HELLO?

One last picture with Sister Ereskon

February 24, 2010
Is anyone out there? I haven't received any emails from you all and I don't think my email is working at all. My emails are not sending.   
(We all sent her letters, but for whatever reason, Morgan hasn't received them?  I resent them all to both addresses)

Anyways, I have been transferred to Fajardo and I have a new companion, Sister Barnhurst. She is from West Valley Utah. I really like her. She is very lively and I always feel very relaxed when I am around her. It is interesting to see how different missionary work seems with a new companion and a new perspective. Missionary work seems so much more human. I feel like I can be myself, like I can have a personality. It is so wonderful.

Our apartment is also quite luxurious. It is probably twice the size of the old one and it has a WASHER AND DRYER!!! That means we save two hours and $4.00 every P-day! and we have an AC unit in the bedroom! We can only use it for an hour a day, but we like to turn it on during nightly planning so that when we’re done, we can go to bed in a nice cool room. It is a nice change to keep from sweating to death every night!

Fajardo is a fun and interesting place. Nearly everyone speaks English. My companion is still learning Spanish (She spent most of her mission on Barbados as well) so she chooses to speak English most of the time. We have a little branch with awesome members. There seems to be more of a push for missionary work here. The branch seems to be much more unified.

I am happy and excited to work here with Sister Barnhurst.

Sorry that my email was not longer. I am having serious problems with my email account.

I hope you are all well and happy. I love and miss you so much!
Hermana Palmer

Transfers

February 16, 2010

Well the big news of the week is that I have been transferred. I will be leaving tomorrow to work in Fajardo. My new companion will be Hermana Barnhurst, who thankfully I have met at a few of the meetings. Hermana Erekson will be staying here in Carolina, probably until the end of her mission in May.

Jeisa and Jose

I am very nervous about leaving. I feel like there is so much more to be done here in Carolina and I am sad that I will not be a part of it. It will be hard to say good-bye to many of the members, but I know that I will continue to learn and have good experiences in Fajardo. Looking back on Carolina, I am proud of the work I have done here. Although, I am sure many other missionaries could have done a better job, I can honestly say that I did the very best I knew how. Ricardo is doing so well. He passed the sacrament last week and went to some teaching appointments with both us, and the elders. We are teaching his son who is at least showing curiosity if not interest. I think that he will do well.

Last night I visited Jeisa's house to say goodbye. She was a menos activo who Hermana Erekson and I re-activated. She is so awesome. She fed us dinner and we shared a message with her and her husband, Jose. She thanked both of us for helping her get back to church and expressed her excitement for the new primary class she has been assigned. She has an awesome testimony, she is a returned missionary, but after moving to a new ward she just needed a little help getting comfortable in a new setting. It is incredible to think I actually made a difference for someone.

I am sad that I will not be here to see Carmen Acosta come back to church. She is another menos activo who has been progressing well, a real power-house of the ward before she went in-active. She is at a pivotal point and ultimately it is now her choice whether she will come back or not. I wish I could be here to see how that all unfolds.

President also gave us special permission to teach an investigator who lives outside of our area this past week. She doesn't not feel comfortable letting men, the elders, into her home. Her name is Mona and she is incredible!!! She is actually an older woman from Denmark and speaks English better than Spanish. I completely admire that woman. She has had a lot of experience with traveling the world and she is extremely intelligent. She has a lot of really, really good questions. Hermana Erekson actually began teaching her a year ago at the start of her mission and now has the chance to teach her again. We went to meet with her and we talked about some of her questions. I am amazed at how well she understands the doctrines. That is quite rare. Most of the questions were too hard to answer on the spot, but we have studied them out this past week and I have learned SO MUCH! The great thing about Mona is that she really wants to understand the basic doctrines. Her questions are relevant and I have come to understand more of the beautiful simplicity and importance of the basic ordinances of the gospel. I am devastated that I will not have the opportunity to teach her anymore, but so grateful for the brief experience I had with such and admirable woman.

Tonight is Hermana Carolina's birthday. She is probably the best friend I have in the ward. We have a Family Home Evening planned with her family and Ricardo tonight to celebrate. She doesn't even know that we know it is her birthday! This time we are bringing a piñata! I am so excited. She has really been such a friend and support to both Hermana Erekson and I. We spent many P-days in her home and we just love her cute little family!

Also this week, Hermana and I found the greatest little fruit stand that has the most amazing mangos for cheap! Oh, it is such a find! There is nothing more delicious than an authentic mango. Seriously, just wipe that silly little image of a store bought mango out of your mind. This does not even compare!!!!

 Familia Ferrer

The elders are also doing well. This Sunday they stayed after church to watch the Testaments with an investigator and eat popcorn in celebration of Valentines Day. I guess, The Testaments is the best chick-flick available on the mission--although I would vote for Legacy.

