Hermana in Houston: Week 8: I am loving it here!

Hi loves!

This has been such a crazy week! I absolutely love it here. I am learning so much and having such a good time.

So much happens in a week, I have no idea what to include in these letters!

It is so interesting to encounter people who have never even heard of missionaries. We met this girl our age and she was completely shocked as I explained that I had left school and worked to pay for this, that I had left school and work and dance and dating and friends AND my family for a year and a half WILLINGLY, that I had gone to Mexico just to learn the language, and that I was living here with two complete strangers, and that we knocked on doors all day long trying to find people to teach. The look on her face was priceless. hahaha

I love the people here! I have learned some very valuable lessons about the kind of people I would have associated with or avoided in the past, it has pretty much reversed! haha I love bearing my testimony to people. Whether it is to the young women in this ward about the importance of the temple, or the man last night who was trying to argue with us that we had "perfect little mormon lives" and I said I WOULD NOT BE HERE IN YOUR LIVING ROOM IF THIS WAS NOT TRUE. I may not be able to teach a good lesson yet, but I can definitely bear my testimony.

(Side note: there is one girl in our ward with pale skin and red hair, but it completely hispanic! Genetics are so cool! haha)

Every Monday we eat dinner with "Sabaloos," this sweet old lady from Pakistan. At first I could not figure out why we were there! She doesn't speak Spanish OR English so we can barely communicate with her, she is extremely poor and basically gave us all of the food she had (spiciest food I have ever had, ay ay ay), and she didn't even eat anything. Then I saw how she looked when we motioned that it was time to pray... gratitude, relief, happiness, comforted... she took our hands and we said a prayer for her and her family, her country, her health, her job. Then we sang a hymn for her and she just beamed! She clapped her hands sporadically along with the song and I finally understood that this meal appointment had absolutely nothing to do with feeding us. As we walked out of her apartment and down the walk she hobbled out to the doorway and waved at us all the way down the street until we were out of sight. I will never, ever forget that image.

My first real dinner appointment was at Hermana S's house on Tuesday. She lives in a pretty sketchy apartment, and as we sat at her table as she finished cooking it was so so SO hard to see the cockroaches just teeming in her kitchen! My appetite was completely gone, and I had to pound down an enormous spicy meal, and then continue to sit and teach her and not throw up. Hardest thing I have ever done. It was really horrifying to find out that her apartment is much cleaner than most other trailers we eat at. hahaha There was one particular trailer that we had a meal appointment with that I had been dreading all week. Between the dirt, the mold, the bugs, 4 dogs, 9 cats and the lack of hygene, I could barely hold anything down just thinking about it. But luckily she got takeout from Church's Chicken (the two most prevalent things here in Texas)! Made me just as sick as anything else, but it was easier to get down! haha

Want to hear the scariest moments of my life? We found a new area to knock and as we are walking down the street SIX DOGS come sprinting and barking at us! We were frozen with fear! They all circled us and my life literally flashed before my eyes, and we all got our bags ready to start hitting them when their owner ran over and saved us. So we are like laughing and and trying to control our breathing as we continue to walk down the street and THE BIGGEST DOG I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE starts running toward us. It was this mutant Boxer thing, close to the size of a horse, and there was no doubt in my mind that we were dead. Luckily it got distracted by another dog and we sprinted around the corner. Reeeeeeeeeally glad Heavenly Father looks out for us! haha So the next time we went to the area we tried a different street. And so we find this giant lot with a trailer in the back, and almost every inch of this lot is covered in massive piles of garbage. So we weave through piles of garbage, and even old cars stuffed with garbage to get to this house we felt prompted to visit. I knock on the door and I hear this growl come from behind the nearest pile of garbage, and we turn around and see three german shepherds. Again, I thought we were dead (unfortunately it's becoming a common occurrence). But luckily two were chained up and the one that wasn't just came up and smelled us. We were about to leave when one of the chained dogs started howling and whining, and that's when we really got a good look at her. Completely starving. You could see every single one of her ribs, her spine, and even her hip bones. We ran over and pulled out anything we could find in our bags, granola bars, dried fruit, water, and started feeding these poor abused dogs. Then we heard whimpering from inside one of the kennels. Eight puppies, maybe a few days old, huddled together, whimpering. BROKE MY HEART. We called animal control, and go back every few days to make sure they're still alive. The one that isn't on the chain likes to follow us around the neighborhood and will literally sit on doorsteps as we knock. We thought he would protect us, like the dog in the other area, but he's a total scaredycat. haha WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME WHAT I WAS SIGNING UP FOR? hahahaha

I love teaching English at the hospital! We started out with just one, Rosa, and then last time we found Mary Lou, and this time we had Yamileth! It's an actual class now! They are so cute and we learn just as much Spanish from them as they learn English from us! I love it!

I have been giving out the CTR rings mom sent me to the little kids we teach and they absolutely love it!

People say the darndest things! haha Like one member Elisa brings up the resurrection no matter what we teach her. It is so hard not to laugh when we are talking out tithing and she says, "y la resureccion..." hahha Or another woman we teach who says "como se llama" instead of "um" so the whole first lesson with her I thought she was asking me my name over and over. hahah

The kids here are so cute. They all know Spanish and English and are so funny. We do singing time in primary every Sunday and I love it. There was a little boy we taught yesterday and his closing prayer was all about his birthday cake. haha! And we taught a family last night with a little girl who looks like Dora the Explorer! I wish we could hold them!

P.S. SPANGLISH IS REAL. I always thought it was a joke. NOPE. "Washateria" "Estaca" "Carro" "Tele" "Checkando mi texto" are ALL real things I hear people say.

Sorry for the novel! Thank you all so much for your love and support!

Funnies of the week:

Last night during our lesson with a family, their little girl screamed "Bloody Hell" when a gecko jumped up on the window behind us. I mean, of all things to say... hahaha

Having to duck in all the trailers so I'm not decapitated by their ceiling fans.

Me:"What is the sketchiest part of our area?"

Companions: "These apartments."

Me:"What the heck are we doing here????"

Companions: "Visiting the bishop and ward mission leader."

Hermana McOmber