Yerba Buena

Whelp, here I am in a new area all the way...across the street. However, I have a Latina companion now so my Spanish is going to snap into gear really quickly. I needed it. I feel like I've spoken more Spanish this past week than I have my entire mission combined so this is going to be a great change for me. A nice big kick in the pants. Also my new apartment has it's own washer/dryer so my prayers were all answered.

 

My birthday was rather uneventful, but I still made sure to demand attention wherever I was. I certainly missed my Austin celebrations though. Thanks to all my friends that remembered me and sent a little note. The rest of you are in big trouble, I have a list for when I return. I spent most of the day running around and packing way past the time that I was supposed to be in bed...don't tell President. Transfer meeting was super crazy the next morning, but we had an awesome week. I've met about a billion new people, taught a ton of great lessons and we are getting ready for a baptism on Friday. I get to teach an English class twice a week now. I love it when I get to do things in English for a bit, it makes me feel like I actually do know something.

 

The Yerba Buena ward is much bigger than my last ward and they feel like a nice, big happy family. I can just feel the love oozing from the pews - that's a warm fuzzy feeling for sure. Of course all the rather personal questions have returned once again. Everyone wants to know how old the redhead is. Then they want to comment on my weight and the other day I had a new one...if I liked my mustache. Yikes. Are they kidding? No, no they are not. The answer is that I do not like my mustache and next preparation day I will be taking care of that.

 

I had my first experience with the famous pulga (flea market) down here. It's great for talking to a ton of people, but they are not exactly super excited to talk to us so that's a little rough. However, I found ways to trick, I mean pleasantly persuade, people over to our booth for some free 'reading' materials. I'm sure we'll be getting followups on that soon. Afterward we walked around a bit. It reminded me of the markets in Morocco...aww Morocco, so this one time when I was in Morocco...haha Man, that never gets old. Anyway, they have fruits and veggies here I've never heard of in my life. Some are disgusting and I would like to never hear of them ever again in my life but there are some tasty tasty treats. The only problem is I only know the Spanish name and I can't really even say that right so I'll probably be searching for them the rest of my life now.

 

This week was awesome and exhausting. Switching areas, even just up the street, has messed up my system and I'm trying to adjust all over again. I also get fed way more here so that's really throwing everything off. However, it's a fresh start and I've been trying to be as bold as I can, just open my mouth even with my broken Spanish and do the best I can to help others learn of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's super easy to be selfish out here, more than I thought it would, and focus on what I'm getting out of this or the sacrifices I've made for this. So I have to remind myself every 5 seconds that this really isn't about me, it's about these people. When I am finally able to do that, the Lord not only blesses the people we find and teach but He blesses us too. Serving others is really just a gift that blesses us all. Thank heavens.

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall