Ok, Sorry that I am the worst at giving
shout outs for birthdays. I have my calendar with everyone's birthday
but sometimes when I get to writing here I get stressed out because I
only have a certain amount of time and I want to write everything.
So...please forgive me and accept my belated Happy Birthdays: Emily Ann,
Chelsea, Spencer!!!! Happy late birthday!
AND...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Hannah Marie and Grams this week!!
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Ok,
so we all know that I stand out a little bit here in Mexico. I just
wanted to write the weird moment of the week. We were walking past a
group of men in the street and one of them NEIGHED at me...like a horse.
I have gotten whistles, cat-calls, I hear 'guerita' almost everyday,
but I have never been neighed out. I was slightly startled and then
started busting up after realizing what just happened. Oh Mexico...
Last
week my companion and I were waiting for the bus to take us home and I
thought 'we need a member to drive by right now so we don't have to take
the bus' because it was kind of late and the buses were a little
sparse. We got on the first bus and headed to the next stop where we
needed to wait for another bus to actually take us home (we live 2 bus
rides away from our area). After waiting 1 minute, the bishop passed by
with him family and offered to give us a ride. Awesome! Then something
even better happened. He told us that a sister in the ward has a
grandson who is 9 years old and has wanted to be baptized since he
turned 8. He has gone to church with his grandma for the last 4 years
since she joined the church but his dad wouldn't give permission for him
to get baptize. Well...his dad just changed his mind and said that he
could be baptized! His grandma, Eloina, lives in the area where we have
the Family Group (it's far away in the mountains!) and we ate with her
this week (she fed us SO MUCH FOOD) and talked with her about her
grandson. We made an appointment to meet with him on Saturday.
His name is Greco. We taught him the first lesson and he knew almost
everything that we taught! He was so smart and really understood what we
were teaching. I love teaching kids. I feel like they are so much more
spiritually sensitive and understand things better than some adults do.
It really is a miracle that we can teach him and that his dad gave
permission. He gave the closing prayer and thanked his Heavenly Father
than, even though he has had to wait so long to be baptized, he finally
will have the opportunity.
FABIOLA WAS
BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! We have almost completed the Pintor Family. I say
almost because they have another son who is older but we haven't been
able to teach him because he works a lot. Anyway, Fabiola is awesome.
She was so ready and so happy to be baptized. She had invited her
sisters and father to come but they were very against her decision. She
told me that she was sad but she knew that what she was doing was right
and that her Heavenly Father was happy with her. What an example of
faith! I told her that her example and the example of her family will
bless the lives of her sisters and also generations of people who will
be so grateful to have the gospel in their lives. She gave her testimony
at the end of the baptism and said that she was the last to be baptized
because she was scared to change and but that God changed her heart and
she has never felt happier! Tomas performed the baptism, which was also
a beautiful experience. Family...isn't it about time? I mean,
seriously! Families are the best!
We stayed at
the church after the baptism and watched the conference in Spanish. I
did understand most of it, but couldn't take notes since I was trying to
pay close attention to be able to understand. I obviously LOVED the
choir from Korean! They all looked like little Mulans! (even though she
was chinese...) It just makes me happy to see that the gospel truly is
spreading throughout the WHOLE earth. That people from the other side of
the world understand and believe the same principles that I do. Also, I
obviously loved the focus on temples and covenants. I miss the temple
so much, but I am so grateful for the covenants that I have made with my
Heavenly Father. President Uchtdorfs talk was beautiful and I can't
wait to read it again...in English...so that I can understand it fully.
:)
Sunday
started out a little disappointing. We have a family that we are
teaching and that wanted to come to church. We made arrangement for a
couple from the ward to pass by for them. We met them there to introduce
them and when we got there, they were all in their pajamas eating
breakfast. We called the night before to confirm and everything and they
said yes. The little girl wanted to go but the mom said she couldn't go
for 3 hours and since the mom and daughter weren't going to go, the dad
decided he didn't want to go either. Man...I was really disappointed
but the man and wife that passed by told us not to feel bad, that they
would come another day. So we were in sacrament meeting thinking that no
one was going to come. We started singing the opening song and in walks
Alberto and his mom Lucy! I was so excited! They didn't come last week
and Alberto has been working a lot lately so we didn't have much hope.
He told us that he worked until 1 in the morning to be able to come on
time today! And that when we was leaving his house, he said bye to his
mom since he didn't think she was going to come and she was like 'wait
for me!! I want to go!' I think I wrote this before, but I just know she
is going to be baptize one day and then she will be a temple worker.
She also signed up to feed us 3 times this next month! Not even the
members do that!
An awesome part about Sunday
was Tomas gave a talk!! It was so good, too. I explained to him the
organization of a talk and that since he was a new member, he should
share his experience of how he joined the church and then use some
scriptures and quotes and make sure to bear his testimony at the end. He
gave his talk like a pro...for real. He shared his experience about how
the sisters found him and how he didn't believe in prophets or the Book
of Mormon when they first started. He shared how he came to know the
church was true. He also mentioned how when Hna. Ward and I taught him
about the Word Of Wisdom, we told him to throw his coffee into the
plants! haha. He had people laughing and crying. He talked about the
Love of God and how he feels like the happiest man because his family is
in the church and that since he was baptized and receive the gift of
the holy ghost, he has never felt alone. He knows that his Heavenly
Father loves him. He bore a powerful testimony and I really hope that
the members start to feel the spirit of missionary work in this ward. It
was beautiful.
Ok, I am sure there is a ton
more I could write, but this will have to do! I am grateful to be a
missionary here. My companion and I are working as hard as we can
because we know there are more people here that need us. Although it is
hard and some days we feel like no one cares, we know that people do
care. And our efforts are going to bless someone, even if we don't see
it right away.
I love the gospel. I am
SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for General Conference. And don't worry, I will
be watching it in English. I hope that everyone will prepare this week
to receive revelation and answers that they need. I know that we will be
so blessed this next weekend. We get to hear from the Prophet of God!!
Woo hoo! I know this church is true! I know that in this church, and
ONLY in this church, we find the saving ordinances and blessing that
will allow us to return to live with our Father in Heaven some day. This
is why we need to spread the gospel! Invite your friends to listen to
conference with you!
I love you alllllllll soooooo much!
Love,
Hermana Durham
Hermana Durham
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