Well folks... It's been a CRAZY intense week here in the Denver Spanish 1st WARD :)
Monday I was in the mission home all day with Sister Newell! We got to hang out there, get Chipotle, etc. It was actually quite relaxing. We got to meet all of the new missionaries that came in. One of them was Sister Harshaw from SOUTHLAKE! It was so fun to welcome her and to see a familiar face :)
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| They sell paletas in Denver by the box at the Mexican stores! They are my favorite Mexican treat and are like an ice cream popsicle with real fruit in them! |
Then, Tuesday morning at 6:15 we left for transfer meeting. It's fun being on Metro side because I get to see all of the departing missionaries and hear their testimonies! It was SO sad to say goodbye to my dearest Sister Newell! She headed to Brazil and I assume is doing great over there! It was SUCH a tough breakup though, let me tell you.
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| Met up with one of my former companions, Hermana Gogue again at the transfer meeting. |
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| I served with Sister Killpack in the district during my first transfer. I saw her at this week's transfer meeting where she was headed home. |
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| I love Sister Lara! |
The rest of the day, while I waited for my new companion to come over from the Western Slope, I took one of the new missionaries that is now serving in Denver 1st as well and we went and checked out our apartments. Because all of Denver 1st ward is getting whitewashed for the sisters, our apartment (I'm serving on the North side :)) hadn't been lived in for over 5 weeks! It was DISGUSTING. We didn't have air conditioning (it was 90 degrees - literally - when we walked in) and basically abandoned. So, literally the next 5 hours I spent cleaning our apartment. It was SO dusty and just atrocious. I'm not even exaggerating. I am SO GRATEFUL for my mom for teaching me how to clean! I never thought I would ever be cleaning baseboards and blinds and cleaning marks off of the doors, but alas, that was the rest of our week! I picked up my new companion that night at 9 pm back in Cherry Hills. Her name is HERMANA KOKIA CHANDLER and I LOVE HER SO MUCH. She came out a couple of transfers after me and I just adore her. I've known her basically my whole mission and am so happy we get to serve as companions! She has been out 11 months, is also a former Cougar and is from Kane'ohe, HAWAII :) It was an instant connection.
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| My new companion, Hermana Chandler |
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| Hermana Chandler and I had not had Panda Express since we have been on our missions... had to get some! |
Sooo, we got home that night, unpacked our bags (I had managed to get our room clean enough while I was waiting for her to get there - it took 3 hours just for one room) and went to bed about 12. The next morning we woke up at 6 and got RIGHT back to work cleaning. We literally spent the next 2 days DETAILING and cleaning EVERYTHING. The 2 remaining sisters in the Denver 1st ward out of the 4 last transfer had been living in the south apartment so ours was just hideous. So, after 2 days STRAIGHT of cleaning, our apartment is now beautiful and spotless :)
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| Olaf, sitting in the reading chair in our apartment. |
On Friday, we started prepping the area. Basically, no one has been in the north area for about 5 weeks now, so we're basically opening it from scratch. We have about 3 investigators that are actually pretty solid, but its a HUGE drop off from there. So, we started organizing all 6 area books... (YES... SIX). There were records in there from 2004! So that took another full day or 2. So, after 2 days of cleaning the house so we don't die of diseases, and 2 days of organizing old information and meeting with our WML and 2 investigators, by Sunday we were finally able to go out and proselyte! We decided to begin by trying some of the people we hadn't seen yet and some old less actives that hadn't been seen in years.
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| Ate at an awesome seafood place where they serve it by the pound! |
We had a wonderful day at church yesterday. The ward has about 150 people that come to sacrament meeting each week and FULL classes every other hour. It was AMAZING! The members are SO loving. Bishop Hernandez had all of the new missionaries go up and bear their testimonies yesterday (there are 6 of us out of the 8 that are new in this ward) and introduce ourselves. The spirit is SO strong in that ward! I can't even believe it. Although we are basically starting from scratch, I am super excited to serve here! It will most likely be my last area of my mission, so Sister Chandler and I are ready to give everything we have to make it great! I have never been so tired or exhausted in my mission as I have been this week. Every waking moment and every thought has been dedicated to this area and these people. But that is how it should be :) The members are wonderful. We get fed wonderful Mexican food every night and I'm loving it :) We only get to teach in Spanish in this area so i'm super excited to really be immersed in the culture. We cover the more ghetto parts of Denver so it's been quite a scare a few times... but don't worry,Mom... We're being careful! All of the stores and things are in Spanish and our area has amazing graffiti street art everywhere!!!
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| Lakewood, CO at sunset! |
Our new address is:
Hermana Erica Pierce
7160 West Cedar Avenue
Apt #1
Denver, CO
80226
That's about all I can think to update on this week! I love you all so much! Many prayers needed for our area, but we're so excited to get to work!! :)
Love,
Hermana Pierce
Pic: Accidentally rubbed my hand against the blinds quickly... this is what happened... Point proven? HAHA.
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