Tiana's Mission Up to the Week of Oct. 13: STOLEN APPLE CRISP

So... sorry. About not updating. Hopefully I'll get into a rhythm where I just do it automatically and Dad won't have to send out emails to all you whiny relatives. Just kidding! (Geez... take a joke.)
  Anyway, here they are:
  
   "I Never Knew 7 Days Could Feel So Long": Sept. 23

 Dad/familia,

The work here is super SLOW because me and my companions are opening an area, o sea, they opened it about 4 weeks ago and it's the first time there have been hermanas here, so it's kind of like starting from square 1 with lots of things. There is a branch here that we work in, and the week before I came there were only 17 people at church. We don't even meet in the chapel, we meet in a "cave," a room with no windows and looks more like a relief society room (but smaller). We only have sacrament meeting in the branch, and then the kids combine with another English ward for 2nd and 3rd hour. We're trying to get more people to come to the branch so that when we invite investigators to come to church they'll actually be excited to be there because other people will be there too. :P We never have a program in the branch, so I was totally caught off guard when the branch president got up to announce the program and he said I'd be speaking first. Well, sharing my testimony, at least. But I'd also been asked to say the closing prayer, so it was suddenly like I was doing a lot and no one even knew me yet. AND my companions are speaking next Sunday, so I'm singing the intermediate hymn, whatever that may be.

Even though I've had 2 hours here in the field to email, I am literally to the last 5 minutes now because my companions want to go to an activity with the zone or something. I just want to write! You all seriously write me so much that I can't even answer it all in 2 hours. It's ridiculous, but thanks. 

Here is the bulleted list:

There are probably only 3 stoplights here in Kuna, and they're all within like 3 blocks of each other. Weird.

I ate cafe rio before I left the airport, and a sister coming home to Boise paid for it. Blessing!

My mission debit card does not work yet, so thanks for the airport money. It is saving my life right now.

Send everything to my mission home address, and it'll find me. 

                                        Tiana and her companions at the Relief Society Broadcast   

Ari,

You washed a horse??! That's cool. Before I got here, my companions milked a cow. Like, by hand. But so far I haven't had that marvelous opportunity yet, and we're not allowed to ride horses even though tons of people have them here. Oh well, it gives me a reason to come back, I guess.

 Also, the fly that was hanging around Bro. Vinson during his talk came from Kuna, I'm pretty sure. It's getting cold here, but somehow these flies are still alive. And everywhere.

 

I don't even know what's been going on this week. I've felt really tired and emotional and sin ganas (if that makes any sense), but there were some good things that happened too. Like always. We met this 17-year-old girl named Ise whose family is totally inactive and doesn't like the Church at all, but she wants to serve a mission so she watched conference and goes to mutual and is starting to make it back to Church, even though her sister (who she lives with) is so anti. At least she has her license, that makes things a little easier for her. It was crazy though because we went to see her randomly on Friday night, and when she opened the door she hurried outside and shut the door behind her because her sister had JUST told her that people from the Church were not allowed to come over at all anymore. Luckily Ise had heard the doorbell and run to answer it first, and she told us in a text later that our visit was just the boost she needed to earnestly start coming back to Church, and when she watched conference her desire to serve a mission was rekindled. She is so great! What an example.

We made apple crisp yesterday. One of the members had been canning apple pie filling and so she gave us a can of it and sent us home with a bag for the topping part (I wrote down the components so I can make it again later maybe). It was pretty darn yummy, but I only ate like 2 bites, and I think the McBrides must have finished it off last night because it was all gone and in the dishwasher this morning. Oh well. That's probably healthier for me anyway. :P

 

 

So, yeah. That's it. Hopefully I'll remember to post tomorrow after I get the newest letter. Darn those hungry elderly people!