Hola from Cali!

Hola Hola! :)

Starting tomorrow afternoon, I've got another companion! President Hall gave us a call last night, and Hermana Jensen is heading into our companionship! :) We're going to be over HER area AND ours! Her ward is in the same building as ours and our areas border each other. She's FULL of energy and is tons of fun, so we're all going to have a blast! After 2 weeks she's headed back to her area in North Hollywood  and then my comp Hermana Glauser "transfers" HOME! Transfers are on March 10^th.

The exchange in Van Nuys was super sweet, we ran into a Hungarian who knew 5 languages--German, Hungarian, English, Russian, and ... SPANISH! She had married someone from Buenos Aires, and she has a 4 year old son who speaks Hungarian too :) He tried teaching me the numbers, but I only got "one" down (It sounds something like "Heck" haha). It was so fun! She gave us some LENTIL soup--it was actually pretty good! The little boy was adorable, he was showing me everything on his DS game "Yoshi Island," and at first he was shy but then she just could not stop talking to me about school and such and oh it was so cute :) I just looooooove little kids, and especially little boys because they are so energetic and ah I just click with them, it's soo fun to make them laugh and joke around with them--anyway before I get too carried away, he was adorable and when he would not stop talking to me and was following me around the casa and asking his mom to let us stay longer (we had to leave for a member cena) and she was like "I think my son has fallen in love with you, you'll have to come back and visit again." AHHH I WISH I COULD! But I grabbed a few photos with them, they were adorable :)

I've got the ward doing eye-brow raises, smiles, and winks back to me (that one reminds me of you, Mom!), along with fist-pounds from the youth and little kiddos. Pretty fun stuff :) The ward is legit my family out here and it's the coolest :) ...speaking of ward...guess who are officially NEW MEMBERS!!!! JOSE AND JOSSYMAR!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D They are the COOLEST ever and are going to be SUCH great examples!

 I made some origami swans and mouths and boxes in church yesterday, the little tykes loved 'em :)

We were told 10 minutes before Sunday School (Gospel Doctrines) that we were going to teach . . . yay! But it didn't turn out to be so bad! The topic was "prayer" so I totally had that one down! I had a really good time teaching it, sharing scriptures and testimonies and asking some pretty fun discussion questions for the class--we had about 15 people there! I also got to play the piano ("Sweet Hour of Prayer") so it ended up being pretty cool :)

People love to ask us what our first names are:) When I tell them "Rebekah" they all freak out because "it totally fits" me :) So thanks for the awesome name, mis padres <3

There are crazy white trucks on the side of the road all the time, and out of the back they sell . . . FRUITS! And cheeto bags and goodies, it's funny! But the ice cream in the ice cream trucks is actually really good . . . they even had chocolate shakes haha :) Also, I tried some nacho doritos with lime and hot sauce this week, it was good!

I love bein out here and I love this gospel! :)

Con carino,

Hermana Day 

Life is Awesome!

Hola Hola!

This week just happened to be flippin' AMAZING! Because--yeah here comes the best news yet--JOSE AND JOSSYMAR WERE BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It came, it went, IT ROCKED!  It's very hard to describe how sweet the spirit is and how touching it is the see the people you love SO much make this giant step of covenant-keeping and see them begin to grow in this gospel and the truth and blessings it brings! Afterwards they threw a yummy fiesta at their house! :) Practically the whole ward came to hang out! It was so fun! :) I also got to eat Moley again...I also accidentally nodded my head when someone was talking to me, and I got about 5 more tortillas and more Moley….this time it made me really sick…ew.

We had a hobbit feast as a zone last Monday, yeah, some people actually dressed up like characters from Lord of the Rings and we had a big feast. It was a little strange, but at least we're all funny! And it was in the gym, so we could play basketball too

Yesterday for PDAY we walked around the Burbank mall, it was pretty fun. We also got to eat at the BEST PLACE EVER! It's called Porto's and is has the MOST YUMMY PASTRIES EVER! I could live there -- and despite the fact that it would make me like one of those people on Wall-E, I could eat everything there!

It's so stinkin' hot outside! For breaks, I sit in the shade and fan myself with my planner (we've been looking for fans in the 99 cent stores!)

