¿Que? I hurt my knee how badly?!

[NOTE: Dawn just found out that she’s coming home to have knee surgery due to a torn ACL and damaged meniscus.  She was hoping that surgery could wait until after her mission BUT doctors in NYC and SLC have evaluated her MRI and they all feel she needs surgery ASAP to avoid further damage.  Once she's recovered from the knee surgery, she plans to get right back out as a missionary again!]

-----

To be honest I think I'm still in shock over the news. I'm going home? That shouldn't be right. Of course I'm thrilled to see everyone, don't get me wrong there. Buttt, it's going to be heartbreaking to leave NY. You hear people who have been out for 2 years say "I feel like I just started." Well, imagine me! I'm just trying not to think about it though. Elder Jensen who was my first district leader and who went home after my first transfer said "don't think of going home as ending your mission, think of it as being transferred." Well, that's exactly what I plan on doing! And yes, I will finish up strong. In fact we just committed someone to baptism yesterday :)

I love you all and I'm excited to see you all soon - after I do some more work that is!!

-- Hermana Watts

P.S. -- I forgot to share the coolest thing ever about all of this!!

So shortly after I got the initial injury (April 15, 2013) I asked Elder Jensen for a blessing. I needed comfort but I also needed to heal fast. I don't remember everything he said, but one thing he blessed me with is that my injury would not impede my work as a missionary. Well guess what, even though my ACL is barely holding together and I have a torn meniscus, I've been hiking the streets of NY, kneeling to say my prayers, and playing soccer every Saturday with investigators just fine. Yet the doctors said if I step off a curb slightly wrong I'm going to finish the tear. Well guess what, due to that priesthood blessing, some faith, and some good fortune, I've been totally fine up to this point. I know if we put ourselves in the Lord's hands he will strengthen us just like it says in Philippians 4:13  - "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

from your NY girl

Life is great! Nelly (a woman who was less active for a long time and is just starting to get back into the habit of it all at church) just had her baby boy this week! He is so dang precious! It was heartbreaking not to hold him but I learned my lesson last time I held a little one. I'd be okay if I didn't break any more chairs.

We also got to participate in a fiesta on Saturday! After soccer, Hermano Valdetano (the one who just recently got back from serving in D.C. and the one who always gives us ice cream) took us all out to Five Guys, and then after getting ready, we went to the church to help out with wedding prep! We went with the idea that wedding prep meant helping with food and welcoming people but to my pleasant surprise, I actually got to be on camera duty! :D This was a wedding for two members of the ward who I just adore. When Hermana Cano, the bride, walked in, we just wanted to take picture after picture. Her son, who's my age, ending up breaking out his super nice canon camera and said "if you can figure it out you can use it." So that's exactly what I did! The picture quality was wonderful and I loved snapping shot after shot. Of course, once we moved on from bride shots, wedding cakes shots, flowers, and rings, well, I was lost. Groups of people are not my forte. I turned the camera over to Elder Martinez and he was an expert! Dude he's so good with photography. We are now hoping for another wedding soon so we can team up and have picture time again. haha.

But wait, wait, wait, though the wedding was awesome wanna hear about another highlight for the week? Not to put anything else down but probably my favorite part of the week was that I got to drive!!!!! We were at the church when all of a sudden we had an emergency and needed to go home. Because the Zone Leaders were there and they have a car, they let us borrow it so we could actually get home quickly instead of rely on public transportation. Since my comp doesn't have a license that automatically put me on driving duty and I was alright with that! So now I can officially say I've driven in crazy NY traffic. Boo-ya. It felt so nice to actually be behind the wheel again!!! Freedom!!! It was funny though. Hermana Sanchez and I are so used to being on buses, whenever I would drive past a bus stop, it just felt wrong! We were supposed to stop there, not just drive past it.

The work here, well, it's a little slow moving right now. Not that that's anything new. We are starting to pick up the pace, as we are seeing more and more people interested during the different finding activities we are involved with, but nothing is hands down official yet. Gladys has been hard to meet with since her brother and sons just moved in with her family and she has yet to find a new apartment for all of them. We're trying to help her in her search but it's hard! There are a lot of sketchy people just advertising false places in hopes of making some $$ and then the real ones get taken pretty darn fast. Oh well, we'll keep trying, that's all there is to it. We are meeting with a new family tonight to have FHE with them. They have kiddos and yeah, I'm excited. A real FHE!

I hope y'all have a fun Monday night as well and enjoy all that wonderful family time :)

Love you lots!

-- Hermana Watts, your NY girl
(never thought I'd say that. wow. the mish really does change things up.)

that's right, I'm the new ward pianist

You know I sometimes wonder when I will finally start acting like a "grown-up". The other day we found this humungous cockroach in our house, meaning I totally used it to play a little prank on the Elders! (yes, it was dead) And then I hear you saying how you were going to go out and have a prank night yourselvs and I just laugh and say "well that's where I get from!" You're awesome mom, keep it up! Love ya :)

Dyker is wonderful. Yesterday morning we had a meeting with the bishopric because they just decided that they wanted to start getting more involved on the missionary front. They hardly work with them. I've pretty much only ever talked to the bishop to say hi and then we had a 2-sentence-each conversation this week because he asked if I could play the piano for sacrament meeting. (That's right, I'm the new ward pianist. It's scary!) But they want to get the whole ward involved and working together. Some of the things we are doing include: a ward fast next month for missionary work, we are going to try to get our mission president to come speak to our ward, and each week from now on we are going to have either a missionary speak or a member speak (just like 5 mins at the very end) to share an experience and bear their testimony on missionary work. I'm so excited that everyone is started to get involved! I know it's going to make a huge difference so I'm excited :)

One of the best things about this change is we had a member tell us this week that she has a lot of friends she wants us to go visit. When we asked her why she hasn't told us before she said she's waiting for the ward to shape up before she gives them to us as referrals. Yeah. Isn't that just sad? So hopefully we can do just that and fix up the ward a tad bit. I think it's awesome, but apparently there is drama and gossip (mainly via Facebook) that happens all the time. Sad, right?

Q: How was it this Sunday?
A: This Sunday we had 4 investigators to church! We were oh so totally not expecting that (the Caballeros are iffy church goers but the 2 oldest girls came yesterday. woo-whoo!). Best news of the week, Griselda, the lady who knows gospel stuff oh so well since she grew up in the FLDS church, just left her husband.  We will meet with her later this week to see how we can help her now. Pray for her!!!

This week, the funny/gross story is that my comp and I nearly got peed on. We had our lemonade stand all set up (I feel like a little girl when I say that but it's true. We go out once a week to the park to pass out free lemonade and advertise for english class) when all of a sudden my comp felt something, looked around, and this kid who was like 6-years-old just had his pants down and was peeing right in front of us. Luckily she caught my attention before he could get me too. Oh NY. The weird things that happen…

Oooh! Another fun thing that happened this week was I got to be part of a surprise baby shower for a less active we've been working with! It was so cool and she was definitely surprised. And this upcoming Saturday guess what? It's wedding time! As Anna says "Mexicans sure know how to party" so I'm excited. First wedding in the mish so far and more to come I hope.

Q: So how are you spending your days currently?
A: We have a "finding" activity at least once a day meaning we go to the park and talk to people, inviting them to a bunch of different events, or we go to 5th Ave. where all the Hispanic stores are located, meaning Hispanic people are in that area, and we do the same thing. We visit with quite a few less active people and besides that, well, just trying to look up people in our ward we don't know, and stuff.

Q: How are dinner appointments going?
A: They rarely happen, but when they do they are often with a less active family we don't know so it's the perfect time to get to know them and share a message. It has its ups and downs. I'll sacrifice some food to get to know those in need though. It's so worth it.

Q: Have they made any changes in your mission since the fireside?  Do you have a mission FB now?  Are you doing tours of the meetinghouses?
A: No big changes yet due to that conference but you just wait and see...big things are bound to happen soon! I hear we will get FB soon since we are one of the missions with the most media referrals but we will just have to wait and see.

Q: Anything we can send from home?  Any needs??
A: I don't need anything except keep up the prayers for my investigators.  But luckily the Jews and all their modest stores are close. I might try their sale stores soon. I don't know why I wear-through clothing so fast. What’s wrong with me?? :(

Well, my district decided to have a nice district breakfast this morning. We made baleadas and since Elder Martinez used to work at Jamba Juice we had Jamba as well. Man, it was ssoooooo gooood! We have zone activity today so I better get going.

