O Christmas Tree!

December 8th, 2014

We just got back from going through the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C.! It was  really cool. I learned a lot about glass-making in ancient Egypt and ceramic inlaying in Korea and China and screen painting in Japan..there was a lot of cool stuff. Definitely worth the freezing cold weather to go see. 

This week, we went searching for a lot of the people we don't know in our teaching pool, and we ended up getting lost...a few times...oh, well! Helps us learn the roads better! :)

Yesterday, we spent the whole day at the church. Almost literally. We did our morning studies in our apartment, went to church, had the baptism after church, ate the dinner they provided, went to a "Messiah Sing Along" in the chapel, and then watched about an hour of the Christmas devotional before it was 9 o'clock and we had to get home. The Messiah was so much fun. The audience got to sing the Chorus parts, and, oh boy! Those high A's are really high! My throat still hurts from singing so high. But it was fun. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. 

This week is our Mission Christmas conference. I don't really know what to expect, so it's going to be good! 

 Yup, used a paper napkin for a tree skirt!

I didn't die from too much Thanksgiving goodness

1 December 2014

I am happy to report I am still alive! I didn't die from too much Thanksgiving goodness. Turned out we only had 2 dinner appointments on Thanksgiving and then had roasted Starbursts, marshmallows, and s'mores. It was really good. We'll see what Christmas brings! :) They served us turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pecan pie..the things we typically eat on Thanksgiving.

The weather over here is really nice. Not too hot, not too cold. It did snow a TON of Tuesday, but it all melted by the next day. Hna. Christensen and I are hoping for a white Christmas!

On Tuesday as well, we had a Spanish Forum, where all the Spanish missionaries get together to train and discuss things. One thing that got discussed was areas, the area each companionship serves. We talked about it so much that President Riggs said, "We need another Forum to finish discussing this. And soon, because December is going to be BUSY!" We're waiting to see what day he says we'll finish it on.

Also had interviews with President Riggs on Monday. That was good. He talked about a mission is the best place to become spiritually self-reliant. So, that'll be one of my goals throughout the time I have here on the mission.

It struck me again this week that I am not Wonder Woman. Adjusting to a new companion is hard, but it's good because if we didn't get new companions every now and again, we'd stop learning. So we're learning how to work together, communication, stress control, all that good stuff :) Hna. Christensen is so amazing, though. So full of energy. 

We're visiting a lot of people in our teaching pool that I have never met and on Saturday, we got 2 new investigators! We cleared up that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is different than Jehovah's Witnesses and we gave S____ a Book of Mormon. P______ already has one. We're really excited because we're sure they're going to read.

After that, we raced to the chapel in time to give a presentation in a baptism of an 8-year-old. This Saturday, the elders are baptizing a young man and the next Saturday, one of our investigators is getting baptized, too! We're just baptizing all over the place! It's great to see how many people are coming unto Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving!

17 November 2014

Well, we had a crazy week! First, we were corriendo por todos lados
(running everywhere) so Hna. Moleli could say goodbye to everyone,
then transfers, then two baptisms on Saturday, then we found a screw
in our tire on Sunday, so we changed our flat right after correlation,
and now we're emailing while the tire is being repaired.. Whoo! Busy,
busy, busy! But it's good. Busy is good.

Transfers went really smooth. And all of our predictions were wrong.
(This is why I don't like to predict things..I always end up being
wrong!:)) Every single hermana is training. Every single hermana,
except for me, is training a brand-new missionary. I'm training, but
only training for the mission. My companion has already been trained
how to be a missionary, but she just needs to be trained for things
specific for this mission. My new companion is Hna. Christensen and
she is amazing! She served six months in Mexico, then went home to
resolve some health concerns, and then was reassigned here in the
Washington, D.C. South mission, where she will serve for a year and
finish out her mission!

Some new things occurred in our mission, too. Now we have Spanish
assistants to the president, which hasn't happened before. The Spanish
zones have been dissolved, and now we're back to being Spanish
districts in English zones. There are at least 5 trios in the mission,
companionships of 3 missionaries, and that doesn't happen very often.
President Riggs explained that a lot of missionaries are going home
the next transfer, so it doesn't make sense to open a lot of areas for
one transfer and then close them, so we have a lot of trios, instead!
It works, it's just really complicated.

The baptisms went well. I payed piano in both of them. That was fun!
And then I played in primary on Sunday and we taught the lesson in
Relief Society on Elder Christofferson's "Free Forever, to act for
themselves." It was so good. I loved it.

This next week, we have four dinners already planned for Thanksgiving.
There's going to be a few more, too, if we can contact the people.
We're going to be stuffed like turkeys! It'll be so good, and I think
I may die from so much goodness! We'll see. For sure, our skirts may
not fit so well when we're done..:) too much good Hispanic food will
do that to you. :)

November 17th, 2014

Thank you for your prayers, they are gratefully accepted.

We did get some precipitation on Tuesday, I believe. A little bit of sleet, mostly rain. It's raining today, too. A lot. Welcome to winter in Virginia? I guess! :)

Transfers are this week, and we won't get a call until tonight or tomorrow night about who's going where. All the hermanas know we're all training. There's 5 or 6 new hermanas coming in, and 6 hermanas leaving, so there will be 2 companionships of more experienced hermanas and everyone else is training. :) It'll be great! A new experience for everybody!

We went with Y_______ and her family to a new member fireside last night. It was my first one! I liked it a lot. Got to see old companions, members from the other wards I had served in. It was great! I loved it! I don't know why I've never gone to a fireside before! (I seem to be realizing that about a great many things in life.)

So, I'm working on a piano piece called "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" and I'm going to be playing it in transfer meeting with two other Hermanas. One's going to be playing the viola and the other's going to be singing. It's going to be great. I just need to practice. :) a lot. :)

That's all for this week. Just a lot of anticipation for the upcoming, exciting week!

Hermana Moleli and her new scarf