Week 44 - December 22nd - The very best time of year

To quote a friend, I thought Christmas was months away. And then I blinked. 

This week was our Christmas activity with the zone and as such, I need to thank the Activity day girls in the Hedges Creek ward, because they inspired us to make the dresses that we gave to our zone as part of the activity. (Hermana C was sick on Tuesday so we entertained ourselves nicely with folding and decorating). 

As part of the activity, we had a variety show - Hermana Coronado and I ended up on stage a few more times then planned. We presented how to make the paper dresses, sang with the elders in our ward (it was goofy. Expect no appearances on Mexico's got talent from us) and did a sketch with the assistances about the differences between Elders and Sisters. 

It was a lovely day full of laughter and cheer and Christmas joy for all to hear. And after the tostadas for lunch, it culminated in going to the temple. That was the best part. No where else is anything like it. 

I love the lights at this time of year. I love the togetherness at this time of year. I love that of everything I could be doing around now, I get to talk to people about my Savior every day. What better way to celebrate His birth than invite others to come to know Him? 

Have an even lovelier week than normal. Know that I love where I am, what I'm doing, and I love how much I see the Lord's influence in my life every single day. He always helps us do what we need to do, even when what we're expecting when we follow those impressions is different from the result. 

I love my Savior. I love His Gospel, and I love being a missionary. 

Hermana Juliana

Week 43 - December 15th - This Week in Mexico

I learned that I'm going to become more photogenic this transfer. My new companion, Hermana Coronado, likes taking pictures and looks good in them (she's quite a fashionable person). What I love about pictures is remembering upon looking at them the story of what was going on, and where we were, and everything else that went into getting us to that precise moment for someone to click a button and capture a small snapshot of our personal history.

What we see in the people around us are also snapshots. Our daily interactions with people are so brief in comparison with the time our spirits have existed and developed and learned. I love our area book (where we keep track of people's contact information and what we've taught them) as a missionary because it provides a tiny glimpse of what some of these people have experienced with the Gospel. We don't know what people have experienced or what they are experiencing (those things don't show up in photos) but one thing I do is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we all need. 

Pictures are static. The pictures I have when I had braces and too-short bangs that I cut myself in middle school don't accuratly represent who I am now. Give people the chance to move beyond the snapshot you have of them. 

There's my two cents. This week we discovered a set of cliffs because the plants that had been hiding them had been cleared out. We also spent Saturday in Plaza Crystal (a mall) inviting everybody to watch Él es la Dádiva. If you haven't seen it, go to christmas.mormon.org right now! Almost all of the missionaries in the city were there, and a choir from all three stakes was there as well. It was really fun. 

Have  lovely week!

Hermana Juliana

Week 42 - December 8th, 2014 - Sewing, sewing, and exchanges, (And transfers, too)

It was a pretty busy week.

 So here's the news: After three weeks of learning about why Superman is actually pretty cool and laughing A LOT, and speaking much too much English, Hermana Van is going to San Cristobal. My new companion´s name is Hermana Coronado.

This week we worked on a project that the assistants gave us - making costumes for a Nativity that will be part of the mission Christmas activity. It was thoroughly enjoyable. We went fabric shopping with Sister George, then spent the better part of a day sewing in the mission home. I like sewing, because you see the process of making something, acheiving something. I never liked at home having to press and measure (mostly the pressing) because I felt like it was slow and boring, but I know now that those small steps are essential to a clean finished product.

For example, Hermana Cook (the tall blonde super adorable one on the end in the second picture) is MASTER violinist. She can listen to a song she has never heard before and begin playing it. That's the end result of 11 years of study, and practice, and she's still going to get better and better because she will continue to practice. Not once a week or just whenever, but consistently and diligently.

The Lord gives us so many opportunities to make ourselves better - every day we make decisions and can become a different, better person. He doesn't expect us to do it by ourselves, or even quickly, but He will help us get where He needs us to be, and become WHO He needs us to be. 

Have a lovely week, and remember who you are. He created EVERYTHING, and asks us to call Him Father, of all the titles he could have chosen. 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 41 - December 1st, 2014 - Who's on the Lord side?

Hi everybody!

Happy December, the Christmas season has begun. Put up your lights and be happy, and always, always remember who's name is in Christmas.

