Monday was so crazy busy. We had to get ready for transfers and the mission was closing down our area so we had to close out the entire apartment. The YSA sisters came to help us with cleaning because literally it was so much to do. The zone leaders came to help us take out our bags of trash and boxes and things sisters in the past had left. It was a lot of work!
We had not really eaten all day and we went to the Bishop's house about 30 minutes away and they were just sitting down for dinner. They had 2 hamburgers left so we ate them and I was so grateful. It was so sad to say goodbye.
It was really funny because we were leaving and I was turned around to say goodbye and I didn't see these 2 huge pots of plants that were right in the doorway and I HARD CORE tripped and was so close to falling down but I caught my balance after falling for about 10 yards and did a little spin and went "I am okay!" Everybody was laughing-it was hilarious! I went out with a bang.
I had mixed feelings leaving Morro Bay. I felt like I hadn't had much success there. But I was thinking about this and realized that one of the biggest accomplishments of my time in Morro Bay was working with a teenage girl at church. She was kind of going through the motions. But that first week I was there back in March I prayed that members would be able to help us. That Sunday she came up to us and said, "I dont know why I am doing this but I want to help you guys". From that day she came to many lessons, shared the gospel with her friends, invited us to meet her friends, and even came out tracting with us. She want from someone with not too much confidence to a young woman who was not afraid to share her beliefs and from someone who said "Yeah, I am not serving my mission" to someone who said "I am definately going to serve". She said it was the influence we had on her life that changed it. I dont really care how hard or tough Morro Bay was. I had an impact on this girl's life and maybe if no one that spoke Spanish was converted to the gospel, I think it was even more important that a young woman grew in her conversion.
Tuesday was transfer train. My new companion is Hermana Mejia which is great.
Tuesday was also sports night. It was really fun. We teach lessons every day and multiple lessons which is just amazing. The streets are FILLED with Hispanic people. We barely speak English. It is great to be with Hermana Mejia since she is a native speaker. We met lots of cool people and got a lot of return appointments. One day, someone we met bought us Elote (Mexican street corn) which was delicious.
Thursday I got to go on splits with Herman Southard. She is amazing it was so fun to serve around her. She put a great job on hold to serve her mission and she is awesome. Friday we met the people, Snadra and Sanet, who are getting baptized tonight! We are SO EXCITED! Also we had this return appointment with this one lady but we knocked the wrong door and it was someone we had also met previously. She opened the door and let us in. We taught her for an hour and she said she has been searching for truth and doesn't know where to find it. She said she felt really good meeting with us. We are excited.
Church was amazing. 3 people came who weren't members. It has been about 5 months since anyone we invited has come to church so it was such a miracle. Tonight is the baptism and we are SUPER excited. I get to play the piano. I also get to play the piano at church for sacrament meeting. The members are great. I met 2 families so far.
Anyways, life is amazing. Hermana Mejia is just great and we get along very well! I'm looking forward to another great week in Santa Barbara.
A NOTE FROM HER MOM:
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)
Her mailing address is:
Hermana Lily Pita
California Ventura Mission
3301 W Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA 93036
This is the direct link to her blog.