We had transfers! This transfer, I stayed in Brisas and I got a new companion! Her name is Hermana Rojas and she is from Peru! I can already tell that we'll get along super great! :)
Last night it was a little frustrating because Hermana Huff and I stayed up until midnight, waiting to be told about transfers, so we could hurry and pack, but we waited that long just to be told that they were going to notify us in the morning. That's probably my biggest pet peeve about the mission- notifying us always super late at night. Hopefully its not like that in all missions!
In the morning we packed and cleaned and left for the stake center around 10:30am. Its fun seeing everyone together switching companions, but sad too. I saw my old companion, Hermana Tozcano, and found out she's going home! She has the same amount of time in the mission as I do, so it’s pretty sad she has to go home so early. Right after her and I ended our transfer together, like that next night I think the part of the wall where her hammock was hanging fell and she hurt her back really bad. Ever since then she's had problems and finally now is going home because of it. Super sad!
It was also really sad to say bye to Hermana Huff, because she was really a fun companion. I felt like I could do anything with her and we always had fun. I'm excited to see how her new adventure goes because her companion is Latina. She actually got here when I did, so I know her pretty good. I think Hermana Huff is pretty excited about her new adventure too, obviously super sad also, but she is ready for it!
I feel like I'm learning a ton right now. It’s crazy because I really feel like I'm in this area for a reason. For forever, I think I've lacked a lot of faith in God's timing and if things are all really for a reason, but last night some things changed. There's been a lot of little things I've struggled with being here, that I just thought were normal. I was talking to this less active member and he told me a few things that I really needed to hear. It's almost scary, but he has a huge gift for figuring people out. He told me all this stuff about me, that I was super surprised he picked up on. I realized that I need to talk more when I'm struggling with things, because everything shows. If you're not ok, it affects everything. It’s such a weird growing experience here because of the rules and expectations... You barely have time to think about yourself it feels like, but you have to sometimes! I really feel like so many things and relationships have happened here for me, and for a reason, and I'm really lucky. Its incredible to know that we really do have a father in heaven who cares for us and puts things and people into our lives for a purpose. You have to trust him though and choose to make something of your circumstances. Not just suffer through life with a little faith that you're meant for something more. I can tell I still have a long way to go, but I guess that's why God leaves us here for so long, haha.
I love you all and appreciate your support and prayers,
Hermana Harper
Monday, October 27, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Brisas - Week 23
Wow! This is already our last week of the transfer! And TODAY I completed 11 months! Next week I'll most likely be writing in a new area with a new companion. That's just my guess though, I very well could stay a little longer. The anticipation of leaving is already making me sad. It is good though, because after a while you start to be more friends with everyone than missionaries, and that's not good.
This week made me think of, what's become one of my favorite scriptures, Alma 27:26, because we had our first baptism here in Brisas!
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."
It was definitely a fight, but we got Leonardo baptized! Its crazy the obstacles that come up right before a baptism. Thursday night we had a correlation meeting with Roberto (ward mission leader), and other ward members and Roberto told us that on the group message board for the ward, someone had posted that Leonardo had an accident. I guess there was a bus of people that got hit by a train because the bus driver was being dumb and trying to beat the train. Leo was on that bus, but we were able to get a hold of his dad and found out Leo was fine. He was on pain medicine, but was alright. It made me remember in my last area when Jesus was about to be baptized, and a few days before he got this super awful bug bite on his back that was HUGE and infected and he couldn't submerge it in water. In the end, God always wins though and we always have our baptisms!
Saturday we had the baptism and we went during the morning to check on them, because ALL our appointments fell through! We got there and the sister-in-law was doing the mom's nails and Hermana Paula (member that lives with them) was out buying clothes for Leo. It made me so happy that they were all excited about it because they all haven't been to church in like 10 years! When they all got to the baptism that night they were all super dressed up and it was fun. It was a little sad because we had only two other members there (who showed up as it was ending) besides the Ward Mission Leader, Bishop, Young Mens Pres, and the other Missionaries. We did have an investigator there, Conchi, who showed up all by herself though! That was pretty neat. The service was pretty short, but good. What made it good was that all of Leo's family was there. Haha my companion had to give a little talk and found out on the spot, so I think that freaked her out a little, but she did good!
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Leo's Baptism |
Ohhh...and something cool...we have 2 new potential investigators that came out of Leo's baptism. Leo´s biological dad (Freddy) and his sister-in-law (Rubi) want to take the lessons. Nothing ever happened with either of them before because Russel, Rubi's husband, told us she didn't want anything to do with it, and Freddy seemed a little special. It was funny because the night before the baptism Freddy approached us and asked if he could get baptized with his son the next day. We explained that it’s a process, so he said we could come by Tuesday to teach him. He can't read or write though, so we'll have to figure something creative out for him! With Rubi, she just told us she was really curious with everything especially because her husband and in-laws are all technically members. I'm excited for all that because I really love their family!
