Changes

I HAVE SHOUT OUTS!!! Yaaaaayyyy!! haha I would like to give al of my love to two very special people! Happy birthday to my cousin Warren Smith and to the beautiful Raxanne Wise!! I seriously hope that you guys are/were so happy on your special days and that you can feel all the love that Heavenly Father has for you guys! Love you!

SO these are some freaking delicious bananas that they
do here. They like cook them in the fire with the peal and all
and are so delicious! It's like banana boats but better! We have
eaten healthy that day so when we were walking back to
our house we decided to buy one to stop such healthiness! haha

These are soy burgers... and I ate them all.... haha 

just kidding but they were super good too!

Today the six of us went to one of our houses and 

made some good food! I made tortillas by hand! 

We made empanadas and for dessert my cinnamon 

chocolate chip (in this case nutella spread because 

there aren't chocolate chips here) banana pancakes! It was super fun!

Well we got some awesome news yesterday in ward counsel after our church services! The stake in which I serve right now is trying to divide our ward! We have about 300 active members so the stake wants to split us! BUT that means we, as missionaries, need to work super hard! We are working with the ward leaders and members to really get more converts! We talked honestly yesterday about getting some more strong members so that we can make this awesome chagnge! I am excited! I know that this is evidence that the Lord is pressuring His work in this area so I KNOW that there are people here in our are who are ready to listen to our message. It really excites me! I was feeling pretty down the other day because we haven't really been able to find a bunch of people but I KNOW that this is an answer to us that as we continue to diligently work to find people the Lord will provide. But we will not recieve a witnes until AFTER the trial of our faith! So we just have to keep going! I already feel skinnier from walking so much! ;) haha!

Well i also wrote changes as the subject because I have a not very exciting announcement to make.. haha. Well, last week I was really worried about my BYU stuff. Well, school in general. In one of my last interviews with my mission president he gave me permission to think about my school and what I will do after the mission because we are coming close to deadlines and what not. I was and am super excited about BYU. But the thing is that sometimes I just didn't have the time to put all of my effort into my application. And I hated thinking about it. But really, I started praying the other night. I was honest with God with my desires (as if He didn't already know haha) and I just told Him that I will do what He wants me to do. I just needed to know where I need to go after the mission. He made it very clear to me and so I am following it. I am not sure what He has planned for me. I know that my plans to go to BYU RIGHT after the mission weren't pure, or in better words, going to BYU is a good idea but for my reasons it was the wrong time. I am going to stay back in Reno for at least another 6 or 7 months after the mission. I feel so very content with this decision. The Lord told me very clearly that I should. I know what I want to happen after the mission ut if the Lord would guide me in another direction I should follow it. I feel so happy about it. I feel relieved. And really, I promised Him that for a year and a half I would serve Him and only Him. As I was thinking about BYU I was trying to serve my other desires. I was called to do this so I am going to put all of my efforts into it. I feel so content with the work that the Lord has had me do thud far. I feel different, changed. I don't want to do what I want anymore because what the Lord wants is better. So, I will be seeing all of in you in Reno for a long time after the mission. I know that at least my family is happy haha. Sorry if I sound dramatic and lame but if there is something that I want you all to know, it's the the Lord knows best. Sometimes we make plans to serve what we want, but when we choose to do what the Lord wants He makes betters plans for us. 

I love this work so much. There is nothing in the world like it. Serving the children of God isn't just a work for a year and a half or two years, it's a daily things 24/7. Love is the most powerful weapon that we possess. And I KNOW that God answers our prayers. I love you all so very much! Have a great week!

Con todo mi corazón,

Hermanaut

Mission Field Double Days

Hi everyone!

So I don't have a lot of time today. This last week was very mentally, spiritually and physically tough. There were two days straight where literally every single one of our appointments fell and there wasn't a single member home. SO we walked. And walked some more. And walked even more. Friday from 10:30 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon we walked. Then From 4 in the afternoon until 7 we walked. (We are now entering our houses before dark if we don't have a member with a car accompaning us for security.) Then Saturday we had a lesson at 10:30. Then from 11:30 until 3 and 4:30 until 7 again, we walked and walked and walked. I literally was sore on Saturday after Friday. We did the best we could but we can't make anyone do anything. And for some reason, today we decided to go back to Tepotzlan! Remember, the HUGE mountain with the pyramid on top?! Well I loved it all over again and we actually climbed up to the pyramid and one of the little animal creature things climbed up my leg. It's so beautiful! 

I am going to add a bunch of pictures this week because I haven't for two weeks. Sorrrrrry. And without captions because I don't have time. But I seriously love missionary work. I love this place and these people. I feel the Lord more in my life. I am making changes. I just want to be the person that the Lord wants me to be. 

I love you all so much. Until next week :)

Hermanaut

Me with that animalito
IT IS NOT BITING MY FINGER!
MY FINGER IS IN IT?S MOUTH! hahaha

Just happy :)