There aren't many things better than seeing people change - sometimes they are small changes, sometimes they are large, and sometimes you don't even see the full impact of the change while you are there with someone. Sometimes the change is just a light coming on in their eyes, or remembering something they used to know, like happened with a family who hasn't been to church in years that we visited this week. 

The Christmas season is a time when we get to specifically remember the one who makes it possible for us to change. We can become more like Him everyday - and we can forgive those around us who are also imperfect, and striving. 

Enjoy the first week of December! 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 40 - November 24, 2014 - Just relax

This week was lovely. For the first time in months and months, I went to the temple. I love being there. Need I say more?

I was also able to work with my lovely friend Hermana Zúñiga. She was my sister training leader in Tapachula and I just love her to pieces. She was actually here in Teran 6 months ago, so while she was here we passed by to visit a couple of people she had taught. One of them I had met, and had very politely turned us down. But when Hermana Zúñiga showed up, she got really excited to see her and let us in, and we were able to answer some of her doubts and questions. That is something that never would have happened without her. The best part is that the original plan was not for hermana Zúñiga to come, but we changed it last minute. The Lord puts us where we need to be to help His children in the way he knows they need it.

I know that the Lord puts us where He needs us when He needs us, and that sometimes we won't even know until much later.

Also, I just realized that it is Thanksgiving this week. Be grateful. Life is full of things to be grateful for: including members who give us ice cream and rides, lasagna for the first time in a year (not for me, Hermana Van. She was super excited).

Love,

Hermana Juliana

P.S. Not all of the things I'm grateful for are food, but it's harder to describe moments than plates.

Week 39 - November 17, 2014 - The email I just got that made my week.

'Great news!  The area is progressing great here, we currently have 10 investigators with baptismal dates.  Noel and Lupita have a baptismal date for Novemeber 29th and Hermano Jorge will baptize them.  Victor Lopez also has a date for the 29th and his brother Carlos will baptize him, I am so excited for them!  Leyli and her girls accepted baptismal dates and Romina did as well, Guadeloupe and Gonzalo too (don't worry I will send lots of pictures).'

This came from Hermana Peine. I know all of these people, and they are families that I love. I can´t even express how incredible this news is. The connections we make are eternal and I CAN'T WAIT to see these people again. It's just a matter of time before they'll be here in Tuxtla coming to the temple, too. The Lord loves us. He lets us know and love so many people, because He knows it's what we need.

In news about me, I have another new companion. Her name is Hermana Van Valkenberg, (also known as Hermana Van) from South Jordan Utah. She's hilarious, and can sing like an angel, and smart as a whip. 

I love being a missionary. It fills me up like nothing else on the planet can.

Have a wonderful week. Mine started out on the best note it possibly can. 

Hermana Juliana

P.D. The young woman in the middle has been going to church for years and was taught by just about everyone in the mission  (ok, but not quite, but all of the elders who passed through her town before she moved to Tuxtla) including Elder Peterson, the obviously American elder. The monday I arrived she told us, yeah, I'm ready to take that step. She's just darling. And her mom always gives us candy :) 

Week 38 - November 10, 2014 - Teamwork

You have a team. Did you know that? It might be a team of two, a team of twenty, and you might have lots of different teams. But you have a team. So work with your team.

 

This week was several different meetings, and lots of needing our various team. Our team here in Terán is the ward. They are willing and ready to play, but we had to ask for their help first. I'm super grateful for my team, especially because even though as players some times we mess up, our coach never ever ever will. He knows who He needs where and when, and how to pick us up when we're down.

 

Like I said, we had several meetings this week. One of them was zone conference! (all the missionaries in the stake). AND our stake is 1) HUGE and 2) almost entirely sisters. See attached photo. Seriously, it's nuts. But the picture is more colorful than suits and ties so that's a plus.

 

Depend on your team. Trust them. Get to know who they are and communicate your needs.

 

Have a lovely week! (and count how many times I said the word team in here - I'm not sure but it was a lot).

 

Hermana Juliana

 

Week 37 - November 3, 2014 - Halloween

On Saturday the 1st, Day of the Dead, which is the day kids dress up to trick or treat instead of the 31st, the neighborhood was full of kids dressed up as just about everything, with their parents, some dressed up and some not.

