Week 16

Okay, so this week we really had no lessons whatsoever. So I won't have very many experiences with our investigators or members in this letter. We had that little show this week, so we were ensayos a lot.

Lunes: We started out our day with a 6 hour practice for the show, but it was a good one. We were able to fix a lot of things that needed to be worked on. And I found out the girl that is playing the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio had Tenge... I think that is how you spell it. It's some disease from the mosquitoes and you get really fatigued really fast. But Hermana Leyva asked me to start memorizing the lines again just in case she couldn't do it. When we got home we went to the internet and finished our p-day. Then we went and taught one of our new investigators, Estel. She is so ready for baptism! It's insane:) She has a friend in another ward in our stake and this lady told us her entire religious backstory and she said she's ready to go one and learn more about the church:)

Martes: We were supposed to have our district meeting this morning, but we had to cancel it because basically our entire zone had ensayos. So we went over to the church to practice. We got a lot more work done, like making props and fixing up costumes. I seriously feel like I'm in a high school show again. It's awesome:) And because we were there for so long, Hermana Leyva got lunch for us:) We only got one lesson in today, with Hermano Hugo. He's still doing really well and I finally bought Doctrine and Covenants and loves the stories. We also had our ward correlation and meeting with the ward mission leader. Oh my goodness. I hate going to those meetings because I always walk out dang frustrated. Today was even worse. Our ward mission leader is concerned because all of the missionaries in the ward are teaching drunks and he feels that because they are drunks, they will NEVER keep their commitments, NEVER change, and they make the spirit go away when we come to the church on Sundays with them. And we tried telling him otherwise, but he doesn't believe that they will help our ward mission plan because they aren't progressing as fast as "normal" people. And he went into ward correlation with this too. And oh my goodness. Everyone was going with it! We could not handle it whatsoever!! We just sat there silent. And at the end, Hermana Olsen was so frustrated that she wouldn't say a thing. But I don't know. I think the Spirit was talking to me because the last 10 minutes of the meeting i felt like I should say something. So I did. All in Spanish.  And in the words of Hermana Olsen, "You planched them good and hard." I just told them that if they want to see work and progress in their ward mission plan, they should pull their own weight and help the missionaries. Because we haven't had that help since we got here. And it was good. We went home happy and tired:)

Miercoles: Today was really good. We didn't have ensayo until the late afternoon, so we actually had time to teach a few people. We taught a woman in our ward whose father is close to passing away. Her name is Hermana Pedia. But we shared the section in Doctrine and Covenants about when Joseph Smith saw Alvin in the heavens and that everything will be alright. It was a really good lesson:) We also taught Hermano Hugo again. Then we went and had lunch at a restaurant and got tortas de pastor... And the Chile/España game just so happened to me on... Go Chile!.... And after that we had the ensayo. And we finally practiced the song Hermana Leyva wants me to sing with Elder Winland for the show. It's so pretty!!

Jueves: Today we had our last multi-zone conference with President Leyva and it was so good:) I learned a lot of things that are going to be so useful in our lessons, like asking specific questions and how to better begin teaching. And we learned a few things about our new mission president and his wife. Their names are President and Hermana Matson and they seem pretty cool. Then we ate comida together and it was so good:) For the next few hours we prepped for the show. We made last minute touches and that sort of stuff and then it was time! Oh my goodness the show was so good! People laughed, we remembered our lines, and we just had the best time ever. It was a really good experience for us, but also the members and investigators that went. And when we got home me and Hermana Olsen had a good heart to heart. We hadn't been agreeing on certain things and needed to work it out.

