High Desert Winter

Hey everyone,

Did you know that in winter, deserts are really cold? Of course, I was completely aware of this before the mission, but for some reason I didn't remember when I was planning and packing for the mission, and only focused on how hot it was going to be. 

Well now it's freaking cold.

Literally, we just can't catch a break here in Sonora. When it's not 130F, it's 30F. There seems to be no inbetween. It's not too fun here, though, because nobody here has any sort of heat. Our house is built out of cement blocks and has no heating whatsoever. I sleep with 3 heavy blankets, and in a sweatshirt and sweats, so at night it's fine, but in the morning when we have to get dressed and study outside of our warm beds. :(

Christmas here was pretty interesting. Talking to the family was awesome, of course, although everyone needs to quit reminding me about how soon I get back. :( I don't want to leave! It was awesome to see everyone though, and everyone seems gigantic (in a good way). Christmas Eve dinner was pretty average. Nothing in comparasion to the Scandanavian feast that mom always creates, but we're used to suffering in the mission, so it's all good. :P Haha! Christmas in Mexico basically consists of lots of beer, loud music, parties, etc. Not exactly my kind of scene, but they seem to enjoy it. They also dance a lot. Latinos are always dancing. I was planning on sending a bunch of pictures of what went down, but the computer that I'm using doesn't want to read my memory card. So pictures will have to wait until next week.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas, as well as the snow dump that everyone's been writing me about (trying not to feel trunky here). 

This Christmas I feel like I really actually understood what Christmas is all about. We kind of took the role of everyone in the Christmas story, and it was pretty cool. We knocked on doors like Joseph and nobody had any room or time to recieve us. We came from far away countries like the wise men to share our precious gifts of the gospel. We watched over our flocks of investigatores and members and less actives like the shepards and recieved the news of Jesus Christ with them. We sang to everyone we came in contact with, sharing the good news of Christ's birth like the angels who sang good tidings of great joy. And in a small way we were like the Christ child, young and innocent, watched over and protected by everyone else who knew we had a great work to do. 

This Christmas was different. We didn't have presents, or our families, or the food we're used to, or any of that stuff, but I was happy. Honestly we don't need any of the things that we usually focus on during Christmas. We just need the love of God and the peace of the gospel. (And our families, of course, but for that reason we got to talk to them on Christmas.) It sounds simple, but being on a mission in Mexico has taught me that it's actually true. I've become a little disenchanted with everything that exists in the States, and I'm just starting to realize how little everything that we have matters, and the things that really matter the most. 

I love you all, and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! 

Love,

Hermana Day

Big Changes

Well hello all. This week has been a week of big changes. Here we go.

First off, let's just get it out and over with that tomorrow I turn 20. Thanks for all the emails reminding me how old I am. Honestly, it's truly terrifying. As mom said, I never in a million years expected to spend my 20th birthday in Mexico. Well... moving on. :P

Other changes include that I am now in Hermosillo and not in Guaymas. This is probably the biggest change I've had so far in the mission, and it's been a little difficult. I was born in the north of Hermosillo, but honestly I never became super attached to that area because I was new and didn't know anything. :P But Guaymas was the place where I florished and grew and became the missionary that I am now... so it was super hard to leave. The members all cried, I cried too. It was... super sad. Like, I can't even explain so I'm not even going to try. 

So now I'm in Hermosillo. Which... sort of sucks, to be completely honest. Hermosillo is a huge city with tons of pollution, dirt, cars, a ridiculous amount of people, and lots of busy, bad attitudes. Haha. Also, the climate here is way drier than Guaymas because, well, I'm not living 2 seconds from the ocean every day, so my skin has really dried out and now it looks terrible. But everyone still loves me because everyone just automatically loves white people for some reason, so it's all good. 

Other changes include the quantity and quality of cat calls we've recieved... my companion is a short feisty (FEISTY) Dominican (again, I have another Dominican companion. I'm fairly certain that President always puts me with the Dominicans because I'm the only Hermana that has the eternal patience to handle their black sassy attitudes) who has this super cute figure and so that, combined with the fact that I am a blue eyed American calls for a lot of problems. This week has been worse than the entirety of my mission before. Yesterday was the first time I had actually been followed for a significant amount of time. Thank goodness I don't have blonde hair like Hermana Hansen in Chiapas, because the blonde American sisters here always have problems here and have to get special transfers to areas far, far away where their stalkers can't find them.

I feel like I'm freaking mom out again. Don't worry mom, I'm perfectly fine. The thing about being a white girl in Mexico is that after awhile you figure out how the system here works and can avoid the majority of the situations. With those you can't avoid, you learn real quick how to get yourself out of them. :D

Another change is that now it is super cold here. I guess I forgot the most important rule of deserts: they're either super hot, or super cold. Well, now we've entered the super cold period, and the drastic change in climate sort of killed me, so I'm a little sick. The good news is that I bought a good thick black sweater today, so that should hold me over for the winter. 

We also changed our house. Obviously. When we arrived, it was disgusting. Elders that are reading this, I have a thing or two to say to you. CLEAN YOUR FREAKING HOUSES. We know how terribly dirty they are because when we arrive at your old house and have to clean it, it's literally the most disgusting thing I've ever seen (this happened in Guaymas too). Also, your area books always suck. Fix them up, because they are completely useless. 

Yeah. That was my rant. 

Also, apparently it was Thanksgiving this week. I didn't realize until it was about 10 minutes to 9 on Thusday, and my companion was like, hey, isn't today like your day of actions of thanks or something? (That's how they say it in Spanish here.) And I was like, yeah... that's right... And we didn't have time to go by turky meat or anything, and the hot dog stand outside our house was closed... so we didn't do anything for Thanksgiving. Yup.

Also, speaking of changes, my brother Jed is literally the spitting image of dad when he was in high school. I was absoluely shocked with the picture dad send me of the kids. (The almost life-size cardboard cut out of me did add a nice touch I must say.) But seriously, everyone is gigantic. I'm not sure what's going on up there in Utah, but everyone needs to stop changing and go back to being small because I'm not prepared to come back to the house and have my three little siblings be raging hormonal teenagers. Haha :P

Well, there we go. Christmas is coming, and it still looks like summer here. Palm trees, green everywhere, sun... It's a little strange without snow. Speaking of snow, my last words in this email are thus: for those of you that would truly like to honor me and my beloved birthday while I am here in Mexico suffering without snow, I command (or invite, whichever offends you the least) you to sluff school or work, or both, and go skiing. I MISS SKIING SO MUCH. Trunky, trunky...

Love, 

Hermana Day

PS. I expect pictures from everyone this next Monday of their adventures in the mountains on my birthday. Thank you.