Is It Really October?

Oh hello there family!

Happy birthday to Bella this last week. And I believe Mr. Andrew will be having a birthday soon!! Happy happy birthday to you both!

Just a random tidbit...I was sitting in the bus the other day looking at my hair and noticed this really dark hair. I don't have dark hair these days so I thought it was curious. When I took a closer look, it was SUPER thick and long...weird. I was fascinated by this hair. I ended up pulling it out and showing my companion which kind of weirded her out. She told me to put it in my journal because it is a sign that I am becoming Mexican, but I ended up just throwing it away. I searched for more like that, but there are none to be found...

Welp, another week here in Mexico and it was a good one. I am still with Hermana Ward until maybe Wednesday. There have been some issues going on in my old stomping ground, Iguala, so transfers have been postponed. I highly doubt we are going to get changes, though. We are working well together and trying hard to find more and more people each week.

I am going to tell you about one of my favorite investigators, Greco. I think I might have mentioned him before. He is 9 years old and is the grandson of a member in our ward that goes to the House of Prayer that is really far away. This kid is the cutest thing ever. I forgot to take a picture with him last week, but I will try to remember when we visit him this week. When we got there, he was like 'I learned how to pray in English this week!' Um, why are you the cutest thing ever? ANy other kid would look up lyrics to a song or random sayings, but no...Greco learned how to pray. We wrote down more things he could say and helped him with the pronounciation before we left. He said the closing prayer in English and I could almost understand all of it! haha. He told us that he wants to learn how to say his testimony in English. He also showed us his missionary fund that his grandma started because he wants to serve a mission. Only 9 more years to go!

Hermano Tomas received a calling this week in church...guess what it is? He was called as the PRESIDENT of the Sunday School! Hahaha...how awesome! Put him RIGHT to work. He is super excited to have a calling. He told me, 'I know that the Lord has a lot in store for me and I am very grateful to be able to serve Him in His church.' After he was sustained, he turned to me and said 'Now what?!' I explained that he would be set apart by a member of the bishopric and receive training about his calling. I've never been President of SS so I have no idea what he will be doing, but I am sure he will do a great job. Yesterday at church, I just looked at this family and they looked SO happy. It made me feel so happy to know that I helped in some small way to bring them this happiness. I think I forgot to write last week that Fabiola no longer works on Sundays so she can come to church every Sunday AND Helen found a job working in a Salon (which is what she studied) and she doesn't work on Sundays either. Before she was baptized, she said that she was looking for a job and the one that was a possibility would require her to work on Sundays but it was in a pharmacy which is nothing that she wanted to do. We told her that if she was patient, obedient, and prayed for help, the Lord would provide a job that would allow her to have Sundays off. She decided to keep looking and 2 weeks after her baptism, she found the job of her dreams and she has Sundays off.

I just have to testify that the Lord truly keeps his promises. He wants us to keep the sabbath day holy, and he also wants us to prosper and have the necessities of life. I know that when we keep the commandments, we will prosper, because the scriptures say so. We were able to promise Helen that because it has already been promised to us by the Lord. This is something that I wished all of our investigators and the members of the church understood. We have commandment so that the Lord can bless us. And He WILL bless us when we follow them. Many people think, I HAVE to work or I won't be able to pay the bills. We try to explain that if they go to church and pay their tithing, they WILL be able to pay the bills without having to work on Sundays. The Lord always provides and blesses the faithful. Even if we aren't rich, we will have what we need.

Sometimes I wish there was a camera following me so that you could really understand what it is like to be here in Mexico. It's become so normal to me and I think I will definitely have culture shock when I get home. It is a blessing to be here. We are taken care of and I know that all of your prayers and thoughts are helping me, too. I am grateful to be a missionary and I am learning so many things.

Thank you for the love!

Love,

Hermana Durham

Fotos:

My district...I will see them all again tomorrow but we could be changed on Wednesday!

I don't know why, but this little chicken made me laugh soo hard. I had to take a picture of it.

WE use agendas on the mission (if not we would die) and we usually cover the front and back with pictures and plastic because if not, they get super dirty and gross. This is my favorite agenda so far. Pop sent me the picture of Grandpa Durham with Great Grandpa Durham before he left on his mission so I decided it needed to be on my agenda. KEEP CALM AND DURHAM ON!