Mexico Week 44: What Would Jesus Do

Dear Sweet Family of Mine!

I hope y’all had the best Christmas! You were all looking so good on Skype! It was such a blast talking to you guys. It was a spiritual high for me and I have been so blessed in my life. Just love y’all too much! 

Keeping it classic with the Christmas Eve PJ´s!

These two hermanas are Marta and Cuca. They are Rachel and I in about 60 years. 

The other one is Hermana Arellano. She has had some surgeries recently but she is never without a smile and a joke to tell and she ALWAYS goes to church. I want to be her when I grow up! 

I wanted to give a big thank you to Emma and Sister Cohen! Letters from them showed up this week and every ounce of support is just the best! 

Christmas in Mexico was a Christmas like never before! We had our district meeting in the morning and as we left at about 8 o’clock in the morning it was completely silent in the streets.  There were like two people and I felt like I was in the Walking Dead! We had our district meeting and then district activity. We ate food and exchanged gifts.  Please enjoy our whole district with our zone leaders rocking the holiday crowns .. a tradition started in England .. being celebrated by an American in Mexico!  How cool is that!! 

  

We had a district counsel and talking about what changes we thought the Lord expected of our mission. As we all reflected, we realized that he wants us to be more converted, more consecrated to Him. He wants us to work out of a sincere love for Him. I want to be a better disciple. As we headed home and were getting off the bus, the thought popped into my head, “What would Jesus do”?  I started to think about how I could truly think this ALL DAY EVERY DAY. It sounds so simple and obvious but as I made a conscious effort to do it, I felt the strongest Spirit. I began thinking in every situation, how would Jesus respond? What would He say? How would He listen? How would He serve? It was just a really special experience and whew, I should do that more often! 

I am really trying to be a more devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to follow Him and be like Him. I am the farthest thing from perfect, but I just want Him to have every ounce of my effort for these six months.  Well, actually for my whole life. I love Him, sometimes I need to better show my love, but I am trying to love Him more every day. I am grateful for my weaknesses and trials, I am grateful for every single person that supports me, and I am grateful for how He is molding me to become better and better. 

I love you all to the moon and back! Behave yourselves and make some Legos for me!

My Christmas Wall From Home

Hermana Gonzalez and I had so much fun putting up our wall of Christmas!

Then two big envelopes and more ornaments showed up!

Thanks to everyone for the love and support!  It means so much to me!!

Feliz Navidad with Hermana Elsa

Hermana Elsa put up her big Christmas tree for us and she gave me a dress for Christmas. How precious is she! 

Feliz "Skype" Navidad

I hope y’all had the best Christmas! You were all looking so good on Skype! It was such a blast talking to you guys. It was a spiritual high for me and I have been so blessed in my life. Just love y’all too much! 

Ward Christmas Party

WHAT??!!  A Ward Christmas Party .. and a Christmas Photo Booth!!

Ward FHE: The Iron Rod

This Thursday the best missionaries ever hosted FHE! 

We made a recreation of Lehi’s dream and people had to close their eyes and follow the rope o sea the iron rod. 

There were good influences and bad influences telling them things, and they had to decide what voices to listen to.  

Let's just say it was a huge hit!!

Mexico Week 43 -- More Humility Give Me

Can y’all believe it is already Christmas?!  Wow! Feliz Navidad!!

Time is just flying faster and faster!  I hope y’all have a great week together.

First of all, let me explain the pictures.  I found a shirt en Los Tianguis for 30 pesos!! And it´s mustard colored and super pretty, Feliz Navidad to me! 

Some people put up huge nativities here and it takes up their whole porch! Super pretty right! 

Nothing better than a good Christmas Coke! 

Hermano Oscar made a dinner that’s called birria here and well it’s super yum! Everyone was happy and eating and well, I know Hermano Oscar pretty well and asked him what’s up.  He was being really quiet. He says oh nothing, just a little tired.  Yeah, he’s about as good of a liar as dad is.  I asked him a few more times and finally he says: “Well, my Heavenly Father answered me today and it’s an answer I wasn’t wanting to receive.”  He starts to talk about how it’s time to say goodbye to the ward and leave his mom’s house and live with his wife in the other ward. He said he hadn’t slept for a few days thinking about all of this and he says, “The truth is, I was thinking about you and Hermana Malacara and Hermana Gonzalez and how I didn’t want to leave you guys.” He talked about how I was an incredible person with amazing strength that’s put up with a lot of hard stuff in these past couple weeks, but how much he admired me and how much he could never repay me, and how much he wanted me in his temple sealing in a year. He was crying and I was crying and he says “Heavenly Father told me that he has lots of work for you here and you already did your job with us.” It was just a special moment when you know you’re doing your job as a missionary. A little hard to know that he’s leaving soon, but he’s strong and he prays, and he knows his Heavenly Father. Temple sealing in one year!!! 

Speaking of this family, Hermano Jose is also making so many changes. He just keeps surprising us! First things first, he wasn’t sure if we could drink Arizona tea and so he starts telling us the story of being in the store and thinking, wait, is this against the word of wisdom? He realizes he isn’t totally sure, so he’s better off getting a Coka and asking the hermanas later. We can see how much he wants to be obedient. Sunday morning they arrived so late to church and his mom tells us afterward, “I felt terrible and he comes into my room all ready and says “Mom, aren’t we going to go to church?¨ I told him I’d change real quick!  He was just all ready to go and he’s faithful and well I gotta support him!”  Absolutely precious. Then she tells us that he was invited to Christmas parties but hasn’t gone to one of them because he says that he doesn’t drink or smoke anymore, so what’s the point? Just really surprising stuff!! 

On Friday, we had a conference with Elder Piper from the Quorum of the 70 and wow, it was so great!!! Hermana Piper is adorable. They have about 10 years serving in Russia and so she was really struggling to speak in Spanish with English, Spanish, and Russian swirling around in her head, but she is a doll and we all helped her out. I think the biggest thing that Elder Piper left with me is that I need to enjoy my mission. I need to give it all I’ve got and just love every minute. We have to be diligent. We have to love, learn, and share the missionary lessons. I think I just need to stop thinking about me and serve the people more fully, serve investigators, serve ward members, serve our leaders, serve my companion.  It’s a time of giving and giving and more giving, and I know that serving a mission is the best decision I ever made. 

Truth is, it’s been a rough month. I am learning so much and coming unto the Savior more than ever before. I love Him. I trust Him more than I ever have. I am really bad about managing stress, but this morning with some study, I learned a lot.  Actually in 20 minutes I learned what I have been missing for about a month. The Lord is with us in every step. He loves us and He understands every effort we make, actually He’s the only one who understands what we feel. 

This week I had a double infection.  Saturday I humbled up and we stayed home and Sunday I asked the Elders for a blessing. In my blessing, he commanded every illness and bad thing out of my body. I think this also applies to the high levels of stress, the discouragement, and the feelings of inadequacy. He told me how much my Father in Heaven loves me. He told me that my Savior has trusted in Hermana Gonzales and I in this area at this time. He blessed me to be a light and a guide to those around me. He blessed me to be able to find the people that were waiting for us. I felt so empowered and I know that with the Savior we can do all things.  It’s when we try to do things without Him that we have problems! 

We are working with some special people and we are really starting to see miracles here! I know that these next few months will be amazing ones! I love you all and can’t wait to talk this week!!  I’m going to be a strange little White Girl Mexican, so just go with it!

Love y’all tons!