Love, Hermana Bills: Hey! Can't you see that this woman is a nun!?

Hey y'all, It's me again!

First of all, shout out to Ricky Stephenson!! Happy birthday, you winner!

This weeks happenings included learning how to tell people that I am from the hood in Spanish and playing volleyball with our elders in the rain. All good things.

I've been getting an awful amount of bug bites as of late, and I couldn't figure out what was happening. But they come around and give us new sheets every Monday so I was tearing my sheets off the other day and guess what I found?

Spiders.

I literally cried for days. I've been sleeping with spiders. So inappropriate and horrifying. So now Hermana Stoddard does a Native American chant over my bed each night (since she's 1/32 native american) and she sprays it with bug spray and peppermint and it's all very ceremonial.

Also, our Maestro Hermano Garza started excelling our progress. By that, I mean he's teaching us things that we're not supposed to learn until week 4 and we're in week two. And he's all like "i know this is hard but you guys can do it" and we're all just wiping the little tears out of our eyes because he doesn't realize that we really can't. What we're doing in scripture likening in Español. So we have to listen to the needs of our investigator and immediately think of a scripture that would help them. I'm getting better, but I definitely did not know the scriptures like I thought I did.

Everyone picks on me here... just like every other time in my life, so I feel right at home :) The elders and the teachers are all making fun of me all the time, and even the Hermanas join in. It's so funny. It doesn't help that I contracted the Mexican virus. I think I wrote about it in my last email... but it's SO BAD, YOU GUYS. Let's just say there's a lot of abdominal pain and a lot of time spent in the bathroom. So that adds to the teasing. I've blushed super bad a bunch of times... but hey. It's how life works out.

Another embarrassing story for y'all... So I was walking down the hallway to class one day and for some reason Hermana Burnham (she's my soul mate) was trying to wipe her sweaty armpit on my shoulder. I... I really don't know. So I was trying to swerve out of the way and all the sudden I lost my footing and slipped and flung up into the air, falda flapping, heels over head, arms scrambling... and smacked down onto the tile. You don't have to tell me, I know how graceful I am. But for real, yos. It hurt so bad. I have the gnarliest bruise on my knee. It's fantastic. So that happened.

In other news, my compañera always tells me how she thinks my personality most resembles Emperor Kuzco (mom, I hope you are so proud of me).

Sunday was probably the most eventful day of the week. We always have to prepare these talks completely in Spanish but they don't tell us who is going to speak until right before the sacrament, so we're all sweating in our seats... So we had to prepare for those, and then Elder Shin asked me and Hermana Burnham to teach a lesson on the Diez Mandamientos. It was so stinking funny. We gave everyone a commandment and they had to come to the front of the classroom and act it out and some of them were just hilarious. Elder Cates drew this horrendous cow and started bowing down to it and we all just had these tears streaming down our faces. It's always a good time with these people.

Then Hermana Stoddard spoke in Sacrament meeting. And then guess what else?

We got called to be Sister Training leaders.

#wut.

We'd only been there for ten days and they called us to lead a whole zone. It was so embarrassing because I was leaning down to get my Himnos out of my bag and the ¨Presidente asked us to be the leaders (they just extend the call to you right there in front of everyone and ask if you accept). But they ask in Spanish and so I didn't catch it at first (cause I wasn't paying attention, cause I didn't think they would call me...) And I look up and he was like, "Hermana Bills?" And I just had this like blank stare on my face and I was like "What? What am I doing?" I was so oblivious. it was embarassing. Everyone started shaking their heads at me. but we accepted the call and I have loved getting to know all the sisters in our zone. I don't feel qualified for the calling, but the Lord is strengthening me.

Okay here's a cool story for ya. So I told you guys that the food is good last email. And it is. It really is. But it's kind of the same thing over and over.

well on Sunday we had this devotional where we learned about this thing called Specific Prayer, and here's how it works:

you come to the Lord in prayer with a specific problem. You explain to him your problem and why it is so frustrating for you. You express your faith in his strength. Then you present a solution to your problem, and asking humbly for it to come to pass.

So I decided I'd test it out.

And of course, being the fatty that I am, I decided to pray for hamburgers and curly fries.

Guys. No one actually thought it was going to work. I knelt down by my bed Sunday night and I told the Lord, "Lord, I can't eat another plate of beans and rice. Those cheesy potato sandwich things make me want to cry. I'm so hungry all the time. I know that you are omnipotent, and maybe it's silly... but if I could just have a hamburger and curly fries to eat, I will be the happiest misionera ever."

Bet y'all can't guess what we had for lunch on Monday.

Yup.

Hamburgers and curly fries.

I dang near cried.

I went up to the Hermano who gave the talk on Specific prayer and told him my story and how I was so happy, and he looked me dead in the eye and was like "that's nice. But maybe next time you should pray for something more important."

Haha the hermanas all laughed at me.

But hey, specific prayer works you guys!!

Anyway. Spanish is coming really well. I really seriously am not trying to toot my own horn, but I think I'm probably the most fluent in my district. That means I get to help out the others a lot of the time which I love.

The teachers always ask me for help and I feel so happy. It's really not me, though. It's all coming from God. I know that he lives and that he is blessing me. I'm working really hard, and he is rewarding me with the don de lenguas.