 

One of my favorite things about the week was this:

A car passed by an a little grinning sparkly pumpkin popped her head out of the window and shouted at us, I like your costumes! We laughed and laughed at that one - and said it's a good thing we put in effort putting on our costumes this morning.

 

We ran into them again coming back up the same street, now out of the car. It turns out that the family is LDS and the little pumpkin told us again that she liked our costumes. We asked her if she was going to wear the same costume when she was big, and she said yes. She also told us very proudly that her mouth was painted. (she was very excited to have makeup on.. I think she was probably 5). I have to say, this is my favorite costume I've ever worn.

 

I know now a little bit more about where I am. It's a set of three or four neighborhoods, and while it's not QUITE as green as where I was, we have a river with GIANT trees that we cross whenever we go to San Jose Terán. We share the ward with another set of missionaries, Elders, and our bishop is also the mission doctor. The members spoil us - yesterday we ate brownies with vanilla icecream after enchiladas with mole and quesadillas.

 

Remember who you are - a child of the being who created EVERYTHING. You have unlimited potential, and you have all the tools you need to do everything He asks of you. When we do that, He has promised us innumerable blessings.

 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

 

Week 36 - October 27, 2014 - Lots of news.

New companion, new area, new city... Which is actually a CITY. It's kind of startling. Here we go new place. My area is Terran, in Tuxtla Gutierrez, and I really don't know anything about it. I started my mission six hours from the mission home and have been there for seven months, so I really have no idea what there is here. 

This week was a bit odd - we had a few really excellent lessons, a few really strange lessons, got rained on a lot, Ana got baptized, a few people hid from us (while it was raining - it was pretty funny. We knocked on the door, they opened it, and the next thing we knew after walking away for a minute the door was closed and the lights were off). 

I was thoroughly amused by a comparison Hermana Peine made last night when they told us the transfers. She, being from a small city in Utah, popped her bubble in a big way moving to Utah. She called my transfer from Cacahoatan to Tuxtla 'moving from Leeds to Mexico'. I'll let you know in a week how right she is. 

So, there you go family and friends. I'm in Tuxtla, ready for an adventure. One of my favorite quotes is there's no comfort in a growing zone and no growing in a comfort zone. Seems about right to me. 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

1. Cacahoatán relief Society! 

2 :( bye Hermana Peine!

Week 35 - October 20, 2014 - No Ants

Happy Monday!

The ants have not come back, for the most part. There are a few of the giant ones who are adventurous enough to come all the way in, but I stepped on one this morning so take that ants, they won't be back. (Either that or they'll come try to take revenge. I'm not sure which).

This is week 6 of my 5th transfer in Cacahoatan. In normal person time, that's 7.5 months in this beautiful place. I won't know until next week if they're going to let me stay. I think that life would be so much easier if we didn't love people and put down roots - then we would be able to just pick up and go without having to hurt. But life wouldn't be nearly as rich. With an eternal perspective, goodbyes don't hurt so much. 

But I get ahead of myself. This week I am in Cacahoatan still and we have a ton to do. Our friend Ana is getting baptized on Saturday, and we have a full planner ahead of us. We ran into lots of people this week who haven't been to church in years (yes Mom, we apologized), and taught a couple of them as well. We were sad Saturday night because one of them had told us that she wouldn't be in Cacahoatan the next day and wouldn't be able to come to church. But then she walked in on Sunday morning!! A little bit late, but it was absolutely the best feeling. That's why we put down roots, so we can shout for joy when good things happen in our friends lives.

Funny story of the week: a 3 years old boy who's mom we are teaching had a race car onsey that he wanted to put on. He came out with the arms on inside out, mom corrected it and sent him back to go put it on correctly. He was very creative - he got it backwards, inside out and upside down before finally being able to happily zip it all the way up. THEN, dressed, he proceeded to pull all of the the clothes out of the dresser. So we then we helped him look for the socks' friends and determining if each peice was his or his sister's. 

Oh, we also had exchanges this week. Hermana Zuñiga and I had a great time in Tapachula. It rained just enough for the city to not be a furnace, we saw day old puppies, ate with a sister who collects frog figurines, and had several awesome lessons. 

