Let
me just start off this email by saying that this has hands down been
the craziest/most exhausting week of my entire life. I went through
four companions and two different areas in 48 hours. I had my first door
slammed on me; ironically, the first door I ever knocked on. I went to
three different sacrament meetings in one Sunday. I met some German
tourists on a bus. I met a bunch of dogs of various sizes and even some
pet chickens.
So.
Monday morning: Our district left. All except Elder Whittaker, Sister
Keenan and myself. Terrible. We went back to our sad empty classroom and
bawled. Except Elder Whittaker....and the two random elders who had
decided to use our room for a couple minutes. They just looked at us
funny. We had our last lesson with Irma Pike. Sad. We had two lessons
that week with Irmao Workman, which were actually quite incredibly. So, I
guess it was worth not leaving on Monday.
Tuesday:
More sadness because we were all alone in the world of the MTC.
HOWEVER. Before the devotional we had to meet Sister Keenan's new
mission president in 1M. When we went there we had to convince the
security people we weren't assassins before they would let us sit on the
couch and wait for him. While we were there we saw Elder Ballard, Elder
Christianson, Elder Nelson, Elder Oaks, and Tod Callister. (Btw I know
for a fact that I spelled at least two of those names wrong. Don't judge
me, I've been out in the sun all week.) It was crazy. I'm sitting there
helping her mission president do something and some walks behind me and
says "Boa Noite!" I turn around to reply, see that it's Elder Nelson
(he's really short) and promptly drool on myself. Not really. I caught
it. But almost.
Wednesday:
Got up at 2:15. Terrible time. Fell down the stairs in our residence
with my 50lb suitcase. Don't worry, I'm ok. Just in case you cared. :)
Made it to the bus. Slept on the bus on the way to SLC. Checked in at
the airport. Went through the creep machine at security. Had to get
patted down anyway. Hunted all over that stupid airport for a phone that
wasn't taken. Found one that was so quiet that I'm convinced I made up
half the conversation I had with my mom. Went to call my dad. Stupid
calling card stopped working. Phone ate 4 of my quarters before it
decided to let me call my dad. Talked to him until I ran out of
quarters. Btw, pay phones are terrible. They count down the time you
have left and it's so stressful you can't think of what to say. Cell
phones all the way. Got to St. George. Normally they make the greenies
breakfast at the mission home, but since we were getting a new president
the next day, they couldn't get in the mission home. So we got orange
juice and a McDonalds biscuit. Then they talked about how great the
proselyting is St. George, and how the members love you and it's the
40lb mission because they feed you so much. Got a little bit excited
about it. Then they should us a safety video telling us to drive safely
or die. Then they gave us new companions. (Btw, this is all we did, but
it still took us about 3-4 hours.) I got put in a trio with Sister Dupre
and Sister Pajoul. Found out that our area wasn't actually a
full-proselyting area. We work half in the Visitor's Center and a little
bit in the area. I was a little disappointed about that. Also my
companions were not very nice to me and ran off to talk to the elders
instead of telling me what I was supposed to do. Sister Pajoul showed me
around the Visitor's Center and would explain stuff to me, but she was
new in that area too, so it was kind of the blind leading the blind and
Sister Dupre couldn't be bothered to tell anyone what was going on. But
whatever. After Thursday, when I accepted that I would just have to
figure things out my own dang self, I decided I actually kind of liked
the Visitor's Center. Then we got a call saying that I was being
transferred. Of course. Sister Gregory's companion had received her VISA
for Australia (Lucky. I try not to have extreme negative feelings
towards her luck), and she was leaving, so I was going up to La Verkin
to be with Sister Gregory. That was probably the best thing that had
happened to me so far.
La
Verkin. Small town Southern Utah. Full-proselyting. Hotter than Hades.
But we get a car. :) The people here are SO much nicer than the people
we talked to in St. George. In St. George I got doors slammed in my face
and people were not very nice. Here they feed me all the time. Even if
they aren't members. We are celebrities. :) We eat free in all of the
LDS owned restaurants. I'm getting fat. Not even exaggerating. It's
happening. Oh well. I'll probably get a parasite in Brasil, so I'm just
preparing. Always be prepared. That's my motto. As of now.
Funny stories, now that I've gotten through a lot of the boring stuff. :)
Sister
Pajoul is from France. We went to a ward 4th of July party and the
chapel. They made us all stand up while they played a recording of the
Pledge. (For the record, it was a weird recording that would talk about
each line as they read it. It took forever.) She, of course, was the
only one not standing. Sister Dupre kind of got on to her, and she was
like "I'm not American!" Quite loudly. :) The bishop was cracking up.
Afterwards she was appalled. Apparently in France they do NOT mix state
and religion at all. She thought it was incredibly inappropriate that we
were doing something related to America in the church building. It was
pretty funny. When we got back to the Visitor's Center she went and
talked with the other sisters from France and they looked equally
shocked. They're in for a treat this week. I'm a bit disappointed I'll
miss it.
This
one is funny for outsiders, but I am not quite to the point of finding
it more than mildly amusing. However, I know by the time I find it
funny, I'll have forgotten to write about it: Sister Gregory, in an
attempt to train her greenie, decided to set me up. We were on our way
to an appointment, but were a little early. She stopped and was like
"We're going to stop here first....you got this one?" I was like
uhhhh...sure? What's their story? And she was like "Oh, the ward just
wants us to stop by." I was like...vague. Ok.... So we walk up and I
knock on the door and a little girl answers. She's like "Oh hey, come on
in! I'll go grab my dad." I am slightly confused as to why this
supposedly inactive child is so comfortable with us, but we ARE
rockstars out here, so whatever. We go in and I'm even more confused.
Their house could be a model home for "Perfectly Active Mormon Family",
down to the stupid curly-writing wall stickers that everyone has. The
girl comes back and is like "Oh, he's across the street helping the
Martins move." So we go out and Sister Gregory's like "Oh! It looks like
they're done! Perfect!" So we go down and talk to this guy. I go ahead
and start doing my "Visiting the Less-Active" speech and Sister Gregory
kind of interrupts like, "Oh, he's our ward mission leader." So I'm
embarrassed that I talked to the wrong guy. Get in the car and she
explains that it was all a setup. She just wanted me to practice with
someone I thought was less -active. Dumb. All that accomplished was
making me look stupid, having this guy laughing at me, and destroying my
tender trust feelings. Whatever.
I
know this has been a pretty boring email, but I have one last thing to
say. St. George, and La Verkin, are sinfully hot. We were driving to
church yesterday at 10:45am, and I was like "Oh, look! It's only
1...0...6...wow..." The sad part is, that actually is cool around here.
It's usually us snailing around in 115-120 degree weather with no cloud
cover. Good practice for Brasil I guess. My shoe tan is coming along
quite nicely. :) When it's sufficiently offensive to the eyes, I will
send pictures.
That's
about all I have to say right at the moment. To all you sisters in
Mozambique: I'm glad you didn't die on the way there. Send pictures.
Also, Sister Baldwin, I require more details about the plane ride. :)
Tchau!
Sister Peart
P.S.
This is my new writing address. Apparently DearElder's still work out
here, so you can do those too. I won't get them as fast as I got them in
the MTC, but I guess they're still free and easy. So continue writing
me. :)
Sister Jennifer Peart
107S 1470E Ste. 304
St. George, UT 84790
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