#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!

#11 [Pontezuela - 9] May 27th, 2013

HI THEEERE! (Like Alex the Lion!)

    Hey there! I don't have much time, we had to come do our email at the Chapel today, and so we're trying to do our email as quick as possible so we all have time.

We got a baptismal date this week, with F.... She's been progressing slowly, and has never attended church even though we've been teaching her since my first week here in Puerto Rico. All signs point to dropping her since she didn't even attend church yesterday even though she committed to do it. But I don't know, I don't feel like we should. She has so much potential. And I guess that's what's so difficult about missionary work; you see so much potential in all the people you teach and you love them so much, but you have to remember that God will force no one into heaven, and neither can we as His servants. It's difficult. We'll see about her this next week. But her baptismal date is the 23rd of June, and she wants her whole family baptized, but if they're not coming to Church and not reading, there's no way it's going to happen and I feel bad getting her hopes up. We just have to tell her about that I guess. And she'll need to get married in the next 3 weeks, and I don't know how her boyfriend would take it. But we'll see.

We dropped J... and E... Same scenario; they weren't keeping commitments and neither were they coming to Church. They want to be baptized, but got scared when we set a date. But hopefully some missionaries in the future will go back and try with them again.

We contacted a lot this week, and it was hard work. We got two new investigators, so I'm excited to teach them. We went on splits this week, and Hna Tuitavake and I worked together and Hna Felix and Hna Brotherson worked together for a day. They got in a car accident, and Hna Felix pulled a neck muscle, and it was swelling up, so we took her to the hospital just in case, but then she didn't see a doctor for 24 hours, so she was flown to Florida. It escalated quickly, but she's actually just fine. Our Mission Nurse was just concerned that she was internally bleeding. But all is well! Hna Felix is still in Florida, working there, and so we've had Hna Tuitavake with us for the past few days. It's been fun being in a 3-some with Hermana Tuitavake. We miss Hermana Felix, though, and hope she'll return soon.

Oh, but funny story! We contacted an older couple with Alzheimer's disease yesterday. It was absolutely hilarious and really sad at the same time because they kept asking us the same questions over and over again, and we'd keep answering them, and then they'd keep saying the same things about themselves. And then the wife, she looked over at our car and said, "That's our car, we drive to church in it every week." But then, no, that's not right, cuz it's OUR car. So we told her we'd come get her on Sunday and take them to church with us and she said, "Well, I'd love to come, but I don't know what Church you guys go to," even though we'd told her we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And then she kept asking if Hna Brotherson and I were sisters. EVERYONE thinks we look alike, and I think it's just cuz we're white. Hna Tuitavake says that's why, too. :) But yeah, I loved being with that old couple, even though it was really sad, it was just really funny, too. What wonderful people there are in the world. :)

And on another day, when we were contacting, a guy said I looked like his niece or something, so he gave me a little pineapple plant. So yay! :) The old people here love me, obviously.

Well, I'm sorry this was really vague and super short, but I've gotta go. The other girls are anxious to hear from their fam bams.

I love you all so much! Keep being awesome! And sorry I didn't get to reply to what you all wrote to me this time. I'll have more time next week maybe.

Ta ta!

-Hermana Erickson

#10 [Pontezuela - 8] May 20th, 2013

Hi! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

So... this week was super rough, but that's okay! Because I figure the Lord is trying to teach me something. No, actually, I KNOW He is.

Our mission is really focusing on making sure our weekly planning time is put to good use; that we're planning out our weeks effectively. And I feel like with all this new planning stuff that we're learning and applying, the work is going along a lot smoother and what not. But no matter how hard we tried to have set appointments this week, they all kept falling through. I'd call our investigator a day in advance to remind them, and then I'd call them the next day in the morning to remind them again, and then when the time for our appointment would roll around, we'd wind up there with a member, and they wouldn't be there! It was really disappointing. And we'd stop by our backup plan's house, too, and they wouldn't be there either.

