The People Who Changed my Life and Must be Included

Bruni Aponte

Xiomara Feliciano Maldonado

Lymari Diaz

Cesar Colon

Maritza Santana and Jose Blanco, Angelica Sanabria

Maria y Leoncito

The Andersons

Ysandra Rodrigues, Cesar Colon, and Shayrie Rodriguez

The Iannones

Tammy, Julio, Julian, and Gabby

Dally Maldonado

Loving Puerto Rico

Dear Family,

The District: Snow, Mason, Krout, Palmer, Christiansen, and Pezo

This week has been another great amazing week.  We have so much work to do here.  We had a district meeting with President Alvarado and he once again emphasized that we should focus our efforts on less-active work.  I think that is a great and wonderful plan and I am relieved that we now are commissioned to do this, because let me tell you the field is white.  There are so many members who have slipped through the cracks into inactivity and I think it the quickest and strongest way to build up the ward. There are so many GOOD less actives who just do not understand that they are NEEDED.

Another thing I like is that I have actually been in a ward more than 3 months.  I feel like I am growing really bonded with the members.  It is such a neat experience to have roots in an area.  I feel like I am a part of the Juncos ward rather than a visitor.

Highlights of this week was probably the Stake Primary activity.  Very Puerto Rican in many ways.  I was enlisted to play the piano for one of the portions of the programs.  Originally I was asked to just play two Primary songs.  These poor people know nothing about pianos or pianists.  They asked me 5 minutes before the program started if I could play the opening and closing hymn.  I assumed it would be from the hymn book.  Wrong.  Two strange primary songs I have never seen or heard of in my life.  I was completely sight reading in front of a huge crowd and those songs were weird.  Also it is important to note that they had set up the room so that the piano was behind the curtain.  That means I was basically in a separate room and had absolutely no idea what was going on.  The leader was so frustrated that I "couldn't keep up" with what was going on.  They were adding extra verses and tags and I couldn't even see anyone.  Thank goodness I had my companion to whisper "start now", 'end now", they're still going", etc.  It was an adventure but it turned out well.

I don't think I could ever emphasize enough that Puerto Ricans know how to party.  This Primary activity was MEGA and since we were not allowed to bring our car to Caguas we caught a ride with a member and were there to witness the entire affair.  It was sponsored by Banco Popular.  To begin there was a special bell choir that had been invited to play prelude.  Then there was a play with a spiritual message, then there was the Banco Popular mascot who did a show complete with them songs, puppets, man inside a giant sized bear costume, and outrageously loud music.  Then there was a professional family band who played typical songs of Puerto Rico, then there was a safety demonstration by the firemen, (all throughout this indoor portion of the program adult were throwing free coloring books, crayons, cookies, juice, and candies provided by Banco Popular)  All of this took about 3- 31/2 hours and then we began the outdoor portion.  There was a massive blow up slide, a huge barbecue, and of course the fire truck.  Puerto Ricans know how to party.

Helping Christina paint her room

Our investigaor, Christina is doing really well and I absolutely love teaching her.  She is extremely intelligent and eager to learn.  She reminds me very much of Ashely.  I feel like I am teaching one of my best friends.  I really feel grateful to be provided to opportunity to teach her and get to know her. 

I am so grateful to the Lord for my companion and all of the things I have been learning from her in the last weeks.  The Lord had brought me very, very low but it has opened my eyes to so many things and I can feel my entire approach and composition as a missionary change.  Everything is so much more human.  I am probably the most relaxed I have ever been on my mission.  I am so grateful.

The time is short, but I love you and hope the best for you all.

Hermana Palmer

PS. The cockroaches in our house are dwindling in number.  I am very relieved. 

Going out to eat with Ilia

That is a ton of meat

First letter, Sept 29, 2009

Dear family and friends,

First off, happy birthday to Dad. I hope you enjoyed your birthday present! I thought it very fitting!

