#14 [Pontezuela - 12] June 17th, 2013

Hi! I love you all so much!

Dad, first of all, I just want to wish you a Happy Father's Day. I am glad you received my card, and thank you for delivering it to Grandpa for me. I thought about you all day yesterday, and I hope you felt loved. :) I LOVE YOU, PA! Hehehe. And be sure to buy some donuts this week to make yourself feel better, and eat a few for me while you're at it.

Okay, now to reply to your email. It was so exciting this week!

To answer your question about Carmen and her family names stuff. No, she never contacted me before I left, and she hasn't emailed me either. But thank you for doing that. I've got 3 more weeks or so until the next transfer, so I'll be sure to contact those right away. I'm excited to meet them! And is she sure she wants the "Families are Forever" video?

Dad, what will we do without Little House!?!? I guess that means we'll have to buy all the seasons. Aren't they selling the DVDs at Sam's club? What'd be wrong with that?! But thank heavens they're still broadcasting the Brady Bunch. I've got that to look forward to.
 
You guys went to GreatClips? That's awesome you saw/met H. I remember her! She's a nice gal. I still scrutinize people's haircuts everywhere I go here. There's a fad right now with men's cuts, where (I honestly don’t know how to describe it.) But it's like, a rat tail growing out of the middle of the back of their head. And lots of guys have nasty dread locks here. I just wanna take my clippers everywhere I go so I can correct their strange thinking. Cuz it's NOT cute.

Dad! Congrats on winning the money, too! I'm so lucky to have a family that's so lucky! I can't wait to get into the contest-winning business when I get back too! That's definitely something fun I learned from you guys.

This week was kind of a downer. Thank you for your kind words and support.

Hermana G. and I are okay. I really have never had my patience so tried in my life. But the crazy thing is, I came out on my mission with the intention of developing that Christlike attribute, so Heavenly Father is helping me with that FUR SHURE.

So funny story. Saturday night, when I'd finished writing in my journal, I was moving my stuffed animals outta the way so I could hop into bed, and guess what I found sitting on my pillow? A BABY LIZARD! That's right, folks. A LIZARD! At first, I was scared cuz it just surprised me, if there's anything that should be in my apartment, it should be cockroaches or some type of spider, but a lizard!? It was just super random to find it on my pillow. So before it could go anywhere, I grabbed a little tupperware from the kitchen and trapped it in there, then took it outside. I thought of leaving it there, but who knows if it was poisonous, it was a weird color. But seeing it made me think of the good ol' days, catching lizards in the desert as a fam. Thank you for raising me to NOT be scared of those little creepy crawlies. :) I see them everywhere.

It's funny that ex-Elder Jacob Smith spoke in church yesterday, cuz I did too! All the missionaries in our ward spoke yesterday, and I talked about the lizard in mine. Everyone laughed. I know, I know, I'm hilarious. :)

June 16th -- Missionaries serving in PR

In Church, we've been learning more about family history work, and I'm really kicking myself in the behind for not caring/learning more about it before my mission. I really want to participate in the work, but seeing as I'm devoting all my time and energy to this part of the work, I can't. But when I get back, that'll be a goal of mine.

We celebrated Hermana G's 28th birthday on Saturday. We bought a cake on Monday (last p-day) and ice cream. It was great! And guess what!? THEY SELL MY FAVORITE SAM'S CLUB CAKE AT WAL-MART! It's the SAME one! So I'm gonna buy it. No worries, I won't get fat. We run every day. :)

We had 3 baptismal dates set on Monday, but since none of them came to church due to the Father's Day holiday, they aren't valid anymore. (Our investigators have to attend church 3 times before being baptized). But Father's Day here was crazy; everyone uses any holiday here as an excuse to drink and party hard. It's not a good/safe time to be out and about on holidays. Lotsa drunk people. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

We visited a 93-year old less-active man this week. He's not even losing his mind like you'd expect most people around that age to be. It's amazing; ALL the older people here have no mental defects, their minds are just as clear as any young, healthy person's would be. And they don't even look old. No one wrinkles! It's amazing! A youthful countenance is what you get I guess after years and years of suffering and sweating so much in the heat every day.

