Mexico Week 55 -- Stop and Ask Questions

My dear sweet family!! 

I love you all too much! But really, I am so incredibly grateful for the family that I have and I hope that you’re all doing well. 

It rained the whole week! Nonstop starting Tuesday afternoon! I have never seen rain like this! Some days I left prepared ... the day in green was the day I thought, Nah!  It’s not going to rain, and then I got soaked! Ha! Ha! Not to mention, we had a sacrament meeting attendance of thirty people. 

On Tuesday I had exchanges with Hermana Peña. She has 5 months in the mission and is from El Salvador! She is a doll! We had a good time and leaving our meeting with the bishop, it starts pouring rain. We had umbrellas, but the feet were just soaked as we crossed rivers and nobody was opening up! We visited one of her investigators that was supposed to get baptized last week. As we get to her house, the power goes out. We were giving a lesson with cellphone flashlights and watching our breath because it was so cold! It was definitely an experience I will never forget! 

Today was our deep cleaning day again and so we were home all day and celebrating finishing with pizza!

The beautiful young lady with me is Hermana Lucy. She has been a member for 6 years and she’s about 80 years old. She loves to go with us to our lessons and she is an absolute doll. 

Fun fact!  It’s Friday and we’re walking to an appointment. The phone rings. Hola Elder como está? It was the Zone Leaders.  Hermana Rawe you’ve been chosen to sing on Uruapan Idol.  Wait, what??!!  No that was  a joke, but really, you are going to sing in our Zone Conference with President.  Again, what??!!  Yes Hermana!  With how many people? Three others.  Ummm, that means you can actually hear me sing!  Okay Elder, gracias. This is the part where I ask you guys to start praying for me!  Singing for converts in baptisms is way cool … Singing in front of other missionaries, not so much! 

We visited a member’s house this week.  She’s less active.  Her daughter is a recent convert, and her two sons are also less active. They’re 19 and 20 years old and involved with drugs and well they don’t go to church anymore. I asked my companion if she had ever taught them and she said no.  Being my stubborn, sometimes fearless self, we strike up a conversation and end up sharing a message with one of the boys (the other one wasn’t home).  As we sing and pray and start talking, he gets super nervous. Then he starts talking a lot about how he knows that God has a plan for him, He knows God lives.  I think I´m nervous because I haven’t talked about this with anybody for a long time. It makes me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time. I miss church. I know I need to live the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. We felt the Spirit so much and it was incredible.  He’s a future missionary and future Melchizedek priesthood holder. 

We also visited Hermano Mike some more this week. He’s accepted a baptismal date and it really excited.  He’s reading the Book of Mormon and wants to repent. He says he just feels it’s the truth. He says he feels like he’s found what he’s been looking for. He says he’s the happiest he’s been in a long time and he just wants more. He’s so special!! 

On Friday we had such a cool experience. Well as you saw, I left the house unprepared and at about 7:30 all of our plans fall through, and we decides to look for new people to teach. It is raining so hard and then it starts hailing. We are literally soaking wet and we went to about 11 houses. It’s now 8:40 and we go to another house. The young lady answers and tells us that the person we’re looking for doesn´t live there. We introduce ourselves and ask if we can share a lesson with her. She invites us in and we start getting to know her. I felt like I should ask her if she had a question that she had always wanted to know the answer to.  I felt so weird asking that and she was thinking for a long time. Finally she says, well actually, I have a lot.  For example, is there really life after death? We saw her so interested and we are pumped to work with her this week! 

We found another new investigator this week named Rosy. She has Lupus but she has so much faith that God will heal her. She is pretty involved in the Catholic Church but she decided to listen to us. She has a desire to know the truth and she is so sweet.

This week we just worked hard. I feel a new inspiration or actually I don’t know what to call it but I felt it. I felt urgency as we worked. I felt like I didn’t want to lose even a little bit of time. I have been focusing so much on the questions I ask.  I think it’s a worldwide weak point for the church. I think sometimes we just teach and teach ... as missionaries, as Sunday School teachers, in our homes, in Young Women’s, everywhere.  We are so accustomed to teach and teach and we don’t ask thought provoking, Spirit receiving questions.  It was a lesson I learned this week that my whole life I want to listen, to really listen to what people are telling me, and teach based on their answers. It’s a secret wish of mine to teach the youth after my mission!  Ha! Ha! 

I’m just happy this week. I’m getting settled in to my new area and it’s feeling more and more like home. I love people. I just love them! I hope y’all are doing great and living happy! Until next week! 

Week 5 -- Getting Ready For Mexico

Querida Familia!!  How are all of you?! I hope that you had an excellent week! 

