Q & A with Mom:
Q. How long has Hermana Gonzalez (Jessica's trainer) been on her mission? How old is she? Is she patient with you? What is she like?
A. Hna. Gonzalez has been out one year. She´s from Guatemala, 22, and is VERY patient with me. Hna Gonzalez is Guatemalan and has been out a year. She has truly grown to love the people in this country, especially those in Montecristo. She´s a good example for me. Most people are extremely polite to us, even when they´re not interested.
Q. Where is your area?
A. Actually, I am in Montecristo! The areas are named for the wards in which we serve, so for me it´s Montecristo I. We live in the Colonia Santa Lucia. Yes, I really do feel completely safe. Hna. Gonzalez knows this area well, and as we walk all around it from noon to 8:30 p.m., it seems to be pretty quiet. We stick to the well-lit streets.
Q. Do you have any investigators you are teaching? How do you find new people to teach?
A. Yes, we have lots of investigators we´re teaching! Our biggest challenge is helping them keep their commitments and finding new people. The biggest way we find new people is through street contacting, where we talk with people on the street and explain our purpose and a little bit of our message. Sometimes, if they don´t look busy, we get out our folletos (what´s folleto in íngles?... oh, pamphlets) and explain the first two or three pages of The Restoration pamphlet. My mission is testing a new method of teaching for the Church Missionary Department where we only use the photos in the folleto to teach. We start with the image of Christ holding a lamb on the front cover, move to a picture of a family followed by a painting of ancient prophets. I LOVE this method of teaching and I really wish I had learned it in the Centro de Capacitación Misional (CCM). It is very helpful in helping me narrow down our message to the basics of what people need to know, and I think it´s more interactive and interesting for the people, too. Of course we´re always encouraged to follow the Spirit and listen closely to what our contact is saying so we can know what they need. In that way, we can recognize people´s needs and really give them something useful and applicable to their life. I testify the gospel can help anyone in any circumstance. I´m seeing it being done here.
We don´t knock doors unless someone has referred us to a specific house. We never knock on just random doors.
Q. How are you doing with Spanish?
A. Spanish is hard. Usually, I feel comfortable speaking. It´s understanding what people say back to me that´s the problem. :) I understand about 90 percent of what Hna. G says, I understood about 50 percent of church and what people say during lessons, but I only understand about 10 percent of what is said to me on the street. For this reason, street contacting is my biggest challenge right now. Hermana Winters is my third companion. She was in the CCM in México with me but not in my same district, so I haven´t really gotten to know her until now. She´s very sharp. She didn´t speak any Spanish before the CCM, but here we are six weeks later and she usually understands more than I do when we´re on the street. Her example, and the high bar that Hna G is setting for us, motivate me to work harder.
Q. What are you eating? Will you do your own laundry?
A. We go to a cocinera for lunch every day except Sunday and preparation day (today!), who so far has made pupusas (DELICIOUS), rice and gravy, chicken, tortillas and potatoes. She´s super nice. She has two children and is a member of our ward, Montecristo I. She will also wash our clothes for us this week. We pay her for her services, but really it´s a pleasure to just visit her house. The abuela of the family also lives with them.
Q. What is the ward/branch like there?
A. The members of Montecristo I are super willing to help us with the obra misional! In the past week, we´ve had three or four members of the ward go street contacting with us.
Q. Are you experiencing culture shock?
A. Actually, there isn´t much culture shock. The general feeling on the street is similar to Utah and BYU. Strangers greet strangers with a friendly, "buenos días/tardes/noches," "buenas," or "vaya bien," which Hna. G explained as similar to "take care!" I don´t have any problem with either being greeted or greeting people I don´t know.
Q. What is the weirdest thing you have to get used to?
A. It is an adjustment to greet the women we know with a kiss on the cheek. I hope I covered up my initial awkwardness okay. It´s coming more naturally now. I like the tradition a lot. Thankfully, as missionaries, we don´t greet any men with a kiss on the cheek. Not even hugs - only handshakes. :)
If you want to know what El Salvador is like, step into the bathroom right after Tyler (or Sara, if this is one of my college friends reading this) has showered. When we first stepped out of the air-conditioned airport, my glasses fogged up right away. It´s hot and steamy. But you get used to it. I don´t notice it anymore.
I shower with lukewarm water from a bucket. We have a shower, but the shower head is broken, so hence the bucket. It´s not a problem. I kind of like it. We probably save a lot of water.
I cooked dinner for us one night this week. Hna. Gonzalez made tortillas with beans and cheese for Hna W and I our first night with her, which was Wednesday after transfers meeting and working hard that afternoon, but my attempt to emulate her skills ended up being a little more interesting. One of our roommates, Hermana Bowers of the USA (companion Hna Wohlstrom of Peru), saw my tortillas and remarked, "Oh... bien creativas." We ate them anyway. ("Bien" also means "really," by the way. Salvadorenos use it all the time. I never learned it until now)
During the day, Hermana Winters and I follow Hna G around everywhere, very closely, when we´re out on the street. I feel like a duckling trailing behind its mother. I usually have very little idea of where we are, but I ´m learning as Hna. G teaches. It helped when I realized we mostly just walk around in circles every day, combing our designated area for people that might be interested in hearing our message about Jesus Christ, looking for opportunities to help people and rushing to teaching appointments.
One of my favorite activities we do besides service is holding Family Home Evenings. We´ve had some good ones this week. :)
On Saturday we had a service project where we cut the grass around a gazebo within a residential area and we cut the grass with machetes. It takes a lot of muscle. The hnas and I got blisters.
There are dogs everywhere. But whoever told me the dogs wouldn´t be cute was wrong. Every one is cute. I see many that remind me of Z, Tippy, Lacey, and how I imagine Milo to be. There are cats too, but not nearly as many. One of the members we visited has two.
I love you all. I pray for you. Yes, you!
Also, thank you so much for the letters you sent me in the CCM.
Sorry I can´t write you individually right now.
Hermana Henrie
The flight to El Salvador. I felt like we were flying through heaven. It was beautiful.
President Glazier took us to the temple right after he picked us up from the airport. It`s not in our mission, but I've been told we`ll be able to go at least once in our mission with special permission from Presidente