But what I learned from this week is that the Lord is trying to show me that no matter how hard I try, and no matter how effective I think I'M working, HE'S the one that will ultimately make the plans work out. It's all in His time, and even though we didn't achieve any of our goals this week, I know that this next week, it's possible. But it was a really humbling week for me, and I am thankful for it, looking back, even though I hated it. Like, really hated it. But whatever. I'm happy it's Monday. :)

Yesterday, Sunday, was the best day of my mission so far. Wanna know why? ...It's cuz my favorite people attended Church for the first time! H... and R... and their kids. Oh my gosh. I just want them to be baptized and sealed in the temple already! So it was their first time at Church, and we haven't even taught Lesson 2 yet, but at Church, in class, they talked all about temples. And that got H... and R... interested. Especially R..., because when she first learned about the importance of having children within wedlock, she started to cry during Relief Society because she felt guilty, but the cool thing was, we told her that she can repent, be baptized, and a year later, be sealed for time and all eternity, she got so excited! And when I said we don't have a temple here in Puerto Rico yet, she said, "Well, we will!" I caught the vision, and so did she! I love this Gospel. The Lord is so merciful, and He has provided a way for ALL of His children to return to live with Him, regardless of what they've done in the past. AGH! I can't even get over it!

Anyway... We don't have a specific date for their baptism yet, but A... turns 8 in June, so we're thinking the day after her birthday is when we'll challenge them for baptism. I am so excited because I think they're ready and I am so excited. I love this family more than I ever thought I could. I feel the Lord's love for them so strongly whenever I think about them and I want more than anything for them to accept this gospel and be together forever. We're so lucky to already have this great blessing, and I am so thankful I get to share it with all the sweet people here in Puerto Rico, but especially with them.

We got a new investigator this week, too. Her name is V..., and she's 19. Okay, it's the coolest thing ever to teach people my own age! :) Kinda weird, but I love it, too! We also got to teach her little sister and her Mom. I"m not sure if her Mom will accept the gospel because she's afraid to change her religion, but we'll see. V... is super interested, and I am so excited for her!

With one of our less actives (S... - I think I sent a picture of her last week), we're beginning to re-teach her the lessons. We started with the Restoration on Tuesday, and then we're going to be reading the Book of Mormon with her because she never learned to read. I find it amazing that she got baptized in 2005, and she had no idea who Joseph Smith was. She was baptized with her husband, so maybe she just did it because he did, but still. I'm excited we get to teach her again. She really wants to read the Book of Mormon and know if it's true. Hopefully when she gets her answer she'll finally start attending Church with us. She's been attending with her sister for the past few years to a different one. Lots of people do that here. They don't understand the fact that we have the authority to do such saving ordinances such as baptism and the sacrament, so they keep attending their old churches just for the sake of going to a church. It's really sad.
 
Anywho, I'll reply to your email now! Thanks for keeping me updated! I laugh a lot when I am reading your emails because of how descriptive they are and I can imagine everything. I miss you guys!

Heather- I'm sending you a letter! Huzzah! Be prepared, it's awesome. But good job on teaching FHE last Monday! That'll be great mission prep! (Eh, eh, Potter? :) Hehe) We talk about the Apostasy all the time out here. It is a vital part of the Restoration, because without knowing about the Apostasy, people don't see a need for a Restoration of the Gospel. It's awesome. Okay, it's not awesome that the world experienced a Great Apostasy, but it's awesome that the Restoration happened. So we're all good.

Joshy! I hope you get the job at J-Dawgs! Ever since I walked into that place, I imagined you working there! Visions? Revelations, maybe!? Don't just turn in an application though, follow up on it and make sure they hire you! Let them know you WANT the job! :) You can do it! And when I get home, you can tell me the secret sauce recipe, and we can be fatties and eat hot dogs! Huzzah!

That's sad about Sister Monson. I didn't know about that. Thank heavens for the Plan of Salvation and the chance we get to be with our loved ones for forever! President Monson is always in my prayers. Sometimes, I think I've got it rough being a missionary, but I can't even imagine the weight on his shoulders, being the President of the Church. I know the Lord strengthens him, but it'd be very humbling. demanding job. But I know he is the Prophet of God. I am thankful for a living Prophet on the earth today.
 
It was nice to hear about Çole's farewell. Wish him luck for me, K? I know he'll be great!

