First off, super sorry for the long wait. The P-Day out here is on Mondays, and I got here last Monday night, so I missed it. From here on out though, it is going to be on Mondys that I can talk. Also, I will have to abide by the 6:00 pm end of P-Day. Which means 4:00 back there, just a heads up. On to the weekly report!
This first week, put simply, was wild. After arriving, I was assigned to my companion/trainer and he explained what was happening. In a mission (eg Orlando, Florida Spanish Mission) there are zones, and each companion is assigned to a zone. Every 6 weeks there are "transfers" where you may switch companions nad leave your zone. 95% of the time, they only send one missionary out of a zone, so there is at least one person in a zone that knows the area, people, situations, etc. I get to start my training in the other 5%, which they call Whitewashing. This means, my companion and I (obviously) have never served in this zone and have no idea what is going on! Also, my trainer is on his 3rd month and his Spanish is as bad as mine, and we know nothing of this zone! Baptism by fire is FUN! I am not stressed or terrified, whatsoever! Yeah! We also had to share our apartment with another companionship untill yesterday, because the office was having troubles getting theirs done, so that has been fun. Getting used to the schedule has been pretty intense too, we really work our butts off out here. Its really nice to feel like I am being very useful from 6:30 to 9:30...but also extremelly exhausting XD, I'm sure I'll get used to it though. Not too much happened lesson wise this week, just a lot of ligistical stuff. We only got to teach 2 real lessons and one was english and with a guy named Robert, he answered the door without a shirt (not a fun view, haha) but has some really awesome faith, the other was the awesome 70+ cuban lady named Dunnia with a heart of gold, I really liked her. We did do quite a bit of door knocking and street contacting though (knocking on doors and seeing if interested and walking around and talking to people on the street to see if they are interested), and I realized really quick that we have to get real used to rejection and form some thick skin. I never really thought about how much people would get offended/angry when they just see a missionary, kind of wierd. We also got kicked out of a trailer park thing, that was fun XD. A lady with a "no soliciting" sign with a gun on it saw us walking on the other side of the street and got real mad, and yelled interesting things. She then called the office and told them something, so a nice lady came by and said that she was super sorry, but she had to kick us out, she was super nice tho, I liked her. Really fun experience overall XD. Now that this paragraph is an essay, lets talk about the climate of the wonderful Sunshine State of Florida!
I do not understand how people can enjoy this climate. haha, but seriously, it is so different here. I am super lucky that I got here when I did, because they are on a downslope in the weather, so its only been like high 80's (PS that is still hot). I am told that it should drop to low 70's by november and stay that way until like Feburary, then it warms up back to the 90's by May and basically always over 100 during most of July and August...I am so excited. I also get to experience what humidity is, I cant say that I like it XD. I have literally been in saunas that feel less hot and wet, it is very strange. My skin just feels wet, basically always. We actually have this wierd bag in our apartment that sucks the water out of the air in the room, its been up for like two weeks and it is full, like a full ziplock bag of water, really neat. It does have some benefits though. For example, I never have to iron anything here. I can throw on whatever wrinkled piece of packed clothing I have, walk outside for like 5 minutes, and it looks and feels like it just got back from a dry cleaners, 10/10. Also, the water in the air causes everyone to sweat buckets, so I don't feel out of place sweating a ton. Yeah, its really different, I think I should be able to get accustomed to it. Really gonna miss that Utah weather for two years. I will miss snow, haha, the precipitation is wacky here. They call it "rain" and it usually only happens during the rainy season between July and August, but it is insane. I got to experience a "late shower" a few day ago. We ran 10 yards from the door to the car...and I was drenched to the underwear. It is literally just a waterfall that covers a city for like 10 minutes. It is terrifying, but also really neat to watch from inside, because the streets just become rivers, and you watch all of the trash float away, probably really useful for the city now that I think of it XD. I think it is pretty neat, my companion loathes it though, haha.
My companion/trainer is actaully a pretty neat-o dude. He is from Portland, Oregon and has only been out here for three months XD. They had a big shipment of Spanish missionaries come in with me, so they had to use all of the current Spanish missionaries to train, I got the newest guy! Between us there is like 5 months worth of Spanish and being a missionary, its pretty funny honestly. He is super into cars and really enjoys rap music (have not told him how much I hate rap yet). He is a really tell-it-like-it-is guy, which I can respect. He is a really awesome missionary though. He has a saying that he sticks by and I really hope that I can adopt: "fear no man". Basically, don't be afraid to talk to anyone, out message is one of joy and blessings, and worst case scenario, they get mad and say mean things, but than you never see them again. It makes sense, but when I talk to all these people, I just get super nervous and start to freak a little, haha. I hope I can get over that too though.
I honestly realy like it out here (on a mission, not Florida...yet), it feels awesome to just feel so useful to the Lord and I really am excited to find those few souls that are ready to hear the message! Some of the General Conference talks were also really helpful, solid pick-me-ups. Hope y'all had the chance to watch/listen as well. I am so grateful that I have this chance to be out here, and for all of you back home cheering me on! I love every single one of you! I really am grateful for your help in making this possible! Have an awesome week, talk to y'all later! Love Ya!
<3 Elder Fox
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Feliz Cumpleanos to Jaxon, Liam, and Tori! Love Y'all! Have a great one!
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(Pls send Birthdays if you could, I want to remember them)
Spanish Practice:
Bien, durante mi segunda dia, mi companero me llevó a la tienda a comprar comida para la semana. Yo estaba super confundido y perdido (el primero dia fue rapido y loco), entonces yo compre algunas cosas extranas XD. Yo he estado viviendo de leche, cereales, arroz, huevos, y pizza congelada. 10/10 lo recomiendo.
Pictures:
1. Strange dehumidifier bag filled with water
2-3. Soup kitchen/food pantry we volunteered at
4. The freezer of 4 teenage dudes (pizza, nuggets, and fries) XD
5. One of the many modified cars that I have pics of (this one is actually using it seyup to cross over the median to turn into a parking lot)
6-7. The "Great and Spacious Building" or "Top Floor Eyesore" (small story with this one, a dude tries to build this MEGA-CHURCH a while ago, but ran out of funds XD, this is the result, also fun scripture reference for those wanting a good laugh: New Testament Luke 14:28-30)
8. Chocolate canoli and Tres Leches from an awesome spanish bakery down the street, super cheap and really good
9. My awesome bed-chair for the first week
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