Semana 13 - Emails

6:03am

Hi mom and dad!

I had a good week this week and I'm writing extra early today because I'm going to breakfast with a couple members and other missionaries and have a long shopping list and probably won't be on as much as usual today. I'll make sure all the usual emails get sent out though. I'll be on again later today. I hope your week has gone well, for me this is week is one whole transfer in the field down!

I love you! Talk to you soon!

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Con Amor,

Hermana Rubio

6:21am

Oh, so also, this happened. I've been called to be an STL again! And I'm still a greeny! WOW really exciting and kind of terrifying. I'm in awe of it honestly. It is not normal to be called as a Sister Training Leader while you are still "training" in your first 12 weeks as a missionary in the field at all, but I feel so blessed to be so trusted by my mission president and by the Lord. I will get to work closely with President Miller and go to MLC (Mission Leadership Conference) in Boston every month. It's official with the new transfer that starts on Wednesday!

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Con Amor,

Hermana Rubio

1:58pm

Hola! So today I figured I'd share something a little extra.

With the help of Hermana Parke, I made a list of

Funny things I've learned about New England:

-Police always call for back up, even if they are just pulling someone over.

-Dressers are actually "bureaus."

-A grocery cart is actually a "carriage."

-A water fountain is actually a "bubblah."

-R's make an "-ah" sound, and with anything that ends in an "-a", an "r" is added. Sometimes letters within the word get lost too. For example, the city of Worcester, Mass is correctly pronounced "Wuh-stah", while Nashua is pronounced "Nash-wer". There are countless examples of this throughout New England.

-If you miss a one-way turn, you have to take like 5 to make it up.

-Hazard lights are your official park-anywhere-lights, and you can seriously park anywhere you want to, including the middle of the road.

-The freeways are all 55mph but everyone still drive 70-80mph.

-In Boston the breakdown lane is actually an additional lane everyone feels comfortable using.

-"Apple juice" is actually fresh, cold apple cider and it is fantastic.

-Maple syrup is real and I'll never be able to eat it normally again.

-Tank of live lobsters at the grocery store is normal and refilled daily.

-"Misting" is when you can't see it raining, but you go outside and you get covered in water somehow.

-The actual name of the New England Patriots football team is "the Pats."

-All street names are reused in nearby cities and some are named after nearby cities so you always have to double check what you plug into the GPS.

-Everyone has a GPS, they are not optional.

-There is a Dunkin' Donuts at least every half mile.

-Gas is always about $1.75, and never goes over $2 unless you're buying diesel (yes Jose Jr, diesel is more expensive here).

-There are little graveyards and cemeteries (there is a difference) everywhere you go with old creepy headstones like in movies.

-AND FINALLY, the correct way to tell someone you aren't interested is "Nah, I'm all set." Really? "Oh shoaw."

:) Anyway, as for the week...

Martes 3/1

Today we visited Lucy, did Family history with Jennifer, heart attacked Sister Daniel's door, and taught a lesson to Victor. Victor seemed better in tune with the spirit. I'm grateful to have been born to good parents, faithful in the gospel. Most people in the world are not given that, but where much is given, much is required.

Miércoles 3/2

Today we stopped by a lot of different people and were running all day.

Jueves 3/3

We visited Gene and Tracy again, back at the hospital. We left them with a Book of Mormon and it turns out that Gene has read it before! They really brought up our spirits, and we hope we brought up theirs. We had a really pivotal lesson with Omar and Omarise about feeling the spirit and how not living the Word of Wisdom can hinder the spirit. We put into practice what we learned at Return and Report and I was able to invite Omar to close the lesson with a prayer and to ask for help to go to church and follow the Word of Wisdom and repent. It was such a beautiful prayer even though I didn't understand all of it. I felt so comforted knowing that Omar was truly exercising faith and truly demonstrating his willingness to change his life and to follow Christ. We also had a good lesson with Victor and correlated with the Ward mission leader, Brother Brady. We started reading Jesus the Christ in the car and it has made a HUGE difference in our day we hope to continue reading it and to finish it together.

Viernes 3/4

Today we had a great zone meeting and were fed by Raquel. The biggest thing of the day was that we got T-texts (transfer notifications) and my trainer and I are staying together in Nashua, and...We were called to be STLs! I am shocked and a bit nervous, and I marvel at the trust my mission president and my Heavenly Father must have in me to extend this calling while I'm still a greeny. Regardless, I'm so excited to be able to serve in the position!

Sabado 3/5

So for today I have a story that starts on Monday. On P-day we went to the grocery store and these two Hispanic guys parked next to us. One got out of the car and we made awkward I contact so I smiled at him and he smiled back. In the store we ran into them and talked (they only spoke Spanish) and we got their number and set up a time to teach them (Jorge and David)! Fast forward to today and as Hermana Parke and I planned, we knew that we couldn't go into the lesson without another woman in the apartment, so we NEEDED to find someone. We called everyone possible on our list and prayed. We probably called about 20 different people and everyone either couldn't come or didn't answer. We finally decided to start calling people from the Merrimack ward that we had on record as speaking Spanish, even though we didn't personally know any of them. Once again no one was answering, and then we called the Deckers. The husband answered, and we told him who we were and asked if his wife spoke Spanish and if she would want to come out with us. He was unusually excited and she was open to it. Our prayer was answered. Turned out, she was not actually a member of the church, but she was very knowledgeable about the Bible and had so much love for Christ and respect for her husband's church. In the lesson we taught the restoration to Jorge, and she even bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon! It was truly a miracle that we marveled at for the rest of the day.

Domingo 3/6
After the great strides we made with investigators only one investigator (Teresa, who we didn't meet with this week because she works so much) was able to come to church. It was a little rough, but we were grateful Teresa could at least be there and we are excited for the progress she is making. We stopped by a few people and asked for referrals. For dinner we made a frozen lasagna and salad and parmesan cheese bread. We don't usually go without a member feeding us, especially on Sunday, but it was nice after a hard day. We want to make cookies and bring them out to all the old Veterans that stand out in the cold to smoke outside Clocktower. We started waving to them as we drive by and now they wave first and are always happy to see us.

Hoy 3/7

A couple members took the Elders, Hermana Parke, and I to Parker's Maple Barn for breakfast and IT WAS AMAZING. We got a lot of things done today that we needed to do to get ready for this week and the new transfer. Sister Cruz is "dying" (finishing her mission) so starting Wednesday we will have a trio with Sister Jones until her new greeny comes in next week.

Hasta la proxima semana!

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Con Amor,

Hermana Rubio