So right now, our entire mission is doing a 40-day fast. Not from food or water, but from things that we don't necessarily NEED. I decided to give up writing to people for the next forty days. So peeps, if you're upset about not receiving a letter, sorry, but I've gotta focus on the work, and I'll write when I can (when 40 days are over, duh). Oh, but thanks for sending Jessica Jarvis' address for me. I'll write to her as soon as I can, too.

I didn't know Dad kept a journal about your guys' courtship!! WHAT!? I wanna read it! I bet it was awesome! Dad, thanks for keeping a record of that! I wanna hear all about it sometime! And I was thinking about it, Mom, and I wanna hear more about your mission, too.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MADELINE AND TYLER ABOUT THEIR ENGAGEMENT! <3 Tender! I am so excited for them! Madeline needs to write to me about the details. I wrote her a letter last week, so hopefully she'll get it and write back stat. I am SO curious! :) And so happy! And so excited! Just about everything. Hurray for marriage! Do they know where they're getting married? When? Gah! Just tell me already! :)

Heather was right, Arica Madsen is going on a mission. She just wrote to me about it last week, and I got her letter Tuesday, so I couldn't tell you about it. But she's going to Long Beach, California and leaves on the 22nd. I am super excited for her and wish her the best! She'll be awesome! :) Can you tell her to email me, maybe? Through facebook or something? I dunno. Just try to get a hold of her before she leaves somehow. Thanks!

So this week, I was the sweatiest I've ever been. We go to our appointments sometimes with a member. She's like 89 or something, and she still drives, but her car is seriously a living junkyard. It sounds like a t-rex, and the AC doesn't work, neither do the windows roll down. And so it's like an oven on the inside. We were riding with her to an appointment, and so she decided to take the long way, and drive all the way around the city to go to the house which, in reality, was only a 5-minute drive from her house. Within those 20 minutes, Hermana Brotherson and I were soaked. (Too much info, I know). But it was awful. Just count your blessings, that's all I've got to say. It was like we took a shower. :) Lovely. Whoever thought missionary work would be so wet? I didn't. That's for sure.

Oh! I forgot to tell you about a funny experience that happened a few weeks ago! I've got a few minutes so I'll write about it. So it was Saturday, the day before Fast Sunday, and I hadn't started my fast yet, but all the other girls had, and we went to our meeting with our Ward Mission Leader. Anyway, at the end of our meeting, he runs inside his house, and brings out a tray of oatmeal cookies and 4 big glasses of grape juice and says, "Buen provecho!" (It's a Puerto Rican phrase that people say when you're about to eat something. And the funny thing is, even if you're out in public eating at a restaurant, complete strangers will come up to you and say it. I think it's great!) Anyway. He comes out and says that, and then goes inside the house. I had to eat all the cookies and drink all the juice because the other girls couldn't. It was just really funny. I'd gotten through about 2 glasses when he came back out again; the other two were about halfway full still. But little did he know, I ATE IT ALL! It was just a really funny moment.

People here give us juice all the time. Either that, or Coke. I've drank more Coke here in the past two months than I have in my whole life. It's so nasty, but people just bring it out without even asking if we want it, so we drink it so they don't feel bad. One time, we were at an investigator's house, and someone rejected the drink, and our investigator got super mad. We still have our free agency, but I figure it won't kill me to drink it once a week. BUT when they do have the decency to ask if we want it first, I get to tell them I want water. It's great :) Yay for communication! Super random, but I figured I'd tell you about the culture a bit.

Anyway, I've gotta go cuz I'm outta time. I love you all to pieces and hope you're doing great! I think about you and pray for you every day and night. Keep being awesome and standing for truth and righteousness! It's the cool thing to do.

Peace out!

-Hermana Erickson

#9 [Pontezuela - 7] May 13th, 2013

HI FAMILY! (Long time, no talk to ,eh? Tee hee!)

It was so so awesome to talk with you yesterday! And it was also great knowing that Grandpa and Grandma Erickson and Grandma Farley were there, too! I love you guys. Thank you for your constant love and support. I don't know what I'd be able to do out here without it.

