First, I have two shoutouts this week.
2 - to my hero, my big brother Brandini. Happy birthday, brother. I miss you so much!
Okay! So let's just get right on down to the good stuff.
Yesterday, as a district, we mozied on down to Hershey Park on Chocolate Avenue. I kid you not, the lamps are shaped like kisses. Everything is chocolate. We rode roller coasters all day and had a fantastic time. It was so fun. I can't believe that they let us go! But it was awesome.
We also found this new restaurant called Sharky's. It looked a little bit sketchy at first but it's basically the only restaurant in Lebanon that isn't a beer bar or a hookah bar and so we decided to try it out and it was fabulous! I love it. Good ole Sharky's.
The weather was crazy hot this week. The humidity makes it worse. My companion and I are polar opposites though, she loves the heat. So she always wants to be out tracting in it and I don't want to go out until night. It's a struggle. Usually I get my way though. :) There are better things to be doing during the middle of the day than OYMing and tracting.
One night, we were out trying to hand out pass along cards and bearing our testimonies. We had just gotten done teaching a lesson with a less active family in our ward - the H's. They're Mexican and they always have this awesome Mexican candy. But this time they had something that (roughly translated) is called the Roasted Chicken sucker. So we tried that and it made Hermana Tolman so sick. I was starting to worry about her. She was making comments while we were walking, saying things like "My stomach does not feel good." It was almost time to go in, so I turned towards home and started walking that way when all the sudden she just lost in on the side of the road and puked her guts out. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to help but I was worried that if I got too close I would smell it and I would throw up too haha. I told her that we were going home. She threw up like 6 more times that night. It was horrible. I texted the mission mom and our STL's... I didn't know what to do. I felt so bad for her. It was a long night that night.
We will not be eating the roasted chicken suckers again.
So that was rough.
In other news, the work is still going really well. We have plenty of opportunities to teach in Spanish which is really nice. I've been getting a lot of compliments on my Spanish! People tell me that my accent is really good, so that's nice. I feel so bad though because usually people will be like, "Hermana Bills, your Spanish is so lyrical." And then they'll tell Hermana Tolman how she sounds like she's German or something when she speaks Spanish. I mean, you can't really blame the girl. She learned in South Carolina! I wish people would stop saying it though. I really don't think her accent is bad.
Our investigators are great! We got a new investigator last week and his name is N. He's an ex-mennonite. So cool. We asked him why he left and he said it was because he didn't believe what the Mennonite's believe. So we're teaching him the doctrine of Christ and he's just eating it up! Way cool.
S. is doing really well. I've never met someone who understands things so well the first time they are explained. We just taught him the plan of salvation and asked him to keep the word of wisdom and he sat there for a second and was like, "you know? If it's for my eternal Salvation? I'll do anything." Neatest guy in the world.
The members are as wonderful as ever. I love them. There is a new family that we've gotten really close to lately - the Chakmakov's. They're so cool. We ate over there last Saturday and found out that Brother Chakmakov is actually inactive. But we got him to come to church on Sunday and meet the elders and talk with some of the other members. He seemed to enjoy himself. He took the meal calendar and signed up to feed us and the elders every Monday for the rest of this month! He is such a funny guy. So after Hershey park yesterday, we got to go over and eat with them. Sister Chakmakova is a master chef. She made creme brulee and she let us put the sugar on and torch it right at the dinner table! It was so fun! They also spoke some Bulgarian for us and my jaw dropped right to the floor! They're incredible. I love them so much.
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| Uh, what's with the bug. . . .can we get back to ME! |
I just want to end this email with a little story. So we have been OYMing a lot this week. (It stands for Open Your Mouth - it just means talking to random people on the street). So we have had ample opportunity to get rejected and such. It's been actually really hard. Some people have been really short and rude. There was one guy who told us that our religion is man made and that we're being led away by false prophets and the only way to worship God is by doing whatever you want when you want. Another lady laughed at us and said that we marry our brothers? So strange.
But the most important thing I felt was the strength and love from the Lord. You know, I've never really had my testimony be TRIED before, and now I have it tried on the daily. But I know that Satan only attacks us because he is afraid of us. If he's not afraid of you, he knows you'll bring to pass your own destruction... he doesn't have to do it for you. I know that he is powerful and that he is not someone to take lightly, but I also know this:
Christ is stronger.
No one can defeat you when Christ is standing beside you.
I love this mission. I love representing my Savior. I love defending him and being a warrior of truth, armed with righteousness as it says in the scriptures. I love him!
I love you guys, too! So much!
Thank you for your prayers and support.
You're all incredible.
Stay strong! This is the true gospel! :)
Love, Hermana Bills.
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