Well, the MTC is definitely a direct branch from the strict rules of BYU. One of the first sentences directed to me were, "Welcome Sister, you need to wear nylons." The MTC is so emphatic about rules it is overwhelming. They list so many things that you can and cannot do, that I couldn't keep track at first. But looking back, I was planning on doing all those things anyway, so I shouldn’t have even worried about it.
One of my favorite things to see here at the MTC is the many victims of gym time hobbling around campus. You would not believe how many crutches and casts are here as a result of aggressive gym time. I am more than happy to just stay on my elliptical and stare out the window at the beautiful mountains.

I initially had two companions. One, Hermana Lindquist, recently tested out into advanced Spanish. She had studied Spanish for 6 years (2 in college) and she also did a service abroad project in Guatemala. Wow, language is her thing. She is very talented and she can conjugate like I have never seen. We are all very happy that she was able to move, but we will miss her because she was very sweet and peaceful. Now Hermana Erickson is my only companion. She is from Boise Idaho (not the farming side of the state, as we are often reminded). She was formerly the cheer captain at her school. She is very fun and friendly. I admire her because she is able to talk to people and meet people so easily. She is the typical high school Spanish graduate, along with the rest of my class. She knows a lot more than she thinks, but she is afraid to speak. I am trying to help her with her confidence.
I love my district. It is like having 15 younger brothers (we are officially the largest district in the MTC since we have 17 missionaries compared to the usual 10 or 11). They are definitely YOUNGER brothers. Often they do strange things. But generally they make me laugh so hard. I am fond of all of them and proud that they decided to come on a mission. One Elder is from Gilbert and he was good friends with Kevin Curtis, Steve Frost, Casey Peterson, Ali Kerr, etc. It nice to indirectly know someone! It seems like he is eager to become friends and strengthen those Mesa ties. Life for the Sisters is very different from the Elders. To get to our hall there are 3 check points where you have to swipe your card to verify that you are a sister, not an Elder. Life is pretty strict on the two floors of the building where ALL of the sisters live (6 per room!) We hear crazy stories from the Elders about toga parties and Samoans who eat all of their food.
I love studying Spanish! I forget sometimes how beautiful that language is. But, in the evenings my mouth gets sore from using the different muscles, just like it did in Chile. I am good with the accent and fluidity, but as we all thought, I stink with conjugation. Usually I am right when speaking, but I CANNOT write. There is a tutor here there and I am hoping that she can help me finally see how conjugation is supposed to work. (Something all my other teachers could not do)

At the MTC, Satan is hard at work. I have had SO MUCH trouble sleeping at night because of worry and stress. At the beginning I was having so much trouble (yes, mom I tried Tylenol PM) that I decided I had to see my branch president. What a powerful testimony of the priesthood! I was unsure if he would be able to help me because he doesn't know me at all. But as we talked he knew exactly what I needed to here. He reassured me that it was acceptable for me to be here, despite the fact that I never felt a specific calling from the Lord and promised me that those that I love will be blessed because of my service. He also recommended that I get a blessing of both health and comfort. I asked my district leader if he would be able to do so. He is a faithful young man and it was so inspiring to see the true power of God to work through such young and inexperienced men. It is not to say that things are not still hard, but I have directly felt the blessings of the priesthood. I know that this gospel is true and the Savior knows and loves each of us personally. I rejoice in the opportunity to feel His love!

I love you all, but my time is SHORT!

Hermana Palmer

We had a baptism!

Breaking into the font a few hours beforehand

On Saturday we had a baptism!  It was the best baptism yet.  Both Airet and Arihesly (Amerfis's daughters) were baptized.  I don't know who was more excited, us, Amerfis, or the girls.They got there really earlier to try on the jumpers and make sure everything was ok. We had an awesome attendance of the baptism as well.  Normally your lucky if you get 5 members to come to a baptism, but for this one there were probably 30 people.  We had to open the overflow of the Primary room to make room for everyone to fit.  Amerfis and her family have certainly been opened with open arms. 