 

I'll leave off with a scripture I studied this week:

"And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his bretheren, according to the Spirit of revelation and of prophecy, the power of God working miracles in them--yeah, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away."  - Alma 23:6

I know that God is working many miracles through missionary work! And all of you are part of this work as well, so keep being those wonderful examples and strengthening those around you! :) But also remember to strengthen that testimony of your own, so then you have such a wonderful power of the spirit with you as you share it with others! :) Okay, okay, missionary out  

So, it's been a super amazing week! Lots of love surrounding this work and I love the Spirit that comes! :) I hope you are all having a good week as well and I love you all lots!

Con carino,

Hermana Day 

Crunchy M&Ms are the best; they got me through a meeting.

Hola Hola familia!

 I ate Mole' again, this time with drumsticks and baked potato, not too bad.

We've been seeing Jose and Jossymar and Abel every day, teaching and preparing them for baptism....THIS SUNDAY!!!!!!!! The other day, I randomly turned around as we were walking out and asked Abel if we could come over to visit and talk with him. He was so excited! We ended up having a dinner (I ate trout!!!! Jose was a professional chef, so it was soooooo yummy!) Abel told his story, he's been a druggie and alcoholic since he was a teenager but now he's seen his brother's example and the blessings the gospel has already brought into Jose's life and it made Abel realize how much he's missing and how "sick" he was. Oh it's the coolest story! Now Abel is hanging out with Obispo, going to his addiction recovery meetings, and coming to church!! He's reading the Book of Mormon again and taking notes on it all and loooooevs talking about the gospel with us! Oh I teared up the other day when we had the dinner with him. After our spiritual thought, he told us how we were angels, not only for his brother but for him as well. He gave me the greatest compliment

  

The other day E. Blakeley--de Mexico--told me how he's never met any missionary his whole mission who could speak such rapid Spanish and wasn't a native and he was shocked that I only had a few years in high school and a few months out here. Super sweet! I still have to put a lot of work into it and do my part, but its soooooo coooool! I LOVE SPANISH!  Funny contact, we ran into someone who spoke some Spanish and he asked if we knew English and I was like "ehhhh, solo un poquito" it was hilarious, because then I started talking very fast in Spanish and for a little bit he believed me! :)

On a hard day of barely anyone on the streets or at home, I said a little prayer asking for a little "rest" and a miracle. We ran into someone from Venezuela who gave me a whole bag of grapefruits, yum!!! She led us over to her neighbors who were members, we got to talking and found out their neighbors spoke Spanish and got some more info etc. They gave us some cookies with milk, and we got to share a scripture and find out that they were both from Tahiti! The wife went to the Cook Islands on her mission, super cool! They were very sweet and it was quite the cute little break up for the day  

I've started eating Flaming Hot Cheetos. They are actually very good. I like to put lemon/lime juice on them sometimes and they tend to stain your fingers, it's like a mark of beauty out here, bringing a lot of pride and "yeah, that's right, I can eat spicy stuff" Now I rate things on the spicy scale of nothing to flaming hot Cheetos.

Here's  a scripture I really liked this week:

Doctrine & Covenants 84:88, "And whoso receiveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before you face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels round about you to bear you up."

How awesome! Right now, for me, this scripture is about our Savior's love and how as a missionary he is right there guiding this work, preparing the people, and helping me become a better missionary and a better me :) The Savior is always there, through all times of life, just be sure to do your part and seek HIM :)

I love you all lots and keep being amazing!

Con carino, Hermana Day

Dancing in the CA rain

Rebekah in Burbank 

Herman Glauser eating a favorite in this area: Corn on the Cob, MAYO, and Chili powder 

Hola hola!

It rained twice this week. One was last Monday when we played flag football at the park for PDAY and the other was on jueves when the roads were practically flooded! Best part yet...our car battery died the moment it started down pouring like crazy!!!!!! Luckily, our handy dandy zone leaders were able to come by and give us a jump start (they also gave us some delicious chocolate chip cookies and milk, yummm!) While we waited for them, we knocked on some apartments, I gave my jacket to Hna G., so I used a cardigan as a cape-shield type thing. Very fun :) We're just glad that there was rain! We sure have been needing it!! :) Other than that, it's been super sunny but not too hot, so I've been loving this temperature! :)

We always go contacting on two busy streets, where we have a few latino pockets, (Burbank Blvd, and Magnolia) we've walked these streets so often that the people who always hang out on them know us very well! They always talk to us and always tell us that they have our backs and if we need anything to let them know because they know we're of God and doing a good work! It's very funny, but awesome at the same time! We've nick-named them because a lot of times they give us silly "gang names" like Solo or Trace-3, one of our favorite nicknames we've given is "mauy thai kickbox guy" because it rhymes and he always asks us to visit his gym if he visits Mormon.org haha it's very fun :) one of them also thinks I have a british accent, so that's cool too

The best part is, some of those contacts (Burbank blvd) actually know the Elders too! Because half the street is our area and the other half is the elders, so sometimes they run into people we've just contacted, so they get to hear stories about us from them haha it's very funny to hear what they say about us or how they react to

seeing the elders, like "hey we just met some of you a few minutes ago, what is this!?"

