Mexico Week 34 -- Blessings of a Loving Family

Buenas Tardes to all my favorites!! 

So it turns out this week that this one time I didn’t understand English. We were walking down the street and I said ¨Buenas Tardes¨ to a stranger and he walks past me and says something but I didn’t understand.  I turn around, ¨Mande?¨ or it is like, “I’m sorry, what?”  He said, ¨Buenas Tardes¨ and shook my hand and left.  As we walked away my companion starts cracking up and said ¨He was speaking English!¨  Turns out he said “Good Afternoon” and I definitely didn’t understand.  My companion just kept laughing and laughing! Ha! Ha! 

Another fun fact ... transfers are in another week ... WHAT?? I feel like we just had transfers! Y que creen? I already fell in love with Tlaquepaque. But I learned my lesson the last time, and we won’t be praying all week to stay here.  We are going to start praying for humility and going where the Lord wants us to go! 

Another fun fact about this adventure in Mexico ... We were without light or electricity half of this week.  Sometimes you should listen to your companion when she tells you three times you should pay the bill.  Sometimes I get distracted with work and well you see what happens!  Good thing mom went all Psycho Sally sending me with everything I might possibly need on the mission …  because we put that mini-flashlight and a few other things to good use this week! Ha! Ha! But the good news is, now we have light. Shout out to Charly Bear who watched “Scooby Doo’s Adventure in Mexico” with me .. it was the same thing, just us instead of Scooby!

This week we found our favorite twins walking home from school with their mom! We shared a message with them and are they just the cutest in their uniforms!! Turns out their dad is well, not with the family for some things that he did. The kids have been super stressed and sad and she went to visit him the other day. First things first, he’s sober and without drugs! She said that he told her that sometimes people visit them there to share the word of God but he said that he can’t go because he’s Mormon. She told us that she whipped around and said ¨You’re not even baptized!  How are you Mormon?¨  He responded, ¨Nope, I’m Mormon, and I’m getting baptized when I leave here.¨  He wants her to bring him the Book of Mormon and everything. Wow, the Lord truly always has a plan. 

This week we had interviews with President!  Wow, those days are my favorites! We talked a lot about my companion and all that’s happened in these short months. He reminded me what an incredible blessing it has been to be raised with so much love. Not everyone has that, and because of it, they need even more love and support.  The Lord needs us reaching out, supporting each other when we struggle, and loving each other despite our weaknesses.  We talked about the power and happiness that I felt last week and how much the Lord was blessing me. He says that if I just keep working, one day that power will reach her too. 

Now after all this when I was all choked up he tells me, “I’m a pretty faithful reader of your blog.”  I started thinking, “Oh no!” and asked him, “How is it treating you?”  He said he has a good time there.  He said, “Hermana Rawe, enjoy your mission and have fun.  This is a short time! Just enjoy it!” 

Also, we were speaking in Spanglish the whole time. Ha! Ha! Presidente likes to practice his English. He is incredible, a truly incredible person and a disciple of Christ. I feel so blessed to know him and to be able to learn from him. Did you know that he goes home 6 days before me? He’ll be my President my whole mission!

Now I know you’re all wondering about our golden investigator!  Well he is progressing incredibly!  He has just about finished 1 Nephi in about ten days.  He’s reading so much and he loves learning. We talked about temples and he is so committed to getting baptized and preparing this coming year to go the temple. His mom, well, she’s my favorite. We took a picture outside of church this week.  She hasn’t gone to church in about 6 months and she went this week!  Ahh, how beautiful right?  We have such amazing lessons with them both and ahh, I am in hook line and sinker. I may or may not have already promised myself that I’m coming here in a year when they both enter the temple. Mom you’ll come with me right? Just a real quick weekend!  I think I really love being with them because they remind me a lot of you guys. Hermana Elsa is sick and tired of being on bedrest and she decided to start climbing stairs this week against doctor’s orders ... remind y’all of anyone? Hermano Oscar, her son, our investigator, reminds me a lot of dad. He is in love with kids and does everything for them, a little tender hearted just like Dad when it comes to his kids. And the other son of Hermana Elsa, is straight up Rach, right down to how he walks. Ha! Ha!  His mom says he doesn’t like to talk about how he feels.  Everybody thinks he’s a little wild, but deep down, he is such a solid good guy. It’s like walking into Rawe household over there! 

