Satan's wasps

It comes down to this...I've really made Satan mad. While contacting people in the street the other day, I was attacked by wasps and bit three times on my neck. I've never been stung before so I thought there was a slight possibility I could be allergic so I called the mission nurse...oh man I shouldn't have done that. I sent all the office staff into a mad panic, they were convinced I was going to pass out and die at any moment. Three wasp stings - no one survives that! I was then instructed to go purchase cigarettes (yup) and take out the tobacco (yup)  to make a paste (yup) and apply to my neck. I calmly agreed knowing full well there was no way I was going to do that. She called back to make sure I took my name tag off first. Uh. Yeah. Obvs. Then she called back to tell me that instead I should go buy meat tenderizer and make a paste - that'd be much more Word of Wisdom friendly. However, at this point I had already taken an entire bottle of Benadyrl and was not fully functioning so the other sisters ran out to get some for me. A fun little fact, there are two kinds of meat tenderizer...the seasoned kind and the unseasoned kind. Another fun fact, although the seasoned kind might be cheaper it will also stain your neck orange and leave you smelling like meat the rest of the day. Alas, missionary work could not be stopped, but it was more than clear I could not drive so the other sisters dropped us off at an extremely important appointment where apparently I gave an extremely entertaining lesson on the Plan of Salvation and secured another baptismal date by the miracles of the hand of the Lord. Later I said questionable things at a dinner. Nothing too out of norm there. I ended up passing out at 8:45 smelling like steak. Satan is so mad at all our baptismal dates right now he sent wasps after me. The moral of the story is, I can totally teach lessons completely plastered, Satan can't stop me - not even with wasps and benadryl. 

 

In other events this week, I ate BBQ with 5 strange Filipino men in a garage while teaching about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Normally, I do not think I would stop...at a stranger's garage...and eat meat, but the mission changes you. Plus, it was really good. And now the poor English Elders have 5 more investigators. Solid. 

 

My mission has certainly been colorful. I'm with a baby missionary right now. It's pretty obvious, but she is so pumped to be a missionary and things are hopping. I could do without all the strangers asking me if she is my real daughter. What the?  

 

I can't remember if I already shared this...the weeks just blend into each other around here. Speaking of which, my year mark is in like 4 days - woah. But the other day we were teaching a lesson and one of the kids was watching Nemo in the background. That is like my biggest challenge, televisions in homes. I just can't...it's so hard. Anyway, we caught one part where one sea creature is telling another sea creature...you just gotta keep swimming. I then turned that into a lesson about enduring to the end. Now, that's my new motto. This is life, we have to just keep swimming. Thank heaven we have little floaties to help us when we are tired with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

If you'd like to know more about how Jesus Christ can help you have floaties in the ocean of life...ask the missionaries.

 

xoxo,

Hermana Hall

Changes

There were a lot of changes for us this week. I got a new companion. She's from Mesa, Arizona and she is 20. She's very excited to be a missionary so I plan to milk that for all it's worth. We also had to move this week...that was interesting. The only time we had was in between Conference sessions on Saturday and that's what we did. We squeezed in a lunch lesson and then in 40 min moved everything. Thank heavens we don't have much stuff as missionaries or that could have been a nightmare. We had to move into an old Elders apartment so I'm obviously being a brat about the state of the furniture. They don't even have real desks, they were using a hutch...what the? Elders.

 

Cute things my new comp did this week:

1) Thought she could handle an entire Serrano in one bite. Hilarity ensued...for me; she was in complete and utter shock as her body spent all of its efforts rejecting every trace of the chile. I studied while her body returned to normal. I think she'll believe me next time when I warn her about 'picoso'.

2) Asked a Honduran if she was Mexican. Oops.

3) Learned that Taco Bell is not real Mexican food.

 

Things I learned at Conference: in Spanish, the women speakers don't annoy me. Also in Spanish, it's even easier to fall asleep. President Monson is hilarious and fire and dry grass are always terrible combinations. There were lots of wonderful talks on marriage and family that as a missionary touch my heart in two ways. For one, I'm thinking about all the families that we teach that really, desperately need the gospel of Jesus Christ to center their home, to establish good principles to protect their families in these troubled days. Second, I just want to get married. Whatever, I said it. It's true.

 

While waiting for my new companion I got to spend two days with my previous redheaded companion. We had such a blast together and I was reminded of the joy this work brings. Also we got 2 new baptism dates so that was a sweet bonus. Sometimes I get so bogged down with the Spanish I still can't speak, the scriptures I don't know, the gospel principles I'm not sure how to clearly explain to this family that so desperately needs them that I forgot this is all the Lord's work, His way, His time and you know what, it's a blast. When I stop for a second, take a step back and remember that I am just His tool in this effort I can see and feel all the joys that it has to offer. There is a reason that Ammon comes back from his mission so excited that he passes out - there is such happiness here and it's a blessing for our efforts. They talked about this yesterday, each responsibility we have has members to share the gospel - right now I'm doing it all the time and for that I get to see all the blessings every second, but I have seen it in the lives of members who take those steps of faith as well. It sure seems scary and overwhelming, but the Lord is guiding this and I promise as we make a plan to start He will direct us with blessings and joy.

 

xoxo,

Hna Hall

Habanero soup

Someone served us habanero soup the other day. It was supposed to be chicken soup but she ended up putting an entire bottle of habanero chile sauce thinking it was something else. Oops. We all about died...but mostly the Chilean and Spaniard who can't even handle the spice of pepper. That was kind of funny. I sweat quite a bit, but I'm totally Latina now so I took it like a champ.

 

One of our recent converts told us that every time she reads the Book of Mormon she has bad dreams that night so she doesn't think she should read anymore. Oh dear. We explained to her that it's actually probably the telenovelas that are the root of the problem and that the scriptures are a way to bring peace. I'm not sure I convinced her yet, but next time I think I'll trick her into reading the Book of Mormon by telling her we are going to read some telenovelas. tehehe.

 

We taught a women in Taco Bell the other day. That was new. I felt super awkward praying and reading scriptures while I chomped on a Doritos taco (which I do find amazing - Cyn, they have cool ranch flavor now, just sayin). I'm not really sure how much spirit was able to cut through the blazing Taco Bell music and smell, but I think we probably got in a good word or two. Desperate times.

 

This week in primary I struggled to keep the children from climbing up on my lap. It's just so enhancing and they don't really understand mission rules, they are just like her lap is so warm and inviting, I want to sit there. I can understand that. They actually were quite sneaky having one girl distract me while the other would casually throw her leg up on one of my knees and before I knew it I had a kid in my lap. After about the 5th time of putting them back in their own chair, I gave up and let both girls sit on my knee while I prayed President wouldn't randomly walk into our primary class. Then 5 minutes later one of the girls handed me her purse to open for her...for the half eaten apple she had been saving as a little primary snack. Good call, my young one.  

 

I lost my Spaniard today. I'll be getting a new missionary on Thursday. She is going to be super excited to get a missionary that invents Spanish. This is going to be epic!

 

xoxo,

Hna Hall