I'M IN GUAYMAS WITH A DOMINICAN COMPANION

She's awesome. Now that I've opened this letter, I can't remember what I was going to write. This always happens on Pday. Anyways, I have an awesome companion who has a buttload of months in the mission and a really awesome reputation and I'm super excited because I have been given this opportunity to learn a ton and become a super awesome missionary. Shes's from the Dominican Republic and speaks absolutely no English, so I'll learn more Spanish fast. There are only 2 other American sisters here in Guaymas, so no more English for me. But seriously, my Spanish is going well. I just need to expand my vocabulary so I can speak more eloquently (dear heavens I've forgotten how to spell), and practice identifying every single word that people say so I can understand 100%, not like 85% or 90%. :P Yeshhhhhh I am so excited! Also I am excited because I am ON THE OCEAN. It's ridiculously, ridiculously humid here, with the heat of Hermosillo, so I live in a state of constant wetness, but it's all cool. 

Speaking of heat, did you know that Hermosillo reached over 53C last week? It topped the charts for the hottest place on earth. Yes, I was living, walking, and breathing in a place hotter than Death Valley, hotter than the Sahara. I'm not sure exactly what 53C is in F, but I know it's over 120F. We died. 

Things have been great, though. Our favorite family was all baptized, which is definitely the most beautiful thing I've seen on this mission. The dad was hilarious. Sunday night his wife and kids were baptized, and something changed in him. He went home, waited until everyone was asleep, and then started reading the Book of Mormon. When we came to visit, he had read 10 chapters, and was like, yeah, I would like to get baptized, and I recieved an answer and I know this is true, it's just a lot of responsibility, this covenant, and I have a little bit of fear. IT WAS SO COOL. He was baptized the following Saturday. It was terrible to leave this family, and Barrio Pueblitos, but I really feel good about what I did in that area, and that we left it much better that when we arrived. And now I'm in Hawaymas. Haha. That's what the people call it- like Hawaii and Guaymas. It's freaking hot and humid, and now I have to learn how to eat sea food, which is total karma, but it's all cool. I'm excited. 

Honestly I can't remember what else I was going to say. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your beautiful temperatures in your respective parts of the world. Also, that you all live in green places. I am sorry that I never seen to write anyone back. I get annoyed emails quite frequently. Sometimes I'm really good, other times I'll go for weeks or months without writing someone. No, I promise I have not forgotten about any of you, and you will get an email. :P Disculpeme. :D

Until next week! 

Hermana Day

PS Literally sorry this email is so pathetic. Hopefully my previous letter makes up for it. :P

If anyone would like to send an actual letter to Elizabeth we are going to mail a package soon! So if you have a letter get it to us by Thursday, May 29, 2014.

I said I'd finish my email from last week, so here I am. :) First things first. 1. If you want to contact me, you're going to have to do it though email. :P I just barely received a bunch of Dear Elders, a letter from Opa, and a letter from the YW of the ward. They were from March. Seeing as it is almost June now... I think we can all safely assume that email is the way to go. :) 

Last week I really wanted to talk about the Atonement and the Gospel in people's lives, but I didn't have time. But now I do! :D I cannot explain how heartbreaking Mexico is sometimes. I thought that since I was going to the north of Mexico, it would be a bit more Americanized and not as poor. Well, seeing as I've never been south of here, I still can't really make a comparison, but it's.. well, heartbreaking here. There are areas where I just walk down the street and I want to cry. The worst is the faces of the people and the children; you can tell they just exist because they exist, and have no real purpose in life. The contrast between everyone else and the members here is stark. I don't think anyone realizes what the truth gospel of Jesus Christ does to people until they've lived in a place like this. There are so many people who take the church for granted, or feel negatively toward it for the stupidest reasons, and sometimes I wish they would be transplanted here to Mexico, or anywhere, really, to see how the rest of the world lives. Haha. That was a little harsh, but I feel like that. There's a reason why the church sends all their youth on missions for 1.5/2 years of their lives. When you walk down the streets and see parents beating their kids in their houses, or men drinking themselves to death with sallow faces, or the terrible, terrible effects of drugs... When you see things that you don't know how to explain, and don't want to either,.. You realize you have a whole lot to be thankful for, and you realize what a blessing this gospel really is. Our message is truth, and it really does improve lives and bring happiness. It's not just a catch phrase to convert people. And we teach people about Christ because we love them and we want to share this happiness with them in their destitute lives, and bring them to change for the better, not because we're looking for more baptismal statistics. 

