06 May 2013

Week 16 "Getting Lucky in Kentucky"

Hey Family!
 
I hope this email finds you all happy and well. I am so grateful for y'all in my life. The mission has taught me a lot of things, especially in my last three weeks here in Oak Grove. I think it has been the hardest three weeks of the mission, but I have definitely learned the most duing this time.
 
SO we STILL HAVENT GOTTEN OUR APARTMENT IN HOPTOWN. That means that even if we get into this apartment by the end of this week, I will have spent one week in Manchester, over half of my time in Oak Grove and maybe a week and a half in my actual area? haha. Crazy transfer....
 
I have loved living with the English sisters in Oak Grove though, even though Hermana McNab and I are still on the floor living out of our suitcases. I have learned a lot from them and I know that there were lessons I think we were all supposed to learn from each other.
 
This last week I was able to go on splits with Sister Escobar. She is in my Zone and grew up speaking Spanish, but was called English speaking on her mission. It was her first time doing splits in Spanish and it was my first time doing splits at all. "Hermana Escobar" as I like to call her, is an AMAZING missionary though. I learned so much from her in the day and a half we were together than I think we could have imagined. Together we found quite a few new investigators in Hopkinsville and she taught me a lot about how you can be a very obedient missionary and still have a lot of fun. She is almost to her last transfer as a missionary and I can tell that she has had so much fun on her mission, but she has also been a successful missionary because she is so obedient. I loved doing splits with her and I think it was exactly what I needed. She taught me a lot about being bold and confident in our message with people. I have already started to put to practice what she has taught me and I am excited to see how I can grow even more.
 
The other day Hermana McNab and I were driving up to Hoptown from Oak Grove and the drive was beautiful! I will always have a special place for Manchester, but that drive started to convince me that Kentucky is a pretty spectacular place too. I can't remember if I told you this, but my first day when we got to KY we met the Bishop in our ward and he told us that "we were on the right side of the state line. There is Zion... and then Tennessee." It was funny. I really love TN a lot, but I get the feeling I might be in KY for a couple of transfers to build up the Spanish group here in Hoptown, so we'll see how I feel in a couple of more weeks.
 
The work has been split between Hopkinsville and Oak Grove. This last week we got 9 new investigators, taught 18 other lessons and taught a total of 28 lessons! It was a miracle. Most of that was because we were doing out work in Hopkinsville where there is quite a bit of less active and potentials to check out on the Spanish list. It was amazing though! I don't think me and Hermana Smith ever had numbers like that when we were in Manchester. It felt sure good to see the numbers to reflect our hard work this last week. The mission teaches you in our lowest lows, and your highest highs. Roller coaster of emotions everyday!
 
Hopefully Hermana McNab and I will be getting into our aparments this next week! But who knows, we might still have more lessons to learn from the English sisters we are living with. I'm not sure how I will call you next week because I don't know if we will be in Hoptown or in Oak Grove... I know if I am at a members house we can probably try a gmail chat if one of the members has one? It might be cool to see Nolan on chat and to see how big he has been getting.
 
I remember that last transfer I did a couple of funny things I had seen around TN email, so here are a few things I have experienced since I've been in KY:
 
- Never in my life have I seen so many ghetto cars. There are these 70 looking cars with giant tires all around here in Oak Grove. Hermana McNab and I were tracting the other day and this ghetto car blasting music passed us FOUR TIMES within one mile. It was really entertaining
-Never in my life have I seen horse and buggie signs on a freeway, then actually see horse and buggies crossing the freeway..
-Never in my life have I seen so many cop cars as I do in Oak Grove, KY. and never in my life have I had them come up to us and talk to us about not being out too late preaching
-Not nearly as many people say y'all out here in KY, at least out here where I am. It is sad... but I'm trying to hold on to my Southern accent :)
-As I hate to admit it, all Walmarts are still considered equal, whether you are in Utah, TN or KY
 
Well, I will continue to grow my list about the funny things I see out here in the Bluegrass state. Love you all. Can't wait to talk to you soon next week!
 
Con Amor,
 
Hermana Rich

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