Te'e pilo, Sico, Malo; Studying the Tongan Language Aug, 25 2014

Querida Familia y Amigos,

This week was super short.

Wednesday, I hit my 9 month/half way. That is so crazy!!

We had a miracle this week. So, we have this investigator, Israel. His brother, Cesar, we've met him a few times, and we gave him our, but we didn't  think he was that interested. Well, he texted us the other day, and asked us when we were going to come visit him. At first we were like, well, he's probably just texting because he thinks we're pretty (we're not conceited, it's just that he was drunk every time he was at his brothers house), so we put off going to see him. Eventually, we set an appointment and went to see him. He told us that he wants to stop drinking, and that his sister, who's active in another religion, told him that meeting us was a sign to help him change his life. We were firm with him, and told him that it's not easy to stop drinking, and he's going to have to need more motivation that just the missionaries, and he told us his real motivations, and that he really wants to stop and change his life. He's a solid, golden investigator. He is so ready. (:

Also, we had another miracle. We have this other investigator, Hercimia. We hadn't seen her since the first lesson, so when we were knocking on her door that day, we were mostly prepared for her to not answer, but if she did, we were prepared to give the drop talk. So we knocked. Waited a few minutes, then knocked again. No response. Usually at this point, we would move on, but we felt like we needed to know again. After a few more minutes, we turned to leave, and saw her walk into the apartment front gate. When she saw us, instead of being all awkward like people that hide from missionaries usually are, so looked to relieved to see us. She let us in, even though she only had time to shower before she went to her other job, and told us all the drama with her hubby, and her son'scoming from Guatemala, and it was good that she did tat.

Love you! Bye!

Ay! Aug 18,2014

Querida Familia y Amigos,

This week was sooo short.

Monday was a crazy P-Day, we decided to try to go to Albertson's to try to save miles, but it was super expensive, so we went to Winco anyway. Then we went to this super nummy Chinese restaurant that's super cheap, and when we got home, I realized I left my ring on the table, and Hermana Maama realized she forgot to buy toilet paper (it was my turn to buy paper towels, and hers for toilet paper, so I am not to be held accountable (: ), so we went back to get my ring (Su, the waitress that's super awesome, haha. I walked in like, "My ring!" and she's like, "It's still on table. I lazy, you know!"), then we go to get the toilet paper. By the time we get back, P-Hours are almost over, and we realize that we forgot to start our laundry before we left. Usually my companion washes hers first, but we were exchanging with the STL's that night, I was leaving, and I had no clean clothes. So I had to hurry and do my laundry and pack, and we still had to make it out the door by 6. Crazy.

Then exchanges were super... yeah. We were on bike, which is good, I miss being on bike. But bike+Mukilteo=a lot of hills. And we rode down the motor speedway! We were luck there was no line for the ferry, because we were able to ride in the ferry lane, but otherwise, we would have had to ride between lanes of traffic. And we were just speeding down so fast, tenia miedo! I was so scared that I'd hit a bump and flip over the bike and break my glasses again. But this time, I don't have a warranty, so I wouldn't be able to get new ones.

Then, Wednesday, we had zone conference all day. From 8:30 to 8:30. It was sooo long.

The rest of the week was just normal. Except for the Open House that Hermana Andersen came to with her parents because she's done with her mission.

Oh, but do not buy shredded cheese from the Dollar Store. Eww, don't do it. It's cheaper, but it's formulated to not melt, so when you're trying to have a nice warm bowl of cheese grits, it takes like blandness with plastic. Eww. That is super gross.

They're doing this new thing in the mission that's eventually going to replace Cottage Meeting. It's called Come See For Yourself Fireside. We went to the first one last night, and it's super cool. It's like Cottage Meeting, recent converts share their conversion stories, but there's musical numbers and Mormon Messages and clips from Conference. It's suuuper cool. (: The downside? It's only in English. No translation. ): That'll be hard for our investigators. English missionaries don't understand the problems the Spanish side of the mission has. They're like, "Just invite your investigators, and they'll come!" No. First we'd have to find one that knows English (there's not a lot of those), then find one that we can believe when they say they'll come, or that we can pass by and pick them up with a member. It is super sad and annoying with we have a member ride, we pass by for the investigator, and they're not home because they decided they didn't want to go.

And that is all for today.

Les quiero mucho!

Se me olvido!

Oh, yeah. An investigator gave us crabs to eat. He said he cooked them all the way, and all we had to do was warm them up. ("How? Like in the microwave?" "Si, esta bien.")

I have been feeling super sick since then. I wasn't able to eat all of it. Once I got to the body, I was like, "No way can I eat this." I felt soooo sick.

Ay! Aug 11, 2014

Querido Familia y Amigos,

I made a list this time so I wouldn't forget stuff to tell you.

