A New Companion . . .

Oh my... this week has been pretty long. But I know it has been even longer for my companion, so at least I am one step ahead. I keep having mini flashbacks to my training and then I ask her why she isn't crying. She is so so so wonderful and so ready for the mission. 

Her name is Hna. Montaño. she is from...wait for it...ESMERALDAS ECUADOR. Sound familiar, Mom? Your first area! All of your horrible stories.(They weren't horrible stories, I just described the living conditions which were pretty rough) But she is wonderful! She is 20 and is a powerful teacher. Sometime I don{t even want to talk because I want to listen to her. But I talk anyway. And my Spanish is improving a ton. Ah!!! We laugh at my pronunciation of a lot of words... a lot. I am kind of American... but I am learning. She is getting really good at understanding what I want to say. 

Area: Cambios. I still love my companion. And Hna. Clarke is in Juticalpa which is an hour away, but not in my zone. I will also miss her. 

Last week we went thrift shopping in Campamento. Basically ultimate thrift shopping. It doesn't get much better. And I found the perfect skirt. It is the one I am wearing with my new companion on the fb page of the mission... I am assuming she put it on the page. 

People= people are a lot more receptive when they understand us. It is nice. We are striving to work a ton with the members. We are finding new people, but they are stalwart Catholics who are happy as they are. But its good. We only had 2 investigators in Conference. But we worked really really hard to try to bring more. 

Spiritual 

I loved conference. It was a bit hard to understand, but I received the comfort that I needed and answers. Basically there is a lot about the Atonement that I don{t understand. A lot. But what a great opportunity. I loved the talk of Elder Ballard. Faith preceeds the miracles. I have faith, my companion has faith, therefore, HOLA MIRACLES. This is going to be a good time together. A family will be baptized. Or 400 of them. 

I have also realized that the Spirit is the teacher and we need to open our mouth to share our testimonies or else the Spirit doesn{t get to teach. And it doesn{t matter how eloquent we are. 

Funny= So some vocabulary differs from country to country. In Ecuador, BOLO is a drink. Kind of like icecream. In Honduras it is a drunk man. We almost had a really uncomfortable situation. Turns out I know a little bit of Spanish that is helpful for my companion... We laughed pretty hard. 

Basically we laugh a lot at my spanish errors. But we are happy! 

Challenges/Blessings=

WE still don{t have a stove. I am hungry. 

NEw missionaries are expensive and we have 2 meetings this week so basically we have no money. 

But, once we get a stove we are going to have a whole new appreciation for food. I am excited. But there isn{t a lot of hope. I really want a stove, but the missionaries are all working hard to appease me. 

Just kidding, I am nice. 

This is all I can think of to say. I am really excited to work with Hna. Montaño. Basically she is a sassy black girl who is powerful. 

Peace. 

Love,

Michell