Platanos

So first things first,

I took videos this week to send instead of an email and lo and behold, the computer that I'm at isn't taking my camera. I 'spose I'll actually TELL you about things. Sheesh. You needy people :)

AMBER HERMANN TAYLOR

I want your recipe for the salad you made at Sarah's Baby Shower. Can someone make sure Amber sees this and then comment with the recipe so that my sister can get it to me? Also, I think said baby is now born. CONGRATULATIONS!

PLATANOS

Dominicans use Platanos for evvvveeeerrrrrrryyyyythiiiing. Fry 'em boil 'em stick 'em in a stew. No joke, though, I've had them all three of those ways. At every meal. On Monday last week we had an appointment for a late Family Home Evening at a member's home. We did not going with plans of being fed and how wrong we were to think that; we were going to a Latino home! Of COURSE they were going to feed us. After FHE they sent us to the kitchen alone and sat us down at a table of rice, meat, corn on the cob and huge chunks of fried platanos. It was about 8PM and we weren't hungry to begin with. We dished up and were struggling to get through it when they came in and saw that there was still another huge whammy chunk of meat on the plate. "Corta, corta! compartir!" Cut it, cut it, share it! Oh gee... ok. We cut it and kept goin away at our platanos. They were so heavy and thick and with each bite my mind was blown thinking that at some time these were platanos. They tasted like straight potatoes. Hermana Brown sometimes wears a big skirt with pockets and puts plastic bags in them just in case we have to stuff food that we can't get down, but we've never actually done it. Wouldn't it surprise you that the first time we really had need for these bags we didn't have them? So instead, we wrapped up chunks of platanos in napkins and wrapped them up in Hermana Brown's scarf... that she was wearing. I have never laughed so hard at the dinner table! The laughing ensued for about 30 minutes, maybe longer, and by the end we were bright red. With all the energy we could muster up we straightened our faces, stood up, bid farewell, and left the home with grace and then as SOON as the door closed we cracked again. Laughter beyond reason. You know in elementary school when something simple happens and you giggle. And then you think about it longer and it gets funnier and funnier, and you start to choke back the laughter, and the teacher starts to glare at you so you tighten your lips and hold it in, but that only makes you want to laugh harder, so then you're holding back air which makes it impossible not to snort, and now the teacher is yelling at you and by this point you just can't get ahold of the situation and then suddenly you're sitting in the hallway while you're class is at recess? Yeah. Same thing, minus the teacher. And allll the kids were playing while we trudged our way to the bus with stomachs bursting at the seams. Super sweet lady, though. She always feeds us wonderful food. 

Yesterday was EASTER! It was by far the most bizarre Easter I've ever experienced. As the day went on I was reminded of letters that Andres would send me explaining his holidays. Sometimes he'd say "it was just a normal day" or "I forgot it was my birthday until 4PM when I looked at the date" and I scoffed and thought "PSH whatever. He's lying". In all honesty, yesterday could have been Christmas and I wouldn't have noticed. At church the topics were Missionary Work and then Abuse... no joke. Given, the Spanish group does things a bit differently and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they had completely forgotten that it was Easter. It didn't change that throughout the day we continued to wish each other and everyone around us a Happy Easter! But it really was just a normal day, and it wasn't upsetting in the least. Strange, huh? When you're serving others your mind is somewhere completely different. I always have my mind on the Savior and his crusificacion. Every day I teach people about Christ and the sacrifice he made, about the atonement and about how because of his resurrection we will all be able to be resurrected and have perfected immortal bodies. Did you catch that? EVERYONE. Everyone gets that blessing... all because of the sacrifice that He made. Incredible! So the only difference yesterday was that people on the bus didn't think it was weird for me to ask about Christ, because it was Easter.

I wish I could tell you everything! I wish that there were a way that I could carry all of you in my pocket and tell you things throughout the day. Little pocket-sized friends. I am doing horribly at keeping a journal and so I'm hoping that the digital recorder I'm waiting for gets here soon *HINT HINT* you know who you are. I thought it would be here already. In all honesty, though, not a day goes by that I'm not amazed at how much Heavenly Father loves you. Loves everyone. There are so many people in the world and it seems impossible that all of us have a very different plan in store for our lives. It seems impossible that dropping a notebook could make you meet your future spouse, or missing your flight could save your life, or walking up 2 minutes early could change your whole day, or looking up at just the right moment could help you see someone that you've been looking for your whole life. But it is all possible through God's Plan. I know, I sound like a missionary. I wish that I had carried this perspective my whole life, though. Each day I can see how God is blessing everyone around me. The other day we were walking down a busy street when a little boy kicked his ball into the road. The car stopped, and the truck behind it swerved a bit and laid on it's horn. The little boy stood there, toes peaking over the curb edge, just about to run out and rescue his ball. I sprinted out before him and grabbed it right before the truck passed. It wasn't a near death experience for anyone, and it wasn't a mind blowing miracle. But it was for a reason. I am so happy that I have this time to dedicated all of my energy to the people around me. To help them in any way that they need, and to show them the love that I have for them, because it's the same love that God has for them. I'm grateful for this chance to be His Hands 24/7. There is nowhere I'd rather be, no other cause I'd rather be a part of, and no lesson greater that I could learn than to love and serve everyone around me at all times.

And I mean everyone. Yesterday I gave a Creole Book of Mormon to a blind man... who knows. Maybe he'll use it someday? Hahaha, he had a bible so I thought I'd add to his collection!

PS: google Copley Library. That's where I'm at right now and it is one of the coolest Libraries I've ever seen.

Ok, all the missionaries are hovering and I'm one of the last to finish. Best be going. We toured the Boston Globe Newspaper plant today! So cool!

LOVE YOU

Hermana Hileman

Life is a mission!