El Campo

May 19, 2010

Hello from the beautiful countryside of Puerto Rico. This last week and transfer has brought a lot of changes into my life. First, my companion. Hermana Castillo is a newly arrived missionary from Coamo, Puerto Rico. She is very sweet and kind. She also talks VERY quickly, complete with all the strange pronunciations of Puerto Rico. It has been an adventure trying to understanding her, but I have already learned a ton. She has one transfer (6weeks) on the mission so we are both definitely in a learning phase. It has been so strange to arrive to a new area and immediately have to take the lead in a sense. Hermana Castillo is still learning a lot about the mission rules and how to teach, do follow-up, etc. I have definitely had to "suck it up" and do a lot of the hard things I hate to do so I can be a good example to her. Some great things about Hermana Castillo are that she is very, very real. Some of the experiences she shares and testimonies she bears just blow me away. She has had real experiences and can really relate with the trials and opposition our investigators are facing. She is excellent with heart-felt testimony. She also is very sensitive to the spirit. She is always alert to promptings and feelings she might be receiving. I have a feeling that we have to potential to be a very powerful companionship because her strengths are my weaknesses and visa versa. Hna Castillo also makes me laugh because she is extremely disorganized and sentimental. I know that I am organized and focused. We are a great balance.

The transition to a new companion, however, has been a total shock. I have never had to confront so much the contrast in culture. In Chile, in my previous areas, the people closest to me have always been of my same culture. Now I feel completely surrounded by people who don't think like me or talk like me. Previously I have always been able to laugh or joke about the contrast of culture of with friends or family. But now often I feel so very alone as I listen to people talk around me about topics or ideas I don't understand. It strikes me that even our testimonies are SO different. I thought everyone felt the spirit or build their testimonies on similar feelings or experiences. Not so. Hermana Castillo and my testimonies are composed of completely different thoughts are perceptions. It has been very difficult for me to express my thoughts and feelings. I know that I am going to learn so much these next few months.

Ok. The area: I am in an incredible large area that covers two towns and miles and miles of terrain with houses nestled into mountains and niches throughout. That means using kilometer markings and natural landmarks to find houses. Also, Hermana Castillo does not have a license so that means I jumped directly into the drivers seat. We have gotten lost so many many times. Hermana Castillo has been here only a short time and only knows how to get to about 6 houses. On top of that she (like many other members of my family) does not know right from left. As you can imagine we have made a comical amount of U-turns. I know that I have learned a lot on my mission. 6 months ago I would have been so stressed and frustrated. We are learning to laugh a lot.

Hermana Castillo and I

Our house is on the side of a very steep mountain. It has a gorgeous view but it is a little hard to reach. Exercising is also nearly impossible. I am not running up those steep slopes! We instead take walks in the morning. I am trying to find a way to get a little bit better of a work out. In order to arrive I have to navigate the windy very narrow roads which in its widest parts can barely squeeze enough room for cars to pass. My favorite adventure has been that in all the curves and turns I have to honk my horn to alert any cars that might be coming towards us (that took along time for me to understand from Hermana Castillo's instructions in Spanish). The road at night is absolutely littered with frogs (I saw my first coqui frog!) and I even saw a fatty snake crawling on the road. That was a horrible experience. We both screamed as we imagined that thing crawling into our house. (I tried to make my Grandpa proud and run it over, but I think I missed.)

Our next door neighbor has about a billion roosters. He raises them for cock fighting which is very big here in Puerto Rico. Especially out here in the country. We pass a cock fighting stadium on the way to church in Juncos.

Another funny episode worth mentioning. I left most of my food in Fajardo. I did not want to bother dragging it all with me and I did not want to leave the poor elders who whitewashed the area with out any food. I knew that Sister Borders would be leaving a lot of food since she was leaving for Barbados. WRONG! The cupboards were nearly bare and come to find out Hermana Borders is lactose intolerant?? and all sorts of other weird food allergies. I arrived to a few liters of almond milk and low glycemic peanut butter (disgusting) That was basically it. Thankfully I brought tons of oatmeal and the Lord has proportioned just enough food from members to survive. Morale of the story. Always bring your own food and leave the elders to fend for themselves!

It has been and exciting week and I have to so much more to write. It will have to wait another week.
I am happy and loving the adventure of the mission!

Hermana Palmer