GREETINGS FROM TEXAS

29 April 2013

Scott got to see Hermana Gato off at the airport... Mom and Dad were on a plane from D.C. so we missed her in the air.

Hola Familia!! Que esta pasando??

Well... I don't even know where to start.. I love it here! Texas is beautiful! So remember how I was in love with the MTC...? Well it has nothing on el campo misional!! Wow. The past few days have been so crazy! So Wednesday we flew into Texas, normally there are 8-10 new missionaries every transfer here.. and this week there were 40!! And President was saying there will be that many next transfer and even more in the next! The Lord is certainly hastening His work! Well the first day we just had a bunch of meetings going over the rules and expectations and we ate some really awesome texas sheet cake... (don't worry Erin, your PW is still better) …then we spent the night in various members houses near the mission home, because transfers are done on Thursdays. The next day we had breakfast... and then I met my trainer!! She is amazing. Really. I wish I could describe to you how awesome she is! Her name is Hermana Glauser and she is from Seattle and she will be 22 in 10 days (so we are going to have a fiesta)!! It’s crazy because she has only been here for two transfers, so she just barely finished being trained and now she is training me! But do you remember Hermana Perry? The one that went into the mtc a transfer before me? Well she is training mi amiga Hermana Burnham!! Isn't that insane?? They had so many Hermanas coming in that some missionaries that have only had one transfer here and are training!

Well me and Hermana Glauser have been assigned to the ....*drumroll*.. WOODLANDS! I know right? Our area is beautiful! There is actually such a wide range of houses in our area... it is awesome! I'll be honest.. the first few days were really rough. They were incredible! But sooo stressful! Turns out the spanish that they teach you en la ccm is not the same that people speak in the real world... Good thing my companion is really awesome with Spanish. And we have made the goal to speak Spanish all the time! And it has helped me so much to pick up those words that you wouldn't think of studying. And actually in personal study I have been reading my libro de mormon(in Spanish)! I have my English one right next to it for when I don't understand, but the language is definitely coming! It's true what they say, you have to qualify yourself for the gift of tongues; you can't just expect to receive it. You have to do all you can and Heavenly Father with help you so much!

 Well. In the past few days I have met some of the most interesting people. It’s funny how different Spanish speakers are. Some are so appreciative of us trying to learn Spanish and are really patient; one man we met said it was just like him trying to learn English. So he would speak to us in English, and we would respond in Spanish. But then there are others… actually a really funny story… We went tracting into a taco stand... And as we were ordering our tacos de lenguas (yes cow tongue tacos... mi companera made me try it.. side note.. it really isn't bad, it just freaks me out when you can see the tastebuds still..) anyway! We were talking to the lady working there and she seemed pretty interested in the church! Then we asked if maybe we could teach her more and she said "but you don't speak Spanish..." ouch… But that is okay! We left her with a pass-a-long card with our number if she wanted to hear more! Well then on Saturday we decided to go tracting in a new part that just got added to our area. And it just so happened that right as we arrived it started to rain. We carried on with our plan and we met some remarkable people. The area was actually a trailer park, so as we knocked trailer to trailer a lot of people slammed their doors, but there was one lady in particular that we were able to talk to for nearly 30 minutes. We taught her the first lesson and it was so touching to see how her eyes lit up when we told her the God loves her so much. She isn't close to any of her family, and she lives alone so she was so grateful for our visit and wanted us to come back and teach her more! We gave her a Book of Mormon and it was great! Unfortunately, she spoke English, so we have to refer her to the English missionaries, but I think that she has great potential (just like everyone!!). Then we continued on our journey. Well one of the rules is that if there isn't another adult female present in the house, we can't go in, for safety and liabilty and such. So we kept having amazing discussions with people, as we stood outside their trailers, in the pouring rain. This is missionary work!! How great! Well I could keep telling stories from that, but I have much more to say! Sunday was awesome. We got to meet with some less active families before church, then go to church! (which is at three in the afternoon.. because we have to use another stakes building because our chapel was set on fire a few weeks ago..) Anyway. It was awesome. Sacrament was all in Spanish, then we went to the young adult class, which was all in “spanglish”... it was funny because we would read Spanish scriptures then discuss them in English, then watch an English video and discuss it in Spanish. Then relief society was just great! I got to meet the members and they are all so loving and look out for the missionaries. One crazy thing... there are actually seven missionaries in our Woodlands 3rd ward (four Hermanas and three Elders (one elder is a visa waiter for Argentina) because the area of our ward is so large; but it is fun how the members are still so involved with us. Well, I am almost out of time but I just want to share one more awesome experience.

Last night we had a lesson with a new investigator. Hermana Glauser and her former companion had taught her a little bit about the restoration, but that's about it. So we reviewed that and she remembered nearly everything! Then we read the introduction of the BoM with her and she had awesome questions and then she understood how important it was that she prayed and found out for herself. Then... my heart was pounding. Really I don't think I have experienced it to that extent before and I went for it and invited her that when she knew these things were true to be baptized (all said in Spanish!) and she said yes!!! She was willing to pray and find out the truth. It was incredible. I really don't think I will forget that moment. It made me so happy to see how much she wanted these things in her life because she knew how greatly they would bless her.

I love this work. I'm only a few days in but I can't wait to see what the rest of my mission has in store. The Lord has prepared many and I can't wait to meet them!

I love you all so much! Have a beautiful day!

Te queiro, Hermana Draper

AAANDDD. My address is...

26325 Northgate Crossing Blvd. #1621

Spring, TX 77373

And send everything here! letters and packages. the mission home doesn't want 100000 packages there. and the apartment will just put a package slip in our box so we can go pick it up.

oh and yes we have a super nice gym in our complex.

oh and yes we have a car because our area that we cover is huuuuuge. 

te quiero! Hermana Gato. :)