I officially just spoke Armenian on Temple Square!
Sister Hart has taught me a few things & her Uncle was here today – so she had me talk to him! Cool, huh?
On Monday we had quite the adventure going to the Panadería off 500 S. Sister Nelson & I always wanted to go there because the signs are so confusing. Apparently they sell pies, pastries, pizza, burritos, tacos & much more! But we never had the guts to go. But now that I’m with Sister Rodriguez (and she’d been there before) I found the guts :) Guess what I also found – TONGUE! Yup! And I ate it too! It’s actually really good –the way they make it in the tacos. The horchata there is the best I’ve ever had! It’s the place!
The exchanges never end! This week I went with Sisters Holliday/Gulzar & then with Sisters Hong/Nakajima. Everyone is doing really well for how long they’ve been out. I think there is an overall theme in the mission for us to be too hard on ourselves…most of us have really high expectations. But better deep than shallow – right?
Wednesday was insanity. We took around a group of nurses from UVU – at Welfare Square. They were all very nice & participated as much as can be expected. This was only my second actual tour at Welfare Square…and it’s semi-VIP…no pressure :) It’s amazing to learn more about how the church puts the gospel of Jesus Christ into action. It wouldn’t work without Him.
The Spanish Language Meeting for the transfer was on Wednesday & it was a bit of a struggle for me. Afterwards, I told Sister Rodriguez all about why I felt frustrated & so for the rest of the day we spoke Spanish to each other! And now we’ll just randomly start speaking Spanish – I love it. Sometimes I feel more comfortable speaking in Spanish, just casually; it’s nice to have that option!
Last night I got a Spanish referral on the phone! I know – I’m STILL amazed! One thing I love about the Hispanic culture is how open they are. They are usually really friendly, even when they’re not interested. Well – hahaha – I just remembered the tour with had this week with two ladies from Spain :) They were very nice with us but they started fighting with each other! Talking about how doubting is natural or how the other thought it was stupid but it wasn’t her problem etc. It was hilarious & really awkward. So overall – they’re always really nice! We also took a Spanish tour at WS – which meant that I said about 3 things, mostly because I hardly know these things in English! So it was an interesting experience.
Last night we had a tour with Elders from the SLC Mission. They were great! Elder T & Elder F. Recently the APs of both missions had a meeting & trainings to emphasize our desire to really work together as missionaries when we teach. Last night was the perfect example! Everyone else spoke much better than me, so it was nothing short of super intimidating. My favorite part of the night was after Elder T bore his testimony – he looked right at me – missionary cue for “it’s your turn – go”…and no one else said anything – so I spoke! I told Sandra about the importance of personal revelation AND revelation through Priesthood leaders. We had shared with her the story of Joseph Smith & so I told her, “Like Elder F said – he wasn’t there – I wasn’t there…but God was. This is why HE is the one that we can ask about it – to know if it’s true.” She completely understood & said it all made sense & she committed to pray and ask God. She is committed to baptism on the 17th and we’re going to do all we can to go!
Just keep swimming :)
Sister A. Despain
