Hunucma - Week 4

¡Buenos Dias!

One of this week's highlights was going to the temple! Tuesday morning we woke up at 2:30am and walked over to the others sisters house to wait for the bishop. He took the 4 of us and 4 other members to Merida (45 min away) so we could all go to the temple to do our family names. We rode in the back of his truck the whooole way, so that was quite the adventure so early in the morning. Our Zone's turn was the 5am session, but we went first to print off names, so we did other stuff in the temple until the 9am session. By the time we got back to our area, it was 1pm, so that took up our whole morning! It was fun seeing all the other missionaries though, since only once a month we have the opportunity to go.

Saturday, we intended to watch the conference, but the internet connection was failing, so we just saw little pieces. It was a bummer because we had investigators and a bunch of members, but oh well! It was cute because one of the ladies we brought that's investigating (Berenice) brought her 10 year old little boy and he kept asking me about what the conference was and thought it sounded so cool since it’s broadcasted from the US. He kept telling me "Wow! This looks so interesting! Hahaha. Sunday though, we tried again with the broadcast and were able to see it, just that less people showed up. My favorite part was the video of the families singing- maybe because I'm starting to miss mine! It just strengthened my testimony of how true this church is, because it really focuses on the family. No other church teaches about sealing families or confesses to have authority to marry after death. The sprit really bears testimony of it too because no other thing brings as powerful of a feeling as when you think of the love for your family.

As far as the work here, ay vamos. We've been losing some of our people that seemed really awesome, so that's a bummer. It’s so frustrating because what allllways happens is we start out with really great lessons and the people say "yes!" to all our invitations, but then Satan works on them and they don't read what we left with them, or they don't have the time anymore. Super frustrating!!! The one good thing though is that Berenice was a little like that, saying one thing but doing another, but this week she went to the conference, a baptism that the other sisters had, AND church! She brought her boyfriend too who is a Baptist, I think and loves the bible. I have high hopes for them, but they have to decide to get married first because they're living together.

The focus from here on out is the new video "Because he lives." We're all set up with our mini DVD players, handout cards, and goal sheets, haha. Its fun having something new to use with our normal contacts. Everyone here for Easter has "semana santa" which is "holy week." For 2 weeks no one has school and goes on their little vacations and do their "rosarios" which are their prayers to the virgin Mary.  Speaking of her- my nickname in this ward has become Asuncion because I look a lot like that Virgin Mary. Asuncion is another version of Mary- haha but don't ask me why there are so many versions of her!

Adios!
Hermana Harper

Hunucma - Week 3

3 weeks in Hunucma down, 3 to go (until the end of transfers)!

Well, this Tuesday we had our ward family home evening in the prayer house and the young single adults organized it. They did a good really good job too! It was set up as a discussion group and everyone that was there, participated! (people here are real good at participating, haha). They talked about loving the sinner, not the sin. I liked it because they mentioned how sometimes we're so quick to judge and only love the people that act how we think they should. But the thing is, how impressive is our love really? We haven't mastered loving others until we can love people that are difficult to love.

Friday my companion and I taught our little book of Mormon institute class and it went well. While I was looking over the manual, I found a quote that I really loved. We're still in the first part of the Book of Mormon and there was a quote about the experience where Nephi broke his bow. The quote said something along the lines of "often in moments when things seem ideal in our lives, is when multiple difficulties arise. If the difficulties aren't results of your disobedience, its evidence that the lord knows you're prepared to advance in your progression." Today I saw a real life example of that when we ate with Mari Pot and her husband (members we eat with every Monday). The wife has been a member for several years, but her husband just got baptized a year and a half ago.  I guess he used to always think it was dumb that she went to church and he tried to get her not to, and missionaries would come but he never paid attention to them. What made him change though, was that he had a dream one night that he read a scripture and the next day the elders shared that exact scripture. From then on, he looked at things differently and eventually got baptized. He told us today, that since he was baptized he's faced a lot of problems. For example, when he took the temple classes with his wife, the next day things got bad at work and his two little girls started getting sick. They pushed through though, and he said after they finally made it to the temple and were sealed things calmed down. He got called to be a councilor in the bishopric and he said with that calling things have gotten bad again. Today we shared with him in D&C 121 and 122 about Joseph Smith in jail and how God really tests us sometimes, but how its always for our good.

Another lesson we had this week was with Angel, who's the teenage of a member couple. The parents have been bugging us since I got here to visit their son and finally this week we got the chance. It was kind of a sad lesson because the son was super disconnected. He told us how he just plain doesn't want to listen and learn more because he feels happy with his life and himself. We were trying pretty much the whole lesson to ask questions to make him think, but he kept being super, superficial. His parents just sat there so sad and I felt so bad for them. After the prayer and everything the mom started crying because she didn't know what to do for her son, and we didn't either to be honest! The dad told us though that us being there helped him as a dad know what to do for his son and thanked us for it. He said that he and his wife for a while weren't very dedicated to the church and that's where they lost their son and now they're suffering the consequences, which is sad. They said they won't lose the hope though and have the desire to dedicate more of themselves to doing things that ought to be done.

