1.5.11

Hello! I am sorry that my letter last week was really spastic...it was kind of an off day. Pero, esta bien. I am awake this time! lol!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY ALY AND HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!!!!!! And happy New Year! I’ve already been out on my mission a year, he he. I hope you all are celebrating with lots of happiness. Don’t know why I said that so strangely. Anyway...mi vida

I had my first contact! We were doing service outside of the CCM, and this older man walked up and said hi. So I started talking to him....there wasn’t a Latino around, so really, I had no clue what he was saying. We did start talking about religion, and Jesus Christ...he said he wanted to meet with us! So, I found a Latino to translate, and wa-la! It was super fun! It got me really excited to share the gospel.

Okay, so funny things that have happened this week. I was trying to teach some hermanas about the importance of milk for their bones, to prevent osteoporosis. calcium. Anyways, so I said leche es muy bien por sus heuvos!!! What I really said was the milk is really good for your eggs. I guess hueso are bones, not huevos. My bad. bien ocho is good eight, instead of bien hecho, which is great job. Jesucristo isn’t the caminisa (shirt), he is the camina (way). The atonement relieves us from pecados (sins), not pescados (fish)...many occur and many more to come!!"

Oghhhhh sooo awesome! So yesterday, I was able to go to the park and contact real people! It was like a 445 min bus ride there. The buses are so small. The seats are super close together. Not for the Latinos, but I was basically eating my knees. Legs, they get in the way. But...the bus fills up and then people come in and stand in the isle and hold on to a bar above their head. Anyway, this little boy was standing next to me...I said hola, cual es su nombre...hello what is your name...and he just opened up and started chatting away. Seriously, he told me all about his family, and everything. My Latina comp helped me to understand. I guess he said he liked my lips, my eyes and my forehead...okay? But, he totally reminded me of Zach and Jacen...totally chatterbox with a complete stranger. An abnormal looking stranger. lol. it was super cute.

The park was a great introduction into contacting. Some interesting things happened. Some people were really interested, and you could see that they had a question that they were searching for, and they were hopeful that this was the answer. Others simple weren’t interested. it was neat though, because some said no, but they were pleasant, we continued to chat for a while...they smiled and were friendly. Others said no and were really rude, they were frowning all the time, and hostile when we didn’t even say anything offensive. It was interstering because I kinda watched those people as we continued to contact others, and they were the ones that my heart reached out to the most. It was apparent that they had some hardship that they were facing, and that they had given up hope in anything bigger than themselves. They were outwardly hostile and it reflected a lot of their inner feelings. We are all prepared at different stages in our lives, but it is just hard to see some in so much unhappiness. While there, one lady just randomly collapsed behind me. That was fun. My comp was like! My companera is an inferemeria!! Yeah....under pressure! I rely a lot on prayer in those situations! She is okay, but it was definitely a situation out of my comfort zone!

So, I was reading in D&C 45:3-5 the other day, and I just think it is so amazing. We are all going to be judged for our actions on this earth. But just imagine, we are remembering everything we have done, good and bad...I bet it is going to be hard! But, Christ will be there, ready to step forward and to say, it’s okay, I have paid the price of her sins; I have paid for the price of my sins, and the sins of each person individually. All we have to do is turn to him, follow His example...and we can have that eternal glory and life! I just love it! SOO much!

The park was really hard, because I really didn’t understand the language that they were speaking. I would bear my testimony at the end, and initiate the contact. It was tiring because I had to focus so hard to be able to understand what they were saying. In one of the lessons at the CCM that I gave the teacher was really praising. He kept going on and on about how strong the spirit was, and that it didn’t matter about the language. I can feel the spirit; I know it is there, everyone in the lesson can feel it too. My struggle is that the words that I say in Spanish, just sound like words too me. I don’t feel as though I connecting to what I am saying, even though I have a testimony of the what I am teaching...thank goodness for the spirit, he will speak through my even in my weakness!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Jackie I got you letter,gracias! I hope you find your job! Good luck with that and congrats on graduating! Lucky duck! I still have two semesters...ew! Loves!

hermana otto