Sunday, we ate dinner with Tammy and Julio.  Julio made us his special recipe of "Churrasco"".  So delicious!  Julio is an awesome cook. I love being with that family.  I can really feel a different spirit in their home from when I first started coming to now.  Julio also had a little surprise for us.  He invited to Stake President to come over and eat with us as well.  I was really grateful that we had a good message prepared to share with everyone! ; )  President Alvarado knows Tammy from when they were kids together, so obviously she has a special place in his heart.  He always asks me about her when he sees me.  President Alvarado invited me to come to Tammy and Julio's temple wedding in April of 2012.  I told President I would be there.  He will certainly be there. Now all we have to do is invite Tammy and Julio and make sure they will be there!  Ha.

Bruni is doing great and told us that she is back in the church to stay.  We visited her last night and she told us of the incredible peace she has felt since she came back to the church and all the incredible friendships she has made.

This week Sister Barker and I came across another less-active of many years.  Her name is Millie Diaz.  We actually met her in the parking lot of Walgreens and she told us that she was baptized in the Mormon church when she was 10 years old.  It's been about 30 years since she has been to church.  We were able to meet with her briefly yesterday to kind of get to know her.   She has had a very hard past and has many,many questions about he church.  But you can just see that she has a hunger and a thirst for the gospel that us hard to come by.  I really think that she has been prepared to come back to the church at this time, but really she will be the one to determine that.

I absolutely love Juncos!  The people here are so amazing. Emily Anderson is getting baptized this Saturday and we are both happy that I will be here for her baptism!

Hermana Palmer

A trip to Humacao

 February 16, 2010

Dear Family,

Well, last week was a fun Pday trip.

I think I mentioned that I was going to tour Humacao with Nadia and Ilia.  It was fun and interesting.  Nadia took us to Palmas del Mar, which is a huge, resort/condo/gated community.  It is a huge terrain with really, really expensive homes, golf courses, boat docks, a mall, a hotel and a casino all inside.  The entire properties is huge and you have to drive a good ways to get between the different sections.  There are some members of the church who live in one of the gated communities inside so local people live there too, but it all seemed like a huge resort fantasy world in there.  We mostly just looked around and marvelled at the different lifestyle of all the people who live in there. 

There were a lot of American Tourist and even more retired Americans.  It was strange to see them all walking and driving around in beach clothes and tennies.  I think Hermana Barker captured our reaction pretty accurately:  I can't believe people come here and think this is what Puerto Rico is really like.  If only they could see the craziness and quirkiness on the other side of the gate.

I enjoyed it though just chatting with Ilia and Nadia.

This Saturday we are hving a baptism!  Airet and Arihesly (Amerfis'daughters) are going to be baptized along with Emily Anderson.  I am so excited.  The ward is really excited.  They have really embraced Amerfis' family right into the ward.  Those girls are so cute!

Bruni also came to church again this Sunday all on her own.  She is really happy there.  I never thought she would ever come back and certainly not so effortlessly.  She loves Relief Society and is not afraid to put herself out there.  I think she is planning on staying permanently!

Yesterday I was visiting Aida, a former less-active I have been working with for a long time.  Sister Krout and I challenged her back in September to read the entire Book of Mormon.  She is now reading in 3 Nephi.  She shared a sweet and simple testimony that really touched me.  She said:  "I have changed a lot in the past few months.  It is because of this book."  It is true even the simplest things in the gospel change our character.  I have noticed a difference in her.  You can really see a light in her eyes that wasn't there before. 

As Christina would say.  "What is it with Mormons?  They all look different than everybody else."  And as Sister Krout would say "It's the mormon glow!"  I am starting to see the glow in Christina too.  She got called to be a Primary teacher and she is taking her calling very seriously.  She has also taken it upon herself to organize activities for the young single adults of this and the surrounding wards.

Ilia has continued to be a huge blessing in my life.  She is so excited and nervous to go to Mexico for her mission.  I love just talking to her like a friend.  We are having similar emotions as she begins her mission and I finish mine.  She is so awesome.

Tomorrow is Zone Conference.  It will be interesting to see what goes on there.  I am sure it will be exciting as always with President Alvarado.

