Oh my ever so beautifully wonderful family! I’m probably in the best mood of my life today! First things first, my freckles are coming
out like crazy! I am also developing the
most attractive tan lines...seriously, they’re sweet. The fruit here has also changed my life. I eat pears like it´s nobody’s business. They have these fruit markets on the corners
and they’re so good. Plus people here
call it ¨water¨ but it’s like blended fruit and water. I had one made from cantaloupe the other day
and almost died it was so good! I LOVE
FRESH FRUIT!
This week we had exchanges with the Sister Training
Leaders! Usually for your first time,
the new missionary goes to the area of the leaders and the other missionary
stays in the home area. Well, we got a
phone call the night before that I was going to stay and direct my area. Let’s
just say I wanted to vomit all morning.
Our Sister Training Leaders are great, but they’re also kind of intense
and kind of yell at zone leaders and stuff so I was crazy nervous. But I really had a great day with Hermana
Hernandez. Our area is huge with tons of
different bus routes, but we didn’t get lost!
It gave me a lot of confidence and I realized that I could do this and
that I’m a legit missionary in Mexico!
I also realized that my Heavenly Father honestly answers my
prayers. He’s helping me to grow, to teach with more power and authority, with
Spanish, with my capacity to love, and to become more and more comfortable
here. I had a great time during
exchanges, but I also missed Hermana Valdez a ton. I didn’t realize just how much I loved her
and how we’ve really become close. I got
kind of sad thinking about how we only have 6 weeks left together most
likely. She thinks I’m going to train
after my training is done, which makes me crazy nervous. Then, I remember that it is the Savior that
calls me to every aspect of His work. Nothing to fear!
During exchanges, I had a Lizzie McGuire moment and totally
tripped going down some stairs. Our
investigator from the third floor of the building yells ¨Cuidado!¨ Oops, too late! It was super funny, but the next day my ankle
was swollen. We were running a little
late and so we were walking super fast, or jogging, and I literally had a
Jurassic Park moment. Remember how Rach and
I always reenacted that scene when she’s running from the velociraptors
dragging her leg? That was me in the
streets of Mexico! Ha! Ha! I totally
thought of you Rach!
We’ve been teaching the Plan of Salvation a lot this week. It is really hitting me how much this life is
a time of preparation. We can’t
procrastinate repentance. We have to
change and become here on earth, right now. One day we have to stand before the Lord and
take responsibility for everything. We
won’t want to justify or anything of the sort. We will either feel like a million bucks or we
will feel completely terrible, so terrible that we won’t even want to be in the
same room as Him. To me, the choice is
pretty easy. You know what experience you want to have. Choose now and act today to have those
blessings, to have the experience you want to have with the Savior!
Okay, so the pictures of the kids this week -- Their names are
Nicole and Alexis. Rosa Elia is a pretty
special lady to me. She’s been inactive
for a bit, but her testimony is so strong and she’s coming back to church. All of her kids live with her and well none of
them really work or anything and Rosa Elia works so hard to support them. They all smoke and drink and she is trying so
hard to quit smoking. She broke down and
told us how awful she felt and that she was a terrible mom and that she was
robbing God. It hit me how much people
trust us. They look at us as representatives of Christ when they bring us their
burdens with trust that we will know how to help them. She’s incredible! Nicole and Alexis are her grandkids. They are
so sweet. Alexis, the boy, loves me. We ate with her yesterday and when we arrived,
he went and changed his clothes and put gel in his hair when he saw it was
me. He’s to die for. Nicole is so sweet.
They LOVED taking pictures.
Remember Maria Dolores?
She’s progressing so well! She’s
70 years old, but holy hannah she doesn’t look it at all. We offered to pick her up for church and she
was a little hesitant. We showed up on Sunday and she was all dressed up and
ready to go! She is so great! I love being in their home.
Last little story, remember Antonio? He’s incredible. He’s 80 and his wife is super sick. She’s in a
bed all day and a lady takes care of her. Well, their caretaker doesn’t work on Sundays
and Antonio doesn’t like to leave her alone. Entonces, it’s been hard to get
him to church. This week we had some incredible lessons with him. He’s so quick
and he remembers what he learns. His
eyes are terrible and so he can’t read scriptures, but he tries so hard to read
the pamphlets. He came to Church this
week and his prayers are truly changing. He’s expressing more emotion and
progressing incredibly!
I love being a servant of the Lord. I love that He allows me to
feel a little bit of His love and to look at His kids the way that He sees
them. I love those moments when people
hug me a little bit tighter and linger a little longer. Every single person has pains, sometimes pains
that we can’t see. I’m pleading with all
of you to be a little kinder, to judge a little less, and to give a little more
of your hearts to the people around you.
I love you all too much and think of you often. Little things remind me of y’all and every day
I thank my Heavenly Father for my incredible family. We honestly never know how
blessed we are.
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