Also, we had one funny experience this week that I wanted to share! Its just funny because sometimes our life feels like such a joke. We were in a taxi on the way to the stake center and were talking to the driver about Mormons, like always. Right about the end of the ride, I got a phone call, so I answered and it was this guy we had gone to months ago, but we dropped him because he drank too much and kept blowing us off. His name is Roni, and first thing, he asks why we hadn't visited him in so long, and before I could really answer, I think he heard the taxi driver say something, so he started asking me if our boyfriends were ok with us talking to him. Haha! I was just like, "we're MISSIONARIES, we don't have boyfriends!" And the taxi driver started laughing so hard. Haha that's why I feel like sometimes were a joke, luckily not to everyone though!
On thing I want to end with is a question that an investigator (Jessica) asked us. We were answering her questions about the plan of Salvation and she was trying to make sense of everything and asked, "well, why didn't God just send us all at once to be tested!" I had never thought of that actually, so I had to think for a second, but then it hit me, its because families really are just THAT important. We always say that to everyone, but it really is true that we needed families to make God's plan work the best it could. A lot of times we forget that too, but our families really are huge blessings.
Well, that's all for this week!
Love, Hermana Harper
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| Conchi (Investigator) and a Member |
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| The Spanish Hermanas LOVE Post it Notes!!! Thanks Mom for sending them!!! |
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Party before District Meeting!
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| P-Day! |
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| Crazy Kitty!!! |
Monday, October 13, 2014
Brisas - Week 22
Buenas Tardes!
Well, this week wasn't too bad! Lots of little things happened that I wanted to mention.
The first thing is...we have a BAPTISM on Saturday! I can hardly believe it! Its been a fight for months, literally, but finally the moment has come. I think I've mentioned him before, but his name is Leonardo and his family is all less active. Hermana Pinguelo and I had started teaching him right when we first got here and his family wasn't really ever supportive (well, they say they want to be but they don't actually do anything). However, a super faithful couple in the ward moved in with them because they're selling their house. They've been a huge help. Last week when we visited him, we confirmed about the date he had agreed to and he said he was ready. So, we stuck a sticky note with his name and baptismal date on the fridge so everyone would be sure to remember. The next time we visited him, right as we were about to leave, the mom walked in and was like, "I have a question for you two. Who gave Leo that baptismal date?" She seemed annoyed, so neither Hermana Huff or I said anything back right away, but I was glad we didn't because Leonardo stepped up and said, "ME!" I was super proud because I think a lot of Leonardo's family thinks we've been pressuring him into it, but we really haven't. I'm really excited though because even though it's not the ideal baptism I was hoping for, with Leo's family all getting reactivated too, it’s a step in the right direction for his family.
Other things this week:
We have an investigator named Gabriel who thinks us and him are literally BFFs. We run into him on the street a lot, but still haven't taught him because he's in the process of moving. He's given us nicknames since we're so tight with him and in his phone I'm "Beauty Harper." The best though is Hermana Huff's. Hahaha, he calls her "Doofy." We met with him a couple of days ago in our area and he brought a friend and introduced Hermana Huff to him as his friend he likes to call Doofy. Haha. This same guy also called me Elder Harper once. Super funny guy.
Another thing this week is that I dumped out a drunk man's bottle of beer. He is a less active that we taught at the start of the week and he told us he was ready to change his life around. I was so convinced by his desire to change that I asked if he wanted to meet with the Bishop, and he told me yes, so I scheduled an appointment with him right then and there. We felt so accomplished walking out of that lesson, but unfortunately two days later we found him riding his bike with his huge bottle of beer almost completely empty. When we him, we are like "what are you doing???" I asked him if I could dump out his beer for him, and he handed it to me, so I did. Afterwards though, he was completely astonished and kept saying "You just dumped out my beer. No one has ever done that before." He said it so much, that I got a little nervous that he was actually super mad and wanted to smack me or something. I was like, remember you told me I could! And then I gave him a lecture on needing to be an example for his daughters and that he wouldn't find lasting happiness in getting drunk all the time. Haha. When I was talking to him I felt like I was getting mad at Devin or Jace for a min. The big sister came out!!!
We visited our little golden family and just the mom and daughters were there. The mom has been super shy with praying in front of us for a long time, but she agreed to pray for the closing prayer. That was a super cool thing because its taken her weeks. They still aren't coming to church because little things that keep coming up every week, but this week we're really counting on it! Plus, our normal chapel is fiiiinally ready. No more hassles trying to get all our investigators to the other side of Merida it feels like (haha it’s really not that far).
This week we also had interviews with the Mission President. They're always not a big deal though. Basically I get in there and he tells me what a good missionary I am and to eat more because I look too skinny. And that's about it. I wanted his help about what to do with some difficult investigators we have, so we role played and I acted as the investigator, but I didn't learn much that I don't already do. I think its just the people honestly. Some are ready and want it, some are just too content and don't feel the need to change anything.
I guess that's a pretty decent summary of this week. I thought I broke my toe a couple days ago, but I'm pretty sure I'm fine. Haha. I pretty much fell out of my hammock...I was getting out and I hit my toe, oddly enough. It was super purple and couldn't walk that good for like a day, but now it doesn't hurt. This is only like my second time having something like that happen, so not too bad for 10 months I'd say!
