Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad! :) I can't believe Christmas is THIS week! Time sure has flown by!

This past week, I hit my one month mark in the field it's been so much fun!

We also got to sing in the estaca (stake) Christmas program anoche (last night) all the wards got to go up and sing a Christmas song! :) it was very fun!

We had a barrio fiesta on Saturday, we went a little early to help make the food and set up the gym and it turned out to be so much fun! I am also getting a lot more used to all the spicy hot foods that people love here, and I'm really coming to enjoy them! Their papusas and enchiladas are the best ever! Watch out family, when I come home that's all I'm going to be eating! :) I also looooooove the rice juice drink they have, and i'm not even going to explain how they make it because you'd all judge, but it's called ochuga (oh-chew-gah) and it is SO YUMMY! I also got to try arroz con leche, which literally translates to "rice with milk" and that is literally all that it is, rice drowned in a cup of warm milk with raisins. Let's just say, it's not my favorite dessert haha

 We've also had the opportunity to do some servicio this week, we help out at BTAC, a food place, and we pack bags and fill orders and help people put the bags of food into their cars. It's been very fun to meet people and even use our Spanish! Speaking of which, it's very crazy to use English SO often and then be expected to also know Spanish and how to carry a conversation and use Spanglish at some points or just Spanish, but I love it at the same time!  It's hard to joke in Spanish, because my vocab is limited, but I'm getting better! :)

Oh, fun story! We were doing some contacting the other day and knocking throughout an apartment complex. We were about to end for the night because it was getting late, so we said a pray to find the last door we should knock on and hopefully meet our goal of contacts and new potentials....in the middle of the prayer, the number "7" came to my mind. I laughed it off at first, because it only starts in the 100s for the apartment numbers. 7 came again to my mind. After the prayer, I just looked at my companion and said, "number 7" without even thinking. I gave a crazy look because it sounded weird to me too, but we looked around, and there on a door was a number "7," it was missing the 1 and 0, but I thought that was pretty funny! :) We knocked on the door....lots of pressure....and a family answered! They were interested in our message! We shared a short one at the door and got a return cita to meet up with them! Which actually happened the other day, and we got to know them some more. It was very fun!

Okay, some other fun stuff, aqui estan algunas historias chistosos de esta semana pasado:

·         there have been these crazy birds, with weird beaks and colors, flying alllll round Burbank, VERY loud and actually kinda annoying. sometimes their groups fill up the whole tree and they just stare you down as you walk by, sometimes they even swoop very close to you....in a contact the other day, we learned that these birds are actually parrot, What!? They come to this area around this time every year! Crazy, right!? We heard a story that it's because one time a pet shop burned down and the parrots got lose and so now they just hang out in warm Burbank, CA for the winter! :)

·         In CA, people here are wearing big poofy winter jackets, like ones I don't even use for playing in the snow! Needless to say, I am in a t-shirt still! Walking with the palm trees and having people ask me if I'm cold. I've started having to carry around a cardigan just so that they don't worry about me! The culture here is very friendly and they are concerned with others, so much that they will literally give me a jacket so that I don't freeze, because they don't believe me that it's not cold haha. The other day, in a contact with a random guy, he took his sweatshirt off and tried giving it to me; it was very funny, so from now on I promised my comp would take a cardigan so I can at least show them I have a jacket if I need it. Okay, point of the story, they're all afraid of "la gripe" (gree-pay), AKA..... the cold....it's very funny to see them all worried about slightly runny noses or the sniffles or just feeling cold and thinking it's "la gripe." But they also call the flu "la gripe" and pretty much every sickness, so we can't always tell if our investigators/potentials are actually sick or just feeling cold haha :)

·         I've learned some good Spanish lessons this week! One is, when you eat faster than your companion, you get seconds! ...and then thirds! Ahhh! Also, when they ask if you want more, if you say "esta bien" it actually means "yes please, more food!' (even though it translates to and is also used for "oh it's okay, don't worry about it), which I've been saying...oops...haha but now I say "estoy bien" (i'm fine, no thanks) and they still put thirds on my plate, so maybe that doesn't work either haha :)

  

ITS CHRISTMAS WEEK! the culture here celebrates Christmas on our Christmas Eve! Very fun! :) I'm excited to try their Christmas meals also! And this Christmas will be very different as a missionary but I am very excited because there are so many missionary miracles in store this week and so much love from the ward, my family, my friends, the other missionaries, and of course from the Savior, surrounding this work! :) <3

Pretty Sure I Brought the Rain to California!

We had just finished a FUN capture the flag game when we had to leave for an appointment. Obviously I was in exercise clothes for this game and I didn't know we would be going straight to our appointment, where I need to be in missionary clothes--luckily I had a skirt and shirt in the car from the other day when I had brought an extra pair because it was suuuuper rainy, and they were still clean and not used yet, so I quickly changed into those. But.... I did not have church shoes......so....I walked through Burbank mall (super busy) and then to our next appointment in skirts, a shirt, and sneakers. It was very funny!

