Whew!

What a crazy couple of days!

This new area is great! It's waaaay smaller than my last area, but there is still a ton of stuff to do. Where to start...

Thanksgiving! We spent the day visiting basically EVERYONE. I don't think I've ever ridden a bike so much before in my life as I did last Thursday, haha. We helped a recent convert, Yenisbel, and her 2 kids make a cake cause they had never made one before (not even the boxed mixes, like the easiest things ever), which was really fun, even though they're from Cuba and they drop syllables all the time so I can't understand what they're saying, haha. Then we visited a lonely single guy, Hno Trujillo, who showed us pictures of his family for like an hour and asked us to find him a girlfriend when we asked if he needed anything, haha. Then we had dinner with our family, Familia Morales, and it was super good! Not quite the same as mom's Thanksgiving (mexican style turkey), but it was still very satisfying and delicious! We also went and played flag football with the english ward in the morning. Overall it was a great day!

So there's one apartment complex in the corner of our area that's huge and we visit it every day. Basically everybody knows us or has talked to the sister missionaries at some point or another. But it's great because there's so much great work to do there! There's an investigator named Jaime that has a baptismal date for the 14th that lives there, and he's awesome! I think he was super hardcore into drugs, but went to visit the visitors center for some reason and started reading the book of mormon, deciding he wanted to change his life. The sisters have taught him everything, and he's basically ready for baptism, just that he needs to find a new apartment, away from "the mother of his children", haha. So he's super awesome, is reading so much from the Book of Mormon, and is so ready to get baptized!

We're also working with some recent converts to get them ready for the temple. One sister is named Ruth, and basically lives in the most humble circumstances ever with her 3 kids and husband. She works a lot and does a ton for her family (her husband is kind of a bum), but is so willing to do anything to live the gospel. So great! We're working with her to get a reccommend for baptisms, so that's pretty exciting for her!

Then we had Fast Sunday! Everyone is suuuuper nice in Mesa. I'm not going to say that Phoenix is a rough, mean place, but in comparison to Mesa, it kind of is, haha. Everyone is friendly! The members all said hi to me and complimented me on Spanish and stuff even though I had no idea what was going on, haha. I didn't really get the chance to meet the bishop, but they all seem very nice and welcoming. Woo!

Also: I ate the best tacos al pastor the other day. If anyone is ever in Mesa, go find a restaurant called La Merced, and get 3 or 4 tacos al pastor. They are HEAVENLY! I would eat them every day if I could! so good.

Well this week just flew by, and I can't really remember any details! It's been good, though. I really like Mesa a lot!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! And happy December!

Hna Watkins