Love you all

Hermana Palmer

Feb 9, 2010
Juncos is amazing!
This past week Sister Barker and I have been sharing a missionary plan, prepared by Bishop Maldonado, to the members to help them participate in missionary work.  We have a brochure where member write down 2 families they want to share the gospel with and then write goals of 3 actions they will take to gradually invite them to come to church or meet with the missionaries.  It is actually a very well prepared plan and the members have been really excited. 
I have been so impressed as we have invited members to share the gospel.  Usually they tell us that they are already working with 2 or 3 people.  It has really surprised me.  In all of my time in Juncos I have never seen the members so excited about missionary work.  We visited the Andersons, Maldonados, Carrasquillos, Zayas, Cabrera, Valentín and Santiago families to share the brochure.  All of which told us they already had begun to share with other families.  I love it.
The Andersons are so much fun for me.  They are the house of 3 girls and the Dad reminds me so much of my Dad.  They just got back from Disney world and loved it.  I had to ask Brother Anderson if he stood in line for all the Disney princesses.  He told me that he just sat on the bench and took a nap.  That sounds about right.  They are doing amazing on missionary work too.  They have about 5 families they are working with.  They have really influenced a lot of their co-workers and are sharing church articles, movies, and are now preparing to invite them over for FHE.  That is where success in missionary work comes from--the members. And Brother Anderson could not wait to tell us that he shared the gospel with the manager of Chick-fil-A while they were at Disney.  He even looked up the managers' email online and emailed him while we were at his house.  It was funny how excited he was.  I love their family SO much!
This week at church we had a miracle.  We have been working with a less-active for a few weeks.  (Actually a less-active referred to us by the Anderson family!)  Her name is Bruni.  She was baptized in 1987 and hasn't been to church basically since she was baptized.  We have been visiting her just a little bit and invited her to church, but she did not want to commit.  It is interesting because she has been going through some difficulties with her son and everytime she feels depressed she says that she remembers the Mormon church.  She says she can't explain why.  The answer is clear to me: The Spirit!  Anyways, we invited her to church but she seemed really non-committal.  But when we arrived on Sunday she was already there sitting and waiting.  It blew me away.  She found the church on her own by a map I had given her the first day that I met her.  The Andersons were shocked as well.  They had no idea that she was so interested.  Bruni loved church and especially Relief Society.
When people are ready they make changes in their life.  That was a miracle to me.
Juncos is the best area ever!  It has been hard to be here so long, but there are always going to be hard things in an area.  I am so grateful that I have been able to see the growth of the ward and the growth in my life as I have served here in JUNCOS.
I have learned and grown so much.  I feel that my faith and personality has been shaped and molded by the Lord.

