September 30, 2019 Dates, Sticks, and Hermana Coenen

Hey all!

I found out it was fall! Someone put some Halloween decorations out. I appreciated them, here that's the only way to tell the season. 

Some highlights of the week include Rosa showing us her new pair of garden shoes. They have a special heel to balance her weight so it's easier on her back, but I told her they really just look like black grandma pumps. "They're so elegant aren't they?" she asked me laughing. The neighbors will all ask who the mysterious, fancy, date-picker lady is. Just imagine me on the top of a ladder in these babies!" (not a direct translation there) 

Hermana Coenen landed, straight out of the Mexico MTC, which she is still pining for, although the food made her sick. She came with a sunburn and a Louisina accent, which she can turn on and off at will. She marched up to me before the training meeting, without knowing who I was, and gave me a giant hug. She is one of the spunkiest people I've ever met, and she makes me laugh so hard. 

For example, I made us little pizzas this week. We sat down to eat them in our dim little dining room, and she pipes up with, "All we need now is candles...and dates!!" Then we sat there eating pizzas with a little bowl of dates between us. Ridiculous. The same day she spent a good 10 minutes of dinner time trying to knock dates out of a tree with a large branch. Don't worry, it's documented! She is continually confusing words for cute "chulo" or "lindo" with the word for porkchop, which is "chuleta." This has been interesting in member lessons. 

Several lessons fell through last week, last minute, so we decided to just get to action and knock the neighborhood. We talked to several people, and then got in the car to head out. We decided to pray quickly and try to figure out what else the Lord wanted us to do. We started driving off, when we spotted an "I love Jesus" sticker on someone's front door. They already had Jesus, and so did the neighbor, and the next house did as well. Active members of another faith, they invited us in nonetheless. "Well," they told us, "if you're knocking this late, you must have something good to say. Give us what you've got." Faustino had his Bible and out and ready, and we knew the man was ready to bash. We just blinked at them, and I looked down at the Book of Mormon in my hands. "It's the one thing they don't already have," I said to myself, "let's see how this goes." We didn't bash, we just started with our testimonies. We talked about the "two sticks," and the "other sheep," and we even read a little in Christ's visit to the Americas. Faustino got quieter and quieter, and the spirit just filled the room. He had so many questions, but they were all sincere. We sat with this little family and just poured our hearts out. At the end, Faustino prayed and thanked the Lord for sending us. "Thank you for sending these girls...I know for a fact you sent them." 

The next visit, Faustino's first words were, "I just want to know why you all talk so much about Joseph Smith and never even about Jesus Christ. Explain that to me." I had to surpress a smile! We never even said Joseph Smith's name, the man had read. 

Honestly, though, the last couple weeks have been difficult. I think I'm a pretty normal soon-to-return missionary, but sometimes I just wonder if I've done enough-- given enough. I just don't feel finished. There is so much more I want to do, so much more I want to become. I guess that's the whole point though. This isn't a finale, but a beginning. It doesn't end here. There will be more to do and more stories to come. My dad once told me, when I told him that everything was changing too fast, that we "never really feel ready for anything. We just have to embrace it, dig into it, trying to live this chapter as fully as possible." That's my transfer goal. 

Love you all, 

Hermana Hawkes 

Great Quotes: (These are a little irreverant...and certain people are still "locking their hearts...") 

--"I don't even care when I drop a date because they are so easy to pick up." --Sister Miles

--"These dates are better than the real ones because you can put them in a box and take them home." --Sister Coenen 

"Su cabeza es muuuuy bueno." --Sis. C 

--"Su esposo es muy calor." --Sis. C (this does not translate) 

--"I gotta confess something. I just love VEINS." --Sis. C.