Like I said in the phone call yesterday, this week was rough to say the least. Good, like always, but rough. I felt like no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't reach any of our goals, and it's frustrating when at the end of the week, your numbers are low, and it looks like you didn't do anything throughout the week, when really, you tried your very hardest. I feel like I'm letting the Lord down sometimes, but I know He's proud of me as long as I do my best. So I'm just gonna keep doing that.

Hermana Brotherson and I have had the worst luck this week with getting member-present lessons. We make the plans, we have the appointments set, and then the member falls through, OR it's the opposite, we have our appointments set up, and then when we show up with the member, the appointment falls through, and our back-up plan fails. That happened to us twice this week, with 6 different appointments. SIX! It was very discouraging, I'm not going to lie. And super annoying. It just goes to show you how important it is to be reliable.

Also, this week, Hermana Brotherson and I focused on less actives and recent converts. I really want to get to know them and know where their testimonies are, and want to be the Lord's mouthpiece and strengthen them in any way I can. Most of the time, they're inactive because they feel like they don't have a friend in the ward. Our ward is small enough as it is, so there is a lot to do when it comes to visiting teaching/home teaching stuff. I believe that if the Savior were here, he'd be visiting them. They're the ones who've felt the fire of the Spirit before, and we just need to remind them of that and increase their faith in Christ.

But we've had some really great lessons this week nonetheless. The Lord is trying our patience, but He's also blessing us by putting people who are ready to receive this Gospel in our way. Two newer investigators, C..., and her son S..., are really awesome. The story behind our finding them is really awesome, too. Our appointment had fallen through, and so did our back-up plan, and it had started to rain. So we were walking around the apartment complex parking lot, and then we saw a young man (S...) So we decided to talk to him. He invited us up to share our message with him and his mom, C.... When his mom came in, she freaked out because she said she'd seen us on the street about ten minutes earlier, and had a thought come to her mind that told her she needed to talk to us, but she ignored it, and then wham! We were in her house! She also kept saying that God was telling her that we "need to be careful walking around here." So whatever that means. I've never felt unsafe, but people always tell us to be careful all the time. Apparently we're in kind of a sketchy area, but I dunno. People are just funny. But anyway, back to C....

C... was originally kinda unsure about hearing our message because she's Catholic. But after our opening prayer, she came back into the room and sat through our lesson of the Restoration. She then opened up and told us all her doubts about the Catholic Church. What I've come to realize is that a lot of the Catholics are disappointed with their "religion" nowadays. But when we started telling her about the Gospel, she began having a million questions, and we felt the Spirit so strongly! It was super awesome! And we visited her again this week, and she'd been reading so much in the Book of Mormon, and she loves it! I am excited to see her progress. The only problem is, she left for the U.S. this week and will be there for about a month, so we don't get to teach her and S... anymore because of the new rule. But that's fine. :) As long as we're bringing souls unto Christ, it doesn't matter which missionaries get to teach them.

We also met C...'s younger sister, too, and she was super receptive to the Gospel as well. So we're going to be teaching her too. I am so excited! I love getting new people to teach! It's like going on an adventure! C... and her sister (L...) remind me of Rachel and myself. They're super close. So it was kinda tender when we got to teach them together.

We also found a less active this week who just so happens to live in our neighborhood, but hasn't attended Church for over 20 years, but she was baptized in the 1970's. Crazy, huh!? She stopped attending Church after her husband died. We're going to re-teach her everything, because she's forgotten a lot. But I'm excited anyway. Her name is G..., and we can't find any records of her in the area book, which is a little strange, but oh well.

None of our investigators are attending Church, but they are reading the Book of Mormon, so they're kind of progressing, but not really. It's just really slow right now. But I feel bad they didn't attend yesterday, cuz our ward had donuts after Church, so their loss (physically, but most importantly, spiritually, obviously). :)

Like I said, I'm reading Jesus the Christ. I started reading from the middle of the book, at the part where Christ suffered the Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then the arrest, and then the trials, and finally his crucifixion and death and Resurrection. James E. Talmage is brilliant. His writings remind me a lot of Jeffrey R. Holland. But I'm going to start from the beginning, and I'm excited. I figured that since both Rach and Mom are reading it, I'd jump on the bandwagon.
 
