{Week 29} Polanco - June 30, 2014

First: Tell Katia and Mackenzie that 'Glasses' in Español is 'Lentes'. Goodness you made me laugh over that one!

Second: Addison is just so cute! I loved the pics of the baby blessing. You're all adorable.

Third: Jordy and Carls, thanks tons for your letters. I love hearing from you all. You both make me laugh. Have a ton of fun at trek!

So this week started out great! Tuesday we found a family of 4 to teach, and then Wednesday we found 2 more investigators and placed 3 baptismal dates! All our investigators were excited and looking forward to coming to church and getting baptized... or so we thought. Because since then, it seems like half of them have fallen off the face of the earth because they are NEVER at home (or just won't answer), and they gave us false phone numbers so we can't get a hold of them. Then the mom of the family of 4 decided she hates religion and won't let us in the house and won't give permission for us to teach her 3 kids or baptize them, which is really sad because they still want to but we can't do anything without permission from their mom. The last few days in the week we worked super hard and contacted un buen de personas, and searched out a bunch of references... but as of right now we still haven't found anyone. So we didn't have any investigators in church again, and we are currently investigatorless! (is that a word?)

So... our Zone Leaders decided that after two weeks of not a lot of success, we needed some counsel, so Sunday afternoon they had us come to the Stake Center (15 min away by combi) so they could help us... but we ended up waiting until almost 7 to talk to them because they were really busy taking the weekly reports from all the district leaders. Then they talked with us and gave us some good counsel - like pray more, study more, and fast more (which was funny because we fasted 3 times last week) and have faith! So Hna Mercedes and I have made a few goals to help us do this, and we're going to keep working hard and having faith!

But yeah! Our area is tough but we're working hard - and I know that in the Lord's timing we'll find those people who are waiting and prepared to receive His gospel! I'm learning a lot about faith in the mission. And patience. And diligence. And humbleness. It's a good thing. I love Doctrina y Convenios. It talks a lot about missionary work and I'm learning a lot while reading it.

And Presidente Stutznegger arrives today! We're all super excited to meet him and his wife and find out what changes will be happening in the mission.

So we were knocking doors the other day, and this guy who was really drunk answered and said 'quien busca? - who are you looking for?', and he was really nice about it, saying he'd go get whoever we wanted to talk to, so we started to explain 'we're missionaries....' And he went crazy! Started cursing at us and yelling - it looked like he wanted to hit us - 'cept he was so drunk he probably would have just missed and fallen over. So we speed walked away while he continued to yell after us. He tried to chase us but was so drunk he ended up just plopping down on the sidewalk and continued to shout... it was kind of funny. Thankfully I don't understand Spanish curses so I had no idea what he was saying. And Hna Mercedes only understood a bit because there are a lot of words different in the Dominican Republic. So we just left and continued on with our day!

And the food here is SOOO good. I love Mexican food. Just saying. There is this one thing they do - elote. It's corn on a cob that they put on a stick, then cover it in mayonnaise and cheese! Then, because it's Mexico, they put chili powder on it, but I prefer it without chili. It's really good! They put chili on everything here. Popsicles, fruit, you name it. Sometimes it's good - I love the salsa on rice, beans, tortillas, chicken... but not so great on popsicles and suckers. I'm not a huge fan of chili with my fruit either.

And Mexico lost in the World Cup on Sunday. It was funny, because they played at 10, and our sacrament meeting is at 10:30, so we were really worried that not a lot of people would come because they'd be to busy cheering for Mexico. Turned out not to be to much of a problem - almost all the members still came, as well as several less active. But the elders ended up not having a few investigators because of the game. We ended up loosing. Oh well. We were hoping they'd win so we could see how the people here would party.

Presidente Morales just sent us all a really nice email expressing his love for us, and his hopes that we'll continue to work hard. He was a great president, and I'll miss him. He knows the scriptures really well and was always pulling out scriptures to help us. I'm really grateful for the opportunity I had to learn from him.

I don't have many pictures this week - Just some of us in the house of a member. They dye eggs and stuff them with confetti then sell them to the states, so their house is always FILLED with cartons of eggs and it smells really strange - a mix of egg and dye. And their hands are permanently red or green or purple. So here's a lovely pic of me playing in the confetti!

