Hola y bonjour à tout le monde,
I have an announcement!! After four member meals and lots of personal testing and data analysis, as of right now, I am no longer lactose intolerant!!!! I forgot my pills 3 times in a row because I'm not very smart and we had very cheesy member meals and I truthfully just let Jesus take the wheel and ate them because I have manners and.... drumroll... I was completely fine!!! Honestly, this was one of the biggest blessings I saw on my mission. I couldn't even have a whiff of cheese without getting absolutely wrecked for a few hours. God is good. We had pizza Saturday night on our own (that giant piece in last week's email) and I didn't take pills to test my hypothesis and it's true. I am okay. And I've been okay with everything I've eaten since! After months and months of suffering from lactose, we have made amends. I am feeling grateful and awestruck. But also... I will always keep the pills close by because I care about myself. Another reason why you all should have a testimony in the gospel and how I know with a surety that God takes care of His children. I am going to try and live up these next 18 months with me and cheese because I am convinced once I'm back home it'll destroy me again. I don't know how or why but I don't need to know. #ThankfulAndBlessed Great news!! I'm still fine for the most part! I really can't tolerate straight milk or if there's a lot of milk in some icecreams but that's it! I am exceedingly blessed y'all. I have the pills but I don't ever use them. Every once in a while I get a little tummy ache but that's it. I'm not sure what I did to deserve this but I also don't know what happened in the first place haha.
So, an inactive member takes us to taco Tuesday every week. I'm not a taco person but I'm here to officially declare that Tijuana Flats in Lake Mary Florida has the best tacos and it has converted me into a taco lover. (Insert crying here) I MISS TIJUANA FLATS SO BAD. Mark my words, I will be going to Florida at some point this year. I miss it so much it's crazy. Big moves this week. Big moves. If you ever find yourself in Florida for some reason. Come here. If you're disappointed, you're wrong. True. They're so good. Tacos and talking about Jesus... can't get much better. Honestly, my mission broadened my palate tenfold. I will pretty much eat anything now... except I never came to appreciate fish so that's still a no-no for me. This member also introduced me to a term Floridians use which is "wear the air season". I can't really say it much better than that. I've sweat more in the last two weeks than I have my entire life. I wish I was kidding. Real. Kinda miss it. :')
Florida is cool but the bugs here are on steroids or something. One morning when we were getting ready I saw something run across the floor and I thought it was a rat. I about passed out when I realized it was a cockroach. It was the size of my hand I swear I could've walked that thing with a leash and everything. I gotta believe cockroaches were a mistake, they weren't supposed to make it onto the boat. Still a firm believer in this. I haven't experienced bugs like that since. Only in Florida.
Another thing I love about Florida is the tiny lizards EVERYWHERE. They don't bother you but there are thousands of them and they look like tiny little dinosaurs. Speaking of dinosaurs, my area is just a classic city but somehow there are also a lot of streets and neighborhoods that seem super secluded and are in a jungle which is super cool. On Thursday we were knocking on doors and went down a really cool road but all of a sudden huge metal gates started popping up around us and it started getting a little spooky... anyway, I was fully expecting a real dinosaur to all of a sudden walk across the road. I am convinced that this is where they're trying to recreate Jurassic Park in real life. You didn't hear it from me though. I remember this day so clearly. I had never been to Florida so it all was foreign to me and I just loved it. Whenever I think about my mission I feel so grateful that I got to do a portion in Florida. It was such a good place to be. Have I already mentioned that I MISS IT.
My trainer and I were sitting at the park weekly planning when a big guy came and sat on the bench next to us. He asked us for a napkin and what our tags were for. After we told him, he said that he wanted to keep talking to us. We go to our car to try and find a napkin for him and when we come back he has a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. We asked him about himself and he told us that 1. He's had 3 heart attacks and 2. he just got out of 26 years in prison... Being a missionary is the best because as soon as he said that I just sat there like "huh... I feel like that should concern me more than it does." As a normal person once again, I can tell you that this definitely was NOT a good idea lol. Thankfully as I progressed as a missionary, I didn't really let us be in these kinds of situations haha. But then we talked about how Jesus can help heal his past of drugs, gangs, alcohol, (ok true but), and more that I won't disclose wait, huh? Anyway, he's coming to church. And he says Jesus is his man. Jesus is my man too. He didn't come if I recall correctly. Maybe it was for the best.
It's moments like these where I'm like, daaaaang... if pre-missionary Kloe knew about this she'd flip out. I really do love how my mission transformed me. I'm a "send it" person now and I definitely was NOT that way before.
The gospel truly is for everyone, remember that. But if you don't hear from me next week maybe you could use this as like a witness report or something. ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ Anything to preach the gospel hahaha.
Thanks for all the love and support! You all are the best!
Adios!
Hermœur Beck
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