I just want to tell you guys that everything in this life is worth it. All of the repentance, all of the hard things, all of the tears, all of the temptation, all of the efforts to be obedient, all of the family tiffs, just this whole life is worth it. It’s worth it because we learn and ultimately we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and be kings and queens in his kingdom. This too shall pass. We are so incredibly blessed and our Heavenly Father knows us inside and out. He knows what we’re capable of and he knows our weaknesses. He loves us, and He supports us one hundred percent. I love my mission and I am pumped for life! I just know that we can do it! 

Love you all to the moon and back! Be happy! Smile! Work hard and keep missing me!

Mexico Week 10 -- Happy, Happy, Happy

Dear sweet family of mine!  Are you all ready to get all caught up?

Okay first things first, the pictures are of a part of town called Sauz!  It’s actually kind of the ghetto and everybody tells us to be safe there, but nothing’s ever happened to us!  Please enjoy the shoes on the line!  Isn’t that from the movie “Like Mike”?  I can’t remember for sure, but it cracked me up. 

Also, I’ve started doing push-ups in the morning. Guess what!  First day, I could literally only do one.  Que oso! Or like ¨how embarassing¨ in English. Well now I can do 10! Ha! 

Mom, the kids absolutely LOVED the treats from your Easter package. I’m like the most popular person I know!  Psych!  But really, the kids love the eggs and the coloring packs are absolutely perfect for Sacrament meeting. 

Big thank you to Amber Tolman and her family this week!  I got a letter from the whole family!  Tell the kids it’s a little hot right now, but the weather is pretty nice and the food is even better!  I love being a missionary and they have to start getting ready now if they want to serve a mission!

Also, big thank you to the Jeansonne´s, from Ohio.  I figured they must be part of Mom’s family!  They sent literally a huge package.  We were having interviews with the President and I shared my treats with the elders, but the big joke is that I always get packages and they were more fired up because I was entirely sure who it was from!  Hey, at least I share!   Thanks for loving on me as a missionary and know that we all love and appreciate it!

Okay, now for the good stuff! So remember how Antonio can’t see pretty much anything?  Well, we gave him a Book of Mormon and during certain times of the day with the right lighting, he can read it!  He reads 3 or 4 chapters a day and we’re working with him on identifying what he learned about Christ from his reading. Some days we read with him.  I love picking out the lessons we learn from the stories. The Book of Mormon is literally full of treasures! 

Paty Reynaga and her whole family came to church again this week!  Her progress is incredible. She has the strongest desire to give her kids the best example and she’s changing her life for them.  They’re reading the Book of Mormon and set an hour for family prayer.  My heart just melts every time I sit with her whole family at church.  They are truly incredible people. 

This week we had interviews with the mission president!  In all honesty, I was a little nervous!  President Camarillo is so amazing, and he really has a spirit about him.  First things first...Spanish! Our interview was in Spanish.  He told me my Spanish was truly incredible and he asked me if I would come to the First 12 Weeks Meeting with the group of missionaries that arrived the transfer after me and share something.  We talked about inspiring them and getting them excited about learning Spanish.  I was so pumped!  He also told me that Hermana Valdez and I now have clearance to speak English one hour a day so that she can practice her English!  I’m so excited! 

Oh also, President told me that he found y’all on Facebook and that we have a beautiful family!  My first thought was awwww, and second thought was ¨oh no, what does my rowdy family have on Facebook” followed by “I wonder if he’s seen the video of Tamsyn and I singing with corn dogs or acting like Barbies!¨  Ha! Ha!  But really, y’all are great! 

President and I talked about a scripture in 3 Nephi 19:25-30. I really love that it talks about Christ smiling upon us.  We talked about the sanctification the disciples experienced and how the truly were in constant communication with Christ and we can become the same.  I want to achieve this.  I want to maintain the habits I’m forming here for the rest of my life and with my family! 

So today is Monday, or the day of the First 12 Weeks Meeting. The new missionaries have about a month here and my job was to inspire them that they could learn Spanish. I really worked hard to prepare and the Spirit was awesome!  The words flew out of me in Spanish and it was so cool because I also spoke clearly and with emphasis and it was all the Spirit helping them understand.  I shared Ether 12:27 and applied it to being missionaries and learning a language. The look on some of their faces was incredible.  I love when I get to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands.  I know that we are all going to have difficulties and face challenges as we come unto Christ.  It is not an easy path but it’s definitely worth it.  I know that Christ calls us in our strengths and in our weaknesses.  He knows us inside and out and He knows exactly what we’re capable of.  I love you all tons and hope that each of you work with Christ to overcome your weak points.  Be humble, have faith, and you’ll always be able to feel Him by your side. 