Life is lovely, the church is true, and I love being a missionary. Don't forget to read your scriptures :) 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

The picture: Turns out talking on the phone and carrying eggs is fine, until you try to walk through the door :( We decided it was like the middle school physics experiments, and all but one egg failed.

Week 34 - October 13, 2014 - The Battle with the Ants

This week we were invaded by ants. Big ants the length of my thumb nail, ants the size of a hyper active grain of sand, and medium size ants. They were swarming all over the wall next to Hermana Peine's desk. We moved the table out back so we wouldn't fumigate ourselves while studying (see attached, though DEFINITELY not posed picture ;) ) and then went at it with the bug spray interrupting their newly created but well traveled highways on our wall. When we came back in after planning we discovered that it had been raining ants. Instead of a wallpaper we had a carpet of them. (yay for brooms!) 

But here's what I learned: if you attack ants, they attack back. After the first round of bugspray several of them ended up on my feet and they quite angrily started biting my toes ''Take that giant human! (chomp) and that! (crunch). The little things don't bark but their bites sting, for sure. Here's the thing though: I'm much bigger than them. And I have a can of bug venom. They never had a chance. 

Doctrine and Covenants3:1 Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men. Basically, if we choose our Father in Heaven, we choose the winning team. The Adversary has hundreds and hundreds of ants that bite, but we have prayer, the scriptures, and living prophets to guide us, all of which beat up those pesky ants without a problem. 

On non-ant related things, this week was an excellent week. We got to spend some time with a sister, Nelda, who was one of the first members of the church in this part of Mexico. She no longer sees or hears very well, and she uses a walker, but her conviction of the truth of the Gospel isn't shaken. We invited her to a baptism and she was so happy to be invited and asked us to tell her every time there was a church activity. 

We also had a lesson with a gentleman I remember talking to almost at the beginning of my mission. I was kind of skeptical going in, to be perfectly honest. It turned out to be one of my favorite lessons of the week. He was interested in learning, very polite, although with zero interest of changing belief systems. But the whole point: INVITE, was really driven home to me in that lesson. 

The most important parts of my week are small things - lessons, asking for and being super excited upon receiving references from members, a testimony that was particularly touched me, conversing with Sister Vicky about her mission years ago, finding out that there are free weddings (for so many people we teach the 1000 pesos is a huge impediment) and things that maybe aren't that interesting to write home. But the people are so much more important than the ants. 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

P.S. we ate the whole bag of animal crackers, it was from last Monday's grocery trip. 

Week 33 - October 6, 2014 - The Stove has Seen it All

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there was a stove. It was a humble little two burner stove, but he was happy helping the humans make their breakfast. He wondered, however, how long he would have to stand the ever-growing layer of grease, egg and pancake batter that was weighing him down.

 

You see, being a stove, he couldn't simply walk to the tank and rinse himself off. He felt helpless, and sad, as day in and day out his human friends didn't seem to notice his dilemma.

 

FINALLY, after months of waiting, he saw the sponge and the cleaner sit down next to him. The sponge turned brown, rinsed off, and turned brown again over and over and over again, but eventually he turned from grease color to shiny black once again. The humble little stove wanted to shout for joy. He never could have done it alone.

 

Poor little stove. It took a lot of scrubbing, and now he's being used and getting dirty again. Fortunately, we don ́t have to wait months and months to clean of the stove surface. We don't have to wait to make goals and plans to change our lives. We, unlike the stove, can choose when to pick ourselves up and wash ourselves off, but like the stove we can't do it completely alone.

 

If I know nothing else (which isn't true because I actually know lots of things) I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. When I no longer can, he makes up the difference.

 

This week was long, and more tiring than usual. I thoroughly enjoyed it - we got caught in a crazy rainstorm and all of our 'we're 100% certain they'll be there' appointments fell through at the same time. We decided to try carrying our groceries the eighteen blocks back from the supermarket, also in the rain, spent a day in Santo Domingo (my new favorite place) and of course, got to watch General Conference. And it was still tiring. For the first time in a while we had several days in a row where no one was home or didn't want us to come in.

 

But back to the stove. Unlike him, we get to choose. Our attitude, our time use, our priorities. And once we decide and give it our all, usually we fall short. But He makes it so we don't fall down. So enjoy it!

 

Enjoy the moments when the people you talk to in the street look at you really confused before walking away. Enjoy learning from your companion that you bend and straighten both pinkies simultaneously while holding a cookie and talking on the phone (I clearly learned my lesson from Spongebod - pinky out! even though air is not good Patrick, air is not good, doesn't quite apply).

 

Enjoy eating quesadillas, mocking your companion for putting ketchup on them and discovering it's not actually terrible. Enjoy seeing kittens play fighting in a sister's house. Enjoy getting to write your name in concrete on someone's front walk (seriously, who lets missionaries do that? Our ward is the best) And enjoy the people around you.

 

I sound about as cliche as missionary emails get, but I love being here. I love waking up every morning with the most glorious cause of all time and eternity to work for. I love what I learn every day about me, my Father in Heaven and about his perfect plan.

 

Here's my general conference quote: remember which way you face. And here's me quoting me: remember you're not a stove. So get up and do some good.

 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

 

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

Week 27 - August 25, 2014

A little boy was telling me how old he was this week but instead of saying years he was saying how many piñatas he had. He said he had four piñatas, and in September he was going to have five. He then asked me how many piñatas I had. I said 20. He stayed kind of stunned for a moment, but being a four year old he shook it off pretty fast and very curiously asked me here I kept them all. 

 Every day there are small moments - like a puppy running through the lesson or a rainbow when we walk out, or a four year wanting to know where I keep my piñatas, that just brighten up our day. And when we have an attitude of gratitude, we notice the little things and are strenghtened by them. When someone lends us an umbrella or gives us an extra slice of flan, I feel so blessed to be here. I know it takes more effort to see the good things sometime, but that effort is what makes the days fly by. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunities I have every day to meet new people and make new friends, and help someone learn more about the Gospel that has made me who I am. 

This week, look for the little things. They're there in every corner just waiting to be noticed. 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 26 - August 18, 2014 - So the world is small and time goes fast

I just discovered that my companion's parents have found and are reading the blog that these emails end up on, so internet hello to Phillip and Laurel Peine! Your daughter is lovely. :)

Here's the time goes fast part: this week, I hit the one third of my mission mark. I know, it's kind of crazy but who am I to tell the clocks to stop. (I've tried - it doesn't work very well, and if only mine stops, then what would I do? Be late to all appointments, that's what - and that's just not an option). ANYWAY. This week was fantastic, we got to see lots of miracles.

One of which, a man named Hugo who when we arrived to his house said, nope, not anymore and walked out the door (this after he had arrived to church with his wife without us having invited them). We stayed to talk with his wife anyway, and throughout the course of the lesson, his elbow started to be visible by the door, then he was standing in the doorway, and then he came to sit down and listen. I am so grateful for the changes the Spirit can make in a person, and grateful that I get to see it happen, every day.

My poor companion got the same welcome by bugs as I did and spent a couple of days getting to know some of the ward members while I worked with Cinthia. She's back to normal ankle size now though, and we're workin' away. It's really been amazing, what we've seen happen this week.

In the 'cool things we get to see in Mexico' front, we went to the border with Guatemala this week. It's fifteen minutes away, and so we went to take a picture. (For your viewing enjoyment, see attached)

Have a wonderful week, and look for the little things.

Hermana Juliana

Week 25 - August 11, 2014 - New Companion for my birthday!

And we´re both from the US! It's kind of weird, but it's also way fun, seeing the beginning of the mission from someone else's eyes (foreign) eyes. Poor thing, she doesn't really like fish, and guess what we had, two days in a row - her first two days here in Cacahoatan :)

I know you're all dying to know what we did for my birthday - and like the subject says, I got a new companion! (That joke got old within the first 24 hours, but you hadn't seen it yet!) We were in the mission home and the other sisters who were receiving new companions made me a cake (see the second attached picture). Hermana Garcia drew a little slices on scraps of paper for of us as well. It was pretty fun. 

Here's what I've learned a lot about this week - we get to choose. How well we fulfill what we've been called to do, how we use our time, how diligent we are - we have control over what we do. We can creators of circumstances, not creatures of circumstances. We can't control other people, but we can control ourselves. I know that someday we'll account for what we've done with our time, and I want to use it the best I possibly can. How about you?

Have a great week! 

Hermana Juliana 

Week 24 - August 4, 2014 - twenty reasons my mission is great

twenty? where I possibly have gotten that number from? who knows, because I'm DEFINITELY not that old. (yet...)

1. Every single day I get to talk to perfect strangers

2. I'm learning how to make snap decisions and just go with it.

3. Mexican food is pretty delicious.

4. TROPICAL FRUIT.

5. Electric storms. Apparently it's not normal for there to lightening pratically every day, but I think it's awesome.

6. Sometimes you get to live with your MTC companion for a week and reminisce about how fast the last five and half months have gone.

7. Cinthia bought me a cake for my birthday :) naturally, being the loving friend she is she told me to take a bite and then pushed my face into the end of it. 

8. I get to stay in Cacahoatan for another six weeks! Woot! We've been joking that I'm going to be here for my whole mission.

9. We have arcoleological ruins that I get to go past every single week.

10. people will give us food and insist that we take it with us.

11. The members here are really helpful - two young adults from the ward (Cesia y Cinthia) were my companions during the week.

12. When there are transfers, we get to travel in super comfy buses.

13. Chiapas is absolutely beautiful. 

14. The same rain that makes a road muddy enough to steal your shoe is also perfect for rinsing it off again.

15. I'm learning and growing in ways that I didn't know that I could/needed to

16. Spanish is fun. I'm getting to the point that I can make jokes! (and sometimes people even get them!)

17. I'm learning more about the organization of the Church - how it works, and how much trust the Lord gives His children to help each other learn and grow.

18. People wave out their car windows (hi, missionaries!) and we have no idea who they are, but we wave back (usually they're members who aren't in our ward).

19. i feel a connection to the scriptures and the people who wrote them stronger than ever before.

20. I have lots of people who love me back home. Thanks for the birthday wishes! 

Have a great week!

love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 23 - July 28, 2014 - this week was weird

It was also fun and exciting and enjoyable and lots of great things happened, but it was also very weird. I´ve learned a lot about how the mission program is organized and I´ve been really impressed by how smoothly oiled everything is from Salt Lake to Cacahoatan, and I know the whole thing is run by somebody who knows exactly what it's doing. 

The attached photo was a really amusing lesson. We taught some kids the Restauration playing with clay and some pens while sitting on the floor. Missionary work should never get tedious because there´s always something new to try :)

That's about it for this week, I can't remember having eaten any weird food or anything, so just know that the Church is true and it's head is our Lord and Savior. 

Love you all, y vayan por la sombrita (stay in the shade),

Hermana Juliana

Week 22 - July 21, 2014 - Christmas in July

I don't really have a story to go with the title, it just seemed appropriate considering it's July and all, and every day I get to share with people what I believe about the person who's birth we celebrate in December. 

Anyway, this past week I hit the 5 month mark - yes mom, I'm trying to figure out where the time went too. The scary thing is this month it'll be six months, which is a third (!!!!) of the time I'll be here. I've learned a lot, grown a lot, and I'm excited because in the next year I'll get to grow and learn even more. 

This week something fun we ate: I tried chamoyada, which is icecream with chamoy (it's a sauce I don't really know how to describe) sprinkles and chile. They put chile on everything. It was quite delicious. I spent a day with Cinthia as my companion because Sister Rodriguez went to the mission home six hours away in Tuxtla to finalize her visa, and she showed me where to buy said deliciousness.

I love this work - and I'm learning to love it more and more every day.

Have a great week, and remember, we remember Christ all year round, so it might as well be Christmas in July. 

Hermana Juliana

Picture #1 : I found my home. After my mission, I'm going to search for this Island and live there permanently. (A family in the ward have a beautiful home with super awesome murals)

Picture #2: Sister Oliver! Happy companions-in-the-MTC-now-serving-in-the-same-ward-reunion, with a pretty background

Week 21 - July 14, 2014 - Lots of news this week

And by news, I mean new things. First and foremost, I have a new companion. Who is also new to the mission, which means I am training. The best part, she´s from Ecuador! (Santa Elena for those who care to google/know where it is). It's fun talking about places we've both been to and foods we both miss. 

