Holy Cow! (Week 7 in Kuna)

Familia y Amigos!

This has been a very interesting week! (Maybe I say that every week... But really. Seriously crazy.) First transfers, with an area I've only been in for 6 weeks, with a language I don't know very well, and being the one who knows the most about the splitting area. It was a lot of pressure! And, honestly, I was really scared. It was a hard first few days of the week. But then we started getting to work, and we organized things, took a step back and took a deep breath. I'm starting to look for the fun in this work. And it's worked out. We have another companionship of sisters in Kuna now and when we work together, we have a lot of fun. A few things of fun that have happened are:

Our branch had another bonfire. We invited tons of people and worked a ton beforehand to get people there, then got the chance to just relax and have fun while there. It was good for the other Hermanas to meet everyone in a fun setting. We had a good turnout and a few people we weren't expecting. So that was good. As we have more monthly bonfires, and as the weather gets warmer, more people will come and it'll be a really good thing. I told myself beforehand that I'd be more outward and talk to more people. I talked to mostly everyone who came and had fun even though my Spanish is limited.

Also this week, we asked a cute Mexican investigator named Alma to teach us how to cook something. She chose Pasole. It's a Mexican soup. We asked her what we could bring, and she asked us to bring the meat. The carne. Hermana Barnes went to a Mexican meat market and got a good amount of chicken and pork. And so we went and just talked with her while it cooked, then we helped chop things up and in any way we could. It was realllllly good. It wasn't too spicy and I gobbled it up. It makes me want to learn to cook more Mexican food. Tamales are next!!

Then the last crazy thing that happened was that we were just driving to a dinner appointment one day (all 4 of us Kuna Hermanas because they didn't have dinners set up yet) and as we turned a corner, there was one house that had a bunch of cows out roaming around in their front yard. Without a fence, with a few of them right along the side of the road. That was not normal... So we pulled off to the side of the road--the other side--and went to go tell the people that their cows had gotten out. As we were sitting there, we realized they were bulls... And the one sister who was wearing a red skirt was the one who volunteered to walk through them to the front door!! HA! We got out of the car to take pictures with them and they started running around. We BOLTED back to the car!! It was scary! But it was super funny and we had a good story to tell the family when we showed up late to dinner. 

But really, this week, I am so grateful for the people in my life and who the Lord puts around me. The 2nd set of Kuna sisters are Hermana Barnes and Turner. And they are awesome. And this week would have been so different without them. Already, the work they have done in the other stake is helping the branch to grow and it will be so good! And when I've had struggles, they've helped me out. It's definitely not an accident!

And the thing that I've learned a ton more about this week is revelation. It's a topic that is so intricate and different for every person. That's what makes it hard. But it's so necessary. Heavenly Father loves us and wants what's best for us and for us to be happy. When we sincerely seek Him and do what we can to get answers, He will help us. When it seems like we're not getting answers, it might mean that He just trusts us to make a decision. He wants us to act and be happy with our decision. The action shows Heavenly Father that we trust Him and are willing. But that ACTION is sooo hard sometimes. SOO hard. And when we hesitate because we don't want to do the wrong thing, we don't have to feel bad about that. It's hard and takes time. But we can do it. Action is what it's all about.

I love you all and hope you're doing awesome!!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

PS The picture speaks for itself.