HI FAMILY!
I didn't think I'd get to email you at all this week, we
were gone since 6pm Sunday night until about 5 pm today, so we rode our
bikes super fast to the University, where I'll be emailing you from now
on.
My new companion is named Hermana Flores, she's from Mexico, and speaks
very little English. So I'm trying to teach her as we go about our daily
things. She is very sweet and I am thankful to have her as a companion.
Puerto Rico is GORGEOUS. I absolutely love it. The people here are very
nice, most people here are Christian, so they have the same background
beliefs as we do. There are a lot of little iguanas/lizards crawling
around all the time, I've seen one cockroach (ew), and it's rained here a
few times. But other than that, it's great. Everything here is SO
colorful! All the houses and the streets. It's so much fun!
So as you know, since Mom is so great at blog stalking nowadays, we ride
bikes everywhere. The Sisters do get cars, but the girls I live with
(there are 4 of us in our little apartment) didn't get a car because
none of them had a US license. But now that I'm here, it's looking like
I'll be driving if we do get one. I'm afraid to drive here, it's scary
enough riding a bicycle. It's not as scary as driving in the DR was, but
it's still pretty scary. People drift lanes a lot.
Speaking of bicycles, Mom, I need a backpack. They don't sell them here
right now since it's not "Back to School" season, so could you find me
one? One that would be good for the rain and protect my books and what
not. Also, could you send my 4-combination scriptures? They're up in my
room somewhere. I can read the scriptures I have here in Spanish just
fine, but for marking up scripture mastery ones and what not, I'd like
to have my other ones. You said you just sent off a package, so I'm
sorry, but that's something I need. The instructions originally said NO
BACKPACKS allowed for Sisters, but everyone has one, because they're WAY
more conventional than side bags. Feel free to send along Oreos and as
much chocolate as you can stuff in there. I'm having withdrawals. :)
HAHA.
And I also need a pillow. So many things I need and I had no idea.
So I'll buy the pillow here when I get the chance. Luckily, I've got my
baby blanket to sleep on.
Anyway, I'm
in an area called Pontezuela, on the Northern part of the island, just
south of the airport. I think. I'm not sure exactly. But planes fly
over all the time, and it makes it difficult to hear people when we go
contacting on the streets.
This week was Holy week. From Friday-Sunday, almost all the stores here
were closed out of reverence for Christ''s death and Resurrection. It's
cool how religious people here are. Another tradition is that on those
days, they only eat FISH. (And rice and beans, of course). It's crazy!
We had fish twice that day, because some of the people we visited gave
us some. It was super good, surprisingly. AND! Be proud - I ate my first
avocado! Hurray for being brave and trying new things!
We found a family this week, and the Mom was totally prepared to hear
the Gospel. It was awesome! She was asking so many questions, and it was
so much fun talking with her. She spoke English, too, so I got to
testify in English. I felt the Spirit so strongly. I'll keep you
updated. She and her "husband"(boyfriend, they haven't married yet) have
3 kids, and their grandmother lives with them and she's 100 years old!
They are an amazing family.
I also invited a guy to be baptized too! He said YES, and he's preparing for April 28th or something.
I'm
happy to hear the people I met at church this week called you! They
were such nice people! It was a blessing for me to have them there, they
reminded me of all of you, and it was cool to have some "family" for
Easter. Our ward is tiny. Either that, or just a lot of people were gone
for the holiday.
So apparently I'm going to be training the incoming missionaries from
the CCM in the DR in four weeks. I am so nervous, I feel like I hardly
know how to do any of this, and the president expects me to be able to
step up and lead. I am very scared, and feel very unqualified, but I
know the Lord will help me through it. He has been helping me so much. I
am so thankful for this Gospel and the knowledge that a Heavenly Father
loves me as much as He does, and that He is mindful of me, too.
Well anyway, that's pretty much all I've got time to tell you about. I'm
keeping a journal every day, so hopefully I can keep it up throughout
the mission. And just in case you care to know, I haven't missed a
single day flossing. :) Yay for clean teeth!
I can't send pictures from here, so sorry. Hopefully next
week. But I love you all so much. Thank you for all your support and
love. I pray for you every chance I get. I hope everything is going well
at home. Mom, sorry to hear you were sick, and hopefully Jaker is
better too. And I'm glad to hear nobody died this week.
I LOVE YOU! Keep being awesome!
-Hermana Erickson
*P.S. Happy Birthday, Dave! (April 6th).
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