Here I am again haha!
Well, this was a great week. The highlight was probably being able to see Antonio get confirmed at church yesterday. The ward is really taking care of and responsibe for him too. Like we found out that before church started the bishop already had interviewed him to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and they're working on getting him a calling as well. From a missionary perspective, there is nothing we want more for our recent converts than exactly that... opportunities for them to learn and grow and where they can receive responsibilities and blessings. That is so great! The ward is on it!
It is kind of funny... our ward still doesn't have a new bishop from when we got the new stake presidency like almost 2 months ago. So our poor old bishop is having to do both callings. Every week we go to church thinking, "maybe we'll get our new bishop this week." Who knows... maybe next week?
We are super excited because Lyz is finally back from her month long vacation so now we can start working with her again. She went to church yesterday and we're going to go see them tonight.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We got the transfer calls and I have another one here in Reseda with Hermana Mulliner. It'll be good. We are having some crazy changes happening in the mission... like one of our Assistants to the President is going home this week, so about a week ago we received a text about who the next AP is going to be. But then this weekend we received another text that both those APs are being released for a special assignment and so two completely brand new APs have been called. The special assignment is evidently that they are going to conduct a ton of companionship exchanges with Elders in the mission just like they recently have been doing with the sisters like I explained when I went on the exchange a few weeks ago. It was so crazy to hear that announcement!!!
There are a few other changes. Hermana Fish-- one of the Hermanas on bike nearby in Canoga Park -- is leaving. Two elders from our district are leaving. Also, we have a new district leader because the old one is going to be training. Oh yeah, about training, we aren't having any hermanas coming out this transfer or next I believe. I guess it will still be a little longer before there is a huge influx of missionaries.
Anyway, another quick story from this week is that I had helote for my first time. That is one of the things that the street venders on carts go from apartment to apartment honking a horn and selling. We were in a lesson meeting with an old investigator/less active/part member family and their baby heard the horn and wanted one, so the dad bought everyone an helote. What they do is they take a corn on the cob and put butter then a bit of mayonaise on it. Then I think they put some of the crumbly white cheese on it. Finally, they sprinkle on lemon salt and chile powder. It was actually really good! It was kind of weird eating it because I eat corn on the cob from one side to the other, so only one side of my lips were getting the chile little bit of heat. haha! It was just weird to feel that whole half lip heat thing.
Also, we had a fun noche de hogar (family home evening) this week. The lesson was really cool. We were teaching about how Sunday is special and how it is a commandment to keep it holy etc. So we got two bowls of ice cream and on one we started pouring ketchup and mustard and relish etc. None of those are bad. They are just things you don't put on your sundae. Then on the other we poured normal sundae toppings like caramel and hot fudge etc. Those are things you do put on your sundae like go to church, write missionaries, do service etc. It was really fun!
One thing that was fun was someone brought a special bread for dessert and so this week we've been learning all about this one tradition. Evidently in Mexico there is a tradition that they do for Christmas. Christmas itself isn't very special. Like you do get a few small presents but that is it. But then January 6th is evidently the day that they celebrate the three wise men came. So everyone leaves their shoes out and when you wake up the next morning you have some money in your shoes or presents, depending on the family. But there is another tradition where on January 6th there is a special bread that they make ...I think it is called Roscoe de Rayes or something like that... basically meaning a bread of kings. It is this bread that is made into an oval and then they put stuff on the top like this fruit stuff and sprinkles or some frosting or whatever. But the thing is that they hide these 3 little dolls inside the bread. Then everyone cuts off their own piece of the bread. Whoever gets the three little plastic dolls has to bring the stuff for the next party which is evidently on the 2nd of February. So the first person has to bring the tamales, the second person the drinks, and the people telling us about it forgot what the 3rd person had to bring, but it was probably dessert or something like that. So at the noche de hogar this week, someone brought this bread and Hermana Mulliner ended up with the first little doll. Everyone was laughing at her because she has no clue how to make tamales but evidently now she has to learn. She thought they would let her off the hook because she is a missionary, but no, everyone told her that she got the doll so now she has to. Hahaa!!!! So evidently later this month we'll be learning how to make tamales. Maybe we could get Herminia to teach us how to do that and somehow get her to church or to an activity from us learning to make tamales. We'll see how creative we can be!!
Anyway, those are probably the biggest stories from this week. Oh yeah, we met a new investigator out on the street and it was so funny! He was standing outside his apartment waiting for his plumber to come and we started talking to him about what we do as missionaries and what we believe etc. It was really just a weird/funny situation because we were just about to take off and he was like, "hold on a second!" and he ran inside and gave us a box of some kind of Belgium truffles. He also practically was proposing to Hermana Mulliner and told her how pretty she was so many times we couldn't even count it on our fingers. We do have a return appointment, so we'll definitely be bringing some strong members to see if he even really has interest in learning about the church or not. But it just makes us laugh what our life is as missionaries. We are constantly put into weird/awkward situations. Therefore, I understand why Returned Missionaries are stereotypically awkward. It is because they just got home from being put in awkward situations constantly for 18-24 months. So really, they are the normal ones. haha!
Anyway, we regifted his chocolate to some investigators we met with that evening haha!
But yeah, that was the week. I hope you all have a great week. Good luck with school starting up again. May the Spirit be with you always!