Life is good. Difficult and a little stressful, but good. And this week we are going to work even harder and find some people to teach!

Love you all! Be good, say your prayers, and try eating elote!

¡Cuidese mucho!

-Hna Taylor

{Week 28} Polanco - June 23, 2014

So I was thinking the other day, the life of a missionary is really strange. We don't do anything normal - like work or study or hang out... instead we walk around all day in the sun and rain and knock on random doors and talk to as many strangers as we can. I like it!

I bought a soccer jersey in the tianguis - to honor el Mundial. Go Mexico!

 

Hey Smalls/Carls, thanks for the letter. I love hearing from you all - and I'm glad you've discovered your funny voice. Jordy! congrats on the VB award! You're seriously one of my heroes. I know how hard you worked for that.

And Katia and Mackenzie - you both look so much older! I feel like you've both grown up in the last 6 months. You're going to be so big when I get home!

And Rebecca! Thanks for your email too - to answer your question, it's almost always better to have members in the lessons - seriously their testimony helps so much. As for what they should/should not do... They should be willing to share their testimony and be a friend. That's why we bring members along, so that our investigators can have friends in church, and see that members are normal people, and because the testimony of a member can be really powerful. As for what members should NOT do... don't change doctrine. There is a lady in our ward right now, and we all have been warned to not bring her along because she's always changing the doctrine - 'tithing is optional', 'a bit of coffee is ok', 'you don't have to come to church every week'... stuff like that. As long as you aren't teaching apostasy, you should be OK!

So this week was hard. Not upsetting, just hard. Several crazy things happened that added to it. It was like almost everything that could go wrong did.

First of all, we only found one new investigator, and she is now avoiding us.

All of our other investigators suddenly got super busy, are avoiding us, aren't progressing, or moved to Veracruz.

We ran out of saldo. Saldo is the money we have on our cell - they deposit so much every month, and every call/text to someone costs a little bit. Usually we have enough to last us almost the whole month - we run out with like 2 or 3 days left. They deposited more saldo on Thursday, but on Friday we accidentally pocket dialed someone for an hour and a half - used up all our saldo. So now we can't call anyone - members to come with us, investigators to confirm or make appointments... We can only call other missionaries, cuz we have a plan that lets us call them for free.

And it rained everyday this week and flooded again last night.

And we have now knocked on almost every single door in our area... so that means we get to start over again! Hopefully someone different will answer each door this time and we can find new people to teach!

And someone fed us mole! Usually there is a whole bunch of food and I can get away with hardly eating any mole, but this time she brought us out a plate of rice and tortillas, all covered in mole. I was praying through the whole meal that I'd have the strength not to vomit.

And Saturday morning our ward had planned a trip to the Visitors center at the temple, and we had been planning all week to go. We had a bunch of less actives and one investigator that were going to come too. So we get to the chapel Saturday morning, only to find out we weren't allowed to go! Elder Gurken - our district leader - had called Pres Morales to make sure it was OK for the 6 missionaries in our ward to go with the ward. But right now there is an increased emphasis in keeping Elders and Hermanas apart. So the 4 elders got permission to go, but us 2 Hermanas didn't get to, because we can't go places with the Elders - apparently even if it's a ward activity.

But it's OK! Despite all that happened, I don't feel sad or stressed! I feel like the first several months of my mission were filled with stress, and that was no fun, so I've been working on have faith, patience and diligence, and that has helped me a ton. Bad things happen! It's part of life! We can't choose the trials, but we can choose our attitude about the trials. This week was hard and we didn't see a lot of results, but we worked hard and the blessings will come!

And our hard work this week ended with a great blessing - Ana Maria got baptized! She has been so great to teach. At first she wasn't very interested, but then she started reading the Book of Mormon, and she completely changed. She told us she knew it was true, and she was super excited to be baptized. Her baptismal date wasn't until next Sunday, but she progressed so fast we moved it up a week! She was so prepared - she's the niece of less actives and is 28 and has a 4 year old daughter. She broke up with her boyfriend and quit drinking coffee to be baptized - she had quit drinking alcohol and smoking a year ago. The day before the baptism she kept calling us, and we were always terrified she was calling to cancel, because that's the way the rest of the week had gone, but it was always with questions like 'do i need to bring a towel' or 'what time will it be at'. She cried during the whole baptism program she was so happy. It was such a blessing to teach her and I'm so happy she got baptized!

