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!!
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