So it's Monday again! This week was crazy - it went by soooo slooow. But that's a good thing :) We felt like we hardly had any lessons and that we were in the street all day every day, but when we counted at the end, we had 49 lessons this week! Everyone is spoiling us and making our favorite food before we go home. And in every house that we go to, they ask us how much time we have left before we go home. But even with everyone talking about it, I still can't believe it. I know that I only have two weeks left, but it's like I can't imagine any other life than missionary life. I still feel like I just got here, but at the same time I can't remember any other life. It's a pretty crazy feeling. It still hasn't hit me that I'm coming home soon, and I don't think it will for another 2 weeks. But I am getting tired. Every time I go home I feel exhausted. And before I know it, it's 6:30 and I have to get up again. Actually that's pretty easy - I can't sleep past 6:30. I'm too used to getting up! Often I'm awake by 6 and just laying in bed waiting for the alarm to go off!
Jordy, you should wait for me and we'll go to Institute together! (haha you don't have too....)
Waterton looked like a ton of fun. I'm an expert at walking right now, so we should go hiking a lot when I get home lol!
Mackie, thanks for your letter! It made me so happy to hear from you! I love you!
So this week we did divisions with Hna Bennett and her companion Hna Tirado. I spent the day with Hna Bennett, which was a ton of fun. It reminded me of the MTC days - it feels like that was forever ago!
I love Mexico - we saw some interesting things this week that you wouldn't see anywhere else...
- there was a guy smoking weed in front of his house, and this guy walked past him walking his dog. The weed-smoker handed his joint over to the dog-walker, who took a few puffs, handed it back and continued on his way! What friendly neighbours to share their drugs.
- A guy was trimming his bushes with a giant machete. We contacted him. Then he said we were ''muy guapas'' (very gorgeous) so we just gave him a pamphlet and kept going! It's a bit strange when the guy with a machete starts trying to flirt...
- a drunk guy was really mad about something and was shouting and cursing and throwing rocks at a house... that's actually a pretty normal occurrence lol.
And the sun had this crazy ring around it! They were saying that there were ice crystals in the air, and that the sun was reflecting off them, making the crazy circle. The people kind of went crazy - lots were saying it was a sign from God, while others were saying that it was announcing some big natural disaster. But so far we've just been getting a lot of rain lol.
 |
| The world ended.... |
And the other day, we went to a member's house to eat - and normally we love eating with this member because the food is always delicious! But this time, she had forgotten... so her husband gave us the food... and he gave us chicharron! That is pretty much pig skin - they fry it, then they soak it in salsa, so it becomes a nasty, soggy, booger looking thing. It is terrible. Hna Ingram and I were both wondering what we were going to do - I can choke it down, but I don't like it, and she hates it. So thankfully, the member left for five minutes, so we grabbed the plastic bag I had in my backpack to protect my books from the rain, and we shoveled all the chicharron into it then hid it in my backpack. That stuff is seriously so nasty. It's almost as bad a mole lol.
 |
| Hiding the chicharron. |
We had a super spiritual experience the other day. Around Christmas time, a member here took us to visit a lady named Guadelupe - she's a member, but she has cancer, so she hasn't been able to come to church in a while. She's the only member in her family. When I met her at Christmas, she was in a lot of pain, and you could see the tumor in her neck - it was about golf ball size. This last week, we went to visit her again. Her house was full of people - all of her family was there. They ushered us to her room, and she was sitting on her bed. she was sooo skinny. She was literally like a skeleton just sitting there. and the tumor was huge - like softball sized. We sang ''I Stand all Amazed'' with her, and she was mouthing along the words with us as we sang. Then we said a prayer and talked with her for a bit. It was really hard for her to talk - we had to really focus to understand what she was saying. She remembered me from when I came last time to see her. She told us that she had died for five minutes and had seen Heavenly Father, but that He had sent her back. She bore her testimony to us, saying that she knew that the church is true, and that God loves her. It was amazing to read the scriptures with her and talk about how much God loves us, and how He was helping her. There was a really special spirit in the room - and there was not a dry eye. Even the nurse that had come to check on her was crying. As we left, she asked us to do a favor for her. She told us to tell the Bishop that she wants her funeral to be held in the church. It was amazing to see someone who has suffered so much continue to have such strong faith.
So our Investigators!
- Alejandro - on Wednesday he was feeling so excited to get baptized. He had his interview - but he had to have a special interview. So later that day we went to the stake center and he had his special interview with the President. And he passed! But then... on Friday he sent us a huge text saying that he had thought about it, and he didn't feel ready. So we rushed over to his house to see what had happened. Turns out that whatever he did in the past that required a special interview was really hard for him to think about, and it made him really emotional, and he didn't want to get baptized any more. We talked with him for a while, and he agreed to pray that night, and we went back Saturday morning to see him. When we went back on Saturday, he told us that he felt like he wasn't ready. He used to run Marathons, so he compared it to that - that when he had a race the next day, if he wasn't ready then he wouldn't go, and instead would double his efforts for the next race. So he felt like he wasn't ready, so he wanted to wait for the next Saturday, and meanwhile he would redouble his efforts and pray and study a lot to help him be ready. So that's what we're doing! Please keep praying for him! He's a really great guy, and he is sooo ready to get baptized, he just needs a lot of help to get over his doubts!
- Bertha and Carlos are still doing great. They are both super excited to get baptized and love everything that they are learning. Please keep praying for them too!
- and Nora wasn't progressing so we had to drop her.
I miss you guys. I really do. I'm excited to hug you all. But at the same time I feel really sad to leave. I can't imagine what it'll be like to not be a missionary anymore. And I'm going to miss the people here. I love them so much. It is something amazing to be representative of Jesus Christ - we're constantly teaching and testifying of Him and His plan for us. The spirit is always so strong. And it's amazing to see the changes in people's lives when the Spirit testifies to them of the truthfulness of our message. I'm so glad that I came on a mission, and that the Lord called me to serve among the people of Mexico.
Be good, say your prayers, and read the scriptures. These things are seriously so important to do. They are the things that help us come closer to Christ and that keep us from falling when things get hard. I love you all tons.
-Hna Taylor
PS. President and Sis Stutznegger say ''Hi'' :)
PPS. Photo credits to Hna Ingram
No comments:
Post a Comment