Hello There!
Well I wrote you an awesome email before, BUT It accidently got all deleted. SO your email this week won't be super awesome.
Long story short.....
I flew into DC on Wednesday and Pres and Sister Riggs were waiting for us. They had memorized our names and faces by our pictures and were so excited to meet us.
President Riggs is AMAZING. He loves that I am from his hometown.
Northern virginia is green. SO GREEN. It reminds me so much of NH. I get eaten alive by bugs everyday, and it's super humid. But it's SO beautiful.
That night we went back to the mission home and had dinner, a short testimony meeting/get to know you meeting (I was asked to play piano of course). Then we had interview with president. They were short but SO sweet. I love my president already. He knew exactly what I needed to hear. The first thing he said when I sat down was "You are so ready for this." I chatted with him for bit, and he said that he knew who he wanted my companion to be.
That night they only had so many beds, so me and my companions went to a member's home and stayed there. They were so nice. The next morning though, I woke up with a sore throat. Bleh.
We went back to the mission home and then went to the stake center to have an orientation meeting. I had a super bad migraine. They took a group picture and immediately I ran out the door to go find a bathroom and throw up. Hermana Stanford sat in the bathroom with me for a bit and then we went to find a couch for me. I slept on the couch for a good while. President Riggs came in after the first meeting and him and the AP's gave me a blessing.
We all went back and went to the next meeting where I met my new companion.....Hermana Simpson! Then we went had lunch, in which i felt a little better and ate. During the transfer meeting, I started feeling sick again. Towards the end, I ran out to the door to throw up again. Next to me in the stall throwing up was Hermana Wilcox. I guess we got the same thing. We both crashed on a couch again during the rest of the meeting. Our companions figured some things out and we left.
Me and Hermana Simpson had a dinner appt, but we had to cancel. They gave it to us to go, which was so nice.
When we got back to the apt, I laid down for the rest of the night and threw up again. What an awesome first day. And, what a GREAT first impression.
The next day I woke up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat, but no naseau! At least I had stamina. I've had a cough the past few days, but I am feeling good.
We have dinner appts almost every day. We had one on friday at the Pocori's tiny home. They only spoke Spanish, but theyhad all 6 missionaries there. They are such humble and wonderful people. They are from Peru. I was scared to ask what the strange meat in the pasta was though.....
I got to meet a new convert, Jhoanna. She is 19 and has 2 year old son. The gospel has really changed her. BUT, she still has a long way to go. She is an awesome missinoary though. We teach her 2 sisters, and have taught her mom and brother too.
Yesterday was so neat. We went to our spanish branch. I was asked to give a short talk/testimony. I felt like crying, but not because of the spirit, but because of the spanish. There are 6 missionaries in that branch, 4 elder and us. Two of the elders talked and the President talked too about being member missionaries. This little spanish branch needs a LOT of help. They are definitely struggling. It was sad too because none of our investigators came to church :(
everybody was so nice to me, they all said I did good, but i know they were all being very polite :) I guess that last Hermana struggled with Spanish, so mine doesn't seem too bad.
Yesterday we saw a few miracles. We went and visited some investigators the missionaries lost contact with. We found this one guy, names Jeraldo, who this missionaries havent seen in a month. He ran to the door, Book of Mormon in Hand, and yelled "I thought I lost you!" he then goes on to say that he loves the BOM, he knows that it's the word of god, and that it is important to god. WOW! He is a interesting and unique guy. He is from Bolivia, so I was able to say, I love Bolivians! Becuase of the Lopez Carrascos :)
We then got to see Patrcia, who also had gone missing. She is Bolivian as well. She is really sick, so the elders are coming over tonight to give her a blessing. Hispanics are awesome. They don't have a hard time accepting everything we teach, but they don't really understand the importance of it. We always try to stress the importance of the BOM, going to church and knowing for yourself of the truth.
It's so neat though! Hermana Simpson keeps explaining how grateful she is to be my companion, but I feel the same way. We are both exctied for this transfer and we feel like we can see great things happening. Hermana Simpson opened up this area 2 transfers ago and I am excited to work with her. I love her! She is so cute and so diligent. She is almost 22 and is from the Tri-Cities in Washington state. She was already fluent in Spanish, so she is helping me.
I get a TON of comments about my eyes and my hair, but mostly my eyes because they aren't brown. It's so funny. I love these people so much already. Some of the homes we go in are a tiny, but so humble.
I HOPE that you are doing your part as member missionaries. You don't have to invite people to be baptized, that's the missionaries job. Just give the missionaries names of friends. OR let the missionaries know that you are willing to be a part of a member present lesson. We are struggling with this in our branch, and I hope that you are helping the missionaries in any way tthat you can.
I love you all! Thank you for your support.
I miss you, but I know I will see you soon.
Hermana Spencer
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