Buenos días!
Wow Mom and Dad, yo usure have busy lives. There´s always 36 activities going on between work, church, and family. We have ward activities pretty frequently where members are supposed to bring friends and we invite all we can. As anywhere else, it generally just ends up being a ward activity without all the people coming who said they would, thus you invite everyone. Last Monday for our preparation day activity, we missionaries of the ward (at that point 3 sets of sisters and one of elders) practiced dances to present the next evening for the Halloween party-dance activity. We began the evening with faces painted in goulish ways, doing the Michael Jackson dance for “Thriller”. (yeah, I didn´t think I´d be studying that while on a mission, either) We also prepared a viejas dance and did the meringue. For the viejitas dance, we were all doubled over, shaking, like really old ladies. At the beginning, we stumble around, complaining that we can´t do it. Then someone falls, others try to assist, and they fall, too. As they all find their way to their feet again, the music speeds up and we transform into little old ladies (still all hunched over) dancing like there´s no tomorrow and having a blast. It was pretty amusing, as an activity all in all. There were reports from other missionaries in the crowd that they heard members saying ¨”oh, the gringa can dance!!” I´m not really sure which gringa they saw (because I was the only one), or if their opinion changed after the meringue, but I thought that was pretty funny. The trick with such activities is that I have a desire for them to hurry up and end, because we need to get out there and work. Probably shows that I need to get to know and use members better. Anyway, I now have a goal to learn more of the latin dances while I´m down here with such great learning resources as my companions. It´d be a good morning exercise.
Mom, you asked about food, but I didn´t really have time to tell much. First, could you send me the Swedish pancake recipe? I´m going to try to find normal (wheat) flour in the store today so I can make them. Rice is definitely the staple food here. I think there was one day I didn´t eat rice because we went to KFC as a zone (way too expensive down here, just don´t do it). We generally eat at a breakfast-lunch place that is located on the front porch of a family´s house. Typically there´s a choice of two soups, which is followed by a second of rice, a choice of meat, some grilled platano (or verde), and beans or guatita. I´m not really sure what guatita is; I know it comes from somewhere in the middle of the cow, is chewy, and has a feathery part that pretty much makes me think of the villi of the stomach or intestine, but when I asked if it was that, I was told no. I´ve also had guatita soup. My favourite soup option shouldn´t be a surprise, it´s the cheese soup; vegetables with cheese chuncks thrown in at the end (although generally the cheese here is different, less aged). I also really liked the cream of carrot soup I had a while ago, like tomato soup, but with carrots. I´m going to try to make that. The meat favourite for me is pescado. Oh, that´s fish. The other day some members gave us some crab from their lunch, so I had some crab legs and thought of birthdays at Red Lobster and Caroline. I also learned you can buy a dozen crab for 1.50 here! Definitely a better price, but that´s buying them live, too. Probably the weirdest soup is the kind with chicken feet. You don´t eat them, they´re just there for flavour, but even the missionaries from Guayaquil think it´s weird to see feet. I think it´s funny to see whole pigs roasting, still. It generally surprises me to see a pig head just sitting there roasting away, such that something like ¨woah” may accidentally slip out. We can´t eat pig at all, so I haven´t literally faced that foe on my plate. I really rather like the cow tongue. How it´s seasoned makes me think of how you prepare fajitas, Mom. I just can´t think too much about the fact that the other tongue (not attached) in my mouth was in a cow´s mouth not long ago, doing the same thing the tongue (attached) in my mouth is doing. Hahaha Another thing we make with platanos (can you check if they are officially good as a vegetable, or if they´re like potatoes? They´re pretty starchy like that.) are patacones. We chop the platano up (like banana slices in cereal, but big), fry the pieces, smash them with a cup, and refry them. Yeah, I know, generally double fried isn´t really a key indicator of healthy vegetable choice. I don´t count them as vegetables in that situation. Then you can eat them plain, use them to scoop up ¨salsa” (any random blend of items you choose to put together…I really like 1 can of tuna with oil, tomato, and red onion as a salsa for my rice or patagones) or have them with cream cheese or something. I absolutely love having the fruit fresh, fresh, fresh from the trees. This morning part of my breakfast was a papaya. My companion saw some in the trees of some people and asked if we could have some, so we purchased four for .50 straight from the tree. Really, I had to catch them. There´s this fruit, alazá, that we´ve had a lot of, since it´s been the season. It´s really a tart fruit and one of the fruits people only use to make bastidos (liks smoothies, but it´s more of a beaten, flavoured milk, because you just use a little fruit) or juice. I discovered that I don´t need to use as much sugar as others, because I like that tartness. Dad, I think that´s from drinking lemon or lime juice like you. It´s really good food. I have a goal to eat some pizza someday, though. Then again, sometimes you just eat because you need to eat. That happens, too. Let me know if you try any of these things out.