1. Baby blessing. Okay. So, we were knocking doors, trying to visit some people we haven't seen for a while, and Hermana Maama's like, "Let's try to get back into that building." This apartment building is one of those annoying ones that you can only get into with a code. So we go over, and we see two ladies standing outside with a couch. We were like, "Hey, do you guys need any help?" and one of them was like, "My husband's on his way. We're trying to get this couch into my son's apartment before he gets home." and we're like, "Well, we can help!" She was so happy, because her husband was being grouchy, so she called and told him no to worry about it, and we helped her carry this couch through the front doors, into the elevator, out of the elevator, and into this apartment.

Then, of course, we tried to contact them, even though they were white. And they were like, "We're Jehovah's Witnesses." We were like, "Oh pues!" and left before they tried to bash with us. J Dubs. For real.

So we knock on the two Hispanic doors in the building, and the first one was totally home, but didn't answer, and the second one, this woman, bien embarazada, answers the door, and was like, "I am so glad you're here!" (Hermanas Maama and Martinez had contacted her before) "I wanted to call you guys, but we accidentally threw away your card with the bills."

So, she's due seriously soon. And she wanted to know if she could have a baby blessing in our church. We were like, "Somos Mormones," and she was like, "I know, it's just that we just moved here, and we don't know where any churches are, and we like to have our children blessed the first domingo after they're born."

We didn't know if that was allowed, so we told her we'd find out and let her know. So we went and sat in the car and asked the district lider if nonmembers can bless their children in sacrement meeting, and he didn't know, so we called the zone lideres, tampoco sabian, but they told us to call the branch president. So we called President Waite. He didn't know, either, but he made some phone calls and told us that that is not allowed because (who knew? Not us) the Naming and Blessing of a Baby is an ordinance. Not a required ordinance, but an ordinance, nonetheless, and if the baby were to be blessed in the church, its name would have to go on record, and so they don't like to do that if the parents aren't members yet.

2. Lyman. Remember Hermana Lyman, my companion a couple transfers ago? She's going English today. President just called them the other day and told them that he needed Hermana Lyman to go English, and that Sister Simentel is going Spanish. What?! (Sister Simentel is fluent in Spanish).

3. Conference de Zona. Otra vez. We're having another zone conference! Actually, they said it was just a zone meeting, but the weird part? It's from 8am to 8pm. Why? I don't know. We're either going to get chewed out really good or get iPads. That's all we can figure.

4. We have exchanges tomorrow with the STL's. I'll be going to Mukilteo with Sister Sinclair in English for the day.

5. Herbert Family. Aw, man, I love them. I'm sure I've told you about them before. Well, we're thinking that we're going to have to let them go. ): We think they'll progress more in the English ward. ):

6. On the 20th, I'll have been out for 9 months! That's crazy!! It feels super weird, because after I'd been in Virginia 9 months, I went home. That's kind of distracting, because I got a letter from a friend from Virginia this week, and now I'm like, "Man! All I want to do is go back to Virginia! I love Virginia!" But I'll overcome this, no worries.

That is all the things on the list. (: Love you all!

Hermana Miller

Espanol Es Difiseal. Aug 4, 2014

Querido Familia y Amigos,

Ugh. This week was super long, but not much happened.

Yesterday, we were visiting someone, and we haven't seen him for a long time, so we gave him the Drop Talk. But he told us that he actually is interested, and he'll be spending more time at his apartment because he wants to take things slow with getting back together with his wife, so he's not going to move back into their house anytime soon, just go visit. So we talked their on the doorstep because their was no woman in the house, and we were about to leave, and he got this weird look on his face, like he just thought of something amusing, and was like, "Digan 'dificil,'" So we looked at his like, "What?" and said "Dificil." He turns to me with this big grin on his face and says, "Tu lo dices como mi esposa! Ella es gringa, tambien."

Hermana Maama and I look at him, like, "What on earth are you talking about?" and he's like, "Es 'dificil,' not 'difiseal.'" And I was thinking, "You did NOT just go Hermione Granger on me. This is not cool."

So I said it again, "Dificil?" and he's laughing, "No, dificil."

"It's leviOsa, not levioSA."

Man, that's really irritating to me. Not so much that he said it, but that I've been saying it wrong for not only 9 months, but pretty much my whole life.

I don't know how it is that I sound like I'm talking about a seal when everyone else is talking about something difficult. But at the same time, everyone's always telling me that my Spanish is super good. This is annoying.

My trainer is going home in two weeks! How crazy is that?! Her parents are coming to pick her up, so she's stopping by all of her old areas before she leaves, and she's asked for there to be an open house here for here. So we're having an open house, and inviting every hispanic in the Lynnwood and Everett stake boundaries. There'll be a church tour, and an explanation of each of the classes, and it'll be super cool. (:

Also, I got a letter this week that's super cool. I mean, it was a normal, everyday super awesome missionary Christmas card. But what's cool about it is that my Granny sent it to the CCM for Christmas, and I just got it this week. (:

One more thing (Jackie Chan?). I was asked to include in my email this week when I finish my mission. That is May 19, 2014.

Eso es todo. Adios!

P.S. You can't really see anything besides Ramiro, Jr., but I totally decorated this house. Daniela was like, "Man, I have no idea where to put any of my pictures or Ramiro's bird statues!" and we were like, "Ask the missionaries!" (: