Wow I have so much to say I don't even know where to begin. I flew in to Santa Barbara last Mon to beautiful weather and lots of green and pretty flowers everywhere! The Mission President, his wife, and the Assistants greeted us and took us to the mission home. I love my mission president!!!! He is such a great man who is clearly close to the Lord and very inspired! It is a very well organized mission with many goals and much success. The first day we filled out paper work, got oriented, and went street contacting! (we call it STOing- short testifying opportunities) It was very scary, especially since a few of them were in Spanish. Talk about getting thrown right into the fire :) Two Sisters who have been here for awhile took us out and I went with Hermana Hanson. It was a long, tiring day. The next day we got assigned to our new companions and I got put with Hermana Hanson! I was so excited cause she was very easy going and I had enjoyed being with her! We are assigned to work here in Ventura with the Spanish branch. Our area is pretty big for this mission and spans from Ojai to Saticoy- those names probably mean nothing to you. Mostly we stay on the Avenue in the city were most of the Hispanic population live. We have plenty of work because we are actually white washing the area. My first area and we're white washing! For those of you who don't know what this means it is when they take the two missionaries in that area and replace it with two new missionaries to breathe a new life to the area. So Hermana Hanson didn't really know the area or the members too well, and I basically knew nothing. And on top of that, one of the Elders that we are replacing had an injured foot for the last month so there hadn't been any work done for awhile here. The area book was a mess and the most recent investigator record forms were dated in January of this year. Most were from before then. Needless to say we have had a crazy week. We started with contacting many of the former investigators and recent converts. We still haven't visited them all but we're getting close. We also have done a lot of STOing. It's been stressful, but my trainer is AWESOME and we both feel really good with the work we did this week. We even found 5 new investigators.
Ok, so my trainer Hermana Hanson is wonderful! She's super patient, diligent, hilarious, and obedient. We get along really well and we're already becoming good friends. I love her a lot. She's very encouraging and includes me as much as possible even though I'm still learning Spanish. The Spanish. Ummm it's tough :) It's frustrating when you have no idea what everyone around you is saying and your sitting there terrified to move in case it somehow draws attention to you and they ask you a question. :) It's awesome! It's ok though because I trust the Lord to help me if I do my part. I already speak more in lessons and STOs and I'm understanding tons more! Everyday it gets better! The people are so humble and nice too and the members are so sweet. They tell me that they're just happy I'm here. There's a saying that you'll learn to speak faster if you eat chiles or peppers or something and they tell me that all the time. Actually, one of our new investigators that we found last night told me that she thought my Spanish was beautiful. It touched me a lot. I don't think she means literally, but because she knows I'm trying really hard and that I love sharing the Gospel. Yesterday I had to get up and introduce myself in Sacrament meeting. I was so nervous I don't have any idea what I said, but my companion said I did great. But she says that about everything I say haha so who knows?
I haven't had tons of opportunities to try their food cause the Elders forgot to tell us that we have a dinner calendar here. Oh tanto Elderes. I'm really looking forward to this week cause we have one almost every day! We actually are pretty much out of food so we're pretty excited to go shopping today. Yesterday a member gave us this huge foot long for dinner and we were so excited cause we only had eggs left- but then we stopped at a light next to a homeless women and knew that she needed it more so we gave it away. I think the Lord blessed us with that food to be able to help one of His children. Never miss an opportunity to serve any of His children! Are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend on the Lord for everything? I feel so blessed seeing the trials and struggles of the people I'm serving and teaching. We are so lucky to have what we have.
The weather is awesome and we can see the beach from the highway! It's really beautiful here, although lots of traffic and tourists in the city. Ojai is a little town in the mountains and the drive there is gorgeous! I'll definitely have to come back someday and show you all.
I love being a missionary and I know that this is where I'm supposed to be! Hispanic people are the most loving people I have ever met! My companion and I joke about how we hate having to contact white people cause their so much scarier and mean :)
Welll, my time is up. I love you all very much! Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. This is the restored church of Christ on the earth. We are sooo lucky to know that! Have a great week and write letters! Snail mail is awesome! :)
Con Amor,
Hermana Hatch
PS_ make sure you send my towel and hoodie thanks!
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