In news-news, my good friend Sam left on his misson to Tijuana this last week. (in the picture, we had run up to the chapel to say bye in the rain, all of the members just laughed at us) I'm working on thinking of better stories, but really, one of the most exciting things about being a missonary is being able to see people get excited about sharing the Gospel and get excited about learning more about it.

For Dad: Something that made me smile this week was playing Book of Mormon charades with other missionaries while we waited for our interviews with the mission president. The Elders started to get really into it, it was pretty funny.

Speaking of the conference with the new mission president and his wife, when Sister George arrived one of the elders got our whole zone to sing Más Cerca Dios de Ti. We started right as she walked in and when we finished went to greet her - we made her cry, but I think they were happy tears. 

I didn't eat anything weird this week, sorry to disappoint.

Well, that's all for today, but enjoy the little things, and make life what you want it to be. There is one thing you have complete and total control over, and that's YOU. 

Lots of love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 20 - July 7, 2014 - Yes, there was an earthquake

It was an excellent alarm clock (when it ended it was 6:25, so there was no point in going back to bed). Don't worry, we're fine. It was the first time I experienced a real earthquake, so I don't really know how to describe it. Solid earth turns not so solid, everything is moving around you but you're not. It was weird, but kind of cool at the same time. 

This week, we had several conversations with a slightly eccentric painter slash sculpture. It was interesting. He reminded us slightly of Einstein, he is EXTREMELY intelligent and eats tuna with onions, mayonnaise and peach jam. Granted, I don't know if Einstein ate his tuna with jam on tostadas, but I imagine he had weird eating habits too. I tried it - it was actually really good, and I would even dare to recommend it. 

Cinthia and her family continue to be wonderful. We helped Cinthia try to pull her little brother off the couch on Sunday morning, he got up and went into another room to lay down - we let him be after that. It was really amusing though. 

The Fourth of July my companion and I both dressed in red white and blue (even though my companion is Mexican, isn't that sweet of her?) and other than that it was a pretty regular day. Wish Happy Birthday to Gramps, please. I was thinking about him a lot on Friday. 

On Saturday we had an awesome activity with the youth. They came to learn about what it's like to be a missionary. They arrived at 6:30 am and we were finishing around 5pm - and they weren't bored or complaining! It was motivating to see their enthusiasm and see in them some of the same nervousness I had (and still sometimes have) when they were participating in the activities. 

I am thoroughly enjoying where I am and what I'm doing, earthquake or not. I'm looking forward to whatever this next week brings our way. I know it'll be what it needs to be (not trying to be cliche, but there really are no non-cliche ways to say I know what I'm doing is what I need to be doing and where I am is where I need to be). 

Mango season is over, but lots of love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 19 - June 30, 2014 - This one's for you, Dad.

Today for P-day we went hiking! If you want to check the all knowing Google, Cascadas El Aguila. I don't know if it will show up or not, but there you go. I know, Dad, I didn't wear long pants. It's only been drilled into me since I was a child, and I got bitten by bugs, but the hike itself was so worth it. It reminded me a lot of Eagle Creek, but without the cliffs. 

Miracle of the week: Cinthia's whole family came to church on Sunday!! It was awesome. We were running late, but we managed to catch up with them about a block away from the church and walk in with them. That family - we told them that everyone here offers us food and more food and more food, and then Hermana Guevara and Carlos, one of Cinthia's brothers, decided to see who could eat a GIANT bowl of pozol the fastest... Hermana Guevara won, just so you know.

It continues to rain every day, which is nice because it makes it so the morning heat calms down. 

I just read an email from a friend that asked, My joy is full, is yours? I can answer with a resounding YES!! I love what I am doing - I love sharing what I know is true with anyone and everyone. This week, something that impacted me was this: not everyone knows that they are a child of God. If you don't know it, if you don't believe it, ask Him. He'll let you know. I trust that promise more than anything. And as His child, you are entitled to happiness and all the blessings that He has in store for you. Ask Him for them, and be patient, and faithful. 

Have a lovely week, and remember who you are. 

Week 18 - June 23, 2014 - Staying here!

I get to stay in Cacahoatan for another six weeks!! Woohoo! I am really loving being here. The rain, the people, the food (I think I'm gaining weight - little by little the sisters are helping my stomach grow, I think they are afraid we don't eat anything else in the day. They're super sweet.) 

