So get this, the ole fam is going to be running a relay in a couple weeks. BAH! In Oregon. It will be fun. (Have you seen the thing on youtube called Do You Want To Run a Relay?) So it's like Ragnar, but not. It's called Epic Relays and we'll have a team of 12 people. In the past we have only done the one that starts here in Utah. It goes from Logan to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Each person runs 3 legs, there are 2 vans. It's a party. It's also gross a little bit and tiring. And also, I don't really know why we like to do it. For the last four years we've been doing it, usually in August, but this year is different.. We are doing one in Oregon too, so that means it's in 2 weeks. And do you think I've been preparing?? ............... well..... no comment......
Any who, it's been crazy, the team that is going up isn't the team that we started out with a few months ago. It's been interesting to get everybody signed up and willing to run. The plus side is this! We get to explore Oregon afterwards! I don't know about you, but I've never been to Oregon. Or outside the Utah/Wyoming/Idaho bubble....Except for that one time that I went to Guatemala. Which, wow. What an adventure.
Speaking of Guatemala, I decided to share some of the stories that I never shared with my family while I was on my mission. Hope I can remember them all!
The first one I can think of was sometime in July last year, I told my family to ask me about a specific day, like July 27th or something. So my companion and I, Sister Blandino were heading to a higher part of our area and needed to get on a bus, this was when I was in the city, well, it was the most city that I ever had while there, it was so fancy, there was a mall there (and an escalator!!). Anyway! We were contacting people on the street and then got on a bus and started heading up. The bus got stopped in traffic. Three girls came running on the bus just hysterical. They sat down and then started laughing really hard and talking about what had just happened. They came from the bus in front of us, like 10 cars ahead. They were talking about how a few men got on with guns and started robbing the bus and assaulting people or something to that effect. That's when my companion and I looked at each other and just panicked/laughed because we came this close | | to getting on that bus in front. The only reason we didn't is because we stopped to talk to people before getting on. #blessed I don't know what would have happened to us had we been on that other bus, and following the Holy Ghost almost always will make for a lame story to tell, but who cares. Nothing happened to us! And we will never know what would have happened. And I'm ok with that!
Another time in that same area, we had to go through a part in our area that was exceptionally dark and dangerous, it was called "la linea" it was a place that the train used to pass through, so it was just some train tracks in a weird alley that had really high bushes and a soccer field on the end and the other end was closed off with a wall and a small metal door. We would normally only go through there in the day time, or if there were men with us... (or also, if we were in a hurry we would run through it at full speed). It was a little sketchy.. We always heard stories of what happens to people there.. or what happens to people somewhere else and how they somehow end up there... if you know what I mean... The ward members and even strangers were always telling us not to go through there. Generally we stayed away from that place at night whenever possible, but guys, sometimes ya gotta hurry, and that's the shortcut. There was one time in particularly that I remember, there was a group of men that would hang out there at night and dress in black near the soccer field and attack people going through, rob them, assault women... the usual... So one night, a sister was with us and we were in a hurry so we decided to go through la linea with her, but she couldn't run... We started going through, we were walking along, we got to where the men were, my companion saw them, I didn't right away. Eye contact was made, we were 3 women walking alone, with no way to defend ourselves. The men didn't even flinch or attempt to come at us. Again, I don't know why, or what they were thinking, or why they didn't jump on the opportunity to attack 3 girls, but of course I'm glad they didn't...
Eye contact was made with a lot of hard looking people, men usually, and every time they just watched us walk by. I was never robbed on my mission, well, not by a physical confrontation. That was one of my biggest fears being there... that someone would attack us.... or that someone would try to take my scriptures. The thought of someone taking my scriptures infuriated me. All robbers in Guatemala are lucky they didn't try to take those from me. It would have cause quite the scene. Because just try to take my scriptures. Just try.
My last story for today was.... also pretty uneventful. But, it's the most exciting story I've got from my whole entire life.
