June 18, 2018 Fontana: It's Like Montana but South!

Hi all!

I am every bit the "greenie" I feared I would be, but I'm getting ahead of myself! 

What a whirlwind, but I'm here. I still wake up every morning convinced I'm back at the MTC. Then the train that runs next to our apartment complex rattles by and I remember I'm in Fontana, California. Crazy, and so exciting! 

Getting here was wild. The morning I headed out I knocked milk over an entire tray of biscuits (the lunch lady was less than thrilled), lost my room key and notebook full of Spanish notes, and ended up running so late to the bus that I didn't say goodbye to half my zone. The thought kept running through my mind, "What on earth am I doing?" 

When we finally got to California, however, everything started to look up. Redlands has mountains, albeit dusty ones, and just seeing them made me feel a little more at home. President and Sister Dixon  made us all feel so welcome the first day, even driving us around to see some of the old historic homes in beautiful Redlands. I couldn't have been happier to see so many fruit trees. 

Day two I met my trainer, Hermana Stanfield (who looks exactly like Margaret from BBC's North and South, no kidding), and we headed out to our area; Fontana. I was a little stressed about not knowing the language very well, but was determined to practice, so I think for the first 48 hours or so I had my trainer convinced I spoke only caveman Spanish! The first few days were super discouraging. You've just come from the mission-home, filled with pep and sugar cereal, and suddenly you're in a new town where you know no one, one-on-one with a complete stranger, teaching lessons in a language you don't know. My first day in the field was spent planning lessons for people I'd never met.  As we drove through Fontana, I didn't see a single fruit tree or historic home. I didn't feel so sure about the whole thing. 

For those heading to the field soon, tough it out the first few days. For me, it all clicked when I met the people. We do four hours of service per week, and two of those are spent in the George White Senior Center. I felt like I stepped right into Because of Winn Dixie. Honest. I could have sworn I saw Gloria Dump sitting in the corner. Two elderly gentlemen were singing karaoke at the top of their lungs, and I quickly picked up some survival Spanish like, "Can I get anything for you?" We, the Mormon missionaries, spent two hours serving out coffee and iced tea (ironic I know), but I absolutely loved it. Cheesy, but just being with those I've been called to serve I felt more purposeful. 

An even better title for this week would have been MILAGROS. We saw so many miracles this week I can't count them, but I want to focus on just a couple. 

One of our first lessons was Maria. I struggle to understand her fast Spanish, but I knew enough to know she asked questions, and hard ones. Hermana Stanfield was handling them all gracefully until she came out with, "Why don't you use wine for your sacrament when Christ used wine for the last supper? Christ drank wine all the time." We were both a little stunned. I didn't have much to say, but I decided to give it a shot. "The action and symbol of the sacrament are more important than the substance..." I started to say in faltering Spanish, constantly turning to Hmna Stanfield for help. I didn't think I was even saying anything understandable until Maria started nodding. "People drank mostly wine back then because it was so hard to keep water clean. Wine was the most pure substance in Christ's day, but water is the most pure in ours." Wow what? That answer was definitely too smart for me. It was definitely a witness to me that I'm not in charge of the lessons at all. All we have to do is be prepared and try to have the spirit; Heavenly Father knows better than anyone else could what answer would make the most sense to Maria. 

My favorite miracle was on my third day. Elsie, one of our investigators, had told us to stop by anytime in afternoon. We had planned to go at four, but the morning had been crazy and we ended up being behind schedule twenty minutes. As we walked up to the house, Elsie's sister in law called to us from the porch. "Elsie left for the store! You just missed her!" Elsie was pretty hard to get in contact with, and we had another lesson in an hour. Before we could head back to the car, however, Maritza started asking us questions. She inched across the law closer to us as we talked, and quickly a difficult but faith-filled story unfolded. Maritza has clearly been prepared for the gospel for a very, very long time. As she talked about her many questions, I felt more excited than I ever have. Each one could be answered. The craziest part? Maritza had only come outside because the service was better outside than in and she needed to send a quick text. Any sooner or later and we would have missed her. Later Elsie told us that Maritza doesn't usually open up much. I don't know if I've ever felt so happy. To get to be a part of Maritza's story--to answer questions she's been holding for so long--I just feel incredibly blessed. 

I wish I had more time. So many amazing people and I love them all so much already. It's hard not to be impatient with the Spanish because I want to be able to talk to them all so badly, but I know it's a lesson in patience that I need. 

Love you all! 

Hermana Hawkes

Great Quotes:

"I feel like you're a really old person on the inside." --Hermana Stanfield 

"Back home, I drove a big truck. A REALLY big truck." --Elder Harris

"Gamellas?" (they were twins, but not girls...I felt so bad! They just had such beautiful long braids)