I hope all is well! I love you lots!

-- Hermana Watts

P.S. --  I think the doc is being silly.  I don't know why I would have to have surgery if I can walk but I'm sending the CD of my MRI to Utah so they can take a look at it and then we will go from there.

enjoying the ride

My week was nice. The main thing I have to say though is, yes dad, we did go to Coney Island for the hot dog eating contest and man, Joey Chestnut sure knows how to rep good 'ol San Jose! In case you didn't already know, he beat the record! Whoop-whoop! To be honest though, if you watched it on TV you were in way better hands. The crowds were the most obnoxious I've ever been in, the view was lame, and though I didn't plan it, I got my red white and blue on really quickly. Blue dress, white skin, and then next thing I know, red skin! The heat was killer!!

[NOTE:  On July 4, 2013, Chestnut successfully defended his title at Nathan's 98th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest.  He beat his own world record of 68 by consuming 69 HDB (hot dogs with buns) in 10 minutes, which earned him his 7th Mustard Belt for this competition.]

As far as the work goes, let's just hope I have more to say next week. Apparently everyone decided they were allergic to sweat or something because for too many people, the heat held them back from coming to church. Lame or lame? Super lame!

Not much more to say. I'm learning more than I ever imagined I could and I'm loving every bit of it - the ups as well as the downs. I mean you gotta have both to enjoy the ride, right? Well, I'm thoroughly enjoying it and I hope you all enjoy your week as well! Take care and I'll talk to you soon!

Love ya!

Hermana Watts

P.S. - Okay, ready for my video recommendation?  It's a brand new Mormon message and it's just oh so good!!
http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013#2013-06-010-enduring-love

the trio!

7.1.2013

Picture Time [June 2013]

Happy Birthday to my dear companion :)
6.10.2013

just chillin on the roof! girl's night :)
6.22.2013

Aww aren't we cute. haha
6.22.2013

6.22.2013

maybe I actually am learning spanish after all!

We were in a trio this week but guess what? Only this one week! My "sister" (missionary term since we are both getting trained by the same "mother") is already headed off to Peru tomorrow! That went by crazy fast but it's for the better because poor girl is petrified of crowds. As soon as we get somewhere crowded it shocks her system and she turns into a scared statue so yes, petrified is the perfect word. Harry Potter for ya. I had only heard horror stories of teaching in trios though but to be honest, I loved it! She is quiet but a sweetheart and was very easy to get along with. I loved it too because though I still don't know jack, I got to show her the ropes on a lot of different things so it made me feel like I actually knew what I was doing for once. And the fact that I translated for her in some of our lessons? Yeah, that made me feel really good. Maybe I actually am learning Spanish after all!

Highlights for this week:

-Blueberries are on super sale everywhere so that's been a nice a treat to have around. I love me some fruit and the prices are actually in my budget!

-We went and ate dinner at a less actives house and her daughters were just so cute! One of them especially really liked me and of course I really liked her. One of the first things she said to me was "I like your nose". hahaha! She was too dang cute. Then I pretended to eat her toy and she just thought I was the funniest person alive. Last but not least, she told me she had a pet turtle named Michael. I told her "wow, that's the name of one of my good friends!" and her eyes just lit up. She demanded that I hold him and so I did and let me tell ya, that was the fastest turtle I have ever seen! So now I can say I have held a turtle!

-During another visit this week with a less active member, I got to teach the basic of all basics. Margaret lives with a Chinese family that speaks very little English. Right after visiting with Margaret, but before the lesson, the two daughters got home from school and decided to come meet Margaret's friends. Well, they were there for prayer and then started asking questions about "Kris" (Christ). They have heard a few things from Margaret but that's it so we told them about heaven and how all good things come from God. Apparently they saw a movie about the crucifiction of Christ so we started talking about that too. The 4-year old spoke hardly any English and the 8-year old's was super broken so it was quite interesting. But, the girls loved learning that God was the one who gave them to their mommy and he is the one who gives them their food every night so it looks like we will be going back to teach them some more! After the parents warm up, we'll send over the Elders who speak Chinese that way they can have "real" lessons in which they will understand since it'll be in their own language.

-Gladys! Her husband’s name is Cesar (the same as his son) and he has agreed to marriage as soon as he gets over his addiction and is active in church again. He wants to be able to support his wife if she is going to be baptized. I think it's a great step in their relationship and we have the Elders working with him while we teach Gladys so keep praying for them! They have a long way to go but they are so on the right track.

-The Caballeros, well, we haven't been able to meet with them this week as they are sorting out their priorities. Hopefully we can meet with them this coming week though! I miss them. Isaac, the 8 -year-old, has been reminding them all to pray and read their scriptures everyday though so at least they are keeping commitments! Just not apts... :/

-Because NY is getting more and more expensive, the mission is now going to give us an extra $20 every month. Yes, the prices are insane here. Every fast food place, instead of having the normal $1 menu, it is a $2 menu. how funny, right?

-Knee Update: Yes, I tore my lateral meniscus and my ACL as well (yay, on the bright side there may be a possibility that my ACL actually isn't torn) but none-the-less I'm going to need surgery. The soonest they can fit me in is September 17th so along with Ciara, I'm hoping September comes here fast! I just want to get it done and over with already. Luckily I really like my doctor and the surgery should only take a 1/2 hour, no biggie but the thing is, recovery is usually 3-4 weeks. I'm hoping my recovery will be more like 3-4 days but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm glad it only took 3 months to figure this out though :P

Thanks for being oh so awesome! I'm glad I get to hear from you every week, it's wonderful!

Love you lots!!

-Hermana Watts

we ought to shout for joy!

Wasn't the missionary broadcast wonderful?! I missed the first 1/2 hour since we were running around sorting out business with some members and doing our missionary work but I got there right at the end of Elder L. Tom Perry's talk. Such good stuff! I'll play soccer with you, I'll let you teach me another language, and yes, I'll go with my friend to this church activity of yours. It's all about the approach. Plus it's about how welcoming the ward is when they do make it to, not just an activity, but actual church. Please be aware of newbies at church and be aware of how you can bring newbies to church. Those 2 things by members make the difference!

Also, back at home, is there just one set of elders in your ward? How about the other MH ward, elders or sisters? I'd be curious to find out some of their finding activities, so next time you have a conversation with them, there's something to find out :)

Okay, random rampage. We tend to get a lot of missionaries who are waiting to get their visas, so they can go somewhere else. NY is the place to send them since we have a bit of everything here. In fact, this week my comp and I are getting a third sister. We will be in a trio until the 3rd link gets her visa. Way cool, huh? So though we are staying in the same area, we still get a little change up.

Also, I learned my lesson as to why missionaries are not to hold babies. So, there we were waiting for Gladys to bring us a snack she had made (she always makes us something, she is so sweet!) when I was just playing with little Cesar. Cesar, oh man, I need to send a picture of him. He is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! He just turned one and he's super smart. Anyway, he was playing with me and I decided to just have him sit on my lap. Well, when he sat on my lap he turned around to give me a hug, which I obviously let happen. The hug turned into him standing on my lap, which turned into him jumping on my lap, which turned into me lifting him up in the air so he could grab the balloons from his birthday. He was going up and down just laughing and then....then we were both on the ground! The chair broke!!! But it wasn't just the chair that broke. Oh no, no, no. When the chair broke it hit the bed and part of the bed broke too! Yes, I'm being serious. I was just sitting on the ground with Cesar still in the air (it happened right when I caught him in the air). Gladys came running in but sadly my companion and I could barely talk we were laughing so hard!! Oh gosh it was funny yet it scared Cesar so bad! He nearly started crying. His mom went to help him but, but Cesar wanted to make sure I was alright. Ain't that the cutest thing? Well, needless to say I felt horrid for coming over and breaking everything. We found out though that my chair didn't have the proper screws, so it was tragedy waiting to happen. Just my luck it would be me to find out the screws were missing :)

As for our investigators, we currently have 5 that are progressing. We have the Caballero family (Brenda, Daniela, Jasmine, and Isaac) which are actually just the kids. They are sweet and awesome but they didn't come to church this week which is super sad. Hopefully we can meet with them and see what's up. It's probably something with the parents. I hope the parents are able to support their kids in this, otherwise it's just going to be super hard for the kids to be members. At least they have each other for support!