Hermana Palmer

Busy, Busy, Busy

Painting gone wrong

Painting Hermana Maritza's house

Kitia and Wilfredo's family

February 2, 2010
This week has been a huge struggle and adjustment to covering 4 pueblos instead of 2.  And trying to teach some of the single woman investigators in the stake boundaries.  We are really trying to balance traveling, finding, teaching, and accomplish all of our companionship and district goals.  It is hard, but as always I would rather be too busy than too bored.    We are teaching a woman, Norma, who lives in Caguas, which is about 20-25 minutes away. I feel that she is prepared to receive the gospel. She really keeps her commitments and has a desire to change her life.  The main difficulty with her is that she works a lot and it is hard to teach her.  She also works every other Sunday.  That obstacle is so common and so difficult.  Working on Sunday really impedes investigators and members progress.  It is hard for them to give that up, but really if they want to stay firm in the church it is necessary.
 She is really great, but it also very difficult to teach someone who is not in your ward.  I am not sure how to use members.  I won't be there to help her in church, since I will most likely be in Juncos ward.  I am not sure how to balance it all, but it will settle.
Our mission is really decreasing in size.  We are losing a ton of missionaries and not receiving many at all.  With these next two transfers  I think 10 sisters are going home and the mission won't be getting any new sisters until June.  I think it must be hard for President.  He is trying to surge the work, but his resources are diminishing gradually. He is really sad that he is losing so many sisters.
I have been sick the past two days.  I have "La Monga" or "Catarro" (sore throat and cough).  It is awful being sick as a missionary.  I just want to keep working because we have worked so hard for the appointments we have set, but I feel gross.  At least today is Pday and I can just go back to the apartment and sleep.  It is only the second time I have ever been sick on the mission, so I guess it is a pretty good record.
Now that I am working in San Lorenzo again, I was able go back to my convert, Nadia's house and resume teaching her the after baptism lessons.  Since I left, no one has been teaching her, but she is doing great!  She is the 2nd counselor in the relief society presidency and she has been really strong.  It was so much fun to go back to her house and share with her about temples.  Since she was baptized in May she has almost completed a year and the bishop has already talked to her about preparing to go to the temple.  I was so happy to go back and see how far she has come in the past 9 months.  It no longer feels strange for me to be back in San Lorenzo.
Last week was ward conference and there were a lot of changes in the ward. The relief society, primary, and young women presidencies all changed.  It was a total shocker, but I think it will be great to have a change.   I love working with Bishop Maldonado.  He is really excited to see the ward progress and he is really picking up the pace.  He sacrifices a lot of time and energy for this ward, but I can really see that Juncos, as a ward, has progressed incredibly!
Amerfis' family is doing really well.  The two older daughters are preparing for baptism and the ward has really accepted and fellow-shipped the entire family.  Airet, the oldest is really showing greater interest and progress and the younger sister, Ariehsli, as always has a great energy and love for learning.  Some of her questions and comments really blow me away.  She really has a special spirit and testimony.

Love
Hermana Palmer

Looking good.

 January 26, 2010
Well. This week has been yet again a huge adjustment, but good.  Everytime you get a new comp, you have to really figure out what their vision is, their focus, things they don't like to do, and you can be sure it will be a big change from you previous comp.  It seems like every time you get a new comp, they come into your area and are disappointed with what they see.  They want to come in and change everything.  Which is good, but I have had a lot of changes in companion lately and I feel like every time I start picking up rhythm with one, another comes in and totally want to re-vamp everything. 
Things were hard with Sister Barker for the first two days, because she just wanted to change everything Sister Curl and I had been doing.  We were coming in at completely different angles and there was tension.  But one night I decided we need to talk and we both just explained why we are the way we are.  Why we work the way we work.  Everything makes so much more sense now. It was a wonderful experience.  We are totally good now and we can compromise and work together.  It made such a big difference.  Before we were both kind of resentful one of the other and now we can't stop talking.  She is very energetic and very much a Preach my Gospel missionary.  It is funny how while on the mission she has fallen in love with the missionary work and I have fallen in love with the people.  You need both and so we compliment one another well.
The ward activity was AMAZING.  The video turned out so much better than I had ever imagined.  We had a huge turn out of people and we did get new investigators from the activity.  Part of the activity was that we had some brethren in the ward dress up like Book of Mormon characters and it was hysterical.  I made some amazing costumes.  It is amazing what you can do with a little bit of cloth, posterboard and aluminum foil.  We had Nephi, Ammon, Samuel the Lamanite, Abinadi, and Captain Moroni.  It was so much fun.  In fact, it was such a hit that the bishopric even talked about making it an annual activity!  Yeah!  It went really well.
everything is going well here in Juncos.  The work has hit kind of a lull.  Investigators are dropping us and the less-actives are just stuck, but I know that we will be able to find a family to teach soon. 
The ward is progressing.  There are going to be a lot of changes in the RS, Primary, and YW presidencies, so that will be a great and long needed change.  I have really seen this ward change and grow so much in my time here.  I think that has been the biggest accomplishment during my time here.
And Tammy and Julio are doing GREAT!!!  Their home has changed so much.  They are really turning around their lives and you can see the changes in each of them.  They are so much more patient and happy!

I have to go.  The Internet is not working well and I have run out of time!

Love,
Hermana Palmer

I am happy Markie is doing so great!  Mom, the IHOP dinner sounded like so much fun.