Oh, and we went to Wendy's this week. Hna. G. tried her first Baconator. She liked it, like I knew she would. I got a Frosty, too, and it was a total let-down. Not good whatsoever. But I thought of you while eating it anyway, Momma. :)

Oh! AND, we have a Dairy Queen here! So that made me happy. If I'm still here for my birthday, I'll be sure to celebrate it with one of those ice cream cakes just for a good time.

Well anywho, I love you all so much, and I hope you guys keep fortifying your faith in Christ. He lives. His Atonement is real. I love this Gospel and am proud to be His missionary and chosen representative.

Gawl, I wrote a lot. Hopefully it didn't bore you to death.

Until next week,
Hermana Erickson

#13 [Pontezuela - 11] June 10th, 2013

Well, I’m going to be completely honest, it was a very difficult week for me. I found out on Monday of last week that I’m training again, and on Tuesday we went and picked up my new child in Trujillo Alto. Her name is Hermana G..., and she’s from Guatemala. She’s turning 28 years old this weekend! Hna. G... and I are getting along fine, and I love her a lot and am thankful for the opportunity I have to work with her. I just get down on myself a lot, because I feel like I’m not worthy to train her! She already knows so much, and I feel like SHE’S training ME! She was an institute teacher in Guatemala before she came, so she knows the Bible inside and out. I’m teaching her English, and it’s great.
 
But, we have very VERY different personalities, I just have to get used to her is all. And she talks to me like I’m a little child (which is true I am young, but I’m not HER child...), and she shakes her pointer finger at me and says, "No, no, no, Hermanita Erickson," But like I said, she means well, and I do have a lot to learn, and I am happy for the opportunity I have to learn from her. She’s super accident-prone, too, so we have a few super funny things happen all the time. For example, on Wednesday, we made lunch, and the stove top was still hot since we’d just finished using it, and she threw a towel over top of the pan, and the edges were touching the stove top, and it almost caught fire. It was really scary, but luckily, no damage was done. I’ve gotta keep a careful watch on this one...
 
We had a pretty lame week as far as numbers go. BUT! We did find a gold mine in a neighborhood the other day; all of the people we met were super receptive, and we got 5 new investigators in that afternoon! It was great! A goal we have as a companionship is to give out 5 Book of Mormons every day, and so far, we’re doing really well. Being so bold with the Book of Mormon has really strengthened my testimony about the truthfulness of the Gospel, and how badly this world really does need another testament of Jesus Christ. There’s so much confusion in the world, and it makes perfect sense that our Heavenly Father, Who is most definitely NOT a God of confusion, would provide a way for us to know the truth, to provide another precious witness of His Son. I LOVE the Book of Mormon and I just want everyone to read it!
 
We’re doing a 21-day challenge, too, where we read 11 chapters of the BOM every day, in order to finish it in 21 days. And holy cow. It’s tough to find the time every day to read, and I think I’m a day or two behind, but I do plan on doing it. :)
 
We challenged one of our investigators, S., to be baptized on the 7th of July, and she didn’t necessarily accept, but it was good practice for Hna. G. S. is a really great investigator because she reads in between visits, but she’s never been an active Church-goer, so I think that’s going to be the trial we have with her. But she’s a super awesome student, and I think that has to do with the fact that she’s a 12th-grade teacher. I really like her and I hope she gets baptized! She reminds me of Claire A. :) And she loves cats! So they’re long-lost twins! (But S. is like, 20 years older...)
 
Happy Father’s Day this week, Dad! (And Grandpa!) I love you guys!

Okay, now about YOUR email! :) There’s so much going on in the fambam, I can’t even get over it! Thanks for keeping me updated!

Congratulations to Camille! That’s awesome! Who is he? Where’s he from? How’d they meet? What’s the latest!? Temple marriage? I’m so happy for her! That’s wonderful news!
How’s Cole doing?