¡Pues...amo a todos ustedes! Espero que estén bien! By!
Hermana Harper
Well, this week wasn't too bad! Lots of little things happened that I wanted to mention.
The first thing is...we have a BAPTISM on Saturday! I can hardly believe it! Its been a fight for months, literally, but finally the moment has come. I think I've mentioned him before, but his name is Leonardo and his family is all less active. Hermana Pinguelo and I had started teaching him right when we first got here and his family wasn't really ever supportive (well, they say they want to be but they don't actually do anything). However, a super faithful couple in the ward moved in with them because they're selling their house. They've been a huge help. Last week when we visited him, we confirmed about the date he had agreed to and he said he was ready. So, we stuck a sticky note with his name and baptismal date on the fridge so everyone would be sure to remember. The next time we visited him, right as we were about to leave, the mom walked in and was like, "I have a question for you two. Who gave Leo that baptismal date?" She seemed annoyed, so neither Hermana Huff or I said anything back right away, but I was glad we didn't because Leonardo stepped up and said, "ME!" I was super proud because I think a lot of Leonardo's family thinks we've been pressuring him into it, but we really haven't. I'm really excited though because even though it's not the ideal baptism I was hoping for, with Leo's family all getting reactivated too, it’s a step in the right direction for his family.
Other things this week:
We have an investigator named Gabriel who thinks us and him are literally BFFs. We run into him on the street a lot, but still haven't taught him because he's in the process of moving. He's given us nicknames since we're so tight with him and in his phone I'm "Beauty Harper." The best though is Hermana Huff's. Hahaha, he calls her "Doofy." We met with him a couple of days ago in our area and he brought a friend and introduced Hermana Huff to him as his friend he likes to call Doofy. Haha. This same guy also called me Elder Harper once. Super funny guy.
Another thing this week is that I dumped out a drunk man's bottle of beer. He is a less active that we taught at the start of the week and he told us he was ready to change his life around. I was so convinced by his desire to change that I asked if he wanted to meet with the Bishop, and he told me yes, so I scheduled an appointment with him right then and there. We felt so accomplished walking out of that lesson, but unfortunately two days later we found him riding his bike with his huge bottle of beer almost completely empty. When we him, we are like "what are you doing???" I asked him if I could dump out his beer for him, and he handed it to me, so I did. Afterwards though, he was completely astonished and kept saying "You just dumped out my beer. No one has ever done that before." He said it so much, that I got a little nervous that he was actually super mad and wanted to smack me or something. I was like, remember you told me I could! And then I gave him a lecture on needing to be an example for his daughters and that he wouldn't find lasting happiness in getting drunk all the time. Haha. When I was talking to him I felt like I was getting mad at Devin or Jace for a min. The big sister came out!!!
We visited our little golden family and just the mom and daughters were there. The mom has been super shy with praying in front of us for a long time, but she agreed to pray for the closing prayer. That was a super cool thing because its taken her weeks. They still aren't coming to church because little things that keep coming up every week, but this week we're really counting on it! Plus, our normal chapel is fiiiinally ready. No more hassles trying to get all our investigators to the other side of Merida it feels like (haha it’s really not that far).
This week we also had interviews with the Mission President. They're always not a big deal though. Basically I get in there and he tells me what a good missionary I am and to eat more because I look too skinny. And that's about it. I wanted his help about what to do with some difficult investigators we have, so we role played and I acted as the investigator, but I didn't learn much that I don't already do. I think its just the people honestly. Some are ready and want it, some are just too content and don't feel the need to change anything.
I guess that's a pretty decent summary of this week. I thought I broke my toe a couple days ago, but I'm pretty sure I'm fine. Haha. I pretty much fell out of my hammock...I was getting out and I hit my toe, oddly enough. It was super purple and couldn't walk that good for like a day, but now it doesn't hurt. This is only like my second time having something like that happen, so not too bad for 10 months I'd say!
¡Pues...amo a todos ustedes! Espero que estén bien! By!
Hermana Harper
Monday, October 6, 2014
Brisas - Week 21
¡Muy Buenos Días!
So we got our P-day schedule switched on us yet again. We're now the same as all the rest of the missionaries in the world and work from 6 - 9pm, instead of having district meeting. It was fun having P-day in the evening, but I think this schedule really is better. Especially because everyone seems to be more available in the evenings!
This week was super fun with general conference! It felt like we were waiting for Christmas day all week! Saturday morning we headed to the Stake Center at 10am and were there until it started at 11am. There were some technical problems, but about a half hour into it, they got it working. Several people loaded it onto their phones, so we didn't really miss anything. Once everything got working, all the American missionaries went into the High Priests room to watch it in English. That's always my favorite about all the conferences, feeling like you’re back in the US for a little bit!
Between sessions, we went with the other two sisters in our ward to Burger King and after got snacks next door at Chedraui (it’s like a Wal-mart) for the next session. I think just about all the missionaries had that idea, because as we were leaving we saw a bunch of the elders with their arms full of ice cream! Haha!
From all the talks, I don't know if I could pick a favorite! Well actually, if you didn't see Jorg Kebingat, go back and watch it because it was good for many different reasons. It was interesting the emphasis on prophets and strengthening our personal testimonies. I don't know if its just because I'm on a mission or what, but it just feels like Satan is getting stronger. I liked that conference mentioned so much being strong and having our testimonies rooted in Christ.
Sunday, we also went at 10am and were there to greet everyone. Greet/talk among ourselves I should say! All the Missionaries always take advantage of time to spend together, since we don't really get to a lot. All the Americans watched conference again in the same place again, so that was fun. Sunday, the 4 of us (missionaries) that are in the same ward, ate with a couple of the member families that stayed at the chapel to eat. It was a little disappointing because not a single investigator came to conference. We spent the whole week before telling everyone we could, but every single one had some excuse. Its frustrating when you have so much hope for people showing up, but other priorities win them over.
Today during our district meeting I feel like I learned a lot of useful things. I think after a time as a missionary, you sometimes get bored by the things you teach and the investigators don't understand why what we want to teach them is so important. I was the coach for one practice and the investigator for the other, and I realized we really need to do more as missionaries to excite people! We need to show urgency in changing and being better. The best way to do it though, is start ourselves. I've really thought a lot about that this week. I think there are a lot of things I could do to be a better missionary and as a person, but I procrastinate a lot because I don't feel urgency. But there is! Our zone leader made the comment this morning that if we don't learn to love the mission, we probably won't be very content in the celestial kingdom. This life is to prepare to meet God and prepare to grow up to be like him. I think a lot of times we think little of our callings or what an impact our example could make, but every little effort we make, God can use to bless another persons life. We need to really think about priorities and where we're literally preparing to go after this life. The celestial kingdom will probably entail the same kinds of things that our callings and families ask of us, so why wait to learn to love it?
With lots of love from Mérida,
Hermana Harper
So we got our P-day schedule switched on us yet again. We're now the same as all the rest of the missionaries in the world and work from 6 - 9pm, instead of having district meeting. It was fun having P-day in the evening, but I think this schedule really is better. Especially because everyone seems to be more available in the evenings!
This week was super fun with general conference! It felt like we were waiting for Christmas day all week! Saturday morning we headed to the Stake Center at 10am and were there until it started at 11am. There were some technical problems, but about a half hour into it, they got it working. Several people loaded it onto their phones, so we didn't really miss anything. Once everything got working, all the American missionaries went into the High Priests room to watch it in English. That's always my favorite about all the conferences, feeling like you’re back in the US for a little bit!
Between sessions, we went with the other two sisters in our ward to Burger King and after got snacks next door at Chedraui (it’s like a Wal-mart) for the next session. I think just about all the missionaries had that idea, because as we were leaving we saw a bunch of the elders with their arms full of ice cream! Haha!
From all the talks, I don't know if I could pick a favorite! Well actually, if you didn't see Jorg Kebingat, go back and watch it because it was good for many different reasons. It was interesting the emphasis on prophets and strengthening our personal testimonies. I don't know if its just because I'm on a mission or what, but it just feels like Satan is getting stronger. I liked that conference mentioned so much being strong and having our testimonies rooted in Christ.
Sunday, we also went at 10am and were there to greet everyone. Greet/talk among ourselves I should say! All the Missionaries always take advantage of time to spend together, since we don't really get to a lot. All the Americans watched conference again in the same place again, so that was fun. Sunday, the 4 of us (missionaries) that are in the same ward, ate with a couple of the member families that stayed at the chapel to eat. It was a little disappointing because not a single investigator came to conference. We spent the whole week before telling everyone we could, but every single one had some excuse. Its frustrating when you have so much hope for people showing up, but other priorities win them over.
Today during our district meeting I feel like I learned a lot of useful things. I think after a time as a missionary, you sometimes get bored by the things you teach and the investigators don't understand why what we want to teach them is so important. I was the coach for one practice and the investigator for the other, and I realized we really need to do more as missionaries to excite people! We need to show urgency in changing and being better. The best way to do it though, is start ourselves. I've really thought a lot about that this week. I think there are a lot of things I could do to be a better missionary and as a person, but I procrastinate a lot because I don't feel urgency. But there is! Our zone leader made the comment this morning that if we don't learn to love the mission, we probably won't be very content in the celestial kingdom. This life is to prepare to meet God and prepare to grow up to be like him. I think a lot of times we think little of our callings or what an impact our example could make, but every little effort we make, God can use to bless another persons life. We need to really think about priorities and where we're literally preparing to go after this life. The celestial kingdom will probably entail the same kinds of things that our callings and families ask of us, so why wait to learn to love it?
With lots of love from Mérida,
Hermana Harper
Monday, September 29, 2014
Brisas - Week 20
First of all, I can't believe it's almost October.
There were lots of fun things that happened this month. With Independence day and all the little Catholic parades for their saints, and now, day of the dead and Halloween is coming up. I haven't heard too much about those holidays, but I'm sure I will soon!
