Hermana in Houston: Week 18: 2nd Transfer!

Mi familia!

We got transfer calls last night... I'M STAYING IN WOODLANDS! I am so happy! I absolutely love it here! Hermana Burnham is being transferred and I find out who my new companion is tomorrow!

What a week! I have still been really sick, but this morning was the first morning in over two weeks where I could actually function! After 7 weeks of this darn cough I am so done. My cough medicine makes me really really drowsy and really dizzy, perfect for driving and tracting and teaching. haha Can't wait to get back to feeling "healthy" again!

I love being a missionary! We actually run into members all the time and it is so much fun! They are so excited to see us and just want to talk to us and drive us and feed us and take pictures of us. hahah It is so sweet!

I've been thinking a lot about my mission this week and I realized that although the CCM (MTC) and Preach My Gospel book helped me prepare in some degree for my mission, those aren't what made the difference in my preparation. It was consistent family home evenings, family scripture study and prayer, and my personal scripture study that REALLY prepared me for my mission. Although it's great to have every scripture in the quad memorized and know where Kolob is, what actually matters when it comes to being prepared for missionary service is the depth of your own personal conversion through personal study and prayer, and knowing the value of living the gospel. My whole life prepared me for a mission, even before I ever considered serving one, and I am so grateful for it.

This week was EXCHANGES with Hermana Driesel! It was her last one because she goes home in a few days! It was SO MUCH FUN! I love her so much. She is exactly the kind of missionary I am working to become. I feel the Spirit so strongly when I am with her, and she makes me feel so loved! She called me "Cookie" without knowing why and I just started bawling because that's what Mom calls me. So many tender moments with her. I learn so much when I am with her!

Everyone loves her! We ate lunch with a member and the member literally ran down the street to the store because Hermana Driesel mentioned how much she loved having Coke with Mexican food. haha

She introduced me to Hermano Morales, and that literally changed my life. He is hands down the single cutest old man I have ever met! He lives in this beautiful house and is taking care of his sweet dying wife. He was a singer in his youth so we sang hymns with him and it was so much fun. He literally sobbed when Hermana Driesel told him she was going home. He sang her this solo... ah! Mi corazon! I hope I get to serve in her area at some point in my mission!

One day we were looking up former investigators and as we were walking through the apartments we came around a corner and found Sabaloos, the sweet old Pakistani woman, feeding a huge flock of birds with rice out in front of her apartment. She saw us and her face lit up, and she hobbled as fast as she could to us, making all of the birds fly away and embraced us and smothered us with kisses. I LOVE HER. She brought us in and made us a feast, like always. This time I got to meet her husband George! He actually knows a little English so that helped a lot! haha

One day we had a lesson with Imelda, the woman I found. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and when I was done bearing my testimony she said, "I will start it tonight." Ahh! I love finding people who are SO PREPARED!

This week we had the ward party! SO MUCH FUN! Tons of people came and everyone just got to know each other better and had the best time. It was for Mother's Day, so the men made all of the food... ohh my goodness, it was to die for!!! And of course, there was plenty of mate (mahtey) to go around. hahahah Argentinians... I absolutely loved it. All of the guys were playing basketball and they wanted to laugh at me so they passed me the ball, but I swished it on my first try. :) The ward went WILD.

Funnies of the week:

R is the nonmember husband of the less active convert E in our ward who we visit twice a week. He is so much fun to talk to. Their house looks SO SKETCH from the street (boarded up trailer with ten old broken down cars piled around in the underbrush with a pitbull tied to each one), but they are the best. He can't remember all of the missionaries' names so he gives us all nicknames, but he never tells us what they are until we leave the area. He calls the older missionaries "Alta" "Gordita" "Gringa" "Rubia" and he calls me "Bonita."

We were visiting with Cristina one night and her little two year old Gabriel was being even more travioso (mischievous) than normal, and she was yelling at him to stop throwing things. He got so upset he yelled " 'FUERA!" at her. haha (She sends him afuera or outside for timeout probably ten times a day).

Definitely handed out Mormon.org cards in a gas station bathroom... haha classy.

We were at bishop's house last night for dinner and afterwards he was telling us stories from his mission, but he was acting all of them out and I was DYING. I love him!!!

Love you all so much!

Hermana McOmber