Transfer 5 Week 4

Dear People,
I will start out this week with my googleable questions.

- Why is earwax orange?

- How do you declaw a cat?

- What are these red bumps on my legs?

- Greek/Latin root words list

- Define Scrupulous

- Psychology of sleep talking

- Why do old people hurt in bad weather?

- How to reverse french braid

- DIY deep conditioner

Sorry to email so late today, but the college was closed for memorial day! We came to the church but not until after we had lunch and played Phase 10 with an old lady from the ward.

The highlights of the week were:

The 100 year old making us lunch. Crackers with peanut butter and an apple, because (quote)

"There is strength in peanut butter,
and an apple a day keeps the doctor away!"

(/quote)

I need to now describe to you a less-active brother from the ward. We'll call him Bro. A. He wears a cowboy hat, has a thick Texan accent, and squints his left eye when he gets really into a story. He lives next to the dump and right behind the meat factory. So I can't lie and say his trailer smells like petunias. He has a dog that sleeps in a barrel.

"What's the dog's name?"

(Southern drawl) "Dawg."

"Oh... Dawg."

And a cat who I think has a word of wisdom problem. The cat can often be seen being dragged across the street by his tail by a little Navajo neighbor boy. He staggers wherever he walks. Brother A flicked him in the ear and he fell right over like a dead fish. The cat always lays on the porch and stretches, and 3 out of 5 times accidentally rolls off and lands on the ground with a THUNK! I thought cats always landed on their feet but this cat has proved me wrong.

A sister in the ward has taught us how to make flour tortillas and they are nearly as good as the ones at the Tortilla factory that once stood in California Adventure (RIP Tortilla factoria. "Masecaaaaa!"). Sister Garcia and I have made so many this week and it makes our lunchtime quesadilla's taste top notch.

We also had a lesson with a drunk lady. And we met with Blue again. We taught him the Restoration very quickly (so he had no time to interrupt with a story about catching eagle feathers), and after it was over he sat in a few moments of silence. Then he started in on a story. I am never sure how much gets soaked in. But he has said many times that he loves the Book of Mormon. He says the stories he reads in there are similar to those he was told as a child about their ancestors. This week after his lesson he turned to me, and asked "Can I ask you a personal question? Are you a Native?"

I was so excited. He's the third or so to ask me that. I told him that I am half Filipino and he told me "We are from the same tribe. You and I are not so different." He sang a chant that is common among both the Filipinos and the Navajos. We were sitting outside and the rain started beating down harder. I could hear the thunder rolling and saw lightening flash across his face. We asked him to pray. It is amazing that even though was all pray differently, it is all to the same Creator, and he always listens- I can feel it.

We visited the old lady who lived in Hawaii again. She's a sweetheart and repeated 17 stories this time. She told me how to hand-train a parakeet and I hope Cornelius is still alive when I get home.

Mom, no more worrying about me starving to death! There are Filipinos. I will send a picture of me and the food they sent us home with.

Also Sister Garcia hums in her sleep and I can't figure out why. She asks me questions in her sleep too which is almost worse because nothing stresses me out more than being asked questions while I'm trying to sleep. Someone please figure out why she is doing this.

The best spiritual experience I have had this week is when we visited a less active. We had knocked and knocked at this door for weeks. Finally she answered and let us in. She hasn't been to church since she was a teenager. She told us about her dog she had when she was a child. She told us about her four husbands, four divorces, four heartbreaks. She said she often wondered what love really is. She read the bible for that exact reason. She said she didn't find the answer she expected, but she found an answer. It was in Corinthians 13, the chapter about charity. If you haven't read it lately, I highly suggest.

She told us about her niece with down syndrome and how she's taught her to shower herself, to do dishes- When she first came, she couldn't even talk. She told us what a blessing it is to have her in the house. We shared the Plan of Salvation. We told her that her niece is a choice spirit, a noble spirit. I watched tears form in her eyes. "That is truth, that is from God." She said.

It's hard for her to meet often because she is in so much pain she can't get out of bed. But I am excited to continue teaching her. Even if I have to knock that door three times a week. It is worth the one time we get an answer.

I love you all and miss you all!
Sister Valdez