o-Hi-o!

 

Update: I made it to the beatiful state of Ohio! No mountains. Just rolling green hills. It is gorgeous here! I have two new companions Sister Christensen and Sister Witherspoon. Sister Christensen is only with us for a short time because she leaves to Salt Lake City West to serve the rest of her mission. Anyone in Magna, Tooele area look out for her! She is a firecracker. Sister Witherspoon and I are new to the area so the way we get people to remember our names is by saying, "she COOKs WITHERSPOON". Oh ya we are so clever. It is fun! I love these sisters. They are good to me.

 

Food: Alright my native Utahns. I don't know about you but when someone says shrimp I picture a small pink tail with sometimes a small hard shell at the tip. My second night in Ohio a family feed us traditional Chinesse food. IT WAS DELICIOUS. (Nothing like Panda Express...Mark you would appreciate this.) Well one of the dishes had shrimp in it. The dad told us, "Alright this is going to get messy and you have permission to spit out your food. I will first demonstrate how to eat shrimp." He then proceeds to pick up a huge piece of shimp. It was all shell, long legs, and head with its beady little eyes. He first ripped off the head and set it to the side (used to eat later), second he placed the shrimp with the legs in his mouth and bit off all the legs (this is were we got the permission to spit the legs out onto the plate.) Third, he took off the remaining shell and then popped it into his mouth. My mouth of course was jaw dropped. I then looked to the older gentleman to my left and he was just smiling and stuffing the whole shelled shrimp into his mouth and told me, "more nutritious." So I had the option of  deshelling the shrimp or just crunching through it. Yes, I deshelled it. Yes, I spit out the legs onto the plate. Yes, I loved it.

 

Environment: The most interesting place we taught someone a lesson was in a workout room. These Ohio rains come in and out quickly. We were in the park and the rains came in so we retreated to the only room open, the club house work out room. It was great! I learned the lesson that the spirit is the true teacher. Half the time I was yelling over the sound of the treadmill behind me. "GOD LOVES YOU" Haha. It was great.

 

Thought: It has only been a week but I recognize God's love for everyone. I think of my 6th grade kiddos and how much I loved each one for different reasons. I loved their different personalities and quirks. I am now walking around meeting so many different people. I feel like I have encountered people from different parts of the specturm. I LOVE THEM ALL. I love each one for different reasons. One I love for their intellectual insight. I love another because they are quiet, I love another because of the excitment they have and their dialogue, "ya dig it?" "Copy? Roger that, 10 4, over and out..." haha. Not everyone is friendly but I can see that God loves them and He has a plan for them. I might not get the opportunity to help them out but I know that, that is ok. This place is a melting pot of so many different and unique people. An adventure awaits. 

 

Love you all!