Last Transfer! o.o

So this week we got the chance to participate in a stake youth conference proselyting activity. We took groups of youth out to knock doors. In our mission we're not allowed as missionaries to knock doors but the young men and women can and oh how they did a wonderful job. They were all so brave to knock on each door and invite people to church and to go watch "Meet the Mormons" with the ward. I was so impressed with each of the girls that I had in my group because even after each rejection, the just kept moving forward. It was great. =)

On Tuesday, we ended up taking a sick day because of all the Mole we had eaten during the town festival. We both got super sick in the middle of the night and woke up at almost the exact same time to run to the bathroom. =P However, we're better now and we're going to avoid Mole at all costs. =P

The Perez Lopez family didn't make it to church this week for some reasons but they're hoping to go next week. I'm really sad to think about it but we don't know if we're going to keep teaching them because they simply don't progress but we're gonna wait and see.

Mayra and Chay are doing great. They still haven't openly accepted the 12th of Sept as their baptismal date but sometimes they mention getting married then and so we think that we're going to start working toward this day. They finally made it to Sacrament meeting on time and were able to participate of the Sacrament. They also went to a baptism that the other ward had and even though we haven't really had the chance to talk to them about what they thought we were super surprised to see them there and we were very happy to see that the Lord is working with them.

I will be staying here in Tule until the end of my mission. Wooohooooo!!! Thank you for your fasting and prayers. I have never felt so calm before hearing about transfers. Hna Sellers and I are super excited to have another transfer together and we feel that we're going to be able to see lots of success. To kick off the transfer, we asked the bishop for a blessing to work in his ward and the blessings he gave us were just perfect. While we listened to each other's blessing and while receiving our own, we both felt that they were exactly what we needed and that the Lord was giving us some very specific reminders on how to work with each other and in our area. 

Happy August!!

I had become a little discouraged in my area because everything began to slow down. I felt sad and  had a hard time feeling the Spirit. However, after going on exchanges, I got the chance to have a really good talk with my Sister Training Leader Hna Peñalosa. We talked about the importance of allowing the Atonement to work in our lives and the importance of choosing to be happy and not letting ourselves become discouraged. She gave me a wonderful talk after listening for a good hour of everything that I had saved up that was causing my feelings. She's so amazing and I was so grateful for the time that I had with her I later read in PMG about the importance of moving forward with faith and trusting in the Lord. When we do this, we allow the Spirit to enter more into our lives and we are able to work with more power in our lessons and in our lives in general.

Also, on exchanges, I got to meet the "best ward mission leader ever" and actually he just might be. =P I had so much fun with them and really enjoyed a little break from everything here.

This week we also got to see the Perez Lopez Family. I was kinda nervous to be visiting them because we hadn't seen then in almost 2 months and we were going to use this lesson as the deciding factor as to whether or not we were going to continue visiting this wonderful family that I had come to love. However, I had no reason to worry because we had given them the homework of reading 3 Nephi 11which talks about Christ coming to the Americas and how he institutes baptism. They alone taught themselves the doctrine of baptism and then accepted the invitation to be baptized and promised that they would do all that was possible to go to church this coming week! Woohoo! I love them so much!

Today we had one of my favorite district activities. We danced. We learned the national dance of Chile which is supposed to be a kind of flirty dance I guess but you don't touch each other. It was very classic and the majority of us are definitely American because it was so hard for us to get it. =P Also we learned a Tahitian hula dance from one of the American sisters in our district, Hna Matagi. That was super fun because the elders really can't move their hips....the sisters can't either. =P We also did a few line dances and then we ate a dessert from Chile can calsettas rotas ("broken socks" o.O) they were absolutely delicious. =)

This week was also the Town party so we ate nothing but Mole and didn't work yesterday because of all the drunks wandering around last night. =P We also got a nice stomach ache from the Mole but we're better now so that's good news. =) 

Oh this coming week we'll be finding out about transfers O.O I'm kinda nervous. I don't want to leave my last transfer and I don't want my district to be changed. They're just all so awesome. =)

I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you can all see miracles each day! =)

 

This is a huge butterfly that likes to watch me do my laundry :)

 

July 20, 2015

This week we got to see Heavenly Father answer a few of our prayers.  One day we had asked for at least 4 lessons in one day, as it is difficult to have lessons in our area.  This day we walked to one of the little towns, looking for some investigators that weren’t home.  As we finished writing a note to leave on their door and to let them know that we had been looking for them, it began to rain.  We had just decided to look for a reference before heading back to town where we live when the rain got worse and we were still in this little town about 30 minutes from home.  We both had the feeling that the Lord was going to use this rain to help us get in a door.  While getting drenched, we passed an older woman with her granddaughter waiting out the rain on a little bit of dry ground.  We stopped to ask if she knew the reference and she didn’t but after a few minutes of talking to her, she began to feel bad for us because we were soaked.  She then invited us to her house and we listened to her express her problems and concerns that she had within her family.  We received the opportunity to testify of the power of our Savior and of God’s intentions for our families.  We will be having an appointment this week and we pray that the Lord led us to her and softened her heart to let u sin because she is prepared to receive the gospel message.

