Week 17 A La Costa?!

Hey there all my friends and family!

Can I just start this letter with never before have I been so excited to take a cold shower in my entire life?? As the title says, I am in La Costa! It is a little weird to be here because when I first came to the mission, I was told that they did not allow hermanas from North America to come to La Costa because it is dangerous... That being said... Here we go!

Monday

I flew all day Monday and got to Quito around 11pm without problems this time! ;) Hahaha Pres. Richardson and the assistants picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at the house of the enfermera. There were 3 hermanas that had completed their missions and were leaving at 3:30 in the morning.  Let us just say that I did not get much sleep that night...

Tuesday

I studied with Hma Pemberton and Hma Garcia in the morning like usual and then they dropped me off at the chapel Iñaquito. I ate lunch with the new missionaries and then had an interview with presidente. He tried to figure out what to do with me (I almost had to do orientation again, thankfully not). It was decided that I would go work with Hma. Hull in her sector. It was awesome to see her since I had not see her since the CCM. We visited a few people but what really got me was when we visited an inactive hermano. His name is Alejandro and it was fun to joke with him. While bearing my testimony at the end, I could see in his eyes that he could feel the spirit. It was a great lesson and a great reminder of why I fought so hard to come back here.

Wednesday

We went about the normal studies in the morning and then had lunch with a mamita that lived in the sector of the elders. It was really weird because the mamita did not eat with us and did not talk to us, we just walked in, ate, and left without saying anything because this is how the mamita likes it. I have no clue why but it made me a little sad. Later on, an hermano bought us a ton of quimbolitos. It ended up being a good day.

Thursday

Back to Quito! We took the Metro back to Quito. The thing about the Metro is that everyone packs onto these long buses and if you do not push your way in, you will not get on. I almost fell off the platform but a gentleman behind me helped make sure that did not happen. We got back to the Iñaquito chapel and I chatted with Hma. Williamson and Hma. Naylor while the new missionaries received a chat about money and health in the mission. Hmo. and Hma. Williamson go home within the next few weeks which is sad but they are excited to see their grandkids, so all is well. I was assigned to serve in La Costa with Hma. Castro! I was really shocked that I was going there because I had just got done telling my mom that they do not send hermanas norteamericanas to La Costa but here I am to stay for a while. We hopped on a bus and after 7 hours, we arrived at our home. It is a really nice apartment. They just recently changed our apartment because the other one did not receive wáter ever. Thank goodness we have our new home.

Friday

It is so hot in La Costa, I am melting! The humidity here is crazy and I vowed that I will never live where there is a ton of humidity after the mission. We had our weekly meeting and I found out that El. Rojo and El. Herrera are in my district and that Hma. Beltran is in my zone again. They were all shocked that I was back because they honestly did not think that I would be able to come back. I was made English tutor for my district which means every week, I check the Latinos progress with their English, teach a small lesson, and email their results every week. It is super easy and should be fun (have to bribe them of course). We ate lunch with Hma. Montaño who was recently made Stake Relief Society president. The first thing she said when she saw me was how tall I was. I get that all the time and always here, mira una gringa! It kind of gets old but I will survive. It had been quite a while since my sector had a gringa hermana.

Saturday

We visited a bunch of people today. People love to give us popsicles, crackers, and coke! We are always given some sort of snack. It is their way of life to give whoever comes little treats, especially if they like the missionaries.

Sunday

Church was a fun experience... Sort of... Everyone welcomed me with open arms and lots of comments about how white I am. We had a family who is now considered fully active! They had their interview and told us that they are planning on being sealed in the temple in December!! Que chévere! Relief society was not so much fun. They like to have the missionaries participate a lot in church but I did not fully understand the question that the teacher had asked me. I was pretty embarassed. Afterwards, a sister who served a mission and spoke English very well, came up and apologized for not helping. She felt awful but I told her not to worry, that one day, I will understand. After church, we had lunch with a family, who´s son recently returned from a mission in Peru. It was fun to compare missions and experiences. Afterwards, we gave a tour of the church to our investigator, Brian, who is getting baptized this Saturday! He is so excited for his baptism! It is awesome!

Monday (today)

For our zone, there are only 3 sets of hermanas and the next zone over, there are not any, so we only have one hermana líder. She had to go to Quito this morning for meetings and had to leave her companion with us, Hma. Gummersall. We just go about our normal routine with her and have had a pretty relax Pday.

Yep. That is my week... It is a little weird to be back but I love it here! The rule here, at least for hermanas is that we have to be in our apartment at 8, no later than 8:30. Things here are done a little bit differently but it is still fun and the people still love feeding us tons of rice.

Until next time,

The Strawberry Blonde Hermana

PS. Thanks for all the love and support! :)