This week I didn't feel too much like a missionary because it seemed like everyday we had errands to run for sick missionaries. My mission daughter (Hermana Pinguelo) got stuck in the hospital for a couple days because her companion got Dengue. You get it from mosquitos, and I guess it can be really serious if you don't get it taken care of. We went to the hospital twice to leave clothes and let their phone charge. They were fun little trips despite missing out on teaching time! The other sisters in our ward also got sick with the flu, so they've been house bound, and we've had to help them a little bit too. Seems like everyone has gotten sick lately!
With the time we had to teach, we actually found some pretty awesome people. We found a newlywed couple at the start of this week who are really great. The wife is from Colorado and is here learning/teaching Spanish. She was a missionary for the catholic church which I thought was pretty cool because there aren't many of those (missionaries) that I've seen. I think I forget that Americans can be Catholics too, haha! She married a guy who's from here and they both have lots of really great questions about what we believe. I'm hoping by the next lesson we can get them to accept an invitation to be baptized!
Its been fun with the conference coming up and inviting everyone to it. The less actives we've invited seem especially excited. Last night I was on exchanges with one of the sister training leaders and we were with Shirley, who's been a member for 14 years, but inactive for awhile. She's been slowing getting more involved though and when we told her about conference and how awesome it would be, she got way excited. She's never been, she said and has several things she's been praying about lately, so we told her to bring her questions to conference.
This week we went to the Womens' Conference. We brought Conchi with us, who we've taught several times and I think she really liked it. I love having conferences like that to show investigators because they're always so perfect! There really is something for everyone, no matter how much you know about the church. I hope everyone listens and takes advantage of such a special opportunity!
Love, Hermana Harper
There were lots of fun things that happened this month. With Independence day and all the little Catholic parades for their saints, and now, day of the dead and Halloween is coming up. I haven't heard too much about those holidays, but I'm sure I will soon!
This week I didn't feel too much like a missionary because it seemed like everyday we had errands to run for sick missionaries. My mission daughter (Hermana Pinguelo) got stuck in the hospital for a couple days because her companion got Dengue. You get it from mosquitos, and I guess it can be really serious if you don't get it taken care of. We went to the hospital twice to leave clothes and let their phone charge. They were fun little trips despite missing out on teaching time! The other sisters in our ward also got sick with the flu, so they've been house bound, and we've had to help them a little bit too. Seems like everyone has gotten sick lately!
With the time we had to teach, we actually found some pretty awesome people. We found a newlywed couple at the start of this week who are really great. The wife is from Colorado and is here learning/teaching Spanish. She was a missionary for the catholic church which I thought was pretty cool because there aren't many of those (missionaries) that I've seen. I think I forget that Americans can be Catholics too, haha! She married a guy who's from here and they both have lots of really great questions about what we believe. I'm hoping by the next lesson we can get them to accept an invitation to be baptized!
Its been fun with the conference coming up and inviting everyone to it. The less actives we've invited seem especially excited. Last night I was on exchanges with one of the sister training leaders and we were with Shirley, who's been a member for 14 years, but inactive for awhile. She's been slowing getting more involved though and when we told her about conference and how awesome it would be, she got way excited. She's never been, she said and has several things she's been praying about lately, so we told her to bring her questions to conference.
This week we went to the Womens' Conference. We brought Conchi with us, who we've taught several times and I think she really liked it. I love having conferences like that to show investigators because they're always so perfect! There really is something for everyone, no matter how much you know about the church. I hope everyone listens and takes advantage of such a special opportunity!
Love, Hermana Harper
Monday, September 22, 2014
Brisas - Week 19
Hola,
Well, another week in mission life!
One highlight, on Saturday we had a stake activity called "A day in the mission." All the young men, young women and missionaries met at the stake center at 7am and we had breakfast and a couple little "MTC" classes. Around 11am the president and his assistants came and talked about the hard parts of a mission and told everyone how they could get ready right now to face all those challenges. It’s funny that really the hardest things for missionaries after the initial shock of getting here is just being tired, hungry (mostly the elders), and being outside in the sun all day. They really emphasized exercise with all the youth and said how that really prepares you before and during your mission.
The president also talked about addictions to things like TV or your phone and how you have to find a different outlet than that, because you won't have it on the mission! He also talked about addictions to porn and masturbation, which is always uncomfortable for everyone a little, but he had really good things to say about it. I think a lot of times no one wants to talk about it because its awkard, but its really a serious thing and a powerful tool Satan uses. Its crazy how many people face those problems too! One thing the president said it that a porn addiction, if left untreated, eventually turns into criminal activity in later phases of the addiction. He also said that masturbation addictions often lead to homosexuality. It was also interesting because he said that these addictions affect our capacity to love others, especially a spouse. Usually, the worse the addiction, the less ability you have to sincerely love others. When you understand the plan of salvation and the importance of marriage, having your ability to love diminished not only ruins a marriage, but consequently, exaltation! Satan is just so smart when he gets us hooked with addictions. The president also explained that we need to be careful of all kinds of addictions. He explained an addiction to be anything that the body selfishly wants, but that the spirit knows isn't good. Whenever our body starts to control our spirt, we should be careful! Before coming to the earth, we probably had no idea what having a body would be like, but now we're here and we have to really learn to let our spirits be our guides, not our bodies.
