Pineapple, oatmeal, nut, what?

Pineapple, oatmeal, nut, what?

I have finally had the courage to bake a few things, but since the gas oven has no temperature gauge and the ingredients are different from home (and I didn't bring any cake recipes) it is a bit of an experiment.  The last cake, which I made for District meeting, was a total experiment but there was only one piece left after the meeting, so I guess the home-cooking-starved missionaries didn't notice.  It feels like "playing house" when I use 1-kilo bags of flour and mix everything in a bowl by hand.

We start our day at 6 am with Book of Mormon study.  The President has asked us to read it looking for and marking specific topics.  It took me a while to understand, but I am amazed at what a meaningful experience it is.  I am noticing beautiful, wise, and inspiring things that I never have before.  We are doing this reading in English.

Then we study Spanish.  We call this time "Don't confuse me with the facts!" because we usually end up realizing again how complicated this language can be.

Then we exercise, eat, shower, and go to Elder and Sister Cluff's apartment (two floors down) to study Spanish with them using the Book of Mormon.  We usually only make it through about 15 verses because we study pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and, oh yeah, scriptures.  

This is a picture of our apartment.  You can see Ross in our front room window.  We also have the two rooms to your right, which are our office and our bedroom.  The other picture is of Ovalle as we see it from our apartment building stairway.  It is not the view from our windows, unfortunately.  Our apartment faces the opposite way.

Elder Jones' talk in District Conference was amazing!  He really worked hard on it and spoke clearly and with feeling.  When we have a success experience like this, it seems like we might actually learn this language.

It has been so interesting to see the reactions of people as we walk around town.  Often it is Elder Jones' white shirt that catches people's attention; but with our name tags (we finally got our Spanish ones), and being all dressed up we are quite noticeable.  Actually, I think it is the peaceful and kind look on Elder Jones' face that attracts people, but I won't embarrass him by saying that!

We have pass-along cards ready when we stop to talk to people, and have turned in a few names to the missionaries.  There are people here very ready to find more meaning in their lives.

Wearing a name tag that says we are a representative of the Church, and our Savior, makes us realize what kind of an example we need to set.  It makes us even stand up straighter and be sure we greet people.

I run in a park that is about a mile away from our apartment.  A young man (in his twenties) is always there working.  As I run around the park I study my flash cards, and ask him each day to help me with pronunciation.    At first all he would do is hide in his hoodie, he now greets me with a smile.  (Bringing him some home-made cookies last week helped).   Yesterday I gave him a pass-along card and told him I was a missionary for the church printed on the card.  ("Oh, so that's why she needs to learn Spanish!").  Today I asked him if he wanted to come to a YSA activity next week and he said yes!  This will be fun!

 Have a blessed Easter, we love you all!

Elder and Hermana Jones