Brisas - Week 1

This is Hermana Betty Vasquez.  She is in my Stake.  She introduced herself to me on Sunday at Stake Conference.  She is a childhood friend of my next door neighbor Sister Aracely Hallam.  Sister Hallam contacted Hermana Vasquez and asked her to be on the look out for me.  Sister Hallam was one of my Young Women leaders, and I think it is awesome that I have been able to meet one of her friends in Mexico!  Thank you Sister Hallam!!!

¡Hola!

This week has been NUTS. It was my first week in my new area with my new daughter- Hermana Pinguelo! I "gave birth" last Tuesday around noon. It was so fun to be in that little meeting because I remembered being in my first meeting when I got here with all the newbies on the front row in the chapel and all the trainers behind and looking back wondering, "who's going to be my mom?!" Most of the sisters training this transfer I know pretty well, and about half are new trainers like me, so it was fun to watch everyone get paired up. All the trainers are all so great and each has different gifts that I think will help all the new missionaries adjust as smooth as possible.

My companion is from Texas, but her mom is from Mexico.  She speaks English and Spanish perfectly which is kinda fun!  I have had 5 transfers, and I have only had one with a true Latina. Not exactly what I expected when I came here, but hey, guess I won't lose my English right?

My new companion, in the solid gray shirt, Hermana Pinguelo!

My new area is called Brisas. We're the second set of missionaries in the ward and I think we got the tougher half of the ward as our area. There are lots of less actives and only one investigator. Its been hard navigating our way around because the streets don't make a lot of sense, but we're taking advantage of being lost by talking to lots of people. That's my favorite way to start taking to people actually!

Hanging with the Hermanas!

Our new house is pretty nice.  The only thing is,  it doesn't have a kitchen. We have a make shift kitchen in the first room you walk into with a fridge and everything, but we have to wash dishes in the bathroom.  Kinda gross! That's just how it is sometimes though. Other than that it's nice because we have hot water to shower  with and air conditioning when we want it.

Another reason why this week was a little crazy is because the first two days we were living with the other sisters in the ward until we could officially move into our house. We also didn't have a phone (still don't actually). Those first few days we got to know the members with the other sisters and had lots of lessons with part member families.

Staying with other Hermanas after transfers, until we moved into our new house

Even with all this craziness, we managed to find a family that was happy to listen and we got everyone who was there to say yes to the baptism invitation! From them we have 3 solid baptism dates and when we go back, we're hoping to get the dad and the other sister because they weren't there for the lesson.

Wellllll....that's all I have time for because I still have lots to do today! Love you all!

Hermana Harper

Inside A Little Shop In Town

Merida - Week 18

At the Zoo on Cinco de Mayo

Hello!

First off, I'm really, really, really sad right now because I'm leaving my first area! I've had 18 weeks there, so I got pretty attached. The members, the investigators, my companion! I feel like they're all my family. Last night when we were waiting for the call to find out what would happen me and Hermana Tozcano, we were positive we would have one more transfer together before we'd get switched up. Usually they call us at 8:30 or 9 so we have time to pack, and when 10:30 rolled around they still hadn't called, so I thought for suuure we'd stay. But, At like 10:40 our district leader called to tell us we're both going to have babies and I'm leaving to open a brand new area! I'm excited, but SO sad.

I couldn't fall asleep for hours because I was thinking about all the people I would miss and baptisms and just everything...annnd my eyes may have been a little teary! They told us we would have a normal Monday together and Tuesday morning we'd have our babies, so I was thinking about what me and my companion would do our last day together. At MIDNIGHT, the assistants called to tell us we had to be at the stake center at 8am to trade companions for a day. I was a little annoyed at the late notice...buuut i guess that's just how it is in the mission. We woke up at 5ish so I could pack and get all ready to leave :( The morning was a little nuts because I wanted to leave a couple notes for people. Everything I wanted to get done I was able to luckily.

As we were leaving, miraculously there was a taxi. We haven't been able to buy credit to call, so I was a little worried about getting a taxi without being able to call one, but it all worked out! In the morning, I didn't get teary or anything, but a member stopped by to pick something up and surprised us...I gotl sad all over again. It's been two hours since then, and I can't seem to pull myself together very well. Luckily I'm with a new companion right now, so she can distract me with new conversations!

Baptism!