Big Changes

Transfers are today and there have been some big changes.  It is interesting because President had come to speak to our Zone previously and told us that since he was so pleased with the progress that he was going to keep changes to a minimum.  He said that there would only be one new elder coming into the zone to replace one who left.  Ha.  That's a laugh!  Every companionship in the Zone had a change including mine.  Sister Curl left this morning to serve in Mayaguez.  It is really strange because all of the missionaries who came into the mission with her changed areas as well. Just goes to show that plans always, always change around here.

I am really sad that Sister Curl is leaving.  I really enjoyed working with her.  She had new ideas and energy and she was really funny.  I am going to miss her.  She is now with a Latina companion so that will be good for her.  She will learn a lot of Spanish!  I wish that she could have stayed, it was kind of nice to have someone I felt would be permanent because I have been having a lot of changes in companions lately.

I am now with Sister Barker, from Salt Lake City, Utah.  She is really nice.  She has two transfers left on her mission so it has already been interesting to hear her stories in the few hours I have spent with her.  She is studying accounting a BYU. (She asked me what kind of accounting you do, Dad.  What kind of accounting do you do?)  I don't know much about her, but I think we will get along well.

We found out last night that Sister Curl would be leaving at 10:00pm.  She didn't get any time to say goodbye.  We stayed up pretty late packing and finishing off some plans for the ward activity.  We had to be in Caguas at 8:00 in the morning and we still didn't know where she was going and who would be coming with me.  Things have been pretty chaotic. 

This morning I got to ride the transfers bus (also known as "The Magic School Bus"), with Elder and Sister Peitz, the senior couple.  I had to tag along to drop off Sister Curl in Ponce and pick up Sister Barker, since there were no other Sisters to be my temporary companion.  So this morning was a field trip to the West half of the Island.  I have never been on that side.  It was really interesting.  The west looks WAY different than the East Side.  Ponce is pretty dry and mildly deserty.  I actually saw some cactus.  You can feel that it is definitely hotter there.  On the drive I even saw some pine trees between Caguas and Ponce.  I had no idea the Puerto Rico had such a variety of terrain.  I thought it was all rainforrest and jungle.  It was a fun trip and I enjoyed chatting with the Peitz and some of the other elders I knew on the bus.

I expect that other than that, things should be pretty regular.  I am excited to be able to work in San Lorenzo and Gurabo again.  It will be nice to see new faces and meet some new challenges. 

I have enjoyed all of the letters from the roommates.  We are all learning and growing so much.  It is fun for me to read their letters because I can really relate to some of the same experiences. 

Much love,

Hermana Palmer

Good news

January 12, 2011

Happy to hear all the good news!  Glad that Markie's tests all went well and that she is healthy.  I am so excited to hear about Dad's calling.  That is going to be so much fun, and a lot of work!  We do have  good young men's program here in Puerto. The problem here is that there aren't many young men.  We have 10 young women and 3 young men.  But Dad should be great.  How big in the ward in Peru?  How many missions are in Peru

Last week was interviews.  It is pretty funny how excited I get for interviews.  You have to remember that we only have these interviews every 3 months now.  And our 10 minute interviews is the only time we get to have a one on one conversation with someone other than our companion. It is nice to spice things up and talk to someone new. : )  Interviews went well.  We were informed that now we will be covering the whole ward of Juncos which means covering 4 cities and all of their members, less-actives and investigators instead of the regular 2.  I am pretty excited and clam about it.  It really helps that I have already served in San Lorenzo and Gurabo, so I know the terrain.  I am nervous about going back to San Lorenzo though.  I am worried that when I go back I will remember all the painful experiences I had there.  I suppose the first time I go there I will re-experience some memories and feelings but I am sure I will get used to it.

Also, now the elders are no longer permitted to teach single women since as a mission we are focusing on teaching complete families.  Sister Curl and I are also responsible for teaching all single women investigators in the entire stake.  Our responsibilities just increased significantly.  I know the coming weeks will be pretty crazy as we learn to schedule and juggle everything, but I think it is a much needed change for me.  I am beginning to feel that I have talked to everyone in Juncos.  (But that does not mean that I want to leave.  It is still my favorite area and I still want to finish here!)

