HOLA FAMILY!! My goodness this has been a crazy week. Everything is new but it is all very exciting!! New companion, new area, new ward, new missionaries, new challenges and new experiences. It has been one crazy ride so far, but I just have to hold on tight! Saying goodbye to everyone is Lewisville was really hard. We had a FHE with the Reyes family and they gave me a bag from Ecuador. I started to cry and so did Hermana Reyes. I know that I will see them one day again. I made some amazing relationships with the investigators and members in the Lewisville area so it was really hard to leave, but I knew that there was an adventure waiting for me in Plano.
New companion: My new companion is Hermana Munyer. She has been out just under a year so we are both learning and growing together as far as our Spanish. I think it has been good for me to struggle with my Spanish instead of just relying on my trainer to speak for me. We had a little rough start getting used to each other and our schedules but we are doing great. Hermana Vigil just told me that I needed to make it until Sunday and then everything would be fine!
New Area: I am now in Plano. it is a cute little Texas town with a church on every corner. There are a ton of Hispanics here so there is some work to be done. It is an older town with a cute little main street. I actually live in an apartment complex where you have to be 55 or older to live in and missionaries have been living there for years. The apartment was disgusting when I first moved in but we spent 3-4 hours my first day here cleaning everywhere. My new address is:
Hermana Cattich
1604 Avenue L #13
Plano, Texas
75074
New Ward: I actually serve in a branch and there are only 40 members so sacrament meeting was a little interesting yesterday. It is a change from my last area for sure. I have a calling already and I am the piano player in Sacrament and Relief Society. That was a little scary and intimidating yesterday but it will be good for me to keep up my piano. it is nice though because there are only 2 sets of missionaries instead of 5 like my last ward. Elder Manning and Elder Belnap. Elder Manning has the same time in the mission as I do, he came out with me and Elder Belnap is on his home stretch. He has been out for 20 months. The Branch President is so funny. He had us over for dinner yesterday and they speak English, he was very welcoming so that was really nice. I met some of the members throughout the week when they would come out with us for lessons and stuff, and the ones that I met are super nice.
New Challenges and Experiences: Well my area also allows us to ride bikes!! WOOHOO!! I rode bikes for the first time on my mission this week!! Riding a bike in a skirt is a lot harder than it looks and after the first day my legs were killing me but it is good exercise. Also, did you know that the Dallas mission has a Chinese mission?? And it is in my new zone. So we have Elders that speak Chinese and there is a Chinese branch. On Saturday night, there was a Chinese New Year Celebration at the church with amazing homemade Chinese food and music as well as dancing. It was so cool!! Plano is like a little melting pot, it is so fun.
We don't have very many progressing investigators but we are working a lot with the less active members to try and make this branch back to a ward. We have one investigator named Marta and we set a baptismal date last night with her. We are constantly finding and teaching people so that is good to practice my Spanish. My investigators from Lewisville, the Putz and Reyes family have all set baptismal dates. I talked to Hermana Vigil on Friday and she gave me the update!! The Reyes family finally got over their fear of marriage and they are setting a wedding date. I will go back to Lewisville on the 9th of February for the Putz baptism!! I am so excited for them, sad that I can't be there for them right now but I can't wait to see them in a few weeks!!
I hope everyone has a great week and I love you all so much. Missionary work is so rewarding and I love every minute. This past week, while we were riding our bikes, I was singing to myself, "It may not be on the mountain top, or over the stormy sea...." It is so true. The good old flat and huge state of Texas is exactly where I need to be!
Hermana Cattich
COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT
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