October 14. 2013

Hey ya'll-- What’s up!

OK--well where to begin we have an hour and a half to write and be on the computer but I just want you all to know that since I am a girl there is not much around here to do on pday other than nap and letter write so I am printing all your letters off and I will write back to each of you in letters every week. I just feel like this will be the best way because I am slow on the computer but I really love hearing about all of you and telling you my opinion so yes I promise you will each get a letter and then you can just email me every Monday okkkkk?? Well wow I love it! I just have so much to tell you!  Well lets start by saying I am in Pembroke and Pembroke is pretty much as far south as you can get.  I am in this tiny little town and it is really ghetto-- lets just say we spend a lot of time in the projects and everyone around here is Lumbi?sp.  Lumbi is the type of Indian that they all are and they call themselves the lamenites! hahaha They are truly amazing around here!  Let me tell you it is like it is in all the shows.  There are swamps everywhere-- everyone is family and there are really only like three last names around here so we call pretty much everyone by brother/sister and then their first names hahah pretty weird but they are the nicest people you will ever meet.  Ok so we live with a sister her name is Sister Angela and she is like a mama to us missionaries.  She takes great care of us-- she is 45 and has never been married but she is the Relief Society Pres and she is a saint!!! (to say the least!)  Everyone is really good friends around here and her best friend is Sister Janise.  Sister Janise is a year sober from drugs and 6 months sober from smoking! She is amazing-- she has three kids and isn’t married. No one is really married out here but they all have kids with people in the ward... you can imagine there is a lot of drama to try to sort out but it is super fun.  There is only one ward for about.. well the whole city and most of it is inactive. They struggle with visiting teaching and home teaching and I believe that is why there are so many people that have fallen away! We have visited a lot of people that are inactive and then they will show up to church they just need a friend and someone to talk to! haha ok so PS everyone talks crazy around here!!   Oh and we as missionaries can’t say cool or sweet so I say wonderful and amazing a lot and neat!!! haha  We also can’t say you guys or guys so we have to say yall! Our president is very very very strict but it is great! There are many blessings that come from being obedient to him and we see it all the time! Ok well everyone is some type of religion around here and there are a few churches that we call holiness churches and those are the kinds where they jump around and yell and are SAVED! haha We talk to a lot of people from those churches.  But this week we talked to Sister Faye Smith... she was nuts she wasn’t wearing anything under a silk robe that wasn’t tied in the middle so yes we saw everything that night!  She was baptized but then started going to the holy church and she told us she has special powers where she sees people that have died and they come to her at night.  She had about a good hour worth of stories that she told us oh also a lot of people out here have Alzheimer’s? sp but my comp told me when we visit those people they come to church so that is why we visited her and she promised she would read the Book of Mormon!  Ok well anyways I forgot to tell you about my comp. She is amazing!!!!!! I love her so much! She is albino but she doesn’t call it that but yes she has super white hair and red eyes and she can’t really see so it is like I have a blind person with me but she is great she can see things in front of her but if it is five feet away everything is blurry she said she has 20/400 vision-- so yes she is truly amazing and she is super nice and positive and everyone loves her round here! But I drive everywhere and read a lot and have to tell her when people are waving but it works great! She is the best! Ok so anyways we taught a lot of people this week but it was rough at first.  Trust me when it is rough that is what brings you closer to the Savior and we just kept our faith high and miracles truly happened!! Ok well first we taught this nine year old and she was baptized on Saturday I wouldn’t count it as the first baptism for me because I only taught her once but she is a sweet heart! Ok and then we taught this lady named Tamara and she is great she has such a strong spirit and we invited her to be baptized. She is so funny because she said she wants to know more which is fine but she says stuff like "well when I go to the temple" so we know she is on the right path it is super funny.  Her family will shun her when she joins so she is just getting her argument which happens to pretty much everyone around here when they take the lessons from us we are suiting them up for battle. It is amazing because you see the strongest testimonies being built! I love it! But yes so she will have to choose family or the gospel. Ok so we also taught Seneca-- he is a boy and Mineka who is a girl. They have the cutest kids in  all the land and they are black.   They are so prepared and we had the most amazing lesson with them last night. They committed to being baptized but we have to wait because they are not married so we will have to see how it all works out! I love it out here!  I love the Book of Mormon-- it is like I am reading Harry Potter I honestly do it on my free time during lunch. It is really funny but I just love it so much!!! I love teaching and inviting! It is the best feeling in the world! Ok so I will send home my camera card so you guys can see some stuff but it is not full. I miss you all a lot but I honestly wish you were out here you would all love it!!! The people feed us like crazy!  It  is southern cooking where everything is fried and soaked in lard haha jk but sometimes that is the truth! We are eating rabbit tomorrow and we got chased by dogs this morning when we were working out but most of that is normal stuff. I don’t think I would really ever live here but the people make everything worth it! They treat me like their daughter and they are always giving us referrals no joke!!! We don’t ride bikes too often because we usually will be chased by a bunch of dogs but we have a car.   Sister Angela has our room all decorated and she has sheets and a bed spread so everything matches it is super nice but everyone out here lives in trailers and so what we have been given is more than what most people have! Sister Angela is always cooking too and hanging out with her is one of my favorite things.  She is sooo funny and she knows everything about everyone! Talking to everyone out here just makes you love them so much. They all make you feel like family even though me and my comp are just about the only white people around! Oh and there are elders in our ward too. When we find people who are really crazy we pass them off to them... I have seen more drug deals in this last week then ever in my life! hahah but I promise you we are safe. There is a hog pen right next to where our trailer is and if anyone comes back by us whoooooweee do they get noisy! So we are safe don’t worry! We had dinner at our bishops last night and he is super funny but he has alzheimers too (or the early stages of it)  Ok well I promise I will write you all today I miss you a lot and hope you have a great family night and week! Wow wasn’t conference amazing.  Elder Dube says "never look back, look at what we still have to do." There is so much for us to do!!! So I have to get to work! I love this gospel and I love our Savior... funny thing for you all-- in the Book of Mormon it talks so much about missionary work... that is one of the biggest things... it is like a guide book for us out here, and yes this is me telling yall to share the gospel. Ok-- if you don’t want to do that just give the missionaries referrals! It is the best way to do it! I love you all and I know you guys are the best family. It is my greatest blessing that I get to be with you all forever! Heavenly Father knew I would need each of you! I miss you and love you 

Love forever and always 

Cassie