And then we have Gladys who is the sweetest thing ever. Her husband and her are discussing matters related to marriage and the next time we meet she said she would have a date for the wedding. Yay! Wedding time :) The husband is a less active member with a horrid drinking habit. We're hoping to get the Elders over there about once a week to help him out with that addiction and we're hoping he can start coming to our Saturday soccer sessions as well for some sober fun.

Yes, we dropped Alexandra. She decided her life was too busy right now (for the most important thing ever), but that's okay, we'll give her some time. We still invite her to activities such as the restoration musical concert we just had, but besides that, no more appointments since we know she'll just cancel at the last minute.

Luis and Rosa, we are trying to respect their space right now. Luis told us that his son doesn't want us anywhere around the house right now. We stopped by to give them an invitation to the restoration concert but that's been it. We called them last week too, but no more visits. It's sad because I always looked forward to just talking with them. They were such a sweet and sincere old couple. Every visit we could count on them telling us how hard is it to be old because all you do is hurt and ache. It was so sad, but they would just laugh at it themselves. In about a month, Luis will move with his son to Staten and Rosa will move to east NY where she is still planning to be baptized.

There are a lot of less-actives we are working with too. It's amazing how some don't even remember what the Book of Mormon was. It's apparent that they haven't gone to church in yearsss. No wonder our mission is focusing so much on less-actives!

Please pray for all of them! They are all just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!!

Love you all. And thanks a million for all the letters! I felt so loved this week :) I have quite the stack to catch up on though so sorry if it takes me a little while to respond to your letter. I'll do my best. Just know it made me smile! I've got lots of stuff to tell each and every one of you, that's why it takes me so long. Why, my friends, have you all got to be so cool?

Love you all, take care!!!

- Hermana Watts

P.S. I'm saving the best for the last. Scripture for the week D&C 128:23

"Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!"

...inspired by the hymn "Oh Creaciones del Senor" which is one of my favorites in Spanish. I believe it's called "All Creatures of Our God and King" in English (on page 62). Anyway, we ought to shout for joy!

"All creatures of our God and King,

Lift up your voices and with us sing,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou burning with golden beam,

Thou silver moon with softer gleam,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia! Oh, praise him! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong,

Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice;

Ye light of evening, find a voice,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia! Oh, praise him! Alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,

Make music for thy Lord to hear,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou fire so masterful and bright,

That gives to man both warmth and light,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia! Oh, praise him! Alleluia!

Dear Mother Earth, who day by day

Unfoldest blessings on our way,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

The flow'rs and fruit that in thee grow,

Let them his glory also show,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia! Oh, praise him! Alleluia!"

good results from blessings and hard work!

Lo siento mi amors pero no tengo mucho tiempo!! We went to go get haircuts this morning which took a lot longer than we planned because the member doing it, after trimming our hair just a bit, decided to give us a good blow dry and style it, then after that she curled our hair! And my comp's hair was pretty quick but you all know how curling my hair is! She got half way done and the curls were already nearly straight since she didn't spray them right when she finished up. How sad! Then she brought out this gel stuff which she said held way better than spray, she put the goop in my hair and then curled it. It honestly sounded like we were frying scones or something with all the sizzling the goop and my hair were doing with the hot curling iron. Sadly, even this goop doesn't seem to be totally holding up, sad day, oh well. Lesson learned, once again, my hair does not curl!! And after this we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings with the Elders for a little food eating competition. dun-dun-dun! So we can't be running late. Just to answer a few of your questions

Weather report:
I don't even know what's normal and what's not. I wouldn't be too surprised if it rains year round here the way things have been though. All I know is people have umbrellas on them year round because they don't just use the umbrellas for the rain, nope, everyone walks around with them in the sun for shade too! It's pretty darn common. I feel like it's just a huge hassle though because the nasty-ness comes from the humidity, not the sun. I love the sun!

Any new investigators?
Yes! We meet this wonderful family with 3 daughters and 2 sons. One boy is just 3...or 4? And then the others are all older than 8-years-old so we are teaching them since they all want to be baptized. Aww they are just so sweet! And even more of an up-side, I get to teach in english since the kids prefer english over spanish. yipee! But the thing is (since there is always a catch) the dad is very catholic so he is kind of against the idea of baptism. We can't baptize them if both parents don't give a green light. We're hoping he will soften his heart, realize just how happy the gospel makes his kids, see the difference for good it has on their lives, and support them in this major decision. As for the mom though, she loves that they are picking a religion for themselves, so she is happy! Good mama :)

How did the week go?
Well, as you know, I was in-charge of it all and not to brag or anything, because even though I was in-charge it is still totally a team effort the whole way, buttt, we blew our numbers out of the water! At the beginning of each week we set goals (numbers) for how many lessons we want to teach, how many less actives we are going to visit with members, how many new investigators we want to have, and how many people we are going to invite and help come to church. Stuff like that. Well, we worked super-duper hard this week, we were always busy, and we were blessed with finding this family, teaching them twice, getting 4 new investigators, and then we also visited 2 less active families, taught about the importance of the Sabbath day to an investigator, and yes, tons of people at church! It was great to see them all there and to see how well the members reacted as they tried to meet them all, too. It just got me pumped up to see good results from blessings and hard work. I know you don't always see immediate results, but when you do, such as this week, it just re-motivates you and gets you extra excited! I hope my hermana and I can keep up our part, the hard work, and Heavenly Father will keep up his part, the blessings, so we can find even more people!!

Love you all!! I guess this email wasn't thatttt short after all, my comp is still typing away so I'm just waiting for her. Love you all! Thanks for being so awesome! I have something for you!!

-Hermana Watts

P.S. -- Watch this, it's my favorite! It's perfect for this time of the year -- Hope you like it too :)
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#earthly-father-heavenly-father

rain rain go away

As I sit here typing it's pouring rain outside! I just figured ya'll would get a kick out of it since I'm sure the weather has been gorgeous at home. Count your blessings! Yes it is either steamy hot due to humidity or pouring buckets of rain here. The last few weeks from Tuesday to mid-Friday it's been grossly hot but then on the weekends and Monday it's been gloomy and rainy. Funny thing is, you dress about the same. I'm still getting used to that fact. I look outside and see rain and automatically I go to grab a jacket before we go out. Nope! That's not how it works. It's still warm when you walk out. Weird, huh.

One fun thing about the rain though, we ate dinner together as a district on Friday night after the talent show was canceled (there was a flash flood warning so for the safety of everyone traveling they canceled the talent show) and as part of that we went dancing in the rain! It was a crazy night of puddle jumping and playing ring-around-the-rosies in the rain :D

Family! Thanks for the package! I got it the day I came home from the exchange I went on, so it was the perfect "welcome home" package. What perfect timing!!

The knee, the doctor should be calling me today. I got a blessing and Elder Jensen said "I bless that it will not slow you down or hinder your work" and so far, so good. It's not a pain, it's simply just an annoyance but, we'll see what the doc has to say. Apparently there was a mix up though and after the second time I called to follow up on my MRI they finally got the results faxed to them. Meaning they didn't get them until Thursday and the doctor is only in Mon-Wed. Lame, huh? Why are they so slow. gahhh. But all is well :)

Let's see...this week we had a sister training meeting which I wasn't looking forward to but ended up being wonderful! I got to catch up with my girls from the MTC and I saw Rachel Sandberg too. She is just the cutest thing ever! It was fun having a super duper familiar face. I definitely felt at home. Also we got to have some wonderful lessons by President and Sister Calderwood (who I just love to death).

I went on exchanges this week and this time I got to spend the day in Rego. Lemme just say, this exchange was a whole lot better than the first one! It definitely matters who your comp is, that's all I'll say. haha. I learned a lot both times though so I would consider both a success.

We had another Chino street sweep so I'm practicing my mandarin and learning just how lucky I am to be speaking spanish where tones really don't matter. Ain't it funny that one sound (don) can mean like 6 different things deepening how you say it? Craziness! what a blessing it is to know the languages I know! (yeah, I'm sure everyone says that...but still)

Oh, just want to say that last Monday I got a game of indoor soccer going for P-day and the Elders thought it would be funny if we played guys vs. girls. I was down with the idea and guess what, girls won. Boo-ya!

