A Whole New... Hoppin in Toppenish!

Hey hey everyone! 

This week has been insane!  We had some sweet member present lessons back in East Wenatchee before I left on Wednesday, and let me just say, the land of my mission birth was extremely hard to say goodbye to, as every missionary says.  Holy Cow, I miss it so much!  I will never forget the memories I had in East Wenatchee, and I hope to go back someday.  Who knows, maybe I'll get sent back later during my mission... Just kidding. 

Transfer day was so sad...  I said goodbye to some amazing members before meeting at the transfer site. Then it came time to say goodbye to Hermana Alcocer... I've never had a more difficult goodbye. She greenie-broke me good and hard.  She was amazing.  I can't wait to hear about her adventures as an STL.  She is so wonderful and I can't imagine spending that transfer without her.  I needed her so much, and we grew so much together.

Hermana Taua and I

Transfer day we received bad news of a recent convert in Chelan who passed away.  Hermana Alcocer was so broken, and so was my new companion, Hermana Taua.  Hermana Kennedy and I arrived in Yakima to meet our new companions and we unfortunately had to brake the bad news to Hermana Taua, who helped her get baptized in Chelan.  Kathy was so blessed to be taught by Hermana Taua and Hermana Safesten in Chelan in February. All is well, and All will be well.

Anyway, remember how I covered a HUGE area in East Wenatchee?  Well I've got news... my area in Toppenish is even bigger.  Yahoo!  It's a bit stressful, but also exciting!  There's a lot of Less Actives to round up!  Our branch is pretty small without the less actives, but it surprisingly bigger than the Columbia River Branch I worked with for a short time in Wenatchee.  There are so many amazing members!  When we got to our Farm House (Yes, I just said farm house, because we live in the middle of corn and asparagus fields), Hermana Taua and I grabbed some dinner and then headed out to see the Ibarra family.  Holy Cow, I've never met such amazing members!  I felt so welcome in their home, and they are so missionary oriented.  They help out so much, they feed us every Sunday and bring home made lunch for after church every Sunday for everyone who comes to Daily Dose. 

Planning this week took TOO long.  We have so, so many less actives we need to round up, but Toppenish and our whole area looks very promising for those Hispanic families!  We are so excited to work in this area!  We cover around 6 little towns, that are all about 15 - 20 minutes away from each other.  But luckily with our sweet '14 Corola, we've got it handled. 

Hopper Fields: They grow like a vine, except a lot taller!

We had a chance to visit one of our investigators named Veronica. She's been taught multiple times by the missionaries, and by one of our good missionary friends, who's now home, Elder Hacking. Her two sons were baptized by him, and her daughter just recently turned four years old.  But Veronica hasn't been baptized yet! That's gonna change... :)  We are so excited to get to work here and help Veronica.  Our area has so much potential, and we can't wait to get to work!

Referring to my email title... Yakima Valley is known for the Hopper Fields.. what are those?  Well let's just say it's an important ingredient in beer... Good thing the hopper festivals are over!  I've heard from a lot of other missionaries it STINKS when they harvest it or have the beer and hopper festivals.  Lots and LOTS of asparagus and corn fields, a long with a TON of Hopper fields. It's pretty interesting!

You are all wonderful, Love you all to pieces!