Hello! Here's a shocker--I'm sitting directly under the fan and I've been sitting here for a long time, so I am FREEZING! If you were wondering, yes, it is very possible to be very cold in Honduras.
I am loving Santa Barbara. This is such an awesome area to work in! There is plenty to do, there are plenty of members willing to work with us, our branch president is beyond legit, and the power stopped going out every night. Who could ask for anything more?
Something that we've been doing a lot lately is making pizza. Turns out people here really, really like pizza. Like, a lot. And there isn't a chain pizza restaurant here, so there are a lot of people who figure they might as well just make people at home. Problem: said people don't know how to make pizza. What does the big question become? "Hey, White girl! Can you make pizza?" Fortunately, yes I can. And I have been doing so. Last Monday, at the end of P-day, we went next door to our neighbors (the really nice ones who made us sopa de mondongo) and we made pizza. The really exciting part was the sauce, because I've never had to make pizza sauce from scratch before. The husband of this couple was very funny, continually offering to help or taste test or do whatever was necessary and his wife said "Amor, don't you think she can handle it?" and he said, "But, I'm a professional--soy italiano!" The pizza turned out quite well (especially the sauce, surprisingly), although the crust was a little thin. We solved that problem today, when at the suggestion of one of the elders in our district we made pizza with a less active sister in the ward. There was enough dough for four very thick crusts, but we were too hot and tired to finish. We've got another pie's worth in the freezer.
The other big to do of this week was our monthly branch activity, the branch talent show. If you think Mormon talent shows are a big deal in the states, you should see them in Central America. For the most part, it was a really cool and really enjoyable experience. We as the missionaries had planned to perform as a district, and we ended up singing Hark All Ye Nations, but we accompanied it with the cup game, kind of like in Pitch Perfect. Fun fact--any song written in 4/4 time will work with the cup game. So after much practicing, that turned out pretty legit. Hermana Davila and I couldn't really decide on something to do as a companionship, but we had made a lot of jokes about singing Let It Go in a mix of English and Spanish, so that ended up happening. It was so cute--all of the little girls in primary were singing along! I think I definitely have a solid option for the family Christmas talent show this year (my submission will be via Skype...about 12 hours late...whoops). The Elders put on a skit about "whipping the district into shape". It was very funny, but all of the jokes were missionary inside jokes, so other than the Justin Beiber parody, nobody got very excited about it except Hna Davila and I. Poor elders. There was also a lot of really cool cultural dancing--let me say, I hope that when I'm a slightly age advanced woman in Relief Society like some of the ladies here, I can still shake it like they can. There were also some slightly uncomfortable parts of the show, like the couple that lipsynced a song about I Will Wait for You in the Mission (apparently it made our elders miss their girlfriends really badly) and the girl that belly danced entirely too well and the young women dancing slightly provocatively to a Shakira song...oh, well! Fun anyway! That event took up pretty much our entire day on Friday, and we talked and planned for it all week, so I don't really know what to do now that it's over. I feel like Inigo Montoya after he finally got his revenge. I guess there's always the piracy option...
I really am glad that I am serving here. We keep finding random inactive members, like we're on an eternal salvation Easter egg hunt. We have a couple of semi-promising investigators, but I know that there is no end to the miracles that I will see in this area. I feel so blessed for the opportunity to work in this area. I love it already. The elders in El Centro had a baptism on Saturday, and they asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost. It was a really great opportunity to remember why we get baptized, and furthermore, why there are so many missionaries teaching about baptism. We were reading the scriptures about the conversions among the Lamanites by Ammon and his brethren yesterday and we realized that we can be that kind of missionary--that kind of incredible influence in someone's life. I hope that some day, someone could write about the people that I taught that they "never did fall away". I love the Lord and I love this chance I have to serve Him. I know that this church is true. I have felt the happiness that it has brought to me and I am always seeing the blessings it brings to others. Know it, live it, love it!
Have a wonderful week! And go ahead and fondly remember the day that you completed 21 years of life because I'm doing that TOMORROW! I'm finally old enough to be a sister missionary!
Love,
Hermana Pickett
PS Happy birthdays to Annie, Addy, Becca, and Sam! I LOVE you guys!
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