Also, Antony, the 12-year-old, did I tell you he gave me present? I have a signed picture of his drawing of the statue of liberty because he calls me Sister Liberty. haha. That kid is so funny.

Oh! Accomplishment! (of some form or another) I bought toothbrushes for the first time in my life today! I'm used to just going to the cupboard and getting them or maybe on an unlucky day having to shoot a text to mom to see when she could bring some home but that was that. Today I actually bought myself some toothbrushes. (it's the little things that count) It gave me a headache because there were so many options but yes, I did it! I'm such a big girl (; haha

Sad story, no one here knows my nickname! imagine that (; haha. Ciara, you know how on your letter you wrote to Rae-Rae? The office didn't know who the heck Rae-Rae was since you didn't put a last name of that. lol. Luckily on the return address it was from a Watts so they figured it out. But you had them confused pretty good. good going. haha. and thanks, it made me smile :)

Thanks for all the "hello's" of this week! Hi to ya'll back :)

The next update should have some adventures included. This next week I'm in-charge of planning everything! My comp gets to act like she's the newbie and doesn't know jack and I get to take us around town, set up appointments, teach lessons, and all that wonderful jazz. I'm not nervous yet, but seeing as I get lost because all the buildings look the same here, I'm sure we'll get ourselves lost a time or two. Who-hooo! Looking forward to wandering the city aimlessly as I try to remember where so-and-so lives :) Also it's my companion's birthday tomorrow so that'll be extra fun!!! I don't really know what we're doing to celebrate yet though so it'll be a surprise to both of us :)

-- Hermana Watts

News from Dyker

Tomorrow we are having a big (large) Sister Training Meeting (a.k.a. sister pamper. lol) so hopefully I will be able to see and talk to Rachel there!

Yes Alexandra (the one who canceled on us three times last week) canceled on us again this week! Imagine that. Lame-sauce. I'm keeping the hope though and maybe she might actually show up next meeting. If not, we might just have to teach her on the street since she is a street vender with her own jewelry stand. If we get to that point, well, that'll be interesting.

We're really trying to push family history work around here and I think it would be awesome if you helped the missionaries back at home make it big too. We don't have a family history center and we aren't allowed to touch church computers anymore because a few too many problems have occurred with boys who "know how to hack systems" and then accidentally take down the whole church system so, we have to stay away from that buttt we can help guide them around. We have family history nights once a month and hopefully we can get those cool new family history pamphlets the church just came out with too. We really ought to push it a lot more than we do.

Yes, soccer is still every Saturday and though the turnout is like a roller coaster and it's unpredictable how many folks we'll be getting, it's been nice and of course it's always fun :) It makes the mission life just that much better. Also, Elder Hernandez is an amazing soccer player so it's been fun to play with him and learn a trick or two. Besides that we advertise english class and this week we are getting more into different service opportunities where we get to sport the yellow helping hands jersey! I'm excited for that. I love service!

Oh man oh man, the weather here is absolutely craaaazy! I tried to prepare for the winter by buying warm dresses and shoes and what not but I don't think I prepared for the summer as much as I should've. The humidity is killer. It got so hot in our apt this week that my Vaseline melted. Also, I had a bag of chocolate chips in the cupboard and, well, now it's just one huge candy bar because those all melted together too. gahl. It's disgusting!

Good news! We have a new investigator named Gladys and while we were teaching her the first lesson she asked about baptism and when she could be baptized! Her husband is a less active so for a few years she has been coming to church just every now and then. Well, something clicked, I think she realized she wanted her son (who is so adorable!) to be raised in the church. I'm excited to keep teaching her and I hope her husband decides to follow her great example and get back to church!

As for Luis and Rosa...man oh man. Luis' son got inside of his head too much (his son is abusive and was the one holding him back from marrying Rosa in the first place) and Luis said we can't meet with him anymore. It was so sad because when he told us that he almost started crying. Poor guy. As for Rosa, she is moving to east New York soon to get away from Luis' son and she will be baptized there. It's sad to see them separating but I would hate to see Rosa stay in a house that she isn't welcome in. I just don't understand why Luis is staying with his son! He is blind to his son's problems. It's so sad. I hope the best for them all though!!

One more story. Last night we went to go visit a 12-year-old boy who got baptized almost a year ago. His name is Antony and that kid is such a crack up! I love him. Last night his younger brother (who is usually with his dad) was visiting Antony and his mom so I got to meet him. He is 4 years old and earlier that day Antony taught him who Jesus Christ was. Well, when we were leaving I pulled out a pass along card and I said "Dariel, who is this?" and he said "Jesus Christ!!" I wrote a note on it about how Jesus Christ loves him and then gave him the card. It was amazing to see how happy such a simple little card could make a 4-year-old but he absolutely loved it! He gave Jesus a big hug and starting chanting "Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!" then he ran to show his mom his new picture. Aww it was just so precious!! It was a good reminder to be appreciative of the little things. For example, we know Jesus Christ and we also know that everyone has the opportunity to know him on a personal level if they want to as well. We know He loves us more than we can comprehend and because of that love He came to the earth to perform a miracle none of us were able to do for ourselves. We were helpless but He has made it possible to do the impossible.

I love you all and so does Jesus Christ!! Never forget that!!

Take care!!

--Hermana Watts

Congratulations Sister Watts!!

AHHHHH!!!! Yay Ciara!! Ha, ya'll were teasing me about going down south but look out Georgia, here Sister Watts comes!!

Guess what else?! That is the same mission Brittany went too. How awesome is that! Maybe you two can be comps? Oh my that girl is such a sweetheart, you'd get along great I'm sure.

LOVE YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS!!

Oh and how was Memorial Day weekend? I smelt so many bbq's going on and we got to hang out with the members at the park for a few hours but it was different. No camping for me this year! What did you all do?

This week there really aren't any updates. Sad. We got canceled on 3 times in a row by one investigator. 3 times! That was sad but hopefully this week will be better.

We've also been just trying to do a lot of finding. Not really door-to-door stuff like you imagine the typical missionary doing since NY is built a lot differently, but more like we go walk the streets advertising English class and ward parties and then go to the park and offer to show them different church videos.

This week for english class we've been working on pronunciation. With words like "beach" and "sheet" well, english class is pretty comical. I'm doing my duty as a missionary and trying to get them to not cuss so much. hahaha.

Oh, cool thing: Rachel Sandberg didn't get her visa in time (not cool part) but now she is serving her in New York with me! (way cool part) How crazy is that?! We are about as far as you can get from each other while staying in the mission so I have yet to see her, but later this month all the sisters are getting together for a huge meeting so I'll be able to talk to her then :) Rachel and I are tearin it up in NY together! Whoo!

-Hemana Watts

PS --There is an awesome General Conference talk by President Monson from October 2010 about being grateful.

[here's the link to his talk titled "The Divine Gift of Gratitude": http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/the-divine-gift-of-gratitude?lang=eng#d ]

Oh, and you ought to review the stripling warriors story too. Way good!

[here's the a link to the scripture story found in The Book of Mormon - Alma 56: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/56.47-48?lang=eng#46 ]

Key points from that story: 1- exact obedience is KEY. That's what brings REAL blessings. and 2- who taught them? Their mother's did! Listen to that woman, she knows what she's talking about!

just chillin in the sprint store and using my time wisely (since it's still P-day)

hey hey! my comp and I had to get a new phone so now I am using the iPhone as I wait for all of our contacts to transfer. lol buttt good news: medical insurance cleared my MRI, so I can do. I was reading up on torn meniscuses today on wiki though and it pretty much describes it word for word how it feels. Some exercises from physical therapy and it’ll all be good. I feel bad this is all such a hassle here on the mish because it really isn’t that big of a deal but with all the kneeling I do it’ll be nice to have it taken care of and back to norm soon. thanks!! sorry about this. next time I won’t get hurt. I promise :)

why only get half the blessings when you can get them all??

