Glad I "Kinda speak English".

Hola mi familia!! Greetings once again from Mt. Pleasant!! Land of the randomly ending sidewalks, home of 'em 'ganders!!!  For starters, I forgot to tell you last week that my address is Apartment B. Thank you to those who wrote me this week!! Love you! This week was so crazy but so good! I forgot to tell you than on my first Sunday here, I was asked to say the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting, so I’m glad that I “kinda” know English. (Serious on the kinda.  I am realizing that my accent is different than that of the ‘gander’:)).  I am learning more about the area and those around me. I don't feel as lost as I did last week, which gives me hope that I will know the area quite well by the time my training is up in 9 weeks. Life as a missionary is exactly what I expected, and exactly opposite of what I expected all at the same time. I knew I would be tired, but I am in a different way than I thought I would be.  I am now on the East coast time zone, which I feel pretty adjusted to, so I have felt so much better this week than last. The hardest part about being a missionary? Well I guess I have come to realize that literally all of my friends have gone foreign speaking. So what I was told would be hard isn't what I have found to be the most difficult. I am very blessed that I am able to talk with all of the people around me, but that is also the struggle. I am ABLE to talk with EVERYONE!!--but I don't know what to say! Like, what the random? How random is it that two young girls come to your front door, show you a blue book, and want to talk to you about Jesus? It's fascinating how people act towards us. Most people are kind, and reject us. Which is pretty much normal I guess. Some get super offended or upset that we have asked them their personal beliefs about God. And some even ask if they can come help/give us people to go visit. Quote of the week "You have no idea what is behind that door".  And it's so true!! Could be a dog, could be a beer-belly, could be a foreigner who doesn't speak English, could be a Buddhist, could be a DEVOUT Baptist, or could be someone who has been praying to know if God loves them and hears their prayers. So it makes life interesting when so many others are involved in your day.  The most interesting conversation this week was with a man who is retired. We knocked on his door, and when we told him that we would like to share a message of Jesus Christ, he FLEW questions at us. He asked us, "How do you know there is a prophet? How do you know God is there? If He was there? Why can't my son see him? Will my son go to hell if he doesn't believe in God? Will God punish me for not always believing in me" Pause the story: Let's, for a moment, observe the situation as if we were a third member of this party. On the left, you see a young GIRL (19 years old) who has literally been a missionary for less than a month. She does know how to speak the language, but not how to use the language efficiently. You also see another young girl, trying to help her trainee as much as possible, but who also isn't quite sure of what to do in this situation. On the right, you see a RETIRED MAN who is asking GIRLS some of the most difficult and frequently asked questions known to mankind. Ok, press play. So we are on this man's door for about 45 minutes trying to answer everything we know. It was such a crazy experience.  We are going back to teach him this week, so it was pretty cool! Freaking scary though!! We also met this man who, when we found out we are Mormon missionaries, told us that he was almost baptized twice. We then taught him some restored truth, to which he said, "Man that sounds nice, but I don't want to hear anything more because I don't want you to persuade me". Wait, did he just say that I, someone who is probably 40 years younger than him, could persuade him into believing there is a God? This idea of people, who are quite a bit older than we are being afraid of our knowledge, astounds me. We are trying to explain that we don't have that ability, but that it would be all by the Spirit. He walked away, but still an interesting conversation. Funniest thing that happened? You better believe I nearly fell off a porch this week. I was laughing so hard my trainer had to talk the whole time. I was out of control. But, I guess that you can laugh in these situations, or cry. Any crying gives me a headache, so I'll just chose to laugh. I live in an apartment with my companion that has multiple rooms, a washer, kitchen, study room, bathroom, and our room.  It’s pretty nice. We have a car 3 weeks out of the 4, so we walk the other week.  My companion is so great. Life is so good! Love you all, and thanks again for all that you do!! Xoxo Sister Ensign :)