Jello and Fried Chicken for dayssss!

FAMILY!

How are you??????? I am with my new comp! Her name is Hna Francia. She is from La Paz. She came last Tuesday, and she is freezing! She has 15 months in the mission. She says that Cochabamba is so nice and warm and they have washing machines there! Dang Gina...................

How are you all????? I am doing super good! My new comp is super cool. She works so hard, which is good for me. I was kind of lax with Hna Torres, but we are working really hard now. If all goes as planned, we will have 4 baptisms this Saturday! It is that family that I was telling you about. They all want to be baptized so so bad. We fasted Saturday for them, and she is going to talk to her husband today for permission. They all need permission. We are crossing our fingers! I love them all so so much.

I had another really cool experience this past week with a woman who just recently moved to Potosi. She was baptized when she was 16, but doesnt go to church anymore. She ran into us on the street and started talking to us! It was proof that Heavenly Father puts people in your path. I have come to learn in the mission that I really don´t do anything. It is completely the Spirit and the Lord. We taught her the next day, and she is so ready to come back to the church. Her sadness and guilt broke my heart. I felt the Spirit so strong during our lesson. It was the first lesson that I have ever taught where I didnt have to worry about what to say. I could feel the Spirit speaking through me. It was amazing. I didnt have to worry about the words in spanish or anything. It is an experience that I will never forget. We were fasting that day for one of our investigators, so I know that this helped so much.

Hmmmm.........

Oh! I went to my first zone conference in Sucre this past week as well. Mom. Sucre is so nice. It is so warm, and I hope I get to serve there one transfer. It was really fun. We had to take a 4 hour bus ride with all the missionaries from Potosi to Sucre. We didnt get home until about 1 am, but it was fun. We had pizza on the bus. The missionaries in Potosi are all so cool.

Today for Pday, we are having a mini mundial. You all know that I have literally never played soccer in my whole life, but the elders talked me into playing with them. They will regret that.... hahahah but it should be fun. I am on Team Iran bahahahaha    Mundial here is so intense. Everyone talks about it.

Let´s see.... what else is new?

Oh... the title of my email. Yeah. Literally every meal with members is fried chicken, potatoes, rice, soup, and for dessert.... jello. EVERY TIME! It is good, but surprisingly I am getting so so sick of chicken. I eat it every day. Rice and chicken. I feel like those people on the cruise because all I eat is fried chicken and jello......... And it is so much stinking food. Seriously. I feel like I am going to explode every meal with members. Oi.........

What is new with all of you? How is summer? Are you all warm and cozy while I freeze? This morning, I wash washing our dishes in freezing cold water, and my hands literally almost fell off. They hurt so bad. Hey, but it builds character, right???

Oh, did I mention that we are getting our new president this week? We are all so sad to say goodbye to Pres Dyer, but are excited to meet the new people, too. It should be interesting.....

Hm......... What else is there to say? We are working really hard. Hna Francia is way strict. Like to the t. It is good, but sometimes a little hard.... I am learning to be more diligent.

Oh! I am not sick anymore! For the first time in Potosi, I feel great. I can exercise again. I can breathe. I have my voice. My cough is gone. It is charla. I am getting used to life in Potosi, which is good.

I´m going to send this one off, and read some of yours. The picture is of my comp and I on our way to Sucre! 

Love

HNA ROUTSONG

 

I See Crazy Things in Potosi

Mamasita!

Como  estas????? This week has been a crazy crazy week. Are you on your computer? Get on! I have a long time to write, and the internet at this place is soooooo niccccceeeeeeee.

Hmmmmm..... where to begin? Oh... I lost trainer on Saturday. ..aka she finished her mission. It was SO SAD for me. She was the perfect trainer for me. If she adds me on facebook, accept her. Her name is Hna Torres. I am a better missionary because of her example. We had a party for her on Friday night with pineapple pizza, this really really really good dulce de leche cake, and our whole zone. It was fun. She left on Saturday morning, and I have been with Hna Quispe and Hna Lee for the past couple days. They are so sweet. Hna Quispe made me pancakes one morning. Oh, and their house is SO NICE: Oh my gosh. I am in heaven. I have been able to take hot showers for the past couple days! It is so great. I dont want to go back to my house....