Us with Ana Maria and her daughter.

Elder Gurken, us, Ana Maria, her daughter, and Carmen - Ana's less active aunt.

So... yeah! That was my week! I love it here in Mexico. Life is good, and Hna Mercedes and I are determined to find 10 new investigators this week, because as of right now we pretty much don't have anyone...

And I'm reading the New Testament, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants all in Spanish right now - and I love them! The scriptures are amazing!

And now for my usual advice, be good, say your prayers, and read the scriptures!

Love you all tons :)

-Hna Taylor

{Week 27} Polanco - June 16, 2014

First of all, to answer your question mom... yes we are hand washing our clothes in this area. We do it in our kitchen sink - and we do it in cold water because it would take way to long to heat enough water. But in this house we live in a department with a bunch of random people, so we don't have a safe place we can hang our clothes to dry, so we just drape them over chairs and our bed posts - and it takes like 2-3 days for things to dry. My comp is smart and washes the clothes from the day before every morning... I'm a bit more lazy and do it all in one batch on Monday :)

So Mexico is awesome! They really like soccer here. In Canada we play street hockey or basketball, here they play street soccer. And right now it's el Mundial! The World Cup, so all day long we can hear people watching soccer - and absolutely no one is in the street or opens the door when Mexico is playing. Which always seems to be in the hottest part of the day. And everyone is walking around in soccer jerseys. And every night in our street there are a bunch of kids skateboarding, but even they have converted to soccer right now - using their skateboards to make the goals.

And the weather! I'm pretty sure I'm going to melt it's been so stinkin' hot! It hasn't rained in like a week, and we're dying of heat!

We had a multi-zonal conference on Tuesday - the last chance we had to see Pres and Hna Morales. There were about 4 zones there - and every sister in the mission was there. It was really great - Pres Morales talked a lot about Patience and Diligence and Faith. I've been studying these topics recently so it was great. The spirit was strong, and we all left with a renewed determination to work hard. To end, Pres Morales was talking to us, and then asked if we had any questions. One elder stood up, thanked him on behalf of all of us, and asked him to share his testimony with us. He did, and it was great, and I cried. Then we all hung around for a while taking pictures with him and his wife. I'm going to miss them!

Presidente Morales, Hna Mercedes and me.

Me and Hna Morales (the Mission President's wife).

All the sisters with Hna Morales.

Back L-R: Shingleton, Valdez, Cardenas, Valdivia, Hna Morales, Bravo, Zambrano, Turcio, Mercedes, Monzares (something like that), Cruz, Del Barrio

Front L-R: Lopez, Bennett, Gurley, Williams, Ingram, Me, Benson, Nance.

And on Saturday Angel got baptized! He's was our 9 year old investigator. His Grandpa baptized him and it was great. The spirit was strong and he was so excited! It was such a pleasure to teach him. He's a sweet little boy who really wanted to learn about the gospel and be baptized.

Us with Angel and his Grandpa.

Angel's Mom and little brother, his grandma, Angel, his Grandpa, Angel's Dad, and us.

And then on Sunday we had an adventure! Church ended, and 2 of the elders rushed of to the ward Heroes (air-o-es) to help Hna Ingram and Bennett - their 14 year old investigator had suddenly decided not to be baptized. So we continued as normal, hung out at the church, going to meetings etc, then went off to lunch. We were eating in the completely opposite end of the ward that day. We finally get there, only to get a phone call from the elders - telling us that the baptism was going to be at our church and they needed us to get there and get the water ready because they didn't have the keys. So we ate super fast and rushed back to the chapel! We started filling the font, and the water was cold, stunk horribly and was a lovely brownish yellow color. The baptismal font in this chapel is so annoying - it has caused us so many problems. Every time there is a baptism there is a problem with the font. Anyway, the elders get there, and try to fix the boiler, but it wasn't working. Then Hnas Ingram and Bennett arrived - with their investigator and her family! So while Ingram and Bennett stalled for about 30 min - taking the investigator for a tour of the chapel and singing a ton of hymns - the elders ran off to buy water paint so the water wouldn't be brown and Hna Mercedes and I kept trying to fix the font. We soon gave up though and went to help stall - introducing ourselves and bearing our testimonies. I pulled out all the pictures I have of you all and shared spiritualish stories about each of you to take more time. Finally the elders got there and we put the dye in the font - it was a lovely Jamaican blue but still stunk and was cold! But it all worked out and she got baptized. It was fun to come together as a district to help out a companionship, and it all was fine in the end :)

But yeah! That's been my week :) All of our investigators suddenly got sick so we didn't have anyone at church... but other than that it was a good week!

