1 Ano!Hola! Buenas tardes!
I hope you are all doing well! It's been a great week here in San Andres. I cannot believe I hit my 1 year mark this week. It has gone by so fast - I feel like it was just yesterday that I started. This week me and Hermana Ayala said goodbye and I welcomed Hermana Garcia to Jardin! Somehow we haven't taken pictures...but we will this week, don't worry. It's been a great week with her! Hermana Garcia has 16 months in the mission, she's from Chihuahua México, and she is so fun to work with. We try to find something fun in every day. This week we went to work with all of the investigators that we had who haven't really been progressing. We decided we'd give them one week more, and if not we'd go find people who truely are searching for the Gospel. It was really difficult, trying to find new investigators and hearing just about every excuse in the book of excuses and pretexts. In moments like these - I feel like Satan thinks he's going to get to me. But he forgets that I've got the Lord on my side. We went to go look for one of our investigators and we ended up finding Maria Jose. She was outside watching her son play and she invited us in. We came in to start talking to her and she then remembered(?) that she was going to give her son a bath. She gave us some juice and then asked us if we'd mind giving her a minute to bath her son. We then realized that maybe she wasn't so interested after all...So we drank up our juice and told her we'd come back. She told us - Yes! Come back around 5 o'clock! So we left and went to a few other appointments. When 5 o'clock rolled around we went to what we had planned and when it fell through we decided to have faith in her. We went back and we found her ready to listen. We started teaching and it was so interesting how everything she said highlighted the Restoration. It was one of those moments where I get really excited to teach haha When we started talking about baptism she accepted right away. Then she told us - "It's so interesting! We've moved houses 6 times in the last year and everytime we get to a new house some sort of missionaries end up at my door, and now that we've finally found the house where we want to stay - you show up! It's strange too, because they've all invited me to baptism and I've never said yes. But with you two it's different." I know that the Lord is preparing people everywhere. We just have to have the faith to find them. One of the highlights of the week - was the baptism of Jose Albañil. He has been waiting patiently (maybe not so patiently haha) the last 2 weeks to be able to be baptized. From the first moment we found him he was so willing and READY! We came back after the first visit and he had read his pamplet, later he was reading the Book of Mormon, when we taught the Word of Wisdom he said goodbye to his Coffee and hasn't looked back. He pays such close attention to everything he's learned and everything that goes on. When we asked him who he wanted to baptism him he said - My neighbor - President Sanchez! Hermana Ayala asked, Wait, how did you know he's the president? And Jose replied - Hermana it's not hard to pay attention. haha It's been a great few weeks teaching him and the day of his baptism finally came! It was great too because Hermana Ayala was able to come and be a part of it. I love this picture because he looks so smug that he's about to be baptized. Nothing could get his spirits down - even the fact that there was no water in the baptism font. When the Ward Mission Leader filled it up - he didn't close the drain all the way and little by little the water went draining away. It was just above his knees - but he was so convinced that he was going to be baptized that he did it sitting down. A baptismal memory he'll never forget haha I feel so blessed to have been able to be part of his story. Well that's about it for this week - keep sending your prayers and well wishes my way :) Everything's going great here in San Andres Tuxtla. Hope you all have a great week! Hermana Terry Hello!Something I am learning here in the mission - Never get comfortable! Because then you're going to have a suprise from the Lord. Haha Last night they called us and told us we're going to have special changes. Hermana Ayala is going to go to a different area to finish the training of an Hermana and Hermana Garcia is going to come with me. We're not sure if it'll be for the full next transfer or only the two weeks we've got left of this one. But either way - my new companion is going to be Hermana Garcia! It's been such an amazing few weeks with Hermana Ayala! She is such an incredible teacher of the Gospel! I always learn something in every lesson. I've learned and grown so much in these few weeks that aparently we've got nothing left to learn together ;)
This week was a week with many ups and downs - (Literally because there are so many hills and mountains here in los Tuxtlas haha) No I am constantly surprised by how much a person can learn in one single day, in a week. I feel like I grow so much with every hour, every lesson. In every minute that I'm here learning and living the gospel of Jesus Christ. This week we worked really, really hard with members. It's been really hard here but this week we dedicated to working with them so that the people we are teaching right now will stay firm. And that we can find new people who will have built in friends. And we were able to find so many new people with such a big desire to learn more! Sometimes it's the person you never thought would accept the great message of the gospel. But I saw this week that every member has someone in their life that needs the gospel. And all we have to do is search, ponder and pray to know who it is! And then share! It was such a great week too because we worked just as hard with the less active memebers! We started asking every member who they knew that hadn't been coming to church lately - and we met a bunch of families that haven't been to church in years! We were able to really help each of these people and see the spark of the spirit testifying ot them that the things they knew to be true before are still true now. Remember that in the eyes of the Lord and in our eyes the worth of souls is great! Whether it be a non member, a member inactive, or a recent convert - to our loving Heavenly Father and His Son - It's the same. We should constantly be working in his work. I was reading a talk by a 70 from a conference in 2012 and he teaches that our missionary moments have to be current! This work is always pressing forward and so must we! I invite you all to look around - who isn't there? Who can you invite to the Celestial Kingdom? Sorry I don' t have fun stories - I need to start writing them down so I don't forget haha But I hope you all have a great day! Thanks for your love and support! Hermana Terry (Guess what - Today I went to an amazing waterfall. But sadly the computer won't work with the pictures again. Next week you'll see and you'll be very jealous :) Hola Familia Y Amigos!Well this week was great! I am so amazed at how every week I still have the ability to say that :) This week we had the baptism of Melina! It was such an amazing day! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to see her be able to take this great step on the way to the temple! I know that it's just a matter of time for her husband to follow her example and then they can start preparing together for eternity! She told us the night after her baptism she had a dream that she was in a white church and that everything was white and beautiful that that we were all there with her. She told us - I think that means my baptism was the right thing to do - Then her seven year old daughter Abril says - Mom! Thats a sign from God that we're going to get sealed! I feel so blessed to have been able to be a tiny part of their story. And we started teaching all her nephews too. Victors brothers and cousins. One of them - Eduardo is so excited to go to church. He woke up early on sunday and cleaned his room and his whole house so his parents would let him go. When other kids started giving him a hard time about it he just said - But the mormon church is CHIDO! - Or awesome, haha Things in Jardin are great!