I know everyone has different personalities meaning different senses of humor but it has never been so clear to me before until here on the mission field. My companion and I, though we are great at pity laughing at each other, definitely think different things are funny. So while I thought I would get good at the pity laugh with members and investigators, my companion is actually giving me the most practice. lol. She is great though, I don't mean that in a bad way at all. We have our laughs and we're always joking with each other so I'm a happy camper :)

Merry is going to be a seminary graduate? What what?! That's crazy talk! I know you are going to be relieved once you are done but do one thing for me and finish strong little sis! Don't look at is as a burden, but rather a blessing, and if you do that you are going to get so much more out of it. Yes I'm talking from experience. I regret my attitude with seminary, but I have since learned! Personal study in the morning is honestly my favorite part of the day. I like it even better than breakfast. (say what?!) Yeah. Crazy right? I really do L-O-V-E it!!!

Jakers! You're growing up to fast kiddo. I know you're probably loving it, but feel free to slow down just a tad. mmkay? thanks :) Yay for making it through another year of school and great job on your talk. I know you did wonderful :)

Family (and friends)!! I know you're all way busy and yes you have lives but, if you find the time (more like "please make the time") then I think it would be awesome if you each took a name to the temple. The Church came out with new pamphlets about family history work and we missionaries get to start using them! (And “by just came out” I mean justtt came out. Like this weekend, sort of thing) There is such a need for family history work and the more we get into it and help others do the same, the more I'm convinced the Second Coming is going to happen. First off, our hearts need to turn to our ancestors though like Elijah said. Plus, there are two parts to temple blessings: 1.) going to the temple, and 2.) having the opportunity to take a name and do temple work for them. Why only get half the blessings when you can get them all?? And if not this time, then for sure next time. I'm so glad you are all temple worthy though, what a wonderful blessing that is :) Enjoy! Eat some Fentons for me! Or that new place that Merry ate at and loved. That works too, I suppose.

To answer your question, I get $180 every month and Elders get $165? Something like that. They might get $160. Not too sure on that. Luckily the mission office provides us with basic materials (pots and pans, toilet scrub brushes, windex, shower curtains, plates, and then basic furniture of course) we just have to get soap, towels, paper towels, toilet paper, lysol wipes, etc. Not too shabby but I defiantly have to watch what I spend! It's easy to go over budget when you can buy stuff everywhere you look.

The knee feels a whole lot better now that it is drained! I defiantly want to do that to someone one day though so my dreams of being a nurse have been reaffirmed....unless only doctors get to drain knees? Then looks like I'm going to have to be a doctor! It was so cool to see. I ought to call today since the doctors have yet to call me about the MRI so hopefully I'll have more of an update for you next week.

This week has been a lot of organizing records and then knocking on doors of a bunch of less-actives to see what their needs are and invite them back to church. Since it's been lots of knocking and walking, I don't really have too many stories for you. Just facts. Some facts are:

-Colds are not a bad thing. When you have a cold your nose is often stuffy which allows you to not have to suffer as much from all the stinky smells in New York. It reeks!

-There are a lot of creepers in New York. They are way obvious about it though so it's nice. You know who to stay away from right off the bat!

-The typical "people have places to go and they are always on the run" is so not true here in Dyker. I swear people must not have anything to do because they are such slow walkers! It's quite amazing.

-People are quite creative with the excuses they give. Did you know that if you are allergic to kiwis, even if you see one, such as one in a picture, you start having an allergic reaction? So because of that, it’s a bad idea to go in public, like to church and stuff.

-There are no stray cats on the streets here because all the Chinos eat them. (okay, that is a lie, not a fact, but there is some awfully interesting food sold on these streets and you start to question what the heck they are using!)

There are others but that's good for starters. I love you all and will talk to you soon!!

--Hermana Watts

text message home after doc appt.

The Doc drained my knee and he will call my insurance to get it pre-authorized because I am going to get an MRI.  No ACL tear, but maybe a torn meniscus.  I’ll let you know on Monday.  Thanks!  Talk to you soon.  Love you!!  Bye :)
<Watts&Sanchez>

FELIZ DIA DE LAS MADRES!!

It was a successful day with millions of flowers everywhere. I love seeing guys give girls flowers! So sweet. At church they were handing out flowers to all of the woman and so I got one and got to give it to my "mom" (in the mission, whoever trains you is your mom and then your first district leader is your dad. Elder Jensen told me to never call him dad though...apparently he disowned me on the first day?) ha. Naw, it's just weird. But my "mom" likes to pull the mom card sometimes and tells me "you have to do it because your mother says so" so in turn, I get to pull the kid card on her. I really ought to use it a bit more than I do, but I'm sure I'm hard enough on her anyway so maybe I won't.)

I went to go look at my blog today and you're right, I do keep you way updated! Lots of info going your way - you're welcome and sorry at the same time. It's a lot! Thank you all for the support!!!

It was good talking to ya on the phone yesterday, but now I'm left with not too much to say...

[side note: every missionary is able to contact home via skype or phone call on Mother’s Day as well as on Christmas Day. Yay! It was fun for the whole family to be able to talk to her for an hour on Sunday]

Luis and Rosa - I know I updated you a bit during the phone call but summary of it all, communicate, communicate, and communicate some more. Communication is KEY in all relationships! Sadly their's is a bit rocky right now because they haven't been taking advantage of the opportunity to talk things out and really express themselves, but with prayer and fasting, great things can happen, so I'm hopeful for them.

And Alexandra, I just love her! I'm excited for her to continue learning more and I hope her kids find interest in it all, too. We gave them a little kids Book of Mormon story book (the one with all the pictures) so they can follow along with her as she reads the stories, too.

I get to play handball today!...well hopefully.

I hope you all have a great day too. Love youuuu <3

-Hermana Watts

p.s. I'm so excited for you Ciara!!!!! :D

Cinco de Mayo!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!!

No, we didn't really do much celebrating because all the members that really liked to celebrate skipped church, and celebrated without us. haha. There was a huge parade in Flushing so that's where all those who wanted to really party went. Instead we broke our fast with a Dominican family, The Tollentinos, who I must say are awesome!! I decided Dominican food is some of the best you can get and yes, Dominicans talk wayyy fast so I was pretty much lost the whole time. They all speak English too but they love to mess with us missionaries and use their "Dominican" on us. lol

Well, Satan really does try his hardest right before someone gets baptized because Luis and Rosa are packed with things to do! Someone in Luis' family passed away and so this week they have the services for that and also they are having some of his family come stay and visit so they will be busy hosting. Luis had back issues and it has just been getting worse and worse. It's hard for him to go through 3 hours of church, it really takes a tool on him, poor guy. Rosa has a part time job, and with all the other life adventures, they are having a hard time finding the time to get rings, a dress, and get married in city hall. We have encouraged them several times to not fuss over those things but woman are woman no matter the age - she wants it to be like a real wedding. So please just keep praying for them. I don't want them to stall their baptism, and nor do they, so hopefully we can work something out.

Today we are throwing a surprise party for our District Leader, Elder Jensen. He goes home next week and it's his birthday today so we're really celebrating! He's been awesome and I'm going to miss him! I love the mission but it's hard saying goodbye to people all the time. You grow close to them so quickly and then bam! They are gone. Craziness. Anyway, I better start getting used to it! Except I don't think I ever will. Like with Sister Lewis? yeah, we still send each other weekly emails. They are short since we use most of our time talking to our families, but still, it's something!

Oh! I feel like an official missionary now! Wanna hear a story? Well I'm going to tell it anyway. This week, on Thursday, we went over to the Relief Society President's house because we were going to go visit less actives with her. We get there and she has food so we start eating. I had a cold and wasn't feeling too well so I only had like 3 taquitos which is normal but she was all "come, come!" So I had to eat even more. And even more. And then she cuts open fruit because that will give me "energia" so I start eating the fruit. Finally we are done and we talk about who we are going to go visit and then head out. I'm quiet and I'm walking slow because I'm really not feeling well. About 3 hours later we are in the home of someone who said we could come visit and I REALLY don't feel well. I ask if I can use her bano and she says yes. As soon as I get in there, not even 2 seconds later, my food comes up. Luckily the toilet was right there!! I finish with that, clean myself up, go back out, pop a mint in my mouth, help teach a bit of the lesson, and then I REALLY don't feel well again! I excuse myself, repeat what happened the first time, and then I get out just in time to say closing prayer with them. Yeah, lovely, right? Worst part, she brought out juice, oreos, and chocolate covered blueberries but I had to pass them up!! Sad day. Oh and after her house we headed back to the church and I taught English class. I'm better now, luckily, but for 3 days I couldn't eat anything because I just couldn't hold it down. It sucked! Missionaries are supposed to be invincible! I also had to pass up soccer. I sat and watched. That's right, you didn't read that wrong, I actually just sat and watched. It was hard but the second I tried to run, that same second, my tummy reminded me it didn't like running. haha.