Hermana Mercedes and Me :)

Richelle and Logan, your kid is adorable.

Jordy, I loved hearing from you :)

And I loved all the stories this week - spiders, camping, etc. I was wondering when you'd get the letter! How long did it take?  (five weeks)

And Dad! Happy Father's Day! I was reading in Moroni 8:2-3 the other day, and I absolutely loved it. It's Mormon writing an epistle to his son Moroni, and I love the way he talks to his son. Every time I read it, it's like the words of my dad to me, and I tear up every time. I keep the picture of us hugging when we said goodbye in my scriptures, and I absolutely love it. Dad, you're awesome. Thank you so much for being my dad. Thanks for your example, thanks for your letters, thanks for your encouragement, and thanks for your prayers. I miss you a lot. But there is no where I'd rather be right now than here in Mexico. Whenever people ask why I wanted to serve a mission, I tell them about my dad - his mission, his example, and his encouragement to always be the best I can be, and I tell them that I want their families to have the same blessings mine has because my dad is a worthy priesthood holder, and he always taught us to give our all. I love you so much dad. I miss you and can't wait to return to swap mission stories lol. Just one more year!

I love you people. Mexico is awesome. They have these mototaxis - motorbikes that pull carts - and I love riding around in them. And whenever we meet new people, the weather always comes up - cuz it's HOT - then they ask where I'm from and just laugh when I say Canada cuz it's so hot here. And when they ask what I miss most I say SNOW.

And we finally got our Liahonas of General Conference! Every companionship gets one in English and Spanish - to practice the other language or something like that - but I claimed the English one and Hna Mercedes claimed the Spanish one and we are always reading them. I love conference!

Hna Mercedes and I make food at night - spaghetti, pancakes, quesadillas... and we sit in our kitchen eating them and chatting. And we live on the bottom floor of the department right by the front door, so everyone walks past our kitchen and we wave at them, because we don't have curtains in our kitchen. But we're working on getting some because sometimes it's a little awkward... :)

Us eating in the kitchen - notice the big curtainless windows :)

But yeah! that's my life! I'm happy - practicing patience, diligence, and faith. The faith that success will come, the diligence to work hard and the patience to wait for the blessings! Life is great :)

Love you all - be good, say your prayers, and give Dad a huge hug for me! Love you :)

-Hermana Taylor

{Week 26} Polanco - June 9, 2014

Hola Familia!

So . . . President Morales has been great. I'll be sad to see him and his wife go - but we're all super excited to see what will change with a new mission president. It's really funny because no one can say his name - the members keep asking me what it is, but it's pretty hard for them to say 'Stutznegger'. Hna Mercedes has decided she's just going to say 'Presidente'. lol

And Addison is so cute!!!!! (Insert her picture here)

(Picture inserted as Auntie Hermana Taylor requested!)

She is just so cute! I loved all the pictures, even if a bunch of them were duplicates. I especially loved the ones of the mama with her bebe. SO. CUTE. I can't wait to meet her! On Wednesday I'm at 6 months, so just one year until I get to meet her!

And my compa. Hna Mercedes is the bomb! She's got a super thick accent, and there are a lot of words different in her country, so it's funny because sometimes the people have trouble understanding both of us. But we get along great and work hard. My Spanish is doing pretty good - not fluent, but getting there! But I can always easily get my point across, and the people understand, and I understand them, so it's great! Gift of tongues is real!

