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. :)
