Those Sinful Chiles...

Hola queridos!

This week has been an interesting one. I got sick. Don't worry about it though, because I'm better! :)

Spanish Lessons!

Fresa- strawberry. As in "we should get strawberry yogurt." (no, strawberries did not make me sick.) This word also means "fancy," as is "That house is pretty fancy." Why are strawberry and fancy the same word in Spanish? No idea. If anyone finds out, I'd love to know.

Taza- cup. As in "add 2 cups of water." Also, toilet. As in "send a picture of your toilet to the mission office for monthly cleaning checks." Be careful to watch for context, or you might be really confused.

Now I get to correct a typo from last week! "Picar" means to bite.

Pecar- to sin (I hope nobody accidentally called out their chiles for sinning a lot this week.), as in "Because of our mortal condition, we all sin. Everyone. Even missionaries. But everyone has hope to overcome their sins."

La Expiación de Jesucristo- The Atonement of Jesus Christ. As in "Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can all receive a remission of our sins, relief from our pains, and support through our afflictions."

People have asked about the Spanglish here. It's a real thing. You hear all sorts of English words made Spanish. Hot dog, stand (like lemonade stand), tape, ride (she gave us a ride to lunch). There also verbs that come from English words. Checar (check), parquear (park). It's fun to hear. But the best Spanglish comes from missionaries. A couple of my favorite Spanglish quotes from missionaries:

"He leído eso before." -Me

"I asked her if ella quería escuchar un message." -My District Leader

We don't even think about it. It just comes out. And the Enlgish words come out in a spanish accent about half of the time. It's a talent, really.

People have also inquired after the people, which makes sense since I have said multiple times that the work is about the people, not the lessons. And I want to tell you more about the people, but I'm still trying to figure out how to go about that without divulging too much confidential/personal information about them. So I'll work really hard on planning what stories to tell and how to tell them in future weeks so I can do that. But I'll tell you that the members here are fantastic! I love them! The people on the streets are also super friendly, which is nice. Many people are willing to talk with us, and the rejection we get is very polite.

Contrary to popular belief, not every area in Central America is super receptive to the message of the Gospel. We don't have very many investigators, and we are working hard to find people who are searching for the gospel in their lives. The investigators we have are all great people. They each have their own amazing story, and I am grateful to know them!

People have also asked about my area. We have a third of the ward in our area. The part we have covers two big subdivisions (colonias). They are mazes. They are confusing to begin with, but half of the streets are closed off by a gate we can't get through, and the others have gates with guards. We have to have an appointment in order to enter the street. So there's another reason we don't knock doors. Our area is pretty nice. It's a good place to be.

So to close this week, I'm going to (probably mis)quote Elder Holland (or possibly another Apostle). He once said something like "I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience." So true. But guess what? Just like salvation is not a cheap experience, the results of missionary work are not cheap. They are priceless. It is worth the exhaustion to see the joy that people can find as they embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love you all! Thank you thank you thank you for your endless support! I am so grateful for the life I have. Each of you contributes to that great blessing.

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark