ZOMBIES LIVE IN THE TRAILER PARK // week 24
4:20 PMWhat a week! So as you know I found out about transfers on
Monday so basically all day on Monday I just packed up my life and
helped clean the apartment. On Tuesday we tried to visit as many people
as I could before I left the area, I ended up getting some gifts before I
left so that was super sweet. I love these people here in Arbor, they
are like family to me now and it was really hard to leave them.
On Wednesday I said goodbye to sister platt and then a nice
member of ours drove me to my new area. So Sister Ribucan and I moved
into an apartment that was just owned by Elders so we have had an
interesting week with our apartment and whitewashing in general. I will
share a few experiences later on. Then we unpacked and settled in then
we ventured into our area. We live on 900 N and our northern boundary of
our area is 600 N so once again I live out of my area. Go figure. On
Wednesday we had dinner with the relief society president and her
husband (Los Bocanegra), he is the 1st counselor of the bishopric. After
dinner we get a call from Hermano Bocanegra and he asks us if we can
speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday, WHAT?!? And it had to be 15
minutes. Ugh but hey it's okay because it's about missionary work. We
then went to mutual and got to know the young women.
A few things about my companion before I forget. Her name is
Sister Ribucan (Ree-boo-kahn). She is from Maui, Hawaii. She went to
BYU-Hawaii for one semester before coming on her mission. She has been
serving for 11 months. She is super sweet and likes to laugh a lot which
is good :) and this is her 3rd area.
Thursday we walked 6 miles or more and got to know our area a
little more. It's SO BIG! We had a miracle lesson with a less active
member so that was good. Friday we had district meeting. AND I GOT TO
SEE ELDER ESPARZA AGAIN! He, sister Huxford, and I are all twins, so I
still have a twin with me. It was weird not only being in a new district
but a new zone in general. Luckily I knew quite a few people beforehand
so it wasn't too hard of an adjustment but our district is awesome! Our
district leader is Elder Jimenez, he is from the Republica Dominicana
(I forgot how to say it in English) and has 3 months left on his mission
before he goes home. He was actually in my last district so we already
know each other. And his companion is a brand new missionary from
Arizona. Then there is Elders Lemmon and Barriga. Elder Lemmon came out
with me, we were in the MTC together for 6 weeks but didnt meet each
other until the day before we left for the field. And Elder Barriga is
my mission step-brother because Elder Coldiron did part of his training.
Then we have Elders Haight and Strate but they weren't there because
they are the Assistants to the president and are super busy all of the
time. We had to have our district meeting in a different building than
normal because last week missionary supplies and Mail got stolen...
Welcome to Rose Park sister Olivas. But it's okay because this week we
got everything, granted I didn't get mail (hint hint) but hey no mail
was stolen. Friday and Saturday we walked around a lot and got to know
our area better.
Sunday we talked in church. Our talks were 12 minutes each,
which I am actually impressed. They were supposed to be 15, but hey
Hermano Bocanegra understood. The members liked our talks so that was
good. People once again are surprised with my Hispanic last name and my
lack of hispanic looks but that's okay. Oh then on Sunday, Valentine's
Day, we had dinner at a members home and guess what we ate. COW HEARTS
(anticochas). They weren't that bad. But I could have not known before I
ate it, that would have been fine. But it was perfect for Valentine's
Day.
A few funny things...
You know you are whitewashing an area when:
You come into the area and you have NO LESSONS or ANYTHING planned for the next weeks
You find a giant hole in the wall. Thank you whiteboard for covering that up
You have no idea where or when church is
You have to guess your voicemail password because the elders didn't tell us before...
Your members tell you all of the streets NOT to walk on in the night and it ends up being half of your area
A few more adventures this week:
We saw chickens walking around this house (picture below to prove it)
On Wednesday we found out our bishop left the day before for a
vacation, to Bolivia, for A MONTH. So we don't even know who our bishop
is yet and we don't know if he knows we are here.
We saw two cars legit drag racing
Even though it's been a crazy few days here with trying to get
to know the members, our investigators, and the area, I am so excited to
be here. We have had a lot of tiny miracles and mercies from our
Heavenly Father. This ward is so excited to have sisters again, it's
been about 2 or 3 years since they last had sisters. The church is the
same no matter where you are. Yes it was hard leaving my first area, but
I know that Heavenly Father will protect the people I have grown to
love. I know that Heavenly Father needs me here, with Hermana Ribucan,
in this Ward to help the work progress. We have a few investigators that
want to get baptized and we have a lot more who have so much potential
to progress. So we shall see. I know that this next transfer will be
hard, there will be a lot of walking, but if I am obedient and work
hard, Heavenly Father will bless this area. Love you all have a great
week! If you want to write me a letter or send me anything my address is
the same. (And don't worry the mail will not get stolen anymore here
because we changed up the system) 😜
I love being a missionary and I love my Savior. Deuteronomy 6:5 "And
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might." (Ponderizing scripture of the week)
I know that this church is true, that is why I am here.
Have a great week!
P.s. Sorry that this email is so long, I didn't realize I had that much to say until I wrote it all out
P.p.s. Oh an explanation of the title: we had a meeting with
our Ward mission leader, Henry, he is like in his 20's and served his
mission in Ogden, but we were talking about our area with him and he was
telling us to avoid some areas and he's like "yeah zombies come out in
the night at the trailer parks (we have some sketchy areas in our
area-like this super ghetto trailer park off of north temple)..." Then
he shivers and was like "yeah I don't like that area..." Haha it was
great.
con amor,
Hermana Olivas
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