This week we had a baptism! We baptized the 9 year old of the family of investigators we're teaching. They are amazing. I feel so lucky to have known them and taught them. We ate with their family yesterday after church and I'm glad now I had that little extra time with them. At church we had their family there and 3 others. For two of those 3 it was their first time. I LOVE seeing investigators in the chapel. It always confirms that we're not just wasting our time with them and that they honestly do want to learn and do their part.

Hmmm...besides transfers I feel like there isn't a lot of new stuff to report. Next week I'll write all about my new daughter and area and finding investigators. Yikes! I'll be working super hard the next transfer. I love you all! Talk to you next week!

Hermana Harper

Merida - Week 17

Happy Birthday Hermana Harper!!!  21 Years Old!

¡Hola!

This next Monday is transfers, so I'll either be changing areas, getting a new companion, training, or nothing will change. I'm secretly hoping nothing changes because I really love my companion!

It's been a little crazy this week because we've been looking at houses...again. I have 3 transfers in the same area and this will be my third house I've lived in. Moving isn't too bad, it just takes up a lot of P-day :(

On a happier note, we managed to finish all the lessons with Monica (9 year old) so she can get baptized this Tuesday! I'm really excited because I think it will strengthen their little family so much.  We are still trying to get the parents married, so they can get baptized too, but more than likely that's a couple months off. Their entire family came to church on Sunday for the first time. Usually the son doesn't want to come, but I guess he finally decided it’s not so bad. I think we're going to have to work with him more because he has the typical "church is boring" attitude. It's all new too, so hopefully, once he has friends it will be better.

A Catholic Lady told me I look like her Virgin Mary.
She gave me this little card with a prayer on the back.

There are so many little things like that you have to worry about as a missionary! Who can be friends with who, what lessons people need, what things people aren't understanding. Sometimes I think I overwhelm myself, but when I just rely on the Lord things usually work out. One other thing was SO special on Sunday: for the first time one of our investigators, now a recent convert, got up to bear his testimony! Jesus had his baptism last Friday and is a really, really cool person. I think a lot of the members look up to him honestly. His dad has been sick since we met him, and he passed away on Saturday, may 3. Jesus told us Sunday in the chapel before sacrament meeting. It completely melted my heart because when he told us, he was holding back tears, but said to us he was really happy and knows where is dad is and how us missionaries are the reason he's at church and is able to be happy about something like that. Wow! And when he bore his testimony he talked about Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon just like a member. I loved hearing his testimony because I know he didn't just say all that to say it. He's really been reading and praying and fasting to have a testimony and had the desire to share it in Sacrament.

Hermana Harper's Birthday Party! In a member's home

Oh, my birthday was this week! I had thought my birthday wouldn't be much different than any other day, but it actually turned out to be a really fun day. In the morning my companion surprised me with a poster she made (no idea when or how she did it with our schedule) and balloons which was SO nice. After studies I opened the presents Mom and the family sent (thanks guys!! :)).  And later, the president's wife, my district leaders, and the other sisters in our district called to sing to me,  and one of our investigators (Jesus) sent a text message. For lunch we ate with a member that knew it was my birthday, so she asked in advance what I wanted to eat.  She was all dressed up when we got there and had the table set up really pretty and had a cake for afterwards.

Hermana Harper's Birthday, May 3!

Well, that's all I have time for. The time is always so short. Love you all!
Hermana Harper

Merida - Week 16

Hola Amigos!

This week we had two baptisms, so that  was definitely a highlight! The baptism was super special because the two of them we have been teaching for several weeks and they both REALLY wanted to be baptized. It was always just a matter of how fast we could get through the lessons and have them go to church enough times. I was so happy for them because I really felt like they understood what they were doing and why. A member commented to us yesterday that she was talking with them and they said that the missionaries came into their lives at exactly the right time. It's so cool to be apart of such a huge change in people's lives!

Baptism!

Some of our Ward Family!