Last week Hermana Daniel and I had our lest lesson with Daniel and it was by far the best lesson we've ever taught in the MTC. We were teaching about the Atonement and Repentance, but we mixed it up a little bit. We read Alma 36, the entire chapter, together. We stopped and asked questions and talked, and his whole countenance changed. His voice was softer and he was really taking in the scriptures. He was asking about how he could grow closer to Christ, and he committed to be baptized. We were bearing testimony and flowing so well. I know that the Book of Mormon has real power. It changes lives and it brings people to Christ. I know that our Savior lives. I know that repentance is real and effective. Ahh, helping people to come to realize how much their Savior loves them and how they can have His influence in their life is just awesome! 

Hermana Daniel and I also taught Hermano Hopoate as Ezekiel this week. He is portraying his roommate who is a member but is thirty and hasn't been to the temple yet. Although we are progressing him toward baptism, our teacher is using the experience to receive revelation on how to help his roommate get to the temple. He's been a little bit of a tricky investigator because he is such a great person and he knows the church is true. He wants to be baptized, just in the future. As we were teaching him from Alma 5, we learned that he just doesn't feel worthy of baptism, he has weaknesses and he just doesn't feel good enough yet. This really touched my heart and I had this burning testimony that covenants are power. I knew that Heavenly Father loves this man, I knew that He was so proud of Him and wanted to bless him. I just bore my testimony that baptism was power. The influence of the Holy Ghost in your life is true power. Access to the Atonement is real power. Hermana Daniel bore her testimony too and then we just sat in silence for a long time. Ezekiel spoke up and said that he was going to talk to his bishop and girlfriend and that he was willing to talk about a baptismal date. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson and it was really special to me. 

Hermana Daniel and I were teaching one of our teachers as himself in English the other day...kind of a different activity right? We ended up helping him with girl problems, but anywho, we asked him what the highlight of his mission was. He said "Well, I could never really pick one moment, but when someone looks you in the eye and says I want to be baptized and then you watch them walk into the baptismal font." I had chills and honestly caught a legit fire to go to Mexico! 

On Sunday night after devotional, we always watch films. We watched "The Testaments" which I've actually never seen before! I really loved it and it was honestly very powerful for me. I realized how real my Savior is. I started thinking about how He and my Heavenly Father have real bodies. Do I really believe the Atonement happened? Do I really believe that He experienced everything? Do I really believe that He can be with me all the time? It amazing to think about and I'm noticing that my testimony of the Savior increases every day. I love Him and I'm coming to know Him. I can't wait for the day that I can embrace Him and be with Him. I want to be worthy of that experience. I want to come to know my Savior as a real person and then strive to be someone worthy of being His friend. I've started reading Jesus the Christ and it's really really insightful. I just love learning! 

Yesterday I had a pretty neat experience in class. Hermano Hopoate told us a story about how in his mission he and his companion were given stewardship over the young men in the ward. He was given the responsibility to getting the boys on missions. I had the most powerful feeling that I could do the same thing with the Young Women. I could work with them on Personal Progress and prepare them for temple marriage. I feel such a strong connection and love for this age group and I want to help them build strong foundations. I want them to have great lives. I love them so much and I don't even know them yet! I can't wait to see what work the Lord has in store for me. 

We hung out a bit with our Branch President and talked about getting ready to leave the MTC.  They are such great people and I'm really glad we got to know them better!

So to wrap this party up, what they heck, I'm going to Mexico on Monday. The time honestly flew by so fast! I'm riding a serious roller coaster of "heck yeah let's do this!" to "wait, what did I get myself into again?" I think my biggest fear is that I'll give into the fear to be discouraged. I want to be upbeat and positive and let jokes about how I speak roll off my back. I want to always trust in the Lord and know that He is with me. I just fear that I might give in to the temptation to get down. I really don't want to! Today I realized that as long as I am pouring my heart out to the Lord in prayer, I'm studying hard, I'm working hard, I'm loving people and my companion, it will all work out. I know that the Lord trusts me with His work and is going to help me with it, I know that He will support me in all things. I know that He will pick me up on the hardest days and that if I'm willing, He will help me to have the best possible attitude. 

I love you all so much! I pretty sure I thank Heavenly Father like twenty times a day for y'all. Every time I hear people tell stories about how they grew up .. I'm just learning more and more and I realize how incredibly blessed I've been. Thank you for all of the packages, letters, emails, Dear Elders, etc...it's all great! Please let me know if there is anything I can help any of you with! 

Love you to the moon and back! Wish me luck in another country!

Week 3 -- The Dream Team

Familia!!

