This week, my companion and I won the cleanest apartment award! We got a certificate and a gift card to a supermarket named Ralph's.
Tuesday we got to go to the temple. The temple is in Fresno about 2 and a half hours away. It was a nice drive. It was mostly in the country which was very beautiful. The temple is the exact same size and layout as the Detroit temple; it really made me feel like I was back home which was really nice.
Detroit Fresno
After the temple, the Bishop, who had gone with us, took us to a nice place for lunch. It was really good food. Here are pictures of us at the temple:
Wednesday our mission had a walk day which means we walk everywhere and don't use our cars until 4 PM. It was a fun day and we were able to talk to lots of people.
The very last person we talked to on walk day was someone who was heading to a taco restaurant to work with his dad. It was a little miracle because his dad speaks Spanish and so does he so it was great to be able to run into someone who speaks Spanish.
Thursday we went over to a member's home and taught her mother who isn't able to come to church on Sundays because she doesn't really get out anymore due to her age and health. We studied the New Testament (Come Follow Me program) with her and then the son-in-law said he'd heard I could play the piano and asked me to play. He had a new Yamaha Baby Grand piano. It is a really beautiful piano and I was so excited. He had these books of fancy hymn arrangements and he asked if I could play one. I said, "Sure! I'll try." I was sight reading it so I had never played it before and it was pretty fancy but I played it so well. After they all clapped and he goes "Wow you were playing that cold turkey, right? Like you have never seen these books". I told him yes, that I was sight reading. I am so grateful for my talents. I got to play some beautiful hymn arrangements. He gave me the piano book which was super nice!
Friday I had hand therapy which was only okay. They don't do a whole lot and I don't feel like is been very helpful. I talked to the mission nurse and we'll see where to go from here.
Saturday, the Bitters, who we live with, took us out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant. It is connected to a gas station but it is so popular and the food is SO GOOD. After dinner, we went to visit a member of the ward who have never met. We knocked and an old lady came to the door. She wasn't going to let us in but then she did let us come in. We talked for a little bit and she told us she has been an active member her whole life but she is very old and is going blind so she doesn't go to church anymore. It was sad. Her son came with his friend and we all sat down and talked for over an hour. It was so great getting to know them. They asked if we could come over every week so that was a huge miracle.
Sundays are always great! Church was really good. They talked about how we can make our Sundays a day of rest and how we can make them more dedicated to God.
This is the last week of the transfer so I will find out Sunday if I will stay or leave. This has been one of the quickest transfers!
**Please Note - she has a new email address - listed below.
Her mailing address is:
Her mailing address is:
Hermana Lily Pita
California Ventura Mission
3301 W Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA 93036
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org
This is the direct link to her blog.