I’m not sure about the credit card thing, it’s been a long week, and I don’t remember anything. But it probably does have something to do with the DMV. That was an awful experience. I need not say more.
 
I am freaking out at the fact that Jacob Smith comes home this week. I can’t believe he’s been gone for almost two years now. SO crazy! His homecoming speech is on Sunday I think, if I remember what he said in his letter, so I dunno if you’d have time or if you’d be willing to, but I’d love to hear about it. :) And thank Chel and Tori for the poster for me. LOVED IT! Super duper cute.
Congrats to Jason on his baptism! It’s awesome that Josh got to be a part of such a special part in his life. I’m so proud of my little brother’s missionary efforts! Way to be a member-missionary, Joshy!
 
That’s an awesome idea about getting new investigators through chalk art. I have NO idea how those elders had time to do that, and I wish we did, but I dunno. Maybe we’re doing things wrong? If you want to see different results you have to do something you’ve never done, so it seems to work. We’ll put it to the test here. :)
 
It worries me that Jaker forgot what I look like. I wanna see pictures of everyone sometime soon, K?

Head! That’s awesome you’re going to EFY! Don’t let all the boys chase you around! EFY is so much fun, I’m excited for you!
 
As far as hurricane season goes, it’s getting warmer and warmer here, and the rain comes almost 4 times a week. We haven’t experienced anything crazy yet, but we have no idea what will happen since we don’t watch the news. We always find out about what’s going on either during the drama or a few days after. It’s crazy, how as a missionary, you live in the real world, but you are in your own little sphere and completely ignorant of everything going on. Ignorant is the wrong word to use, but I’m forgetting my English speaking skills, so pardon me please. But anyway, to answer your question, I’m guessing it’s gonna be a pretty crazy hurricane season. All of the hurricanes in the past have actually just barely missed the island; they haven’t been "hit" by a hurricane since 1993. I don’t think it’s coincidence that that was my birth year, so it’s probably meant to be that we’re gonna get hit while I’m here and we’re all going to die. Jokes, jokes! But seriously, it’s kinda creepy. :) We’ll see though. "Keep a weather eye on the horizon!" NAME THE MOVIE!!!!
 
Speaking of movies, I really miss Harry Potter, and The Count, and Pirates, and the Happiest Millionaire. Dad, be sure to watch that last one for me, K?

Well anywho, I’m pretty much outta time. But I love you all so so much, and I hope you all have a good, safe, fun week. Ta ta!
-Hermana Erickson
******************************

I forgot to mention what happened to Hna. Brotherson! We still live together; she has a new companion, Hna. E., from Spain! Hna. E. has been out for a year now, she’s really nice.
 
Also, I did Hna. Brotherson’s hair today. She had some Joico haircolor that her cousin or someone gave to her, so she brought it along, and I put my apron on and went to work. Boy, that felt super good, doing hair again. I really miss that. I forgot how much I love to do it. But that was a fun p-day activity. :)
 
Well anyway, that’s about all I’ve got to say. Love you!

#12 [Pontezuela - 10] June 3rd, 2013

Okay, I'm going to try to write this as quickly as I can, I decided to write to you guys first today because I felt like it, and because I was anxious to hear about you all! The sad thing is, I don't have time to read everything you send me, so I’m sorry that I’m going to be selfish in this email, and mostly just write about the gist of what’s all going on here.

