Due to my lack of time, this blog post is made of bits and pieces of my massive group email to missionary friends. Thank you for understanding! <3
I was ready to leave the MTC. All of my friends were either leaving or had left. But now I'm in Florida, I'm working hard and life is so, so good! I love teaching and I love the people here so much! <3
So Florida is pretty tight. Not too hot or humid yet. My trainer's name is Hermana Lightheart and she is the sweetest little person to ever walk the face of the Earth!! <3 <3 <3
I'm as far South in my mission that sisters are allowed to go, and seriously EVERYONE speaks Spanish! There are three people that you NEVER see down here: whites, Asians and Mexicans (I've met just about every other ethnicity of Spanish speaker).
The drivers are insane. Nobody knows how to use a blinker. Oh, and the CUBAN FINGER!!! If you see someone stick their hand out the window and point to a lane, it means "I'm coming over and I'm coming over NOW whether you move or not". So yeah. Life is dandy on the road. I haven't needed to bike yet, but I have one.
No gators yet. :( I'm waiting 'til the iguanas and lizards start coming out (they're as common as chipmunks here).
21 new missionaries came in during transfers! That's a TON of missionaries! I was the only Spanish speaking sister so I spoke in Spanish with the elders so that the English elders and sisters got really confused. Mortals.
The sisters' interview time with the mission president went over, so we didn't get to go place Books of Mormon. Elder Sauyun said that a Chihuahua bit his ankle and he practically had to shake it off. I'm slightly jealous of all the fun that they had haha.
We spent the first night in a hotel, "La Quinta". The elevator reeked of marijuana, so that was pleasant *sarcasm* lol.
In the transfer meeting, the new missionaries had to bear their testimonies. And there was a rule in our mission (that was just redacted) that sisters needed to wear cardigans in meetings. A certain Elder Rice was sitting behind us and he whispered to his comp, "Why aren't they wearing cardigans?" I had one with me, so I decided to take it up with me to bear my testimony. So I got up there and I explained the situation to the congregation of missionaries. I then told them what I heard Elder Rice say and I slipped on my cardigan, looked straight at him and said, "Satisfied"? I've made my sassiness known. The missionaries now know me as the "fireball".
Sister Richardson, Pres. Richardson's wife, spoke later and also addressed that sisters only had to wear cardigans if they were cold. BOOM! haha
Hermana Lightheart is my companion! She is from Eugene, Oregon and has been out here for a year! We love to rock out to Mormon Tabernacle Choir while we drive!
We went contacting after I put my stuff in our house (yes, I live in a one-story house with 3 other sisters. It has an A/C problem and tons of ants and I love it!!!!) we went and contacted. The VERY FIRST DOOR that I knocked on, a 50 year old Latin without a shirt opened up and after we introduced ourselves said, "Soy el diablo". Awkward. WELCOME TO THE MISSION FIELD! :D
It has been less than a week and we've talked to SO MANY CUBANS (they're everywhere), people from ages 3-96. I've met people of all different religions and from just about every Spanish-speaking country. We even attempted to communicate with a deaf, Spanish & ASL speaking Jehovah's witness yesterday. She was nice. :)
Also, people down here tend to be from third world countries, so we have some third world experiences. For example, evil spirits inhabiting houses and animal sacrifices are real things down here. Odd stuff.
Oh, and all of the birds here are different. Especially the ducks. They're black with white splotches and they have weird, red skin patches around their bills.
Oh, and in this area called "Opa-Locka", there are tons of Beware of Dog signs. We've learned to heed them (it straight up says that in Philippians 3:2!!!). My trainer was going into a yard, and I got a really bad feeling. So we left, and right after we closed the gate a boxer came running out from behind the house! Thank goodness for the Holy Spirit!
Alma 17:13 has given me tons of comfort when I miss my friends. <3
!! La iglesia es verdadera!!
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