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

Playground by our house

Brisas - Week 17

Buenas Tardes!

This week turned out to be pretty good! We went back to this one mother and her son and taught them the second time and they actually had read the pamphlet (folleto)  we left and liked that. When  we explained what the Book of Mormon was, the son told us he had been searching for something like that and was super excited to start reading it.

On Sunday we taught a lady we had contacted the week before and she was really interested because she wants more peace and unity within her family. She said how everyone is just on the phone and does their own thing all the time and that a lot of extended family members have really strong personalities. She doesn't have much religious background, so we started talking about prophets and Joseph Smith and how the prophets help guide us to be happier and have happier families. We didn't get a chance to talk much about baptism, but the next visit we told them we would.

Saturday night I got really excited for Sunday,  because we did everything we could to arrange having 7 investigators at church, minium. Everything ended up working out, except for the member who went to pick up our family and couldn't find the house :( We still haven't talked to them, but I was super bummed our plans getting them to church didn't work out. On Saturday night we stopped by and they are seriously the greatest. I already feel like we've known them forever. It’s cute because I usually end up talking to the parents and the two little girls are all over my companion. Me and Herman Huff laugh because the girls treat her like their little pet. Since Herman Huff still doesn't know a ton of Spanish, I think they think she's kinda dumb and they try and teach her about everything. Haha like they were teaching her what a phone is and they reminded her not to eat the seed of the peaches they gave us. Its super funny. On Saturday when we stopped by they showed us their birds and said we could each have one, but that they'll take care of them until we go home. So who knows, I may be bringing a cute little Mexico bird home!

One funny thing we did today, with the little bit of extra time we had, was visit Roberto's mom who is HILARIOUS. She's super old and doesn't have any teeth, but she's so sassy! Today we went so she could teach us Mayan, but it didn't really work out. We'd ask her how to say a word, and she'd end up telling us a whole phrase of something that had to do with the word. It reminded me how I felt when I first started learning Spanish...one big headache. She was so funny though because she told us the funniest things, that to her, were important. Things like how to order a tortilla and to add extra tomato. And how to say "no it’s a lie!" And also how to say someone is a handsome guy or lady. Hopefully I come home with a video or two of her because she makes me laugh so hard.

Rita - She is teaching us Mayan

I feel like lots of little random things happened this week. There was a member last week at church who told me she's been kinda sad because her husband is sick and she's way behind with cleaning and everything, so I told her we'd go help her this week. She was super embarrassed about it, but we went anyways. We cleaned her front porch and by the end it looked pretty decent. And after, we made empanadas! :) Haha whenever I see how they make food here I just wonder why everyone doesn't eat stuff like that all the time because its just so easy. Everything with "massa" as its called is just fast and yummy. Probably not that healthy though because its fried.
On a spiritual note, I was reading in this month's Liahona and it had a lot of good stuff! It talked a lot about learning, and I actually thought that was kind of cool. It said how we shouldn't ever be scared to push our selves to learn something new because everything you learn can benefit you. It also said the more things you're interested in, the more interesting of a person you are! I was thinking of that and how all the time I think,"ugh, I don't want to waste time learning that." But really, as sons and daughters of God, if we really want to become like him, we have to keep learning! In the Liahona it said to read something informative and wholesome everyday, and I thought that's a really good idea. Just to be a better person all around. Another part of that is enjoying the learning process I think. So many times we're just waiting to get to the end of something, but then you miss the journey. That's something I really want to focus on here. Even during the tough days seem like they'll never end, there can be something special about.

Until next week.

Love,
Herman Harper

Brisas - Week 16

¡Buenas Noches!

This week, fortunately ended on a good note.  Had it not, you probably would have heard how discouraged I've been...but still trying to stay positive. This whole week has been full of disappointments.

Our investigator, Victor, is just not progressing, even though we're doing everything we can to figure him out and help him understand and accept everything. On one level, he's sometimes difficult to understand and to get the responses you're looking for. The other is that he just doesn't seem to be understanding like we thought. We had a super awesome member couple come with us to visit him on Thursday and it helped us a ton. The husband is an RM, so he turned into our 3rd missionary, which was nice! We were talking about the holy ghost and how he can receive answers through the holy ghost. But Victor just wasn't getting it. What we have to do now is just leave him for a while and see if some space helps. Victor kept saying that he felt really pressured, which isn't what we want!

Our other investigator,  Roberto, also doesn’t seem to be progressing like he should. We had a lot of faith he'd remember things better with time, but the trauma his brain received from trying to commit suicide is just too much. Also, he isn't very willing to stop smoking right now which is a problem.

At church, we did FINALLY have Leonardo there. He's the 14 year old in the less active family. Last week, he would have come too,  just that we had a mis-communication with our members. We thought a member would pass by, and remind him, but they forgot. Luckily the same problem didn't get repeated this week!

