I love you all!! I am here in Florida, so far from you all!! But it is so fun. Let me tell you all about it (if Silas reads this, just know that this is exactly what all of us wanted from you.... that you still have yet to give us).
Florida is awesome. I was kind of surprised to see what little things were different, even though we are still in the same United States. For example:
The grass is weird. Like, it is all crabgrass. And people have it for their lawns, but no one walks on it with barefeet or sits on it because it is hard and spiky and chalk-full of bugs. The only real lawn I have seen is in front of the stake center.
There are tiny lizards everywhere, and I love them!! Haha they just scurry across the sidewalk and on people's houses and stuff.
Every morning, it smells like the Jungle Cruise. Or Pirates of the Caribbean. I can't decide. Haha I think it is the humidity. I am still slowly and surely re-learning how to breathe, and the native Floridians love to laugh with me about it.
Everyone has huge cages over their backyards. Seriously. Like, massive cages that cover their lawns and pools and stuff..... it is totally weird, but I think it's to keep out the bugs. So strange.
The trees have Spanish Moss growing all over them. Like, classic Bayou trees. I will try to send some pictures - I absolutely love them.
So anyway, the plane ride was awesome. All the missionaries were laughing because I was so very excited to be flying. It was a blessing because I had the windowseat and when I wasn't chatting the ear off of Alex (the non-member college kid who got placed smack in the middle of all the missionaries), my face was right in the window. It was so fun. And I gave Alex a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and made him promise to read it. Haha he thought we were funny and was really cool.
When I got here, we were picked up by the Berry's and taken to the mission home. We kind of got to relax, and we had a little fireside and interviews with the President. They made me feel so loved and at home; they are such Christ-like people. I didn't realize that mission presidents don't put in papers or anything, they just get called. That is a lot of faith! It was interesting being with the English Orlando sisters. I really like them, but it was weird because out of the 21 missionaries, I was the only weird one who was speaking Spanish and didn't know anyone. I joke because I am the weird, Spanish-speaking, brand-new, 19-year-old missionary. It is fun. :) The English sisters made me laugh because they were like, "Oh! I almost forgot what is was like to eat real food!" or "Wow, real beds!" or "I really missed listening to music!" And I literally laughed to myself because they had been at the MTC for 12 days.... Pobrecitas. ;)
The next morning, they took us to the church for orientation and to meet our trainers. They brought all of them in and we had to guess whose ours was. I was first, and I said it would be easy because I would just look for the Spanish nametag...... then they said that there wasn't one. So my trainer, Sister Ward, is an English-speaking missionary! With no Spanish experience. Ok, that was a lie, she took one year in middle school. Haha but we are learning together!! The trainers they were inspired to have weren't Spanish-speaking! A cool testimony-building experience was this, though: Sister Pike came with us on Monday, and she took 5 years of Spanish and left to Orlando the same day as me. There is a reason I am speaking Spanish here, even if I am not using it now! So in accordance with my English trainer, we got assigned to an English area: Olympia West. Let me tell you a few things about Olympia:
1. It is basically in Orlando, but also covers a few suburb-ish cities. I think our apartment is in Ocoee.
2. Our area is half of the Olympia ward. There are 2 Elders on the more dangerous side of the ward, and so we meet together with the Ward Mission Leader and stuff.
3. This is the first time they have had sisters in, like, forever. Years.
4. The temple is in our area!!!! What a blessing. We pass it all the time and it is oh so beautiful.
5. Olympia is RICH. Like, one of the very nicest parts of Orlando. We thought I would be serving in the ghetto? Wrong. Haha Tiger Wood's wife lives here, Shaq O'Neil used to have a house here, Britney Spears lived here once, and Kenny Chesney is currently living somewhere in our ward boundaries (boys: "It's gonna be a Kenny Chesney Christmas this time of year!" I think of that every time). So.... surprise!
6. It probably takes 12ish minutes to drive from end to end, so it is pretty small.
7. There is a member here whose name is Rachel McMurtrey, and she used to dance at Timpview with Lori. There is also a member who used to live in Marissa Stevens' ward (Marissa - do you know the Ogdens? Haha she was talking about the Juchaus and stuff.... small world).
8. I met the ward mission leader's daughter at the MTC, which was also kind of weird.
So basically, it is a lot of fun. Let me now tell you about Sister Ward:
She is from Payson, Utah. She is beautiful and has really long, blonde hair. We get along great and she is an awesome trainer. She is new to the area too, and since they just split it, we are technically "opening an area." That basically means that we just start from scratch and had no investigators and stuff. It has been interesting to figure things out together!
Ok, now for some classic missionary moments.
Sometimes, I am just walking down the muggy, Florida streets and I feel classic. Also, things happen that are especially classic! Like the following:
Someone asked us if we were like nuns. Classic.
We go knock doors. We are those people that parents tell their kids to avoid, or remind them that they are Christian before we start talking to them. Haha Classic.
My legs are covered in mosquito bites and a really, really gross red ant bite. Classic.
Tried to find a less-active apartment forever in the Florida rain. Classic. Haha it is so much and so fun!
Ok, here is a classic story (sorry this email has been so not-spiritual.... but I knew mom would kill me if not! haha): We were tracting on a street called Tallowtree. We were having no success, and we were going to finish up the houses on the street and then call it good. At the last house, a Latino man opened the door. Sister Ward started talking to him, and then he said, "Sorry, I don't speak English - Habla Espanol." And started to close the door. I then piped up in Spanish that I spoke Spanish, and proceeded to tell him who we were and why we were there. He said that we could come back when his whole family would be there on Saturday, and I set a date and time with him - all in Spanish! We had to refer him to the Spanish Elders, but it was awesome to know that the Lord could use me and my Spanish, even in an English area. The last house on the street. Classic. :)
All in all, I love being a missionary. It is so very hard, but also so very fun. I love this work. We have two boys we are teaching who are really interested in getting baptized, Matthew and Alex. Alex was literally begging his parents to let him get baptized. I don't have much time, so I will write you about them. Pray for them and their mom, please! It is cool to be here as a real missionary. I love you all and pray for you every night. The church is true, and this is His work! Please keep praying for me too.
Love, Hna. Allred
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