Didn't See That One Coming

Hey!

So the story starts with Hermana Hernandez and I sitting in our house during language study, happy as clams. Our Zone Leader calls us.

Elder: "Hermanas, I have good news and I have bad news. Which would you like first?"

Hermana Hernandez: "Oh no. The bad news."

Elder: "You have special transfers. Hermana Clark will be going to Del Valle. [Details of how to make the exchange of companions]."

Hermana Hernandez: "What's the good news?"

Elder: "Jesus Christ payed for your sins."

That is good news. The other good news is that my new companion is fabulous.

But before I introduce her, I just need to express my gratitude for the 3 and a half months I had with my awesome trainer. She taught me so much. She is a fantastic missionary, and she has become one of my best friends.

Now I'm here in Del Valle (yes, it's an area in Juarez) with Hermana Ferrell!

 

​She's 5'9", she's from Wyoming, and she's just about at her halfway mark in the mission! We have fun times. We invent interesting things to eat, we speak really good Spanglish, and we laugh a lot.

We also share a house with the other Sisters who serve in this ward.

 

​Hermana Hale and Hermana Garcia! Hermana Garcia served in the same ward as me in my first area, and Hermana Hale was the first Hermana  did exchanges with. It's fun to be with them again.

This area is very different from my last one. I´m back in the city! There are way more people in the streets during the day, so we talk to a ton of people. We had 3 pretty cool experiences street-contacting this week.

One day we passed a constuction site and one of the workers was leaving. We said "Hola!" and he said "Do you two speak English?" So we found out that he grew up in Colorado (hey, I've been there before) and he prefers to speak English. He told us that he's been searching for direction and how to find God, and he found some missionaries a few months ago who didn't speak English, but he stopped meeting with them when he moved across the city. We had a great conversation with him and we´re going to bring him a Book of Mormon in English this week.

Another day we were walking toward an appointment, but we had a lot of time. A 20-something year old young man passed us and we started talking to him. We showed him the Book of Mormon and explained a bit about what it talks about. We asked if we could pass by his house another day to teach more, and he asked if we had time right then to explain more. So we went to a nearby park and explained to him more about where the Book of Mormon comes from and some of the story. He was super interested and said that he's going to read it and pray about it.

Yesterday we were walking to church and passed a 20-something year old woman. We told her that we share a message centered in Jesus Christ, and we asked her if she believes in Him. She said that she believes in God, but since there are so many churches, she doesn't know which one is right. So we asked if we can pass by to help her find an answer to her question, and she said yes. She lives outside of our area, though, so some other missionaries are going to teach her.

So we street contact a lot. A lot.

It's different than the Pueblo, but I like it. Oh, our Mission President also lives in this ward, so we see him a lot.

What did I forget...

Ah. Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Gilo dental- floss. As in, "I'm being super obedient and flossing every day.

De repente- suddenly. As in "The special transfer happened suddenly. We didn't even see it coming."

Convenio- covenant. As in "A covenant is a two-way promise with God. We promise to keep His commandments, and he promises to give us many blessings. When we make and keep covenants with our Heavenly Father, he will bless us more than we can imagine."

So those were my adventures this week. The Lord guides this work, and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

Have an awesome week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark