Week 32 - September 29, 2014 - Children like them...

It's creeping closer and closer to the end of the year, and it's weirding me out. December is going to take us all by surprise.

 

We had a lovely week this week - Mary was baptized (Yay!), we had a huge long meeting with the mission President, and it's still raining pretty much every day.

 

Awkward experience of the week - I asked a young woman we were teaching what is what she wants for her daughter (the three year old was sitting on her dad's lap, who was sitting next to her) AND it turns out they were cousins. Oops. When you're trying to get to know people and don't know how they're related, those kinds of things happen. I did get a different one right though! Someone we knew and her friend came to say hi to us in the street and I successfully guessed that they were cousins. Although, every day someone asks Hermana Peine and I if we're twins... I think it's because we're exactly the same height. Who knows.

 

We ate this really awesome candy this week for Hermana Molina's birthday. It comes as an extended leaf of sugar between two pieces of plastic. You take off the top one and fold down the sugar leaf until it's lollipop size. Hermana Diznarda kept saying 'a los niños les gusta' and considering that we were thoroughly amused by them and they were yummy that implies that we're children.

 

On Wednesday, the power kept going out sporadically because of a thunderstorm. The first time, I pulled out the cell phone to turn on it's flashlight (mom, it's the same kind of flashlight as the one on the little phone I was so proud of). The same little girl who's parentage I mistook was worried about the dark, so the second time they went out she pried the phone out of my hands and started walking around the house with it, and would promptly give it back when the lights came back on. She's pretty darn smart, she always asks us about balloons because the first time we met her we gave her one.

 

I'm really grateful for everything that I get to be a part of on a daily basis - being a missionary is incredible. I love all the little things, like being given a second pack of cookies, talking to half a van about prophets, the clear view of Takana we get walking to church on Sundays, and I know life doesn't need to be one giant exciting moment after another to be an adventure. Those small things like crazy weird looking bugs and splitting an alambre are things that count. See Alma 37:6 - it's the small moments that make it possible to move forward diligently and face the moments that aren't as pleasant. On my planner I have a picture of upper Punch Bowl Falls (courtesy of Dad) and on it I wrote, all things denote there is a God. Alma 30:44. Looking it up is your homework.

 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

 

(for those who might be wondering, the bird won the staring contest)

 

Week 31 - September 22, 2014

This week, we visited two cities that are in our area but are far away. For those who are google inclined (mom...) they're Santo Domingo and Union Juarez. I had been to Union Juarez before, but Santo Domingo was new to me, even though it's closer. There's a family that lives who's daughter is just amazing. She remembers going to church eight years ago and decided that she wanted to come back, and she brought her sister and a friend. Her sister is determined to keep coming as well, and wants to be baptized in October!

 

Something that I love about this place - people are super friendly. Our day in Union Juarez we took a sack lunch (we're super American - it was ham sandwiches with crackers and apples). There wasn't really any place to sit, so we chose a sidewalk and asked the lady sitting outside of her house if she would lend a piece of it for a while. When we started pulling out our food she immediately told us to come inside to eat.

 

We had a zone activity this week - all of the missionaries from the stake have been preparing as a choir. It was kind of worrisome when at 10 to five there was no one there, but people showed up, and it ended up being lovely. It's always fun to see members from other places at activities - for example, someone who just moved into our ward from Tuxtla knew pretty much all of the Sister missionaries because they had been in his ward.

 

Also with the activity, we made a lovely poster. It was a group effort. Hermana Oliver drew the temple and Hermana Peine and I did the background. It turned out rather nice, didn't it?

 

Something I learned this week: we get to choose our priorities. And we always have someone to turn to to ask if our efforts have been enough. Not our neighbors, or even our companion - our Heavenly Father.

 

Have a lovely week,

Hermana Juliana

 

Week 30 - September 15, 2014 - Spanish is my favorite language. It makes so much more sense than English

I mean, look at the word taught, for example. How on earth does it make sense that it sounds the same as TOT? On the other hand, chilaquiles, or empanadas or salchica are all pronounced exactly the way they're spelled. Obviously you have to know what sound each letter makes, but once you know it in one word it doesn't change from word to word like other tricky languages I could mention. Plus, there's no weird GH's anywhere.

I did do more this week than observe pronunciation. This week as actually absolutely fantastic. I spent a day in a trio while my companion went to prove to the government that she exists, the ward had the noche Mexicana, (see attached photo. Clearly we are as mexican as mexican gets. ignore the height differences), I didn't get transfered, AND Jennifer was baptized!

