TH OF JULY WOOOOOOOOO

And... um... I don't know... what else... I wish I had something more meaningful to say but I just... don't.

I just know that I seriously am so happy and grateful to be here. Every day that I'm here, I learn something more. Sometimes it's something small, but sometimes it's something big, but it's always something. And the longer I spend here, the more I realize that learning doesn't come standing still. When we're comfortably standing in one spot, we're not learning anything. We have to step out of our comfort zones to learn; we have to make mistakes; we have to fall sometimes, that's when learning comes and God knows that best of all. I was starting to feel comfortable in Los Olivos, and then I had cambios, and now I have learned more. The first step to learning is to TAKE A STEP. DON'T JUST STAND THERE. DO SOMETHING.

Yeah, I dunno... I've been thinking about that lately... learning is always harder than staying put, but the payoff is always better, and if we have the gospel, even more precious.

To conclude, I would like to just say that I know this church is true; this is the church of Jesus Christ, the very same church that he established when he was here and that God has a plan for every single one of us. He loves us so much that he sent his son to pay for our sins and sorrows; he gives us our families, everything we have. I know that my redeemer lives, and I know that he loves me, and I know that he loves you :) and of that I testify in his sacred name, amen.

OKAY SO TALK TO YOU ALL NEXT WEEK I REALLY LOVE YOU ALL A LOT AND JUST

BE WELL EVERYBODY

BE WELL

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

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