Hello family and friends,
Can I just say, "OH MY GOODNESS!" So much has happened since I was able to email you last. It was hard to say goodbye to all my friends at the MTC but I was so ready for the adventure in Texas!
I had to leave the MTC at 4:30am and I got to be in a travel group with a bunch of Elder from the West Campus that were being reassigned to the Dallas Mission while waiting for their visas!
We arrived in Texas, and the minute we landed I could feel the humidity! Oh goodness! I then had to say good bye to my "companions" Elder Tai and Elder Sharp in the airport and then collect my bags. We walked right out and met up with the assistants and the mission president!! President Durrant is so tall!! I also got to meet the Hermanas and Elders that came from the Mexico MTC. I asked them if by chance they knew and Elder Wandry. They were all so excited and said yes and that they loved him. It was fun to make that connection! We then went to the Dallas Temple and took pictures then headed to a church building.
We were in training all day and told about everything that was going to be happening. You could tell everyone was so tired and no one really had a good night of sleep. We were all falling asleep, but it was fine! After dinner, the sister training leaders picked us up and took us knocking. I couldn't even comprehend what was going on I was so tired and I couldn't believe they were having us tract on our first night. It was so funny. I didn't say anything they whole time because i was so overwhelmed and then I realized I knew no Spanish at all, it was great!!
I met my trainer the next day and her name is Hermana Vigil! She is from Syracuse, Utah and she is exactly what I needed for a trainer. We are opening a new area so there is a lot of work to be done. Sadly, it is a lot of door knocking and talking to people, not really lessons, but knocking is part of the work I guess! We knocked a lot and didn't have much success but the people here are so nice. Sadly, I can hardly understand them. There are so many different accents and depending where they are from there are so many different speeds at which they talk!
I had my first "native" Spanish meal, and I didn't like it but I gladly ate it anyways. It was like a fried pancake that was corn based and it had chunks of hot dogs in it. It was the weirdest thing because it did not have a taste, but I ate two and then we told the lady we would take them home and eat them.
In an apartment where we tract there is a lady named Lupita and she is so nice. Part of her family just became members but she didn't. She told us we could stop by and use her bathroom and she would give us food anytime we needed it. Every time she sees us, she gives us chips and drinks. It is so nice of her and then her neighbor Ericka, who is not a member, taught us how to make homemade tortillas one night after we cleaned her kitchen for her. Every time we see her now, she gives us homemade tortillas! They are soooo good.
Everyone in that apartment complex knows the "missionaries" and they all think that it is so funny that I can't speak Spanish. My trainer has to translate a lot for me, I LOVE IT!! Erika's daughter though is 6 and she is the cutest little girl I have ever seen. She known a little English because that is what they speak in school. She is helping me learn Spanish. I was saying a prayer with their family and during the prayer I was saying something wrong and Diana, the little girl, corrected me. It was so cute. She was standing there with her arms folded and her eyes closed and she was helping me with my pronunciation. I LOVE THE PEOPLE HERE!!
Funny moment of the week:
So we were visiting a less active family. We were inside sitting on the couch and the little boy who was about 4 comes over and is dangling a little bird in his hands upside down. The birds head was just dangling back and forth and I had no idea what it was. Hermana Vigil then told me that it was dead. I am now tramatized whenever I see little birds that people have as pets. I was like screaming inside.
This week there has been quite a few times that I have thought to myself, "What am I doing here?" It has been a crazy week with a lot of struggles but I know that this is where I need to be. I have also been so humbled. I grew up with amazing parents and we had a lot and here I am going into a trailer home or an apartment and these families don't have anything. They don't have a couch or a kitchen table and the floor of the living room is where their bed is. I just love the people that I meet and I want them to feel the same joy that I have in my life. I have taken so much for granted and I honestly wish I could just help them and let them know that everything is going to be okay. This week has been an eye opener, but I am so excited to spend the next 16 months of my life helping these people!
My new address is
Hermana Cattich
200 Oak Knoll #1735
Lewisville, TX
Lewisville, TX
75067
This is my direct address and I would love to hear from you guys that way!!
I hope you all have a great week and as Thanksgiving is coming up, remember what you are thankful for. I am sure thankful for this gospel and my wonderful family!! I am also grateful for my friends and for the opportunity that I have to serve in the Dallas Texas mission!
Hermana Cattich
COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT
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