When we were doing family history work I was able to prove I really am a 1/4 Mexican and lots of people found it interesting to find out I have grown up celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

Oh hey again! You know Sister Blosil? She sings on an EFY cd. Well, she is serving here in New York, not in my area, but in this mission, and I got to meet her this week. Man, she is just the cutest thing ever!

The area we cover is a barrio that is separted into 3 different parts. We cover Dyker Heights and the elders cover Sunset and Coney Island. We live in the Bay Ridge area.

Hermana Casiano, the RS President, is going to let us use her computer to skype home for Mother's Day so expect a quick phone call on Saturday so we can coordinate times for that on Sunday. I'm thinking it'll be about 6ish in NY time but I'll let you know :)

The Journal: I lied. I actually ended up keeping the journal for myself because I wanted one to write notes in during personal study, so scripture study notes. I just bought her a small different one. So thanks for MY new journal. haha

My Tooth: I promise I tried taking a picture of it, actually I tried taking a few pictures of it, but I just can't seem to get a good picture with it. The lighting is funky and you can barely tell. It's not that big of a thing. I'll keep trying to get a good picture but it's muy dificil entonces, lo siento.

We can't be late for a surprise party!

Love you all!!! Take care!! Thanks for the prayers, they are very much appreciated. I'm so blessed to have the support that I do :)

-- Hermana Watts

P.S. -- Read Mosiah 4. I read that chapter often. It's. just. so. good!!!

accomplishment

No doctors yet but I should be going sometime this week. Thanks for all the prayers! They sure are helping :) And no, it's not hurt, hurt. If I were at home I wouldn't be spending my money to go see a doctor quite yet but since I'm on a mission and always walking around and I want to be able to play soccer with everyone again instead of being the gimp playing center field, I called to try and schedule an appointment. It's not all that painful luckily. Except the other day, being the klutz I am, I fell while trying to put my skirt on and I slightly twisted my knee and man, that's when I realized I needed to go to the doctors. It hurt pretty bad, but no, it's not thattt bad. I didn't cry when it happened so that should assure you a bit. I think I just hyper-extended something. If I tore something it would've had to hurt a lot more initially, right? The brace helps and I've been wearing as much as I can depending upon the outfit and of course I wore it at soccer the other day too so thank you sssoooo much for that! And you found the skirts! That was a nice surprise :) And the journal, I don't need a journal but it worked out PERFECTLY because Yamelis, one of the sweetest girls in the world who is a semi-recent convert, the only member in her family besides her grandpa who lives in D.R., and she is only 15 but she is going through a rough time so I'm planning on giving it to her as a little form of therapy. So thank you so much for that! It's almost like you knew. And the little sticky thingy-ma-jigs - I don't know what you call those - they are the perfect scripture markers so thanks for helping me be a tad bit more organized with my scriptures... and thanks for the snack too. The sign was from Hobby Lobby? Yeah, way cute! Thanks. I don't know when you sent the package but I think you sent it on Monday, right? It came fast! It came early Wednesday morning. Suh-weet, right?

The tooth, I meant to take a picture, dang it. I PROMISE a picture next week.

Question and Answer:
How's your ward/branch?  Tell us about it please.  Bishop?  Ward Mission leader?  Members?  Investigators?

I don’t know Obispo all that well, the ward mission leader is very nice and I love his family but he defiantly thinks he is the mission president. That's annoying. The members are awesome! They are patient with my learning and this week we don’t have many D.A.'s but just on Saturday alone we had 3 and then Sunday we had 2 and yeah, they feed us pretty well and always send us home with extra food so it's nice since mission budgets are small.

Cool Story of the Week:

This Tuesday when we went to go visit Luis and Rosa, we always open with a prayer, right? Well Luis volunteered to say the opening prayer and in it he thanked Heavenly Father for helping him receive an answer to his prayers! So yes, that's how he broke the news to all of us, Rosa included.
Funny part to all of it is I didn't understand the prayer so Hermana Sanchez had to translate for me and then we all started celebrating! haha. We set a date for the wedding and baptism right away! I'm so excited for them!!! They are getting married the 10th and baptized on May 11th and then they will be confirmed on the 12th. That's one way to celebrate Mother's day, ehh?? wa-hoo!

Angelina and Geurys dropped us. I don't know why exactly and we haven't had the opportunity to talk about it with them quite yet but I hope we can talk through things with them and clear up any doubts they may be having because I love them and they are such a cute family. I would love to see them go to the temple and be sealed together.

Well also had to give away Moses because we found out he lives in a different area, not our area and we have to honor those rules. So we called the Elders in Flushing and they are now visiting with him. He is a 50-ish year old man but sadly he is mentally only 9-ish. He calls us a lot to say he misses us but "our friends in Flushing treat him nice so he is glad he has new friends too."

We've been trying our best to visit less-actives and it's funny, they are half and half. Half of them are so sweet and they love missionaries so they send us home with bags of fresh tasty fruit and tell us to call them if we need anything because they would love to make us dinner every night if they could and then the other half come up with the lamest excuses ever! (instead of just being honest with us -- we respect their freedom, even when we don't agree with it). Yesterday we knocked on one less-actives door and through the door she was all "quien es?" So we said "las misionaras". She then told us that she just got out of the shower and still had soap in her hair so she couldn't meet with us right then. (really, you got out of the shower in about 10 seconds? impressive.) We asked if we could come back another day and she said she was busy. Every day? Yes, apparently so. We then told her okay well can we get your number so we can just chat on the phone? And she said she was too busy to talk on the phone and she really needed to go finish her shower. I hope she had a nice shower.

I also went on exchanges today and guess what? The other sister didn't know the area at all and of course, since it's my pool I lead us around and I'm pretty proud of myself because I didn't get us lost! Yay! I may have planned the day to stick to places I knew but still, we didn't get lost. Accomplishment.

Also, we had a zone activity and we did a chino street sweep! Yes, I spoke mandarin! I know how to say "hi, how are you?" "free english class" and "thank you" haha. That was fun to try and pretend I knew their language. The scary thing was when they tried talking back. I would just wave my hands and stick the little flyer out and say "me no speak chinese. you read this." haha. We were having fun with it. lol

That's all I can really think of....

So until next week. Nos Vemos!!

-Hermana Watts

Picture Time [April 2013]

view from the airplane
4.1.2013



My last night with this chicka...
well, until we get to be companions again.
I'm crossing my fingers we get to work together again soon!
4.1.2013

The view from on top of the Brooklyner
4.1.2013

The City
4.1.2013

Ain't it purty?!
4.1.2013

President and Sister Calderwood
4.1.2013

    

Hermana Sanchez climbing up the ladder...
4.23.2013

 

we got to hang out on the roof!
(notice the knee brace. good girl.)
4.23.2013

what beautiful weather (:
4.23.2013

4.23.2013

gotta love reading PMG!
4.23.2013

oh yeah... it was during study time. haha
4.23.2013

Picture Time [March 2013] ...Part 4

Our District at the MTC with our teacher Sister Ayala
3.29.2013

3.29.2013



The Hermanas with Sister Avala
3.29.2013

Love these Sisters!
3.29.2013

 

Hunter's mom sent us Easter packages! How sweet is she?!
3.29.2013

3.29.2013

Our district at the MTC.
Bad angle but there we are with our teacher Brother Parke
3.30.2013

3.30.2013

Hermana Ayala and me (:
3.30.2013

from: your gimp in NY

I'll schedule an apt with the doctors but I don't really know when it'll be. The injury happened exactly a week ago now and slowly but surely it's getting better. I can now walk to the stairs and look relatively normal, walking up the stairs, well, that's a bit of a different story. haha. If I'm wearing a long dress or skirt I can skip stairs with my right leg. But putting my left leg up first requires bending so that's painful sometimes, especially since stairs here are so dang steep, but it's getting better, little by little. Thanks for sending that knee brace though! I've been using ace bandages but they get itchy so the brace will be a nice change.

