I am in a trio!

November 3, 2010

Deisha, Me, Nadia, and Turaga

Yep.  I am now a part of a trio here in Juncos.  I am still with Hermana Turaga, who will be finishing on the 18th. And now we have a mini-missionary from our ward, Hermana Aldana (Ilia).  It is great.  I had a great relationship with Hermana Aldana when she was still in the ward and really missed here while she was serving in Cayey.  I am glad to be back with her.  We have so much fun together and we can really get a lot of work done.  I definitely feel a lot more pressure since I am the one who knows the area and has to do most of the planning.  After Turaga leaves I might be getting another mini-missionary to train, so that will be another bigger responsibility.  But, my motto with President is "I will believe it when I see it" so we'll see if the mini-missionary ends up over here in Juncos.
Things are really different without Krout, but I feel really good about this next transfer.  And I feel GREAT about staying in Juncos.  I was nervous that I would have to be the leader and talk a lot more and direct the lessons, but the Lord has really blessed me and everything has gone very well.  
We are working on the Primary program and I have been enlisted to play the piano.  I cannot express how poor the piano etiquette is here.  The chorister is a Nazi and if I ever mess up, she stops the song and makes me practice the measure until I get it right.  Keep in mind I am sight reading.  She also tries to come over to me and whisper in my ear while I am playing and expects me to answer back.  It is really hard to concentrate when she does that.  But I love being in the Primary, it is certainly much more fun than RS.
We had the most amazing ward activity ever.  One that Sister Barnhusrt and I had begun planning and Krout and I finished.  We did a life-size game board which we laid out with tape on the floor. The game was even complete with a jumbo dice. The members loved it!  Each time you landed on a yellow square the two teams would have to do a competition to advance 2 spaces.  We balloon popping contests, cracker whistling, and my favorite "Chubby bunny" (trying to see how many marshmallows you could put in your mouth and still audibly say "chubby bunny".  It was a huge success and I was so happy it went so well.  I was nervous because Sister Krout had already left which meant that I had to direct nearly all of it.  I had so much fun.
I love the members here in Juncos.  I really feel very close to them and so comfortable.  It has been such a blessing that I have been able to actually stay put in an area this long.  I feel like I can actually build long term relationships.  
Mom and Dad, it sounds like you really have had a lot of adventures in Peru already.  I am so glad that you could reminiscence the Halloween traditions of old.  The members here are so proud of my family when I tell them that I will be going home to Peru.  The are so impressed that my family speaks Spanish too.  
I have loved the recent letters from my roommates and friends.  I was thinking about how different our mission experiences are.  Each of us is dealing with a completely different culture and different sets of strengths and weaknesses.  Emily's letter just blew me away.  I can't imagine being in such a small town and also working with member referrals.  All of our missions are so different.
I am happy and excited the this next month.  Christmas is on it's way!  I can't believe we are already in November.  That means Rice con Gandules, Pasteles, Pavo, Flan and Tembleque for me.  And maybe cooler weather?  

Love you all

Hermana Palmer