We went out to eat at Fuddrucker's today after doing our grocery shopping. (I found out that it's like a burger/fries/shake joint and apparently it's a big deal, but I'd never heard about it before.) But anyway, that was the first time I'd felt FULL in a very long time. OH! And I bought some souvenirs! I dunno when I'll get the chance to send them to you, but they're sweet. This guy was selling all these handmade bracelets and earrings, and he was super awesome. I need to find some stuff for the boys, but Head, just know I've got something for you. And something for Rach, too. :) But I'm gonna get some more stuff. Hurray! Happy Christmas, Headdy! (Like, Harry, but not... hehe, okay.)

I cut Hermana Tuitavake's hair today, as well as Hermana Brotherson's. It felt good to cut something... Muahaha! No, but seriously. I miss doing hair so bad. I forgot how much I love it. I can't wait to do that again when I get back!

Okay, I'll reply to the parts of your email that we didn't get to talk about yesterday or whatever.
 
I hope Jake's choir thing went well, I was thinking of him today. Did they sing a bunch of hymns? And did he have to dress up in any special way?

Kama and her family will definitely be going to my Church if they do end up going; our Church is the closest one to the airport. So that'd be super duper awesome to see them! When will they be coming? I'll have to actually try to look good that day. And maybe, if my investigators decide to be cool for once and come to Church, they'll get to meet them! That'd be super tender. Just tell all the extended family I love them!

Well anywho, I loved talking with you yesterday. The "40 minutes" went by too quickly, and I miss you a lot, but I feel like these next 7 months are going to fly by. It's already been TWO! GAH! Time is my worst enemy I think. Speaking of which, I've gotta go. So peace out, fambam! I love you lots and am SO happy to be a part of our forever family! THIS GOSPEL ROCKS because of that! And I just want all our investigators to be with their families forever, too! Gawl, I just can't even stand it!

Well, bye! I LOVE YOU ETERNALLY!

-Hermana Erickson

#8 [Pontezuela - 6] May 6th, 2013

Hello everybody!

This week flew by, and I can't even believe that it's already Mother's Day this next Sunday. I'm excited to talk to you guys, but not really at the same time because I feel like it'll make me homesick. Don't get offended, I'm just being honest :) BUT! About the phone call. You guys will have to call me, and so I'm not sure how you want that to work out exactly. We have to be finished with our phone calls by 8:30pm our time, and we have 40 minutes to talk. YOU GUYS NEED TO CALL ME FOR OUR PHONE CALL AT 2PM YOUR TIME. (That'll be 4pm my time). And obviously, you're not allowed to call any other time before or after that until Christmas.

This week was slow as far as progressing investigators go. I was super pumped after Tuesday at our Zone Conference, but no matter how many phone calls we made and no matter how much we tried, everything seemed to fall through. We have to report our weekly numbers every Sunday evening, and every week I feel like a failure because we don't quite reach our goals, but I'm trying my best anyway. We'll get them eventually!

Regardless of everything, we had miracles happen this week!

We have a new family we're teaching, Hector and Rudy, and they are amazing! They both have so many questions about the Church, and are very excited to be learning so much about it! We taught about the Doctrine of Christ, and only got halfway through the lesson, but it was really awesome. We plan to challenge them to be baptized this next appointment! I really want this family to accept the Gospel. Their marriage is already so strong; I've never seen two people SO in love like they are. I know that they would love to go to the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity. I can't wait to teach them about temples!!! AH! I just love these people, I can't even take it! And they have two kids, too! Isaac, who is 14, and Aida, 7. Yay for families!