Throughout all of this, I'm just really greatful for the Atonement. I can't imagine the world without the Atonement. All of the terrible, awful things that pass, all the suffering of children and families and hopelessness in the world... the Atonement makes up for all of that. It gives all people hope now, and in the future. It is the only thing to bring balance and order and completion and fairness to this world. I never understood how necessary it was until I saw all that I've seen. A world without Jesus Christ and his Atonement is a world of hopelessness and nothingness. It is a world that, despite all the well-intended people that work so hard to make it a better place, will never be better, and will continue to degrade in sorrow and calamity. However, with the Atonement, we have a bright burning hope and knowledge that all the pain and unfairness in the world will be rectified. What a beautiful, unexplicable blessing that is. I cannot explain my feelings in words. I'm just very, very grateful. It's beautiful to see faith work miracles and literally change lives. It's beautiful to see terrible lives turn into great ones, and broken families and hearts become strong. 

It's beautiful to be a missionary, and it's beautiful to be a servant of God. 

Peace,

Hermana Day

I've been bitten by a Mexican dog.

I'm sure mom freaked out when she saw that title. Hehe! Yes, I was bitten by a dog. It was terrifying, and it hurt, but the good thing is that I was weaing fairly thick tights, so his teeth didn't pierce any skin, so no worries about infection or anything. I just have bite marks and a huge bruise on my leg. It was a big dog. :P 

Well, what a happy way to start my bi-weekly email! Just another week here in Mexico! :D This week was actually really awesome. I'm not sure exactly why, probably because the contrast between the week before was so terrible that anything seems better in comparison... but this week was cool. We taught a lot of lessons to a lot of really awesome people, and as always, I'm getting better at this missionary thing every day. 

Truly, I'm grateful I'm finally getting the hang of Mexico, because when I got here I just felt oppressed haha :P I couldn't express myself properly, and I felt like Sister Missionary Robot 2.0. It was terrible. But now in lessons I can be creative and express myself clearly and with the spirit, and seek to connect with people, and everything is better. 

We taught some pretty cool lessons this week. One was to these two young men who have been members for most of their lives, but know practically nothing about the gospel. They are studying and working here in Hermosillo and live with their sister, who is also a member. They're 18 and 22, and are from a ranch about 3 hours south of Hermosillo. They are the most good natured boys anyone has ever met. They are always early to church every Sunday and they help with the Sacrement, and talk with our investigators. They both want to serve missions but their dad won't help them, so the older brother is working full time to save up enough money so his little brother can go serve. Literally, I want to cry. They are so strong and good in the church, and we get the opportunity to teach them. It's great. It's like teaching investigators though, because they recieved the discussions when they were kids and don't remember anything. :P

We also have three niñas that we are teaching. They live right behind the church, and just showed up one day. It is literally the saddest situation I have ever seen. They live with their grandma, who is mentally ill, and their mom works day and night to support them and pay all the bills. Their house is the most erie, depressing place I have ever seen in my entire life. Their hair is in knots and they always have dirty clothes, but they go to church every Sunday because they love learning and being around people who will love them. This last Sunday before church we went to their house and brushed their hair out and washed their faces, and braided their hair in beautiful braids and took them to church. They were so happy and I cried about three times. We did get to teach their mom after church, however, so we're really, really hoping we can actually do something about this situation. 

I have no time and it's really frustrating because I literally have a billion more things to write! Well, consider this part one of this letter, and I will try to finish it next week! I love you all!

