#67 [Ponce - 4] June 24th, 2014

New comp

Hi family!

Okay, thanks a lot for the pictures of Rae's homecoming... Now I'm SUPER excited to come home! I started CRYING looking at the pics. Feelin like a fool at the university library. Rae, you look BEAUTIFUL!! I can't even wait to be there! I'm so glad that she got home safely and you've all been enjoying the time together. The family picture you took looks so... boring without me... Hahaha. Jokes, jokes! :)

This week has been crazy. I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Leonardo and she's from the DR! So she's been making me a lot of Dominican food and will probably be teaching me how to make it so when I get home, I can satisfy your taste buds with some delicious Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic cuisine! She is a VERY good cook. She's 22, and has been out for 13 months now. She reminds me of Madeline A. (Vance) SO much. :) Their personalities are really similar, too. It's fun.

Sister Dye's companion is from Honduras, she's been out 9 months now; Sister DaCosta. I miss being her companion, but it's nice because we still live together. So it's a party. But we are working hard!

We found a new family to teach, the mom's name is N__ and she has two twin boys, six years old. She lives alone and is really hard-working. She has a little more time now though because it's summer vacation. She mostly wants us to teach the boys, but we all know that she'll probably be the one that will learn the most. I think if she takes the kids to Church, they'll be baptized. She knows a lot of the members and has been looking around for a good Church to go to. The Jehovah's Witnesses are coming over sometimes, too, to teach her kids, but she never lets them in the house. But she lets US in, so that's gotta count for something. I'm excited about her. She's super nice.

We've been searching around for less actives on the list. Tonight we have a Rescue activity; planned with the ward where we will go out and visit some of the inactives on the list by surprise! I'm kinda excited but a little nervous. We really hope it will run smoothly.

A few weeks ago, we met a lady named M__, she's Catholic, and her son died when he was 16 of cancer. She's really cool. We left her a BOM and then didn't make it back to see her till Sunday after church. She'd been reading and taking notes and looking at the footnotes, too! It was super cool! I've never met someone so studious before out here! She and her son really like to study, so we're going to hopefully be teaching them more often. Her son doesn't go to Church, but he'd make a super good member, too. The whole family would! I just really hope they'll keep reading and have a desire to visit the Church.

We found a less active named J__ who will most likely be coming back to Church. We'd just met her, but she and I connected instantly because of some of the things I've been going through for the past 2 or 3 transfers and what she's been going through in her life. It was really really cool. The Spirit was so strong! My companion fell asleep, so that was kinda funny, but luckily J__ didn't get offended. I really hope she comes back, she needs the Gospel so badly, and needs to distract herself from thinking so much about everything that has happened to her. I've never felt so close to a stranger before. It was really special.
 

Sisters conference reunion. 

Former comps meet up at Sisters conf.

We had a "Sister's Only" meeting with Sherri Dew yesterday in Guaynabo. We had to stay at the Sisters' apartment in Juana Diaz Sunday night. Their house is infested with cockroaches! I slept awfully due to the fact that there was a dog barking all night and then my mind kept thinking I had baby cockroaches and bedbugs all over me. I woke up about every hour. But to be more positive, the meeting was SUPER great! I think that was the last meeting we'll ever be having with the Zwicks, too, since our new Mission President gets here this week. So it was bittersweet. I'll miss them a lot and I have learned SO much from them. Sherri Dew spoke a lot about grace, and I really liked it. I want to read her books. I was thankful to meet her. But anyway, since we didn't get to write yesterday, we got to write today. I'm thankful for that, too. I was really anxious to hear about everything that happened this past week!

I'm really trying hard to focus, I can't believe how quickly the mission has gone by. Seeing all the new sister missionaries that came in and not seeing all the ones I knew when I first came in really makes the end seem so imminent. I'm an oldie in the mission! So we're just not going to talk about it anymore, k? k. Cool. Except I have a request: for my first dinner home, I want dipping meat. :) Or Shoots. Okay? Thanks.
 
We still need to clean out our luggage. I know Sister Dye's luggage still has some bedbugs in it, apparently on Sunday she found some in her backpack. But so far, no bedbug bites. I don't know when we'll take care of that, but we will. :)

Okay, well, I've gotta go. It's time to work now! We just had a short p-day to buy groceries and write to you guys. Guess who has ZERO clean clothes this week? This girl. Does it matter? Not really, because I smell bad all the time because I'm so sweaty. But it's fine. I'm not bitter. :)

I LOVE YOU! Keep sending pictures! I like that the most. I LOVE YOU and pray for you every lumping day!

-Hermana Erickson... Now THE ONE AND ONLY!

Former house mates