Tuesday, May 27, 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
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
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
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
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
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