July 8

Sooo.... I don't have a ton a ton to say. We're teaching some good people through ward members and really trying to focus on member missionary work, but we're going to have to do lots of finding this week, too. Pres Hall did some analytics and, in Spanish work, 25 new investigators = 1 baptism. New goals set for 30 baptisms this month and 40 in August. Our mission is now just the 2 valleys. Good things. Hastening.

I don't have a lot of crazy misisonary work stories but I can say for sure that we are leaving this area better than we found it.

In other news...

Hna Mulliner and I both share the joy of living minimally. The past missionaries were hoarders, so we have enjoyed getting rid of food, kitchen stuff, bike stuff, Christmas decorations, ugly wall things, unnecessary proselyting materials, 300 contacts in our phone, cleaning out our closets, etc. You have taught me well.

Mom, remember how you told me about mother bear feistiness? Hna Mulliner and I have been learning that this week- that it is easier to get what you want when you ask for what you want. I pushed her a little bit to call the mission office and schedule a dr's appt for her knees- but we went Fri morning and she has a normal, fixable problem! I am so glad, and she is even gladder haha. Then the next day I made her call again because she had taken some Aleve and was feeling dizzy- turns out, that is also normal. Lesson learned: Don't be a martyr if you don't have to.

This week our friend, Paola, who helps us with lang. study took us to Trader Joe's in Studio City. I love that place more than words can say. She says that is the one that famous people shop at all the time!! So we went on the hunt for celebs. I didn't see anyone, but she said there was a blonde girl there who is on pretty little liars? I've never seen that show so I wasn't sure who she was.. but yes.

One day, when I go get my food at the grocery store people will whisper about how there is a famous person in Aisle 7.

This morning our district went on a hike. To be honest, it was pretty ugly haha because you know. desert. lots of scraggle. Lizard Count: 4. But it was fun to do something different!

Haha so you had a detox class on the cruise? You better tell me what they said in there. We are taking a break from cenas this week- eating at people's houses. It's so hard. I read Mara's email and I don't know why the Latinos in Latin America like to eat vegetables and fruits and the ones in America only like to eat greasy meat, but seriously. I didn't even know they made plates that big until we came here. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, anytime we eat with someone it is enough rice to feed a 3rd world country. Twice this week I rode around with giant bags of spaghetti in my backpack that they gave us as leftovers haha. Hahaha and they don't ever eat WITH you, they just serve you up a giant plate of food and then sit there and watch you eat and comment about how much you're eating and if you like it hahaha. It's ridiculous. We like it when they take us to fast food places because then you can pick what you want and there is some semblance of portion control... When eating fast food is considered a light, healthy meal, you know something is wrong hahaha.

So hooray for this week's break! We just hid our meal calendar in relief society. Oh, free agency feels so delightful.

So, everyone, do the missionaries in your area a favor and feed them salad for dinner, or a nice bowl of cereal.

  

What else is new? Every day is pretty much the same here. Discovered "Together Forever," which we watched in Spanish for language study. There is a montage of a black couple strengthening their marriage that is the cutest thing I've seen in a while. As IF I COULD NOT LOVE THE 90'S ANY MORE, we found all those "Family First" videos. treasures.

I am getting pretty good at kissing Latina ladies on the cheek.

Our 4th of July was pretty uneventful- holidays aren't really holidays on missions. But they still give you something to look forward to. Most people here aren't legal- the only flag we saw was one of those that hangs by the door of this old couple in our ward- but it was upside down, so the stars were in the bottom right corner instead of the top left. It was too funny- I was so mad I didn't have my camera that day.

Okay that's about all I've got this week!!

  

Have a great week everybody!! Keep being good.

lovey lovey love love,

Hna Simpson

 PS. Good spanish word to know: Pobrecito. (Or pobrecita, if it's a girl.) It kind of means poor thing, but you have to stretch it out like Ayyyyy Pobreciitoo :( when you call someone a poor baby. hahaha people say that all the time. whenever something bad happens you can whip that one out of your pocket.