"I have really become more grateful for everything in my life since being here on the mission..."

December 1, 2014

Baptize Manuel... check.

Memorize 25 scripture masteries word for word in Spanish,.. check.

Hope and pray with all my heart that we don't have changes in the transfers next week... check. 

No I ate no turkey this week. but I had some delicious rice and beans. Actually rice and beans are super good here so I'm not complaining at all.

Thanksgiving day picture!! We didn't do anything special. We ate ground meat and rice and beans.

Yes there are lots of holidays where the kids have school off here but I never know when they are and people will sometimes just randomly tell us that there was no class on whatever day. I don't remember what 5 de Mayo is actually.... but it's not that big I don't think... Thanksgiving sounds like it was so fun!!!

I have really become more grateful for everything in my life since being here on the mission, and I honestly would not trade anything that I now have for anything else. Because I know in the end that even all the stuff I don't like about my life like all the problems I have, will be for the best. I am so grateful for a family that raised me in the gospel, and I can't even express how much I love this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ. Every time I teach someone and get to know their situation it makes me reflect on my own life and makes my heart ache 'cause it doesn't matter how much or how little they have, I know the gospel is the best thing anyone could ever have and I know my life is just so much happier because I have come to know and understand all that Christ did for us and how we can become more than just imperfect humans one day...

On Thursday HW and I made all of our prayers just be pure giving thanks prayers, and it was really cool. This morning we had this leadership meeting thing and the missionaries who are going home next week in transfers all bore their testimonies and I got all scared to end my mission again. I REALLY love being here and I don't want to leave!!!!! AHHH I'm scared the time is going by way too fast!

Guess who I got to see on Tuesday!!!! My beloved daughter HP!!! We had this double- zone capacitation thing. (Again. I feel like we have about a thousand of those every week...)

and I got to see my old zone lakin cause we were with them!!!! HW and I had to give a presentation again and we sang.. it was pretty fun!

All the girls in the capacitation thing.

Good news, Manuel got baptized. He was so prepared and so happy and now we just have to get him to the temple and baptize his family!!!!!

 Us with Manuel!!!! Thumbs up.

Ok you guys remember Lucy from lzamal? She got baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hermana P [Sam's previous companion] told me and I got so excited!!!! If you guys were praying for her then thank you 'cause it paid off!!!!

Miguel is having family problems cause his family told him that he can't be the godfather for his nephew anymore cause he got baptized and he's feeling kinda down about that... Pray for him!

Retaining converts is probably the biggest struggle here... I don't know why but it's way hard to keep your converts active!  Por Favor oren por [Please pray for...] Jasmin, Manuel, Miguel, Emmanuel, Maribel, and Edy:)

Hope you all have a very merry week!

HS

"We're weird gringas who randomly start talking to you on the bus or in the street or whatever and then try to baptize you."

November 24, 2014

School, I really haven't thought much about it.... I can't decide if I want to come home and work for a summer or go straight to school.

I just want to stay here and go to college in Mexico. Can I do that?

Thanksgiving sounds like such a party. Sorry I can't be there. Get together with everyone for Christmas and skype me!

Did you send any m&ms in the package you sent? Just wondering cause we went to Walmart today (it was a special day) and wanted to buy m&ms but chocolate is SOO expensive in Mexico!! So all the girls in our zone have their parents send them chocolate and stuff. It's really great.

OK so now on to the big news..... like the whole week. Holy cow so much stuff has happened I don't even know where to start!

On Tuesday we had yet ANOTHER missionary leadership capacitation meeting  from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening... that's 11 hours. of pure capacitation. AND they asked me and HW to give a part of it cause some of the leaders had to prepare a message. SO we had to share the importance of learning by memory and by the Spirit, the 10 points of how to begin teaching, according to preach my gospel. AND elder R (one of the assistants) asked us to make it fun and something that the crowd would never forget... Uhh ok no pressure or anything....

SO guess what we did? We made up songs to all of the points and sang the really good ones to everyone so that they could remember them easier! We picked tunes to hymns and just changed the words, everyone laughed at us a lot but hey, I don't think they'll forget it.

Then after the thing, there was a major problem with some hermanas in our zone, and we had to cancel our plans and go to the hermana's house to talk to them, and then it was really late, like way after the time that we need to be in the house when the assistants call and tell us that they're coming to the hermana's house too so president can talk to them. And we got home super late that night, and that was the start of my week of getting like no sleep...