Something that I didn't mention last week that I meant to, was about Leonardo´s sister, Shirley. She's about the only one in the family that we are starting to have luck with getting reactivated. Anyway, she told us how she had been praying a lot for things to change in her life.  I talked to her about needing to DO something too, instead of just praying. She completely understood that prayer requires a compliment and she prayed I guess for a sign that the church was true and that she should go back to church again. Well, last  week she was super excited to tell us that God answerd her prayer and gave her a sign. Shirley and her husband and daughter had barely moved out and in their  new house, and 4 book of mormons appeared on her front porch. That was one of my highlights of last week,  to hear her success story of prayer. Unfortunately though, she won't be attending the ward here. But at least she's on the right track!

The really exciting thing of THIS week, was last night. So last week at district meeting, the Elders challenged us to fast every week for our areas and we decided to do it, because honestly, we were getting desperate. We made the plan to do it Sat/Sun, and all that week before our fast wasn't so great. On Friday, I was at the point where I felt like our area just needed to be closed or something because it felt like nooo one wanted to listen. In a way its really true too. We have a ton of old people where we are, they say they’ve lived their lives and aren't interested in a new religion. Their world is all family and traditions that they are familiar with.

I remember praying for a piece of evidence that God was still there and loved us. I didn't even specify it to finding a golden investigator because honestly my faith was shaking a bit. That night though there was this HUGE rainbow and we were looking at it, and there was this lady outside her house looking at it too,  and she started asking us questions about things she had wondered about God. She told us she'd like for us to visit her and her daughter and for us to call her Monday (today) to set up a time.  For me, that was my little evidence that God still loves us.

"The" Rainbow

On Sunday we ended our fast, we went to contact someone we met on the street who seemed average interested. We got there and the husband was there this time and was super happy to have us visiting him and his family. He told us his house was our house and how he met elders 10 years ago and really liked everything, but wasn't married at the time so couldn't get baptized. He basically told us he'd like for his family to be mormons and would love for us to visit and teach everyone. His family is definitely one of the golden ones! He told us how he loves his family so much and wants them to be an eternal family. He's learned about the plan of salvation and has tried to teach his kids the best he knows. At the end they kept giving us all their food too! We ate these little tacos, ice cream and peaches. They were so sweet to us.

After that lesson the first thing my companion said to me was, "Our fast got answered!" And its true. That experience really strengthened my testimony of fasting :)

Oh, one random non-spiritual thing is...this month is Mexico's independence month. The actual day is the 16th,  I'm pretty sure, but all month they celebrate.  Hopefully I'll get to see more of their traditions these next few weeks!

Adiooooss,
Hermana Harper

Me and My 2 Trainees!!!

 Also, this week, Hilary got to see our neighbor Aracely Hallam (in white).  Sister Hallam was in Cancun on business and decided to make the 3 hours bus ride to see her college friend.  Her friend is in Hilary's Stake so it was easy to track Hilary down.  They found her at the internet cafe on Monday writing her letters home!!! Sister Hallam was Hilary's YW leader.  Thank you Sister Hallam for this great picture and for giving our missionary hugs!!!

Brisas - Week 15

HOLAAAAA!

This has been a crazy week it feels like, and maybe not in the best ways :(

First of all, I have officially completed my 9 month mark so I now have completed more time that I have left to serve! My companion asked me a million times "How do you feel? How do you feel?" But I don't feel the time really.  It's crazy to think I have accomplished so much, but I still feel like I have a lot left to do.  I'm happy about it though, because there are so many awesome things about being a missionary.

The reason I saw this week as hard, is because we ran into a lot of difficult people. Honestly, they tested my faith a little! One family we went to because they were a reference from a less active and, dang! To start, we got there and the wife asked what we wanted because she said she already knew everything we believed. I told her we wanted to share how we know we have a living day prophet. Haha, that was a mistake, because she began to tell us how SHE is a prophet, and her husband is a pastor of a church. They did let us in and they were honestly super nice, but everything I shared with them they had an argument for. It was frustrating because I don't know the bible super well, or Spanish perfectly, and was alone because my companion still can't understand/speak much... I could tell that it probably wouldn't have mattered much because they were VERY into their religion. Their family only believes in TV for watching church movies, and I'm pretty sure all they read is the bible. While we were talking to the parents the son was reading the bible and praying the whole hour or so we were there.  Anyway, I feel like that was a fail. Their daughter was a ray of hope though, because she accepted our Book of Mormon. All things happen for a reason right?