Last night, we had cambios. For us, it meant sitting by the phone, waiting for the lider de zona to call. I was going to find out my new companion, and if I was going to stay in Potosi. I actually was afraid that they were going to make me leave. There are a lot of missionaries in my ward, and I was afraid they were going to close my area. I love my area! It is so crazy, but the people are so amazing. Anyways, so Hna Lee, Hna Quispe, and I waited by the phone, eating popcorn and drinking mate until like 11 pm. It is an interesting experience. All the missionaries are calling each other, trying to figure out who is leaving and who is staying. I AM STAYING! And my new companion is Hna Francia. Everyone says that she is really nice. It will be an adjustment. I am nervous... Not many people have two different trainers... I hope she has patience with my spanish..... So yeah.... cambios.... crazy.....

What else is new? Oh... I was sick this week. I lost my voice for about 5 or 6 days. No fun. I sounded like a total idiot. I feel better, but I have a wicked cough. One morning, I woke up feeling like death. But this is the life of Potosi apparently. Don’t worry, mom. I am okay!

Hm......so this week was different. I love Hna Torres so much, but bless her heart, she was trunky. She had a hard time focusing this week. I felt bad, Such is life!

Oh! We actually got to go to an actual super market this week! It was crazy weird. They had Dr. Pepper and Snack Packs and all sorts of things. There is only one super market in all of Potosi. They have these little stores that you just stand outside and they hand you whatever you need through a window. Its raro.... But the supermarket looked like a King Soopers. My comp REALLY wanted to try Snack Packs, which cracked me up, but we had no money.

Hm.... I don’t really remember what else happened this week. We are teaching this amazing family, and they have gone to church every single week that I have been here. I am so happy. They all want to get baptized at the end of this month, they just need permission from their dad. They even when to church yesterday when I wasn’t there! I am in a different area with these sisters. I hope they get permission!

I´m gonna send this one off, and read some of your letters while I think about what else I want to tell you guys.

Mom... I just found out I have THREE MINUTES. Shoot dang. THe stupid place is closing. I´ll write next monday! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Pray for me... I get my new comp this tues and I am nervous.... I hope she likes me. Cambios are crazy and stressful.

Give everyone a huge hug for me, and tell the people that I didn’t write that I am SO SORRY. I love you. You are so amazing, and are such a great example to me. I pray for Kyle and Kayla every day. Missions are crazy. Sometimes I have to shake myself to remember that  I am here in Bolivia on a mission. It is a wild ride. And I cannot wait until I am fluent in spanish. It is the most frustrating thing EVER to not be able to say what you want to say or relate to people..... you have no idea how important language is until you are with a bunch of people and you want to relate to them, but cannot. Irritating. But I have faith. I have gained so much confidence and hope this week. I feel like I can do it finally. I have learned so much patience with myself.

Se fuerte, mama. We can do this together. We have to be strong. That is the only thing that is going to help us. Be strong together. I love you! We have each other, and we have the gospel. We can do hard things.

LOVE YOU!

 

The day my voice died......

Mamasita!

Que Pasa???? How are you?????