We are planning an amazing ward activity.  We have been filming the testimonies of all of the members, with the help of Hermana Aldana, editing it to make a video to show for an activity.  I have only seen the testimony part, but Hermana Aldana tells me that they are putting it all to music and including clips from church movies and audio recordings.  I think it is going to turn out to be amazing.  The activity is going to a "Premiere'" so we are going to be counting down to the official release of the movie, playing games, and even some special guest stars are going to make an appearance.  We are making costumes and scripts for Nephi, Ammon, Abinadi, Samuel the Lamanite, and Moroni.  I think this going to turn out really well.  I love planning and planning with Sister Curl is great!  I really hope that there is a good turn out for the activity, because we have put sooo much work into filming the videos and editing the movie. 

I came to the conclusion yesterday that nearly all of my skirts have either a small hole or a stain.  All of them except for the 2 which mom sent me for Christmas.  My favorite white skirt with stripes finally met its end last week.  It was a sad, sad moment as I folded it up and laid it in the trash.  It was one of the original skirts and has served me well throughout my entire mission. 

I hope that all is well at home.  I will talk to you next week!

Hermana Palmer

Despidido el ano

 January 5, 2011

Arihesli

Keisha, Amerfis, Arihesli, me, Sister Curl, and Airet

Happy New Years to every one. I can't believe that new years was just last week.  It feels like it was soooo long ago.

For New Years we ate dinner with Amerfis and her family.  Did I tell you about Amerfis?  She has a great story.  She was baptized a long time ago in the Dominican Republic when she was 14 years old.  However, shortly after her baptism she moved to the United States, had her first daughter and became inactive in the church.  A few weeks ago when Hermana Curl and I were walking in the Pueblo She came up to us and said that she wanted to talk to us and come back to church.  Since then we have started teaching her and her three girls.  They are so amazing to work with!  They are making friends in the ward so quickly and fit right in!  Her daughters are Airet (13), Areihsli (8), and Keisha (4).  Amerfis' "husband" is not really interested and doesn't seem really that great, but hopefully Amerfis will be able to talk to the bishop and counsel with him about the situation.  I love that family so much.  I get the feeling that the Lord wanted Sister Curl and I specifically to find and teach her, because we have a great relationship and although Amerfis saw many other missionaries through the years she never felt impressed to stop them.  Now she is ready to make the changes necessary in her life to come back to church.

After dinner with Amerfis, we went back to our apartment at 9 and I went to bed.  (That is a miracle of the mission.  Despite the loud music and partying everywhere on our street I fell fast asleep.  NEVER would have been able to do that before the mission) But at 12 I was suddenly awakened to was sounded like a bombing!  There were fireworks EVERYWHERE!  There were probably 5 different major firework shows surrounding the near proximity's of our home---which does not include the smaller roman candles, and sparklers all over our street.  It was a really good show.  But then after the fireworks ended I went straight back to sleep through all the music and partying (another blessing from the mission).  Sister Curl told me that things started quieting down at about 2.

Also, something I forgot to mention.  On Christmas Eve we had an earthquake, maybe more of a tremor.  It was 5.4.  It did absolutely no damage, but in true Puerto Rican fashion it set the whole island in Panic mode.  We were eating dinner with Tammy and Julio when suddenly the table started shaking and the doors started rattling.  Tammy screamed "TEMBLOR" and Julio jumped up so quickly out of his seat and yelled "Everyone outside!!!!" with his mouth overflowing with rice.  Three thoughts came into my head at that moment. 1) Wow.  I haven't felt an earthquake for a long time.  2) I wonder where the nearest doorway is, and 3) Calm down Julio and swallow your rice!  It was pretty funny to watch. Tammy and Julio were pretty shaken up. People are still panicking about it and making it seem like it was the biggest earthquake of the century.  I liked my parents reaction when I told them on the phone.  They asked how big it was and said No big deal.  Pretty anti-climactic.

