MY 18 MONTH MARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Believe it or not, I officially hit 18 months in the mission?! Isn`t that insane?! I guess the next two weeks are vacation, no? SIKE! I`m super stoked I get 2 EXTRA weeks to work like crazy! :) Boy did we celebrate like CRAZY though.
So, my 18 month day started out super tranquilo. (PS:... 18 months feels more like your birthday than anything). My AWESOME companion made me pancakes with bananas and dulce de leche, and we studied and went out to work. We had lunch at our Bishop`s house, and then started doing all the preparations for GASTON`S BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO HOO! Then the baptism started, and that`s where all the fun began....
When we got to the chapel, it was an hour before the baptism, and the font was filling. The only problem is that it was ICE cold, because the ward mission leader forgot to turn on the water heater. We got that figured out, and after that everything started pretty smoothly. We were really happy because a lot of members showed up to support Gaston, which is what we were really worried about because he has NO ONE - family or friend - who are supportive of him in getting baptised, so he was there alone. Our ward really pulled through though, and the meeting went super well. The talks were amazing and really showed Gaston that he`s part of a bigger family now, and what an amazing, important decision he was making. Then, AS SOON AS our ward mission leader announced that we would now be passing on to the most important part of the meeting, Gaston`s baptism, someone someone looked behind and saw that the water heater had CAUGHT ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first it seemed like just a little thing, so as one person tried to put that out, someone else tried to open the baptismal font door.... but it was jammed shut. So more people went to help, and meanwhile the fire kept getting bigger and bigger, so one of the moms freaked out and rushed all the kids out of the room (which is probably good, since its a gas heater), which threw everything into chaos. Carlos grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall, but luckily just as they were going to spray the heater they were able to put the fire out with a towel. The Carlos went and helped with the still jammed door, and was able to open that as well, thank goodness. By that time, though, the whole room was filled with smoke and a lot of nerves, and poor litte gaston was even MORE nervous than he was to start out with.
They were still going to move right onto the baptism, but we called a TIME OUT, had everyone sit down, and sang a hymn together. I love music, and how it invites the spirit in any situation!! After the hymn everyone felt a lot calmer, and we were able to move onto the baptism, which was beautiful, we did a special talk and sang a duet during the intermision, and the rest of the night went super smoothly.
But.... that`s not the end of the fun! (sorry, i know this is long!)
After the baptism Carlos invited us and Gaston over to his house for dinner, just because he didnt want gaston to have to go home after the baptism..... Carlos is SUCH A CAPO!!!!!!!!!!! :) It was way nice, but I had started feeling REALLY sick to my stomach. We called a remis (taxi) to go home, and by the time we got in our pension i was dying. I still wanted to plan, though, so we planned on our beds while i layed down because i was in so much pain. We ended up cutting our planning session short, though, cuz i ran to the bathroom... and... well... you get the picture. I spent the rest of the night alone in my room super sick, running back and forth from the bathroom, without sleeping cuz i was in so much pain (my poor cmpanion gets really sick anytime anyone else is sick, so she slept on the floor in the kitchen).
Sunday morning i got up at 6:30 and was determined to go to church for Gaston`s confirmation, but my comp didnt think i would make it since it was hard for me to even stand up, so she called pres to see if she could go to church with someone else. When he found out what happened the night before, he prohibited me from leaving the pension ( :( bummer.), but gave my comp permission, so she went and said the conf. was wonderful, and Gaston was SUPER happy!!
SO those were the big celebrations this week! Today i`m feeling a lot better, and finally ate something besides jello, gatorade and crackers, so life is good! It was a crazy, mixed up week with lots of twists and turns, but that`s just what makes life exciting, right? :)
Well, I hope all of you have an amazing thanksgiving holiday. Eat lots of pavo for me, k? I love you all so much. I`m SO grateful for this time I have to be serving as a missionary in this marvelous work, and I`m grateful for my amazing friends and family who have been there every step of the way. I`m a pretty lucky girl! So thank you. Les quiero muchisimo.... mas que se pueden imaginar.
Un beso grande,
Hermana Churchill
PICTURE:
1. This is what happens after 18 months of walking!
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