Its so incredible being in a young ward like Hunucma because the members are so inspiring. There are so many converts that still don't know a ton, yet they're learning to dedicate themselves to the church and their testimonies. I love to see how so many are excited to share the gospel and how they know how to do it because they still remember how it was for them with the missionaries and getting to know the church. Haha, like for example, they understand that you have to pick them up on Sunday and teach them how to read the hymn book in sacrament meeting.

One exciting thing this week is that we contacted a member reference and found a really incredible family! The dad wasn't home, but the mom and 4 kids were. There's Alejandro (20 yrs) Haiti (13) Jared (10) and a little girl (2). All of them were excited to listen and willing to do the things we invited them to do. I was so impressed because you could feel how united they were as a family. Finding them was a huge highlight to the week! :)

One last thing- I read an article in the March Liahona that I REALLY liked called "Satan's Rebellion." If you haven't already read it, read it!

Love,
Hermana Harper

Hunucma - Week 2

Hola!

Things are really great in Hunucma. The people here never cease to amaze me. Right now we have 7 people we're teaching that are really interested, and we still have member references to contact! It feels like magic when all the pieces with missionary work,  work together.

We met a family this week that was a reference from Jose de la Cruz and the whole family seems interested. The husband (Nacho- his nickname) was the original reference, but the oldest son has taken a lot of interest. Both him and his step-dad came to church on Sunday!

Mileybi is another investigator that is doing super well. She came to church too and even with cutting hair and studying for her nursing tests, she makes time for us. We watched the video of the restoration video with her and she said she really believes in everything we've taught her. Her baptism is scheduled for the 28th of March!

So- last week I didn't explain much of pueblo life- but I want to explain a little right now. For one, everyday I feel like I'm at girls camp, haha! think what most reminds me of girls camp though is washing dishes outside with buckets of soapy water and rinsing in clean water.

This week we visited some people on the outskirts of our area, and it was literally dirt paths with a house every few minutes of walking. I feel like it'd kinda be scary living like that, but I guess the people here don't know anything else. Another thing is that a bunch of people cook their food over fires and get their water out of wells and I think that's pretty neat. Obviously not every single house is like that, lots are still decently modern, but the ones that aren't are super cool to me, haha. Every few houses you find in the area that is more city, have roofs out of straw. It’s a nice things because it makes the house stay cool.

Other things- Tuesday night we had a ward family home evening. The other sisters in the Ward have been getting really excited about doing activities, so Tuesday night family home evening is now a new thing in Hunucma, haha. We played a charades and did the theme around the book of mormon. There were two teams and categories with points for people, events, principles, etc and each team had to act it out for points. It was super fun and I think the members all enjoyed it a lot.

Another thing about here that's different than my other areas, is that the missionaries teach institute. We arranged it so that the other sisters teach mission prep and we teach Book of Mormon. Also, every Sunday we've been dedicating to family history in the prayer house for the members. Then every other Thursday night, Debora (the american who lives in Sisal) got called to teach the productive living class for institute and I'm helping her. They've been asking for English clases one night of the week, so maybe we'll do that too as a way to introduce new people to the church. Who knows, its already seems like a lot haha.

Friday we had zone conference and I want to share one thing I liked from that meeting. One thing they mentioned with us is that our testimonies don't protect us. Kinda a weird thing to say, but after they explained that what really protects you is your conversión. It’s really true when you think about it. A lot of times we do things because in our head we know something is right, like go to church for example. Which is good, but what we really need to find is our personal conversion. Conversion would be going to church because your heart is in it and you look for ways to be involved and help others get involved too. I feel like even as a missionary I'm still not 100%, but that's what life is for right? And honestly that's what God need and expects of us as members of the church. This gospel is perfect and I know that when we really search and ask questions and stay involved, our testimonies are strengthened.

Love, Sister Harper

Note from Mom:  We finally got Hilary's travel information!!! :)  She will be flying home on May 26th!!!

Hunucma - Week 1

What a week!

This week I got sick, starting with last Monday night, during the night, I couldn't sleep because I had this pain in my chest. I kinda had it the last two weeks, but I wanted to see if it went away on its own, but that night it was so bad that I couldn't sleep. It was also weird because I threw up during the night, and the next morning after taking an acid reducer pill. We went to the doctor and he said I have gastritis, which is really common for the kind of food that's eaten here. So now I'm not supposed to eat lime, citris fruits, or chiles :( I've been feeling a lot better though, so hopefully it goes away completely soon.

Despite feeling sick, I've been super impressed with the ward in Hunucma! Several people have said they want to introduce us to their friends, so that's super exciting. My last ward didn't have enough faith in their friends, I guess, so we'd rarely get references.  Its a lot more fun having so many good people to teach.

