I am finally here in Texas!!! And I absolutely love it. My p-day is now Thursdays. Story time, let me start from the beginning.Monday morning, Sis Fretz and i woke up, packed up and left the MTC around 5 in the a.m. It was raining like crazy, but we decided to embrace it because Lubbock is in a draught. We piled on a bus and headed for the airport. Talking to you all on the phone was awesome. Some of the missionaries got a little homesick after calling home, but for some reason it was just reassuring and helped me push forward. Don't take that the wrong way, I miss ya'll.
The plane ride(s) were good. I sat by an elder in our district that had never been on a plane before and has a history of getting extremely car sick. Our trip consisted of me asking random questions about his childhood to distract him from turbulence and his white knuckles gripping the "motion discomfort" bag, courtesy of American Airlines. We had some cool conversations about making saddles and the flight went by fast. Through out the flight, Elder and I would talk to a gentleman and lady (worked together) who sat in front of us. He was a member and she a convert of about a month. Near the end, she turned around and said "I am going to give you your first referral" and wrote down a couples name and city for me. Yay!!! I didn't even have to ask for it. Kind of exciting. We had a layover in Dallas, where i met an old couple who were from Ohio. They both are Methodist and love MoTab. So, i told them i would mail them a copy of the Choir's new album I got before I left. I am thinking I will send it to the mission office in Ohio and have the missionaries deliver it personally. :) Basically Sister Fretz and I talked to as many people as we could in the airports. I met someone from Aunt Peg's stake and the Clarks from President Augustin's old Bountiful ward who knew Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve. Small world!
The mission president and his wife are so great!! They picked us up at the airport and brought us back to the mission home in Lubbock. I have never seen so many different churches in such a small area in my whole life. Every street corner had a different church building from a different religion, many of which I have never heard of. We drove by our temple, reminds me of the Bountiful temple. :)
While we were driving, President Robison told us about the areas he assigned us to. It was kind of sad to think that Sister Fretz and i would go different directions! We have come through so much and near the end of the MTC got quite close. She will be staying in Lubbock (with p-day access to the temple, lucky duck) and my area is San Angelo. It's as south as they will let the sisters go, three hours south of Lubbock. The city name rang a bell when he said it and I pulled out the referral I picked up on the plane. It was a family from SAN ANGELO!!!!!!! AAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy crow, the Lord wastes NO time! I asked myself "Why would the Lord trust me with that this early in my mission!?" But then I remembered that He calls the weak things to preach the gospel. (D&C 1:9 me thinks?) Exciting.
We had two days of training at the president's home and I got my very own bike. Its blue and white. Total sister missionary bike. We have a car too, but only a certain amount of miles we can use a month so we will be using our bike rack a lot and biking areas we drive to. As Jr comp, it is my responsibility to 1.) carry and answer our cell phone and 2.) stand behind the car and spot while my Sr. companion backs out. It feels silly and people love to stare, but mission rules are mission rules. All I need is a orange vest and perhaps some flares. heh.
Sis Tall and I drove to San Angelo yesterday afternoon. Sister Tall, my trainer, is the bee's knees. Her personality is very much like a little Alayna; super smart outgoing blonde. Contrary to her name, she stands at around 5' even and is a vegan from Sacramento. It'll be easier to eat good with a comp who has similar eating habits. She really knows her gospel stuff. Its been great to ask her questions and study with her over the last two days. We are "white washing" San Ang, which means we are a completely new companionship to the area. Normally they switch out one comp for one in transfers, but we are replacing the Elders in our area. Its the most humid and green area in our mission. Very much like Utah with humidity and hotter. it's been around 90-95 for the last bit. Don't know a whole lot about the city yet, but there is an institute we will be working with. Our ward is a student/young married ward by the Univ.
Apparently we aren't allowed to drink the water, or even cook with it. We have been buying jugs of distilled H2O. I have my own bathroom and walk-in closet. Best day of my life. I don't think i have EVER had my own bathroom!! They take good care of us here. I am really excited to get out and start meeting people! We already have set up appointment to meet with the Branch Pres, RS pres and we are going to go pop in on a few former investigators tonight between meetings. In studies this morning, Sis. Tall had me practice explaining certain principles and lesson to her. It's been a blessing to have a patient trainer.
Anywho, I am almost out of time.
Don't you reset that preset, kids. I'll be here allllll week.
Sister Rachel Orr
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