I got a notice that you didn't recieve my letter from last week, here it is!
May 26 2009

Fambly,
Thank you SO much for the harmonica and the instructions. It’s way good to have a little something to play—I’m hoping to get good enough that I can play it during our lessons while my companion sings. We usually like to sing a hymn with our investigators at the beginning and at the MTC Elder Frei would play the harmonica sometimes. Mommy, I just love all the cute little things that you and laney-boo send me. The wall above my desk is papered with tons of fun stuff now!
Soooo… Sadly, I’ve decided to save my best story of the week for next week… it’ll be old news then, but that’s okay, I just think this story is best told with a picture to go along with it, so that’ll come to you in the mail, and since we weren’t able to print out any pictures yesterday (P-day) I’ve decided to wait. I also wrote NO letters yesterday in addition to not writing an e-mail, and this is because we had a very special P-day. Also, it was memorial day, so everywhere we could have written e-mail was closed. That’s why I’m writing today instead! Elder Russell is dying in a week and our district decided to go down town! We had to get permission from the President because it’s not technically in our mission.
So we got downtown (rode the bus) and here’s what happened.
Elder Herrman: “Gee, it sure is great that you got President’s permission to leave the mission!”
Elder Porter: “Err… About that.”
Elder Herrman: “…You did ask didn’t you?”
Elder Porter: “Yeah. I asked.”
Elder Herrman: “…And he said yes?!”
Elder Porter: “Hey, let’s go to Chase tower everybody!”
Classic. It was hilarious and Elder Porter kept it up all day to freak out his companion into thinking we’d all gone apostate, but really we had permission all along.
We had a good time too, but we didn’t get to go to Chase tower, or ANYWHERE downtown, because it turns out that instead of having sales and stuff Downtown Houston pretty much just shuts down on memorial day. NOTHING was open, and NOBODY was there. It probably looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie to have the six of us in an empty, quiet city… It was just us and some Jehova’s Witnesses wandering around among the skyscrapers, wounding if we should rumble.
So, we went to the Zoo instead
That was really fun though, the Houston Zoo is pretty impressive, but it was weird to be around all these people without calling anyone to repentance or giving pass-along cards or anything. We ran into a lot of Members too. I sort of felt like I at least set the snakes loose, or do something vaguely biblical. Still, we had a lot of fun together. I didn’t take very many pictures though because I started feeling bad for the animals. It’s so hot and they all look so sleepy during the day.
I hope Grandma is feeling better now that she’s home and resting! It would be way tough to keep working through all that pain… I hope she and grandpa are doing well.
Last week, we did service with the English Elders at a Member’s house. A lady in their ward. It was strange. The Hispanic and the American culture are REALLY different, is what I’m learning. Anyway, she was an interesting lady. She’d joined the church some fifteen years earlier and guess who tried to talk her out of it? Ed Decker.
Her friends were all freaked out that she was hearing the missionary lessons and they put her name on a list for his church to call and try to talk her out of it (I didn’t realize it was such an integral part of their religion to persecute ours, but I’m hearing more and more stories like this) Ed Decker himself ended up calling her, because it was his turn or something, and he almost got her to reconsider her baptism date. He told her to ask for the Elder’s names, promising her that they would be obedient to the rules and withhold that personal information.
They almost didn’t tell her, but eventually caved and she trusted them again.
I wouldn’t have fallen for this one, since out of all of the rules this is the one I find the most… grey area? Shall we say? I don’t go around telling people my name, but if they specifically ask me, in so many words “What-is-your-first-name-please?” then I’ll usually give in and tell them after a brief guessing game which NO ONE ever wins. Only if it’s an investigator, member or another missionary, though. Random people on the street can call me Hermana.
It was way cool to get to read Lauren and Cody’s letters! It’s really interesting, we all seem to have a lot of the same things to deal with right now…
Jensen is becoming quite the little giggling college girl isn’t she? Just remember ginna-ga-boobin, you are not allowed to get engaged until I come home, and also, you’re going on a mission.
Laney’s projects sound like adorable fun, I hope she’s having a good time with all of that and will get more time to continue her newsletter and other things this summer!
It’s good bike weather in Utah already? Elder Herrman loves bikes. He gets all trunky whenever he sees someone riding a bike. I’m starting to really love this whole bike-thing a lot too actually.
Aside from that… I don’t have a whole lot of news. Our investigators are doing well. We brought Elder Perry and Elder Porter over for our lesson with Nelly (and more importantly for this story, her 16 year old daughter Maria Jose) and taught them about Chastity with the Elders. The Elders didn’t know that we invited them specifically for this lesson, in fact they were a little embarrassed when they figured out what we were teaching. (Our ward mission leader thinks our Spanish isn’t good enough to teach Nelly and her family, so he asked the Elders to TAKE them from us. The funniest part is that Elder Perry doesn’t even speak Spanish, he’s a Sign-Language missionary and they were on exchanges, but now we can tell our ward mission leader that the Elders came to their house, and Elder Porter can tell him that we communicate just fine with OUR investigator, thank you very much.)
Anyway. I thinking it was really good to have two strapping young men come meet Maria Jose and tell her how much they dig chaste girls.
Well, Elder Perry couldn’t say any of that, but Elder Porter could and Elder Perry could at least nod and say “Si.” Which was good enough, we really just needed they to look pretty so she’d want to come to church.
They moral of the story is. Even when your new ward mission leader is being a misogynistic jerk and trying to give all your investigators to the Elders (who by the way do NOT have better Spanish than we do) you can turn the assignment into something that benefits everyone with a little creativity and an eye single to your goal: the Salvation of Nelly and Maria Jose.
Or something.
Anyway, they other awesome story involves a baptism (!MINE!) and waterboarding Elder Herrman.
And is actually two stories.
And has pictures to go with it.
So, I’ll have to tell you that one later!
I LOVE YOU! MWAH, MWAH, MWAH! Hermana Lirioblanco