I learned some neat Puerto Rican cooking tricks. Cooking in Puerto Rico has been a bit of a struggle because they do not sell Green Enchilada sauce. That eliminates most of the recipes I know!! But Hermana Garcia taught me I can chop up a nice pumpkin and put it in my rice for some added flavor and nutrition. Hermana Carolina also taught us how to make papusas or home-made corn tortillas (she is from Honduras). They were delicious at her house, but not quite as successful when we made them on our own.

Oh, we knocked doors with Hermana Mercedes this week. Mercedes is a crazy recent convert. She is one of the sweetest people I know, but also one of the most dysfunctional. It was so funny to go with her! She shouts "Buenos Tardes!" with the most nasally Puerto Rican accent possible and she always gave us the funniest introduction. At every house when someone came out she would say "Buenos Tardes. I am Mercedes Vazquez. These two are missionaries, they are not from here. They are from another country, but they are learning Spanish to share the gospel. We are going from house to house sharing the word of God. These two have something to say, will you listen to them?" It was such a funny little speech, but the people were so much more willing to listen to us. It was amazing! We were so grateful for Mercede's little magic touch!

I am very nervous to go to Fajardo, and extremely apprehensive of that whole awkward phase of getting to know new companion. It is hard to go from complete strangers to 24/7 buddies in a matter of seconds. I am sure it will be exciting and educational. Love you all and hope you are doing well!

Hermana Palmer

Working in Carolina

February 10, 2010
Missionary work is definitely full of roller-coaster bumps. The high this week is that I feel better than ever about my relationships with the ward members. I am beginning to have a personality to them. I am not just a faceless figure behind a name-tag. I really love them. They are so good and so noble in their testimonies. They have such kindness in their heart. I feel like Sister Erekson and I have really gained their trust this week and they are more and more willing to let us into their homes. On Sunday we are going to visit every member in the ward and give them Valentines. We are also going to make cupcakes for the bishopric. I think we are really making headway with them and gaining their trust, which is so wonderful. We need their help and their prayers so much. We have had incredible difficulty in finding investigators to teach as  an entire mission. Members are really the root of all missionary work.

We have also seen a little miracle this week. Ricardo's son, also named Ricardo, has finally agreed to let us teach him. He has really had an opportunity to see how the gospel has changed his father's life and brightened his smile. (Ashley, I wish you could meet Ricardo's son. He is a huge 6 foot plus black man. Complete with diamond studs. He is a manly-man. But the funniest part is that his nick-name is "Pucho". He prefers we call him that so we don't confuse him with his dad. Can you imagine calling this huge muscly guy "Pucho"? It is so strange.)

Anyway, we have only had one lesson with him, but it was a powerful one. We truly witnessed an answer to prayers. Earlier in the day Sister Erekson taught the gospel principles class about missionary work. She asked everyone to write down a name of someone we wanted to share to gospel with. Ricardo wrote down his son's name, not knowing that when we came to house that afternoon we would be inviting his son to be baptized. At the lesson, when we began to teach Pucho Ricardo's heart was truly touched. The spirit was strong. The members present also bore firm and loving testimony. It was incredible. It was exactly how I imagined missionary work would be. (well, maybe I imagined a house with 4 walls and a roof on it... and a little carpet ;D) The Lord does allow us to see miracles once in a while. I can't say that I know that Pucho will be baptized, or that Ricardo will completey understand this answer to his prayers, but it was very special for me to be truly an instrument in the Lord's hands.

Also this week, Hermana Erekson had a fun encounter with a little lizard in our apartment. I have been dreading that day since I arrived. Fortunately it was very small, but we had some trouble getting it out. Hermana Erekson bravely tried to catch it in her hands to no avail, but in the end I was able to sweep it into the dustpan and trap it with the broom and toss it outside. Yes, I have made great progress. It was an exciting experience.

It sounds like AJM has been quite the affair. It would have been my dream to have been there.
About the headbands the little Chilean family would love the headbands! The oldest is 16, 8 and then a 5 year-old. Not too frilly on the first but the younger two can be fancy. They would love that. As for me, I think my accessory days may be coming to an end. I am going to ask President about it. I am really depressed about it. Sometimes I feel like a nun.

Celebrating Hermana Karolina's B-day at Ricardo's house

Your trip to Sweden sounds like it will be a blast. I can not imagine 3 happier travelers than Grandma, Steven, and you. That will be very pleasant. Congrats to Steven on his paper, that is a huge accomplishment!

Your lesson is an intersting topic. President Bednar talked a lot about that topic when he came. I will try to write some thoughts down.

time is short and I have always been a slow typer! Love you all!!!