Some funny things happened this week, too. Hermana Brotherson and I were riding our bikes the University to do our 12-week program training, and we saw a husband and wife walking their dog, so we decided to slow down to talk to them. Well, as I pull up to them, I try hopping off my bike, and I say "Hola!, etc." and then I fell over because my bike crashed into the curb, AND my skirt got caught on the bike seat... And then the wife kept on walking, and didn't even say anything to me, and their dog started freaking out at me because I had scared it, and then the husband/guy gave me a super weird look. It was a very embarrassingly shameful moment for me. I'm not sure who thought of the brilliant idea for girls to wear skirts, but it's not a very successful thing to wear on a bike. A girl can't have any pride on the mission, that's for sure. :)

Another funny thing happened, too. So this week, we contacted a guy on the street named Edwin, he's about 40 or 50 years old, and the cool thing was that he said he'd attended Church before and had been taught by them missionaries, but he hadn't attended Church in a long time. So we gave him our card. He ended up calling us that same afternoon to set up an appointment. (Which is unheard of!) So we were super excited. And then, when the day for the appointment rolled around, it didn't happen because he was at work, but he called us again yesterday just to talk to me on the phone. And it was super awkward because he kept calling me "Mi Amor," so obviously it was kind of obvious what was on his mind. He called again later on at around 7pm just to talk and so I had to tell him I couldn't just talk to him unless it was about setting up teaching appointments. There are some strange men here... Creepy and strange. But I have never felt unsafe before, so I know we've got the Lord's angels all around us to protect us :)

With Fe and her family this week, we focused on the Book of Mormon, and watched the Testaments because we thought it'd be a good thing for the kids. It was VERY spiritual. I've only ever seen that movie one other time, but both times, I've bawled. Especially at the end. But it was a very good experience, and Fe was crying, too. I love seeing these people feel things they've never felt before, and learn things they forgot they knew before our life on earth. I love sharing this Gospel! I want them to accept the Gospel, too! Scratch that, how about EVERYONE accept the Gospel! :) Okay? Okay.

We only visited Rosa once this week. I don't really know what's going on with her, but she won't answer her phone. I hope everything is okay with her. Sometimes I feel like we're being super annoying, but I know she likes us, and I know she likes the lessons, and I can't help it. I just love her so much! But we taught her about the Word of Wisdom, and she was completely willing to give up coffee in order to be baptized. But the thing is, she won't commit to baptism. She wants to be baptized, but every time we have a date set, she doesn't come to Church in order to push her date back again. So this next time, we're going to have to either let her go, or figure out if she's really serious about all this.

We visited more less actives, too. I feel so sad when I meet people who have left the Church, especially for reasons that have nothing to do with them. It just goes to show how converted they were at the time of their baptism. So sad.

Juan and Emilia aren't progressing as of right now because we haven't seen them in over a week now. We were hoping to set a baptismal date with them this week, but it didn't happen. To say the least, this week was slow as far as investigators' progression goes.

Okay, now to answer your email!

• My monthly allowance is $200 I think if I remember right. Food her is super expensive, and I can't even believe it! But by the end of the month, that's about how much we've used.
• I don't know what my area boundaries are. Pathetic, I know, but this place is so big, and I get lost all the time! Our area is Carolina/Pontezuela as far as I know. It's not super huge, but there are a TON of people since we're in the San Juan zone.
• I haven't cried since leaving home to be honest. At least about being homesick or anything like that. I've cried because I get frustrated, and I cry because I feel the Spirit, but not because I'm sad or anything like that. So no worries! But thanks for the suggestion. If I do need to cry for any reason, and I just so happen to have enough time to do so, I'll have myself a good cry in the shower. What a great idea!
• And about Carmen, no, she hasn't sent me any information about her family. How's she doing?

Congrats to Cole on going through the temple, too! Sorry to hear about all the stress on his special day, but I'm excited for him! When does he enter the MTC again?

Um, what else can I tell you about? We had a random guy show up to Church on Sunday (yesterday). We met him Saturday night walking around the neighborhood, and invited him to Church even though we didn't actually believe he'd show up, but then lo and behold, HE WAS THERE! How is it that we can get a random man to show up to Church, but not our investigators!? Drives me crazy. I'm glad he came, but since we can't teach single men, he isn't technically our investigator. But it was cool to have him show up anyway. A soul is a soul, regardless of who gets to teach them about the Gospel. :)

Well, I'm basically out of time now. We are all writing an email to Sister Alvarado today too to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. But Happy Mother's day, Momma! I love you so much! Can't wait to talk to you all! Have a great week!

-Hermana Erickson