This week was pretty crazy.  We had our first interviews with President and it was nice to get to know him.  He asked about what was my greatest challenge in the mission and how was I able to overcome it and how would I recommend that someone else overcome it.  He also asked for my testimony of the Savior and his atonement.  It was good, to be honest.  I still miss President Christensen but I know that President Nelson is here at this time for a reason and that although the adjustment has been  rough for him and his wife, he will do amazing things in this mission.

We’ve been working a lot with Mayra and Chay and we are really hoping that they will accept a baptismal date this coming week.  They have finally accepted that they need to be baptized but now they want to wait for a year!  We are working on them J  They are amazing, they learn so fast and are almost members seeing as how they go every week to church and participate in all of the activities and not to mention that Chay wants to fast this week!  I’m so excited to have this opportunity to watch God work again personally with His children.  It’s one of those experiences when we truly fulfill our purpose and only show up to answer questions and assure them that what they are doing is the best for their family and God does the rest.  I really want to see them baptized before I end my mission and if Heavenly Father is willing I just might!!!

Instruments in the Hands of God

My new companion Hermana Sellers

So this week we got to meet a the cousin of a member. Her name  is Georgina and she lost her daughter about 4 years ago and still can't get over it. She cried a lot while we were with her but we were able to testify of how the gospel could help her and that Jesus Christ lived and was the only person who could help her heal. We're hoping to go do service with her on Thursday. It was super cute because we asked if we could help her in something other than sharing the gospel and her little 6 year old son piped up and said, "Well, I was thinking that the grass out front gets really long and a lot of snakes hide in there and so I don't know if you can help us cut it or something like that." We're hoping to get the Priesthood together so that they can help us out.

Mayra and Chay are progressing pretty well. They are beginning to see changes in their lives and the members are doing a great job of helping us out on this one. They've been doing FHE's without us having to ask, and are visiting them and really helping them progress. Tonight we're going to have a family home evening with them so that they can learn how to do them and begin to do them each week with their little girls. =)

This week we were truly instruments in the hands of God.

There's a recent convert who hasn't been able to go to church because she's living at home and her dad hasn't given her permission to go and she's having a lot of problems with her older brother. After looking for some people in the next town over and we had 20 minutes before an appointment and nothing to do. We stood still for a few minutes discussing what we were going to do when the thought came, "Let's go find Elvira." We called her first because we had received the threat of being kicked out if her brother found us in her store. Then we went and talked to her for a minute. That's when she mentioned what God had just done for her. She had gone out back to pray and told her Heavenly Father how she felt and that she wanted a sign to know that he hadn't forgotten her. She then walked back into the store and instantly the phone rang and guess who it was....the missionaries. :D How amazing is that?! The moment she had asked for a sign to know that God was aware of her, the sister missionaries that were just down the street receive the thought "Let's go find Elvira." We felt pretty privileged to be the answer to a prayer. =)

We also had a zone activity today that was pretty fun. We had a stick pull and I went up against a super-buff Elder....we broke the stick. ;P He was pulling on the outside and I was pulling on the middle and it was just perfect enough the break the stick in half.

Happy Fourth of July!!

So this week was pretty exciting.

We got to meet our new mission president, Pres. Nelson from California. He passed by each of us and gave us a handshake and asked us a few questions like "Where are you from?", "How long do you have in the mission?" and such. He got really excited when he talked to my companion because they live about 45 minutes from each other and he knows her stake president. He made sure to remind us of the most important rules in the mission. He brought such a  wonderful spirit into the room when he walked in. It was so beautiful to see them and even though he might have been a little nervous in front of all of us missionaries, he gave a wonderful talk.

This week we had an awesome lesson with Mayra and Chai. First they made us each lunch with them which was fine because the member wouldn't be able to give us lunch that day. However, after we got them seated and ready to listen, we talked a lot about prophets. They've had a bit of trouble accepting the idea of a modern-day prophet however we read the story of Korihor and Alma to show what a false prophet teaches and what a true prophet teaches, ya know, the whole "by their fruits ye shall know them" thing. They still haven't accepted that this church is true but they know it. Oh, they so know it. =P Actually, some members have been helping and visiting with them and just talking to them about their experiences as they've been learning about the church and they're just loving it. They feel so much peace and calm and Chai said that he felt that this church was exactly what he needed. :D We're so excited for them. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted! We only need to put a date with them to be baptized and get them married and then we can get them on their way to an eternal family! :D

We went to San Vicente this week, you remember, the town with the people who almost stoned us? Well, we got to meet the cousin of one of the members here and we feel that they will actually be able to progress. They lost a daughter of theirs in Abril to Lupis (that disease that makes your defenses turn against you and your body begins to attack itself) and she left a little son with less than a year. We are also hoping that this will be part of opening the door for us to this little town that has never accepted missionaries. We almost feel like it's Ammonihah, and I'm pretty excited to put into the practice what Alma did to bring the gospel to this rebellious little town. One of the first things he did was 1. labor hard in the Spirit, 2. Pray for the spirit of the Lord to be poured out up the people of the town. We'll have to see how it goes this week. =)

Oh, on the 4th of July, I wasn't going to do anything seeing as how I'm in Mexico and in the mission and holiday's don't exactly exist here. =P However, it's my companion's favorite holiday and so we bought a little cake and a 4 candle to celebrate. The cake was finished last night...cake doesn't last long in a missionary's house. =P

 

 

Goodbye President and Sister Christensen

So this week has been pretty interesting seeing as how we had transfers and President is now leaving. At transfers President gave his very last talk and it was great. He talked about our filters that we have through which we view the world and the filters that he has seen in us as missionaries. He had talked to me about my filters personally and it was a great moment to have a review. =)

My new companion is Hna Sellers. She's from San Francisco California and actually knows Hna Vazquez, my last American companion. It was really cool because she had been praying for an American companion and I was simply praying that I would be able to love my companion unconditionally and that she would be able to help me work well in this area and help it progress. Also, someone with whom I could enjoy the last end of my mission with. I was a little nervous about the whole transfer but luckily I was one of the first to find out who my new companion was. I also felt at peace with whoever was going to be my companion. I just never thought that I would be given another American companion. As far as I know, we're currently the only two Americans that are together in the mission. 

So we had a pretty exciting evening in a little town that missionaries have never gone to before. We went with a native to this town and thank goodness because if we hadn't we would have gotten run out of town. Literally. These people are so scared of outsiders that they all freaked out when they saw us talking to two little girls who were the members nieces and were about to get ready to stone us. Yes, stone us! We now realize two things. 1. There is a lot of work for us to do in this town. 2. We are like Alma, we cannot enter without a member from the town, like Amulek. ;)

We had a very direct lesson this week with our 17 year old investigator named Cinthia and her mother. We wanted to set a baptismal date with Cinthia but her mom wants her to wait until she's 18 in December. We invited them to pray and see what God wants. The mom wasn't too happy about it but the daughter was and is perfectly willing to be baptized now. We think that we'll be dropping her for now and hoping that the missionaries who are here in December will be able to help her be baptized.

Well, other than that not much has happened. I love you guys so much and thank you for all that you do!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

All Is Well!!!

Well, this week, not too much happened but we got a few adventures in. =P

With Hermana Mazon

We got to meet the husband of one of our new investigators. Her name is Mayra and his name is Chai (well, his nickname, I don't know exactly what his real name is.) and oh boy, they're going to be a lot of fun to work with. They have a big problem with prophets for example, they don't believe that God can talk to a man here on earth and that a man has to be perfect to receive revelation from God. I think we're going to re-teach prophets...again. =P They are really nice and actually I'm going to start serving Mayra by giving her a little bit of English classes so that she can get a job with a big company that requires it. 

Speaking of English, we've been giving English classes in the chapel and this week Elder Neuwirth (a new elder with a month and a half in Mexico) gave the class. It was a lot of fun because he's just so full of energy. Once he learns the tips and tricks to teaching and finds his own style, he's going to be an excellent teacher. =)

That's super funny about not having power because although we had power, this week we ran out of water. However, the Lord loves us because once we were humbled enough to ask him to bless us with water, for the next 3 days He blesses us with enough water to shower in the morning and to use the bathroom two or three times. =P 

Yesterday, we were walking to one of our little towns called Santa Ines and it's a dirt road in the middle of fields. When we got by the canal in the middle of the road there appeared this fat little puppy that was white with black stripes. We stopped for a minute to pet it and talk to it for a minutes and then when my companion kept walking I picked up the puppy and took it with us. She was just so cute and lost so I couldn't just leave her there. At least that's what I told my companion. I decided that if someone didn't stop us saying that it was their dog, then we would give it to one of the kids in our ward who had had a puppy but she ran away. We called the puppy Kyra and she stayed with us for a few hours. She even went with us to the Pérez López family and just slept the entire time. She was just adorable and we both became good friends before the end of the day when I gave her to Ernesto. 

We had a missionary activity where we watched "Meet the Mormons" with our ward and the ward next to us. It was such a beautiful movie. My companion and I both cried at the end seeing the young man head off to his mission. We set everything like a movie theater and the members brought popcorn and chips and it was a lot of fun. 

This week I won't be getting transferred but my companion is. I honestly think that I will stay in this area until the end of my mission seeing as how I only have two transfers left and we don't think that the new president will make many changes after he gets here. I also feel that my new companion that I'll be getting tomorrow will be my last companion. I pray that we'll be able to enjoy the time that we'll be having together. 

Yes, I bought the camera today and since I bought it today I don't have a picture of it because it's charging. =P However, next week I'll make sure to send a picture of it. =) Please thank grandma for giving me the money she gave to help me buy it. =) e. 

The new mission president and Pres. Christensen and their wives will have the morning together on the 1st of July and then they'll be going their separate ways. At least I think that's what Pres. Christensen told me.