Week of May 27, 2013

Monday- It was a really nice chill day. We stayed inside most of the day. But when we decided to go out, the weather decided to change. It poured! We arrived at our appointment with the Matos family WET!  Brother Matos talked to his family and us about missionary work. He said that he is more than happy to go out with us and help teach. He is such a sweet man. He bought roses for each of the sisters and made sure we got enough food to eat. Did you know that Ketchup tastes good on plan rice? Guess that is how the Dominican children eat it. I had to try it... and it wasn't all that bad.

Tuesday- ZONE CONFERENCE! This means... leave early in the morning, drive for... a long time, get to a chapel early. Take some pictures on a rock with some mission friends and pretend to roast marshmallows around the fire pit. Go inside eat some cereal. Sit and listen to a lesson/training by the assistants and a counselor in the mission presidency. There is also a musical number somewhere in there. Take some crazy inspired notes only to find they are going to email you the presentation. Get fed a delicious meal of cafe rio style burritos. Play a fun know your mission game. Listen to president talk about the missionary handbook and more specific rules.... I love him more and more each day. (His daughter is in the hospital again, she is getting a new treatment that will hopefully cure her or at least stabilize her condition.) Zone conference went from 9-5.... so we used the rest of the day to plan and prepare for our split.

Karee, Sis Wagner, and another missionary friend

Wednesday- We went to the Children's hospital to see Angela and wish her happy birthday. She was doing a whole lot better. She was talking and walkling around and she was so happy. Splits with the sister trainer and her companion. I went with sister Kendel. She is from Tawilla (I have no Idea how to spell that) Utah. Before we split we went over to Eridania's house where we watched the Testaments (at least the first 20 min.) then the sisters picked us up for our split. Sister Kendel doesn't speak any spanish so I did a lot of talking. We went to Sister Reyes to work out some of the visiting teaching assignments and update some records that we have. Then we went to the Baez family. They are preparing to go to the temple to be sealed as a family. So we had a discussion about temple covenants. After sister Baez fed us. Yummy rice salad and some beautiful Flan. ( I got the recipie!!)

Mission president's daughter, Angela on her birthday. Sister missionaries went to wish her a Happy Birthday!

Celebrating a birthday with Angela!

Sister Baez Beautiful Flan

6 lg. eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Blend it all together in a blender.

Melt some brown sugar in a pan until it is all liquidy. Smear it on the bottom of a 8x8 pan. Fill a bigger pan (9x13) with about an inch of water. put it in the oven at 400 until the water starts to boil. Pour the batter into the 8x8 pan with the brown sugar and place it in the pan with boiling water. bake for 30 mins. 

She topped it with cherries and mandrine oranges. DELICIOUS

After dinner we went back home where we planned a little and I packed a small overnight bag. Then we went to the weston sister's apartment. I got to sleep with a panda blanket. 

Thursday- Being on splits is weird... everyone speaks english. We went on a few member visits. One of which had a very hungry dog who would NOT stop licking me! I wasn't sure if i should try to tell the family or if I should just let it lick my legs. We were sitting at a table and I didn't know if it was just acceptable for the dog to just lick... so I just let it. Eww. We picked up the two Packard children from school (Natalie and Michael) They are both such good kids. Michael shared his wisdom about Boston. "Using your blinker is a sign of weakness." He is such a funny kid. For dinner we ate some Russian beet soup with biscuts. Much different than any of the Hispanic food I eat, but it was good. 

Friday- District meeting. This means we come together as a district. The two Spanish sisters and the Spanish elders. We sing in Spanish... or at least we try. Then we talk about our investigators or the less active members that we are working with. We had lunch with a member who insisted on buying us both an apple pie and an ice cream cone at McDonald's. We listened to his conversion story and he shared one of his favorite books about inspirational stories. After he gave us a bag that had bananas and strawberries and cookies. Delicious. Later that day we had two member visits, the Henriquez and the Pelosos. 

Saturday- Spanish Group Blitz! This means we start with a breakfast and when the ward members are late we help the English members clean the chapel. Then an hour later we eat breakfast and discuss who is going where. I ended up going with sister Vargas and sister Van Wagnen to a few less active's houses. We told them how much we love them and how much we miss them. At one house we were fed some lunch, which was so wonderful. I like orange juice a lot and I think that every home has them. I am pretty lucky! Later we went to Eridania's to see if she was feeling any better. We took her some flowers which she loved! She told us more about her life. (She has had three open heart surgeries!) Oh did I tell you it was raining all day? It was also super windy! So on our way to the Monteros we got soaked again. Don't worry that wind and rain won't stop us, we just get pretty cold. We shared president Monson's talk about being obedient. She really liked it. I forget how many funny faces he makes while he is walking. I guess I really wore myself out because I was starving when we got home. I ate three whole zucchini, SUPER random craving but it turns out that they taste really good when they are steamed and served over saltine crackers. Yum!

Sunday- Church was really good. Sister Montero was there! After church we went to visit a few families before going over to the Peloso's house for dinner. We made one of my favorite meals, Creamy Pasta Bake. But we used angel hair instead of the spiral noodles. While sister Peloso was teaching sister smith how to make some cake, I talked with the 10 year old daughter who told me that she had never been baptized. She wants to be baptized and we are going to start working with her. 

Monday- we went to the temple bright and early. I saw Megan Boudettes (note from mom: this was Karee's first roommate at BYU)mom! What a small world. She was super happy to see me and started to cry. Then we went over to the university sister's house and hung out with a bunch of sisters. 

Sister missionaries at the temple with mission president's wife in the center

Next week is transfer meeting, I will find out if I am getting transfered on Friday night. P-day will be on Wednesday so I will let you all know when I can. 

Love you all!

Love, Hna. Brown