Day #31-Final Photo!

Okay-here it is.
The final photo of the month.
Goal accomplished.
Whew.
It was fun.
Glad you came along for the ride.
To see my mundane life.

Now here's a photo that will knock your socks off....

Breaking news......

Relief Society president gets caught kissing Branch President.

Nope.

It's not a pre-April Fool's Day joke.

TL is officially the Branch President of the Spanish branch in our stake.

I'm the Relief Society president.

In the words of Alyssa,

"Awww, that's tender."

Photo Day #18-Project of the Day

Writing the English titles in TL's Spanish hymnbook.

So now he doesn't have to guess what the song is until he hears the music.

Did that in mine years ago.

Because I had to practice leading for an hour each week

To prepare to do it in church.

Press on!

It Happened....

It Finally happened. They told me it would.
I just didn't think it would happen here.
I often wondered when it would happen.

It happened the other night.
I remember waking up.
And I knew that I was dreaming in Spanish.
And I spoke Spanish back.
But I can't remember what happened.
And I probably didn't say it right.
Then I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Edit**** Just so you aren't too impressed with my language skilz....
Tonight I had the opportunity to do a food order...
(a food order is an order for commodities for those who are needy-it's my responsibility as the Relief Society president to assist those in need by filling out an order and assessing the needs of the person/family)

Anyway....
I guess I was rolling my rrrs too much.
Because the ladies were laughing at me, saying it sounded like I said,
"Canned puppy dog"  instead of
Canned pears.

Of course I knew exactly what I was talking about....

Buenos Diiiiaaas

The first phone call of the day was in Spanish. So, in honor of that and because I can't think of any other profound things to say today, I thought I would post thoughts about my recent Spanish experiences (in English)

I still have those random brain f*rts (I can't say that word in front of my mother or my kids either for that matter) when someone is talking to me and I go "huh?" Some people I can understand perfectly and others, well, let's just say I need a little help. I wonder why?

My son had a bilingual friend over the other day and he asked, "que esta haciendo?" (i was cooking dinner) and without even a blink of an eyelash I replied, "huevos con papas." (eggs & potatoes)

Woah.

I love it that when TL has phone conversations in Spanish, I can understand every word. (tee hee)

I can read this:

And understand a WHOLE bunch more than I used to. I am not so co-dependent on my Spanish translator. It's way cool.

Don't get me wrong. Sometimes when I'm having a conversation in Spanish I see a glazed look in people's eyes while I struggle to get the proper words out, but it's coming along.

And this is even way cooler for me. Lookee what I got:

I love showing it and watching the confused look on people's faces.

Spanish temple recommend + tall gringa lady = does not compute.

Way fun.

P.S. It's exactly t-minus 6 days until my Bubba D leaves. We've got mixed emotions here. Worry, stress, and the fact that I can't wait to get him outta here.

Pan de Amor

Yesterday my Hispanic sisters came to my home and we made bread.

We had a great time, talking, teaching, laughing, sharing.

Even though bread-making is not part of their culture, they were so willing to learn and work so that we might share the bread with a homeless shelter.Look out for that one!

It doesn't matter what language we speak, where we live, or our culture, women all love to come together to enjoy each other's company and serve together.

I even learned a few new words in the process!

Placing the Foot Firmly in the Mouth.....Again

Yes, I did it again.



Let me explain:



Spanish vocabulary lesson:

Cinturon......Belt


Cintura......Waist.

Yesterday I had to give a talk in the Spanish branch. Yes, IN Spanish. My topic was teaching our children discipline. Of course you know how you always like to start a talk with a little joke. I told the congregation that the secret to our success as parents was that TL had a BIG BELT. The congregation broke out in hysterical laughter. (Gee I'm thinkin'.... I'm pretty funny haha)

Turns out the joke is on me.

I found out later that instead of using the PROPER word for big belt..cinturon grande, I said...cintura grande...which of course means my husband has a:
Big gut.


{Sigh}



Oh well, it wasn't the first time I blew it and it won't be the last time either.

My Mom Told Me To Blog This

My husband has told me stories of silly mistakes missionaries make when learning the Spanish language. Like when his greenie companion asked for "fried buses" instead of "fried shrimp."

