Three Months in Florida!

Family!

Tomorrow marks three months since I flew to Florida. This week started
my third transfer. Crazy.

New companion

I'm glad it's raining so much there! That's awesome! It rained here
last night and it's been super windy. We had tornado warnings
apparently. Just reminds me of home, haha.

We haven't heard anything about the inauguration yet. We'll have to
ask Sister Fritz; she keeps us updated on stuff like that, haha.

I've had horchata once down here. It was made in the restaurant and it
was SOOOO good. So good.

Uhmmm.
This week!

Last Monday we found some cool people for Sister Lamborn's last day in
the area. (We haven't managed to contact them again but it'll happen.)
The husband is just a really awesome guy and really wants to learn
about religion and God so that he's more motivated to fully commit
himself to God. And the wife has taken lessons before! She loves how
dedicated missionaries are.

Sister Lamborn told me a date story every night that we were
companions. She's been on a lot of dates, haha. Heard my last one
Monday night. (Sister Petty is now continuing the tradition of bedtime
date stories, hah.)

Tuesday Sister Lamborn cleaned as much as possible so the house would
be nice for Sister Petty. Sister Kober is a saint and drove us up to
the North Sisters' where we traded stuff, left Sister Lamborn, and
took Sister Parish and me up to the stake center. And then traded
stuff one more time to take back down to our area.

We just talked and shared pictures and got to know one another for a
bit, and then went out so she could meet people! Angie and Brian
challenged Sister Petty to involve Alex, something that Sister Lamborn
had done great at.

Sister Petty is also great at engaging kids though so that shouldn't
be a problem. We've got a less active family who mostly speak Haitian
Creole. The daughter, C, is 9 and speaks more English, but is
just very shy and quiet. And she spoke up more than I've ever heard
with Sister Petty using cute little cards to teach about the Plan of
Salvation.

I did okay at coming up with on the spot lessons and commitments,
haha. I'm not great at planning things out in advance, so it's good
that I've built a little pool of random teaching resources.

Also Sister Petty is awesome and she loves film and lots of the stuff
I do. Loves Hamilton. Loves Doctor Who. And other more obscure things
that other people don't get. Loooves animals which I'm super happy
about. Now when I point out squirrels and stuff someone will get
excited about it, haha.

She had some struggles with getting out on a mission too. And her
attitude is so fantastic. "We MADE it! We're on MISSIONS! LOOK AT US!"

First Give Kids the World day for Sister Petty on Wednesday, and we
got to do CASTLE. YESSS. We had several families come to see their
stars, which is always fun. One alumni family came in that had been
there in 2012, and the kid was a teenager and thought it was awesome.
The next family was grandparents, and the child had since passed. The
parents didn't want to come and see it. I was able to pinpoint his
specific star for them. I love when I can find the exact spot.

Had to go up to the mission office for Sister Petty to take a
defensive driving test, hahaha. She apparently wasn't cleared to be
driving in her old area, and got stuck in sand a couple times... So
that had to be fixed. And we neeeed a car in our area. Elder Creamer
has fought so hard for that.

Had Enrichment night at Bishop's house! And we invited and
investigator, and SHE CAME. IT WAS SO GREAT. It was a hot cocoa and
get to know you night (Sister Palomino cranked up the AC so that
people would want cocoa, haha), which was PERFECT. She had such a good
time and said it was a great diversion from the crazy that had been
happening in her life. It was also great for Sister Petty to get to
know everyone. There wasn't enough room, so the other two Sisters and
I sat on the side and talked. :) I'm so, so glad they're still so
close.

Thursday, District meeting. Elder James went home, so our District got
a little bit realigned and we got a new District Leader. We all just
kind of got to know each other and bore testimony. It was different
from other DMs.

Sister Petty and I got to know each other a lot better that evening.
And just quoted things back and forth and laughed really hard. It's
been a party.

Friday. Planning day. Gross. Especially since I'm the one who knows
all the people. ahhh. Responsibility. Next week will be better.
Had dinner with the Bonalbas and the other Sisters. They had to leave
early for a lesson and apparently a Bible study at another church. And
we stayed there an extra hour helping Sister Bonalba set up her
tablet, haha. They had no clue what to do with it. It was
entertaining.

SATURDAY WE BIKED. We haven't biked much recently. And Sister Petty
hasn't biked much on her mission. So I made her. And we met some
really cool people that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. I love biking
for that. Sister Petty was beat by the end and I was pretty tired too.
It's been too long.

We had a Bible referral come in that we dropped by while on bikes;
someone else answered the door and said he wasn't home from work yet.
Dropped by again after dinner and the guy was just super cool. He's
talked to missionaries before. Talked about attending church as if he
were already a member. Unfortunately, he's on call on Sundays. His
Bible and Book of Mormon were taken from his work truck, and his
attitude was just, "I guess someone else needed them more." And he
requested more. Pretty cool.

We had to get up early on Sunday for ward council, which only happens
about once a month. It's at 7:30 now which is gross. And then we
didn't even really participate because they were running late. :P
Angie and Brian spoke in Sacrament meeting! They did so great! And we
were sitting in the pew behind them, so we got to watch Alex holding
Olivia, which was just so stinking cute.

Please pray for our investigator Susan and her less active father
Patrick right now. He doesn't want people to know the situation, but
she told us a bit... They're just having some really rough health
struggles right now, and I'm worried. :(

Had dinner with the Mejias! They're so fun. M (16 months) and S
(like 2 months?) are so cute. Maya loves all four of us. She's just a
super happy baby. And Brother Mejia is hilarious and loves joking
around... But last night we got to hear his sincere testimony about
the Sacrament, and it was incredible and powerful.

This week has certainly been an adjustment, but it's been pretty
amazing too! I've learned a lot about what I'm capable of; how much I
actually CAN do. Leading out is rough but it's also been pretty fun. I
love the gospel and I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, for
prayer, for the Atonement. I love sharing that with people. This week
was bumpy just because it was new. Next week is going to be amazing.
:) There's always new things and progression that can happen! :D

Love,
Christine

On the throne in the castle

A toad we found and named him Maurice

Sister Petty and me!