And here's my letter from today June 1st 2009

Ya yo voy,
Internet is down---hopefully I’ll be able to send this to you by the magic of computers later on, but in case I have to print it out and mail it, here’s me explaining; internet is broken. I’m pretty sure one of the Elders broke it. This means I haven’t gotten to read your e-mail yet. So, I’m sending one letter in the mail already, for sure, with an awesome picture and story and hopefully that same envelope won’t contain this too.
This week was very surprising. I was positive I’d be in City view for at least one more transfer. I was wrong! Their kicking me out. Apparently I’ve done my work here for now, I helped baptize 3 people, found a decent sized handful of people who will now be taken care of by Hermana Frieszell todovia and Hermana Hollanbough who I went on exchanges with this last week (She’ll be great here). And I’m going to the coveted Houston zone (the only all-Spanish zone in the mission). I don’t know much about my new green-breaker Hermana Forslyng (I don’t think I’m spelling anyone’s name correctly, by the way). But my district includes Hermana Thomas, so it’ll be fun to serve around her again.
I was honestly pretty upset for a second---I really didn’t think I’m be leaving yet and there are SO many people here I still need to baptize. People have the tendency to get sent back to city view though, so… maybe I can come back sometime and serve here again.
My Spanish must e improving because it’s now much easier to understand native speakers. Gringos are getting tougher. Hermana says it’s because I’m improving more and more---good news!
Jensen should read all of Daniel in the old-testament and then illustrate it. Also, I want to read the Opera essay, it sounds like I’d dig it. Mommy! You’re talk was awesome, I’m sad I could see you give it. Thank you also for the anti-Mormon Q’s & A’s, it was a few weeks ago, but I finally got finished reading all of them, way interesting.
Alright, sorry this letter is so short, but I’ve got to pack today! I just wanted to mention two more ridiculous things… There is an Elder here who I’ve yet to meet who apparently has a hilarious (read inappropriate) sense of humour. He’s decorated his planner with a “EAT MORE JEHOVA’S WITNESSES” and pasted the name ‘Joseph Smith’ over ‘Jesus Christ’ in the churches name.
Also, I want a Santa Muerte made of folded dollar-bills and glued together with glitter-glue. Where can I find such a treasure? One may ask. At the pulga, is the answer. You can get anything at the pulga; pets, gold chains, numerous translations of the Bible, religion, drugs, tattoos, awesome trucker hats and shirts that say “Thug life”/green cards and some very suspicious looking fruit. Also, fine artwork like the Money-Santa-Muerte.
I love you all! I hope I get to read your e-mail today…
LOVE/Hermana Lillywhite

P.S. we just got word that the MTC is under loack-down for illness---all of our new missionaries aren't coming out wednesday! What's going on out there?