Hermana Palmer

Changes in Puerto Rico

February 3, 2010

Well the big news of this week is that as of July 2010, the Puerto Rico, San Juan East Mission will be dissolved. The two missions of Puerto Rico, San Juan East and West will basically be combined and under one Mission President. We are also, however, losing a few islands. Barbados (in our mission) will be going to the West Indies Mission. And the West mission will be loosing the A,B,C islands (Aruba and those other two that I can't remember) which will go to the Dominican Republic Mission. President Dewsnup called us in for a special conference to announce this change. We still don't know all of the details but we are allowed to talk about it and tell the fam at home. You should be able to read all about it in the Church news in March. Pretty exciting changes. That means that the PRSJ East mission lasted for only 3 years. Presidente Dewsnup was the first and last president of that mission. Pretty crazy. So, I am excited for the changes in July to see what they will all bring. I am certain there is going to be quite the adjustment phase. And the best news of all: Hermana Miller is going to be in my mission! Yeah!

Yesterday was Ricardo's Birthday! He didn't know that we knew it, but we have access to a lot of paperwork and I happened to notice that his birthday was coming up. He is so amazing. Hermana Erekson and I made him a cake and invited the Familia Nieves to come to a birthday party. Ricardo thought we were just coming over to teach a lesson and we completely surprised him when we came out of the car with two cakes complete with birthday candles and the Puerto Rican Birthday song. For his gift, we gave him his own copy of the Triple combination and a picture of his baptism. He was super excited since he has been asking a lot about the D&;C lately. He is so great. We taught him about missionary work last night and invited him to come teach a lesson with us on Sunday evening. He had no problems with that idea and wanted to know what we would be teaching and how he could study for it. I love Ricardo, and of course, the Familia Nieves!

So this week we have been doing a lot of "Menos Activo hunting". We have been having a lot of success with less actives and I am beginning to see how important it is to work with them also. Here are a few stats on the less active situation in our ward. Of the 58 families on our side of the ward boundaries 11 are active, or a least semi-active. That is ridiculous. I think in my ward at home there is one less active family. But I can see how easy it is for recent converts to fall away. It is really depressing to see how easily they just forget the things they once knew and rationalize it all away on one doubt. But, anyway we are working a lot with the less-active I mentioned before who fell away because she would not pay her tithing, Carmen . She has been less active for many many years so it is hard, but she is really showing a desire to return to church. We had an amazing lesson with her in which we listed all of the blessings we can receive when we come to church. At the end she went through the list and said that she was missing out on a lot of blessings that she wanted. (She also asked us what are names were, which considering all the other missionaries she has mindlessly called "Hermana” is a huge compliment). Tomorrow we are going to help her write her own plan to come back to church. We have asked her to prayerfully select a date that she will come back and start to pay her tithing. Then she is going to write all of the steps that she will need to take; leading up to that date. We can really feel the spirit when we are with her. I know that Hermana Erekson and I have been inspired in the things we should say and teach her.

BAHHH! Sometimes missionary work is so hard, but it is times like that when it is worth it.

District Meeting:  Hermana Erekson and Palmer, Elder Patton and Periera Do Carmo

I have also seen a lot in that past weeks that the Lord is trying to teach me balance in my life. I am the type of person that likes to make plans on a large scale. If I did things my way, we would be dedicating one week to some huge finding activity, then another to some big "get people to church activity". But I can clearly see that the Lords wants us to work with moderation in all things. I have really been making an effort to find balance in our day, within working with members, finding investigators, less-actives, church attendance, etc. It is a big adjustment, but I have faith that the Lord will bless our area if we are working his way.

Oh, every day is an adventure here, but it is all trying to teach me something.

I love you so much!!
Hermana Palmer

Wow I wish I could be there for the AJM affair. That would be the complete fulfillment of my dreams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really. Oh, mom when I come back you have to find someone frilly that I can sew a prom dress for.

Please send me all the headbands you can!!! My motto here is kind of "just don't ask". It is better to ask for forgiveness that to ask for permission. ;D I love the skirt you sent me and the read shirt!!! The black plaid one was too big, but it fits Hermana Erekson perfectly. If you can find a solid skirt that will kind of match everything and isn't too hot it would be greatly appreciated. But I know how hard it is to find skirts so no rush.

Also, can you burn me some CD's of the Spanish Book of Mormon we have on Itunes. There are a lot of illiterate people here and it makes things really hard. If you could include: the Intro, 2 nefi 31, 3 nefi 1, alma 32, moroni 10, and witht he extra space the begingin chapters of 1 nefi. If you want to send me like 3 CD's we can see if it works out.

Also can you send me some conference talks on the spirit of discernment for me to read. I would like to study that.

Thank you for the Valentines! I am so excited! Also thank you for the non-cheesy music you sent me for Christmas. Anything non-cheesy is greatly appreciated.