...Just Setting a Goal. For a Friend.

Ah Hermana Robbins. Put her with Weekly Planning and you've got something close to Pink Elephants.

Anyways, to finish my story from last week:
There he was, driving along. It was too dark to see, and so Merlin (aka Hno Gallardo -- the same who Hna Robbins is having a indexing contest with) blows through the stop sign. The policeman waiting right there, a local (of course) flashed his lights. Merlin knew he was toast. Pulling off to the side, all the members know something bad is about to happen. The window rolls down as the cop rolls up. He asks why a car full of Hispanics is blowing through stop signs after curfew. Merlin's asked for his license: it's not there. He's asked to exit the vehicle, and after a few more questions, they read him his rights (in Spanish, luckily) and take him away. He spent the night in an orange suit, surrounded by the roughest of characters. Yet, even though he's pushed up into a corner and quite out of place, he's not out of comfort; he knows that no matter what happens, the members of our ward will stop at nothing to get him out of there. Help is on the outside, and it's pressing relentlessly inward.
After 6 hours, they call him up front. They give him his clothes and a date in court, then open the doors. The clock strikes 12 times as he walks out the double doors. His co-pilot is waiting for him with lunch, ready to take him to service (hurricane clean-up). He hasn't slept a wink since Thursday night. He moves mountains of trash, trees dissecting houses, and boats on top of mountains (At least three of them said that, but I have yet to see a mountain in Florida...). Even while camping, that hermano slept good that night. He spends Sunday with the group (and not with us at church :[ ), then drives back late that night. He loves taking the missionaries out to eat, so we jump on the opportunity to hear the story when our actual dinner cancels. He looks exhausted, but inwardly strong. It's amazing what the true Gospel of Jesus Christ can do for you. What has it done for ... YOU??!?

But yeah, Merlin is fine. He even invited himself to a member's house for dinner yesterday, then invited us as we didn't have any. It was a little awkward because we had literally had dinner with her on Saturday evening, but she was super excited to have more company. That was really fun. They both worked together to make a lunch before we got there. (We got stuck in traffic; was there a parade or something in the downtown Orlando area yesterday?)

But other than that, this week was pretty normal. We had a Trunk n Treat for the kids on Wednesday, and since no one came to English Class, we got to help out. There were some really well done family costumes, like the Silva's being a bunch of Legos or the Mejia's coming as Darth Vader and the replacement of Luke Skywalker (who knows what her name is. All I remember is Po:). But the Rengel family took the cheese: They dressed up as the Incredibles, and as they walked in the door of the church, started playing the theme song on a portable speaker. They even LOOK the parts!! Attached photo's beneath.

We finally got back in with Victor. He's super excited to be baptized, but is working on legal papers. Please to be praying that all can be settled quickly so that he can get married quickly so that he can get baptized quickly so that he can have the Gift of the Holy Ghost quickly!!!

That's all the time we have this week. Why don't y'all wander over yonder to see the other Hna Baer's week. Coming to a Blog near YOU!!

Proof that all those summers working at the apartments paid off.

Prepare to meet your maker. You ICE maker. (It got a little excited, and our freezer had icicles :)

Our neighbors are so cute! We forgive them for smoking right above us!

Cachapas at Maracaibo Mia. (Don't worry, 3 of the 4 words were in Spanish)

The Mejias. Or the Vaders???

The Rengels. Play the theme song as you look at this picture and you'll get a good idea of how cool it was live!

We often joke that the English missionaries have no idea what it's like to be a Spanish missionary in Florida, and it's True! There are a lot of problems we deal with that they don't even think about. But there are also a lot of perks, such as everyone believes in God and they're all super friendly and want to feed you. But it's moments like this that really make up for all those hours and headaches studying another language!! heh heh heh!

Now that I'm thinking about, the Solano's had really cool costumes too. They're from Peru, and they hand-made everything there. Without a sewing machine. I <3 them so much!!

Whatcha Gunna Do When They Come for You?

What a week. I... don't even know. I'm shooting for Quantity over quality. So let's go to arrow points time!

> A dog ate my shoe (but unfortunately not my homework), and then the next day, a cat ate my hair. :(    #ponytailisnotacattoy

> I had been talking to a member more often (now that I know her name😅) and every time I saw her, I couldn't think of anything to say to get the conversation flowing, so I always complimented her skirt. Yesterday at church, she gave me the skirt.😖 Such guilt. such love. I dunno.

> As we went to the Walmart to buy a shirt that I could wear with my new skirt, we walked up to a worker and asked where the short sleeves were. She looked at us funny, then said she only has long sleeves. Short sleeves would be found only in the clearance section. It was a chilly 75 degrees this morning. Winter is upon us!

