June 16, 2014

To my awesome sister Cortney -- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS CORTNEY AND CLINT!!!!!!!!  :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D PARTY! PARTY!  :D Man, I was so excited that I was bouncing in my seat and made my companion look! :P That's fantastic! Oh! I'm so excited for you two! Especially cause I'll be there at the wedding right? ;) Right? o.o I can't wait to hear all the details! Oh my goodness, I'm just so excited!! XD

For all ya'll non-looped personas out there my sister Cortney is ENGAGED! Yup engaged! :D I hope you're all feeling as excited as I am because we've been waiting for what feels like forever for this proposal! Way to be Clint! ;D

All I can say is "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" (translation: "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!") :D:D:D:D:D 

Okay, breathe breathe. Okay, this week. :D

So on Monday we had our last zone activity of volleyball and expensive meat that we all pitched in to buy. =) It was our last because Cambios (transfers) were on Tuesday and because the Area 70 for Mexico has officially declared no more missionary activities of more than 4 missionaries and no activities of elders and sisters. Sad, I know. =/ We all had to come to terms with it too but it's for our safety so we'll all do our best to follow it. =)

Tuesday was cambios and they're held in a Chapel in Capu. There were so many missionaries! However, it was awesome to see just about all of my Hermanas again, even if it was totally a surprise. =)

Mom, we actually have a lot of really tall Elders in my mission. My old district leader included. Oh, and yeah, I totally did my best to photo bomb the pictures of the new companionships. ;)

Speaking of Elders going home, there were about 7 or 8 that left this transfer including the nephew of Elder Bednar. Apparently he tried to jump over a puddle and something happened that made him rupture two discs in his back. I know, everyone's saying it was quite the freak accident.

There was an elder named Elder Stone that gave us a surprise call on Wednesday night. He finished his mission and was touring his mission with his family who had come to pick them up. He asked us to take his two little sisters out with us for the evening on Thursday. Of course we said yes. I was super excited and my companion was really kinda nervous. She told me, "We're going to get kidnapped." Why? you may ask. I asked the same thing. "Because Elder Stone is guerro and so his sisters are probably guerras and I'm going to be walking around Mexico with 3 guerras....we're going to get kidnapped." (Guerro/Guerra means white person...basically, usually with light or blonde hair...so...me ;) It's actually my second name here...I'll tell you more about that later. =P ) For all who are wondering, we didn't get kidnapped. Actually, we was a really great evening. We had a wonderful lesson with our newest investigator Nellie, her LDS friend Leilani, and our less active member Joseph who we convinced to come along and who shared a wonderful testimony. =) 

Then...we got DRENCHED. The poor girls. We got hit but a really strong rainstorm that soaked us in minutes. The roads were so flooded that the water was overflowing onto the sidewalks. We made sure to take a picture of all of us when we got back to the house.  The sister on the left is Sophie, she's 12 and her sister is on the right, her name is Caroline, she's 18. They were both super sweet and fun. They seemed to love every minute of being soaked and seemed to really enjoy the evening. We did too. We sang "Sweet Caroline" aaaaallll night. It was so stuck in our heads. =) 

On Tuesday I learned a very valuable lesson about how the people here in Mexico are so giving that you have to be careful what you say and how you ask questions.

Example numero 1: We ate dinner really late after Cambios with Hermana Georgina. She's a wonderfully sweet member who's just a little crazy. The first time we ate with her, she googled a Columbian dish to make for my companion's sake. This time she made homemade Mac & Cheese, Hamburgers, and french fries. It was super delicious even though my companion and I got sick from the hamburgers. That's okay, it was the thought that counts. I made sure to praise her cooking everytime I tried one of the foods and did my best too look like I felt right at home....Italics? What just happened? o.O Anyway, I asked her where I could buy Bolis. They're homemade icecream of all flavors in little baggies. They're addictive and positively delicious and only 5 pesos. What? I know! :D She then asked me if I wanted one and before I could respond and without waiting for a reply, she sent her son to buy us some. Oops. I was very careful the next time I asked where to buy bolis

Example numero 2: We visited one of our less active families that I absolutely love. We walked into their house, happy to be out of the rain, and talked for a little while. I saw a blanket hanging up and was reminded that I needed to buy one. So I pointed to the blanket, asked the Sister what you call it in Spanish, and said, "Ah, do you know where I could buy one and how much they are?"  Mistake numero 1. She asked why and I explained that I wanted to buy one to take with me throughout my mission because it gets cold at night. Mistake numero 2. She then gave me one of her warm blankets. I tried to refuse but after two tries I just gave in. She asked why I was so shy about it and I explained that I'm just not used to all the kindness here. I didn't say it but honestly, had I been in America, they probably would have told me where I could buy one and how much it was. Maybe they would have asked if I needed one that they could give but I could have easily said that it's alright, I can just buy one. All and all, it's a super warm blanket. I asked my companion when I should return it to the member and she said that it was a gift. Uh-oh. I actually almost cried. It just melts your heart how much everyone wants to help you. The people do that here. They're all just so amazing. =) 

On Friday, I got to witness a tender mercy, well one of many. We had a lesson that was being held by our mission president that we can bring our investigators to. We had invited Nellie but she didn't seem keen on going. We were hoping her friend Leilani would drag her into it but when we showed up to pick them up Leilani was visiting her family on the otherside of the state of Puebla. I was a little bummed as things started turning out that she wouldn't be able to make it. Not to mention she had a friend over...I'm pretty sure he's her boyfriend but considering they're not as touchy-feely as everyone else here it was hard to tell...o.O...and I just knew she wouldn't be coming. We were let into her house and introduced ourselves to her friend, Julio I believe. My companion explained that we had a thing that night that we wanted to take Nellie to and invited him to come. He totally accepted! They both came with us and seemed to really like the lesson. It was perfect that it was the Restoration too. Then there were Cosco Cookies. COSCO COOKIES!!! Aw man, it was like heaven. Our investigator and her boyfriend were with us and we had Cosco Cookies. Yup...it was awesome. =)

I was officially given a new name on Saturday. We were in the hospital most of the day because my companion was having surgery on her nose so that she could breathe and so I hung out with Hermana Georgina most of the day in the hospital room. The entire time, I was being referred to as "The Guerra".  By the end of the day I was ready to say, "The Guerra has a name! It's Hermana Parslow."...Okay well, Hermana Parrsshlow. =) Instead I just said that I'm Hermana Guerra and that's what she calls me now. Apparently I'm The Guerra when the members talk about us with each other. Hermana Manjarres and the Guerra. Goodness. 

Oh, Mom, yeah they celebrate Father's Day here. Speaking of which, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!!! :D:D:D

Don't worry mom, we have food. =) I probably look like that because I've been trying to do Insanity. That killer work out that Candace and Andrew were doing. Man, I was sore for days! But hey, if it's working! ;)

Thank you so much for taking care of my blessing and for sending it to me. =)

Oh and just so everyone knows...Lexi killed my fish...well one of them. ;)

I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week!