Monday, September 29, 2014

Hello Again!

Hello Family!

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

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