An example of this was Tuesday, while we were eating, the mom (Tere) of the member that was feeding us stopped by and said she had news for us. Tere said she went out visiting her friends, with a friend and they ran into an old investigator (Berenice) who was really excited to see them. Tere asked if she wanted the missionaries to start vistiting her, and she said yes. Then Tere said she felt prompted to ask the baptismal question and Berenice accepted! A couple days later we showed up to visit her with Tere and she really is as great as Tere said. Her husband also has potential, so maybe we'll have a new family for the ward soon.

When I got here, there wasn't a single person with a baptismal date, because they all just gotten baptized the week before I got here.  Fortunately we have Berenice and one other that's gone to church several times, just never was asked to be baptized on a certain day. The other person’s name is Mileybi,  and she is super cute. She lives right next door to the prayer house, (Hunucma barely got switched from a branch to a ward) she is 23 and does hair,  and is in school to be a nurse!

Other things about the ward... I finally met the American couple! The husband got baptized 3 weeks ago and his wife grew up in the church and has been active most her life, but has been inactive for the last 14 years. She is really great though and I can tell had a lot to do with her husband's conversion. Neither of them speak Spanish, so I had to translate church for them. I thought it'd be a piece of cake, but it was harder than I thought. We also have the problem with the Preisthood hour because before there was an elder that spoke English in the ward, but now we have 4 sisters and I'm the only one who knows English. They are one of 4 member families that life in Sisal (pronounced like sea salt, without the "T"). To get to that part of our area, we have to take a little van and it takes about 20 mins.

Sisal is really pretty! I guess its just barely starting to get a little touristy, as of about 4 years ago. There's not much there, but it’s a cute little place. Haha! The first day we went was Wednesday, and we visited a family that lives right on the coast pretty much. They sell shell jewelry, so when I first got there we walked through their display and went into their little house. I felt like I was in a movie because the brother of the lady we came to visit handed us a coconut with a straw in it, and we sat and talked to his sister as she was cutting up a hotdog for dinner getting ready to watch her TV drama series. She has 3 younger boys who act like they're all teenagers and I can tell love their little life on the beach.

Love,
Hermana Harper

Brisas - Week 42

Hello to all my Friends and Family out there,

For the first time in 10 1/2 months, transfers have brought me to a new area! I'm in a pueblo called Hunucma. It's a cute little place and I'm really excited! This pueblo looks a little less authentic than others, kinda like the city look where I've been before, but its still neat. Actually, my "firstborn" Hermana Pinguelo was sent here when we separated and right now Hermana Suarez is here too, in the same ward as me. So 2 of my old comps have been through here. So far what I've heard about this area, is that the Bishop is really great and sells ice cream bars for a living and loves to spoil the missionaries with them! :) Also, my area is made up of 2 parts that are spaced out and the other half is on the beach. On the beach area, I guess there is an newly baptized American couple that don't really speak Spanish. Haha, It's convenient I'm here, because before now, other missionaries had to travel here to teach them and baptize them. I'm excited to meet them!

More than likely I'll end my mission here with this companion, and that's okay with me. My companion has about 8 months in the mission and is from the Dominican Republic. She's tall and about the same build as me, so we made a good pair! Haha. She doesn't know a ton of English, but really wants to learn, so hopefully I will be able to teach her a lot while I am here.

Saturday we had Pilar's baptism. When it started, I don't know what was up with me, but I felt frustrated because Pilar was SO happy, yet I felt like nothing was special about the little baptismal service. The talks and everything weren't bad, but I felt like everyone was in robot Mormon mode and a lot of the people in the audience weren't engaged. After the ordinance, the Ward Mission Leader wanted to just end it with the welcome from the Relief Society President, but my comp kept bugging me to have one of her kids talk, so her son came to my mind, and we asked him really quick and it changed the whole Baptism. Her son is less active as of 3 years ago, but is really great and used to be super involved. All his kids are active and were at the baptism too. He got up and cried and said he wants to come back to church and that he felt so happy and everything he said brought tears to each one of his kids eyes, and his mom's too. It brought the spirit so strong because you could see that he really felt it and really loved his family a lot and wanted to be united again. I was so thankful that my comp followed the spirit and that we acted on it.  

I'm excited for the changes,  but I'm feeling really sad to have left Brisas and my companion. Yesterday, we didn't have appointments with investigators, so we visited recent converts and members I wanted to see one last time before I left. We visited Henry's family and he said he bought a whole computer system of some sort and he can video chat free to the USA. He said he bought it with us in mind. That last day kinda sucked because it's so hard to really love people and know it has to come to an end. Obviously not completely, but things definitely change when you get switched out of the area. Love really is the essence of the church though. (Or ought to be at least!) I just feel SO blessed to have met such good, real, loving people here. I feel like their love has made me love them so much, and right now it just kinda hurts. I know this will be a good change though and that I'll learn a lot. Hermana Lugo and I were talking about how much transfers stink, but really they're necessary to learn and grow. And its true. We exist to grow up to be like our Heavenly Father and we'll only do it by testing ourselves and having new experiences.

Love you all!

- Hermana Harper

Pilar's Baptism

My  new Companion - Hermana Lugo