We saw someone wearing some funny pj-pants crossing the street and Hna. G goes, "Oh I am so rocking those when I'm a mortal again" haha :)

I was braiding my hair the other day and MY HAIR CUT MY FINGER? It was weird.

This week we got to contact someone, pick them up as an investigator right there, and then commit them to the Word of Wisdom, walking him over to the curb and (with his permission) dumping out his beer can!!! The funniest part was we then didn't know what to do with the beer can because we didn't want to litter. So we ended up putting it into our car (ew) and having to rush over to our next cita at the iglesia. When we walked in, I had hidden the can so we could throw it away in the dumpster, but Hna. G went on and told the story so we showed them as proof. It was hilarious, the YM and leaders were cracking up. Very fun!

Cookies from Ecuador are very yummy!! and it's very cool to be meeting all these people from all these different countries! I LOVE IT! :) and I LOVE THAT I CAN SPEAK TO THEM!!!! :)

We met a viejito cowboy who took us to meet his daughter, who we then picked up as an investigator! (Claudia) she is very amazing! she said our message is just what she needed to hear and it was answering her questions and providing her hope!!!!!! :) we can't wait to see her again this week too :)

So, we went to check on a referral, but he wasn't home. We did start talking to a guy in the building though. He was outside drinking and smoking, he was older and he still knew what was going on. We learned a lot about him. (His name is Alex). He is very cool. I ended up in tears in the middle of the contact, bearing my testimony about how tough life is but that the Lord IS there, that He is providing a way, and that He NEVER leaves us alone. And how that is why we were there, talking to him, and bringing him this love and this message. He shared with us his story. He wants to quit drinking but can't because it takes his back pain away, his medicine was taken away and etc. He used to be a fire fighter and was one of the fire fighters who helped during 9/11, which is where he got his back injury and had to have surgery and nails put in and such. He said how he was sick of life and sick of pain and how no one is there for him. After testifying and such, he shared how he was actually about to just go out and not come back and just wait to die because he couldn't stand it anymore. I testified to him once again, but we weren't getting too far. He thanked us for saving him and for talking with him. The phone rang, I quickly picked it up and started talking in Spanish saying we'll be a little late for the cita.  Boy was he shocked! He instantly started talking in Spanish right back to us! We could more clearly understand now!! It was the coolest thing, suddenly he was opening up and our testifying was super awesome! Then, out of nowhere, we boldly told him that if he just STOPPED drinking, even if it's little by little, the Lord would provide a way for him to have his medicine back and not have such strong pain. We walked over to a bush and dumped his beer out. We testifiyed more, gave him our number if he needed any more help, and left him with a book of Mormon, prayers, and a word of wisdom folleto. To make this long story short, we met with him the next day. We learned more about his story and boldly testified. He thanked us over and over, we made sure he knew we were here for him and oh I just love him so much! He's the coolest and I know he can do it and I know that the Lord will help him and I loooove the way he asks us questions straight up and boldly and that I can just straight up answer him and testify back!

We set some goals with him and left him with our testimonies and promises. It was the coolest thing! Unfortunately, the next day he said he got his medicine back (we have no idea how) and that he wants us to not come back because he doesn't want to hurt us and he doesn't think he'll be able to stop drinking. Anyway, long story short, we had the coolest investigator this week but only for 3 days. But I learned a lot and he's still in my prayers and I know we helped him and planted that seed and I know how grateful he is and I'm just glad to have met him.

Okay, I needa get goin', I get so caught up in these emails sometimes I forget stuff, but the bottom line is that BEING A MISSIONARY IS SO AWESOME!!! :) :) I am so thankful to be part of this work and to be here in Burbank and to be doing the work of the Lord! I am learning so much more about myself but I am also just loooooooooooooving the people and serving them! It's the COOLEST feeling ever! I love this gospel and I know with all my heart that it is true!

I love you all and hope you have a good week :)

Con carino,

Hermana Day <3