Happy Valentine's Day

You were right family. The pictures with the Crandalls were from dinner last night. They had us over (or upstairs) for my last Sunday in the area. We actually found out for sure on Sunday morning where I was going. (We are supposed to find out on Saturday night, but by the time our district leader called at 10:35 we were both out cold.) Besides the fact that this is my first transfer, it is going to be a big one for many other reasons. I am 1) going to a new area, Liahona 4th East; 2) Liahona 4th is a Spanish WARD not a branch of 30 people like Ensenada; 3) There are 6 missionaries in our ward; 4) and... are you ready... I'm going full-field! Yeah, talk about a big transfer! I wasn't very surprised though. My new companion will be Hna. Nielsen (I'm going to have to learn how to spell her name) from Michigan. She actually came to me for our last exchanges so we have already been companions for a day. There are no VC sisters in that zone, but our physical area covers some English VC sisters, so they will be sending us referrals. I have a feeling it is going to be a completely different experience. In Ensenada we have gotten maybe 5 referrals from church headquarters and the VC, but in Liahona 4th they have so many that they haven't been able to contact them all. A sister in the VC that also served full-field there said that they were easily teaching around 30 lessons a week, where here we work super hard to get 20. I'm just ready for culture shock in that I'm going to be in a Ward; I've don't think I've ever stepped foot in a Spanish Ward in my life, unless we went once in Honduras. Of course there are a few mixed feelings about the transfer, I love the branch so much. In missionary words it is were I was born and raised. The members and investigators here are awesome. And I'm sure there will be a time when I miss the VC, but my new area will be so much closer that we will be teaching lessons there many times a week, plus I will be back a lot for our meetings and trainings, I'm still a VC sister after all. Besides that it is mostly excitement. I am excited to learn a new area, excited to get to know a new companion, excited to be finding a lot more hispanics, excited to work in a ward, excited to teach all day every day, etc.

I will only be full-field for the next six weeks, because the first day of the next transfer is the first day of the Easter Pageant, and it's back to the VC for all of us VC sisters. After that I don't know what will happen. I don't know if I'll be transferred that quick again, or if the area will become a VC area again (it was a little under a year ago) or if I will go back to the VC just for the 2 weeks of the pageant and then finish my full-field. Who knows?

Anyways, that is the most exciting thing that has happened this week, but I'm sure I'll have tons to tell you about next week after getting to know my new area a little. Right now I am in the middle of packing, and then tonight we have a branch FHE. In Mexican culture, on the 6th of January(3 Kings Day, or Epiphany) families and friends will get together and eat a cake shaped in a oval wreath called a rosca. There are little plastic babies in some of the pieces, kind of like a yule log, but in Mexican culture you don't want to find one in you piece, because if you do, then some day in February you have to throw a party and provide tamales. We shared 3 roscas for the January FHE, and tonight is when the people who got the little figures are supposed to bring tamales. I'm so glad I get to be there with my branch before I leave, one last chance to see everyone. Transfers don't take place until 6 pm tomorrow, so I'll also get to eat with Hna. Mestre one last time.

Well, to finish up this week's email I am going to go back to the subject of the email, Happy Valentine's Day! This is something that I learned from Hna. Lopez the other day about Valentine's Day and the true meaning.

        For God so LoVed the world,
                 that he gAve
                      his onLy
                      begottEn
                            SoN,
                         That whosoever
                  believeth In him
                     should Not perish,
              but have evErlasting life.

            John 3:16

Cool, huh?

Desde Mesa con amor,
Hermana Ladd