Then I had to go to this same hermanas area to do divisions AGAIN, but for 3 days this time.. UGH I hate being away from my area and my companion for 3 days, I get anxious. But it's all good because then I came back on Saturday, and that night we had a baptism!!!!! Miguel got baptized!!! And so did this family of 3 that the elders were teaching. It was soo crazy spiritual and Miguel invited his brother and bore his testimony and was so excited for his baptism even though he was so nervous for his interview and he is just so prepared. Its been like four weeks since we started teaching him and he already got baptized. AND he's totally going on a mission cause he's 21 and already going to mission prep classes and he goes on visits with us and everything. Ohhh he's so awesome.

J and Miguel both got confirmed yesterday. J had to wait a week because last week was stake conference. But it's all good! Except for the fact that this is STILL all a big secret from her dad, whom nobody wants to talk to 'cause apparently he's really scary, and J doesn't ever allow us to meet him...

Today was so cool 'cause like 5 different people contacted US, as in, instead of us going up to people to try to talk to them about the gospel, they come up to US and start talking!! And that doesn't happen a lot because usually the people are scared of us cause we're weird gringas who randomly start talking to you on the bus or in the street or whatever and then try to baptize you.

which is totally true:)

Ok I'll send pictures of the baptism!

I love you all!

BYE!

HS

Ok I have to go now ‘cause we have to go baptize more people.

Haha yes we do exercise, but there’s no pyramids here in Merida.... just Izamal. We get up at like 6 every morning. And we're trying to be healthy so we run to the little fruit stand that’s close to our house and buy fruit every morning. :)

Sam and Hma Williams eating limes

Miranda is so stinkin’ cute in her Frozen outfit!!

OK so where do I begin?? JASMIN!!!! She got baptized on Tuesday and she's the greatest. The service was really nice even though not a lot of people came because it was a last minute change, she WAS going to get baptized last Saturday, so that’s what they announced in church so everyone came... but she couldn't until Tuesday and by that time everyone already had plans... but it doesn't matter cause it was still really beautiful and HW and I sang and the elders came and she has a really strong testimony. Even though she almost passed out from how cold the water was. ( but I think she was exaggerating ‘cause I felt it later and it wasn't that cold.)  I wrote more about her in the picture email.   [Here it is…] Oh my gosh she is literally the best ever she got baptized with such a strong testimony and she is totally going to be a super faithful member her whole life and we're going to be friends forever. She told us that the reason she wanted to get baptized was because she wanted to be able to go to the temple one day with her family and get sealed to them, and do the temple work for her ancestors.....

Do you know HOW MANY people get baptized with that in mind? very few!! But that’s like one of the most important reasons really, eternal families:)

 Samantha and Jasmin

We did divisions twice with some hermanas that have some big problems that we now need to try to resolve, one of which requires that we do divisions again, possibly for a WHOLE WEEK! Who knows how we're going to be able to have time for our own area.... oh well.

This week alone I lost a bag that I bought, 2 Books of Mormon, 2 gospel principles books, my CAMERA, an old agenda that had a lot of info, another bag that randomly disappeared, and get this, MY AGENDA for this transfer. UGH! Anyone who has been a missionary understands my anguish right now. YOU ARE NOTHING WITH OUT YOUR AGENDA. Luckily and thanks to lots of prayer, almost everything else showed up again, but my agenda is still gone!!!! I'm quite depressed... I have a temporary one but it’s not the same and its way chafa..:( but oh well I'll keep praying ‘cause prayer totally works.

MIGUEL IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY! We changed his baptismal date cause he's so prepared and we couldn't wait any longer! This week he went out on visits with us again, and went to mission prep yesterday..... :O He is so awesome!!!!!! I'll try to send a picture of him. Oh HW just told me she's going to send me this picture we have of him so you can see him in a sec. I'll send it in a minute.

Stake conference yesterday! It was wayyy good! This guy from the seventy came and they had all these recently baptized or activated people participate and talk with telling them before and they talked about their conversion stories and it was so cool! Manuel came and met Presidente Garcia. Manuel is getting baptized on the 29th of this month:) He's awesome too.

Ok I have to go now ‘cause we have to go baptize more people. I love you all and hope you have Happy Thanksgivings!!

HS