Break ups, Mindi and Potatoes: I Heart TMSQ

I’ve started this update about 3 times & I’m just going to go with what comes to mind first. Enjoy!

It’s gotten a little easier, not being with Sister Nelson. We page each other & call & we still run together in the morning :0 She always has wonderful advice. Advice for this week: (1) It’s not about the numbers. (2) Pray. Another Sister noticed that the cheese Sister Nelson had at lunch said “Despain” on the front and commented on it, “So you got the cheese, huh?” “You know how break-ups go :)” That basically sums up our companionship – we’re ridiculous & I love it!

Somehow I didn’t make it on the Language paging list for Spanish. So I reminded the OA’s (who are conveniently in the District I’m over) and asked them to put me on…again. I’m getting Spanish pages!!! Except the strange thing is that I’m always in GS when I get paged, so I can’t take the tour?!? One of these days…I’ll actually be available.

Highlight of the week: I attended the Spanish Language Meeting! *Eeek!* I time-warped back into the Cary 3rd Branch and felt completely at home. I even said the closing prayer! I’m one of two Americans who have passed off in Spanish & I feel proud of that. Ready for an embarrassing story? It was pretty funny. I was doing a role play with Sis Wiesner (just 4 of us) and I was asking something about the Pope [el papa] but instead of saying the Pope…I said [la papa]…the potato. Best believe! Hahahahahaha

I met Mindi!!!! When I first saw her I thought, “Wow – she could be Angie’s sister!” And she is! She was very sweet, very kind. I was glad to finally put a face to such a wonderful person :)

Rochelle [the red-headed Texan] was on the Square! Her younger son, Derek was engaging in what his father called “recreational drinking” at the water fountain :) hahahaha

HOMELESS RALPH IS SITTING ACROSS FROM ME!

We took the Draper 6th Ward Youth through the SVC yesterday! LOVED IT! There are few things I love more than being with Youth. I feel completely “in my element” around youth, they’re the best. At the end, I was talking with a leader & he said, “That was fantastic! You’re amazing at this – you have the perfect personality to be here. You kept their attention, had them laughing and even I learned something new today! You’re wonderful!” Afterwards, S.D. and I evaluated and determined that we would do certain things to help her be louder & more confident. I’m excited to help her grow.
I met ex-Elder De Barros the other day! Apparently he knows Jeff :)

We’re having wonderful conversations with David, Grandpa Despain’s referral. He is amazing!

This week I realized some of the joys in mission life are small & go unnoticed. They come in the morning, when S. Moreira (Brazil) rants for 5 min about how hard English is. They come as S.N. & I joke about how hard breaking up has been. They come when President air-punches me & then tells me how great I am. They come when we get a referral from Ghana in 2 minutes :)

I absolutely love being on my mission. I love sharing this gospel with everyone I meet.

Sister Despain Jr.