Stories and Thoughts: The beginning: Barrio Montecristo

Time in Montecristo: 3 months
The Montecristo Ward, covering two colonias called Santa Lucia and Bosques de la Paz, turned out to be a wonderful beginning to my mission, for mostly two reasons: my mission "mama," Hermana Gonzalez, and my mission "twin sister," Hermana Winters.
Companions: Hna Gonzalez, Hna Winters
And a few stories...

First Day in the Field
The morning of my very first change meeting, after leaving President Glazier's house, I stood in intimidated silence with the group of new sister missionaries, munching numbly on giant muffins imported from the States. I was trying to listen in on the other group of sisters, also eating muffins and chatting casually in what sounded like perfect Spanish. A little Guatemalan sister caught my attention as she walked in with the mission nurse ("enfermera" en espanol). President called out to her.

"Hermana Gonzalez," he said in his heavy gringo accent, smiling mischievously. "Esta preparada? Porque va a entrenar dos."

"Dos?" Hermana Gonzalez raised her arm dramatically as if she were going to faint and looked at Hermana Bowers. "Enfermera! Enfermera!"

The joke helped me relax. She looks like fun, I thought, giggling at her antics.

Some months later, Hermana Gonzalez told me that the first time she noticed me was also in the very beginning of change meeting. After the breakfast, when the trainers, new missionaries and older missionaries were seated, she scanned the faces of the nuevos wondering who would be her two "daughters" (mission lingo for "trainees"). She saw me and thought I looked "noble." She said from that moment, she hoped I would be assigned to her.

I wrote in my journal later that day: "Changes meeting took several hours. I think President Glazier dragged it out on purpose. : / ... Hna Winters (nueva) and I are in Montecristo II with our trainer Hna Gonzalez. I already know I'm going to learn a lot from her--y Hna Winters tambien." (Journal 1, 4 Sept 2013)

Destroying the Bishop's Lawn
"We stopped by the bishop's house...and attempted to cut his grass and pull his weeds for him. Hna Gonzalez handed me the machete which the bishop's family gave to us and put me in charge of the grass. I was confused because the last time we used machetes, we were taking plants completely out at the roots. I looked at Bishop's grass and asked Hna G, 'Corto esto? Pero hay flores.'

"She laughed, 'No son flores. Esto es monte.'

"I'd never heard the word monte before, much less seen it, but I knew it was some kind of weed by the way she reacted. Comforted to some degree, I proceeded to remove ALL the plants, grass and all, from a patch maybe two feet long and a foot wide. Only then did Hna G take over--and I realized the grass was supposed to stay, only get cut! Bishop's son was nice about it, 'don't worry,' but I felt so bad." (Journal 1, 13 Sept 2013)

Reina's Decision
"Later, hours after the [October General] Conference, we went to the Paradas for a noche de hogar at 7:20ish. (Our cita before went long.) Each of us bore testimony about the meetings. The most powerful talks for everyone were about staying true to the commandments and about families. Hna Reina said she liked how much they talked about matrimonio... Then she said, 'Hermanas, I feel like the time has come for me to be baptized.'

"--Heart-stopping, breathless moment as I remember Hna Reina's response to our baptismal invitations in the past, 'I will be baptized but only Dios sabe la fecha.' I assume [my companions] were thinking along similar lines.--And then she was talking again.

"'Estaba pensando que quiero bautizarme en mi cumpleanos--el 25 de octubre.'

"Joy! I felt a rush of joy as I heard those words. Hna Gonzalez actually screamed, then apologized and burst into happy tears instead. I looked at Hna Winters. She was crying, too. So was Hna Reina, and her daughter Iliana.

"Hna G looked at me as tears streamed down her face and commanded, 'Hermana Henrie. Habla!'

"I bore my testimony about how the gospel blesses families while Hna G and Hna W prepared themselves to talk. Last of all, Iliana bore her testimony.

"That cita FLEW by. We were 20 minutes late returning to la casa, but when we knelt down to pray, Hna Gonzalez offered the most humble prayer I've ever heard. It went something like this:

"'Heavenly Father, thank you for la familia Parada. Thank you for the messages of la Conferencia. Thank you for this milagro with Hna Reina. We know You are working juntos con nosotras...' and she continued, naming our investigators one by one.

"I love being a missionary. I love the people in Montecristo.

"We have changes meeting next Wednesday. We're praying that we'll all stay here together. We all want to be there when Hna Reina gets baptized!

"My heart is full tonight. I am content. More than that, I am happy!" (Journal 1, 6 Oct 2013)

Vanessa
Vanessa is Reina's niece, who was living with Reina's family at the time we visited them and got baptized alongside her aunt. Although she was 14 years old when I met her, she had a way about her that made her seem much younger. She was innocent, blunt, hilarious and sweet. I loved her so much.

"For example, one day (Nov 15), we went to traer Hna Kicy and la familia Gomez to the Paradas' for a noche de hogar. I had put my mochila down for a minute and Vanessa picked it up to carry it for me. She wanted to know how the belt worked, so Hna W and I showed her. She's tall and skinny as a reed, and after doing the belt and quitando the shoulder strap, my mochila immediately sagged out to one side. But this didn't bother Vanessa. She put on a grin from ear to ear, threw her hands up in the air and gritó, 'VAMOS!'" (Journal 2, 20 Nov 2013)

Laughing with Hna Gonzalez

(while eating spaghetti at Hna Reina's house)

21 Sept 2013--Luis' baptism

Hna Gonzalez, Luis, Hno Pocasangre, Hna Winters, me

Luis was an atheist at the time he met Hna Gonzalez and her two companions. He was preparing to be baptized when Hna Winters and I arrived in Montecristo. On the day of his baptism, he was running late, and Hna G pulled Hna W and I into the girl's bathroom to say a private prayer on his behalf. He ran in the chapel a few minutes later.