I Ate a Tuna Fish Sandwhich!

So aparently my health problems aren't over even though I'm out of the MTC. Last Sunday, I twisted my ankle going down a flight of stairs that had this weird triangle step where the stairs turned. It hurt SO bad. But I'm alive and still in commission even though sometimes it doesn't feel so good. I guess this just means that Satan really doesn't want me to do missionary work or something right? Either that, or I'm just one big continual clumsy health problem. haha

 

So the bronx has all these bodega's everywhere, which are little corner stores sort of like the stores at gas stations. Most of them sell food and the first time we went to one, I was pretty aprehensive because all I could think of was disgusting 7-11 hot dogs. But you get in there, and there's like a real kitchen with 4 domincan ladies cooking up a full on meal. It's crazy! But delicious. So if you ever decide to come visit the bronx, make sure you eat at one of the bodegas. In other food related new, I ate a tuna fish sandwhich (which you may not know makes me want to barf) and I didn't die. I just drank a lot of juice and ate a lot of toastadas in between bits. We get fed a lot of toastadas out here. It's a big dominican thing. They basically take platanos, which are these huge green banana things, and cute them up, fry them, smash them, and then fry them again. They're sort of like french fries, but domincan version. And maybe healthier because it's sort of a banana? Or maybe I just want to tell myself they're healthier.

 

I think I mentioned Tianabel last week. She is still super awesome! We were a little bit worried for a minute because she canceled an appointment we had on Friday and she told us she wouldn't be able to come to conference. But then she texted us on Sunday during the morning session and told us she was watching it at home and was really enjoying it. I guess she just hadn't been feeling good. So we met up with her for an appointment on Monday and it went super well. Her daughter and her mom sat in on the lesson and the spirit was so strong. We have another appointment with her tomorrow and we're going to try to set a real baptismal date. Her daughter told us that she wants to get baptized though, which was super cute, but we told her she would have to wait two years until she was 8. Tianabel also told me that my Spanish has improved a lot in a week, which made me feel super awesome even though I still have a ton to learn.

 

I did attempt to give my first baptismal commitment the other day though. We have another investigator, Eledino, who is the husband of a convert of one year. He is also really awesome but doesn't want to commit yet. So we're going to keep working with him and try to figure out what his concerns are. He's really quiet so it's been hard for us to fully know what he needs. We have an awesome member coming to our lessons with him though and I think that has helped us a lot.

 

Conference was awesome! I'm still in shock that they changed the mission ages! That's so cool though! I think it's really going to be a blessing for everyone. We went to the church for all the session of conference but unfortunatly the connection there wasn't super awesome. It worked all of Sunday, which was a blessing but on Saturday there were a few parts that cut out in the first session and I basically didn't see any of the second session. We got there about an hour late because the appointment we had in between the sessions went long and then once we got there, the connection broke for the other hour. So I only saw probably 5 minutes of that session. I'm excited to read the talks in the Ensign next month though.

 

I've discovered now that I'm friends with everyone that we have an awesome zone and an especially awesome district. We actually all see each other more than I thought because my whole district serves in the same ward (there are 8 of us total) a lot of members invite all eight of us over for dinner together. They are all really good missionaries and I'm really glad I have the opportunity to serve with them and learn from them.

 

Love you all a ton! Thanks for your support!!

Hermana Parkin