So this area is great. We've contacted a bazillion people, and have a few return appointments, but generally people don't let us in. We've been working so hard with out finding any new people to teach, so this week our District Leader, Elder Gurken came to our area a couple times to help us contact - and Saturday night they got in a door, found 3 investigators, and put 3 baptism fechas - for the 28th! But then they didn't come to church the next morning so... that fell through. But still! 3 new investigators! And they have a big family so...;) And then Sunday night my comp and I really just wanted to find someone new to teach. We had about 10 appointments with people we had contacted for Sunday evening, and had to go on divisions with a lady and her daughter just to make it to them all, but NO ONE let us in! But 3 gave return return appointments, so we're holding out faith that they'll be there for later on. Then we went to visit Angel - the nine year old who's going to be baptized this Saturday. He's great. Even though he's only nine, he listens and understands, and is doing all the things he should be, and is super excited for his baptism. We left his house feeling happy, and were chatting as we walked down the street and this one lady stopped us and asked where we were from (both of us have pretty thick accents) so we're meeting with her tonight! Hope that works out! And all week we've been joking/hoping that we'll find a family of 4 to baptize. Well last night, our prayers were answered! We contacted this lady awhile ago - Elena - but when we went for the appointment she wasn't there. And the other day we stumbled across her again, and she asked why we hadn't come yet - so we made another appointment for Sunday night. We went, and she was there with her 3 kids! And they all listened and agreed to be baptized! So now we just have to help them understand the importance of reading, and praying and coming to church, so they can get their answer! But it was great. A perfect miracle to end a week of hard work . Seriously, this area is great. :)

Sunday we ended the night with a Noche do Hogar - FHE - with the familia Uribe. They are a large family made up of members, and less actives, and recent converts. We watched a Mormon message - Totalmente Solo - by Jefferey R Holland, when he's talking about the atonement and how Christ was completely alone. Then afterwards we went around the circle and everyone had to share what they felt/learned or their testimony, and the family just wasn't into it. The kids were noisy, some people refused to answer, one guy said 'I didn't learn anything' and... basically the Spirit wasn't there. So then Hna Mercedes and I bore our testimonies about the Atonement, and it got so quiet. Everyone was listening. The Spirit got super strong, and I actually cried! I haven't cried in a lesson in a long time! Then after, all those who had been distracted or refused to answer, ending up bearing their testimonies to each other for almost 30 min! It was so spiritual! Then when we finished we were all super happy as we played a game and ate a treat. It was a great evening. I love teaching and testifying about the Atonement - la Expiación in Spanish. I have gained such a testimony of the Atonement as I've been here. His help is evident in our lives, and I am so grateful to Him. He lives and He loves us! I KNOW this to be true.

I love being here. Mexico is great. There are horses pulling carts that go up and down the streets collecting garbage, people selling food at all hours of the day, Moto-taxis which are motorcycles pulling little carts around, shops, tianguis, dogs and cats that are seriously everywhere, rain that comes everyday, heat, colorful concrete houses.... I love Mexico :)

My district rocks, my ward is pretty good, I had a nap today which was wonderful... life's good! And I loved all the baby pics you sent me!

You people are awesome. Be good, say your prayers, and Richelle, give Addison a kiss for me!

Love you tons!

-Hermana Taylor

{Week 25} Polanco - June 2, 2014

First of all.... Richelle and Logan, I am so happy for you two! I love you both so much, and I have to admit that when I first saw a picture of your baby I just started to cry! Richelle, I wish I could be there to hold your baby. I know you'll be great parents. Love you both a billion.

So this new area is great! The ward is called P, and we're P 3, because there are 3 sets of missionaries in this ward, four elders and us! The ward is huge - the chapel was filled to overflowing. Apparently there are a ton of less actives too. The elders are Elders Garcia (Mexico) and Martinez (Columbia) - they were in the MTC together and have 1 year - which means we'll be going home at the same time! And the other elders are Elders Gurken (Arizona) and Duque (Honduras). Elder Gurken is the District Leader and is great - he's had a ton of success on his mission so far (10months) and he works hard and helps us a lot. My district is made up of them and Hermana Ingram and Hna Bennett.

And my companion! Hermana Mercedes is great - love her! We work hard and it's awesome. We've been having a good time, and I'm super glad for the chance we have to be comps! We've dropped a whole bunch of investigators this last week that weren't progressing, and we've been working hard to find new people to teach.

