Hola todos! It was so
great to see and talk to my Family on Christmas! I'm very glad that I was able
to Skype them and to know that all is well at home. Haha they got to hear
me speak Spanish a lot! I was even breaking into Spanish in the middle of
sentences and got a phone call during the Skype when they got to hear a
full-length conversation in Spanish! It made them laugh. I am doing well with
the language now, having the last 2 companions only Spanish-speakers!
This week was a bit
rough because there was no one here! We literally went to every single house
and no one was here to open their door. But that's okay. We were able to see a
lot of blessings from Heavenly Father through different ways. This week we ran
out of all our money. Hermana Valverde has been sick for 2 weeks and we needed
to use some of my money to help pay for her hospital stay. I was living
off of 100 pesos (about $8) for two weeks and that is not much at all even
here! And that was all for my two transportations to Huatulco, email on
Monday, and to pay for Skype. We did not have any food in the house and no
drinking water. We went and actually “stole” water from the church whenever we
passed and whatever piece of food people offered us we gladly took. But it was
awesome because one day this week we went and met with an investigator named
Ana. She heard about how we didn’t have water and she gave us two 1.5 liter
water bottles. That seriously saved us and it felt so good to be served. That
same night we found this guy who sells really good pizzas on the streets. We
had contacted him a few days before and when we saw him again it was easy to
start talking. He offered us a free slice of pizza. So we had some sort of
dinner that day. It was pretty awesome :) People here do not have anything,
they can hardly feed their own families, they can’t feed missionaries. This was
a good week for Miracles because I remember praying all week that we would have
enough money to get things all done for the month and be fine. It all changed
on Christmas- I went to town with only 40 pesos on me, for the bus trip there,
Skype, and the bus trip back. Me and Valverde were thinking that we were going
to an internet cafe with the elders, but the elders didn't have firm plans on
where to go... We literally walked up and down on every single street, 3
times... Nothing... So we found the other Hermanas that we stayed with for the
night and ended up Skyping at a members house who has a computer. So I now had
20 pesos I didn’t need to use at the café to buy water! After skyping with my
family we went to an ATM to take out money for Hermana Valverde to call her
parents; they do not have internet at their home so she needed to call them
instead. While we were at the bank I decided to check my bank balance too, to
see if I had anything in there. And… there were 100 pesos there! We used
that for a nice, small Christmas dinner of tostadas, refried beans, and a salad
of canned corn, tuna and mayo! Heaven! And we were able to contact an
awesome guy on the bus who promised to pray for the first time that night. He
texted us the next morning and said he had just prayed in the morning before
work! So we're going to keep in touch with him. I think he will be a good
investigator.
This area is such a
hard area, I feel like my entire mission will be a seed-planting mission. Not
much teaching going on after an initial contact and a couple of lessons. It is
hard. I know I am successful but I can’t force people to embrace the Gospel or
force them to be baptized. They are so devoted to their Catholic baptism and
faith it is hard to break the ice and see them develop any more. This area has
a lot of stagnant investigators so we had to drop them and start fresh and that
is what we are doing now. It is frustrating being the Senior Comp because I am
responsible for what is happening and I feel lost sometime at how we are not
having much investigator “success” going forward. I do love the people but no
one will answer their door or even talk to us further. We just always need to
be good examples and always show our love for others, we never know what kind
of effect that will be on them later on. I hope the seeds I plant will
grow in their hearts and minds for later on. It is a dangerous area with many
streets that we can’t go near. Even our DL was jumped and hurt! 3 people were
killed this month alone and one of our YW was assaulted a few weeks ago. We
have to be so obedient so we are safe! Mom, don’t worry, I have my
stabby-thingy in my hand all the time so if anyone comes near me he will lose
an eye!
We had a really fun
Christmas Eve party with MP and Hermana Madsen and their extended family. They
came down from Utah to visit, they are from Orem...We ate buffet style and had
a lot of games going on. I met their son, Clint, who is best friends with
Keegan's sister's husband! And guess what! He is a clogger! So we did
some steps together with another Hermana :) Such a blast! We played Christmas
songs on chimes, wacked each other with newspaper while playing a game, and we
had a good little message from Hermana Madsen about traditions. BTW you guys
should go watch the video by the Piano Guys with David Archuleta and, like, 100
other people. It's really quite amazing. And I also got to sing a song with
Hermana Madsen as well, called, “Once upon a Silent Night”. (Note from Tricia:
I did let Annekke in on the fact that everyone and “their dog: has seen the
Piano Guys rendition of “Angels We Have Heard On High” YouTube video and that
MoTab was in it and all the other crazy facts on the video!). Thanks family for
the presents you sent. That Global Mission Company must be good to get
them to me so quick. I loved the new garments…I am cleaning the ones I have
with a rock… LITERALLY, so I am in need of new ones :) And I am so excited to
get my box of Peanut Butter Crunch, that was the best present ever, I
need to go buy milk. :) I am excited to be sending a Christmas letter to my
family. There is a surprise in it,,,mwahahaha!
Other fun things: Katy
Perry's back! I have black hair again but the hair cut I got is hideous! I
actually cried when I saw it for the first time. It’s still long but... I got a
lot more Mexican layers than I thought I would....
I hear that it snowed
like crazy for Christmas and the few days after!? I want snow here! It is so hot,
I sweat and it is so gross! We are 20 minutes from the beach but I want snow…
But anyway, I love you
all! I hope you had a great rest of your Christmas and I'm sorry for those who
went to my house and couldn't talk to me... Thank those darn elders ;)
Bye!
Hermana Walker
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