Hermana Day

Dear everyone,

Today I have three months in the mission! Literally, how freaking exciting

is this?! Although this also means that I only have 15 months left, which

is not nearly enough time. But still, really exciting.

Does anyone actually read this?

Well, life here in Mexico has been good. We had our first baptism Saturday,

which was exciting! It's hard to baptize here in the north, but we're

hoping we can baptize another family at the end of this month. Boy, are

they awesome. The kids in this family are definitely the strongest. They

know what's up. They have a testimony and they make their parents read the

Book of Mormon, pray together, and go to church every Sunday. Like wow.

Honestly, I can't think of that much to say. The work here goes on, and I

learn more and more about people and about myself every day. Some days are

long, some days are short. I love the people here so much. Our ward is

flippin sweet. Also I've picked up a lot of English slang from the Latin

missionaries. They love English slang. It's hilarious; don't judge. Did I

mention that all Native missionaries in my mission are required to learn

English? It's actually really helping my Spanish, trying to teach my

compañion English. I have to explain principles about English in Spanish,

explain the differences and similarities, and practice with her. My Spanish

really took a turn this week. I'm not fluent, obviously, but I can express

myself relatively well without pausing or thinking too much, and most of

the time I can understand people. I can understand my companion about 95%

of the time.

We had cambios this last week (I don't actually know what that word is in

English), which was sort of sad. Our District Leader went to Agua Prieta,

which is a sketchy border town, and we all miss him terribly. It's like

taking our dad away and putting in a step dad who doesn't know anything

about anyone who no one likes. Just kidding. I sort of like Elder Priest.

Our zone also split this cambio, which was kind of sad. It was giant

before, and one of our zone leaders was this Iraqi war vet. Feel jealous,

because he was literally one of the coolest people I have ever met. But he

finished his mission, and our zone split. Now we're in a new zone, with 4

districts. Each district has a set of Elders, one of them being the

district leader, the other his trainee, and then 2 companionships of

sisters. Literally, sisters run this town. The only Elders we have are

District and Zone leaders, and their newbee trainees. :P It's pretty

awesome.

Well, I haven't much time, but here is my spiritual thought of the week (or

2 weeks): I was thinking a lot about how the basic Plan of Salvation is

literally expressed in everything we have. First, the scriptures. Nephi

leaves his Father to go on a journey where he learns about faith and

keeping the commandments and enduring to the end. He knows he can't return

without completing what he was sent to do, so he does it, and returns

triumphant. There's obviously a lot more here, but Plan of Salvation,

anyone? And this pattern is in practically every story, fable, movie, book,

etc. since the dawn of time. It's even been mapped out in a pattern called

The Hero's Journey. (Look it up I'm not lying). But all it is is one big

Plan of Salvation. It's embedded into every essence of our civilization,

because these things speak to our heart. We know we left our Father for a

long, dificult journey, but we also know we can overcome it and return

triumphant. Okay. I'm out of time. There's my spiritual thought. Look for

patterns of the Plan of Salvation in your life. :D

Love,

Hermana Day

Dear everyone,

In case some of you may have noticed, I have started sending mass emails only every other week. This is because I just don't have enough time to do anything, and it's easier this way. Hopefully you guys don`t feel too offended. 

These last two weeks were actually crazy. Lots of crazy things happened. We taught a marine who sat there and calmly told us throughout the entire lesson that he liked to kill people and wouldn't hesitate to do it. We found a less active member who pretended not to be a less active member but and investigator, served us tea on accident, his son kissed a mortified Hermana Villa (normal Hispanic culture stuff), plus lots of other stuff I won't even go into. Oh, and breatfeeding is commonplace here. Which I am totally cool with, except for people don't use blankets or shirts or anything. Sometimes I question whether I'm in Africa. We had a lesson yesterday where a 2 year old just walked up to his mom, reached in her shirt, and started brestfeeding while she calmly listened to our message and didn't even blink. Oh, and a little kid went to the bathroom all over my backpack as well. Welcome to life in Mexico. :P We have fun. ;)