Something kind of crazy happened this week on Friday while we were eating lunch with a member. It was just her and us in the kitchen and we were eating and she was cooking when she got a phone call. She answered the phone in the room right next door and we all the sudden heard her saying over and over with lots of panic in her voice "tell me your name! tell me your name!" My companion told me that she heard people here always get "kidnapping" calls, so we both thought it wasn't real even though the mom was really panicking. It was pretty scary because we didn't know for sure if it was real or not. After the mom had talked to the guy for a second to get his name and tell him she was poor and everything she all the sudden came back in the kitchen and handed ME the phone of all people! The guy had told her if she didn't follow the "instructions" he was going to kill her daughter. I only had the phone for a moment until I handed it to my companion because her Spanish is wayyy better than mine. The mom was super  worried because two of her 3 daughters were home, but the other was working and the girls voice in the phone sounded like her other daughter. It turned out to be super lucky that we were there because no one in their family had credit on their phone to call the daughter, so we called on our phone and found out that she was completely fine and it all was a scam. There are some really mean people here! After the mom calmed down and got her tears out, it turned out to be a funny experience. Mostly because in the moms panic she handed ME the phone to talk to the guy. Haha she told us after that she did that because "we have the spirit." People really look up to missionaries even though we're just normal people too! Luckily everything was ok, just a little crazy and scary!!!

Ok, I'm short on time, so that's all I'm going to share!
Hope you all have a great week!
Hermana Harper

Watching General Conference, we watched it in the office in English with about 10 missionaries

Merida - Week 15

Buenos Dias!

I hope everyone had a good Easter Sunday yesterday! Easter is a let down in Mexico, at least with the Mormons I guess. Mormons here don't celebrate it for some reason. A bunch of members told me its because we remember Jesus Christ and the Atonement every Sunday, so nothing is really different on Easter Sunday. It was kind of weird to me that NO one even mentioned the word "Easter" on Sunday; we just had the usual missionary work push in sacrament, talked about prophet in gospel principles class and a normal relief meeting. Haha, Relief Society here is kind of different.  All the ladies LOVE to participate. A lot of times the teacher barely gets a chance to talk and it feels like a big discussion group of people wanting to say everything they know and why what they're saying is right. I always get scared to bring investigators to relief society, but so far none of them have gotten scared off.

This week will be exciting because we have 2 baptisms set for Friday! Usually we have them Tuesdays, but one of the investigators got this HUGE bug bite. It was all infected and he had to take antibiotics and couldn't submerge in water. I really want to know what kind of bug it was so that I can watch out for it! Luckily we don't have as bad as a bug problem as some of the other sisters. We just have lots of ants and little spiders and sometimes cockroaches. Hermana Ludlam was telling me she has scorpions and huge centipedes and huuuge spiders in her house. When I hear things like that it makes me realize how good Hermana Tozcano and I have it in our area.

Speaking of how good we have it, we've been spending time in another part of our area a lot lately and it keeps surprising me how poor some people are. We talked to one lady who doesn't have a fridge so she has to go to the store several times a day. I've seen a bunch of houses that have fire pits in front of their house or walls of mattresses and I'm realizing a lot of people don't have appliances likes ovens or lamps, that in the US we totally take for granted. But people survive like that! Those people who don't have much spend a lot of time washing and cooking and working because they have to do everything themselves. They're almost ALWAYS busy, so it makes it hard to visit them and get them to church.

Other random things, we taught a lady this week named Feliciana who is suuuper Christian. Usually I like teaching Christians because they don't worship Mary at least, and they are way more dedicated than most Catholics here. Sometimes I like to think about the mission like a video game because we have to have so many lessons and have or little goals and everything. All of our investigators I give a level of difficulty to of 1 – 10.  Haha, I mention this because Feliciana would be a level 10 difficulty. She is studying to be a pastor and so she knows A LOT. It’s hard because she's super nice and everything but we have to think really hard how we can help her understand the restoration. She's the hardest we've come across so far. Usually people don't know much and just believe what we say, which can be good and bad I guess. I know it's the spirit that's saying "hey this is true," but sometimes I wish people would ask more questions.

Two more random things before I go: Not sure if it's just here in Merida but people are obsessed with Halls flavored cough drops. Instead of always have gum on them, people always eat Halls like its candy. Kinda funny. Also, in an area not too far from us, I heard that there's one ward with 8 companionships. 16 missionaries in ONE ward! Crazy! Our ward thought it was hard to juggle 4 missionaries, but another ward has 4x as many. And the members are always supporting them with their meals and accompanying the missionaries with appointments. I was glad to hear that because I think it really motivated our ward to be even more supportive than they already are.

Well, that's all I have time for. Adios! 

Hermana Harper

Merida - Week 14

Hola Amigos y Familia!

This week was another good week! Something exciting is that we have 5 new baptismal dates! Just because people say "yes" to a date though doesn't automatically mean we will have a baptism. Time will tell with these new ones how serious they are!