My companion Herman Glauser and I at the Los Angeles Temple 

Cool Palm Tree

Sister Vela brought us to the temple. She is sooooo sweet!

 Christmas Tree Mom mailed me!

Christmas Decorations--- but NO SNOW.  

Hola Familia & Amigos :)

Yep, it rained once again!  We were in a flash flood warning and the roads were flooded. Later that day it was back to being dry, so we got pretty lucky and blessed with just enough rain! :)

We also got to ​go to the LA Temple, it is soooo pretty! :D It was the day before all the rain, great timing! We stopped at Pollo Loco on the way back, I think it should go nation-wide because it's such great food!! I had my first Papusa the other day at a member's house, from El Salvador, it's a homemade tortilla pocket with cheese or beans, then they put some spicy salad thing on top, with sauce, and it's soooooo yummy! :)

We had a fun Pday last week, I got to play a fun capture the flag with little bags of flour you throw to tag each other!  Then we got haircuts. We then had Noche de Hogar with the Ramirez-Family, a little tender mercy to end the day with more fun and good food! :) We've been visiting a lot of members this week.

We got to teach relief society Sunday, it was very fun! I talked a lot and shared a lot of scriptures; my Spanish is understandable at the very least! :) The ward is very small and I love them all so much! :)

One night when we got back, there was this helicopter super close and circling the neighborhood area, it had a beaming light just like in the movies, it was very exciting, until Hna Glauser told me it was probably because a fugitive was on the loose.....hahaha but we know we're safe, and the helicopter was still cool!

We were looking for a member's house (we were going around checking in on everything and checking out our area and inviting people to come back to church, etc.) and we made it to the address and there was this huuuuuge construction site, with the house torn down and all! It was very funny to see it, and we're only guessing but they probably don't live there anymore! :)

 We've been handing out the "He's the Gift" tarjetas and showing the video, it's very fun! Keep showing it to your friends and family, it is quite amazing! And we hope to have something just as awesome next year! :)

I looooove Christmas time and being a missionary is super fun! We see a different side to everything and it's very exciting! :) There are palm trees decorated everywhere and it's a little strange without snow and doesn't exactly feel like December, but it's very fun to be singing Christmas songs and seeing all the decorations and seeing more people interested in our Savior! :)

My favorite Christmas songs in Spanish are "A Medianoche Se Oyo" (it came upon a midnight clear) and "Campanas de Navidad" (I heard the bells) pretty much I love them so much we only sing those during companion study when I get to choose :) haha! Also, I really like sharing this Christmas scripture in the book of Mormon because I loooooove the names of the Savior (just like you, Mom!)

2 Nephi 19:6

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"

I hope you all have a good week (for those in school, good luck with finals!) and enjoy your vacations and the Christmas Spirit! :) Love you all lots!

Love from,

Hermana Day

Missionary Skill Level: Embracing the Awkwardnes​s

Hola Hola!​

It rained more for about 2 days, and the streets get super flooded but it was fun! Palm trees also look very depressing in the rain and wind, so was actually wishing for the sun to come back (and once it did, I got sun burned haha.) It hasn't been too terribly hot anymore, so that's good!

We had zone conference the other day, it was tons of fun to see some of my MTC district there too! President Hall is amazing and it was a very fun day full of lots of inspiration and revelation! Also, some members fed us lunch there and all made comments on how I look like Merida from the move Brave! My red hair is quite the hit! :) I love it!

Spanish is coming along and i looooove language study time (most people probably don't say that haha) but i'm hoping to be fluent in Spanish by the time I come home. I've been writing in my journal sometimes in Spanish too--whoops! Sometimes I don't even realize it!  Once while contacting, (keep in mind we had been contacting a lot in Spanish) So I said,  "is it okay if you we give a card?" It was hilarious!  They were sooo confused and I just laugh.

I really like pineapple juice, it's very yummy, and I LOVE lemons…the members gave me a bag of lemons the other day from their yard because they know I love to eat them like oranges haha :)  I also LOVE this rice juice they make here with cinnamon, it's sooooo good!!!!!

Eating with the church members is sometimes a little strange to me because I don't know what to say to them, but I've been getting better, it's always easier for me when there's a family there because I can talk and laugh and have a good time with the group, but when it's just one person or a couple people, it's more difficult.  We had a lot of member dinners last week and it was very fun!

We have a temple trip this week in LA, super excited!!! :)

-#comparteladadiva  AKA #sharethegift,  the Christmas video is awesome! I finally saw it the other day! :)

Please share it with others!

Sometimes people here walk around in giant puffy winter coats, it's very funny, because then I'm in a t-shirt and people are amazed that I'm not freezing!  It is so very funny to me!

