Here I am in Utuado! It is a very country area and huge (geographically). Wow. I was in a realy city,city area before, and this is completely different! Let me tell you though. If I thought Puerto Rico was beautiful before, it was only because I could see the campo in the distance. When you are actually in the campo, wow! Breath-taking. Seriously. My new companion is Hermana Reyes, who is from Guatemala. She is really nice and very easy to get along with, which is great. We live "downtown" in the pueblo, which is nice. We have a pay-less and a Walgreens and a McDonald's nearby. Everything you could possibly need! Oh. And another establishment that basically confirmed to me that I am in the right place. I will provide photographic evidence and explain myself shortly (hopefully next week, depending on time).
Exciting news about the apartment: it has a piano! Woo hoo! Well. Not exactly a piano. Just a keyboard, but still...it's a step up from nothing. It definitely distracts me from doing things like writing in my journal, going to bed early, folding clothes and washing dishes, but it is a good distraction. It just makes me a little happier every time I use it. Also, the ceilings are high enough to jump rope inside! Also cool. Downside to the apartment: no hot water! I know! It is crazy! But, it is just more motivation for me to work out in the morning so I'm really hot and want that cold water. Also, more bugs and bigger bugs. My legs look like they have a really bad case of the chicken pox, they've been bitten so badly, and on my first morning in the apartment I saw a cockroach the size of my thumb. It was rather disgusting.
Besides the bugs and the cold water, Utuado is beautiful. It is nice and cool here...80-85 every day, which is definitely an upgrade from Bayamon weather, which was already in the 90's. The funny thing is I really do feel like it is cool. It is cool because we live in the mountains. There are winding roads and lots of bamboo. Random, right? But really. There are large clumps of bamboo shoots everywhere. It is cool. The houses are farther apart, and you have to hike mountains to get to them. The roads that go up these mountains are of the one lane variety and also have tight curves, so you have to honk your horn as you come upon a curve to warn others who may also be coming the other direction. It was kind of weird at first, but now I'm used to it. I have also learned about a "new" gear in the car. It is called "Low" (I think) and you use it when you're going up or down really steep hills so you don't hurt your engine. There are some hills that are so steep here that you are going up and you can't see over the nose of your car because it is pointing too far up. It is all very adventurous and I am thoroughly enjoying myself.
We also went to conference this weekend. There are some sisters in Lares, the pueblo next door to Utuado, and we picked them up so that the Elders in Lares could use their (the Sister's) car. We went up to Arecibo to watch the conference, and wasn't it the best? I loved it! There were several talks that I really enjoyed and I am excited to read them again. I really liked Elder Christofferson's talk and also Elder Bednar's talk. Did you notice his point #3? That is what he talked to us about! I think everyone should read his talk "Seek learning by faith," whcih isn't a conference talk, but should be available from CES. It is a great talk that is kind of an extension of his point #3 from Saturday. Read it. You'll love it. We (our mission) love it. I like the conference right around (or in this case on) Easter because it focuses so much on Jesus Christ and His life and resurrection. It was a really wonderful weekend that just went too fast. We got to stay in the apartment of the Lares Sisters on Saturday and Sunday night,which was cool because it was just like a great slumber party...that ended at 10:30. Haha. But we like going to bed at 10:30 (and that is the truth! All Returned missionaries know that). It was really fun. The sisters are also in our district, so we get to see them a lot, which will be great. They are really cool.
I am excited to work in the area and get to know it better. I don't know what it will be like working in the country like this, but it should be exciting to find out.
Hope every one had a great conference/Easter weekend! I was thinking of you all when every one was talking about families. :)
I love you,
Hermana Miller
Exciting news about the apartment: it has a piano! Woo hoo! Well. Not exactly a piano. Just a keyboard, but still...it's a step up from nothing. It definitely distracts me from doing things like writing in my journal, going to bed early, folding clothes and washing dishes, but it is a good distraction. It just makes me a little happier every time I use it. Also, the ceilings are high enough to jump rope inside! Also cool. Downside to the apartment: no hot water! I know! It is crazy! But, it is just more motivation for me to work out in the morning so I'm really hot and want that cold water. Also, more bugs and bigger bugs. My legs look like they have a really bad case of the chicken pox, they've been bitten so badly, and on my first morning in the apartment I saw a cockroach the size of my thumb. It was rather disgusting.
Besides the bugs and the cold water, Utuado is beautiful. It is nice and cool here...80-85 every day, which is definitely an upgrade from Bayamon weather, which was already in the 90's. The funny thing is I really do feel like it is cool. It is cool because we live in the mountains. There are winding roads and lots of bamboo. Random, right? But really. There are large clumps of bamboo shoots everywhere. It is cool. The houses are farther apart, and you have to hike mountains to get to them. The roads that go up these mountains are of the one lane variety and also have tight curves, so you have to honk your horn as you come upon a curve to warn others who may also be coming the other direction. It was kind of weird at first, but now I'm used to it. I have also learned about a "new" gear in the car. It is called "Low" (I think) and you use it when you're going up or down really steep hills so you don't hurt your engine. There are some hills that are so steep here that you are going up and you can't see over the nose of your car because it is pointing too far up. It is all very adventurous and I am thoroughly enjoying myself.
We also went to conference this weekend. There are some sisters in Lares, the pueblo next door to Utuado, and we picked them up so that the Elders in Lares could use their (the Sister's) car. We went up to Arecibo to watch the conference, and wasn't it the best? I loved it! There were several talks that I really enjoyed and I am excited to read them again. I really liked Elder Christofferson's talk and also Elder Bednar's talk. Did you notice his point #3? That is what he talked to us about! I think everyone should read his talk "Seek learning by faith," whcih isn't a conference talk, but should be available from CES. It is a great talk that is kind of an extension of his point #3 from Saturday. Read it. You'll love it. We (our mission) love it. I like the conference right around (or in this case on) Easter because it focuses so much on Jesus Christ and His life and resurrection. It was a really wonderful weekend that just went too fast. We got to stay in the apartment of the Lares Sisters on Saturday and Sunday night,which was cool because it was just like a great slumber party...that ended at 10:30. Haha. But we like going to bed at 10:30 (and that is the truth! All Returned missionaries know that). It was really fun. The sisters are also in our district, so we get to see them a lot, which will be great. They are really cool.
I am excited to work in the area and get to know it better. I don't know what it will be like working in the country like this, but it should be exciting to find out.
Hope every one had a great conference/Easter weekend! I was thinking of you all when every one was talking about families. :)
I love you,
Hermana Miller
1 comments:
Unknown said...
Glad you are having loads of fun!
Fight on, my friend.
- Art