Hey!Buenas tardes! WOW! This week was so amazing! Since pictures speak a thousand words and I can never send pictures on this computer I spent a lot of my email time trying to get them to send! So we'll see if the Mexican way to sent pictures is faster! haha in a Word document.
This week we had the baptism of Jose Luis and the Familia Regaldas Velazquez (Tomy, Gaby, Nataniel, Eunice, y Betzua!) I feel so blessed to have been able to teach these AMAZING people. They were all prepared - we just had to find them. The Fam RV (As I call them) Is my second family. They made us waffles last night to celebrate their baptism. AND Nataniel and Eunice (15 year old twins) Are going to be singing in the Mexico temple rededication!!! How awesome? They are excited. We found this family because the older brother Ricardo is 18 and he got baptized in February. The missionaries somehow never tried to teach the Mom Tomy (and the sister-in-law of Tomy) Gaby. But when I got here I just felt we needed to teach them and I have been able to just see this great change in them. And Jose Luis is the future bishop! He was so ready. He was already accompaning us to lessons, giving us references - and before his baptism. He told us that he feels that he has a mission. And he told us he found it part of his mission! He is so excited to start working with Family History and he is already planning his trip to the temple! Later I'll send more Jose Luis quotes. He is just beyond chosen. Hopefully his Wife and son follow soon the example he set! So it was a BIG baptism - 6 of our investigators and 1 from the elders. Everyone didn't even fit in the room where the baptism was. But the spirit was so strong. I'm so grateful for the chance God has given me help Him in His work. I feel so blessed and I don't want this time to end! I hope you all have a great week! Share always the gospel with those around you. Remember that everyone is a child of God and He wants ALL His children to come back to Him. Not just a few. Love you all! Thank you! Hermana Terry (For those asking...They tell me I'm coming home the 22nd and the 26th I'll be speaking in church. So you can plan to come and see me and welcome me home! I miss you all!) Hola!Well...It's offical that in a month I'll be home. I'm not sure how i feel about that! This week was AMAZING! (I know, I know...I say that every week...) But really. We are teaching the most amazing people! And be tuned for next week to see what is going to happen with a few of them :) The future Bishop is getting baptized and so is this other amazing family we've been visiting! Okay. I ruined the suprise but i'm just super excited! And they are too! After they had their baptism inverviews they were all super excited for sunday! This week something very miraculous happened. We recieved the reference of a family 3 times! The first time when we visited a less active family and they told us about a man that got killed in front of a little super market near our house. He went to cross the street and a pizza motorcycle didn't see him and tried to pass a bus that was stopped. They started telling us that they wanted us to go visit the family. And i felt the spirit really strongly that we had to go visit this family - but they didn't know their address. Later, when we went with Tomy and her family (A family we're teaching) She told us that this man's wife is one of her friends and that she wanted to go visit her so we asked if she would take us. she told us she wasn't sure exactly where they live but that she would take us to go look. THEN we're just walking down the street and a woman stopped us and asked us if we were Mormons. We told her that we were and she said that Alejandra (the wife of the man that died) Alejandra is her neighbor and has been looking for the Mormons because her and her husband are members of the church. I just couldn't believe it. God really wanted us to visit this family. We went and looked for them and they weren't home. But later that same day I felt impressed that we should stop by again. we went by and found Alejandra! And sure enough! They are members! They had a book of Mormon from 1980 and a bunch of old President of the Church books. Later we met her two children - Lehi 15 and Ezmeralda 12. They are so great! Even though they are passing a really hard time right now i know that God sent us. Their dad, Felix had a preminicion that he was going to die. Two weeks before the accident he got his little family together and told them that he wanted that they could go back to church and that his children could get baptized. The gospel is what gives us the comfort that someday we WILL have our families forever. It's such a blessing. I'm so greatful for the ordinances that my parents did in the temple to make that blessing possible - and I'm so grateful for the oportunity to help others recieve these blessings as well. :) Well, I'm sorry I don't have pictures attached here. We're going to go look for another internet with the ability to load pictures because we can't here... Love you all! Have a great day! Remember not to count the days but to make the days count! Hermana Terry Sorry - I couldn't get any other one to load...But enjoy this one picture just to know I'm healthy and well! Hello!Well, Today I've only got seconds to write because