Week 7: Chihuahua's, puertas, y estar + bueno (April 18, 2016)

Not really sure where to begin so I guess we'll start with April 12. I apologize for the scatteredness, there is more than can ever be said every day.

April 12 - we left nice and early and all I really remember is feeling a little bit like a deer in the headlights as we made our way to the airport, through the airport and on to Yakima. The second plane was little and I got to talk to this super sweet 16 year old girl who told me a little bit about Yakima and her family. In the MTC the concept of "hermana" and "elder" isn't even blinked at but I forget that isn't the same everywhere else and the look she gave me when I introduced myself as such made me laugh. Yakima is gorgeous. There are mountains that are incredibly different than Utah's and all of the trees are in bloom right now so of course it's stunning. We stayed at the mission home that day and got briefed on how everything will play out. The food they made was also some of the best food I have ever eaten. Relatively soon after we arrived they sent us out to tract. I thought I was at least somewhat prepared but as always, that is where I was wrong. We used both Spanish and English which was odd to me but when we knocked on one house where we spoke Spanish I totally froze. The woman we were talking to kind of laughed and said something to the effect of, "She's new?" Yup. I felt a little tonto (stupid) because we were talking about families and I know how to talk about them, I understood most of what was being said. . . I just could not figure out how to talk. We headed back home, ate, took a million pictures, and had a brief testimony before bed.

April 13 - Today was the day we got our companions. I've been assigned to Wenatchee which is about a 2 hour drive (from the mission home). I can't believe how many different types of landscapes there are. We drove through cliffs, around mountains and across a river of some sort. It's stunning. I met my companion and then we went to dinner with a member who's daughter recently got back from her mission at the Salt Lake Visitor's Center. Then we tracted (walking around knocking doors and trying to talk to people) a little bit and found a sweet lady while looking for a referral.



April 14 - We spend so much time studying. I kind of love it, just to be able to study and prepare for the day, to be immersed in the scriptures and Predicad mi Evangelio (Preach my Gospel). Our service is at the museum in town where we set up for a tea party. Then we tracted. We were still looking for the one referral but we still couldn't find them. This is the first place I ran into a door. We knocked on this super cute little house and a grandma answered the door with one of her grandkids. He grinned at us and we had time to smile back and say "Hi!" before she said, "Oh forget it!" and slammed the door. I honestly couldn't do anything but laugh because of the dynamic between the child and her. We tried next door and taught the first lesson on her doorstep. I'm learning so much already, it's kind of crazy. Later, we headed toward the Garcia's. We're in a walking area so we obviously walk everywhere but I honestly love it. We decided to knock some doors on a street nearby and ran into Aaron. He was quite nice, but when we were introducing ourselves he started laughing which took us off guard a little. Apparently his wife was a member, a less active, and he thought somebody had sent us. We spent the next 30 minutes or so discussing the LDS church and Hinduism which is what he practices. We left him with 2 Nephi 4 and he invited us back. Not because I think he's really interested but because, well honestly I'm not really sure. Then we met with the Garcia's. I have had the privilege to come at the right time to be here for her baptism! She gets baptized this coming Saturday and I'm so excited. Her family is really sweet and she's darling.

Wenatchee : )

April 15 - We had a training meeting where I learned a lot. It was really neat to be with all of the missionaries again. We had dinner with a member family that night who is half Ecuadorian and half white. That night while we were eating and talking, I was a little stunned at where I was. Me, a super rubia gringa (blonde foreigner) was sitting there eating and chatting in Spanish with this incredible Ecuadorian family. Their culture is so amazing and I am seriously so blessed to be a part of it. We visited the Garcia's again that night and while we were walking home we did what we call the Miracle Walk. 8 pm at night is kind of like the twilight zone. Not really, but that's when people are kind of settling down and it's an odd time to knock doors so we really just hope to find people in the streets. We were almost home when we ran into two families. I talked to the kids and got to know them while Hermana Dungan (mi companera) talked with one of the moms. About 10 minutes later one of the families left and we turned to the other mother who had been listening. She then tried to convert us to her church. She was an incredible missionary honestly. She talked really fast and although I got the gist of what was happening I didn't totally catch all of the context. Sometimes she would look legitimately interested and then other times less so. We tried to leave her with a prayer and after we did she whipped out 1 Corinthians 11:4-6 I think which says a woman's head must be covered in prayer so I think maybe she thought we were being sacrilegious.

April 16 - Today i got attacked by a chihuahua. Granted, they aren't very big so how terrible can that really be but still. She just had three puppies and so in her defense she was just being a good mother but even though I tried to stay a respectful distance, she obviously didn't like how blonde I am and so attacked my foot. Before this we had mostly just planned because all of our schedules had been a little thrown off but it was really good to talk to the member that fed us that night. She was having some doubts and struggles and all I could do was give her scriptures. It's tricky, knowing exactly what to say at the right time. But every day I learn a little bit more and it is slowly getting easier.

The attack dog and her puppies.

April 17 - I made my first major Spanish error. When someone asks, "Como esta?" Don't reply with "Estoy bueno." Long story short I called myself a sexy man and have effectively made a fantastic first impression on my very first Sunday here. Elder Solis, who is hilarious and our zone leader, has made sure to tell everyone about it and I probably will never live it down. :) Sunday's are fantastic though. It's all in Spanish and it's just a branch but the people in it are absolutely amazing! Their testimonies are so strong and sweet and I feel incredibly blessed to serve along side of them.

This week was once again weird because we get to go to the temple on Friday!! So our usual PDay has been moved to Friday and after this we head out to work. Also, we got locked out of the church and so the library is hosting a bunch of needy missionaries.
There is so much to learn and I cannot wait to grow. I've really learned this week that there really isn't any comfort in the growth zone but if you really grab hold of it and use it as you should, you grow much faster and it's a little bit easier to go through. I absolutely love it out here and I am so excited for what is to come.

--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission

A spicy mango smoothie with a spicy fruit leather type thing 

wrapped around the straw a member made for us.