Well, I feel like I have a ton to say. I love my new area and my new companion. The weather here right now is PERFECT which is awesome because we have A LOT more hills and mountains in this area than I have ever had in the mission. Honestly, there are a ton. I am looking forward to losing to pounds haha. Honestly, I am just really happy. My companion and I are on the same page. We stick to 100% obedience. We have the same goals, the same thought process, and we are both OK with a little bit of healthy silence. We have expressed our desires for this change and I know that we will complete them. We saw a lot of miracles in the last week. We had new people every day to teach and all were very accepting of our message. We are working with a part-member family, the Gomez family. The mother is less-active and her two children, Monica (15)  and Abraham (18, almost 19) are very willing to build their faith in Jesus Christ. Hermana Canales and I have decided that we want to work a lot in activation. The ward is seriously huge and we are in the part that is the least cared for. It seems that we have a lot of less active families who live here. BUT the best thing is that we have the ex bishop in our area. Brother Martin (the ex bishop) worked very hard in his 5 years to expand the members in what was his small branch to a ward, then from a ward sharing a building with another ward, to having their own building. His succeeded a lot in his time. He loves missionary work. His son is the mission. And more than that, he is just a great man. His wife is suffering from a very difficult health problem. Her kidneys have completely stopped working. In the last 3 years her body has completely decayed. She can't walk, has a very strict diet, and it's just a very difficult situation. But I have never seen such a loving husband. He is very faithful in Christ and understands the Atonement and that the GOSPEL is true and real. But anyways, we are working with him because he knows the members in this area and so we want to activate a lot of people and we know that if we just work hard and be obedient and just love and have the best intentions the Lord will bless us. I

I have made some huge changes in these last few weeks. Well, I have tried. I say I have tried because I really haven't done anything but the Lord has done everything. I feel very different. I have been trying so very hard to put all of my confidence and faith the Christ. I have asked Him to give me strength to do things that I never thought that I could. He has blessed me in so many ways. I only have 6 months left. I have looked back at my time in the mission and feel very content. I see errors and imperfections. But I also see the huge change that the Lord has made in my heart. I know that I could have given more at some points or that I could have done something better at other points but I just feel grateful because this whole time I know that I was just giving the best that I could in those moments. And I see now that my best is still getting better, that although it's been up and down, it's always been going up. I have been blessed so much. I feel so grateful. I actually know what gratitude for blessings feels like. I realized a while ago that I was so prideful that I didn't even feel grateful when something happened. But now I just feel such utter gratitude. I have made changes here in the mission that I could have not accomplished in any other place. Maybe my reason to go on a mission in the first place wasn't so great but the Lord works in very odd ways to help us go where we need to go. He is so loving. God and our Savior Jesus Christ love us so very much. His plan is a plan of pure love to help His children come back to Him. I am really not sure what waits for me when i get back in six months. I know what I would like but I am giving up my wants and just letting God do what He wants with my life. I have made some decisions to help me let Him make of my life what He wants. They are small changes and decisions but are things that I think will help me put my life in His hands. I just feel different. I am just so grateful.

So I guess with that said I just want to leave my testimony. I know that this Gospel is real and true. I know that the Book of Mormon is pure and simple and testifies of simple and small restored truths that are one hundred percent necessary to be able to give our lives up to God. I know that what waits for us is what should motivate us to work harder every day. I know that Christ IS THE ONLY WAY. I love this Gospel. I know that as we come to understand it line upon line, precept upon precept, we learn things that we never thought that we would and it changes us in a way that we never thought we could change. I know that the happiness of our lives depends on the love that we do or do not choose to give to every single person in this world whether "they deserve it" or not. BUT EVERY PERSON IN THIS WORLD DESERVES LOVE. And if God loves us being the sinners that we are then why should we choose who does or doesn't deserve our love? I testify that Christ live and that He works in our lives daily. He is waiting to receive us with arms opened very wide. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love every single one of you. Thank you so much for supporting me in this time in my life.

Hermanaut 

Cuernavaca!!!

Well I have two great announcements! One, today I was transferred to a new area IN CUERNAVACA!!!! This city is where the mission home is and I have wanted to be here since I got to the mission and it finally happened! I am in the Cuernavaca Zone in an area called Burgos C. There are THREE sets of sister missionaries in this ward! AND this is where my trainer finished her mission! I am stoked to be here and have this new start. Really, the area is pretty new. We don't have many investigators but I am super stoked to get things going! The other anouncement is that TODAY I complete 11 months in the mission! Whaaaat?! In one month I will have ONE YEAR. The time is going by but not too fast and not too slow.

Last week we went to the Lima familes house for New Years Even dinner. We ate Pozole with is this DELICIOUS soup dish thing. It's truly to die for. The Lima's lived the farthest away from our area and out house so we got to stay with the other sisters in that ward for the night. We really enjoyed it and we were able to start off the new year well! 

On Saturday we enjoyed the baptism of Roberta (10) and Frida (8). These beautiful girls and their parents came to us from another ward. The girls had beed waiting to get baptized for a long time. Their parents are not members still. They like to do a lot of worldly things still. They finally let their girls get baptized. I must say, this baptism was one of the most special and I am not sure why. Although they were both very young they worked incredibly hard to be able to get to this point. Frida, the younger one was very shy. In the beginning of the lessons with them if we asked her a question she would get nervous and scared and start to cry. We worked with her a ton to get rid of her fears. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting where everyone who wants to can go up to the microphone and give their testimony. Well, as I sat next to Frida I suggested to her that she should go give hers. Well it took a bit but she finally told me that should would if I went with her. So we went up together. She held me hand the whole time and I stood next to her as she said "I know that this church is true. I know that God listens to our prayers up there in the heavens. In the name os Jesus Christ, amen." Well you all know me and know that I had tears in her eyes. As we sat back down with her dad he just looked at his daughter in amazement and kissed her on the forehead. Frida's parents had commented to us several times that she lacked a lot of confidence and was afraid to be away from her parents but as we have been able to teach her she has been a lot better. I feel so blessed to have seen this miracle. I know that Christ is merciful with all those that believe in His name and even with those who have hope for something better. He loves us and give us the courage we need to grow and be strong.

I am grateful for this new year. I am grateful to be in this new area. My companion just got done with her training. I am excited to work with her. I have been blessed with another Mexican companion, Hermana Canales from the state of Durango. I always get excited to wrk with sisters that have just gotten our of training because they have so much life, love and excitement for the work. I know we are going to continue seeing miracles.

Love you all and happy new year!

Hermanaut