Transfers?

(6 weeks in the field)             Now to my week? I still don't know where to begin, but I guess I'd better start somewhere. We didn't get Ipads...But, we will! Last Tuesday we had Elder Clarke and President Donaldson come and talk to us about using technology as a proselyting tool. They talked about how the San Diego mission will not become an "Ipad-Mission" because It is not about the Ipads, it is about the work. They also talked about the proper use of technology for doing good, and the evils of it considering pornography and the like. It was really an awesome meeting, because it talked about changing habits and becoming something better than what we were before. I think having this technology will be both a blessing and a challenge. We will get to use Facebook to proselyte in the future too and they have an amazing vision for hastening the work through technology. It is going to take a lot of spiritually strong and safe missionaries to make it work though, and that is why there needs to be so many safeguards set up to help us protect ourselves. But by the middle of June, we should be able to start using the Ipads. It will be both our planners and our Area books, as well as have access to videos and digital pamphlets. It will be such a great resource, and as I said before, a weight off my back ;)

Since this Mission Conference, we have tried to implement a lot more of the suggestions given at the conference. It's been good and we've seen more success. 

One thing we've done a lot more of is street contacting. We will park our car at one end of the street and just walk and if we see people outside in their yards or in the streets too, we'll go strike up a conversation with them. We've met some really cool and ready people, they just don't know it yet. One day we were walking down the street and we see this guy on the other side, sitting in a law chair outside in the shade of this tree, so we go over and try to talk to him, and he just shrugs his shoulders, and gestures his figure across his throat, telling us he can't talk! He was really sweet though, and it's very funny to have a conversation with him, mostly because he speaks Spanish, but can't, nor can he speak ASL. So mostly he just gestures and shrugs, or lifts his arms up in the "I don't know" way. I made friends by asking him about his tree, and he got really excited and gave us some of the fruit that grows on it. They are sort of like Pea Pods, and inside is a soft meaty fruit with a little black seed. You pick them when they are read, and that's when they taste the best. So he was all excited to share. We thanked him and then went on our way. 

A few days later we parked and walked again, and then all the sudden, there he is again!! We just rain into him. He wasn't by his house, and then we tried to ask him where his house was, cause we couldn't remember, and he started gesturing some more. It was like a fun guessing game at what he was trying to say! I don't think we got it right though! Haha. While we were talking to him, there was this punk guy riding around on his bike and smoking a cigarette. He rides up to us, and he's like, "Is that guy bothering you?" And we're like, "No, he's our friend!" and then the bike guy is like, "Oh yeah, what's his name?!" Well, that's a good question! We ended up telling the bike guy off and kept talking to our mute friend. Next time, I'm going to have him write his name now for us! He had some kind of cancer or tumor or something above his heart, and because of that, his vocal cords got severed. We said good bye to our mute friend and went to go contact some people. We didn't find who we were looking for so we started to head back to an appointment down a different street, and low and behold, who do we see?! Our mute friend :) He was back at his tree. He actually has a tool that he uses to get the really high fruit from the top of the tree. So, he waved us over and gave us some. Who knows, I think there is some potential here :) 

Can you believe that I have been out in the mission field for 6 weeks, 1 full transfer, and a total of 3 months total? Ok, ok, baby steps, but that's a long time! It's definitely been hard, but a whole different kind of hard that I am used to. I have definitely come to appreciate the small moments here in the mission. Those are what get you through. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. One example of a small thing, I was having a bad day, and Hermana Huefner asked me who we should go see, and I wasn't really "up for receiving revelation" at that moment, but I prayed anyways and looked at our less active list and decided to go see these people we'd been meaning to go see for a while. When we went there, we finally were able to meet this member's non-member wife and sing them a song. But the cool part was there was this little Chihuahua there that wanted me to pet it, and so I did and it just was pretty much like a rag doll the whole time. When I put it down, so we could sing, it scampered over to me and placed it's paw on top of my foot. The member smiled and said that the little dogs like that can sense our infirmities and when we are feeling bad and they comfort us. I thought that was pretty cool. When we started singing, the dog went over to wife, who is sick and bed-ridden, and put his paw on her foot too. Tender moment, I guess. Chihuahuas are weird ;)   

Well, guess that is it for me today! Love you all! Thanks for the package in advance! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Howell