Yes, I've been stocking up on the ibuprofen and sadly I've almost already gone through a whole bottle! I've shared some medicine here and there but still, that's a lot. I never knew just how much I liked my ibuprofen. Yes, my aspirin container is still nearly full. oh the difference. haha

While Ciara is learning patience I've been getting my fair share of patience-learning trials too. It stinks, but then again it's good. We can do it Ciara!

As far as my tooth goes, you know how I got those colored filling things put on my teeth to make them all look pretty and the same color? Well, I think that's all that chipped off, it's not like and actually chip in the tooth. Plus right now, the nurse just went home so while sister Callderwood is adjusting I think I'll just lay low. I've already got the knee to make an apt for so the tooth will have to wait. It's not bad and you can barely notice but ill include pictures next time if you would like to see for yourself and then you tell me if I need to get it looked at or not. I'm hoping it's okay though!

As far as the woman playing soccer, no. I mean I'm sure they do in some places but honestly, the Mexican woman are shoppers and stay at home kind of people. Even though we invite everyone to soccer only men have come so far. Even people with kids, they only bring their boys and they leave their little girls at home. Crazy, huh! Poor girls.

We put the flyers up on Friday and we've been getting a lot of calls so we're hoping this week we will have a lot of new people come. We'll have to wait and see! I teach the advanced class (since not much Spanish is required) every Tuesday and Thursday night. We also have classes on Saturdays but the Elders take that over.

Warning: We are going to the mall today with the Elders so if there is $$ charged, I guess I found some good deals. Having a mission budget has really made me watch my money though and realize I don't like carrying cash because I spend my cash like crazy! It's annoying. Everyone takes cash. Stop taking my money!!!

Wanna know a cool story I forgot to tell you?! Sister Sanchez's ex-companion left some food in the cupboard that she didn't want to take to her next pad and guess what she left?! Besides popcorn (yummy), oatmeal, cocoa, granola bars, and peanut butter she left....(drum roll please)....ferro rochers!!! Ahhh!! Heavenly Father was watching out for me with that one :)

Luis and Rosa had a family emergency on Friday so we weren't able to meet with them. They came to church but we didn't really talk about their situation much. We should be getting and answer on Tuesday!!

Griselda, ahh, I got to finally meet here this week and I love her. She is so kind and she has such a strong testimony. Her husband is still against baptism but she is one of the strongest "members" ever. She loves participating in lessons and always has good insight. Plus she has a baby girl who is just too precious.

Talking about baby girls, last night we got to go to the hospital to visit Hermana Arvisu [a sister in the branch…not a missionary] who just had her baby. Oh man it's hard not to hold babies!! [NOTE:  It is a mission rule is that missionaries are not to hold new-born babies].  He was so precious! Just a day old and the most precious cry ever. Though I'm sure I'd say that about all newborn baby crys. Haha.

Love you all!! Take care!!

xoxoxo

-Your Gimp in NY


PS --Sorry about the long wait Ciara. I know how torturous it can be. Poor Emily though. Has she received her call yet at all? She's the one I felt for the most. What a long wait!

lo siento pero...

Hey, so this past Monday on pday as we were playing soccer with the rest of the zone, and apparently I hyper-extended my knee. I haven't gone to the doctors yet because for knee and ankle injuries the guideline is to take it easy for a few days, and then to re-evaluate.  Also, the nurse (who is the president’s wife) has been really busy.  I can describe it - it is just really tight and I can only move it so far. It just feels like I'm stretching a muscle a little more than it is supposed to be stretched, so it doesn't hurt but it stinks to walk because like I said I can only move it so much and lemme tell ya.... there are a lot more stairs in NY than you would think. Haha.

Anyways I know you just sent me a package and thank you so so soooo much for that wonderful, awesome package! I loved it oh so very much :)  Also Jen sent me un paquete tambien and she is just the sweetest thing ever!

Anywayyyy (once again) sorry if it is a huge hassle but it would be a huge help if I had my knee brace.

Thank you tons for your prayers, packages, letters, love, support, everything!! Take care!!

Adios!

Dyker Heights

Wha-wha-what?!? You may want to correct wiki. Let me just tell you now, the Chinese population here is sssoooo not 15%. Maybe 65%? Then the rest is Hispanic (mostly from Mexico but quite a few from Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Honduras, and Dominican Republic too). Then like 1% of the population goes to us white people. haha.

It's funny because we have two main streets we walk down all the time. 3rd Av. and 5th Av. 3rd Av. is the mini China town but everyone lives off of it and then 5th Av. is all the Mexican soccer, pastry, market stores and that is where we do our street sweeps and most of our finding. Basically it's a mini China and mini Mexico with one Avenue separating then. It's awesome!

One of the safest areas, ehh? That's pretty sweet! We don't go out until about 11:30 since we study all morning. We wake up at 6:30, exercise (kind of), get ready, then study from 8:00 until we need to leave or 12 if we don't have an appointment before then. We have a lot of people to teach and meet with though so I think I've only had a whole hour to do language study once now. My language study always gets cut short because we have visits to get to. That's alright by me though. Though I really ought to be studying I'd rather be inviting people to church and teaching gospel principles to those who need our help. The language will come with practice. Anyway, we have to be home by 9:30 at the latest and though we are often running late (my comp and I are always running from place to place. The Elders tease us because anytime we see them on the streets, yeah, we're running. I don't know why but that's just the way it always works out for us. Running to catch a bus, running to catch a train, running to someone's house. Siempre! It keeps us awake though and this week we doubled how many lessons we had the previous week so we're definitely getting work done!) ... we're at least home by 10:00 which ain't late at all here in NY. We make sure we never get on an empty bus though and besides that, we just keep our eyes open for suspicious behavior. Luckily since we're out during hours that everyone else is out it hasn't been bad at all. (knock on wood)

Wow, way to do your research on those trains! What else should I expect from you though pops? I think you know it better than I do! We are doing companion exchanges on Tues-Wed and the Sister who is coming with me (I stay in my area and my comp is going to Staten for the day) has never once served in the city so I get to be her guide! Meaning yes, I got maps of all the buses and trains since I'm no pro yet. But yes, D train is out of our area but not out of our zone technically though it does go out there pretty far. We have taken it twice for D.A. but that's about it. We are normally on the R train or N train and we usually just use B70 or B9 for the buses.

Yes!! The picture with like 9 brides and 9 groomsmen! That was from conference and it got me so happy! Rosa and Luis went to the morning session of conference on Saturday and the morning session on Sunday as well. In both sessions they talked about marriage and they had some awesome talks! This Friday we are going to find out if it's a yes or a no. Oh they are so sweet and I know they know it's the right thing to do, Luis is like 70 though and hung up on already being married. I know Heavenly Father will answer his prayers though. My mission dad (the DL, Elder Jensen) leave in about 3 weeks or so and so our goal is to get him a wedding and a baptism before then. I'm not normally into pushing stuff like that because if you need time than take it, this is serious stuff, but they are sooo soo ready! They are faithful and keep all the commitments and they love reading the stories in the B.O.M. They are giving up coffee and it's hard because they are so addicted but they said they prayed and they know the Lord has asked it so they will do it. Perfect response, right? So wedding, here we come!!

Story for this week:

This Saturday we (as a district) decided that one of our new "finding" activities would be to play soccer every Saturday from 11-1 and have all the members bring friends and invite our English class participants to come too that way they see that we as missionaries are oh so totally normal and they can become more comfortable with us. Well we went and started playing and boy oh boy have I missed that sport! I haven't played since being out here (except in the hallway at the MTC a time or two) and so being out on the field was refreshing. It was just way funny because EVERYONE was impressed. A hermana that plays soccer?? "unheard...ubsurd" (fiddle quote for ya). And so even though I couldn't talk to any of the people I was playing with I totally bonded with them and now have the respect of all the guys. wa-hoo! And instead of being "the new sister" at church yesterday I was known as "the hermana that plays soccer". haha. Of course I'm looking forward to the day I can talk to them but for now I just play soccer and we're friends :) Who knew soccer would be so handy on the mission?

On top of that Elder Hernandez (Jensen's comp) is a beast at soccer! He got a scholarship to Brown for soccer. He declined it but still, crazy huh? So soccer with the missionaries is a definite success. They all said they would bring more friends next time. Yay!

Challenge of the week:

Having a phone. Every other day my comp and I switch off who has phone duty and who has key duty. If you think talking to people in a foreign language is hard try talking to them over the phone. Oh golly. Especially when they use words like "tardecita" why not just say "tarde"? They like to add "cita" onto random words. Anyway, little by little it's coming.