In a letter quite a while ago, someone mentioned that James was hurt. What happened? Is everything okay now? I´m assuming so.
I´ve decided pouch is best.
What do you want for Christmas, Mom, Dad, Anita, or others?
Take advantage of the Book of Mormon. Thank you so much for your efforts to share the truth with others. Always use the truth you have so that you can continue to progess and learn, line upon line. It really pained me this week to see how quickly people will forget the answers they´ve received that the Book of Mormon is true. We need to read it, ponder, and apply the principles to our lives. It has been preserved for our day, for us in our trials. I know it is the word of God, brought forth in this day to the convincing of all men that Jesus is the Christ, and to remind the people of the great mercies the Lord has had upon their parents. We are so blessed to live in a time and in regions where we have the freedom to worship. If we were in the situation of David, would we have chosen to pray with the windows open? I love the scriptures. Thank you so much for your examples that taught me how important they are. I love that we can pray every day, and carry a pray all day in our hearts, and receive answers each and every day. I definitely see the tender mercies, the constant care, and love of the Lord each day as I do this work. Don´t let yourself forget your testimony, the knowledge you have received from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost. Ever. Continually nourish the seed of faith, or your tree of faith. The Book of Mormon is true. It confirms the veracity of Joseph Smith´s account, of the fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Kingdom of God on the earth today. And, what´s so so so great is that no one has to take my word for it (like reading rainbow). Each of us can know. Each of us can receive the answers we need and know the truth from the ultimate source of truth- Our Father in Heaven.
I love you!!!
Hna Christie Sue Henrichsen
Ecuabit: hola! Practically the entire letter above. Haha
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE!!!!! YOU´RE SOOOO OLD!! (but still one of the little kids) XOXOXOXOXOXO
Wow Mom and Dad, yo usure have busy lives. There´s always 36 activities going on between work, church, and family. We have ward activities pretty frequently where members are supposed to bring friends and we invite all we can. As anywhere else, it generally just ends up being a ward activity without all the people coming who said they would, thus you invite everyone. Last Monday for our preparation day activity, we missionaries of the ward (at that point 3 sets of sisters and one of elders) practiced dances to present the next evening for the Halloween party-dance activity. We began the evening with faces painted in goulish ways, doing the Michael Jackson dance for “Thriller”. (yeah, I didn´t think I´d be studying that while on a mission, either) We also prepared a viejas dance and did the meringue. For the viejitas dance, we were all doubled over, shaking, like really old ladies. At the beginning, we stumble around, complaining that we can´t do it. Then someone falls, others try to assist, and they fall, too. As they all find their way to their feet again, the music speeds up and we transform into little old ladies (still all hunched over) dancing like there´s no tomorrow and having a blast. It was pretty amusing, as an activity all in all. There were reports from other missionaries in the crowd that they heard members saying ¨”oh, the gringa can dance!!” I´m not really sure which gringa they saw (because I was the only one), or if their opinion changed after the meringue, but I thought that was pretty funny. The trick with such activities is that I have a desire for them to hurry up and end, because we need to get out there and work. Probably shows that I need to get to know and use members better. Anyway, I now have a goal to learn more of the latin dances while I´m down here with such great learning resources as my companions. It´d be a good morning exercise.