"Camiones fritos" instead of "Camarones fritos."

Gee-I think-I'll never make any dumb mistakes like that.

Ha...

That's like saying, my kid will never have a snotty nose, or...my kid will never make obnoxious noises during a quiet moment in Sacrament meeting, or...my kid will never run naked into the street...or....

But I digress.

So, the other day I was in a meeting and speaking of ordering some items for the branch. The verb for "to order" is..

Ordenar

Except that there is a similar word that means..

To milk a cow.

The only difference is this little thingie:

It's that little "enye" thingie.

So if you say "ordenyar" instead of ordenar...well.... you get this:

Which causes a vast amount of amusement with the Hispanic crowd.

Yes, I said this.

And remember the little breakfast we had on the 4th? Well, I happened to find out about one minute before Sacrament meeting started that we were hosting that little breakfast, just prior to the announcement. I was fine with this except the person making the announcement told everyone to bring their things to swim in our pool.

Except he used the word:

Banar.

Now in my world, that word means-to bathe.

So I'm sitting in the meeting with my mouth popped open and my eyeballs wide thinking "what???"

Apparently this word is also used for swimming.

In my world, the word that I learned in school for swimming is:

Nadar.

I happened to mention this little error to my branch president. He cracked up and said, "What did you think, Sister, we were going to get naked in your pool?"

I think they did it on purpose to disturb me.

Proof Positive

Dateline: 6/20/09
Place: Fiesta del dia de los padres
Tall white girl
Yes people, I really do get up in front and speak Spanish, but inside I'm quaking and stressing.

Families are Forever

In my calling in our little Spanish branch, I have seen the trials and troubles of the members of the branch, and my heart has ached for those who are suffering, either through their own bad choices or the bad choices of others. Tears have literally wet my pillow and I have anguished over how to help. So many times there is nothing I can do.


But days like last Saturday make up for the heartache and stress, for we were witnesses to the ordinance that made these families eternal.

We attended the baptism of this sweet family more than two years ago and watched their progress and set backs. Seeing the children walk in the sealing room, all dressed in white and seeing the joy in their parent's faces, was priceless!This precious sister is my counselor. We are truly sisters, even though she was born thousands of miles away and she & I speak different languages. We speak the language of the heart.

Though the words were spoken in another language, the sealing power was the same. The feeling of joy and love was the same. Truly we are blessed!

Las familias pueden ser eternas!

If you want to know how.....go here

A Month of Firsts

Ok y'all, this post may be boring but since it's my blog and I can do what I want, I am documenting this part of my life and saving a photo of my first agenda in Spanish.

A month of Firsts:
First agenda written in Spanish
First meeting conducted in Spanish.
First visits in Spanish.
First talk given in Spanish.
First Council meetings in Spanish.
First Enrichment in Spanish.
First welcome to a newly baptized member in Spanish
First of many, many, many mistakes spoken in Spanish.
Doing a few other things in Spanish, which cannot be shared.

I'm usually scared spitless the majority of the time but I sure have a lot of help-both seen and unseen! And this is definitely a labor of love.

Mis Hermanas

Today I'm posting some photos of my dear sisters. Part of the purpose of having this blog is to ......eventually.....print a book so I'm documenting my life's journey via the internet. We took these photos yesterday for a special occasion we have coming up this week.....

Our presidency, Hermana Sanchez, Hermana Segura, Hermana Saiz, Hermana Larsen.

Hint: If you can't find me in this photo, I'm the tall white girl on the far right.

Oops, candid photo of us in action.

More sisters, who missed our first photo.

It's such a joy to serve them!

Things I have Learned this Week

1. My counselors and secretary are amazing, wonderful, talented women of great faith-I love them!
2. The more Spanish I learn, the more I know I don't know.
3. I still don't know what I am doing.
4. I think my family is in need of a little compassionate service.
5. I've discovered a new diet-It's called the Relief Society Diet-
It's easy .....the diet is that you don't have time to eat, you forget to eat, you don't feel like eating, or you are too tired to eat... 2 pounds this week!!! (just kidding mom-don't worry)