Viernes: Woot! We actually had time to study!! It was so mice. I was able to read in the conference Liahona. I love getting those each month! We were only able to teach Hermano Hugo, and then we had comida with the Familia Martinez. It was so good as always:) I love the way she makes her salad. She just puts lettuce and cut up tomato together and lets it sit in lime juice. It's so good:) After that we went to the church in Montoya to get ready for our next show. We practiced more of the song for me and Winland and fixed up what we needed to be ready. And I think this show was better that on Jueves, although I totally messed up on the song! Hermana Leyva played the music two or three intervals too high and it totally caught me off guard. So on the new part that we practiced today, I forgot the tune and had to completely make up something. I guess it sounded okay because after people told me I did a good job. Phew!:)

Sabado: Finally a normal day! We had some great studying and actually got to teach a few people. We found a nuevo named Carmen. She's the mom of one our contacts and she seems really interested:) We also had comida with Familia Montalvo and it was super good:) After that we went searching for our boys and we could only find Martin. And he was drunk!!! Gah!!! No!!! We ended up leaving because we can't teach him when he's drunk. So we went searching for contacts and we made some good ones. We contacted a few menos activos and even met a testigo do jehova. He wanted nothing to do with the church, but to fight us... But we ended up leaving anyway because it was POURING. After it stopped we went to the Familia Martinez to teach them something.

Domingo: Today we left early because Winland and I were asked to sing in the Stake Conference in Mitla. President and Hermana Leyva were speaking there for the last time and she wanted to share talent.So we sang the EFY arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives in Spanish. Them we had our own meetings. We had comida with Familia Ramierez... had Sardines for the first time.... And we finally found Edgar! Some of his friends told him that we went back to the U.S. so he was really glad to see us. He met a guy in our ward that used to have the same problems as him and hopefully that example will help him.

Anyway, there's my week! Hopefully you guys had a good one too!

Monte Alban! The same ruins that are at the end of Nacho Libre

Love Always,

Hermana Walker

Week 15

This week was a little slow, but we got some good things done. We're getting further and further with our investigators and they are really progressing. Here it is.

Lunes: We had another play practice that lasted almost 5 hours... I am so tired... But we got a lot of things fixed that needed to be taken care of. Afterward we met up with a few more missionaries and had lunch at this Chinese buffet place. Mexican Chinese is actually really good:) Then we did our shopping and email. We really only had time for one lesson, so we went to Loma Linda and found Edgar. So we talked to him and he was still really happy from church the day before:)

Martes: We had our weekly district meeting and it was SO great! I love having Elder Allred as a district leader. He always has such great ideas. We had comida with Hermana Rita today. She's like our mom:) But we had the best rice, spaghetti, and chicken.... And the spiciest potatoes I have ever had! But we also had some really good lessons with the boys and Hermano Hugo. Then we had our meeting with our mission leader and ward correlation.

Miercoles: We started out today with another ensayo which went really well. But we were working so hard and for so long that Hermana Olsen got one of her headaches again. So we stayed at home and had to miss comida. But after taking a nap she was much better. But we went out and found the boys and taught them and we ended the night with a Family Home Evening with la familia Martinez. We taught about the Atonement and compared it to a snowflake:)

Jueves: Today.... Hermana Olsen woke up with a nasty cold, so I got to play mom for a few hours. Once she was feeling better we went out to the market and bought flowers for Hermana Margarita. We thought it would be cute since she has done so much for us. We had comida with the bishop.... And the World Cup just so happened to be on....:)... Go Brazil..... But we went out to Loma Linda and found the boys and we walked to the church to have a lesson with Hermano Pavey, a member of the bishopric. They loved him. He shared his testimony and his conversion story. And afterwards we got THE BEST tortas de pastor. Go look that up:)

Viernes: Today we decided to go full out and start early, even though Hermana Olsen was still sick. But we finished up our second time through of the Plan of Salvation with Hermano Hugo, talked to Hermano Martinez, and we had the most awkward appointment for comida.... I guess they were super busy and didn't sit down with us or talk to us.... Kind of awkward... We also went to Loma Linda and taught Bruno and Roberto. And we tried to get a lesson in with the boys, but it started POURING rain, so we had to go home...

Sabado: Today we went and found another menos activo with the Young Womens president. She's a girl that's like 13 years old. Then we went home and studied some more. Today we had comida with la Familia Ferra. We had some really good frijoles and papas con chorizo. Later we went and found Martin and his wife with their grandkids and we took them to an activity that we had planned. We watched the full version of the Restoration movie. They loved it!!! And they got to see a baptism:)

Domingo: We had a good turnout in church today. Edgar and Martin's wife came with us, Roberto showed up, and Hermano Martinez came with his family. Martin's friends made him drink. We were so mad. But they stayed for all three hours. We had comida with Hermana Rita again and she made something exactly like chips and curry from Ireland. It was so good!!  We ended up only being able to teach Edgar today, but it was good. He is super confused about the Plan of Salvation, so we're going to stick with teaching him that for a while.

Well, I hope you guys had a good week and will have a good week. Keep smiling and share the Gospel with your friends. It saves lives:)

Love Always,

Hermana Walker

Week 14

Alright. This week was so great! So many things happened:)

Lunes: We finally found a house for ourselves, so we spent the morning packing everything all over again and we moved into our house. And we're finally living in our area, so we don't have to walk a half an hour to actually get into our area. And for the rest of the afternoon we went food shopping, cleaned the house, unpacked, and checked email. We also had a really good lesson with our borachos:)

Martes: We had our district meeting this morning and it was awesome! We each had to make our own model on how we can get members to visit investigators by themselves. Everyone loved ours:) It included singing Teach Me To Walk In the Light and we shared the scripture in D&C about being anxiously engaged. We also had a really good meal with la Familia Martinez. I love that family. They're one that I want to come visit again after the mish:) We also had a really good lesson with Hermano Hugo. He's doing so well now that he's baptized:) And to finish up the night we had a meeting with our ward mission leader Hermano Pino and ward correlation. We also contacted this lady named Maria... oh my goodness.. She was so poor. She asked if we had money to give and we said no, but that we had something even more special. So we shared something about the first lesson and made her feel special. And she can't read so she's going to have her niece read a pamphlet to her:)

Miercoles: ¡TEMPLO! I love going to the temple here. It's so pretty and I'm learning a lot of the Spanish there too. And I did everything in Spanish too! I was happy:) And we had comida with La Familia Corzo. They're another family I absolutely love. They made my favorite tacos:) And we met their son who has been studying in Arizona for a year. And after we had a really good day with lessons with Hermano Hugo and Hermana Margarita, and we contacted a lot:)

Jueves: Today we started out with service. We helped Hermana Margarita made this soup called Pezzoli. It's made with veggies, oregano, lemon, chili, and the meat from a pig's head.... Yup.... I saw a dead pig's head. And when we were cooking the chili... Dang! I almost coughed up a lung! But it smelled so good:) We ate with the bishop today and got a lot of information on menos activos in our area too. After that we went to our borrachos and found Edgar. He's the only one who's progressing really. But we finally got him to come to the church!!! We gave him a tour, introduced him to the bishop, and we had a lesson with the Young Women about how they can share the gospel with their friends. Afterwards we ate the Pezzoli. It was so good!!! But had way too much chili for me. I think that's why I get sick sometimes. The chili... But he loved the church. He was so happy afterwards:)

Viernes: Today we had divisions with the sister training leaders. I went with Hermana Noriega and Hermana Olsen went with Hermana Delgado. We had some fun. I met their group of borachos and we helped them out by teaching them about faith. It started raining really hard too. We ended our day with teaching one of the members, Hermana Sanchez. She was super sweet:) And I was so tired I went to bed early. It was awesome:)

Sabado: During my study this morning I finally got to the chapters of Christ's visit to the Americas! I'm so excited to read it:) I haven't marked my scriptures this much... We ended divisions and I went back with Hermana Olsen. We went to go teach a couple of our investigators, Bruno and Roberto, but they left without saying anything.... So we kind of wandered around until we had comida with la Familia Ferra. We had hamburgers... And not just one... Two!! Goodness! It's so hard not to say no as a missionary.... I was so full after the first. But they were good:) And we had a good lesson with them with the bishop and Hermano Pino about our new ward mission plan. We tried teaching Edgar today, but it was hard because it started pouring rain around 5. Like literally. Flash flood in a minute. So we went home and studied until the rain stopped... Around 8.... so we couldn't do anymore teaching.

