Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Botanical Babes

Family Reunion
June 30, 2014

Hola, mamacitas! How are my little angels doing? I miss the heck out
of y'all! What's new? Are you going to light up the 4th of July
without me? Boooo! Wish I could be there. :( Let freedom ring loud
enough for me to hear it all the way up here in maple country! And
we'll ALL celebrate later when I roll off that plane in my
star-spangled glory! Aaaah. It's hard to be a girl without a country.
The 4th in a country that doesn't celebrate America just isn't the
same. Believe it or not, Canada actually isn't the 51st state like
many 'muricans suppose. So while you're eating hot dogs and lighting
fireworks on the 4th I will have already celebrated Canada Day on the
1st. YOCO! (You're Only Canadian Once.) Or I guess YOQO would be more
accurate given my present circumstances. I often forget I'm in Canada.
Anyway, all of this just to say, "HAPPY 4th of JULY" to you all! I'm
so proud of MY heritage. :)

Hmmmm... the week that was. This was another one of those burdensome
weeks, but we had lots of fun. Comme d'habitude. The reason this
letter is entitled Family Reunion is not to say that I'm trunky or
that I ran into any family members up here in the Great White North.
No, I am referring to my state as a mission mother. This Wednesday we
had a big fat transfer, and what do you know? ALL of my babies, all
FIVE of my babies that I trained, were at the transfer! It was
GLORIOUS! And yes, I did get a posterity photo. Not all of my
grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there, but still. I felt so
fulfilled! The best part of all is that my baby Sister Guevara is now
in my district! Halleluja! Mama is going to die happy. The transfer,
although happy, was also the saddest day of my life. I had to watch
some of my favorite elders go HOME! And SISTERS too! Oh my gosh... it
was awful! There was one sister that was leaving that actually got to
the field a week after I did. So that was WEIRD. Guess that means I'm
next or something. Meh... don't want to think about it. You all on the
other hand better start partying it up and get ready for my glorious
return when I roll home on my Canadian tire. Whooo!

On Friday we had mission leadership council, which always brings a
smile to my face. Mostly because we get to eat pizza at the end. But
still, it was such a fun DAY! When you're a missionary and you're
alone with your companion 24/7, it's always a special treat when you
get to interact with a gang of missionaries. Then on Saturday we had a
meeting with missionary leaders and ward mission leaders from the
stake. The thing that got me to it was the pancake breakfast they held
for us in the morning. It was fun though because I got to see one of
my old investigators from Montreal ward who is now a ward missionary!
I love going back to my old haunt. It's fascinating to see how much
growth has happened in just one year after leaving.

We also ate a ridiculous amount of food this weekend. It was my
mission mama's birthday (Sister Morales), but we also had a dinner
appointment with another family in the ward, and so I hopped from
pancake breakfast, to cupcakes with my favorite New Zealander Sister
Ross, to THANKSGIVING dinner with the Dupont family, to BIRTHDAY
Chinese dinner with the Morales family. We. Wanted. To. DIE! I realize
that I talk a lot about food in my letters... but that's kind of what
my life revolves around as a North American missionary. At least take
comfort in the fact that we definitely do not starve. It does however
mean that six weeks to sexy is out the window, so I hope you will
recognize me when I get back. Meh. We'll see.

Alright, so that's the week that was! Sorry I don't have too many
interesting things to say. It was a calmer week as far as Juan
Martinez is concerned. I love you all SOOOOOOO much though! Smooches
and loves for all. Have a fabulous 4th! Cause baby you're a firework!
Come on, let your colors burst! Make em' go.... well, you know the
rest. LOVE YOU LOTS!

Love,

Syl

**********

Botanical Babes
July 7, 2014

Why, hello! :) How are you, my lovely, lovely bunch? How was the grand 4th of July celebration? I hope you all had a fantastic week! I certainly did. Just to get the trunky fever out of the way now, I'll let you all know that I'm coming home in exactly ONE MONTH! GET EXCITED! GET READY! You're about to see the new and improved, softer (fluffier) around the edges Sylvia! I'm going to give it my ALL this month! I love the mission too much to waste a single minute of it. 

So the week that was... CRAY CRAY! Ha ha. But really. So many awesome things happened that I don't even know where to begin. First of all, we have an AMAZING new investigator! She is the mother of one of the members of our ward, and she is seriously the most incredible person I have ever met. We have had the most spiritual, tearful, loving, happy lessons I have ever taught on my mission. I feel so blessed to work with her and am excited to watch her progress. She is doing amazing. Her daughter was telling us how she would fast every single fast Sunday of her mission that her mom would start listening to the missionaries, and now she is FINALLY taking the discussions! It has been a miracle, and I'm so happy to be a part of it. 

Alright, who's ready for a crazy story? Yes, you guessed right. It happened at the Sri Lankan family's home. Where else? So here's what happened. The father of the Sri Lankan family wanted to have us and the Montreal West sisters (their original missionaries who began teaching them) over for his birthday, my birthday (early celebration) and the 4th of July. So we take the Montreal West sisters and the former Sister May, now Cherise, over to their house after our Zone Training Meeting. We hadn't eaten since like 7, and it was now 2 pm by that point. SOOOO HUNGRY. We go in thinking we're about to have a Sri Lankan feast. Well, we get there and the daughter tells us that her dad is out and that he's drunk. :( So sad. This is the second time we've heard of this. The mom is still so nice though, but doesn't speak any English whatsoever, so she brings us out some birthday cake and what appeared to be orange juice. We finish our birthday cake and Sister Orozco goes for her orange juice. Then Sister May. Both of them just look at each other and want to throw up. They're just sitting there laughing and I'm like, "Give me my dang orange juice!" So they did. I take a sip... tp tp tp... hmmmm... Yeah, it was DEFINITELY not orange juice. Guess who broke the Word of Wisdom for the first time ever? Ha ha. And as a missionary! Whooooo! So yeah, in case you were wondering, I definitely partied HARD this 4th of July. Turns out we were drinking a nice blend of OJ and alcohol. The best part was that I kept falling off of the couch I was sitting on, so it totally looked like I was drunk. Don't worry, I literally took one sip before wanting to die from how awful it tasted.

After our lesson we headed over to meet our potential Ed by the river. We brought Sister May with us because we had a feeling he thought it was a date. I'll admit I felt like I was investidating ALL over again when I started that lesson, but it ended up being one of the most beautiful, spiritual lessons I've ever taught. Ed is very soulful and very thoughtful. He asked a lot of great questions and philosophized with us a ton, but I was so ready for whatever he threw at me. We weren't sure what he thought of the whole experience... two hott girls meeting him on the street one week and then preaching to him the next.... but he accepted a Book of Mormon! And he's meeting with us again. :) So that was cool!

In other news... we had a FABULOUS lesson with our investigator Marina this week. Marina is a very soulful person, so she wanted to be taught the Plan of Salvation out in nature. On Saturday she took us to the Botanical Gardens of Montreal for our lesson, and it was UNREAL! Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my. Such a BEAUTIFUL DAY! One of the most perfect days of my mission. I seriously get to teach the most amazing people out here. She is very spiritually in tune, and being in the gardens talking about creation was just one of the most beautiful experiences ever. I'm sending pictures. :)

Anyway, that was my week! I hope you all had a fabulous time without me this summer holiday season! I love you all to the heavens and back and will be seeing you SHORTLY! Take good care of yourselves. Eat lots of shaved ice! Think of me often. Miss me terribly. I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love,

Syl




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