Yesterday we had a special musical number, and it was amazing. The first two verses of Nearer My God to Thee there was only one voice per line. The third, four. The fourth, the ten of us that were singing the first verses line by line, and the fifth, the whole congregation. The Spirit hit us like a wall, it was incredible. I don't want to ever have to leave Cacahoatan, because I love looking around me and knowing the members and knowing that I love the members here. 

The young women and the missionaries :)

Also, the story in the Book of Mormon that talks about the vision of the tree of life? There's a carving of it about 30 minutes from where I live. It was an adventure getting there - we loaded onto a public transport truck that we hadn't used before (but they told us passed by there) and went on an adventure. Then we got soaking wet, then we took pictures :) It was very fun.

As Sister Bagley always said - the Church is true, go be awesome. The Gospel helps us to make everything we do even better. 

Love,

Hermana Juliana

Week 17 - June 16, 2014 - This week went really fast

Hello everyone! 

I really can't believe that it's monday again, I don't even know where the time went. 

Cinthia was baptized on Saturday!!! That was really exciting. She sent us a message Tuesday that said she finally felt like she was ready. We were in the Relief Society president's house when my companion showed me the phone, and I started jumping up and down. I met Cinthia my first week here in Mexico, and she is and will always be a dear friend. It was a special event, her mom and brothers all attended the baptism and her mom attended church the next day. I seriously love their family. 

This week the Bishop took us to a place called Carnes Asada Mixcum, which is part of the way up to Union Juarez but not quite as far. They serve every piece of cow, practically, grilled, and the interesting parts I tried were the udder and something called tripa which I have yet to translate exactly but I'm pretty sure it's the small intestine. They wouln't tell me what 'ubre' was until after I tried it, and it was actually really tender and tasty. Tripa wasn't so much, but I tried it to try it and probably won't eat it again. 

This week we also borrowed a guitar from a total stranger. My companion plays a little bit and wanted to practice to see if we could use it in a special musical number, and we were asking around, when a young woman we had just met, said. 'wait just a second, my friend Eric has one', and she went to knock on his door. We looked at each other, kind of shrugged and said, well, we'll ask! We had the guitar in our house almost the whole week. 

We had an interesting experience with Cinthia's mom. She attends a different church, and sometimes the members of that church come to her house and pray for her. We were about to start teaching a lesson when there's a knock on the door, she goes to answer and starts talking with the brothers who came. They proceed to practically invite themselves in, and the looks on their faces were kind of funny when they saw us sitting on the coach. We got up, smiling to introduce ourselves and proceeded to teach them about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It was actually a really great lesson, we felt the Spirit, pretty sure they did too, and we felt the confidence that comes from being called by the prophet to remind people of who they are, children of God, with infinite eternal potential.

Love.

Hermana Juliana

Week 16 - June 9, 2014

This week was stake conference! Yesterday, to be exact. The ward contracted two big vans to take us to the stake center in Tapachula, and it was fun being a missionary in stake conference because I actually recognized the mission president. It was also awesome because there had to be two sessions of stake conference - not all of the wards fit into one session! This stake is growing like crazy, it's fantastic to be a part of it. 

It's been a fun week. As part of our area, we have a touristy city called Union Juarez. That's where we are in the photo - it's up the side of the volcano more, and when it rains up there, it's COLD. This picture was taken after it rained, but the hill you can't see to the left was running with muddy water when we were walking up it. It was pretty funny. 

Cinthia isn't sure that she's going to be here on June 28th, which is the day that she picked out for her baptism. Hopefully she'll not postpone it more - she has a testimony of the gospel, she shares it with other investigators when she comes to lessons with us, and she introduces us to her friends and family, and invites them to church. 

We're teaching a family right now with eight kids. We (think) we finally met the last one this week - every time we go there's a different set of people in the house. One of the daughters has come to church once. 

I'm sure I'll think of a bunch of stories I could have shared in just a minute once I send this, but just now I'm drawing a blank. So, I'll say good bye for now. I love what I'm doing. As missionaries, we're just a bunch of kids. But we have a sacred calling to share with the world what we know is true - Christ lives, He directs His Church, and He wants every one of us to come unto Him. 

Love,

Hermana Juliana