After that message from the president, all of us got together as a ward and between the missionaries and RMs in the ward, all the kids got split up with a list of names of people to visit. They were mostly less actives and recent converts. Since my companion still doesn't feel completely sure of the language and area yet, her and I stayed together and were given 3 girls. I showed my companion where to go once we got back to our area and sent her with one of the girls to go all by themselves. I think my companion learned a lot that day haha! It turned out to be a really fun activity though. I loved seeing how excited the girls got. We lucked out right at the beginning when the 5 of us were still together, because we found a new investigator that genuinely seemed interested in what we had to say. We gave her a Book of Mormon and went through the restoration really fast and she seemed excited to see what the Book of Mormon had to say. After the activity, we had a testimony meeting and all of the kids had really great experiences it seemed like.
I laughed because one kid got up and said he thought missionary work was just all fun, food, and teaching people who wanted to be baptized. He got out into "the mission" though and said it was just hot and not that many people wanted to listen. That's how it is a lot of days! Its funny, because you really just don't know what its like until you're out here!
On Sunday, at church, it was pretty sad because all week we thought we were getting switched back to our normal church building (they've been remodeling and we've been going to a church a lot farther away), but Saturday night we found out that the church wasn't getting switched back. Between that, and investigators not being there when people went by to pick them up (we had no investigators at church) it was a frustrating day :( That's a really frustrating part about being a missionary...coordinating so many peoples schedules and making all these plans, only to have something change and ruin everything. I guess its life though.
Con Amor, Hermana Harper
Well, another week in mission life!
One highlight, on Saturday we had a stake activity called "A day in the mission." All the young men, young women and missionaries met at the stake center at 7am and we had breakfast and a couple little "MTC" classes. Around 11am the president and his assistants came and talked about the hard parts of a mission and told everyone how they could get ready right now to face all those challenges. It’s funny that really the hardest things for missionaries after the initial shock of getting here is just being tired, hungry (mostly the elders), and being outside in the sun all day. They really emphasized exercise with all the youth and said how that really prepares you before and during your mission.
The president also talked about addictions to things like TV or your phone and how you have to find a different outlet than that, because you won't have it on the mission! He also talked about addictions to porn and masturbation, which is always uncomfortable for everyone a little, but he had really good things to say about it. I think a lot of times no one wants to talk about it because its awkard, but its really a serious thing and a powerful tool Satan uses. Its crazy how many people face those problems too! One thing the president said it that a porn addiction, if left untreated, eventually turns into criminal activity in later phases of the addiction. He also said that masturbation addictions often lead to homosexuality. It was also interesting because he said that these addictions affect our capacity to love others, especially a spouse. Usually, the worse the addiction, the less ability you have to sincerely love others. When you understand the plan of salvation and the importance of marriage, having your ability to love diminished not only ruins a marriage, but consequently, exaltation! Satan is just so smart when he gets us hooked with addictions. The president also explained that we need to be careful of all kinds of addictions. He explained an addiction to be anything that the body selfishly wants, but that the spirit knows isn't good. Whenever our body starts to control our spirt, we should be careful! Before coming to the earth, we probably had no idea what having a body would be like, but now we're here and we have to really learn to let our spirits be our guides, not our bodies.
After that message from the president, all of us got together as a ward and between the missionaries and RMs in the ward, all the kids got split up with a list of names of people to visit. They were mostly less actives and recent converts. Since my companion still doesn't feel completely sure of the language and area yet, her and I stayed together and were given 3 girls. I showed my companion where to go once we got back to our area and sent her with one of the girls to go all by themselves. I think my companion learned a lot that day haha! It turned out to be a really fun activity though. I loved seeing how excited the girls got. We lucked out right at the beginning when the 5 of us were still together, because we found a new investigator that genuinely seemed interested in what we had to say. We gave her a Book of Mormon and went through the restoration really fast and she seemed excited to see what the Book of Mormon had to say. After the activity, we had a testimony meeting and all of the kids had really great experiences it seemed like.
I laughed because one kid got up and said he thought missionary work was just all fun, food, and teaching people who wanted to be baptized. He got out into "the mission" though and said it was just hot and not that many people wanted to listen. That's how it is a lot of days! Its funny, because you really just don't know what its like until you're out here!
On Sunday, at church, it was pretty sad because all week we thought we were getting switched back to our normal church building (they've been remodeling and we've been going to a church a lot farther away), but Saturday night we found out that the church wasn't getting switched back. Between that, and investigators not being there when people went by to pick them up (we had no investigators at church) it was a frustrating day :( That's a really frustrating part about being a missionary...coordinating so many peoples schedules and making all these plans, only to have something change and ruin everything. I guess its life though.
Con Amor, Hermana Harper
Monday, September 15, 2014
Brisas - Week 18
This week was a crazy week!