> We found the coolest, cutest mujer de edad mayor on Tuesday!! The second time we went over, she told us that she always feels so much peace! I just absolutely love her! ...And, typical of the mission whiplash, we got "the text" yesterday. We're thinking daughter 'Anti'-ed her. :'( But, the Book of Mormon is now in her house, and I doubt the feeling is out of mind. Apparently now is not the time, but later. But, there was a lot of time spent there this week so I know the seed is in good.

> Ok, the most exciting part, that basically has nothing to do with me. :) So, with the hurricane that hit up north, the stake president asked that all able-bodied members head up to pleasant coast (I don't actually remember if that's the name... heh heh) And so literally ALL of my favorite members went. RIP. Anyways, our Dia de Hispanidad got canceled, and so we had a very lonely Saturday. :( BUT!! We get a text from Hna Silva (whose husband went up but she stayed home with the kids) and she says something like "Please pray fervently for Brother Gallardo. A situation happened, and the police took him in." 0_o we prayed SOOOO HARRDDD!! Turns out, he had accidentally hit a stop light (because it was dark, and he couldn't see. Slightly ironic...") And for some reason, when the cops came, they took him in. He said they took his shoes AND his socks, then left him in the Jail overnight with nothing to sleep on/with. We're getting the FULL story from him tonight, but. It was a scary weekend/6 hours. Wow, it felt like a lot longer...
Anyways, that last story was a lot more exciting to live through, but I just thought you ought to know [ ;) ] what kind of people we work with here. JK!! They're fabulous, if a little crazy.

Ok. Picture time.
Wait, first Shoutout time!
>> Thanks Grandma for the letter you sent! I totally forgot to send you a thank you letter, but I really appreciated it and love you tons!!!

>> Thanks Hna Robbins Mom! This letter was all thanks to you. It would've been a lot shorter had my complaining not made it all the way back to you. Your daughter's the best!! LITERALLY!

Ok, that's all. Pics. Sadly, Quantity over quality didn't quite make it this far.
Thanks Again!!

Due to the cancelation of our Dia de Hispanidad, we took ourselves out to eat. Welcome to our Dia de Hispanidad party. Hna Robbins was currently on the phone and Batman vs Superman was definitely playing on the TV behind me. and Merlin was currently in Jail. It was a rough night.

Because there were literally no other pictures, I thought I'd send you my rendition of the last paragraph of the Living Christ. It's a good one. Makes me smile:)

Ok, CIAO CIAO ALL!!

Nuthin Good

15 October 2018 [So sorry, I didn't realize I hadn't posted this letter! --Mom]

This week went something like this:
Us: "Hello! We're so excited to be here and better your life!"
Them: "Oh... I'm not home right now."
Us: "... We're literally here at your house..."
Them: "Oh... I'm leaving. Right now. To buy food."
Us: *looking at the pot of food* "Oh... We see... Is there another time we can come back? Like, Tuesday?"
Them: "um, sure... I'll let you know."
Us: "Uh-Kay."☺

So... Until next Tuesday everyone!!
Highlights:
> Because all of our dinners went through the same process, I got to make Lemon caper Chicken! But, no capers. Who's got money to blow on that! Heh. Heheh...

> On our way to Stake conference, I broke. We went to McDonald's. Sorry mom. BUT!! I got this in my happy meal!! While it was a moral lose, it was a short term win!! He's called Grimlock. I think I'm going to change the name to Mecho-fuego-dino! Jury's still out on that one...

> We got so many new elders and they all want to play Gatorball. That's why this is such a bad email.

> While playing with Mecho-fuego-dino, I looked up and saw a Post office called "Going Postal." I geeked out.

> Hna Robbins and I are so one, we got the same fortune!

> Almost half our ward showed up for stake conference!!! I cried!!! #hispanics4thewin!!

That's all. Thanks y'all! Are YOU keeping up with the President Nelson challenge? Get reading!!
Hna Baer

If It Ain’t Broke . . .

...It ain't in Semoran. [We've lost our sliding door, our dryer, our washer, both beds, the bathroom sink, a burner, and 4 of the 6 fan lights. Our apartment is slowly becoming new!!]

First things first: Transfer News!: We're both staying!.. To be fair, I don't really wanna go anywhere else, and I don't really want to have to figure out a new companion... Maybe the Lord is just helping me overcome the natural man by keeping things the same until I want to have something change. I dunno. Mysteries of God.

