So in the U.S. we have feet...

Helloooooo everybody... Welcome back to p-day!! I know yall have been waiting for this all week. (Like I said, I'm really running out of starter sentences) But this week was transfers!! Seriously wild and so fun. I had to say goodbye to Hermana Gilbert, which was so sad, but I ADORE my new comp, she is literally insanely amazing at all things missionary work and also speaks 5 languages. And I'm the trainer, so maybe I should step up my game. She can understand English pretty perfectly, but can't speak it nearly at all, since pronunciation is pretty dang difficult, and obviously I need to work on my spanish, and so this week has been 95% in Spanish, which has been wild. This area is amazing, with people to teach (finally!!) and great members and all things good. The city has a million panederias (bakeries) and every time we walk past one it smells so incredibly amazing.

THINGS THAT MADE ME LAUGH:

• We were practicing Hermana Cabreras english and she was telling me about her family, and she said "this is my uncle" and showed me a picture of a girl who is a literal baby. Ahahaha I was GONE. She meant niece.

• We went to the bishop's house my first day here, and his daughter is about to leave on a mission in like 2 weeks, and she is SO funny. Anyway, all of us were talking about how tall we are, (don't know how that got brought up) and they asked how tall Hermana Gentry was, which is just about the worst question you can ask a missionary because 1. Numbers are actually exceptionally hard to learn (although after this experience me and my comp spent a while learning how to say big numbers ahaha so now i know all my numbers past 100 which i cant say i knew before this week woops) and 2. We obviously have different forms of measurement, and none of us have any idea how tall we are in centimeters. Anyway, so me, being the brilliant one trying to explain it, said "no in the United States, we have feet" and the one daughter goes "wow congrats!!!! So do we!!" And starts walking around all dramatically as if she just discovered her feet. Aaaaand then they wouldnt stop making fun of us for long enough for us to actually explain. Anyway, I still dont know how tall I am.
  

• During the same language study, we were still working on english, and so I was asking Hna Cabrera questions and she was responding. My question for her this time was "what is your favorite thing about your boyfriend?" And she goes "His eyes are so .... black .... and shiny." So essentially with that introduction I can't decide if I want to meet him and see if his eyes really are shiny, or if I want to stay as far away as I can from this black and shiny eyed man. No idea.

• Yet again, another language barrier thing. So we live in a house with 2 other hermanas, both from the US. And for some reason, one of them started speaking in a British accent. Which me being me, I matched it without even thinking about it. And then I realized that Hna Cabrera probably couldn't understand us very well, so I asked her, and she told us that her brother knows english but he learned British english so she can actually understand us a lot better when we have british accents. Which means, not only has this whole week been in spanish, when its in english its in british accents so my comp can understand ahaha. No idea what I'm gonna do at the end of this transfer when I haven't spoken normal english in weeks. Prayers for me.

MILAGRITOS:

• Yall. My companion is a whole milagro herself. She speaks/understands 5 languages. She's a PHENOMENAL missionary, and she's only been out for 6 weeks. She's crazy patient with me and my spanish, except for the occasional eye roll or huge sigh when I get very confused and she has to explain things very very slowly for me ahaha. She knows the area super well, and is best friends with all the members. Essentially, my life couldn't get better, except I need to live up to the hype with the members. Send prayers I can be as fun as her.

• Guys remember 8 months ago when I was writing about how real the gift of tongues is, while I was in the MTC? Yeah I think I was a little confused. That was NOTHING compared to what has happened since Ive been in Uruguay and especially this week. I have been praying so hard that I would be able to communicate with my comp and also with the members and everyone here, and it literally has felt like an overnight difference. It feels like the members here speak easier to understand spanish, but they actually dont, the Lord has just really been on my side the past few days. Definitely I can't say all I want to say, or understand everything, but I really can testify that the gift of tongues is real, and that I am very grateful I'm not trying to learn a language without it.

• The other hermanas in our ward had a baptism!! It was the first baptism I have been able to go to in person on my mission, and it was so amazing. It was for a little boy named Martin, who couldn't be more precious. The water was so cold and he had to do it twice, and he was shivering so bad, but after we asked him if he was cold and he said he most definitely was not. Afterward, when he was getting the gift of the Holy Ghost, I felt so real and so tangibly the presence of the Holy Ghost there. It was incredible. The Holy Ghost is real. And I am so so grateful for it. I don't know how I would live my life without it with me.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week, I have been thinking a lot about spiritual gifts. We have read Moroni 10 a lot with the members during lessons, and I have been reading my patriarchal blessing a lot, and dang. Spiritual gifts are so cool. I invite every single one of you to read Moroni 10 this week, and think of some of the spiritual gifts in there, and also the ones that aren't in there. And read your patriarchal blessing if you have one! If you don't, get one! I am so grateful for spiritual gifts, and direct revelation from Heavenly Father for me personally, and each of you can have that, for you, personally. Most if not all of us would probably convince ourselves that we don't have any spiritual gifts, but in looking at the scriptures and our patriarchal blessings, we can find out exactly what they are. Every single person has spiritual gifts, and we just need to come closer to Christ to find what they are! Spiritual gifts are so cool!

Anyway, I hope yall had a fantastic week and you're partying hard in the almost summer (it's getting really really cold here, send prayers)! Let me know if I can ever do anything for y'all! Los amo!

-Hermana Allen