This week was a week with a lot more amazing things - But I'll have to write about them next week! haha I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for your love and support! Happy New Year!This week was amazing! (I know, I know...I say that every week) But let me tell you why. This week we went to Veracruz for Lider Council and I got the best present. No mom...Sadly I didn't get my Christmas package (Christmas in February will be a lot better, don't worry :) But Hermana Johnson told me about what happened in Orizaba in the two weeks I was gone. Jordy ( Who got baptized my last week there) Baptized his sister Genesis! I can't even believe how happy it made me! She is so cute too because when I called her to congradulate her she just about started crying on the phone. She is honestly like my sister and although I'm so bummed I wasn't there - There is no greater feeling then to find out about your investigators getting baptized after you've left. But that wasn't all - I don't know if you remember Leticia? Who we found one day by a huge spiritual chance. She is really sick and in a few days will have surgery. The last week I was there in Orizaba her family took her to a different town so they could take care of her. She literally disappeared and we couldn't even get ahold of her for telephone until my last day. By pure miracle - the hermanas found her. (Miracle = Answer to my constant prayers for her) They found her and she got baptized that same week. The emotion I felt seeing her baptism pictures - there aren't words.
This week was also New Years! How did I pass it you may wonder? Sleeping. So tuesday we went to Veracruz and after there was no way we could get back to San Andres. Every bus was full and they were selling them black market! So we ended up staying the night in the mission offices- or really in the old apartment of the missionaries from the offices. They kindly brought us over some mattresses at 10 at night so we could have something to sleep on and then we woke up bright and early to come back to our area. The blessing? I got to have a little sleepover with the best friends a girl could ask for - Hermana Johnson and Hermana Jensen. The hard part? We came back on an AU bus. Not sure really how to explain the difference between an AU and an ADO - Just know that ADO is "Always first!" And that AU is "Always second" haha It was a long 5 hour ride. We were so tired after these two long days we didn't even hear the crazy fireworks at 12. Here in Mexico they have a tradition to burn the old man every year at 12 - They have dummies with fireworks in them and they set them off to celebrate the new year. I don't know how we didn't hear it but I am so grateful. The amazing thing is that I know that God works in mysterious ways. While we were on the AU making our way back to San Andres - I noticed 2 men that were in the bus ihle. With every stop they would get more and more close to where we were sitting. And after about 3 hours they were right there. I started talking to them and we had a great conversation. One was named Nicolas. His grandson was going to get baptized last week and we talked for awhile about that - and the Book of Mormon. The other was named Marcelo. I was so glad when Nicolas got off because it gave me the chance to talk to him. He's a single dad who was traveling with his children to go see his brothers and other family, I just know that God put us in his path to be able to talk to him and share the gospel. I ended up giving him the only copy of the book of mormon that I had - which was a new hardcover I was going to use for something else but It felt so good to give him the Book of Mormon and invite him to read it. I love that as a missionary you never stop being a missionary. That in every situation o in any moment we are called to preach the gospel - something I realized is that it's not just us as missionaries - but us as members of the church. Somehow the nametag gives courage I have never had before - but I know that even after I take it off I will still have it written on my heart. I invite all of you to take upon you the name of Christ. To remember that you've already done it - and look for that person that needs your help. Share the joy of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. These past few weeks I've been learning a lot and I know that I have a grand potential. I am so grateful for the love my Heavenly Father has for me. And I know he has the same love for each of you. Have a great week! Hermana Terry |
My name is McKenna Terry and I have been called to the Mexico Veracruz Mission. These are my stories. Hermana McKenna Terry
[email protected] Hermana McKenna Terry
Mexico Veracruz Mission Calle Altamirano #27 Entre 1 de Mayo y Carranza Col. Flores Magon Veracruz, Ver 91700 Mexico Archives
July 2015
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