Transfers!

So the big news this week is transfers!  And I am...staying here in Chalchuapa and Casa Blanca!  But I got a new companion.  I am really excited to get a new companion.  Her name is Hermana Sing and she is from Honduras!  Hopefully I will be able to learn Spanish a lot faster when I can ask questions about the language to my companion.  I am really excited but I hear that she is a little bit forceful.  I have now been with her for 4 hours and this is what I know about her:  she is from Honduras but she has a funny name because her grandpa is Chinese.  I am still not sure how a Chinese man ended up in Honduras but I will find out soon.  She is a convert sort of.  All of her family is members and active but she didn´t get baptized till she was 12 and she had to take the missionary discussions.  She just didn´t want to get baptized before that.  She told me she was baptized in November of 1988.  I had to think about that.  I was born in 1988!  She is 34 years old and on her mission!  But this is her last transfer so I will have a new companion in 6 weeks.  So pretty much I am going to be here in these 2 areas for a long time.  I am sending a picture of my old zone on our last day together and then one of me and my new companion together.

So I have hear more about Eli here in Casa Blanca this last week too.  Eli should email me with a list of his converts here so that I can talk to them.  That would be fun.  But last monday we were walking home from our last appointment during the night and Hermana Cash and I were talking and all of a sudden I heard these faint footsteps running towards us and they were getting louder and louder.  I turned around and this guy who didn´t have any shoes was coming right at us!  My heart jumped and I ran to the other side of the street and Hermana Cash froze and this guy runs right past us.  And he goes up about 25 feet and turns around and runs right back at us!  And again passed us.  I was so scared!  But nothing happened and that was the end of that.  But there was another kid a little ways up who watched us get freaked out and he was really friendly and said that that guy is mentally ill.  But he said that he had met many missionaries before and said that he knew an Elder Stevens.  What are the odds!  I don´t remember this kid´s name but he was a little strange but friendly.  Then the next day I was with a family because we are teaching the live-in boyfriend of their daughter and we taught the lesson and they were talking about missionaries and so I asked them if they know Eli and of course they did and they said that Eli was here for a long time.  So, Eli, Familia Aguirre (Hermana Julia and Hermano Julio who own a key making shop on the highway that runs through Casa Blanca) say hi.

So this week there was a big soccer game in Europe against Madrid and Barcelona.  We went through the whole day and had no success and it was hard to find people in their houses and we were wondering why no one wanted to talk to us.  Then we found out that there was a huge game and that all the bars were filled and so no one was answering their doors.
So I am not going to lie.  It has been pretty hot here and I sweat a lot.  It is pretty disgusting when I take of my backpack and my back looks like I laid in a puddle.  You know that it is hot when all the natives complain about it.  But it has rained some here which is pretty exciting. Rain season is suppose to start in May or June (everyone says different months) and then it isn´t suppose to be so hot.  Everyone says that March and April are the hottest months here.  It is really hot at night times too.  Lately it hasn´t been to bad but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and think to myself ¨I am hot¨ and then go back to bed.

So we have 2 baptism dates right now and neither of them are very good.  They are both named Claudia and both have a little girl out of wedlock so we have to work on the law of chastity.  But one of them has gone to church a lot (Claudia A) and the other one doesn´t have enough desire to go (Claudia B).  Claudia B has major problems with her live in boyfriend because he beats her and he has threatened to kill her more than once.  She even said that she was about to commit suicide by overdosing on pills but then she couldn´t because of her little girl.  I don´t know how we can help her because her boyfriend is really abusive and everytime we teach her she ends up telling us more about her life and cries.  Claudia A is ready to be baptized but her boyfriend is already married but separated and would need to get a divorce and marry her.  Or she could stop the relationship.  But her boyfriend doesn´t want to every get married again and so that creates a problem.  I think that she will decide to drop him because she said she wanted to marry someone that would go to church with her and he is not willing to do that.  So, we have a lot of work to do and a lot of problems to fix.  People here have a lot of problems with the law of chastity.  We have one other guy who is really positive and he is 39, no children, doesn´t drink alcohol and is willing to stop drinking coffee.  He just is waiting to know if it is the true church but his mom and brother are members.

That is about all the news here in El Salvador.  I am really excited to work with Hermana Sing and I think that we will see a lot of success here in the next 6 weeks.  It is pretty exciting to have a new companion with a new start.  It is funny because Hermana Cash went to another area to be with Hermana Stout, who came with me.  Hermana Cash has 9 months on her mission now and has not had a latina companion.

Well, the church is true.  It is amazing to see people accept the gospel and to make changes in their lives. It is obvious that people are being prepared because people are willing to accept the message of the restauration.  I am happy to be here.  I almost have 5 months on my mission.  TIme has really flown.  Dad told me that the Rockies are starting their season and I thought ¨How can that be because they just finished it?¨ And then I realized that it is already spring but it feels like you should be in the fall.  But I still have a ton more work to do here.  By the time I am done with El Salvador, the whole country is going to be members.  Or maybe just a little bit more people.  I love you all and I am happy that everyone is doing fine!  Good luck Mandy this week with your performance.

Love
Hermana Bush