A week from this Tuesday we are going to have two baptisms and I'm super excited. One of them we've been teaching since I first got here and the other since about 8 weeks or so. Finally the day is almost here and they're ready!

The 6th of May we also have another solid baptism. We've been teaching our golden little family of four and the little girl wants to get baptized first. (I think I've already talked about them) The parents are waiting to finalize their marriage before  we can pick a date for them. Yesterday we asked their 13 year old son how he felt about being baptized and he decided he wants to for sure!  He wants to do it the same day as his parents though. 

It makes me so happy to have some solid investigators because so many keep letting us down. I'm lucky to have the companion I do too because she's always positive and makes things fun.

Well, it's April so its starting to get hot! It gets around 100 degrees here most days. I actually just realized that everything here is metrics and celsius. So people here say "wow it so hot, it's 40 grados!" And that means like 103 in Fahrenheit.  Funny!

On a spiritual note, since I'm a missionary, I will share a little from my studies. I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day (surprise!) and Nephi was writing about how incredible the atonement is, especially referring to the plan of salvation. He wrote how without the atonement, we would never have a body again and we would basically live with Satan forever. Even if we lived really good lives on the earth, without the atonement we couldn't get rid of our "sins" or mistakes/shortcomings/imperfections and we'd be stuck with Satan. Forever. When you think about the atonement that way, WOW. It makes me want to repent of everything. The atonement is the greatest gift. Because of the atonement, we can repent and change and change until we're more and more like Jesus Christ. And if we do our best to stay on this incline, not be perfect, but on an incline, we have the gift to become like God one day. Live how God lives. That's what eternal life is.

Well, I love you all and hope everyone is happy! Can't wait to see you all in...one year! :) Adios!
Hermana Harper

Merida - Week 13

¡Hola!

My first week with my new companion, Hermana Tozcano! I completely adore her. I was a little bit nervous that she didn't speak English at first, because I've never not had an English speaking companion, but I honestly felt like the ability to speak sky rocketed as soon as we became companions. It's definitely a huge blessing, and evidence of the gift of tongues that missionaries receive.  Its fun learning Spanish and English between the two of us and being able to laugh at all the weird things that happen out here. That´s one thing I´m super grateful to have in a companion, some one who likes to laugh at all the same things I think are funny.

In a lot of ways, I feel like this week  I've learned more about how to be a "real" missionary. Now that I'm the senior companion and the only one of the two of us that knows the area, I have a lot more responsibility! The first four days of this week were pretty nuts too. One of the days we had a sister stay the night with us, and in the morning we took her to the airport because she served her 18 months. The other days we had other sisters who had to say with us because it was too late for them to travel home to their area. And last Monday, we had sisters with us all day running errands! Lots of extra people to take care of! Hermana Tozcano and I were pretty exhausted those first few days.

General Conference: Hopefully everyone got a chance to watch! I think my favorite talk was by Elder Uchdorf about gratitude. I love it because gratitude really is the cure for any depression, sadness, when life just seems dull or not fair. There is always something to be grateful for. I really liked what he said about Nephi too, because I remembered reading that in the Book of Mormon and how it had impressed me. I think its toward the end of 1 Nephi when Nephi is tied up for 3 days on the ship. He says when his brothers finally untied him, his ankles and wrists were super swollen and that it was really painful. If you honestly put yourself in that position, I think it would be really hard to not be mad or at least want to complain about the pain. But Nephi thanked the Lord and didn't complain against him. I'm pretty sure the things I want to complain about are nothing compared to what Nephi suffered.

Speaking of pain and complaining, Saturday I got sick. It's my first time getting sick here in Mexico. Getting sick in the mission is honestly the worst because you can't just curl up on the couch and watch movies until you feel better. Instead you have to walk and walk and walk. And walking outside in Merida right now is super hot and humid, we are constantly sweating and sweating! And not only that, you've got to use your brain muscles to try and get people to listen to you, AND  seem happy.  After conference when we were out teaching, I was super tempted to just go home a couple hours early because I didn't feel like I physically had the energy to keep going.  However,  little by little I made it through the night and I 'm so glad I did because we found two families with a lot of potential. It strengthened my testimony of obedience to see how God really does bless us when we sacrifice to be obedient.

Ok, well that's all I have time for this week!
Love, Hermana Harper