A bunch of the other families we went to this week were SO awesome, just really happy and content with their religion. It really makes me wonder sometimes why they are so content when they don't know/have everything we do. It comes down to how well we teach our first lesson with them.  After this week my companion and I have been thinking really hard of what we can teach right at the beginning to get them to understand and have that desire to know more.

Today in district meeting I felt like I got a lot of answers to all of those kinds of questions I had.  It made me feel a lot better about this week. One thing I'm realizing is I need to have more confidence! Sometimes when I get there I doubt my testimony,  if what we have really will make them happier, but honestly, I know it, so I have to act more like it!

On Sunday, one of the members spoke about afflictions and I really liked what he had to say. He hasn't been home from his mission for long, but he said lately he's prayed a lot for patience and humility and things like that.  He says it's funny because when he asks for those things, he always gets answered with some kind of trial that day that teaches him that attribute he asked for. I got thinking about it, and I've been asking for stronger faith and I really believe this week God has been trying to help me out with that. What better  way to learn faith than to be put in front of people who have one different than you? And not just a little different, but wayyy different!  It’s true that every test we face is to make us better and stronger. Without trials and tests of our faith, we never get a chance to really know what we believe.

I know that I belong to the same church that Jesus Christ organized when he was on the earth. I know the Book of Mormon is an inspired book meant for us today to help keep us headed in the right direction. I know that there are things we must do to be able to return to live with God and that baptism is one of them. I know that the Holy Ghost exists and brings us peace and comfort and teaches and guides us, even if we don't realize it all the time.

I'm really glad for all my trials, no matter how little they have been, because I've learned a lot by going through them. And I’m thankful for you guys reading this: Don't get discouraged by your trials. God loves you, so he blesses you with trials. In Elder Bednar's talk last conference, he talked about the truck that got stuck, and only made it out by adding extra weights. Trials we get through now, are what help us survive trials later, they are our extra weights. We just have to choose to grow from them!

Love you all,
Hermana Harper

Brisas - Week 14

Hola!

I hope you guys didn't get too worried about me not writing yesterday! They switched our schedule on us again. At least this time  they asked for our parents emails so no parents would freak out. Haha I imagine a lot did the last time they switched things.

Today we had a multi-zone meeting in Centro, so yesterday was a normal work day. We had to wake up a little early because they had breakfast for us, but it was worth it! It's always SO fun seeing all the missionaries and all my old companions. I live for those meetings! Today was especially good because the president, his 3 assistants,  and his 4 sister training leaders all did workshops about stress in the mission.  I'm glad they are finally  talking to us about this topic, because just about every missionary hits a point in their mission where they want to give up and go home. The mission president's attitude up until now has been, "forget your self and go to work." Which isn't bad advice, but there's also a lot of missionaries who just need to be told it's normal to be stressed and feel depressed sometimes. I've seen, with training especially, how much all the new missionaries struggle and need someone besides their trainer to tell them they're normal.

One thing I really liked that the president told us is that to really know joy, you have to know how it feels to suffer. He used the example of Adam and Eve,  and it's so true. The more you suffer, the more appreciative who you are too, I think. That was a really great reminder because there are a lot of tough days in the mission. What's tough for me is when I start feeling like we're wasting our time here.

The bigger part of our lessons are usually with people who aren't really listening and aren't genuine with their desire to find out if what we're saying is true.  They tell us "they're good with their religion." It takes SO much patience to teach tons of first lessons and hope one of them will value what you're saying and want to hear more.

There are so many other pressures they put on you as a missionary too. Sometimes I get stressed out because our numbers one day aren't very good, but then I frustrate myself because it shouldn't be about numbers. It is  a reality of the mission though. They expect you to teach so many lessons, get so many references, be obedient, spend your money wisely, always be upbeat and happy... It can feel like a lot!

That's why I felt the conference was so excellent. It was good to see that EVERYONE struggles. It surprised me how many missionaries almost went home at one point in their mission or another. Yet  we're still all here, and with time and patience, the mission molds you into a lot better person, I think.

Today after the conference, I took my companion to the zoo since it was open! We went with my old companion (Hermana Pinguelo) too so that was really fun. Zoos here really aren't super amazing, but its fun doing something out of the ordinary and being with the other hermanas!

Love to you all,
Hermana Harper

I love me some Cotton Candy!!!

Hermanas together again!  We all used to be in the same ward together!!!

One of my favorite ward families!

Hermana Harper with Roberto and his Mom!

With a little assistance...

Hats are the bomb!

I caught a frog in the rain!

I Love this cat!  It belongs to a member family!

Cat had kittens! Ah!

Yummy Food!

Brisas - Week 13

Hola!