We have 3 investigators right now with dates for baptism - Angel, Karina, and Ana Maria. Angel is 9, and he's already been to church the required 3 weeks, but his parents wouldn't let him get baptized till just now - the mom is less active and the dad isn't a member and is almost always working. But Angel's grandparents are members and he goes to church with them. So last night we went and talked to his parents and they finally gave permission! He was so excited! So now we just have to teach him - his date is for the 14th. Karina is also 9. She's the second oldest of 8 kids - and they are the rowdiest children you'll ever meet. We have to be super creative to keep her attention in the lessons. But she likes listening and really wants to be baptized too. Her situation is sad - there are 8 kids, and the baby girl is about 6months and still doesn't have a name. Their parents don't take care of them - it's all left to their grandma, Angelica, who is a less active member. Karina's date for baptism is the 21st. And our last investigator, Ana Maria, is progressing really well - going to church, reading the Book of Mormon... it's great! She's about 25 and has a two year old daughter. So yay! And there are other investigators, but they're the ones who are progressing the most.

So on Friday it rained. And rained. And rained! Our area flooded, and we were walking in water up to our ankles, calves and in one spot almost our knees! It was crazy how much water there was! And it just kept raining! We got caught in it, so we were soaked, and for some reason, none of our appointments decided to be in their houses that day, so we were outside for a long time. Lots of fun!

Me and the rain and the flood.

Hna Mercedes and the rain.

 Traffic was crazy - so many people trying to avoid the flooded areas - some started going down the wrong side of the road on the bigger streets, and that just caused a whole bunch of traffic problems. And then there was this huge semi trying to flip a u turn in the middle of it all... it was a mess and pretty hilarious. But by the night time, all the water was a filthy black because of all the contamination, and our area reeked! It stunk so bad! The streets were flooded until about Saturday night.

Me and the flood again.  Crocs are my favourite shoes!

My companion in the flood.

And Saturday, there was a Noche de Hogar (FHE) in the chapel for the ward, but afterwards there was a baptism for some of the elders. Friday morning they came and cleaned out the font so it would be ready, but then because of the rain and flooding, the water came in through the men's bathroom and flooded the font - so it was filthy! So during the activity, we were all frantically trying to get the font clean in time so that it could get filled up. It all worked out, and although the water for the baptism was a little lower than usual, it wasn't a problem.

Cleaning the font - Elder Gurken is behind Hna Mercedes.

Elder Gurken cleaning. He kept joking that the last time the font was cleaned was before Noah and the Flood.

Elder Duque in the water, and Elders Martinez and Gurken. And a kid in the ward.

Hna Mercedes :)

Saturday night I was feeling pretty discouraged though. It was after the baptism, and I was feeling down due to my lack of success and because it didn't seem like people were progressing, so I went and read my patriarchal blessing, and I can promise you that Heavenly Father really does know and love us. There were several things in there that were exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. I am so grateful that we know of His love! And then Sunday we had a bunch of good stuff happen- that's when we discovered Angel and Karina, and put the date for Ana Maria. This morning we had a meeting with our zone, and the zone leaders talked about how we need to have diligence and patience - the diligence to always do our best and keep working hard, and the patience to wait for the blessings of the Lord. So that's my goal for the next while - patience and diligence.

And yeah! That's my week! The area is good, the members are nice, and there are several that are always willing to come with us to visit people.

Us and two members that I love - Hna Magdonado and her daughter. They come with us a lot for lessons.

It's been a good week! Love you all - and Chelle and Logan, take care of my sobrina for me! I can't wait to meet her!

Be good, say your prayers, and give Addison Rose a big kiss for me!

Love you all :)

-Hermana Taylor

My new home . . .

Our bed - I have the top.

Other side of our room - the closet.



Kitchen

Study room.

Our bathroom. We currently don't have gas, so we boil water on the stove and then shower with that green bucket.

That's it - love you all!!!

Hermana T Becomes an Aunt

Hermana T became an Auntie for the first time on Saturday, May 31.  Since she's on a mission, she won't get to see her new little niece, Addison Rose, until she's just over a year old. 

Somehow Hermana Taylor got the nickname of Moose by her sisters.  She gave us a stuffed Moose for her first Christmas away from home (she was in the MTC) so we could remember her and have her sort-of present at family events.  So we took her to the hospital . . .

Hermana Moose giving big sister a hug.

Hermana Moose hugging Addison Rose.

 

Moose will help the real Hermana Moose see how big Addison is getting over the next year.

 

We didn't forget about you Hermana T.!!!!

We love you!!!