To start off the week, my companion woke up Tuesday morning feeling sick. We both we're hoping she could just suffer through it, but by lunchtime that day it was too much, she said. Since we ate with the other Hermanas at their house that day, Hermana Huff went and layed down and I called the mission president's wife. She told us we needed to go to Centro and get her "credencial" card (not sure if that is the same in English) since she was still new and didn't have it, and then we needed to go to Alta Brisas, to the hospital there. That ended up taking our whole day just about! Luckily the first taxi we found took us to all those places and didn't charge us as much as he could have. The taxi driver had his wife and little boy in the car too, for the ride, so we got to talk to them and tell them
about the church and everything- so that was good!
At the hospial, Star Medica, they told us Hermana Huff had a fever and they gave her a shot (in the bum!) and 2 boxes of medication. To this day, she says it still hurts where they gave her the shot. Poor thing! :(
The next day she still wasn't feeling good, so I arranged for her to stay with a member all day. Luckily, the sister training leader (Hermana Ludlam, my trainer) asked to come out with us that day and while sister Huff was with the member, I went out with Hermana Ludlam and we had a pretty good day. Hermana Huff told me that the member was super cute with her and was always at her side, taking her temperature, making sure she stayed cool, giving her things to eat. I think they both had a lot of fun, haha.
So that was the first half of the week.
Something kinda scary happened Friday night! People always tell us to be careful here, but I've honestly NEVER seen anything or been anywhere where I've ever felt like we could be in danger. Friday though, we got out of a lesson at 9:10 pm (have to be home by 9:30) and we went to wait for the bus that would take us by our house. For where we were, we had to wait for a bus in a part that's just outside of where the houses and everything are. One one side there are houses and the other side is just a field. I guess it could be a little creepy, but usually the bus always comes fast so its fine. So Friday, we were waiting and when 9:30 pm rolled around, our bus still hadn't come. I started feeling stressed out because we had to be home and I didn't want to pay for a taxi, because we'd used up most of our money with the hospital visit and everything. This 17 year old kid came and started taking to us, and I knew him from a couple weeks ago because we had contacted him in the street with his mom. This truck passed by and stopped right in front of us and just stayed there for like a whole minute. That whole time I was asking the kid if he knew the guy and why was he there. He kept telling me to "calm down" and that it would be fine. Finally, this mysterious guy in the truck gets out and offers us a ride, but I told him that we were fine and just waiting for the bus and that we had rules about accepting rides. He kept insisting on letting him help us and was trying to be super nice, but at the same time he was super creepy. He got me a little stressed out because he said the busses don't always come by this late and that he'd just take us where we needed to go. I told him though that if the bus didn't come, we'd just take a taxi, but he just kept insisting on letting him help us and to not worry about the rules. I wasn't being very assertive, so the kid that was with us totally stood up and kept asking the guy to please leave. As soon at the stranger left, this kid told us that he knows guys like that and that we have to be really careful. I guess there's lots of men like him that take young girls and do really awful things here. I was super glad we happened to run into that kid and that he helped us out, because that late at night without people around, who knows what could have happened! Pretty sure someone was looking out for us ;)
Monday (15th) and Tuesday (16th) are Mexico's independence days, so we've had a lot of fun with that! On Sunday there was this rodeo we passed on our way to a lesson, so we checked it out really quick and got some fun pictures! Monday we went with some friends (some members, some not) to a Mayan Museum. For a museum, it was pretty cool! One of the people we went with used to work there, so he got us in for free (otherwise for foreigners its over a 100$, rip off!). It was fun because he acted like our guide the whole way through. The outside of the museum is shaped like a giant tree because the Mayans believe the tree symbolizes the 3 stages of life - the Underworld, Terrenal life, and the Heavens. Honestly I didn't understand all of it, haha. I learned lots about all the gods the Mayans believe in and how Yucatan used to be underwater, so that's why there are tons of water caverns and springs everywhere.
One thing that really put a dent in this week is that our baptism scheduled for this Saturday fell through. We went to visit our cute grandpa, Victor, for the last lesson before his baptismal interview and his son came out and told us how we're pressuring his dad and how his parents don't want us to come anymore, but are too shy to say anything. He wouldn't even let us talk, he just demanded us to leave or said he'd call the police. I asked like 6 times to just let his dad, who was sitting right there, to confirm things and we'd leave, but the son wouldn't let us and Victor never spoke up. I was REALLY sad after because since I arrived in this area we've been teaching Victor. I felt super let down, because we've come SO far with him. Literally everything was arranged for the baptism, but I don't know what to do now because the son threatened to call the police if we, or any members, come back. As we were leaving that lesson, I couldn't hold back the tears! It felt like we were finally seeing miracles, but now things just weren't working out.
With some of our other investigators, we've had a lot of let downs and sometimes it just feels like too much. One good thing though is that Hermana Huff and I are starting a new transfer, and hopefully with all the changes, we can change how we've done things. We've talked, and we're really going to try and be even more obedient so that we can have the right to more blessings. Or maybe just have more peace of mind because we did all we could. I know that even though things are hard, everything is in God's hands and that he will always take care of his children.