It's hot here.

Sometimes I find that I pretend that I know what's going on or that I'm super interested in listening but really I don't know what exactly they're talking about.  Sometimes I just have no idea. They tell me my Spanish is pretty good though.

Anyway! Missionary work is awesome.

The love Christ has for us is amazing and so powerful! He will ALWAYS love us and He has such an amazing plan for each of us individually! We may make mistakes and we may feel incapable or weak or worthless or not loved, but it's not true, it's never true! The Lord always loves us and we just have to remember His grace, His acceptance! That He knows, and He loves us and through him our weaknesses are made strong and He uses our strengths and our talents to touch the lives of those around us!

I love you all so much!!! Have a great week :) Keep being amazing!

Lots of love,

Hermana Day <3

Thanksgiving Week in Burbank

PLEASE NOTE: Address update:

Hermana Rebekah Day

232 W Tujunga Ave, Apt # E

Burbank, Ca 91502 

__________________

​Hola, Buenos!

 

Thanksgiving meal was fun and very funny! the family we ate with had a giant TV right in front of the mesa (table) and so they all watched Ratatouille while we ate....hahaha! We ate an El Salvador meal---a turkey sandwich with 2 cucumbers, 2 tomatoes, 2 onions, 2 pieces of lettuce, and sauce. Then some ham and spicy mashed potatoes. The sauces they have are also VERRRRRYYYY spicy and homemade and I have to pretend like my mouth isn't on fire or about to explode or that my nose hairs aren't burning, but it's pretty fun too to be trying all these new foods! also homemade tortillas el major (the best!!!) 

THIS is the family we ate our 1st Thanksgiving meal with, they are so fun!

After that funny dinner we went and knocked on doors where a random family invited us in to eat with them!? what!? this culture is crazy cool! There were like 20 family members! We sat right down, ate ANOTHER meal and some pie, shared a message, then went home to wallow in stomach pains hahaha, I don't' think I've ever prayed for my stomach to be bigger so that I could eat food! :) 

We get a temple trip next week, ESO! :D :D

 

Saturday night, we were about to give up with contacting because no one was out and all the apartments were locked up and we just had noooo motivation. We decided to keep going because that's what you do as missionaries. I looked in my planner and had a random street name written down "Cahuenga" I couldn't remember why, but we decided to go check it out and give it a try anyway. as we were walking by all the gated up houses and complexes, we came across one that was left slightly open, so we decided to give it a try. we could smell some Latino food, and being hungry Spanish speaking missionaries, we followed the scent up the stairs to a door half open, we waved to the family in there and the mother came to the door, she told us to come right in and have dinner with them, we said we didn't want to interrupt and she said that she knew we were of God and had an important message to share and the least she could do was give us some food! when we walked in it was a very small place, and the family was the 2 parents and their son. they said they did not have very much food so they were using all their flour to make some tortillas and the rest of their veggies for a sauce. they gave us a tortilla with their salsa and a little cheese, and kept apologizing for not having beans or anything more, but we kept thanking them and telling them about how much they were going to be blessed! we then taught them the first lesson and the power of the spirit was amazing! they are a very spiritual family and really like prayer, their son is studying to be a preacher but is looking for a job right now because his dad can't work, because his dad hurt his leg a few months ago, but with lots of prayer the father is able to walk on his leg again and have help from the doctors--anyway, they're very spiritual and they enjoyed our message. we left them with the folleto to read and with the invitation to pray about these things and the truth of them. we left them with lots of thanks and blessings and will follow up with them this week again. It was an amazing experience! When you are diligent and just doing what you're supposed to be doing as a missionary, the spirit really will guide you to exactly where you need to be! the Lord truly is guiding His work and the experiences here first hand are amazing!! :) :) :)

 

 Before I go, I wanted to share a cool quote about Joseph Smith with you all!

 

"when I saw Joseph Smith, he took the heavens, figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took earth and brought it up, and opened, in plainness and simplicity, the things of God, and that is the beauty of his mission" ~Brigham Young

 

Anyway, I thought that was a super cool quote (in the Ensign) and it testifies of how important Joseph Smith's mission as the first prophet was! I looooove the story of the Restoration, it all just makes sense! Of course God has called a prophet today to lead and guide us! Of course the authority of God is necessary and needed to be restored! Of course Joseph Smith is a prophet of God who re-established Christ's church on this earth once again! God loves us so much, of course he would give us another scripture (the Book of Mormon) to have the fullness of Christ's teachings! Anyway, I'm getting super excited right now from these super simple statements and don't have much time left. I know this gospel is true! Our Savior loves us so much and we are so blessed to have the fullness of the gospel in our lives today!

 

Keep being awesome, I love you all tons!

 

Love from,

Hermana Day

 

My Companion, Hermana Glauser

Outside our Apt E, in Burbank, CA