~Hermana Whetten
Well, this was a great week. The highlight was probably being able to see Antonio get confirmed at church yesterday. The ward is really taking care of and responsibe for him too. Like we found out that before church started the bishop already had interviewed him to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and they're working on getting him a calling as well. From a missionary perspective, there is nothing we want more for our recent converts than exactly that... opportunities for them to learn and grow and where they can receive responsibilities and blessings. That is so great! The ward is on it!
It is kind of funny... our ward still doesn't have a new bishop from when we got the new stake presidency like almost 2 months ago. So our poor old bishop is having to do both callings. Every week we go to church thinking, "maybe we'll get our new bishop this week." Who knows... maybe next week?
We are super excited because Lyz is finally back from her month long vacation so now we can start working with her again. She went to church yesterday and we're going to go see them tonight.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. We got the transfer calls and I have another one here in Reseda with Hermana Mulliner. It'll be good. We are having some crazy changes happening in the mission... like one of our Assistants to the President is going home this week, so about a week ago we received a text about who the next AP is going to be. But then this weekend we received another text that both those APs are being released for a special assignment and so two completely brand new APs have been called. The special assignment is evidently that they are going to conduct a ton of companionship exchanges with Elders in the mission just like they recently have been doing with the sisters like I explained when I went on the exchange a few weeks ago. It was so crazy to hear that announcement!!!
There are a few other changes. Hermana Fish-- one of the Hermanas on bike nearby in Canoga Park -- is leaving. Two elders from our district are leaving. Also, we have a new district leader because the old one is going to be training. Oh yeah, about training, we aren't having any hermanas coming out this transfer or next I believe. I guess it will still be a little longer before there is a huge influx of missionaries.
Anyway, another quick story from this week is that I had helote for my first time. That is one of the things that the street venders on carts go from apartment to apartment honking a horn and selling. We were in a lesson meeting with an old investigator/less active/part member family and their baby heard the horn and wanted one, so the dad bought everyone an helote. What they do is they take a corn on the cob and put butter then a bit of mayonaise on it. Then I think they put some of the crumbly white cheese on it. Finally, they sprinkle on lemon salt and chile powder. It was actually really good! It was kind of weird eating it because I eat corn on the cob from one side to the other, so only one side of my lips were getting the chile little bit of heat. haha! It was just weird to feel that whole half lip heat thing.
Also, we had a fun noche de hogar (family home evening) this week. The lesson was really cool. We were teaching about how Sunday is special and how it is a commandment to keep it holy etc. So we got two bowls of ice cream and on one we started pouring ketchup and mustard and relish etc. None of those are bad. They are just things you don't put on your sundae. Then on the other we poured normal sundae toppings like caramel and hot fudge etc. Those are things you do put on your sundae like go to church, write missionaries, do service etc. It was really fun!
One thing that was fun was someone brought a special bread for dessert and so this week we've been learning all about this one tradition. Evidently in Mexico there is a tradition that they do for Christmas. Christmas itself isn't very special. Like you do get a few small presents but that is it. But then January 6th is evidently the day that they celebrate the three wise men came. So everyone leaves their shoes out and when you wake up the next morning you have some money in your shoes or presents, depending on the family. But there is another tradition where on January 6th there is a special bread that they make ...I think it is called Roscoe de Rayes or something like that... basically meaning a bread of kings. It is this bread that is made into an oval and then they put stuff on the top like this fruit stuff and sprinkles or some frosting or whatever. But the thing is that they hide these 3 little dolls inside the bread. Then everyone cuts off their own piece of the bread. Whoever gets the three little plastic dolls has to bring the stuff for the next party which is evidently on the 2nd of February. So the first person has to bring the tamales, the second person the drinks, and the people telling us about it forgot what the 3rd person had to bring, but it was probably dessert or something like that. So at the noche de hogar this week, someone brought this bread and Hermana Mulliner ended up with the first little doll. Everyone was laughing at her because she has no clue how to make tamales but evidently now she has to learn. She thought they would let her off the hook because she is a missionary, but no, everyone told her that she got the doll so now she has to. Hahaa!!!! So evidently later this month we'll be learning how to make tamales. Maybe we could get Herminia to teach us how to do that and somehow get her to church or to an activity from us learning to make tamales. We'll see how creative we can be!!
Anyway, those are probably the biggest stories from this week. Oh yeah, we met a new investigator out on the street and it was so funny! He was standing outside his apartment waiting for his plumber to come and we started talking to him about what we do as missionaries and what we believe etc. It was really just a weird/funny situation because we were just about to take off and he was like, "hold on a second!" and he ran inside and gave us a box of some kind of Belgium truffles. He also practically was proposing to Hermana Mulliner and told her how pretty she was so many times we couldn't even count it on our fingers. We do have a return appointment, so we'll definitely be bringing some strong members to see if he even really has interest in learning about the church or not. But it just makes us laugh what our life is as missionaries. We are constantly put into weird/awkward situations. Therefore, I understand why Returned Missionaries are stereotypically awkward. It is because they just got home from being put in awkward situations constantly for 18-24 months. So really, they are the normal ones. haha!
Anyway, we regifted his chocolate to some investigators we met with that evening haha!
But yeah, that was the week. I hope you all have a great week. Good luck with school starting up again. May the Spirit be with you always!
~Hermana Whetten
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