How's everyone doin? Jessie's job doesn't sound too good for her health. Nurses who work the night shift get cancer more often than day Nurses because thier sarchadian rhythm is off. Your immune system can't function right. Or so said my physiology teacher to a room half full of pre-nursing students.
If she is only doing custodian work during the night for one week I think she will survive.
Things have been... going here in the GV 1st Ward. We started an English Gospel Principles class (which only one person went to - everyone else speaks Spanish) and Miss Brazil came to church yesterday! She told us after Sacrament that she wanted to try out and see if she would understand in English, but she said that everyone was going too fast and she didn't get much out of it. So she went to the Spanish Gospel Principles because she can understand Spanish better than English. In Relief Society there are a couple of other sisters who are still trying to learn English so there's a lady who translates into a headset in the back and the ones who don't understand wear headphones. We'll have her wear those at Sacrament Meeting from now on. Maybe there's a second microphone and we can have someone translate in Portugese - that would be even better! Love technology! She didn't miss much during Fast & Testimony meeting though. There were maybe three people that actually gave their testimonies that I would want an investigator to hear. The rest of the time there were 'story-monies' or 'I-just-moved-in-monies' or 'I'm-moving-out-monies'. People would go on and on about useless things like going horseback riding and how their records aren't in the Ward for some reason. Nothing that I would want someone that knows next to nothing about the Church and is trying to feel the Spirit to hear. Especially if that was what they would base thier experience off of in deciding that they want to come back the next week.
After Relief Society this old lady from Cuba came up to me, pointed to my legs and said 'Mosquitos!' really loudly and then started talking to me really fast in Spanish. Apparently, Miss Maria-Elena was a doctor in Cuba before moving here and, through translation, said that the Vicks stuff that you put on your chest if you have a cough works really well in making the itchiness go away with mosquito bites. Good to know! I don't have many bites any more, but it just looks really bad because they don't go away for a long time (it looks like a bruise after they stop itching). Wish I knew that a couple of weeks ago!
Other than that... we've been visiting Less Active people and knocking on doors. The typical response is 'I'm not interested'. Once in a blue moon someone will talk to us, but that's usually because they're a Minister in another faith. We don't have any potential people to visit since the Elder's potentials are all Spanish, so this week we're really going to focus on asking people for referrals. We're going to start directing members to the website for the book 'The Power of the Everyday Missionary'. The website is modeled after Mormon.org with lots of good training videos with ideas on how members could be missionaries. You should check it out! I was only shown the website once by my Sister Training Leader, but we're still not allowed to use the internet other that emails. Let me know if any of the stuff on there is helpful!
Anyway. I'm almost done with reading the Book of Mormon for the first time since coming out. I'm almost in Ether and I'm already planning on reading it again. I got a hardback regular Book of Mormon and plan to read through that, but highlighting just the Gospel of Jesus Christ, having a different color for Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Recieving the Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End, and the Atonement. This was a challange a couple of months ago under President and Sister Barry. There are a couple of other challenges like it: going through and highlighting every time it refers to Jesus Christ, or highlighting just the Christlike Attributes (Sister Jensen is doing that one right now). I'm really excited about it!
Sooo... that's pretty much my life right now. Sister Shelley has been doing ok. She's been going like your typical 19 year old. She's talking a little bit more when I ask her questions and taking a little bit more initiative. We've been working on having short, powerful lessons and trying to have an effective 1st Lesson in 5 minutes or less. Ya'll should try that in FHE or something.
I think about food all the time. Been craving mexican more than usual lately. (I crave Cafe Rio all the time, but I can't have that so I've been craving Taco Bell). During long silences you get to think about a lot of things. That is what I think about.
Anyway. Thats all I can think of for today. Not much has happened. We did go on a trade-off Friday/Saturday. That was fun.
Jess! You should write me! I need a laugh. I've been so starved of laughter that during one of the prayers on our trade off, I just started laughing histerically and I couln't stop. It was weird.
Love,
Sister Jen
P.S. Mom. We have plenty of ramen. If you could send me Chocolate and Starbursts I could be a happy camper. No gummies. I don't know what else you could send me. The Walmart here doesn't sell food so don't send me a gift card to there. The cheepest place for groceries is Target. Also, you know those socky things? Well, my favorite kind are the ones with the pads on the bottom and the rubber on the heel so they don't slip off. I only have two pairs of those, so I just switch wearing them every other day, but they get kind of stinky. Could you send me more of those? Love you lots!