But according to Amos 3:7, God is revealing the mysteries of the universe to his prophets so good thing I got the chance to listen to Conference this week!! But, (and this is the part where Noelle closes her ears) it was all in Spanish. So... I think I understood about 1 in 7 lines. 😀👍 We ended up having quite a few members come to the church to watch it, so we felt obligated to stay and listen with them. And frankly, it was really cool to try my very best and understand what they were saying. During every talk, I'd be getting fragments and bits, but whenever something that I really needed to hear was said, the Gift of Tongues kicked in. Those would be the sentences that I would understand completely. I think in the end, I wouldn't give up watching it all - all 5 sessions - in Spanish with members and friends. I felt the Holy Ghost, heard answers to my questions, and got a gold nugget out of every talk. But I still know that when I go back through them, there's so much more waiting for me. Like German Shepard jokes!! Jaja!

But other than that, it was a pretty long and dark week. It was one of the signs that I knew General Conference would be so good! AND IT WAS!! Even then Woman's session!! Frankly, especially the woman's session! I loved the challenge to study the Temple, for those who can't go too often, and to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. I missed what I'm supposed or be looking for as I read, but I'm already on chapter 5! I'm so pumped to follow the prophet!! Are you??

Alright. Honestly, other than teaching early morning seminary (which was just like teaching a lesson but to young, "lively"(they're still more lively at 6am than some of the people we teach) jóvenes that generally really want to listen to and learn what you're saying. It was awesome!) And having to wake up at 4:30, nothing too exciting happened.

So let's go to pictures. :)

Conference Festivities!! Needless to say, I felt super sick afterwards :D

Sunday Morning Crepes!

We got dropped off at the church at 10:30 after the woman's session. Merlin, a member, was still there. He and Hna Robbins have been having an indexing competition. He started right at the end of the second and was still there at 10:30. #dedication

District! The only Spanish district in the FOM. There it is.

About 1.5 hours after early morning seminary. I took a nap. Hna Robbins did about 50 indexing records. (It was a blow to Merlin.)

T Minus 5 . . .

This letter was crafted to help prepare you all for the spiritual bomb that’s about to drop this weekend. Are you ready? Freddy!? [From the Indies to the Andies in his Undies!!] Mostly, I decided to copy and paste a lot of spiritual things I reported to other people. So, if it doesn't make sense... use your imagination.

I spent the week working on my prayers, trying to actually picture God near me, listening. It was really cool and helped me feel more loved and closer to my Heavenly Father. It's fun to watch the fruits and blessings of this labor slowly start sneaking in.😁

We had a pretty normal week. We spent much of it trying to contact many of the people we've started teaching recently. While the list is long, the number of days between teaching appointments is also long, and not something I necessarily like. But we know we are here to be tried in all things, so if that means holding many precious souls and not being able to talk to them, so be it. Upon reflection, I imagine this is what our Heavenly Father must feel like quite often! "Just talk to me!" ... Interesting that this all happened during my week of bettering prayers.

Also, studies were good! I was reading in Jesus the Christ and learned all about the temptations of Christ. I always thought "How were these temptations even tempting? After 40 days of not eating, you can wait 40 min for some free food to be handed to you. Also, why would you want to jump? That's dumb. Also, he just spent 40 days fasting and praying with God. WHAT WAS the adversary THINKING!?!? Silly the adversary."
But... James E. Talmage was all like "... oh honey." *reality slap* And I wuz like "oooooOOOOOOOOOooooooo........h. I get it."
But the first temptation was all about doubt and faith: did He really believe He was the Son of God? Try changing these rocks to make sure. But nope. He knew. And if He didn't know, He had Faith.
2nd temptation was all about using this power from God in a way that would help the Jews recognize that He was their Messiah. But nope. God does His own thing in His own time. (Jacob 7: ... like, 12 *page flipping* 14. Verse 14. Final answer.)
3rd temptation was... "diabolical." There's a good chance Christ didn't remember the premortal council and His key and pivotal role played. There's also a good chance that the adversary, thrust down to earth without a body, may have remembered that. So for him to go to the predetermined savior and redeemer and demand to be worshiped... is wrong! But again, nope. Christ overcomes. And one of the coolest parts is that if these temptations weren't actually temptations, Christ couldn't've been tempted and thus wouldn't have a choice and thus wouldn't have free agency. So we know it was not easy. But He still did it. Wow.
There was also good learning about sandal straps and hairy men and the phrase "son of Man" used only by Jesus Christ which refers only TO Jesus Christ. But. You can go enjoy that yourself.

And there it was. The most spiritual I'll ever be. It's all down-hill from here. Let's start that decent with pictures.

When we biked 9-ish miles through downtown Orlando. Ugh.

Us, biking away from the car dealership. We had to give them our car on our heaviest prosylitizing day. :'(

Also on the 9 mile bike ride. All of the power boxes are painted. I thought of Noelle on this one.

This. Is. BIRD-EEEH-MIC!!