We had tons of people in church Sunday.  I think the most I have ever had on my mission!  Amerfis, and two of her daughters.  Megali, one of our investigators, and by a miracle Lucy and all of her sons came!   It was amazing!  No priesthood, but lots of people!  I loved it!  I was pretty busying trying to accommodate all of them, playing the piano, and helping Hermana Curl understand what was going on.  But the members are really stepping it up and being friendly and introducing themselves.  Oh, it is such a blessing!  I loved it!

Love you all

Hermana Palmer

Merry Christmas

December 29, 2010
Dear Family,

The blog posts you emailed me are GREAT!  Wow, Markie is so creative!  I wish I could read more of her blog, because she describes Peruvian customs in such an interesting way! I can't wait to come and live it for myself!

Well, the past week has been one big happy blur.  The 22nd and 23rd, we had a mission Christmas Party, which consisted of hiking all day in the Yunque (the national rain forest) with all of the elders and sisters in the mission.  We had devotionals at different stations throughout the hike, which were alot of fun.  It was interesting to see how over a hundred missionaries enjoy their free time and entertain themselves when together.  Singing hymns would not have been my first guess, but I stand corrected.  I felt a little sorry for the poor tourist who walked by as the elders shouted a rousing chorus of "Buatizar, bautizar, bautizar'".  They must have thought we were all crazy fanatics.  ; )
The second day we sang at a museum of modern art along with a youth bell choir.  It was a very beautiful performance.  The bell choir is quite talented.  We were then given an hour to browse the galleries.  I thought that I would love that!  But, as I wandered form room to room I remembered how bizarre and twisted the world of art can be.  I think I am even more sensitive, since I have been a mission for a year.  It was refreshing to step outside and at least enjoy the botanical gardens.
We also enjoyed a testimony meeting, and a non- sacrament meeting appropriate talent   show complete with a Parranda (Puerto Rican Christmas caroling band, complete with cuatro, tambourines, cowbell, and LOTS of enthusiasm!)  Puerto Ricans know how to party!

Mission trip to El Yunque

Yunque with Hermana Curl and Melgar

Christmas trip to Ilia's house

Cake making with Hermana Walker

The party was certainly different from anything else I have experienced on the mission and is certainly evidence that our president is a carefree Puerto Rican through and through.
Christmas was wonderful.  I was able to Skye with my family!  It was fun to see and talk to them.  I was relieved that I was not awkward on the phone (at least to my knowledge) and that they actually recognized me since I have settled into the missionary frump look.  It sounds like so much fun in Peru and I can't wait to be there with them!

Training has been interesting and everything I didn't expect.  I am not stressed at all, which is a big surprise, but it is interesting to see the different struggles that Hermana Curl and I faced a the beginning of the mission.  We are completely opposite.  I remember being SOO overwhelmed at the work and the inefficiency and my weaknesses and imperfections that I was always completely tense.  Hermana Curl is very relaxed and "go with the flow"".  She is definitely overwhelmed with the aspect of learning Spanish, but I think she does very well.  She is not afraid to try, which is her greatest strength.  She is very mature and organized, just startled about how different the mission is from our expectations.  But she is so chill that it has me completely flabbergasted.  How can she be coping so well?  I was a mess when I arrived in PR.

I have found that since I have been training that I have begun to doubt and question myself.  Am I a good missionary?  Why isn't the ward function in this or that area?  Am I just too relaxed and wasting my time?  It is hard when someone comes in with a completely different outlook and expectations.  Sister Curl was surprised to find out that in this ward we don't have BYC meetings.  Wow.  We are looking at the world with completely different perceptions and expectations. I don't know how I should adjust to set my sights higher, but also help Sister Curl Transition.  I must has been a very very difficult greenie for my trainer.  I was very opinionated when I came into the mission.  I really do worry about a lot of things. I feel that for my mental sanity I need to slow down my pace because I am shouldering a lot more of the load, but at the same time Sister Curl is very eager to throw herself into the work and change the world.  It is difficult at times to find an appropriate balance.

I got a letter this week from both Anne and Emilly!!!!  Awesome letters! Thank you for the warm fuzzy and the delicious hot chocolate drink!  I love all of you roomies!!!!!!!

Love
Hermana Palmer