Also, this week it decided to be rainy and windy. eww. But hey "no weather is bad weather" so we resumed the normal schedule. Needless to say, I miss Cali weather. I have never walked in so much rain before.

Love you all! Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts, you're always in mine as well. I got quite a few letters this week so I felt popular. If I respond back slowly I'm sorry but know it's coming! Can't wait to hear where Ciara gets her mission call too!!! :D How oh so exciting!

-Hermana Watts

and i'm in NY!

I'm here! I'm really here! It's craziness. And by that I mean the church here in Dyker heights (that's our area in the south part of Long island) is right next to a mini China town and to travel we always take buses or the train (metro). It's nice and dirty. It is nice to be by China town though because the rices are all pretty cheap and so we get food and snacks pretty regularly. There is a Chino bake place that is just a block away from the church with tasty pastries. From Tuesday-Saturday we had already gone there 6 times. yeah, I think it's a hit. haha. I've never been in a church building as often as I am now. We have all our meetings there, we teach English class there Tuesday and Thursdays, we go there to cut out flyers, we were there for general conference, sometimes if a member can't make their D.A.(dinner appointment) they just drop off food at the church and text us and we eat there, and well, yeah, we're there a lot. I'm starting to figure out my way around. I know it's set up in a grid and so it's simple-ish to figure out but it's still a challenge. Train R? Train N? Bus B9? BusB70?? I'll learn soon enough I'm sure.

My companion is from New Jersey but really she is from Mexico. It's cool to have a native speaker because then she really is the best teacher! Her name is Sister Sanchez and while she teaches me spanish I'm teaching her sarcasm...at least that's what the Elders here keep saying. She really isn't that bad...just a little slow sometimes and she never is sarcastic herself. I don't mean to make her sound uptight though, she has a great personality and she is one of the sweetest people ever! She has been in this area for a few months so all the members know her and love her.

The members here, oh bless their hearts. I've meet most of them already and every time I introduce myself I start speaking in Spanish but then they change it to english pretty darn quickly. Me and my white-ness. They do it to Elder Waidmann too so it's not just me, luckily. And yes! I lucked out and Elder Waidmann and I are in the same zone! We see each other on a daily basis and it’s fun to update each other. It's nice to have a familiar face. I know I've only known him for 7 weeks now but when you spend every day together you get to know each other pretty darn well! And here in the mission field they have this family tree thing that they do so Sister Sanchez is my "mom", the District leader is my "dad" and since Elder Waidmann and I were "born" at the same time he is my "step-brother". He is my step-brother because his trainer is his dad and my dad is the D.L. so yeah, only half-brother, but still, that's how our family tree works! And my "dad" is Elder Jensen and you want to know something way weird? He reminds me of Dylan! Maybe it's just because I am in a whole new world so I'm making connections to people I already know to make myself feel at home. Maybe in reality he isn't anything like Dylan but oh well. In my head they are alike. haha.

Investigators! This week we got 3 new investigators. Wow-zers! We have a couple named Angelina and Geurys. Geurys took discussions a while ago from missionaries and we aren't quite sure what happened there. He remembered Gordon B. Hinckley and when I read Moroni 10:3-5 he told me Moroni was the guy with the trumpet on top of the temple. Yeah, he is so ready for this. We taught them about the restoration and are going back on Wednesday to see what they have to say about that. They have an adorable baby named Diego and I just love their family so much! I hope the best for them. We also went to teach a less active lady and her friend, Moises, who sat in on the lesson, told us he wanted to learn more. The cool thing is he speaks english so anytime we get a spanglish person I lead the discussions. When it's all spanish, I leave that to my comp. haha

Guess what else? I taught english class! I had the advanced class, which made it ten times easier, but yeah, I taught it! Of course my companion was in the room with me but she didn't even have to chime in too often. We have about 6 people who come every Tuesday and Thursday and hopefully our numbers go up. They used to have more but had to change the time to English class. We hope once people get into the routine of the 7:30 class more people will start coming again. Then I can have an even bigger class to teach! This English class is for anyone in the community, not just members so later on today we are going to go hang up flyers and try to get the word out even more.

Q & A TIME!!

How was your first day there?
It was great! Some nice man bought our district Quiznos at the airport! Awesome! And then we got a real thrill of a ride with the NY driving style. There was a British Elder who drove the 6 of us (my old district) to the Brooklyner (highest place in Brooklyn) and we had real NY pizza and the prettiest view! I left my camera in the pad but I'll be sure to bring it next time. Such a pretty view! And then, oh man, our mission president dedicated our mission (which he had yet to do) and it was so powerful! I think it gave all of us newbies (there were 24 of us) and a nice extra drive to want to go out and find everyone we could. We then went to the mission president's house, had dessert, had a little meeting, then went to bed.

Did you go contacting your first day?
While we waited for all of the other cars to arrive at the Brooklyner we had about 5ish or 10ish minutes in which Elder Munday was telling us to go street contacting. We were all a little shy and didn't really do it though. We kind of just stood around and talked about how we were nervous. haha

Who's your companion & where is she from?
Sister Sanchez, she's awesome. She's from NJ/Mexico.

Where are you in NY even?!?!
South part of Long Island in Dyker Heights.

How is the Spanish coming along?
uhh....it's not. I say "como esta?" and the other person says "good, and you?" because I'm a white girl they give their broken english instead of their fluent spanish. In one way it's a super nice stress reliever in another way, well, I wish they would practice with me.

What is your mission president and his wife like?
They are awesome!! They are very into "spirit of the law" rather than "letter of the law" and they are the sweetest people ever. They have big goals for this mission and I'm excited!

Do you have any people that you're teaching currently?
Yep! The 3 new investigators I told you about, Luis and Rosa, and then Griselda.
Griselda knows she wants to be baptized and she is doing everything perfectly. She is an awesome almost member. She had a baptismal date set but apparently she talked to a member of the seventy and he advised her to not go against her husband’s wishes but give him some time and see if his heart will be softened. So now, we are just patiently waiting on him. She is great though!
Luis and Rosa...oh man. Both of them grew up together, went their separate ways and got married, and then both of their spouses died. They meet back up at the funeral and from there comforted each other and having been living with each other for the past 13 years. Rosa wants to be married and be baptized but says if Luis doesn't want to be married she is willing to give him up in order to become a member of the church. Luis has been praying and just won't make a decision. I know it's a big decision but he feels like since he was already married once and he still loves his old wife that he doesn't want to go against that and be married again. I love Rosa's faith to do whatever it is the Lord wants her to do but I just want Luis to soften up and realize he needs to follow her example or he will lose her :/ We'll see where they go with that....

Any service opportunities?
English class! Besides that not really. Not yet anyway. All the missionaries here did a lot for hurricane Sandy though. I got here right when the million and a half projects were settling down. We'll see what else comes up though. The Elders usually help with most of the moving so I don't really know what is going to come up.

Any dinner appointments yet?
Oh my gosh our ward is great! D.A. just about every day :)

How was conference?
Is that even a question?! Awesome! And even better because Luis and Rosa came.
I missed out on snacks but Rosa is a sweetheart and loaded me up with cookies and fruit snacks (the scooby-doo ones! My favorite!) so I had some snacks but this year’s General Conference went by ssoooooo fast! I don't know what happened. Way way wayyyy good though. And Rosa and Luis were able to come to two different sessions (Sat morn and Sun morn) and in both sessions they talked about the importance of chastity so I'm really hopeful they will take that to heart and just let us throw them a wedding already. haha

Did you watch it in Spanish or English?
I got to listen to it in english with the other Elders in my district and the Chino Elders too. My comp listened to it in spanish though.

Did you get to translate for it?
Are you serious?! I know you think I'm great and all but I can only pray and bear my testimony in spanish. I listened to part of it in spanish and I could only pick up about every 5th word. They speak so fast! Not as bad as the dominicans around here though. When people speak fast spanish they call that dominican. lol

I hope that answered some of your questions.

I love you all!!!

-- Hermana Watts

P.S. -- best news for this email!! We are starting a new "finding" method to make more friends in the community and get our name out there even more by playing soccer every Saturday! :D Starting this Saturday it's going down :)

P.S.S. -- Happy Birthday Meredith!!!