Our flight was delayed so I was able to talk to Mom and Dad for a little longer, which was nice. Oh and before that, both my bags were over 50 pounds. woops. My mission president was laughing at me when I told him how much I had to pay for them. But we got on the plane and filled half of it. It was a small plane that only fit 60 people. 31 of us were missionaries. The flight was quick and we were in Texas!! Our mission president greeted us and welcomed us to San Antonio. It was about 80 degrees and sunny! We went to the mission home and had lunch. I talked to both President and Sister Jones about how I know their niece and I gave them both hugs (from the Websters--Julianne) They loved it. I had a great first interview with President Jones. He asked how my spanish was and i said it was doing alright and then he said, "well i already know where i want to send you, so unless i receive another answer.. you're going to a special place!" i just sat there, not knowing what he was talking about.. i knew he truly was and is called of God. We went to the Alamo! But because our flight came in later than planned, we only had 20 minutes or so to walk around. But it was great! The River Walk is a "red zone" for missionaries. So i won't ever get to go there. They read the speech that was given and said "any of you that are going to be on the Lords side, and would lay your life down for the Lord and His work here in the mighty TSAM, step across the line." We all stepped over. It was a really spiritual experience.
After that we went back to the mission home for dinner and took pictures then loaded up the cars and drove to the church. The sisters all stayed at members homes the first night. We had the FUNNIEST lady. She took 3 of us and we each got our own queen size bed, unlimited access to REAL food and then called it a night. She drove us by the San Antonio Temple too which is beautiful! Sorry i feel like this is all over the place, but i'm trying to hurry and fit it all in one email!
The next morning we had transfer meeting. At this point we still had NO idea where we would be serving. President spoke to us and we had a little orientation then the AP's announced where we were going and who our companion was. They read my name and all i heard was "Border Zone" !!!!! Ah i was so excited. I'm in a trio. Hermana Ferguson is our trainer. She's been out 15 months and is from St. George. She's incredible. So funny, and patient with us. My other companion is Hermana Regan. She's from Springville. We work well together and have had a ton of fun and success already.We drove from Transfer meeting for about 3 hours to Eagle Pass. It's a town of about 20,000 people. You see EVERYTHING here. Literally shacks made out of sheets of metal, a million stray dogs and cats, trailer parks, and a few nicer homes that have air conditioning. More shacks than anything though. But the people here are SOOO humble and want to learn. They all say "soy catholico" ya right.. none of them go to church they just love God and love to pray. We'll get them, dont worry :) I love speaking Spanish!! I'm improving each and everyday and know that without the Lord, it wouldn't be possible for me to be able to speak in a whole different language. We've had so many cool experiences! The first night we went and taught a man who was baptized last week. His name is Hermano Gomez. He is probably 70 and has had 7 strokes. He can't use his right arm at all. He's so sweet and loves el libro de mormon. Another family has 5 kids and everytime we go over, all the kdis run up and say "sisterssss!!" and hug us. Ah i love it. I miss my nieces and nephews like crazy though. We live in a really nice apartment. But we can't drink the water. It literally is like we're in little Mexico.. i LOVE it! You can send letters and packages to our apartment. I'll be here for 12 weeks (or atleast that's the plan) so i'll give you a heads up when to start sending things to the mission home again. If you've sent things there i wont get them for 2 more weeks, until President Jones comes down for Zone Conference. But i'll get them eventually :) I got eaten alive by mosquitos a few days ago. This place is crazy. It's not that humid. But it's HOT. I got sunburned the other day while we were out knocking doors. It's crazy. After the first few doors, I just decided I couldnt be scared anymore. I have the power of God with me. I'm going to share my message with everyone I meet! We contact every person that walks by. People probably think we're crazy, but i dont care. I'm not ashamed of this Gospel. It makes me so happy. I'm thankful that I get to serve out here in Eagle Pass. I truly love it. I love this work. It's hard, and it's rough when people cancel appointments, but the good times definitely outweigh the bad. The missionaries are pretty much in charge of church. I found out 10 minutes before sacrament that i'm now the piano player for our branch (spanish speaking) and then my companions and i had to teach the gospel principles class. Haha i love the people so much. The Spanish branch decided it was fast sunday last week so I bore my testimony. It was a little intimadating in front of fluent speakers, pero esta bien.
AHH I love this work. I'm so thankful to be a missionary. I'm thankful for all of you and the examples you are to me!! Thank you.
I'm sorry I sound crazy in this email, we're in the library and have a time limit so i'm trying to fit everything in.
Our address is:
2295 Veterans Blvd. #9
Eagle Pass, Texas
78852
I love you all!!!!!
love,
marissa
please tell everyone that i will email or write them next time i can! I only have 7 minutes left and have to email my president real quick too. here's some more pics. I love you all! Tell emilie i will write her a letter or email her next week will you? And tell them fam I LOVE getting their emails. thank you!!!
love you!
we were pretending to be justin bieber haha
an awesome cake that an investigator made.. soo good. a bundt. haha i love my bundts!
love you!
we were pretending to be justin bieber haha
an awesome cake that an investigator made.. soo good. a bundt. haha i love my bundts!
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