We had an interesting thing happen last night. We went to bed like normal, and then at 11:30 pm I was woken up by a loud pounding on our door. It was two guys, I could hear them talking, and they were banging on the door really loudly. THEN! They came around to our windows, and started banging on those. Sis. Brotherson didn’t wake up, but I was so scared and I didn’t know what to do, especially because the phone was out in the front room, where the windows were, and I didn’t want them thinking we were in here. And so I woke Sis. Brotherson up, and she was scared, too, but then finally, they said, "Sister Erickson! Sister Brotherson! It’s your Zone Leaders! Are you there!?" And that calmed me down. I seriously thought we were going to be kidnapped or something. But they’d all been apparently trying to call us, but we’d left our phone out in the car, and I had just figured Sis. Brotherson had it, and she thought I had it, but when I went to bed, I didn’t know where it was, but I was too tired to search through her bag, so I figured it was there, and I’d hear the alarm go off in the morning. But we’d left it in the car, and so they’d all been trying to call us: our District Leader, the Zone Leaders, the Assistants to the president... ALL because they thought something bad had happened to us! And we had no idea! We felt so bad, they had called ward members, too, asking where we were, and when I went outside, two members were there, too. Sister B and I felt pretty bad, but we laughed for a long time about it, too. It was just an awkward situation, but it made me feel good to know they’d be freaking out that much if something HAD happened. But no worries, we’re pretty safe, even though we live in a ghetto neighborhood.

As far as our investigators go, we had a pretty disappointing turnout at Church yesterday. No one came. BUT one of our less-actives did! And she brought along her 8-year old grandkid. SO that was good. :)

But Faith isn’t doing so well; she’s really depressed, and she went to the hospital for treatment this past week. We're really worried about her. She’s not quite ready yet for her baptism, so we’re going to have to postpone that. I’m really sad about it.

And yes, it’s transfers this week, but we didn’t get interviewed by the President, so I don't have any idea what’s going on. There’s only the two of us here now, Sis. B and I. Sis. Tuitavake was transferred to the island of Antigua, and Sis. Felix's mission was changed to the Florida mission just because the hospital is closer there in case something else happens to her; but she’s perfectly safe and perfectly healthy as far as I know. We packed up her stuff this past week and sent it on to her.

We don’t have weekly service projects, no. But, I want to do one.

The meeting with Elder Cornish was good; he was kind of reprimanding us, but it was a good time anyway. I learned a lot, and have been applying what I'm learning. It was cool to meet him though. Isn’t he Mr. Cornish’s brother? (My 1st or 2nd grade typing teacher. Haha, it’s thanks to him I can type to you so quickly!!) Jokes, jokes. :)

And you are correct, I went to McD's last week and ate a lot of food. It was great. :) Hurray for getting fat! Not..

I'm reading Jesus the Christ, too, and I absolutely love it. And I'm obsessed with the New Testament. I just want to read the scriptures all the time... It’s kind of weird. WHY DIDN’T I DEVELOP THIS HABIT BEFORE!? It’s crazy how I think back on what I did before my mission and how much time I wasted on unimportant things. Studying Christ’s life is making me want to be like Him more and more each day.

We went to the DTOP today, the Driver’s License place today, after our Zone meeting. And we were there for FOUR hours. It was insane, absolutely insane. No organization whatsoever. No wonder the people here drive like crazies, the place where they get their licenses is, too. I’m sure that’s not the main reason, but still. I am amazed at how unorganized this place is.

Congratulations on Heather's new teeth; from what I could see from the pictures, they look good! She’s gonna be a babe.

Hope Joshy gets the job! And that’s great that Jason is getting baptized! HURRAY FOR BUILDING THE KINGDOM!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer; it’s super hot here, and then it rains and gets even hotter with the humidity. I miss the weather there, but it’s okay. I know when wintertime rolls around, I’ll be just fine being here.

Mom: I’m sorry to always ask for so much stuff, but could you send me a scripture case of some sort? I need something to protect my scriptures. Not the English quad, but my Spanish ones, the ones I bring around all the time. The BOM, D&C, and POGP are all in one, and then the Bible is separate. So if you could get me something that’ll hold and protect both of them, that’d help me a lot, because they’re already getting ruined, and I haven’t even been out for 6 months. No hurry, though.

Rachel is getting black! She needs to put on sunscreen so she doesn’t get cancer! I’ve been wearing it every day faithfully, and I’m not getting darker at all, which is fine. I like being different. And be proud, I STILL haven’t missed a day flossing. :) I’ll keep you updated about that.

I love and miss you all, and hope you all have a good week, but I’ve gotta go now. Keep being awesome, and thanks for everything! I LOVE YOU!