Domingo: Oh my goodness! Today! Was! So! Great! We got Edgar, Martin, and Martin's wife to come to church!! We went out to Loma Linda and they were all ready:)) And it was so awesome because when we walked in, one of our other investigators, David, was there. And later, Bruno and Roberto came in with a member that lives near them, and Hermano Martinez came with his family. It was the coolest thing ever!! And Hermano Hugo came and sat with us:) And they did so well in the Gospel Principles class too... Except for Roberto.... We found out that he came to church DRUNK. He was mumbling and everything.... I guess the Hermana that he came with couldn't get him to go home. But during third hour Martin and Edgar got priesthood blessings from the bishop for strength in letting go of alchohol and he bore his testimony to them. I guess before he was a member he had the same life and he wanted them to know that it's possible to change. They loved church and we can't for them to come next week. We also taught Hermano Martinez and got some of his doubts put onto the table. And during this lesson it started pouring rain again, so we had to go home so we wouldn't get sick. But today topped off the week:)

Here are some pictures!! :) 

Our Borachos!

Companion Hermana Palominos!! 

Templo!! 

And here's another thing. This is the poster for that little play I'm in here. It was drawn by an elder here. The faces are what the actors look like, just with the Disney twist on it:) 

Have a good week! Keep smiling!

Love Always,

Hermana Walker

Week 13

Wow! What a week! This transfer is going to be so full of things to do. It's going to be great:) Here's how this week went.

Lunes: So we started out the day just kind of hanging out, lounging around. It was the first time in a long time that we've had P-DAY morning free because of our play practices, so we took it all in:) Then we cleaned the house. I learned how to clean a bathroom here in Mexico. So different. Then we went to the ADO bus station to change Hermana Noriega's comp and came home to hangout, write letters, and eat. We went to this really great restaurant:) Then we had a really long play practice and then email. I also received a letter from cousin Elder Nelson.

Martes: We started out today with district meeting and met one of our new zone leaders. After that we went to help one of our menos activos. They have to do something with the U.S. but can't speak English, so we tried helping but no phone got through. We also started teaching Hugo the recent convert lessons and later had ward correlation meeting.

Miercoles: Today was a little hard because I got sick. I had some really weird pains in my lower abdomen, but they weren't as if I would throw up. They just hurt. So we tried staying close to home and ended up trying to contact a bunch of investigators that we had names for. The missionaries either stopped teaching them or they stopped investigating. And it rained so that was nice:) But I also received news. I'm not the Blue Fairy in our play anymore. They needed someone who had the accent. I felt kind of bummed that night....

Jueves: Play practice in the morning. The new Blue Fairy is good, but I still wish I was doing it. Later that day Hermana Olsen started feeling sick. She felt like throwing up and her head hurt. But she's so good. She went the whole day. We had comida with our mission leader's family and dang! It was so good! They were like taquitos but they weren't:) We also taught Hugo again. Since his baptism, he's been a completely different person. He's so calm and thankful:)

Viernes: We tried to going to our play practice this week, but Hermana Olsen felt worse. Her head ached and everything. So we didn't leave until about 3. And we kind of did the same thing as Miercoles, trying to find people from this list of investigators. And we saw Martin for the first time in 2 weeks! He must have been really drunk one night because he cut himself a Mohawk....

Sabado: We had this awesome activity with a few zones. It was about being a better missionary, so we learned how to clean our houses better, eat better, learned how to use calligraphy, sewing, and exercise. It was pretty fun:)) And I received lots of letters today. And afterwards we helped a member clean her house that's been under construction. And we saw one of our other members wearing the traditional clothing for the Issmo... So gorgeous!! We might take pics soon;)

Domingo: Church!! And it was freezing! I actually wore a jacket all day. But we broke a great fast with an awesome meal with the Limon family. Tacos:) And we found Edgar after like a week! So we gave him a really good lesson on the Atonement. He really needs it. He's been having a hard time.

Well that was my week. I hope all of yours are great as well! Love ya'll!

Love Always,

Hermana Walker