Love,
Hermana Harper
To start off the week, my companion woke up Tuesday morning feeling sick. We both we're hoping she could just suffer through it, but by lunchtime that day it was too much, she said. Since we ate with the other Hermanas at their house that day, Hermana Huff went and layed down and I called the mission president's wife. She told us we needed to go to Centro and get her "credencial" card (not sure if that is the same in English) since she was still new and didn't have it, and then we needed to go to Alta Brisas, to the hospital there. That ended up taking our whole day just about! Luckily the first taxi we found took us to all those places and didn't charge us as much as he could have. The taxi driver had his wife and little boy in the car too, for the ride, so we got to talk to them and tell them
about the church and everything- so that was good!
At the hospial, Star Medica, they told us Hermana Huff had a fever and they gave her a shot (in the bum!) and 2 boxes of medication. To this day, she says it still hurts where they gave her the shot. Poor thing! :(
The next day she still wasn't feeling good, so I arranged for her to stay with a member all day. Luckily, the sister training leader (Hermana Ludlam, my trainer) asked to come out with us that day and while sister Huff was with the member, I went out with Hermana Ludlam and we had a pretty good day. Hermana Huff told me that the member was super cute with her and was always at her side, taking her temperature, making sure she stayed cool, giving her things to eat. I think they both had a lot of fun, haha.
So that was the first half of the week.
Something kinda scary happened Friday night! People always tell us to be careful here, but I've honestly NEVER seen anything or been anywhere where I've ever felt like we could be in danger. Friday though, we got out of a lesson at 9:10 pm (have to be home by 9:30) and we went to wait for the bus that would take us by our house. For where we were, we had to wait for a bus in a part that's just outside of where the houses and everything are. One one side there are houses and the other side is just a field. I guess it could be a little creepy, but usually the bus always comes fast so its fine. So Friday, we were waiting and when 9:30 pm rolled around, our bus still hadn't come. I started feeling stressed out because we had to be home and I didn't want to pay for a taxi, because we'd used up most of our money with the hospital visit and everything. This 17 year old kid came and started taking to us, and I knew him from a couple weeks ago because we had contacted him in the street with his mom. This truck passed by and stopped right in front of us and just stayed there for like a whole minute. That whole time I was asking the kid if he knew the guy and why was he there. He kept telling me to "calm down" and that it would be fine. Finally, this mysterious guy in the truck gets out and offers us a ride, but I told him that we were fine and just waiting for the bus and that we had rules about accepting rides. He kept insisting on letting him help us and was trying to be super nice, but at the same time he was super creepy. He got me a little stressed out because he said the busses don't always come by this late and that he'd just take us where we needed to go. I told him though that if the bus didn't come, we'd just take a taxi, but he just kept insisting on letting him help us and to not worry about the rules. I wasn't being very assertive, so the kid that was with us totally stood up and kept asking the guy to please leave. As soon at the stranger left, this kid told us that he knows guys like that and that we have to be really careful. I guess there's lots of men like him that take young girls and do really awful things here. I was super glad we happened to run into that kid and that he helped us out, because that late at night without people around, who knows what could have happened! Pretty sure someone was looking out for us ;)
Monday (15th) and Tuesday (16th) are Mexico's independence days, so we've had a lot of fun with that! On Sunday there was this rodeo we passed on our way to a lesson, so we checked it out really quick and got some fun pictures! Monday we went with some friends (some members, some not) to a Mayan Museum. For a museum, it was pretty cool! One of the people we went with used to work there, so he got us in for free (otherwise for foreigners its over a 100$, rip off!). It was fun because he acted like our guide the whole way through. The outside of the museum is shaped like a giant tree because the Mayans believe the tree symbolizes the 3 stages of life - the Underworld, Terrenal life, and the Heavens. Honestly I didn't understand all of it, haha. I learned lots about all the gods the Mayans believe in and how Yucatan used to be underwater, so that's why there are tons of water caverns and springs everywhere.
One thing that really put a dent in this week is that our baptism scheduled for this Saturday fell through. We went to visit our cute grandpa, Victor, for the last lesson before his baptismal interview and his son came out and told us how we're pressuring his dad and how his parents don't want us to come anymore, but are too shy to say anything. He wouldn't even let us talk, he just demanded us to leave or said he'd call the police. I asked like 6 times to just let his dad, who was sitting right there, to confirm things and we'd leave, but the son wouldn't let us and Victor never spoke up. I was REALLY sad after because since I arrived in this area we've been teaching Victor. I felt super let down, because we've come SO far with him. Literally everything was arranged for the baptism, but I don't know what to do now because the son threatened to call the police if we, or any members, come back. As we were leaving that lesson, I couldn't hold back the tears! It felt like we were finally seeing miracles, but now things just weren't working out.
With some of our other investigators, we've had a lot of let downs and sometimes it just feels like too much. One good thing though is that Hermana Huff and I are starting a new transfer, and hopefully with all the changes, we can change how we've done things. We've talked, and we're really going to try and be even more obedient so that we can have the right to more blessings. Or maybe just have more peace of mind because we did all we could. I know that even though things are hard, everything is in God's hands and that he will always take care of his children.
Love,
Hermana Harper
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