A Spot of Red in a Sea of Black: January 19, 2014

Hello Family!

Loved reading your emails this week. The letters still havent gotten here but Im sure they will get here soon. I did get a letter from the Armours though. A lot of the people at their Christmas party wrote me a letter so they sent them all to me. That was nice to read. So this week was kind of rough though. Sister Nielsen got transferred. We kind of expected it. We had been together for four months. But I was hoping I would transfer because now that she transferred, I have to lead the area. Which is hard. I knew leading the area would be hard and I was prepared for that but what I wasnt prepared for was getting a native companion. My new companion is Sister De Castro. And it is quite the adjustment. She is literally the complete opposite of Sister Nielsen. She doesnt talk to me. She speaks English very well but she doesnt really understand it. And she came from San Carlos which is a Cebuano speaking area so when she got here she only spoke Cebuano. Which I dont understand obviously. It was really hard going from understanding what was going on in lessons to not understanding anything because its a completely different language. And then a lot of the people we visit were sad Sister Nielsen is gone so they would start crying and then I would start crying and then Sister De Castro would start crying so it would just be a big mess. Sister Nielsen never saw me cry except for on Christmas when I said goodbye. I did so good with her. Now everyone has seen me cry. Its terrible. I just cant stop crying. Well, I've done better now but some things will just bring the tears and I cant stop them. I've just been super stressed this week. And because Im stressed I havent had an appetite and then I got sick. Its wonderful. Sister Hogge saw me the first day and could tell I was already super stressed (sister training leader that lives next door) so we did exchanges on Thursday. That was the only good day this week. She just let me talk to her and I told her everything that was going on and she just listened and then gave me advice. It was so great. Sister Hogge came from Tacloban and Im pretty sure the only reason all the missionaries had to leave Tacloban is because Heavenly Father knew that I would need Sister Hogge right now. So this week I am focusing on not stressing out and actually eating and loving my companion. Because its kind of hard right now. But hopefully this week will be better. I just feel like she thinks Im stupid and dont know anything. Like we go in to teach a lesson and she will start and then I am supposed to teach the next principle. So I start talking and I get one sentence in and then she cuts in and teaching the rest of the lesson. One lesson she didnt even let me talk at all. I didnt even get to testify at the end. Ahhhhhhh I just dont know. Its just been a hard week. But thats missionary life. Obviously I knew this would happen eventually but I just thought my companion might actually talk to me and help me. So hopefully this week I will be able to open her up. I never thought that I would be the loud one in a companionship but I guess now I have to be. So this week I am going to try hard to open her up and get to know her better. And I will not compare her to Sister Nielsen. That was one thing Sister Hogge told me to never do. Obviously everyone is different but its hard to not compare the things that me and Sister Nielsen did. So I will work on that this week. Sorry this email to such a bummer. Hopefully next week I will have good news for you. Glad you were able to find a new car! Sounds awesome! You should send me a picture of it! So that I can know what your driving around town! Thats cool that Jensens had a baby. I remember hearing about Dani being pregnant but I forgot. Thats awesome. I love that she called Hallie McKenna. Sounds like Hallie is already better than I was though! Keep up the good work! Have fun driving to South Carolina mom! Also its either us or the other sisters in Silay East that post on facebook. We usually do it a couple times a week. Sad that Ryanne isnt working at the bakery anymore. That will be weird. But she will be a great missionary. Well again, sorry this email was a bummer. Hopefully you all have a great week! I love you!

Sister Remund