Mom, you asked about food, but I didn´t really have time to tell much. First, could you send me the Swedish pancake recipe? I´m going to try to find normal (wheat) flour in the store today so I can make them. Rice is definitely the staple food here. I think there was one day I didn´t eat rice because we went to KFC as a zone (way too expensive down here, just don´t do it). We generally eat at a breakfast-lunch place that is located on the front porch of a family´s house. Typically there´s a choice of two soups, which is followed by a second of rice, a choice of meat, some grilled platano (or verde), and beans or guatita. I´m not really sure what guatita is; I know it comes from somewhere in the middle of the cow, is chewy, and has a feathery part that pretty much makes me think of the villi of the stomach or intestine, but when I asked if it was that, I was told no. I´ve also had guatita soup. My favourite soup option shouldn´t be a surprise, it´s the cheese soup; vegetables with cheese chuncks thrown in at the end (although generally the cheese here is different, less aged). I also really liked the cream of carrot soup I had a while ago, like tomato soup, but with carrots. I´m going to try to make that. The meat favourite for me is pescado. Oh, that´s fish. The other day some members gave us some crab from their lunch, so I had some crab legs and thought of birthdays at Red Lobster and Caroline. I also learned you can buy a dozen crab for 1.50 here! Definitely a better price, but that´s buying them live, too. Probably the weirdest soup is the kind with chicken feet. You don´t eat them, they´re just there for flavour, but even the missionaries from Guayaquil think it´s weird to see feet. I think it´s funny to see whole pigs roasting, still. It generally surprises me to see a pig head just sitting there roasting away, such that something like ¨woah” may accidentally slip out. We can´t eat pig at all, so I haven´t literally faced that foe on my plate. I really rather like the cow tongue. How it´s seasoned makes me think of how you prepare fajitas, Mom. I just can´t think too much about the fact that the other tongue (not attached) in my mouth was in a cow´s mouth not long ago, doing the same thing the tongue (attached) in my mouth is doing. Hahaha Another thing we make with platanos (can you check if they are officially good as a vegetable, or if they´re like potatoes? They´re pretty starchy like that.) are patacones. We chop the platano up (like banana slices in cereal, but big), fry the pieces, smash them with a cup, and refry them. Yeah, I know, generally double fried isn´t really a key indicator of healthy vegetable choice. I don´t count them as vegetables in that situation. Then you can eat them plain, use them to scoop up ¨salsa” (any random blend of items you choose to put together…I really like 1 can of tuna with oil, tomato, and red onion as a salsa for my rice or patagones) or have them with cream cheese or something. I absolutely love having the fruit fresh, fresh, fresh from the trees. This morning part of my breakfast was a papaya. My companion saw some in the trees of some people and asked if we could have some, so we purchased four for .50 straight from the tree. Really, I had to catch them. There´s this fruit, alazá, that we´ve had a lot of, since it´s been the season. It´s really a tart fruit and one of the fruits people only use to make bastidos (liks smoothies, but it´s more of a beaten, flavoured milk, because you just use a little fruit) or juice. I discovered that I don´t need to use as much sugar as others, because I like that tartness. Dad, I think that´s from drinking lemon or lime juice like you. It´s really good food. I have a goal to eat some pizza someday, though. Then again, sometimes you just eat because you need to eat. That happens, too. Let me know if you try any of these things out.
In a letter quite a while ago, someone mentioned that James was hurt. What happened? Is everything okay now? I´m assuming so.
I´ve decided pouch is best.
What do you want for Christmas, Mom, Dad, Anita, or others?
Take advantage of the Book of Mormon. Thank you so much for your efforts to share the truth with others. Always use the truth you have so that you can continue to progess and learn, line upon line. It really pained me this week to see how quickly people will forget the answers they´ve received that the Book of Mormon is true. We need to read it, ponder, and apply the principles to our lives. It has been preserved for our day, for us in our trials. I know it is the word of God, brought forth in this day to the convincing of all men that Jesus is the Christ, and to remind the people of the great mercies the Lord has had upon their parents. We are so blessed to live in a time and in regions where we have the freedom to worship. If we were in the situation of David, would we have chosen to pray with the windows open? I love the scriptures. Thank you so much for your examples that taught me how important they are. I love that we can pray every day, and carry a pray all day in our hearts, and receive answers each and every day. I definitely see the tender mercies, the constant care, and love of the Lord each day as I do this work. Don´t let yourself forget your testimony, the knowledge you have received from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost. Ever. Continually nourish the seed of faith, or your tree of faith. The Book of Mormon is true. It confirms the veracity of Joseph Smith´s account, of the fact that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Kingdom of God on the earth today. And, what´s so so so great is that no one has to take my word for it (like reading rainbow). Each of us can know. Each of us can receive the answers we need and know the truth from the ultimate source of truth- Our Father in Heaven.
I love you!!!
Hna Christie Sue Henrichsen
Ecuabit: hola! Practically the entire letter above. Haha
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE!!!!! YOU´RE SOOOO OLD!! (but still one of the little kids) XOXOXOXOXOXO
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