So still no baby, huh Chelle and Logan. I knew it was possible that it had already been born, and I was getting so excited I had almost convinced myself that you had already had it! So when I logged on and found out that still no, I was actually disappointed lol! Pero esta bien. It will come when it's time - and I guess really it doesn't make much of a difference to me right now since I won't get to hold it anyway!
And dad! I forgot to mention it last week, but I loved your little poem! I even printed it off and I read it every now and then. I love you dad! And I love getting to talk to you 'once in a while'
So funny story! I made the biggest Spanish mistake I've made in a lesson so far. I was trying to say that 'God knows us really well' - but I accidentally used the wrong word, and apparently pronounced some stuff wrong, so it came out that 'God doesn't taste so good'... oops! Our investigators laughed for about 5 min, and then after that they almost couldn't look at me for the rest of the lesson or they would just start laughing again. It was pretty funny!
And our branch mission leader, Hno Carlos has this huge white van - kind of like the Broadhead bus. And the only seats are for the driver and the passenger. But he and his family give us and our investigators rides every now and then to church, activities, and so on. It's always a lot of fun, because usually there are about 12 of us in the back - some sit on the tire wells, some sit on a spare tire he keeps back there, and the rest all sit on tiny plastic chairs - the kind they have in the nursery. It's always hilarious when there are a bunch of us. And the other day, Hno Carlos had to slam on the brakes, and this one lady, Hna Yolanda, fell off her little plastic chair. She's 52, and slightly round in her figure, so when she fell, she just rolled from the back of the van right up to the front, and none of us were able to catch her or stop her. She was fine, and we all just laughed the rest of the way to the church. It was one of the funniest things ever, and she was a great sport about it.
And we had an investigator in church! (por fin!) Gerardo is 18, and he said he liked it, but he wasn't too impressed that everyone was in suits and dresses. He stayed for sacrament meeting and the first class, but then left before priesthood. And it was awesome, because sacrament meeting was this Young Men's program - all the young men and some of their leaders gave talks about different aspects of the priesthood - I'm hoping that seeing all those boys around his age bearing their testimonies helps Gerardo. We've been teaching him and his sister for about a month before he came to church, and he's not doing great with his commitments - still smokes and drinks, and rarely reads el Libro de Mormon, but he keeps saying he wants to get baptized, and he's always making appointments with us - we live in the same street, so we're always running into him. I'm hoping church will give him the boost he needs!
And sad story. Remember how I told you that there was someone who randomly came to church last week? Well her name is Cynthia. She's 15, and 5 minutes into our lesson with her, she said that she doesn't like being Catholic, she felt something amazing at church, and could we baptize her please! She was honestly so prepared! And then when we finished and asked if she had any questions, she said 'I still don't understand prayer very well. Could you help me with that please?' And then she said the closing prayer. Usually when our investigators do that, they say very basic prayers, and you can tell they feel awkward, and sometimes that they obviously don't believe anyone is listening. But her prayer was so sincere, you could tell she was actually talking to her Heavenly Father. She thanked Him for what she had learned and felt, and asked for His help so her family would understand. And this is where it gets sad. She lives with her Grandma - we don't know why, and her Grandma is very Catholic - she was mad about Cynthia talking to us. And then two days later when we came for our next appointment, Cynthia told us that her Grandma had forbidden her from listening to us more or coming to our church and if she did, she would be kicked out of the house. So for right now, we can't teach her, and it's so sad because she was amazing! She was so interested. We're praying for her and to know if we should try talking to her Grandma. I really hope she gets the chance to be baptized some day. It's so sad when Satan works against those people who are ready and willing to be baptized.
We have this other investigator, Rosio, and after the second lesson, she told us her husband just lost his job, and she and her family are doing really badly financially, so they can't come to church because she has to work. We had just finished teaching her about keeping the Sabbath day holy, so I pulled out D&C 59, which talks about how if we we keep the sabbath day holy and go to church, we will receive the fullness of the earth. It was a really great lesson, and she agreed to come, but then Sunday came and she didn't show, and didn't answer when we went to her house to get her. It's so sad when the people don't trust in the promises the Lord has made for us. I know that when we are obedient, those promised blessings come! He will help us, we just have to have the faith to take that step and be obedient to his commandments.
BUT! By knocking doors, we found this really great family - Rosio and Gonzalo, and their 3 kids (18,11 and 6). When we first knocked, Rosio told us they were busy, but come back tomorrow. So we did, and they let us in! And we were instantly intimidated. Most of the people we teach live in tiny houses and are super poor, but their house was huge! and beautiful! Granite counter tops, a kitchen bigger than some of the houses here, really nice furnishings. So we were intimidated. But they sat us down and were super nice and instantly helped us feel at ease. They are very friendly, and very interested in knowing about us - tons of questions. Unfortunately, we had barely started when some customers came. Turns out they are in the music business. All of them sing, and have been on and won shows that are like American Idol here in Mexico. So they are super well off, and very busy. We sat there waiting for awhile, but eventually had to leave because of another appointment. We tried to bow out quietly, but Gonzalo stopped everything and came over to make another appointment with us. So we're going back tomorrow! They're super nice, and we hope they turn out to be interested.
And I was sick this week! It all started on Monday night, when Hna Zambrano got sick and had to go to the hospital. Turns out she had Typhoid and Salmonella! Then for the rest of the week, Hna Williams, Hna Bravo and I all felt under the weather - diarrhea, headaches, lack of appetite, and almost threw up several times. But we all feel better now! But for a couple days, all I wanted to do was sleep.
And on Saturday, a couple of our street contacts said some pretty horrible stuff to Hna Bravo - thankfully I didn't understand it, and then later on some drunks in a van threw beer at us - got my skirt pretty good. And then one of our members who is ancient and a little crazy was telling Hna Bravo 'her future' and it was pretty dreary. Obviously we didn't believe it, but it was a bit of a downer for her. So Saturday was difficult. Usually is, because there are the tianguis all day, so no one is home and all our street contacts are from different places. And then at 5ish they take the tianguis down, and the streets are filthy with garbage and rotten fruits, and everyone gets drunk, so there are borrachos everywhere. Saturdays are difficult. And dangerous! A few Saturday's ago someone was trying to kill someone in the tianguis and missed or something and killed a 3 year old on accident. Apparently the Mafia is big here... so yeah...
But yeah! That's my week! The good, the bad and the ugly. But I do love it here. Sometimes I have to tell myself that over and over until I believe it, but it's the truth. Despite the difficulties, it's great! I love the members. And I'm learning a lot about myself, and about the Lord and His love for me and all His children. I'm reading in 3rd Nephi right now - I love Chapter 11, when Christ comes to the people. First he tells them who he is, then he calls 12 apostles, and then he teaches baptism! Baptism is truly so important - I feel like sometimes we forget that, and why we take the sacrament every week, but it really is so essential.
I love you all! I love talking to you, and I hope you all have a lovely week back home in Canada. The other day someone asked me to describe Canada, and if we were influenced by that earthquake in Japan a couple years ago... I was like 'no... Canada is on the other side of the world from Japan, so... no, we didn't have any problems...' it was pretty funny!
But that's all for now! Chelle - good luck! I wish you and Logan the best! I know you two are amazing and will be great parents. I'm hoping there will be some good news for me next week informing me that I am now a tia! And everybody else, you're all awesome too. Be good, say your prayers, and take a bazillion pictures of the baby for me!
Love you all
- Hermana Taylor
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