Hello Family!
What a week! Whew!!! It was another great week to be a missionary though!!! Where to begin.
My Thanksgiving was great! A lot better then the MTC actually, lol. We woke up in the morning, had personal study and some companionship study and then...Our Zone leader picked us up and...WE PLAYED SOCCER AND FOOTBALL!!! It was so much fun. What a stress reliever too! It was great! I am so grateful for the Elders in our mission. We went up to Flushing Meadows Park, my first area, and played soccer as a zone. There was about 18 of us playing. Do you remember the big beam things at the end of the Men in Black Movie? That is Flushing Meadows Park and there is a HUGE HUGE HUGE globe there as well. It was really neat to be there and just play. Then after a GREAT game of soccer, best game I've ever played, we played foot ball against another Zone. Of course we won :) It was so much fun. President Nelson had approved all of the games ahead of time and no one was hurt. Honestly, I had such a fun time. I'll be honest :) I took some Elders out in soccer. They all told me to just kick the other team in the shins. lol.
After time at the park we got a ride back to our apt to get ready for the day. Oh! On the way to the park we got there a lot earlier than everyone else because we were in a car. Our Zone leader pulled over, threw us his wallet and told us to go into Dunkin Donuts and buy some white hot co co! It was so good! Now that we are the only Sisters in the Zone the Elders treat us a little differently. They either forget that we are there and they are more relaxed or they treat us really good. I'm enjoying it as much as I can. Well, we got home, got ready and ran to Hermana Ca*'s home. She is great. She is from El Salvador but has lived here for the last...20+ years or so. She made an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. She is a single mom with two daughter. She had also invited one of her non-member friends over which was great. We prayed, said our thanks, and then ate! Soooo good! Then at the end we made a...paper chain with the things we are all thankful for. Don't worry, I wrote down my family and friends on that list. Then we came back home and prepared for...DINNER #2!!! Woot!!! The catch to all of this was not to let either of the families know we were going to another home :) I hope it worked ;) We made some really good mashed potatoes and rolls to bring over to the Pa* home.
Once we got there we instantly felt the love. Hermana Pa* had been cooking since 8 in the morning and it was 5:30 by the time we got there. The table was nicely set and...awesome. She had every detail made to the T. The food was amazing the company was great. After wards all of us watched The Testaments together. Then we came home and called it a day! What a great day hu?
We saw Hna Pa* again last night. She is great and so is Ar*. On the way out she said, "Have a great night and get home safe." I turned around on the way out and said loudly, "YOU TOO!!!" Ha! I thought it was pretty funny, I pulled out Brian Regan! She laughed really hard and we went home.
So, BLACK FRIDAY!!! As Sister missionaries we had the idea to do a Street Sweep on Black Friday. We thought, if we were normal humans we would probably be out shopping right? Wont everyone else be doing the same? Our Zone was going to do a street sweep anyway so we just suggested that it happen on Black Friday. Good idea :) We went into Jamaica and crushed it. We had a table set up with materials from the church that people could sign up to get for free. Then there was a group of us fearlessing and a group singing Christmas Carols. It was so much fun. We ended up being out there for about 2 hours tops and it was really successful. We have a really talented Elder that can sing so we sounded pretty good. It was so much fun and I felt like I was still able to belt out the songs the day after Thanksgiving, it was just different this year because it was on a busy New York Street with ALL different types of people. Needless to say I don't think I will every forget that Black Friday :)
This last week I've been so blessed to get to know President and Sister Nelson better. They are amazing people. Last Monday we ended up being in the office again and needed to go to the Target there before we went home. Sister Nelson decided she needed to go as well and ended up taking us home as well. What a blessing. They are incredible people. I have felt there love and support so much.
It is amazing to know that Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and when we need it. He knows what we can handle and when we think we are going to die. I have really felt His great love for me individually this week. There have been small and simple things that have happened in my week that have helped me to keep going, do what I need to, and share that love with those around me. I know that Heavenly Father truly does love each one of us more than we understand. I know as well that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that because of our Savior Jesus Christ all things are able to be made right, be healed, and forgiven. One thing I have really thought a lot about this week is the blessings that we have and receive because of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Because He was born we have the Atonement, a Savior. This is going to be the topic of my study for December.
I wanted to let you know how two of our investigators are going. The Mi* family is doing OK. They are really struggling to keep their commitments but I still have hope in them. They need to be baptized in December. Hopefully that happens. We were able to visit Ro* yesterday. She is doing GREAT! She is still reading in the Book of Mormon and coming to church. She is all the way in 2 Nefi chap 6! She is incredible. We are just praying that her husband will want to get married and then she'll be ready to get baptized, which she still wants to do.
Well family, I really hope you've enjoyed this e-mail. Nothing too exciting but things are going well. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I can feel them and really need them. I am very grateful for all those who are supporting me right now, for those who send letters, and so forth. I can't even describe what a difference it makes to missionaries who have support from home.
I love all of you so very much,
Much Love,
Hermana Banaszewski
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