I am writing early, so I hope you are watching your email!  This week has been crazy, but I have learned so freaking much. It is crazy. I don’t even know where to begin.  I´ll start with my cool story.  So we knocked A LOT of doors this week, because all of our appointments fell through.  Knocking doors is interesting.  But  I had a cool experience with it this week. It was my turn to knock a door.  My first door  And Hna Torres said that I needed to follow the Spirit to tell which door was correct. So I was a little nervous. I felt like I should knock on a door right in front of me, but I ignored this tiny impression. I knocked on another door, but knew it wasn’t the right one.  So we immediately turned around and went back to the first door. A woman answered with her two cute boys, and she was very interested in learning more. We found out a few minutes later that she is the sister of one of our investigadores!  CHARLA! It was such a cool feeling. She even came to the activity that we had the next night! We have a baptismal date for her already, and her sister is supposed to be baptized as well in the next two weeks! I truly felt like an instrument in the Lord´s hands.  Let´s see... we also had a noche de hogar with some teenage girls in our ward.  One of them isn’t a member, but wants to be baptized. They were all so curious about family history work. I showed them my family tree, and they studied it for like 10 minutes! It was so cool to see them have such an interest in family history. They made us tawa tawas. RICO! They are like tiny sopapillas. I wish you guys could meet them.  Que mas???? Oh. Yesterday morning, I woke up sin voz.  I  haven’t been able to talk normal since. Try talking in spanish without a voice! It is very very frustrating.  I sound like an idiot.... which isn’t new because I sound like an idiot every day with my crazy spanish.  Todo bien! I am learning each day. I can understand so much more than before. I just want to be able to talk to people! It is the most frustrating thing for me...not being able to fully connect with people. Oh well. So yeah....still no voice... but I guess that is just part of the Potosi experience.

AH! So remember how I wanted to see a llama so bad while I was here? Yeah... I saw one..... on my plate last night. I ate llama meat last night. It was so sad, because I love llamas. I could hear a thousand llamas crying out in horror as I ate it. Hahahahaha Poor little babies. My pensionista killed it the previous day. It actually didn’t taste bad... it was just really really chewy. I think I messed up my little retainer thing as I tried to eat it. It was nearly impossible to chew. Poor llamas....

Hm..... what else? More fun facts about Potosi?

- It is a normal day to have every single person stare at you because you are white. They even yell out CHOCA! (which means white girl).... literally everyone.... everyone stares....

- The son of my pensionista said that I have racquet hands because my hands are so big...bahahaha

- Half the time, I don’t know what I´m eating... I just eat it...

- Grandma Janet would HATE it here bec ause there are dogs EVERYWHERE... and poop too

- You see people peeing in the street every day

-It´s fun. What else do you guys want to know? Write back!

Con mucho amor,

Hna Routsong

 

The Struggle is Real

MAMSITA!

I´ve  been waiting for 30 freaking minutes for this stupid thing to load. HOW ARE YOU????This week has been one of the craziest, coolest, hardest weeks of my life.  A couple facts about my life as of today:

- We haven’t had a warm shower this whole week. I´ve been sticking my head under the faucet to wash my hair, but I haven’t had a real shower all week. Its too dang cold!

- I don’t shave my legs anymore...I need all the insulation that I can get!

- Last night, I tried chuños for the first time. I really cannot adequately describe how they taste. They look like moldy black toes....and taste kind of like moldy, black toes. FEO. GROSS.

- Today, I ate a soup with a hot rock in it.... cally karapulcra... I think that’s how you spell it.... all of the elders here love it. It was actually really good!

- I had my first intercambios this week. It was fun, but weird. I wasn’t used to being with anyone but Hna Torres.

- This has been the hardest week of my life. But at the same time, I have learned so much and grown so much. There was a day when I really wanted to go home.... I was frustrated with the language and with my teachings, but Heavenly Father always  knows whats best. I was SO GRATEFUL that I was able to fast yesterday. It renewed my spirits and my faith.

- I gave my first talk at a baptism in spanish!

- Kayla would HATE Potosi.... my hands are always so dry. Sometimes to the point that the bleed.

- My companion is the greatest person ever. I learn so much from her.

- We are teaching this family who is amazing. They even came to church! I tear up whenever I teach them because they are so amazing and want to be baptized but their father won’t let them. We pray for them every day. They come to all the activities, and love the gospel. The boy even goes to seminary!

- I love the son of my pensionista to death... but one night he deleted all of my pictures on my camera. That was a bad day... I cried...I´ll admit it.  It had all of my pictures from the CCM.  A guy in our ward is looking to see if he can recover them today. I HAVE FE!

Questions

- Which mission is Stanley going to again? My comp is from Peru, and she tells me cool stuff about it all the time.

- How is Kirk?

- When is Emily Nashs wedding???

- How is everyone doing?

I’m going to send this off and write another one after I read some of yours.

AMOR!

Hna Routsong