Week 10: StomaCH cow (May 9, 2016)

Monday: We got to go to Leavenworth, this darling German village out in the mountains. There were hat shops, chocolate shops, cheese, gingerbread, bag, fudge shops, gelato, literally everything you can imagine out there and it was all delicious. While at the chocolate shop, we introduced ourselves to the guy who was helping us and as we left the gingerbread shop we ran into him again. He showed us around as we taught him the Restoration. Turns out he's a filmmaker and loves stories. He was legitimately curious about why we were out here. We introduced the Book of Mormon to him and each taught a little bit of a different part of the Restoration. We each shared our testimonies and we were able to be pretty frank about some things because he was so open and curious. It was perfect because we ended up at our car which is where we grabbed a Book of Mormon. He thanked us and said that he was really interested and was planning on reading it. So successful proselyting day on Pday :)


Wednesday: We got to try some Russian piroskys at the food fair. They were salmon and cream cheese and were fantastic. Usually we have the car on Wednesday's but the sisters we share with got t-boned so we get to walk all over the valley now and it's great :) Makes me really feel like a missionary when we get to walk a couple of miles to check out referrals. I love it :))

Thursday: We had the opportunity to help with Days for Girls which is an amazing program our mission president's wife set up for girls in poorer countries. At first we felt a little bit useless because there was a lot of sewing to do but then I volunteered to help surge and it was so fun. We didn't have much time to get out because of the way everything worked out but that night we found Mauro who is kind of golden. He's got four crazy kids that are a little bit older, 6-12 probably and too cute. He was very curious and had lots of questions. I feel like he may have been trying to pick a bone or two with us but it turned out pretty okay. I love the sense of humor many of them have. It's very sarcastic but also muy chistoso (very funny) and hard not to respond to. It was funny because he asked us if we had time and I almost laughed because that's all we have. This is what we do! I'm excited to meet with him again.

Friday: We walked out to the opposite side of town to contact a handful of referrals. It's a little bit tricky because it took us about 40 minutes or so but it was so very worth it. The first referral we tried was so ready. She is looking for more peace and soaked up all we taught. We invited her to our special stake conference next weekend because Elder Christofferson is coming!! It's extra special because he's the only apostle that speaks spanish and so there is going to be a special spanish session on Sunday morning!!! She didn't hesitate to accept so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Saturday: Zone training was this morning, perfectly scheduled so that we would miss the parade that happened at the same time. There was so much to learn and to soak up. Again, I was reminded of how incredibly blessed I am to be out here. We got lunch at Cafe Rio afterwards and someone paid for our meals! It's little things like that that make me feel so grateful. Missions are the best thing ever. That night, I had the opportunity to try an original Ecuadorian dish. We ate with a member family from Ecuador and I couldn't figure out why she kept telling us that if we didn't like it, we could have chicken. I'm always up for trying something new so I accepted the sauce like stuff that went on top of rice. At the table we keep talking about the meat so I take a closer look. The bits of meat in it had little frills and divets, it kind of reminded me of honeycomb but obviously much softer. My companion said, "Oh is this medungo? (or gut I don't remember the exact word)" I kind of died inside as I realized it was not gut but stomach. I voiced my opinion and they laughed. It was cow stomach! It's cute because they pronounce stomach like it looks like, stom-aCH cow, as they described. I almost wished I hadn't asked but I tried it. It had the texture of what I'm told is pulpo or octopus. I can't really say, all I can say though is now I have tried cow stomach. The members thought my reaction was pretty funny.

Sunday: Got to Skype my familia! It was great, we actually went to the same members house that fed us cow stomach to skype and they were talking to my family as I walked in! It was great to see everyone again :) Later that night we didn't have much time to go out but I felt like we should stop by Roosevelt street. The door we knocked on was blasting some seriously awesome Mexican music. After knocking twice this short bald man swings the door open and walks away, obviously expecting someone else. There was a double take that occurred as he realized we were not there to play cards. He was super awesome and as we talked his buddy who was playing with him came to talk to us as well. It turns out, they've met with the elders back in the winter of 2015! They were super friendly and asked when we could come back. We just kind of got to know them at the door and the short man brought us Powerade and Mexican gelatin. It was an epic experience and a fantastic way to wrap up the night. I am so grateful for the guidance we receive so that we can find the right people at the right time. It's wonderful :))

Couple of cuckoos

If you squint and tilt your head you will see that I too am squinting and tilting my head.

Fun fact:  Eggs explode when microwaved for longer than 10 seconds.

StomaCH cow :)))) obviously I enjoyed it quite a lot

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 "Wow!  Tiene una familia muy grande!"

(Wow! You have a huge family!)