So I received my new companion on Tuesday, fresh from the MTC! Her name is Hermana Huff and she is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. It's a really different experience this time around because Hermana Huff doesn't hardly speak Spanish or understand yet. It's been really tough this week for her :(

My new companion (Left) Hermana Huff

There are  so many changes when you first get here and it can be super overwhelming. Hermana Huff tries SO hard to have a good attitude though, which I admire. I feel like during training this time around we're both going to learn a ton!

On top of all the things my companion is trying to learn, I'm trying to keep everything else under control. Haha, my strong point has never been directions, but now I'm having to learn to master that. Also, teaching is tricky. I always have to be super focused to be able to understand everything and know where to take the lesson and involve my companion. Ah, it's definitely been a push, but we're doing it. Sometimes it really amazes me. Goes to show how God helps his missionaries!!!

This week Victor was our only investigator at church. I've worried about him a lot, if he has been grasping everything.  He wanted to push his baptismal date back, so this Sunday we talked more about baptism, and I think it really helped him. I asked him after how he felt about his new date, August 30, and he said he still felt like he had a lot to learn, but I told him that he didn't have to know everything before he was baptized, and that seemed to help ease his mind. He agreed to the 30th again, so we're hoping he doesn't change his mind! :) Victor has changed a lot since we've taught him, which is fun to see. Maybe part of it is that he's more comfortable with us, but he just is happier. Even members have said that to us.

This week Hermana Huff and I found 2 new investigators that seem pretty hopeful. Their names are Josefina and Jenny. We talked to Josefina's husband first on the street, and he said we could go talk to his wife, so we did and she wanted our advice on all kinds of things, especially her relationship with her neighbor girlfriends. She seemed really interested in Relief  Society, so we're hoping to get her with that first. We've only had one little lesson with her, but she seemed different than our usual first-visits, so I'm excited!

Jenny is another lady we met on the street. Originally, she just wanted us to come and teach her 2 little girls in English so they'd learn, and we were a little apprehensive because that's not what we do, but we agreed anyway as a foot in the door. She told us that her mom that lives with her is a member, but hasn't been to church in 20 years, and 2 of her siblings are members, so we were excited to go especially for that reason. We got there and tried to do part in English/part Spanish, but the little girls just got distracted and we ended up finishing in Spanish. Jenny surprisingly had a lot of good questions and turned out to be pretty interested. After, she invited us to eat dinner with them too, so that was pretty fun. We had quesadillas too, which I've surprisingly never eaten here yet! But they were yummy:)

Well, I think that's the most exciting as far as teaching goes for this week.
Ohhh, something that's not that great of news...I have to speak on Sunday. So far I've stayed off of the radar, but I made the comment to the 1st counselor that I've never spoken, and got myself into speaking. Hopefully that goes okay!

Well, until next week.
Love Hermana Harper

Brisas - Week 12

¡Buenos Días!

So last night we got told about our transfers, I'm staying in Brisas and training again! I'm going to have another baby! I'm excited because I like training for the most part. I think it completely depends on the person you train whether its easy or not though...just like any other companionship really.

Today I'm staying with another American sister for the day and we're doing our normal P-day stuff and have a training meeting at 2pm. Then tomorrow we receive our new companions. I met a few of the new missionaries today and it is so fun to see where everyone is from. Of the four I met, 3 are from different parts of Mexico and one from Chile. I know there will be a bunch of American sisters this transfer too because I saw the paper in the offices last week.   I think 4 are from Pleasant Grove too, haha.

Transfers were probably the most exciting thing I have to say for this week! Sunday we spent with only members because we knew one of us would get switched out. We also went to the farewell of an elder that's leaving from our  ward to serve a mission in Mexico City.  He has accompanied us with appointments a bunch, so it was fun to be at his farewell and wish him well on his mission.  Since it was Fast Sunday, they did the farewell in the evening which worked well. I've never heard of a farewell not being in sacrament until yesterday though! At church we had 2 investigators. I was disappointed because we were almost positive 3 more would be there and a less active, but they didn't come :(   Why is it so hard to go to church on Sundays??? 

This week the other sisters in the ward had a baptism, so we brought an investigator to show him what he would be working towards. He liked it a lot, so hopefully he can stop smoking so it is possible!

Things have been going good in Brisas. Lots of lessons, lots of sun, looots of sweat! And I still feel like every day I'm learning a lot about the people here and how I can teach better to help them understand the gospel.

One random thing I learned from a member we ate with on Saturday was about that number in the bible that the Jehovah's witnesses think is the number of people who will be saved. I never understood what the number meant, but this member explained to us that with the priesthood there are quorums, and once it reaches a certain number, you have to make a new quorum. With the priesthood office "seventy" the max is seven times seventy in a quorum and I guess the number in Apocalipis is from that. Haha that's something I never even thought about, about the priesthood...all those technicalities. Goes to show just how perfect God's church is though!

Until next week,
Hermana Harper