Te Lo Voy a Repetir; Q-U-E-N-C-H Dec 8, 2014

Querido Familia y Amigos,

Regrese! I'm back in Spanish! I'm sad to leave English, which is funny, because earlier in my mission, when we didn't like someone, we were like, "I hope they go English on bike!" and I went English on bike, and I loved it. (:

I'm back in Lynnwood in the Chennault Beach Branch. I'm so glad, because if I could have chosen any branch in the mission to be for Chistmas, it would have been this one. And guess what? After this transfer, I will have been in this branch half my mission. Isn't that crazy? I think I might die in this area, as Hermana Andersen was here for like six transfers, and Hermana Brunsdale (oh, yeah, she's my new companion, by the way) is on her sixth transfer here, and I only have three more transfers after this, so collectively, if I were to die here, I will have been here six transfers, as well.

But I've also moved around pretty much every transfer, so we'll see what happens.

My first thirty minutes in Spanish, the most amazing thing happened. We were tracting, and I was like, "Uhh, tracting. And in Spanish. It's been so long since I've done this..." and it was uncomfortable, but the first trailer we knocked on, they were like, "Yeah, our neighbors are Spanish."

So we went to the next trailer, and we knocked, and lo and behold, they were Spanish. Not only that, they were interested. "What?! Why would this family be interested when you first knock on the door before you say anything?" you might be asking. Two words.

MEMBER MISSIONARIES. :D

Maria, the lady who answered the door, was like, "Ahh, misioneras!! I want to learn more, but I'm busy. I'm cooking. Can you come back tomorrow?"

And Hermana Brunsdale, this solid missionary, was like, "Oh, what are you cooking?"

And Maria said, "Frijoles. Do you guys want to join us for dinner?"

Coming from English, I was totally about to say no, because we don't intrude on people's dinners, but Hermana Brunsdale was like, "Si, si estaria bien con ustedses!"

So we went in, we had frijoles and chincharones, and we taught lesson one. And Maria told us this story about her brother who was a "diablito" (little devil) before the missionaries knocked on his door and taught him about the church. She told us about how after Javier joined the church, he completely changed for the better and told his family all about the church and gave them Book of Mormons, and she and the rest of her family wanted that change, too, so her sister, Lorena, and her family in Marysville were already taking the lessons, and Maria was just waiting for the day when we would knock on her door, too.

What?! I know, it's hard to believe, but the our Father in Heaven is a God of miracles. He watches out for each one of His children, and He wants all of them to have the opportunity to learn the gospel when they're ready. I am so grateful for His watching out for us as missionaries, to lead us to prepared people like Maria, and His watching out for the rest of His children, too. (:

After that lesson with Maria, we went to go see Hector, who is actually a member referral I received when I was English, and I passed it to the Spanish sisters. Hector is also totally prepared. I think he's fresh from Mexico. Those ones are my favorites, because they're not Americanized yet, and they are so humble and so willing to accept God in their lives.

Hector is 14 years old, his dad is from Oaxaca, and his mom is from Jalisco. I haven't met his dad yet, but I'm looking forward to meeting him, because Hector told me that his dad speaks Misteco, which is an awesome dialect that people speak in Oaxaca. Hector's mom, Lidia, and pretty nice, and also pretty prepared. Hector and Lidia both accepted softt baptism invites. (:

We have a Christmas tree! Hahahaha... We were super bummed that we didn't have one, so we snapped a branch off of a huge pine tree by Hector's house, took it home, and draped it over our fan. I'd show you pictures, but I forgot my camera today.

And don't worry that we stole from that tree, that complex is managed by a member, and she'll just laugh when we tell her.

... I think that's it.

Love you all!

Hermana Miller