1. Being in a trio. Hermana Aldas and Hermana Zuniga are winding down to the end of their missions, and being with them was super fun. One quick anecdote - I was standing between them, about to cross a fairly busy street. When we finally went, they each grabbed one of my hands, and I laughed and said, Ahh, what good parents. They both were kind of confused, because they hadn't realized that the other one had done the exact same thing. We thought it was especially funny because of how much taller I am than both of them. Kids do usually end up taller than their parents though! (sorry mom)

2. Noche Mexicana: SO FUN.

There were talents and DELICIOUS pork (with green sauce) and lots of pictures. A sister in the ward gave us rebosos (shawls) which are the beautiful red white and green ones you see in the picture. A few of our investigators came as well, and several members invited friends. I also learned that there is always a neighborhood called Miguel Hidalgo because he was the priest who sparked the revolution. I have some history homework to do next August, I still need to figure out who Emiliano Zapata was. 

3. Having been in Cacahoatan for 6 months, I get another month and a half here! I'm pretty excited, because we met some great people just yesterday that we'll be getting to know better this week, and Mary is getting baptized on Friday and I don't want to miss that. I feel so blessed to be here, it's a beautiful place with amazing people.

4. Jenny was baptized on Saturday
We had a mini panic attack when we got to the chapel a half hour early and the baptismal font was empty, and there was no water in the whole building. It turned out fine though, and all the youth had their mutual right afterward, so there were lots of pictures and hugs.

This week I learned how important it is to enjoy every moment. I'm about to hit seven months - I've got less than a year left. So I'm going to love it. I love being a missionary and I love my Father in Heaven. He doesn't mess up, and we're doing His work, so if we're paying attention to the Spirit and being obedient, everything will be just as it's supposed to be.

Have a lovely week, I love you!

Hermana Juliana

Week 29 - September 8, 2014 - Chilaquiles, Rain, and lots of miracles

We had companion exchanges this week - Hermana Aldás, of Manta, Ecuador, was my companion for a day here in Cacahoatan. What does this have anything to do with chilaquiles, you ask? Well, apparently it's her favorite Mexican food (it's a base of tortilla chips covered with green sauce then whatever else you want to put on it, like cheese or beans or meat). She talked it up so much that buying groceries today we bought our onion, our pound of green tomatoes and totopos (that's tortilla chips) and got to cooking. It was good, but not as life changing as I expected. I´m going to try tweaking the green sauce next time I get the chance to cook - maybe add some garlic or more onion. 

Rain! It's still raining. Currently it´s raining. I love the rain. It makes me smile and reminds me how very very very Oregonian I am. Eeyore had his rain cloud. I need to borrow it from him, but I would be happy there.

Miracles. I know that our God is a living God, who works wonders. Seriously, this week was chock full of them.  We had a majorly super awkward lesson with a young woman who really didn´t want to listen to us, and we left feeling like, ok, well we learned something there. Then the next week we saw her and she told us - hey, I won't be able to this Sunday, but I really want to go to your church one of these Sundays. Walking away, Sister Peine and I just looked at each other going, What? seriously?

A family that I´ve been teaching with since I got here is getting baptized!!! The young man told his sister - I don´t think I´m going to be able to go to the activity this weekend (the young adults are going to San Cristobal for a convention) because I'm going to be baptized. He hadn't mentioned anything to us... But we've gotten the scheduling worked out now, and I'm so beyond happy. I absolutely love being a missionary, because I get to see how the Gospel changes people's lives. My family gets bigger every day, and it´s amazing how rather than being cut into smaller peices, our hearts just get bigger and bigger to fit all of the people who become so important to us that we can't imagine our lives without them.

Loving life, probably eating more than is wise (Mexican food is good ok?) and beyond excited to see what miracles this week will bring.

Love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 28 - September 1, 2014 - This week in Southern Mexico

It rained. A lot. It was awesome. The streets did that thing where they fill with water and we get soaked up to the knees just from walking across, and the wind did that thing where even having an umbrella doesn't save you. Needless to say we got wet. Then we went home and discovered that we weren´t the only ones that were wet. We spent some time sweeping water out of our house. There were some good photo opportunities with that.

We also met a lady with a Saint Bernard. We saw the dog through the window and went !!! CAN WE TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOUR DOG! She just laughed at us and said yes. Complementing people's pet's works though, she said, when you want to come back and chat, go ahead. That was gratifying. Hopefully we can remember which house it was exactly. We were so excited about the dog we didn't write down her address.

This week something that I learnedin a big, yet subtle way. When we're doing what we're supposed to do, putting in a lot of effort and still feel like things aren't quite going the way we hoped they would, we're looking in the wrong place. The best thing is realizing that the blessings I've been hoping for, are there, I've just been expecting them one way and they're showing up in a completely different way. For example, we are teaching two people who are practically teaching themselves. It's frustra

ting because we can't see them in the week hardly because of their schedules, but when they come to church on Sunday, it's plain to see that they are doing great. It's a good reminder of who's in charge of this whole program, and well, it's not me. 

Being a missionary is the best. 

Have a lovely week!

Hermana Juliana