Week 58

ok....I think that is SOO hilarious that you got Elder Staples letter. hahahaha that means elder staples family is getting the letter for Hermana Casey Ross. haha love it. love it.

but yes, I got that letter too. But it is wrong. I won't be going home with elder staples...They will probably send you a different one soon that says the 23 of august. and hopefully it will actually have my name on it :)

I talked to president the other day about it...and when I said that means that I have 3 transfers left he was like, that doesn't sound like very much, hermana.

yep. well aware.

but, that just means I have to work SUPER hard these last few months. But it's weird. I hate that it will end.

also, yes dad, your spanish has improved significantly. haha hey dad, maybe I can work for you when I get home? remember how I speak spanish now? and remember how you work with spanish speakers? eh eh? just sayin.

this last week was buck wild crazy. fo real.

First off, Lucia (my convert of two weeks) got a calling yesterday....Relief Society 1st counselor. Can you believe that? Who gets baptized and then called into a presidency the week after? She's amazing. Also, last week she sent us a text message to tell us that she is coming to the states in october to go to general conferece! I peed my pants. not even kidding. I about died of excitement. Because I will be there too :) It made the decision of coming home 3 weeks early....just a little bit easier :) yay for Lucia!!!

Also, I am NOT being transfered. I know. Crazy town. But I feel really good about it. I didn't want to leave. I feel super grateful to still have time in Murcia. It is like you said dad, when you are somewhere for a long time...you gain people's trust and learn so much! Yesterday I got up in sacrament to bear my testimony...and tell them that I'm staying and that I love them. And I just cried. Murcia is my mission.

So, apparently this weekend was easter in Bulgaria and not last weekend. So on saturday we went to eat dinner with Dima and Rosi and it was their big easter celebration dinner...and of course it was a blast! It was such a treat. They taught us bulgarian easter traditions and games they play with hard boiled eggs. haha They are so wonderful. Everything is better with Dima and Rosi around. Rosi turned to me and said, "Hermana Rosi (that's what they call me haha) I don't smoke....and look what has happened..." and then he patted his belly. :) ha. It made me laugh. Gaining a belly is worth salvation.

Something I think you might find interesting is that hna nelson and I ate BRAIN last week. But we did it on accident. There is a pastry that is super Murciano...as in, it is something just from Murcia. So, we went to get one. There was a sign in front that said, Pastel de SESO. I thought, hmmm...i wonder what seso means. Well, we bought it...and ate it on our way home. Hna Nelson mentioned that the meat looked weird...but I just ate it and didn't worry about it...but then as hna nelson still had concerns of what we had just eaten, I looked up seso in the dictionary. Yeah. We ate a brain pastry. Not sure what kind of brain...but it was brain. hahaha sick. those pasteles don't normally have seso....we just got lucky that time :)

This week, our area was just one big party. Remember during the summer when I was like, "man, spaniards sure do know how to party!" well....I had NO IDEA. haha I don't even know how to describe what tuesday was like. It was a fiesta called Bando de la Huerta. It is a Murcia festival. The original festival is that everyone dresses up in the traditional dress of murcia and dance. I love the dresses the women wear. Plus, it's cool because the traditional dresses and jewlrey they wear are heirlooms...dresses they'e had in the family for generations and generations. So, people still wear the outfits, although most of the young girls now just wear the boy outfit bc it is more comfortable. But, they had another huge parade (I feel like there has been a ridiculously long parade going through the city non-stop for the last two weeks) But now...the fiesta has been changed into a reason to get wasted. It is really sad. But I loved seening everyone in their outfits! It was like the whole city matched! Except of course for the 6 of us missionaries. haha oh murcia.

gotta love it.

Also, this past friday was one of the coolest days of my entire mission. Unforgettable.

Last week, our entire mission fasted on thursday for the "dia de diamante" that we would have on friday. (aka, diamond day) And Dia de Diamante was the whole mission....contacting all day long. All day finding. So, we fasted all together that we would be able to find with faith and find the people who are ready. Then, on friday, no one had planned citas...we just went on the street and contacted all day. It was so fun! I actually really loved it. We were sooo tired when we came home. But it was so worth it. And, as a mission we got 1,400 futures! (a future is someone that we talk to that gives us information to come see them again) It was just cool because it was complete mission unity. And we really saw miracles that day. It was fun doing it all together. It gave us so much animo and faith to go out and FIND! yay! Plus, contacting is fun because you really just meet some funny people. ha. It's priceless. Also, I told a catholic priest about the apostasy. But he was nice. The church is true.

Well family....I love you!!!

Con amor,

hermana ross

p.s. this is me being really happy with my easter marshmallows :)

and a couple women...on a bench :)