#29 [Cidra - 5] Sept. 30th, 2013

District (pre-birthday) celebration

This is going to be a boring email because I'm trying really hard not to be a Negative Nancy right now. Things aren't going very well here in Cidra and it's difficult. White-washing isn't easy, that's all I'm going to say right now.

We had District Meeting on Tuesday and then a member invited us over for a quick lunch. Well turns out, the member and the Elders all surprised me with a Happy Birthday lunch! It was really sweet of them. The member's name is ____ and he used to be a Baptist pastor. He told us his conversion story and it was awesome and then he played us a song he wrote on the guitar about how he's a Mormon. It was awesome. He gave up everything because he knew the Church is true. People like him inspire me. He was baptized 18 years ago and since then has collected a missionary badge from every missionary that's ever stayed in his house. He has over 200. It was amazing to see his collection. I'll probably send him one of mine. :)

On Thursday we had a "Sisters Only" meeting in Arecibo, about 2 hours away from our area. It was a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be a boring old meeting, but it was awesome! President Smartt asked some of the sisters to teach and they all focused on serving with all our hearts, might, minds and strength. (I feel like the way I worded that was completely grammatically incorrect, but it hurts my brain to try to fix it.) I really loved it and learned a lot. I can't believe I only have a little over 11 months left. We were in Arecibo ALL day so we didn't end up doing anything because by the time we got home it was 8 p.m.

Surprise B-day cake -- taking a bite!

 
My Birthday was on Friday... I'm 20 years old now! Haven't found any gray hairs yet but I'm not looking either... :) It was actually a really difficult day on Friday because all our investigators except for ___ and his family told us they didn't want to hear from us anymore. ALL of them! And we contacted all day and didn't find anyone. It was my worst nightmare come true. But when we were leaving to go to dinner our landlord called us up to see him. When we walked in, he had a birthday cake sitting there for me and he sang me Happy Birthday. It was the best part of the day. He's a great man. I hope he gets converted someday. We're working on it. :) But after that we went to dinner at a place called Lucio's.

Birthday dinner at Lucio's

It's apparently one of the yummiest places to eat in Puerto Rico. I got a dish called Churasco. It's like steak, but better. Dad, you'd LOVE it. I also got mofongo. Everything was good. I was happy we went there. But that was my birthday. Pretty lame as far as missionary work goes.
 
We went to the Relief Society broadcast on Saturday night. It started at 8 p.m. and we didn't get home until 10 p.m. because we live about a half hour away. But we got to watch it live AND in English! It made me a little homesick. I am SO excited for General Conference this weekend though. I've been looking forward to it since April. :) We're so lucky to have a living Prophet and Apostles! I LOVE THIS CHURCH!

But guess what? Yesterday, I found out that R___ GOT BAPTIZED! Finally! I was so happy about it! He finally worked things out with the tithing issue, and he got baptized yesterday. :) It made my week.

Now I'll reply to what you all wrote to me about!

Heather looks like Rachel in that dress and she reminds me of the good ol' Volleyball days. How is their team doing? Any better than mine? Heheh I hope so.

Congrats to Krispen and Jess' new bundle of JOY to be!

Is it getting any colder in Utah? It's still really hot here. I thought things would start cooling down here, but not yet. People say though that here in Cidra, it gets REALLY cold at night in November and December. We'll see about that, but I'm excited. It's SO hot.

Congrats to JEFF about his new rafting buddy! :) Can't wait to hear more, Dad! Keep us updated!

I thought about texting you, Mom, at 11:58 a.m. (9:58 a.m. your time) on my birthday, too! We must've had thought syndrome or something and thought the same thing at the exact same time! We must be related! :) BUT, obviously, I'm not going to break the rules. Sorry. I don't think I would've gotten in trouble had you texted me, but I'm glad you didn't push the envelope anyway. It's the thought that counts. :)

I'm in the Cayey, PR ward. Is my ward on the Church website? I don't think we have a ward secretary, so I dunno if we will be.
 
Dad, thanks for working so hard to let us (me and Rae) be out here. You're the best! I love you!

Well anyway, that's really all I have to say. I love you all lots and miss you, but I'm happy to be out here serving the Lord. Tell Tiffanie to write to me! I miss her!

Have a happy week and I can't wait to hear about your spiritual insights from Conference! 

LOVE YOU!

-Hermana Erickson