we went to Mendoza (Which is an hour and a half away) So my companion could get braces. It's always been her dream to get braces and have straight teeth and there is a member there who offered to do it for free if she bought the braces. And who was I to stand in the way of her dream?? So we lost a lot of time today doing that but she's happy! (Imagine, braces for only about 70 dollars... Perks of Mexico. This week was AMAZING! Hermana Monroy and I are killing it here in Cordoba. It's been really fun being with her. She is so amazing, very spiritual and animated all the time. We are working so hard to be obedient and pleading for the help of the Lord in every step. And we have honestly seen amazing results. We have been finding new investigators every day - and not just the type that listen to us to not be rude but the kind that start crying and tell us that this is what they have been looking for. Or that say from the begining that they want to get baptized. True blessings of the Lord. Later, as always - Satan is finding ways to attack these amazing people that we are finding but I know we are going to be able to help them in every way we can. We have a family of 5 that we have been teaching for awhile now, the family of a recent convert and they are progressing so well! They actually told us that they were considering leaving the church after me and Hermana Ledek left - but then this week we have really helped them gain a testimony. And I know that they will be rock solid converts! They told us they are ready to get baptized! They just have to learn a little more - and they're right! :) Also, our future bishop and his wife are progressing great too! We can NEVER find them in the week but they always show up to church. And yesterday they told us that they wanted us to come over with the Bishop (because we had told them a couple weeks ago we wanted to come with him) And so we had a great lesson yesterday with him, his wife and the Bishop and his wife. Also, one of our other investigators Nicolas - got freaked out this week when we taught about Tithing - we thought we had lost him - but it's amazing the effect the spirit can have in people. This week one of the most spiritual experiences that I had was when we were walking to catch the bus after our district meeting and we passed by the offices of an old investigator. We had never gone to visit him there but I just felt the need to stop by and see if he was there. We stopped by...and he wasn't there. Sometimes I get a little confused when I know I'm acting on a prompting of the spirit and then it turns out I must have been wrong. Sometime I have learned is that we are never wrong when we follow the spirit. Even if we don't see the result right away. As we were leaving his offices we saw a guy standing in the door. We started talking to him and it turned out he was a member! With more than 18 years that he hasn't gone to church. When we started talking to him he broke down crying. He told us that in the morning he had prayed. After years he knelt down to pray. Because even though he isn't doing any of the right things right now...He knows where he needs to be. He prayed and we showed up! Now we're teaching his wife and helping him take the steps back to the church. On sunday I went searching for his sister (Who is an active member) And she started crying when I told her about her brother. The Lord is always using us as instruments in His hands. Sometimes we don't know what is His will until we do as he prompts us. But I really learned from this experience to always look for the reason that He tells you to do something you don't quite understand. Well, I hope you all have an excellent week! Remember to let the Lord guide you in your path! And you may just be the instrument in His hands to help one of His children. Love you all! Exito! Hermana Terry p.s. Sorry that I couldn't sent pictures. They wouldn't load :( Last 6...Well, it's offical. Yesterday the ward mission leader asked me if I was ready to die. And you know what I told him? I've got 6 more weeks to live! Not 6 weeks to die. This week was really great! Although it was sadly my last week with Hermana Ledek...But, they only changed her to a different area in our ward! So I'll still see her on Sundays, in District classes, and in Mission council. So that's the very, very bright side. And my companion is Hermana Monroy! She is so cute! Always happy. And very dedicated to the work. I know this is going to be 6 amazing weeks together. She is from Hidalgo, has 9 months in the mission and is going to help me polish up my spanish haha This week it was cloudy and glumy every single day. But we did not let it affect us and we just kept working with a big smile on our faces! Something I loved about this week too was that we looked for every opportunity we could to serve - and especially the members. We helped a sister with her Relief Society class, washed dishes (when they let us) and when we saw the opportunity to mow the law - we did it Mexican style and cut it with a machete for a less active sister. When we serve others - we serve God. And I have always held this phrase in my head since I heard it in conference a couple years ago - "First observe, then serve!" And it's so true. When we have our eyes open to opportunities of service is when we