Week 2 Gridley CA

Hey mom!!!

Sorry about last week... my phone is still not fixed, but we're working on that. I got a hold of something to write on so that's good. And also I can check emails during the week, just can't respond. So feel free to send crazy stories during the week for me to read! My address is 654 Indiana St, Gridley, CA 95948. Idk if there is anything I need, but it might be nice to have a blue tooth keyboard for when i am typing emails... its easier than typing on a little phone. But my house is a cute little casa and it's actually way nicer than I thought it would be. I'm sending pictures of it later. 

And about the fires, I don't even watch the news so I have no idea about them too much. But apparently they're pretty bad. But thanks for sending the message to Olivia. I know she would have been worried. :) 

Sorry I took so long to get to you today... It's been a bit busy. But usually I start emailing around like 12 and can go till 5, my time. 

Wow so much to catch up. It's been almost 3 weeks. So here goes!! 

Last week at the ccm was good. We didn't do much, but it was really sad to leave everyone on Sunday... but the majority of the people in my district left on Wednesday, so I got to hang with them a bit more. We helped out with another new district with one of our old teachers, and that was way fun. We were all very ready to leave. Hermana Jensen left a day before me, and all day I felt like I was missing something, but it was just my companion... but then on Wednesday we were off to the airport! The drive there was terrifying, like always. I'm glad to not be on Mexico streets anymore. But I was heading to LA for my layover, so I was basically the Miley Cyrus song (I hopped in a plane to LAX). And at the airport I made sure to get some ice, of course, and I got to run into a few other missionaries there! They were heading home, but it was fun to talk to them. And other members were able to recognize who I was, so I stopped to talk to them. That got me excited. But the funnest part of my layover was that I got to call my mom!!! We only talked for like 10 minutes to let her know I was alive, but it was super fun to be able to hear her voice! 

But then I got off the plane and heading to the mission field!! In the airport it was weird cause I would try to talk Spanish, but I was in America, so I needed to use English... but that day was probs the most I had spoken English in a long time. I was the only missionary from Mexico, but there was one other Spanish speaking elder. There is also a sister who was from Brazil learning English, so I talked to her in Spanish cause she could understand that better. So that was fun to do. And also I met my Mission President! He and his wife are super awesome. They are just so happy and when you're around them they have a strong spirit that just makes you happy, and it's awesome! 

The next day we had a ton of meetings in the morning, and then I met my companion and headed out to Gridley! We had dinner at one of the members homes, and she spoke Spanish way fast... but I was able to pick up some of it. She's a great cook though! It's like real Mexican food! Me encanta! But that first day was a long day. We went to talk to some other members to meet them, and so it was mucho Spanish. My the end of the day I had a headache from all the Spanish, and I was very ready for bed... but I made it through the first day. 

My companion is great though! Her name is Sister Fuller, and she is from Dallas, Texas. She's super nice and a great trainer. She has been out for 10 months, and has been in Gridley her whole mission (which is not common). Something kinda crazy, is we were talking about our families, and I showed her a picture, and she was like "your brother is Nic Atkinson??" Apparently they worked together at chicfila while they were both at BYU. So that was a crazy connection. And also, apparently in this mission there is someone I went to a Church camp with like 6 years ago. So that was another crazy connection. 

But I've been good here! I've met and talked to soooo many people already. A regular day usually consists of getting up at 6:30, working out for 30 min, and then have breakfast and getting ready and then we have like an hour for personal scripture study. After that we have from 10 to 9 to get everything else done. We have 3 extra hours of studies a day, one for language, one cause I'm new, and one for us to study as a companionship. We then usually are out talking to people most of the day. We have a car at least though, so that's nice for getting around. It's nice to get out of the heat... It's usually over 100, and a good day is when it only gets to 95. But it's actually pretty cool in the mornings which is nice. But at 9 we go back home and get ready for bed and head to bed at 10:30. But that's just about every day. Some times we have meetings and stuff and then we usually meet up with a member for dinner and get to know them. It's long, but it's a good time. I'm out like a light at nice cause I'm so dang tired. Idk if my bed is actually super soft, or if I'm just so tired it feels great. 

The language I'm still working on  its getting better to understand and talk. Everyone is really surprised when I say I'm new, cause my Spanish is pretty good. I still struggle, but it's coming along. Oh, and something fun we do is on Sunday we call the other Spanish sisters and we study Spanish together. It's fun to be able to meet them and to talk in Spanish. But we do that every Sunday night, so that's a good time. 

But for things that have happened... last Saturday we went to a quinceniara which was fun! We didn't get to stay too long, but it was fun to go to. I went grocery shopping for the first time for myself last week, so that was exciting. I survived, so apparently I wasn't too bad. There is a little place that has a special price for milkshake Mondays, so burger Mondays has now been replaced with milkshake Monday, y me gusta. And last week for pday We played basketball with some elders. It was fun to be able to play again. And my shot was on which is always nice for pday today we are at a members house hanging with other missionaries in our district. They're super fun. We're the only sister missionaries, but the guys are fun. There are 5 other elders, and most of them have been out for a long time. Like they're just about done with only 3 months left. But they're fun. 

On Thursday of last week, Hermana fuller had a meeting to go to, so I went on exchanges, or I got a different companion for the day. Her name is Hermana Petonio and she was so cute! She's 4'9" and from the Philippines. Neither of us have driving privileges yet though, so we had to bike everywhere. But then my bike broke, so we had to walk... We walked like 40 minutes to get back to the church in the hot Cali sun... but we survived.  But that was fun to be with her for the day. And it was nice to be back with Hermana fuller. 

The last big thing for these past two weeks was we had a baptism! Hermana Fuller and her past companion had been teaching this girl named Danisha, and she is awesome. She is 13 and has a super striog testimony and loves the scriptures and is excited to learn! She is so sweet! But she got baptized on Saturday and it was super exciting!! It was fun to see how excited she was. But one thing with that, was that Hermana Fuller and I had to plan the baptism, so we had called a bunch of people to help out with the program for prayers and talks and the music, but like no one was getting back... We had been working on if for a few days, but nothing... but then we went to invite some of the girls that were Danisha's age to the baptism, and one of the leaders helped us out and people were getting back to us, and like everything just worked out in like 20 minutes. It was a miracle, and it was fun to see. But yeah that was super awesome. I'm working on getting pictures from that.  

But I've been good here! The fires have been making it foggy out. One day we woke up and there was ash all over the car which was crazy. But we're still alive and kicking. I also tried veggie pizza out here. By choice. And I actually liked it. It was pretty crazy... but yeah it's been a good time here! 

I miss you! I love hearing from you! Love you!! 

Kiley

Hermana Atkinson