Safe and Sound in California

We just got a call from one of the Senior Sister Missionaries, Sister Ashby I think, in her mission and Lily got to California safe and sound! She was in the car with the other Sisters and Hermanas that arrived today. Her flight from Mexico made it to San Francisco without any problems. There was another flight with a group arriving from the Provo MTC that met up with the group in San Francisco so that they could all fly together to Santa Barbara. That flight from Salt Lake was very late and those missionaries had to run but they did make the flight and all arrived together. Unfortunately, not all of the luggage made it! When the call came, they had taken all of the missionaries to get something to eat and were heading back to the airport to pick up some of the missing luggage. We got to tell her we love her and hear a quick "I love you too!". It was wonderful to hear her voice!

They were spending the night somewhere tonight and then will have training tomorrow and then off to her first assignment. Sister Ashby told us her P-day will be on Mondays so we'll get an email next week. She said she'd have her write a paper letter and put it in the mail tomorrow. She also said she'd send some pictures today or tomorrow. 

We're so excited for her for this new phase of her mission!

The New Arrivals

Lily and Her Mission President and His Wife

Here is her first email from California:

Can't believe I am here! It has been such a crazy and fun week. 

Thursday after P-day, the sisters in my zone all went and sang to the new hermanas who came. It was so cute and Sister Stone and her companions came too.I took a picture of the sister's in my zone all together-it was too good of an opportunity to miss. 

Saturday was so sad to say goodbye to the teachers. The afternoon teacher, who really made an impact on my life, gave all of us a bookmark from the temple store and a little note. It was so cute. That next Sunday we had our last sacrament meeting and there was so much love in the room. I started crying saying goodbye to the Latino sister's who I had only known for 3 weeks haha. 

After some devotionals all the people who were leaving had interviews with the Branch Presidency. So it was my district and the other Latino one in the zone. The elders in the Latino district are so goofy and funny. We were all at the piano in the sacrament room waiting to be interviewed and someone had the sheet music for Peace in Christ which is the Mutual theme song. It's really good. The Latino elders said "Hey Hermana Pita! You play the piano and we all sing." So 6 elders, some from my district and some from the Latino district, sang in Spanish and English. It was so cool. 

I had to say goodbye to all my friends at dinner which was sad. Then my district got together and bore our testimony and I cried so much sharing mine. It was so weird haha. The last devotional of the day they have the people who are leaving stay for 5 minutes just to tell us to go to to bed on time. While everyone was leaving, I said goodbye to all the hermanas in the zone. We walked back to our casa after the meeting and there were all the Hermanas in our zone! They surprised us and sang 'Til We Meet Again. It was so bittersweet to say bye. 

Monday was a crazy day. I didn't go to sleep til 11 and woke up at 12:15. I don't think I have ever been so tired in my life. At the airport we were at the gate about 3 hours early and I was trying to sleep. Then I woke up and my college roommate was right next to me. It was so weird. I was like "What are you doing here?" She was by herself waiting for her flight. It was funny-such a small world.

The plane ride was great. The guy I sat next to was so kind and reminded me of me and dad. He was with his daughter flying back from Mexico. He had meet with missionaries the previous week-it was funny. We landed and had about 6 hours to do whatever. We got Wendy's and it was so nice to eat American food again. 

For the flight to Santa Barbara, the plane was SUPER small. We had to walk on the runway because it was such a small plane-only 2 seats wide and less than 20 rows. 

My companion is really nice. I'm serving in the Simi Valley area. There are 7 people on date to get baptised within the next month-it's crazy. 

Thanksgiving was good. We went to the Browns house and the food was delicious.

We ran into someone on Thanksgiving while tracting and they bought us pupusas. They were sooooo good. It was an El Salvadorian thing. 

A few days ago I got a cold so I haven't felt the best but it's okay. Sunday was fun. The Branch is small. I had to say the opening prayer, give my testimony, and do a musical number with the missionaries-haha. Two investigators came to church which was fun. 

Pday is good. I can email for however long and can look at emails during the week! The new rule is missionaries can only be fed on Saturday and Sunday-sadly. Yesterday we went to a sister's house. She made some Mediterranian pork dish. It was so fancy and so delicious. The apartment is really nice. My companion is a great cook! She cooks and I clean. This is her last transfer on the mission. 

Sorry this email is so long haha so much to say. I love reading your emails. I miss you but what a blessing I got to hear your voice on the phone. Mission life is good. I love you guys so much-miss you but doing well. 

Funny story: one of the first doors I knocked on the man opened the door and hid behind it and just had his head popping out.  I thought it was because he was shirtless because I could tell he didn't have a shirt on but then we left his door and my companion dies laughing because she says she didn't think he had any clothes on at all - lol! That's my first experience knocking doors-haha-but all is well here. 

I miss and pray for you guys every day!

Her mailing address is:
Hermana Lily Pita
California Ventura Mission
3301 W Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA  93036

Email: lily.pita@myldsmail.net
This is the direct link to her blog.

California, Here She Comes!

Lily will leave the CCM in Mexico and arrive at her Mission in California on Monday, November 19th. Her email address will remain the same. Starting November 19th, her mailing address is:
Hermana Lily Pita
California Ventura Mission
3301 W Gonzalez Road
Oxnard, CA  93036

This is the direct link to her blog.


This week has gone by SOOO FAST! 

Last Pday president Bennett gave our district these little mexican treats kind of like Twinkies but WAY better. 

He said he would come in and tell a parable about these treats. Our schedules were all so busy but he eventually made it in yesterday to tell us about his mission and how we need to set goals and reward ourselves when we achieve our goals. It was reallly nice that he took time out of his busy schedule to come talk with us. 


