Perhaps we´ll do this week´s email in list form? There are so many little things that I´ve wanted to mention, but I really just haven´t gotten around to all of them. You know me- I like to write it to my satisfaction, have a nice transition in between each story, add a little spiritual moral to everything, and sign it with a big "Love from Hermana Oldroyd!" Unfortunately, this manner of writing is not the most efficient. So here goes!
1. Last week we had a Zone activity- French toast breakfast! Being the generally hungry person that I am, and considering that there was homemade syrup AND peanut butter, I had 10 pieces. So did Hermana Peterson. We might just be perfect for each other!
2. Last week we also bought materials for Manjar bars! Hna Peterson and I had a fun time making them, though this time we didn´t add enough butter, which made for a really good arm workout once the marshmellow started to cool. We took some to Ana Cortez and her family, and to the Bishop. Ate the rest in about two days with the help of the Hermanas.
3. This one is for you, Dad! There is a sister in our ward, Hermana Rebecca Herrera, that has a reputation for being a good cook. We had lunch with her, and what do you think this Chilean woman made? Gnocchi, of course. Little bit of Italy in the middle of Chile, and it was really good!! I thought about you and how much you would´ve enjoyed it.
4. Oh man. I have another "Most Embarrassing Mission Moment" to add to the list. We had a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) this week in the home of the Familia Garces. They are great, faithful, sincere, people, and they LOVE the missionaries. After walking in and sitting down for a couple minutes, I started smelling something.... I looked down, and realized that both Hermana Peterson and I had literally tracked dog poop into the house. Ohhhhhh my. I was so embarrassed. They pulled out the mop and squirted a generous portion of cleaner on the floor, and I had to stop myself from apologizing 400 times. Good times, good times.
5. This same day of the Noche de Hogar, Hermana Peterson and I literally climbed over 1,000 stairs. I wish I could tell you I was exaggerating, but I am not. We had a little flaw in planning, and we had sitas (appointments) right before and after this Noche de Hogar that we could not change, and they just happened to be on the complete opposite side of the map. Needless to say, we had a great leg workout and fell asleep quite easily that night.
6. Hermana Peterson and I have achieved that happy place in a companionship where we understand each other´s personalities, the basics of our teaching styles, our little quirks, and we can speak openly about things we feel, think, etc. We´ve been there for a couple weeks now, actually. Ironically, one of the things that helped us the most was speaking really openly about the things that annoyed us about the other. (In a loving, constructive way.) Don´t worry- there weren´t many. I just thought you´d all find it amusing (like I did) that one of those things that originally annoyed Hermana Peterson about me is that I´m "too chipper" in the morning. I have now learned that there is a couple hour buffer wherein it is better not to engage Hermana Peterson in conversation, and observing that rule has blessed our companionship immensely. (Please note just a bit of sarcasm here- she´s really not that bad in the morning.)
7. Mom asked me a week or so ago if I´ve earned any nicknames. Perhaps not officially, but the variations of the pronunciation for my name could almost count as nicknames! People say anything from Àldritch` to Òledroy` to I don´t even know what!
8. Also for Mom- Yes, there is definitely a Postum culture here. For those who don´t know, Postum is a coffee wannabe. Here, the most popular are Ecco, Milo, and Corona. Ecco is by far the most popular, and I add lots of sugar to mine.
9. Sometimes our clean clothes come back smelling faintly of smoke, because they´ve been dried by the heat of a woodburning stove. If that isn´t rustic and beautiful, I don´t know what is.
10. Leading music is still hard for me. They just sing so differently here! However, I wouldn´t trade the opportunity for anything. Standing and looking out at my dear ward, it amazes me to think of all the people I´ve met, all the little things that´ve changed, all the friendships that I´ve formed. It is a good thing the ward is fond of me, because they just try to follow me, smile, and laugh when it gets really bad. Oh, my dear Lirquen. I will miss you.
Ok... I think those are all of the little things that I´ve wanted to tell you all. It was a great week, one filled with lots of growth and lots of miracles. For example- we had three people in church!! That has never happened for me. Henri Foster was one of them, and he has a baptismal date for the 22nd. He´s trying to quit smoking, and he´s so sincere in his desire to change. As I sat in Sacrament meeting, one filled with our investigators, several menos activos that we´d invited, and a ward that I love very much, I felt so very blessed. This week I found even more stability in my relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior. In all my studies of repentance and the Atonement, after seeing so many people in such desperate spiritual need, after also feeling the immense influence and joy that I´ve helped bring to others and the power that I have as one little missionary, I feel like I´ve found it. I know that I lack so many things, that I need to actively repent every day, but I also know that I have immense potential and power to do good through the guidance of the Lord. Wow. When I really started to feel it, I thought of you Mom. It felt like you. I love the gospel, I love this work, and I love all of you. You´re in my prayers!
Hermana Oldroyd
Limpiando las tortillas`or cleaning the bread. When we passed by to visit Erminda, a new investigator, she was in there cleaning the bread before going to visit her sick husband in the hospital. We arrived at the same time as her grandson, and offered to do it for her. It was a blast!
Those wheel things are covered with sandpaper, and you just shove the bread up against the rotating sandpaper to sand off the burnt parts of the bread
To continue the story- the next day we were talking with a random man who worked in a negocio (little store), and he brought it up, saying he was very impressed with what we´d done. He gave us some oranges and bananas and said he´d like to talk with us sometime. Service really does go a long way!
Downtown Concepcion (where we go to the Mission Office to pick up mail and to use the Internet cafe)
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