I love y‘all! Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you! 

Week 1 -- Welcome to the Missionary Training Center

 

My querida familia!!!

How are you all??? Oh my goodness this week feels like it has been a year! I can't believe a week ago today Dad dropped me off. I am really adjusted and started to catch the missionary fire! 

Please tell everyone to not be offended if I didn't personally answer your email! I have been writing some letters answering you I promise! We just only have an hour on the computers and it goes by so fast.  Also I just learned that I can't send pictures from these laptops...we have to use main campus, so hopefully I can get you my pictures soon!  Just a recommendation...if you use DearElder.com...they print off what you type and put it in my mailbox! I have time during the week to read them and write letters back if that's easier! It's just another option!  

There are eight hermanas in my district and I am the Sister Training Leader! (aka District Leader for girls). My companion is Hermana Daniel and she is the cutest! She is from Provo and we are literally best friends. We get along so well and we're both easy going and it's kind of perfect. P.S. we take the best selfies ;) 

The Spanish is coming along! It's amazing to me how much of it has already come back to me just from the years I did in high school. Something I've learned this week is just how long Heavenly Father has been preparing me for this mission. I always loved Spanish in school and it usually came pretty easy to me. This has been such a blessing this week since we've already taught four lessons all in Spanish and the person we're teaching only speaks Spanish to us! 

During gym time Hermana Daniel and I rock the Four Square! We know it sounds lame, but it is so fun! I jammed my finger though the other day...you know...sports injury ;) So every day we wake up at 6:30, have breakfast at 7:30, and then we are in class pretty much all day. We have a break for gym and a break for lunch and dinner, but we're in class until 9:30! They days are long, but somehow on our way home, Hermana Daniel and I are always ready to get at it the next day! 

Hermana Daniel studied American Sign Language so she's never had Spanish before. When I first got here I was so worried about whether or not I was a good teacher, how good my Spanish was, how well I was doing, and I'm learning that although it's important to work hard, focusing on myself won't necessarily make me the best missionary. My new goal is to focus on Hermana Daniel. I want to help her as much as I can with Spanish and really focus on helping her become the BEST missionary that she can be. This past week we have been teaching Malaquias. Rumor has it that he is a teacher here at the MTC, but we don't know yet! All we know is that he only speaks Spanish to us! It is the most incredible experience to sit in a lesson and just be able to understand. I don't understand everything, but I have been able to pick up so much. I feel so much love for him and the things that he is going through and thoughts come into my head to share with him and for the most part I'm able to translate them into Spanish. Teaching is by far my favorite part of being here even if we get a little nervous before hand! It's kind of interesting...I know he's probably a teacher, but when we're teaching him, it doesn't feel that way at all. It feels real. I feel like I am really being a servant of the Lord. I love being a missionary. I have just learned so many things this week. 

I love all of the teachers here at the MTC. Hermana Kellogg, aka Mandy's cousin, is adorable! We love working with her! All of our teachers here are so patient and they really try to only speak Spanish to us. 

Elder Bednar came and gave our devotional last night! Him and his wife are just incredible! One of the things I really took from his devotional is considering "what are my motives?" Why do I want to be a good missionary? Why do I want to be good at Spanish? Why am I serving a mission? I walked away really doing some introspection. I want to be sure that I have the purest of motives and intentions. I know this is something that I will help from Heavenly Father with for sure! 

To be honest, it is a roller coaster here every day. You can experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each of us. I know that one of the most important reasons I am here is to learn how to wait on the Lord, to learn how to be patient. I know that if I keep working hard and trying my best, everything will work out. They have given me this call and they will qualify me for it. If you ever think you are alone...YOU'RE NOT. Jesus Christ knows every little thing you could ever experience. Cast your burdens on Him and trust Him to take care of you. 

Yo se que, este Evangelio es verdadero. Yo se que Jesucristio y nuestro Padre Celestial viven. Yo se que nuestro Padre Celestial es amoroso. Yo se que nuestras familias pueden estar juntas para siempro. Nuestras familias son eternas. Yo se que estoy hacienda las cosas correctas. Yo se que mi mision es una bendicion. Yo se que el amor de Jesucristo y Padre Celestial es real. 

I love you all more than you know!