find those who truely need our help. In other news... Our investigators are progressing so well! This week was battle "Drop coffee" And they are actually all doing so great with living the commandment now. I have really been able to grow in my testimony of the Word of Wisdom with how much we have to teach it here. It's hard when everyone loves coffee and it's the cheapest option. But as with every commandment - we obey out of Love for our Heavenly Father and sometimes its blind obedience. We don't have to know every answer - we just obey and he blesses us. Well, I hope you all have a great week! Hermana Terry I'm so sad to see this district be changed! It has been maybe the best district I've ever had (Okay, so they're all great) But we were always having a great time! Our "Batallón Mormon" On Sundays when we go with the Ward mission leader to go visit all the less active members and investigators we can to get them excited. Hola!This week was amazing. I had a moment this week where I just felt so blessed for the opportunity I have to be here in the mission. I've learned so much, I've changed so much. And I still have got 7 weeks to learn even more. . I read an article in a Liahona that talks about Work. https://www.lds.org/new-era/2014/07/work-who-needs-it.p1?lang=eng It was something I seriously needed. "There may be times when no one but you and the Lord will know how well you did the work you needed to do. Rest assured that the Lord does know your effort. As you do your best, you will feel good about yourself, knowing that you have developed integrity, dependability, and useful skills." Sometimes as missionaries (and as normal people) You feel like no one really appreciates the work you are doing. But It's something that gives me so much comfort is that the Lord is always is aware. When we do all we can, and when we don't. For that reason it's important to always work hard and do are all. This week I also really learned that when we have a good attitude we can do anything. There is another part of the talk where his mother tells him about having a bad “Watch out. You’re going to lose your blessing, and you have to work anyway!” How true is that? It's something that I've really been trying to apply my whole misson. I remember (And I'm not going to lie) How HARD it was the first few months. With the language, the customs, adjusting to mission life in general. But when we just enjoy and work with a smile on our faces God is more willing to bless us. He is more able to do it. And the blessing in and of itself is that we're just happy. So in all that you do - Do it Joyfully! Remember that there is only one chance to live today. Tomorrow is a totally different day. This week we found so many AMAZING people! I'm not kidding. We found the future bishop of the Cordoba ward. And I know I'm not a Stake President or anyone qualified to say that but I just know. We contacted a reference from an old sister in the ward about three weeks ago. We had gone by just about 6 or 7 times and by that point most missionaries just count it as contacted and move on. But as we were walking near her street that day I remember feeling like we had to try one more time. Because it was saturday we found her! We taught her a little bit but she didn't seem super interested (I can't remember if I talked about this or not...) But then the next day she showed up to church! It was ward conference that day, she saw a lot of friends there and just had the best first time experience in church. So much so that the next week she brought her husband! After we had kept passing by in the week (day, night, saturday) to try and find her. We couldn't even get ahold of her. But she brought her husband. Then this last satuday we found them both! (Which was a miracle with as much as they both work)The first thing her husband tells us was "I loved your church. Everything about it. I've been looking for something like this. Tell us the rules so that we can start living them. I heard something about how we shouldn't drink coffee? So we stopped drinking coffee." Just imagine. Every missionaries dream. So we explained to them about everything they were confused about and yesterday they showed up to church again. People like that just make missionary work so satisfying. Besides them we are just teaching the best people right now. I am so excited to see them progress even more. Well - that's my time for today. I feel like I had a million more things I was going to write but..It'll have to wait for next week I guess because when I come to the internet I forget just about everything. :) But have a great week! Love you all! This week I didn't have many pictures either...But enjoy this pictures I didn't send from last week :) Hermana Terry We found an awesome telephone haha Why did the chicken cross the road? I'm not really sure but I've seen a lot of Chickens cross the road here in Cordoba. And when you don't have a pan to make MAC and Cheese because the Hermana you were borrowing from takes it back - you make it in a frying pan. :D Tomato soup (Which to everyone here in Mexico is "crazy" Although they eat a version of tomato soup made of carrots, or squash or other veggies all the time haha |
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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