Querida Familia,
Surprise! Guess who's back in Stafford? (PS
Hispanics say "eStafford" because they can't say S with a consonant
after it without an E at the front... eStafford, eSpotsylvania, Espanol,
Espalda, etc.)
On Monday
after emailing, my companions and I met up with some other sisters at
Olive Garden for lunch for Sister Brady's birthday (she's in the
Chickahominy Ward). About an hour after, we were just window shopping
when we received a call from President Wilson. He asked me to step
outside the store for some privacy. He asked, "are you willing to go
where the Lord needs you?" I answered yes. He then told me that I was
going to be emergency transferred to the Stafford Spanish Rama (Branch).
I asked why--not because I didn't want to or I needed a reason, but
because I hoped it wasn't because we were having companionship
struggles. It ends up that another Hermana went home early for medical
reasons.
The following morning, Brother and Sister Chuntz, a
senior couple, picked me up to take me to my new area! I'm serving in
the Stafford Rama, but my area covers Fredericksburg (yes, THE
Fredericksburg!) and parts of Spotsylvania County. After Christmas, a
lot of Hermanas went home. A couple of Spanish areas, including
Fredericksburg, were closed. It was opened back up again right after
Valentine's day. If I hadn't been switched to Spanish at the time that I
was, it would have been closed again.
My new companion is Hermana Agurcia
(ahh-GUR-see-uhh). She's also a Temple Square Sister! She's from San
Pedro Sula Honduras and has been out for about 7 months. She's a really
hard worker, speaks perfect Spanish and English, and a great cook!
The apartment is awesome. Look up my address on
Googlemap. We basically live on Mary Washington University campus. We
have beautiful French doors and a balcony. It faces a huge student
housing complex that looks a lot like New Heritage. Sometimes in the
mornings, we go running on campus. If you Google Mary Washington, you'll
see that it has a huge bridge that crosses Jefferson Davis Hwy. We run
across that:)
Amidst all of this excitement, I am SO EXHAUSTED. In
the past month I moved, was switched to Spanish, had a difficult
companion, had two companions, and then I was moved again. All of this
new is really stressing me out. Transfer calls are on Saturday
and I REALLY hope that I can stay in Fredericksburg for the next six
weeks. I saw Sister Olsen at District Meeting (she's my Sister Training
Leader now!!) and we chatted for a bit. She said that she and her
companion sent recommendations to President Wilson about who should be
transferred, and they recommended to him that I stay in Fredericksburg.
Ojala:)
Anyway, a lot has happened since I arrived. I loved
Mechanicsville, but it was a very difficult area for learning Spanish.
I'm so grateful for all the help I received from Hna. Depablos! Hna.
Agurcia has also been really helpful. We made a rule that between the
hours of 9 and 9, we speak only in Spanish. It's difficult, and I don't
talk near as much as I normally do, but it's helped me realize how much
Spanish I DO know. I'm really good at formulating sentences and I'm
slowly picking up more vocabulary! I finally feel like I'm at the point
where I have enough Spanish to function. Now I can start studying more
grammar concepts.
In Spanish Branches, they really do feed you SO MUCH
FOOD. We showed up for dinner at one woman's home, and I couldn't
believe how big my bowl of soup was. It looked like she had put the
serving bowl in front of me. And then the Hispanics smile and say things
like "sientense, COMA." And then you say things back like, "estoy
llena, pero es muy rico!" And then they say "COMA MAS." And then you eat
more. At this particular woman's home, she had a friend over...who is a
Testigo de Jehova (or JW). After dinner, Hermana Agurcia styled the
member's hair, to which the amiga said, "en casa de herrero, cochillo de
palo." I didn't understand it when she said it, but Hna. Agurcia
explained it to me in the car. The amiga said, "in the house of a
blacksmith, knife of wood." This basically means: you help everyone but
yourself. She also told Hna. Agurcia that she should begin with my hair.
Yes, this Testigo insulted our hair :( I was depressed for weeks.
Another funny dinner story. We were eating at a
recently returning member's home who is single. She made me eat too
much. In the car, I told Hna. Agurcia that my stomach hurt. She said
that hers did too, and asked me how much of the grape juice I had. I
don't even like grape juice, but the member poured me a glass. After I
finished, she poured me a second glass. I finished both. Hna. Agurcia
then explained that she checked the juice and it expired on September
27, 2000. I've never wanted so badly to throw up in my whole entire
life. And it's not even like the member reused the same bottle--Hna.
Agurcia said she broke the seal when she opened the bottle. When do
fermented grapes become wine?
Our next appointment was with Absalon and Natalia.
They have this weird tradition where every time we come to visit with
them, they make some weird juice thing for us to drink. Hna. Agurcia
said that at the last appointment, the other Hna. wasn't feeling too
well, and she didn't finish it. Absalon made fun of her and Natalia was
offended. I was in so much pain, but I downed that entire drink thing.
Hermana Agurcia is almost as bad as the members;)
She's always cooking! She wants to make me lunch every day. She insists
on dishing the food onto my plate too. I don't think she realizes how
Hispanic she is;) In the mornings, she always makes some homemade drink
for me. Once it was honey and lemon, yesterday it was cinnamon tea, and
today she made a drink from raw oats. I don't know how she does it, but
they're always super yummy. I've given into the fact that I'm going to
gain weight on my mission. I'm trying to control my portions as much as
possible, but I also need to understand that food is how Hispanics
communicate love.
As for the work in this area, we are finding A TON
of new investigators. Because the other Hermana was sick, they only had a
few, and most hadn't been seen since before Christmas. Almost every
Hispanic will invite us in or to come back later, so it's hard to tell
who will actually progress in the Gospel. It looks as if we're going to
have a lot of first lessons. Absalon and Natalia are probably most
progressing. We were talking about the Book of Mormon, and out of
nowhere, Absalon started asking questions about the Plan of
Salvation--explaining that he believed that there must be some sort of
waiting place between death and resurrection. He's so prepared:)
Anyway, I'm about to be kicked off early:/ The
library is busy in the afternoons. I love you all so much and I'm so
grateful for your prayers! I've been considerably stressed because all
of the changes, but I know that God wouldn't give me a commandment (or a
language change assignment) without preparing a way for me to
accomplish it! Please send me mail because support at this time would be
awesome:)
Love you! Hermana Crandall
*PS- one picture of Hermana Agurcia's first time at Krispy Kremes!
Hermana Sarah Crandall
1002 Jefferson Davis Hwy #222
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
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