This week we had to pack up all our stuff. It is crazy!!! 

Lucky my bags are all underweight. Now I am just living in my suitcase. We found out that our flight is leaving at 6:30 am and we have to be at the reception building at the CCM at 1 am in the morning so it will be a very long day for me! haha. 

We met a new district yesterday. They seem nice. The branch president was not there so we had to answer questions and talk with them and introduce ourselves and explain the ways of the CCM. It was funny because the Zone Leaders and my companion and I thought our Spanish was pretty good until we had to run this meeting becuase the new district is all Latinos. They were really nice and I can definately tell that I have improved since my first week, but there was definately a language barrier.

Yesterday and today have been SO COLD - it's in the 30s and 40s! Can you believe that right now under my skirt I am wearing my sweat pants? Haha. My legs are just soooo cold. Nothing new has really happened this week. I am very excited to leave and head into the mission field! This is a picture of my Casa - my home for the past 6 weeks.

These past 6 weeks have gone by VERY fast. I can not believe that I am leaving in 4 days. It is actually crazy! But I am so excited. I will miss the people here but I think I am ready. It has been a hard 6 weeks but I cannot believe how fast it has gone.

Sorry this email is so short. I am starting to run out of time. I wont have a P-day this next week but I will the following week!

Love Hermana Pita

The Golden Plates

This week was a much better week for me! 

It was really cool because we got to go to the temple on Dia de los Muertos. It was fun to see. A lot of people had their face painted and there were a lot of kids trick or treating on the side of the road. 

Hermana Person and I taught Zone Conference and it was a really good lesson. We taught about Christlike attributes which was really good. The lesson went really well! 

Our zone got the "golden plates". One district who left last week gave us a Book of Mormon that had been passed down from district to district since the CCM opened. You highlight your favorite scripture and write your name and when and where you are serving. It is a big secret and no one is supposed to find out about it unless you are a current missionary here so the president and teachers can't know about it. It was so cool to see people's favorite sriptures. 

Also this week, we found out that American hermanas are no longer allowed to serve in a lot of missions in Mexico. One of my best friends here, Hermana Stone, found out this past Sunday and has been reassigned to Chile.Quick question I know that California does not rain a lot and Hermana Stone was not prepared to serve in Chile in the mountains where it rains a lot. She did not bring a rain jacket and it rains a ton in Chile. Do you think I can give her my jacket from Costco and you guys can see if you can get me a jacket from Costco or Target or something to send to me once I am in Cali? 

The hermanas in our casa started a family home evening on Mondays so last Monday was our second FHE. It is so fun to just talk with other girls and they are such good examples to me. It makes me feel a lot less homesick. At our branch council meeting we noticed that the hermanas in the two new districts were struggling getting adjusted. The Latino district leader aksed if we could really try to help the Latino sisters. He said that they like hymns and they like companionship. The thought came to my mind that we should go to their casas and drop off candy and sing to them. We asked the hermanas who came a week before us if they wanted to come sing and welcome the hermanas on Monday night and they said "Of course!". I bought some cookies and Monday night we surprised the hermanas, sang to them, and dropped off the cookies. I could tell that they felt a lot happier.

This past week I have been meeting my goals every day. I have memorized at least 15 phrases and 120 words and have memorized 2 scriptures so far! We taught a lesson this past week to one of our teachers and he always gives us feedback. He said our Spanish is improving and then he goes, "Hermana Pita your Spanish especially!" He said, "I remember when you first started teaching and compared to now it's very good." It was really cool!

I have met 4 Polynesian girls this week. Hermana Stone, who is my best friend here, is actually a quarter Samoan, a quarter Tongan and a little Hawaiian. She said she might be going to BYUH. She has already done 2 years at Provo. It is fun to talk to the poly girls. 

Also, my RA from college came to the CCM this week and I did not even know she was serving a mission. I ran into her at dinner. It was so funny to see her. This is her first week.

Thank you so much for the package. You always seem to send a package exactly when I need it. I love both of you guys SOOOO much. Only one more P-day until I go to Cali! 

Trick or Treat

Lily's email address is lily.pita@myldsmail.net
To view her blog directly, which includes all former posts, go to https://hermanalilypita.blogspot.com


This week the Latino district and another American district in our Zone left. It was sad and the Latino girls said that they loved me and that I will be a great missionary. It was exactly what I needed to hear. 

This past week no one knew it was daylight savings so we all woke up at 5:30 but it was okay because I got to study more which helped me!

Our district plays this game now to help us speak Spanish where we have 5 little tab stickers on our name tags and between lunch and the time we go home, if anyone speaks English you get to steal their sticker. It has been a fun game!

 We got a new district at the CCM of a bunch of people from Haiti. It is awesome but it is hard because of the language barrier. 

While teaching a lesson this week,  I asked our fake investigator if he would be baptized and I knew it wasn't real but he said yes and I felt the Spirit so strong that I almost started crying. I can't even imagine how I will feel when I teach real people. We got two new districts this week in our Zone and I got to meet them last night.  They are great! We got a Latino district and an American district with a total of 5 new sisters. They are very nice! 

Yesterday I was kind of in the dumps and we went back to the room to go to sleep and then the doorbell rang from our casa. A few of the Hermanas answered and said "Hermana Pita and Hermana Person, come here". At the door was our whole district who came to give us a TON of candy.  It lifted my spirits so much. 

Wow you guys are literally the best parents ever! I can not even describe the love I have for you guys I think about you every single day and I really do miss you guys!