Journalist Junkie: A Week of Oddities

This week is exactly as my title describes. I imagine it will be one of the oddest weeks I have had in all of my mission.

To start off big, guess who was out of commission from Wednesday all the way through yesterday? Me. My health...yea. It´s super great right now! But a lot of things piled up at the start of this last week and I couldn´t work for a while. Mom, you know I have weak ankles. Well we were walking home and BOOM. My ankle twisted and I practically fell over on TOP of my ankle. All that day my head and throat was pounding and I felt like I had a second heart in my wrist. Also, ever since arriving in Chile I´ve had problems with my stomach. It just always hurts really bad...especially after lunch. I think it´s a combo of the TYPE of food as well as how much food we eat. But I went to the doctor. The doctor is the stake president so I didn´t have to pay a dime...the medicine was 15mil pesos though. Anyways, he said I have some irritation in my colon. I have medicine for it and I feel so much better, and I also have a gel for my wrist and my ankle every night. It´s awesome.

Anyways, my health was really poor this last week, but right now it´s a lot better. Today I head back to work! I´m excited to finally get to DO something.

This last week I was in Santa Maria for a while with Hermana Casique. We get along super well and didn´t have ANY problems. I made a visual for lesson 2 ...only took me like a bajillion hours haha. We also ...well we switched make up. I put my makeup on her and she put hers on me. It was at an appropriate time but DANG. Que horrible! It was a fun thing though...and it was nice to take a break from all the studying I was doing with her. I learned a LOT OF Spanish this last week.

In fact, regarding my Spanish, I get it. Definitely the Lord, but I literally understand about everything. I don´t know a lot of WORDS, like nouns, but everything else I get. I get the grammar to, I just have to keep practicing. I was talking to the zone leader in spanish on the phone two days ago and he was very impressed. Even said that my Spanish was close to perfect. SOOO, for one month, I´m on the right track in the whole Spanish category. ...hahaha except for one time. I was talking to our district leader and I accidentally said ¨Te amo" instead of "Les amo" (because he was delivering my words to my companions while I was in another area. We can´t talk directly to them.) Everyone in the room had eyes the size of golf balls when I said it. It sure was funny.

Hermana Casique came back with me to San Felipe for two days (she’s out of commission because she crashed on her bike and can´t walk very well). And when we returned it was great. We studied some more, and in the night I had the opportunity to do some watercoloring. We studied some more Spanish and read scriptures (she´s taught me SO much Spanish!) but when the girls returned home they were crying. Apparently they were about to start teaching a lesson and then Pa*** literally had drugs in his hand. His mom and he yelled and argued....he´s extremely disrespectful to his mom, but R*** just cried. She wants to be baptized but she can´t feel peace right now. She needs help now more than ever. Anyways, they returned home and I didn´t know what to do. So I prayed....and the things that came out of my mouth were totally of the spirit cause I sure didn´t have the power to say the things I said without it. They started to feel better...but were still sad, and if you´re sad you can´t have the spirit. SO I turned on a more upbeat song from Hermana Parkinson´s mp3 player and danced like a loon. I don´t think I´ve ever danced worse, but they couldn´t stop laughing. I know even THAT was from the spirit.

Sunday Pa*** came to the end of church. He needs to have a one on one talk with someone like Dad...to tell him what´s up. Hermana Casique and I thought of the perfect person who is in her ward. He used to be addicted to drugs, but then changed and served a mission (which EVERY GUY SHOULD DO) and now he is the bishopric. But after lunch and church we returned and Hermana Parkinson and Hermana Waters shared with me a few things that were troubling them. I sat them both down and shared Helaman 5:12. I testified that although bad things WILL happen, satan´s power is limited and God´s power is unlimited. And very firmly I sated that satan would have NO more power in our house. That he would no longer influence our thoughts or feelings. That if we wanted to have the spirit we had to do EVERYTHING we could to attain it and keep it so that we could continue to work. And after doing EVERYTHING that we possibly could, we needed to pray and ask for help. Today I reinforced this by sharing D&C 121:45-46.

OH! Read chapter 18 of 1st Nephi. It´s legit. The whole story is amazing ...you have to look at it with the right perspective but I loved it!!

The food here is legit. I know how to make some stuff too! Cut up some red peppers with oil, heat it up, add some sugar, add cream cheese and you´ve got a freaking delicious salsa type thing for all sorts of food. The empanadas are the best here. The worst thing I´ve eaten was pasta with tuna and mayo and corn mixed...nothing else. I either really like the food here, or I don´t. It´s just different. But the salads are AMAZING. SOAKED in lemon and tomato juice. And they have just as much tomatoes as lettuce. YUM.

That´s all I have for this week. I love you and you´re always in my prayers.

Love,

Hermana Alexandra Johnson

ps. BBeak, have you made a decision yet?

pps. Pepper. Write me a letter!!

THINGS that in a package in the future I would like more music, other colors of my scripture markers that I sent y'all.... and a MINI Book of Mormon in English . ...my peanut butter is running out, lol. Also some talks. Power to create, Elder Uchtorf would be great.