This week was great, though. Mexicans have something called Semana Santa, which is where they celebrate Easter week with no school and no work and everyone is on vacation. It's great. Easter was really cool. Sacrament meeting was AWESOME. This sister gave a talk about the meaning of Pascua, which is Easter in Spanish. Of course I can't clarify any of this, but she talked about how Pascua means change or transformation, and was used by the ancient Jews. In the days of Moses, the Jews spread the blood of the pascual lamb above their doors, and how this is a symbol of the blood of Jesus Christ saving us from destruction, liberating us from bondage as the children of Israel. Of course, I have no google with which to research this more, but can I just say that I have never had such a desire to learn Latin and Greek than I do right now. I need to learn how to read the Bible in Greek. Seriously.

Well, naturally I have no time. But I love each one of you, and I am going to send pictures right now so hopefully those all go up on the blog. 

Love, 

Hermana Day

Hola everyone! Apparently lots of people actually read my blog. Wow. I feel loved. I hope you are all doing well and the lives of the American people are great. In case you did not notice, a letter did not come last week. That is because I forgot to send it! The internet here is ridiculously slow and has problems all the time. So this letter will be longer than normal, apologies. 

My language skills are slowly improving. My first week, I had a really steep learning curve, and it was great. My second week I felt really frustrated, and yesterday was the worse. Literally, why can I not speak perfect Spanish already!? This is laughable, of course, because I have only been here for 3 weeks. I have taken a good look at myself and decided that the attribute I fail the most at is patience. I am not a patient person. This includes myself too, however. I realized that the reason I always hated Spanish so much in school was because I could never see any immediate results of my studying. With any other subject I could learn rapidly and succeed with effort, even if I did not like the subject, but with Spanish I never saw that growth. Looking back now I realized that of course I improved, but it is frustrating. Ah well. :) One day, hopefully in the near future, I will be fluent. Right now I need to practice patience and be content with what I do know. So this last week I focused on patience as my Christlike attribute. It was actually very beneficial, and one of our investigators totally followed the Spirit to give me advice, although she did not even know it. She talked about how paciencia (which is patience in Spanish) is made up of 2 words. The first one is pac, or more correctly, paz, which in English is peace. The second word is ciencia, which I from what I gathered is like knowledge. So paciencia is the knowledge of peace in your mind, roughly speaking. I loved this! Patience is having faith, and a knowledge of peace. Patience is waiting because you know with time things always get better. This was awesome for me, and I feel like I have a ton more insights on patience. :)

Spanish is a beautiful language, though. The people of Hermosillo are known for speaking extremely fast, and have replaced all of the "cha" sounds with "sha". So kind of like Argentina, but not. So the word "mucho" would be "musho", and the word "ocho" is "osho", and the word "muchacha" is "mushasha". It is great. Also, it is said that the people of Sonora sing their language instead of saying it. The flow of the voices is so expressive and beautiful. The accents in words are drawn out and combined with the rapid speaking and sha sounds, it makes for beautiful music. And I get to learn how to speak it! Yay!

The culure here is great. Last P day we were in Cetro Hermosillo and Simon and Garfunkle's The Sound of Silence was playing, except for it was a cover of native Mexican pipes and awesome. I have no way to describe it, but it was great. The culture is like that here. They take American things that they like, and then make them their own. I also love driving in Mexican cars. We fit about 8 people in a 5 person car and take off! There are no crosswalks and no one follows laws except for stop lights, so it is a ton of fun. 

