Monday, April 14, 2014

{Week 18} Aculco - April 14, 2014

I love you all so much! Thanks for the letters everyone. And Dad thanks too. I love hearing from you and I felt the Spirit and your love when I read your letter. (yeah, I cried)



  
So tomorrow is transfers, but my comp and I don't have cambios. We'll be together for another 6 weeks! I've decided I'm happy for that. We have another 6 weeks to learn to talk to each other and get along better. She was sick this week (doesn't that sound familiar?) and on Thursday we went to the temple to see the doctor, who ordered her to bed rest for all of Thursday. It's the favorite joke of my district and my ward that I 'kill' all my comps. It's pretty funny. Everyone is always telling Hna Cruz to be careful with me.

Me at the Mexico City Temple

The temple was so beautiful. I love going there. The feeling is great. And we took a taxi to get there, and ended up having a great talk with the driver about the gospel.

(Unfortunately, she probably won't be able to go in this temple. 
 It closed for renovations in January and isn't expected to reopen until late 2015.)


On Friday I went on splits for the first time! Hna Mendoza - the sister training leader for our zone who only has 6 weeks left - came to our area with Hna Cruz, and I went to her area with Hna Williams (who has 6 more weeks than me)!  So there were two tall blond white girls together in an area where the guys just looove to catcall. So that was fun. We taught some lessons and contacted and chatted! It was really nice to be with her and I learned some stuff from her in the one day we were together. She's super sweet, but has cambios. Tomorrow she'll no longer be in my district.
My district. Left to Right - Arcia, Sibrian, Cruz, Me, Nance, Mendoza, Williams, Cardenas, Bennett, Mercedes, with Hunsaker in the back and the DL Elder Perrea in the front.

And on Tuesday we had to go to the immigration offices to finish visa stuff. So we had to be at the mission offices by 7:30 am, so we had to leave at 6! Then all the Americans, one elder from the Dominican Republic, and one Canadian (me!) all said adios to our comps, who hung out in the offices all day while we all went to immigration! That was fun - a herd of white people. There were about 18 of us. And Elder Hixen was there! I was so happy to see him again. He's a great elder, and has baptized almost every week. In case you don't remember, he was in my district in the MTC and was one of my zone leaders there. So it was Bennett, Lopez, Hixen and me - half our MTC district. Hna Gurley was scheduled to go the next day so wasn't with us. And then when we went to the temple, Elder Hixen was there too! I got to see him 2 days in a row!

Something that made me pretty sad this week was our investigator Armando. He's about 38 and a sweet guy. We've been teaching him for a while, and he was supposed to get baptized yesterday. He passed his baptismal interview, he was excited, and then Saturday night he told us he wasn't sure. Sunday we went to get him to bring him to church, and he wouldn't open the door. That was pretty sad. The church is true, and it's so sad to see people who know it's true, not want to change their lives. And then our other 2 investigators didn't come either. And another just left on vacation until May. So that's been kind of depressing. But somehow, I now have a renewed determination to work harder than ever. Hopefully I'll be able to communicate it to my comp, and we'll work harder than ever!

And Mom, about the shoes - I would love another pair of the Kadee crocs in black. They're the comfiest shoes - the clarks rub the side of my foot funny, and aren't great for all day walking.

Have I told you about Hno F? He's the old bishop, and is now the first counselor. He's one of the 4 men in my ward that have served missions, and he's awesome! He's funny and really smart, and he helps us out a lot. He was the one that was going to feed us tacos de tripe on Thursday, but my comp was sick so we missed out. Rayos. (that means 'lightning', but they use it like 'dang it' here)

But things are looking up! Obviously there is something that we can still do in this area to help the people, or we wouldn't still be here. There was a rumor going around for awhile that they were going to close our area because there hadn't been baptisms in so long. But we're still here, and I'm determined to work harder than ever. We taught some members about patience the other day, and I'm doing my best to have patience and faith in the Lord's timing, and until then just keep working as hard as I can. We've had some amazing experiences here, and I know that God is on our side. Did I ever tell you that I read Jesus the Christ about a month ago? That was amazing. I highly recommend it - but if you don't have time, just read the beginning, the end, and the part about the sermon on the mount - particularly the Lord's prayer. Seriously amazing.
Me at the Visitors' Center

I love you all!
Be good, say your prayers, and have patience in all things! Mom if you're still reading Preach My Gospel, the part in the attributes of Christ about patience is pretty awesome. I recommend it!
Love you!

-Hermana Taylor



And now for some more pictures . . .
My kitchen. We have a blender, a fridge, and a stove.

The other side of my kitchen. Food!

Hna E - a less active convert of 4 years, who is the sweetest old lady you'll ever meet. She has cancer :(

THis area is called Aguamiel, and is pretty typical of my area. Big edificios and large plazas
  
The view from the top of one edificio - the green tents are the tiangis - the outdoor markets that are there everyday.

 The tiangis again.
  

This little girl is my favorite! Pretty sure she's the Mexican version of Katia. Her name is Sophia.
We were in an investigators house and she had a coconut monkey! I had to take a picture. Were your coconut monkeys like this mom? and yes I did get your FB letters from Hawaii and the mission experiences. Thanks!
 
It's hailed twice.


Daniela,Hna Cruz, Andrea, and me! I love this family - the V's. They are amazing and their kids are all really sweet. I sent this because we fit 5-6 people in the back of a car on a regular basis. Seatbelts don't exist here.


 Love you all!

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