Random Stories Since My Arrival in the Golden State

The mission leaders tell us to follow the example of the host to know what is etiquette in their home. Easy enough? Well, Mexicans eat their food with tortillas many times. So the other night we had a dinner appointment and didn't use our forks because nobody else at the table was.About the time I finished my meal the father turned to me and asked why I wasn't using my fork. I said because I was trying to learn to eat like him. I think this was the funniest thing he had ever heard all year. He told me I was terrible at it and everyone laughed. Typically you have to ask for seconds if you ever expect to be invited back again. But THANKFULLY they told her not to give me anymore because in my effort to eat like them I had consumed 6 tortillas to eat what was on my plate. The elders made sure to let me know that every tortilla is equal to 100 calories. LOL! Lovely. It was good though. So far the ward members have not fed us very well so it was nice to have a good meal for a change.

Second Story

Think about the name Bergin. In Spanish "B" sounds like "V". So pretty much, my name sounds like virgin. Everyone says it one time and then they laugh. Then they say a bunch of things to each other that I am glad I can't understand and they laugh some more. i never thought my last name would be an issue here. But people love that I am a missionary with the last name Virgin. LOL Oh man!

Third Story

My second day here we tracked through the tornado warning. We got the heads up from a lady who let us in to talk to her-primarily because she was afraid that we were sure to die in the tornado. We honestly thought she was not entirely "with it" and we did not believe her. It wasn't until later that night that we found out the tornado warning was real. It was cold and wet....Still, maybe it will give us the chance to meet with that lady again.

I'll end with a good story. We were trying to find the apartment of a young man who the previous sisters had written down as an investigator. We had given up on finding the apartment and just began knocking on doors in the area. No one wanted to listen to us but finally we found someone who was willing to talk. We set a return appointment with Angel and were just about to leave when his friend came to the door. Turns out, he was the man we had been looking for all along. He was excited to see us and had read 1/2 way through First Nephi already. We taught him and his family joined in. They want to come to church with us and we have another lesson scheduled with him on Sat. It is nice to talk to someone who is finally REALLY interested.