So far, I have only identified three things I really cannot stand here. The worse of all is the cleanliness. You know how you are not suppose to eat on the streets of Mexico? Well this is kind of a joke because I guarrantee the kitchens in the houses are just as dirty if not more so than the street. The other day we made lunch in a members house and there were ants all over her counters. That is normal. Our kitchen was so dirty that last p day I finally announced that I could live in mold no longer, and scrubbed everything for hours. This week I tackle the fridge and stove. Yikes. Pray for me. I also cannot stand the culture of tardiness here. Everyone is always late, and it is literally impossible to get around. Everyone from investigators, Mexican companions, the members, the bishop, and the stake president. Very frustrating. Life goes on. The last thing I cannot stand is this way that they make chicken sometimes. Haha! I do not know what they do, but they put this red chili picante stuff on it that is sooo gross. I thank everything that is holy for an abundance of beans and tortillas.

Update: I have pretty much gotten over the cleanliness, but I have yet to get over the tardiness culture. I do not think I ever will. But as Hermana Briggs says, you have to give and take. Yes, time is literally not in the vocabulary here, but it is okay because the people are so loving they will invite you into their house after 5 seconds of knowing you, feed you, offer you everything they have (which is very little), and love you no matter what. So it is a trade off. I am just working on being okay with it. It is impossible to be obedient when it comes to time here, and it bugs the American sisters to no end. Oh well.

My arms are covered in freckles, my feet have weird tan lines, my chest and back are peeling sunburns, and my face is just red. It is so hot here, I just cannot explain it. And it is not even summer. D: This week was pretty good, but today was terrible. I heard it was 100. Although that is not even bad, because it gets to be 130 here. 

One of my favorite things about Mexico so far is the family Duarte. :) They live one house away from us and are just the cutest. They actually remind me of a little Spanish family. It is amazing how the gospel just thrives in families here. They just take it in and make it a part of themselves. Both of the parents are converts, and their testimonies are fire. The family Delgado is also amazing. The ward here is practically run by young families of RMs. It is impossible to get people to go to church. They say that Hermosillo, along with Tijuana, Chihuahua, and Ciudad Juarez are the 4 hardest missions in Mexico, and I would like to add all of Latin America. We have missionaries from all over Latin America here and they tell stories about how in their countries, in the south, missionaries baptize every week. Wow. How would that be? But it's cool. :) There is a lot of work to be done here, and I love diving into it. 

Guess what?! The group of 4 sisters that I came into Hermosillo with is the 3rd generation of American sisters here in Mexico. The first came in December 17, not too long ago! There are only about 20 of us. Sisters, however, whether native or American, are not allowed in the northern boarder towns, so we rule the south. Our district is led by Elder Filguiera, who is from Chili, and his companion. And then the rest of the district is 7 sisters! Haha! 

Speaking of Elder Filguiera, this week I had a terrible experience. Elder Filguiera has been rambling on every time we see him about how he has discovered the best place in all of Mexico for tortillas de harina (flour). So finally between sessions of Conferencia on Saturday we went to check this place out, and I a pack of 12 tortillas for 12 pesos (which by the way, is like the equivalent of a dollar. It's ridiculous.) THEY WERE SO GOOD. But the reason they were so good was because they were about 90% lard and butter, and 10% flour. But I couldn't help myself. So I ate 8 that day. And then I felt really, really sick. And I have no eaten a tortilla since. Literally the though of flour tortillas now disgusts me. 

We eat breakfast and dinner by ourselves, and I have limited this to only fruits, vegetables, and cereal. It's been good, though. Lunch is such a big meal here that I really don't need more than that. Also, tang and soda is like a staple here. I think it might be because it is less expensive than purified water and also tastes better, but who knows. Our water system is pretty much like that of the cabin. We can't drink the water, but we brush our teeth, wash our dishes, and shower in it. 

GENERAL CONFERENCE! As always, I have no time. But general conference was freaking awesome. I loved every talk, and I am so ridiculously excited to get the Liahona in a month. We got to watch it in the clerk's office in English, which was really awesome. I loved the music of the first session, and I feel like the whole conference could be surmized in about 3 themes that almost every speaker talked about. One would be exact obedience to all commandments and truth, no matter what. What do you guys think the others are? Maybe it is just because I'm a missionary, but I feel like this conference was very important. I hope you all go back and review. 

Love you all!

Hermana Day