Saddle Up

Howdy y'all!

This week was actually 4 weeks long I think. So much happened!!

We had zone conference up in sugarland on Wednesday morning. We had to leave at 6:30 am to make it on time because we live out in Vietnam basically. But when we were about to leave we realized that our sim card had stopped working😧 which meant we didnt have any internet or gps or anything. Yikessss. So we drove to a target parking lot to use their free wifi and message our zone leaders. We were able to download directions thankfully and made it to sugarland!! We found out at zc that we might be getting a new car soon....👀 we're very excited because our old Corolla can't handle these back country roads. 

After zc we did exchanges. Since all the sisters in the zone live so far apart, it was most efficient to exchange while we were already all together. So I got to go to Lake Jackson with Sister Tatafu! The only thing is that she doesn't drive... so I had to drive.. in an area I don't know.. It was fun, but getting out of Houston was actually the worst and I accidentally drove on a toll road😖 I wanted to die. They don't have toll roads in Utah! So me being me, in my head I was like "oh my goodness they'll probably send me to jail. They'll kick me out of byu and send me to jail" Needless to say I was worried🤣 but it's okay I'm pretty sure I won't be going to jail. 

Our exchange was awesome!! I saw so many miracles and so much evidence that the Lord is at the helm. I got to talk to two sweet ladies who speak spanish but haven't been taught because the sisters are english speaking. Both lessons were so sweet and made me feel useful. SPIRITUAL HIGH. I also just had a blast with Sister Tatafu!! 

The day we exchanged back leads me to another crazy story. (I'm telling ya, lots happened.) Hermana Ericksons phone rejected the sim card so she gave it to the sister visiting victoria. But then we exchanged back... ans she still had the sim card... and we didnt realize it. We all had met at a halfway point--a sketchy motel in a town called Midfield texas. Its in the middle of nowhere. So Hermana erickson and I were in the middle of nowhere... without a way to contact people. Haha we thought it was so funny but lowkey we were terrified. We just followed the road signs back to Bay City where the other sisters lived and used the free wifi at the local HEB to message them😅 Miracle.

As we drove back to Victoria we stopped in Ganado and Edna. Teeny tiny towns. In Ganado we visited a sweet member who lives right next to this old factory thing. We called it "the plant." I thought it was so cool so we took selfies with it. We also took pictures with the water tower because water towers are so funny to me. In Edna we tried visiting some people but no success. BUT we found this tiny bbq place on the side of the road that was actually BOMB. They served us our food on styrofoam plates and everything. And the POTATO SALAD oh my heck let me tell ya. Heavenly.

On Saturday I made a pen. A member here has a lathe turner thingy and he has all the new missionaries make pens. But I wasn't doing it right so he pretty much did all of it haha. 

Then. The day I've been waiting for for weeks. Yoakum day. What is Yoakum you ask? A little town on the EDGE of our mission. It was rumored there were people who actually lived out there. I had to see this for myself. We discovered that there actually are people out there. Who live in very sketchy houses. Lots of boarded up windows and "beware of dog" signs. One time we were going to knock on a door but I couldn't bring myself to do it so we taped a note to their mailbox, said a prayer in our hearts for them, and drove away quickly.

So theres my week. Pretty fun I'd say!! I like driving on the country roads and just seeing how flat it is. It's crazy to me that people actually live out there.

Heavenly Father loves all of His children. His plan is better.

Hermana Eastman:)

Hello parents!!

I like your art dad! And I'm happy to hear about spring training!! That's basically a holiday. Do you think you'll get to go to any games this summer? And that scene from the office is so good. Wait till you get to the second to last episode of the show. I always cry. Actually it might be the last episode. Not sure. But you'll know. Or the one when Michael leaves. Super sad. Also I got the journal mom, thank you!

I had a very busy and crazy week. But that made it good. There was no time for ungratefulness.

There is still water marks all down our walls. And they cut a hole in our ceiling for some reason... It doesn't smell but we can hear the wind through the hole haha! I didn't get to meet with Jaira because I was on an exchange, but apparently she wants to be baptized!!! She still has a lot to learn in order to prepare, so we haven't extended a formal invitation yet, but were planning to this week! We don't have any organized service but we try to help members where we can. We never use our bikes because no where is within riding distance🤷‍♀️ We met this lady yesterday in Yoakum who only had one leg... we had only had limited contact with her over the phone so when she answered the door and wheeled out in her wheelchair we were like😯 Can you lose a leg from drug use? We were wondering. She was really nice and open to talking with us! We also talked to a lady who told us her grandson was in jail for murder...😯 we meet a lot of interesting people! 

I think the exchange I had was a blessing. I saw God's hand in that exchange the whole time!! Lake Jackson is a little closer to houston which felt nice. And we were messaging a lady in their teaching pool and she said "I'm sorry I just can't express myself very well in english." So I asked Sister Tatafu what her native language is. She said spanish and we both look at each other and she was like "WAIT YOU SPEAK SPANISH!!!" so we called her and I got to teach her!!! And to use my Spanish was a tender mercy. I felt so happy. So then after that call we decided to try and contact another lady who lived nearby and only speaks spanish. We went to her house and she was just leaving for work. But she was so excited to talk to me. She even called me "mija" which is pretty much the highest honor you can receive from a hispanic lady in my books. She told us to come back later so we did and she came out to talk to us on her porch. She was so kind and interested!! So I told her that we would send spanish missionaries to her. I asked her what we could do to help her and she just said to pray for her. So I offered to pray right then and there. Then she said "how do you pray?" I was like 😮 all these great teaching opportunities!!!! So I got to teach her how to pray and then pray with her. I said it, and when I ended, I looked up and she was crying!! She was so happy and grateful for our visit. So I cried. She asked me when I was coming back and I explained that I lived in Victoria, but that I'd try to come back in a few weeks. So hopefully I can🤞🤞 Sister Tatafu and I were absolutely thrilled!!! We got back to the apartment and dropped to our knees to pray in gratitude. Also in Lake Jackson we had a member lesson with members who were both engineers! And had 8 kids who were all engineers! And byu grads! I was so excited. It was awesome. 

So yeah I had a really busy week! But really good.

I'll send pictures to the google photos and also in the weekly email😁

Talk soon! Love you!