I was starting my last 2 transfers, I was leaving the city and heading back to the mountains where I had been my whole mission. The area was called Alotenango, my companion was Sister Kap (arguably the most dedicated and inspired missionary ever. She was a blessing). Sister Kap had been there for one transfer already and was rocking it in the area. Everyone loved her. The members would say "SISTER KAP!! How are you?!" and then they would look at me and not say a word. They loved her. So anyway, people for about a week or so before I got there were freaked out because there was a group of men in town. Fresh out of prison kind of men. They hadn't been released...... but they were out..... People kept warning the sisters there to go home and stay there because the men were dangerous. So.... I got there on a Wednesday, things were fine, we didn't see anything, just kept hearing about the men and all the shenanigans they were up to. At one point we were making our way up a road on a mountain and the little street was lined with people on each side, some inside their property, looking over the tin wall they created for privacy from the street. We stopped and talked to one woman to see what was going on, we asked her what she was doing, she said, "hiding.". So we said, "uhh... Is this your house?" she said, "no, we're just hiding from the robbers! They are up that way! The town men are going to be chasing them this way any time now. We actually don't know whose house this is." So we decided that we would make ourselves scarce. We left that area quickly and then by that Friday evening, people were so freaked out at what was going on in the town that the men gathered in the park to take matters into their own hands. They started patrolling the streets and the town made a rule that if anyone was outside of their house after 8 pm without proper documentation, they would burn them then and there. So then Saturday was going fine, my companion and I decided to talk to the Mission President to see if we should maybe go inside by 8 pm and leave an hour earlier in the morning. We explained what was going on, that the robbers were in town, we hadn't ever seen them they were always just up the hill, or around the corner, we explained that the men would rob people in their stores, they were robbing jewelry off women, taking kids (not sure on the validity of this one, it was just a rumor), and assaulting women left and right. The President decided he'd call us back with an answer as to whether or not we could go home early and stay off the streets. Three or four minutes later he called back and said to go home immediately, pack everything and wait there for more instructions. A few minutes after that, a man named Rudy called us. He said, "Sister! Hello, my name is Rudy, I'm the head of church security here, are you near your house?" I said, "yes, about 20 seconds away, we are heading there now." He said, "good. Get in there, pack everything you can in 30 minutes, a car will be outside waiting for you to take you away. Don't talk to anyone, don't tell anyone what's going on. Pack everything you can, at least enough for 2 days, but try to get everything." We got in there, packed the entire apartment in record time and sure enough, a car was outside 25 minutes later. They put our luggage on top of the car, we got in and all of the sudden were on our way to the neighboring town, about 10-15 minutes away. We got there, to Ciudad Vieja, parked in front of the church there and waited for a few minutes. Then another car showed up. A man got out, pulled out his ID and said, "hi, I'm Rudy, I was the one on the phone. Now, get in this car, I'm taking you somewhere else." He came from the capitol which was like 2 hours or so away.. ish.. and he got there in less than 45 minutes. He was sweating when he got there. We got all loaded up and headed to the next town, Antigua, to spend the next couple of days. In the car he asked loads of questions about what was going on in the town. I explained everything I told the President, emphasizing the fact that nothing had happened to us, we never saw anything happen, and we were totally fine, just a little shaken up. We pulled into the driveway at the sister's house in Antigua and got everything unloaded. Then, right before he left he gave both my companion and I a blessing. We went to church with the sisters that day and then then next morning, Monday, we were relocated to Amatitlán. And that was that! I don't know what would have happened had we stayed... but I'm glad nothing happened to us. It felt kind of like a scene from Taken or something. We just laughed about how crazy it was after. Definitely never anticipated anything like that happening.
But there you have it! Those are a few of my stories! There are more. Loads more. And I'm sure others have even more stories that actually included more scary things and events. But that's all for now. My life got really boring when I got home. Well, not boring, but I haven't felt as though I were in danger for the last several months.
