"Y" vs. "And" (Week 9 in Kuna?!)

Familia y Amigos!!

It's hard to believe I've been here so long, but it still seems like I just got here. The reason for my subject is one of the times I laugh-cried this week was because of this little Spanish word: Y. It means "and" in Spanish and when talking in English, it is an infamous word for Spanish missionaries. Being here in Idaho, we talk a lot of English, whether we want to or not. So we have to make sure to turn off the Spanish thinking and words. Sometimes that doesn't completely happen. One specific time was when we were at a less active member's house and we had talked and shared a scripture and were about to leave. We were closing with a prayer and Hermana Barnes was saying it. She was saying it in English when she says "y" and then paused for just a split second when she realized what she had said. That split second was JUST enough time for us to let out a giggle/chuckle/breath of air and it just went downhill from there. She was trying really hard to compose herself to finish the prayer and to contain the laughter until after. Then it was released. We all had a pretty good laugh from that. Of course I was crying with laughter. But I love those moments.

Another thing that I wanted to tell you all about is one of the Ward Mission Leaders in Melba. He is legit. This last week, we got to Melba (it's about half an hour away, so we try to carpool with a member) and he had a little map with red dots on it. The dots were houses we should stop by. We were amazed that he had found all these Spanish-speaking houses and asked him his secret. He told us how he had actually gone around to houses that looked like they might be Hispanic and actually knocked on the door. When the person answered, he would just ask if a random thing in their front yard was for sale. It wasn't threatening for them, and he found out if they spoke Spanish. PERFECT! It saved a lot of time and was really funny.

Also, I wanted to tell you about one of our little investigators here. She is the sweetest 72-year old lady and is super spunky. Her name is Joanna. She actually speaks English, but because she is married to a Spaniard, we were told to visit them and that's how we originally met them. When we first walked in to their home, they were both smoking and Eduardo was drinking up a storm. I was a bit hesitant, but still talked to them. Who knew where it would go! That was just a few weeks ago, but we've gone back and helped them paint their ceiling as a service project and we've been able to just visit them and get to know them. Nowadays, we go back mostly to visit Joanna because Eduardo is always drunk. I love this lady. She is one of the kindest, most open and loving people. And her smile and love just makes me happy. On one of my hardest days, we had an appointment with her and she just made me feel so much better. She has an amazing spirit and you can tell that she cares. So this last week, we had an appointment with her and we actually taught her the first lesson. And I invited her to be baptized when she finds out for herself that it's true. She straightup said no. The reason was because she felt like she couldn't change. She had been smoking her whole life and it was a part of her. And she didn't want to be a hypocrite Mormon who smoked and did bad things while pretending to be someone else. That's amazing. Even though she agrees with what we teach and can feel the Spirit, she knows that she wants to be honest to decisions she makes. She really is close to the spirit even though she doesn't recognize it. And I can't wait for the gospel to help her through her health problems and other things she's going through. We're going to visit her this week and talk to her about hope and change. She is going to need a lot of prayers and faith, but she can do it. She already knows her habits are bad, she just needs a reason to quit.

This made me think a lot about change and how it's hard, but it brings joy. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings about change for the better. And when we're striving to be better while staying strong to what we know is true, we can feel fulfilled while having motivation to keep going. And that perspective brings joy. That is why people need the gospel. When we understand this, it's crazy how it can help us through the hard times and give us purpose in everything. Super cool.

I'm loving it here and hope you are all doing well.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) Another sunset. :)

2) When we had our bonfire, we were wearing the randomest clothes to stay warm.