Mission Adventures of Hermana Lauren Jennings: Spanish Bloopers

April 29, 2013

So this week was great I have some good stories for ya’ll for sure.

Birthday Gifts & Thanks!

I want to thank everyone that sent me talks I have been reading them and they really have been an answer to my prayers and thanks so much Sister Carillo for your letter it was a ray of sunshine in my day. Thanks for the birthday gifts it really was the best birthday ever in the whole world!

My birthday party at the Alrencons they are the best

They have a tradition where you are the first to bite into the cake so fun!

1. CVC, Young Women’s, Getting Lost, Crazy Fun

CVC was this Saturday and it was an interesting experience but it all turned out well. We traveled an hour out of our sector. I really do live in the nice part of Santiago, it is very different when you leave our sector. I love all of Santiago, it’s so neat to meet so many different people and see so many new places. The CVC is where we show the church to people and have a tour starting in the chapel where they can look at a Cristus, a statue of Christ, and listen to a recording of Christ speaking, then we take them into the cultural hall and teach them the points of the gospel of Jesus Christ with giant posters. Then they go to all the auxiliaries and the baptismal font. When we got to the church there was an activity going on and the whole church was a mess! We started cleaning and cleaning but then one of the members told us Young Women’s had an activity in the chapel and the cultural . . .what?! Oh no we had scheduled the building but they had set up their stuff already and the decorations were so beautiful so we just improvised and used the relief society room as the chapel and the gym/kitchen for the posters. It went well in the end but let’s just say there was stress beforehand but it was so neat, as always, to teach the gospel to others even if it is hard in Spanish. We got to do it with Hermana Hernandez and Hermana Torez and I was with Hermana Torez all day. She is so fun, I love her so much! She said she likes me and that I am not boring like all the other gringos bhahah yes! She taught me so much and I learned new ways to teach. I love learning from all the missionaries here they truly have such strong testimonies and are such examples to me. Then after the CVC it was time to go home and Hermana Fisher was going to take us home. Well let’s just say we got so lost and got home so late (we called pres) but ya it was so fun cause we were all singing and laughing the whole way I sure love the sisters I get to serve with they really are the best ever!!!

2. Teaching Maria Jose

So this week we decided to knock on a references door again. She never has been home and all of our other appointments had fallen through so we were running out of ideas. We knocked on her door and she answered!!! It was such a neat lesson because earlier this week I was struggling more than usual with teaching and during this lesson I just prayed and turned it all over to the Lord. I literally was amazed at the words coming out of my mouth. I know it wasn’t me, it really was the Lord using me to talk to her. She is a great lady and I think she is interested and she wants us to come back. She said she would pray sincerely if what we had taught her was true. I hope she continues to build her faith.

3. Teaching Primary

We got a call Saturday night saying that they needed a teacher for primary and that we were the only ones that could teach, so we said yes. We made sure another sister could sit in the classroom with us so we wouldn't be alone with kids. It was so funny, we taught 2 little boys about obedience the nice thing was that they both spoke English. So when I didn't know a word in Spanish I said it in English. We were doing all sorts of things and in the end I think the lesson turned out pretty good. It probably had to do something with the bag of starburst jelling beans we had! It was so fun. It made me miss all the little kids from home like Mark and Kellys kids, the Dennis’ kids, Liz’s kids & Riley and Rorie. Kids really are so amazing and really have a Christ like spirit around them. I hope we can all be more humble and loving as little children are this week.

4. Another Embarrassing Story

I am not sure why I am sending this story home but it was so funny. The word for poop and box are kinda similar in Spanish and the problem was I was talking fast and I accidently switched them.... so here is what went down. The sister was asking me how to make brownies, I was like, “Just get a box of brownies and take the box, the eggs, and the oil and mix it all together and cook it and wa la - brownies! Ya in reality I said take the poop, eggs, and oil and mix it all together. You should have seen my companions face and this poor sister. We just laughed and laughed. Good times.

Dinner at Hermana Carmens house

So my area is good. We had a really hard time this week with people canceling appointments or just not being home or when they were home they didn’t have time. I am working hard but no one wants to seem to change their way of life. But I know that with the Lords help we can do anything. I love all of you so very much and pray for you every day. People these days are just so lost or just mean and are always working and in a hurry like 99 percent of the people we talked to this week said I’m too busy as they walked away and we even had a few that were so very angry. A sad story that happened was we started talking to this old man and he was so sad he started to cry as he said he had it all - all the possessions he wanted, yet he was so miserable. We tried to tell him our message could help but he was so depressed. It was so sad. I think we just need to be the best we can be and try to help others. I know that we just need to love people and pray for them cause that’s what I am doing here. Our area is so hard, no one listens and no one takes our message seriously. It’s a big deal, but I think most of our investigators just like us coming to visit them or want to talk, but hopefully this area will start turning around.