Whew this week was a good one! First things first...we had orientation last week for our new district! It was so much fun and we worked with the zone leaders, did some skits, and our new district is really great. We get to do orientation again tonight because we have another new district...BUT they're all elders :(

Muchas gracias for all of the packages! All of the themes are so cute mom! We got the fish, nuts, and cookies! I also got a package from the Kellems family this week and one from Mama Randall!  I've been writing thank you letters, but I'll be sure to snap pics too. Apparently, our apartment is popular because our kitchen counter is covered with packages! We have sorted it all by what it is and we call it the "Food Court." Everyone comes by to eat ;) 

Soooo...El Equipo de Sueno (Dream Team) is in full swing because now we have uniforms! We bought the Mexico shirts at the bookstore! Not to mention the Nikes and the baller socks and shorts. I hope you loved all of our pics because we literally have a blast. Sad news though...Hermana Cline and Hermana Paskett are leaving on Monday.  So sad, but we'll keep the B-Ball tradition alive! 

I've got a great story for you … Hermana Taylor was saying a prayer for us in class one day and she said bless the food not to give us "infierno" instead of "enfermo." For all the non-Spanish speakers out there, she asked that the food wouldn't give us hell, instead of not make us sick. We've all been dying for days and Hermana Mansfield tells the story to everyone that will listen! 

Fun fact! Remember when Rachel and I took the missionary discussions in Keller 1st?? Remember Elder Daniel?? Hermana Daniel has told me a million times that her brother served his mission in Texas, but I never put two and two together.  The Elder Daniel is my companion's brother!! CONNECTIONS. 

Janice Kapp Perry taught Relief Society this week! She taught a lot about music and we sang a lot of primary hymns that she wrote. I felt again that kids would be so important to me as a missionary. I saw myself teaching kids songs from the children´s hymnbook and just felt like it would be a really powerful took for me in people´s homes. Of course, I bought a children´s hymnbook today in Spanish! I think I like Spanish more than English! 

So remember when I told you about our activity last week when all of my hermanas said good things about each other?  Well, here´s a little of the back-story. I had been feeling that we should do this for about a week, but we kept running out of time and I kept putting if off.  During devotional last Tuesday the thought hit me again but much stronger this time.  I felt that I needed to modify our district meeting and do that instead that night.  As we get back to our class, the Branch President is with our district, and I was pretty scared to ask if I could change the meeting.  Finally I got enough guts and he kind of made this face and said we could try it.  I felt pretty dumb; however, it went really well!  Well, I shared this experience at our district meeting Sunday when we were talking about following the spirit and a member of the Branch Presidency piped up and told me that even though I felt dumb, it had an impact. He said at the meeting with the new district this week, the President had companions do the same activity. He made a comment that it went so well that they were going to have to do that more!  Moral of the story … Don´t doubt it when the Spirit tells you to do something.  Even if it´s scary, even if it´s dumb, it´s for a reason, so just do it! 

We had our first experiences with TRC this week! I´m not entirely sure what that stands for, but basically we teach volunteers and a lot of them are actually from Mexico!  Sometimes we use Skype too.  They had us bring only scriptures and our first lesson was with a member who hasn´t been going to church lately and didn´t have a temple recommend.  I understood a lot of his Spanish but also missing quite a few things.  He wasn´t really saying much about why and then I just heard him say ¨dolor¨ -- I had the thought to open my scriptures. So I did and I ended up in Isaiah 53.  I had him read verses 2 to 6.  The Spirit in that room was so strong and I started to tear up as I bore my testimony about the Savior.  We truly touched the man we taught and he just kept saying ¨con esperanza¨ over and over.  I know that the Lord will talk to us and help us to reach people.  I LOVE being a missionary!

Also in TRC this week, we have a new investigator, Daniel.  He literally looks like a Mexican gangster.  Walking over to TRC we were terrified.  We begin talking to him and he´s kind of going after us a little bit.  He doesn´t want to talk about religion and he keeps saying that the whole thing is a joke.  I don´t think I´ve ever been more uncomfortable in my entire life. After about 15 minutes of giving us a hard time, he finally invites his countenance changes and us to sit down.  We started talking about his family and he showed up pictures of his children.  As he was talking to us, I grew to love him.  He wasn´t scary anymore.  I just saw so many holes in his life and all of the comfort that he needed, and I knew that the gospel could heal his heart.  I just caught this fire!  My wheels began turning how to help him and what I could share with him. 

       

  

Hermana Daniel and I also started reading the Book of Mormon aloud in Spanish together this week.  WE LOVE IT.  I know that this book has power and that it´s true.  I challenge y'all to study from it as a family together every day!  I promise it will bring peace and strengthen relationships.  The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon are so powerful. 

I love you! Hope you have a great week! 

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!