Smile You're in Orizaba
This week was something....Crazy. Crazy crazy crazy. I can't even believe how many things happened this week.
Just to give you an idea...
Tuesday was a very full day... In the morning we had a Mission Zone Conference! And then later we had the Noche Mexicana! It was such a fun night! I loved celebrating Mexico here in Mexico! We even got permission to sing a Mexican song with the Jimenez family who are recent converts. It was so fun! They are such an amazing family. It's always a great time with them. But we also got to see a lot of different culture dances and eat traditional Mexican food! And the best part was that we had a lot of references and investigators there!
In our weekly planning thursday I felt really prompted that we needed to call Andrea - a menos activo in the ward. When we finally got ahold of her she told us that her Mother-in-law was in the hospital with cancer and that it took a turn for the worst and didn't look promising. We went right to work calling and getting a brother of the ward to go with us so she could get a blessing and we could help her family. In the afternoon we were in the hospital for awhile and we met Susana and she got a blessing and we shared a little message with her. She isn't a member but we know that she is going to accept the gospel in the spirit world! Sunday we got the call that she passed away. . . Saturday we got another chance to see the Plan of Salvation in action. We got called that one of the sisters in the ward passed away. We then went to her funeral and sang some hymns with her family. Hermana Gloria was 90 years old and a faithful, faithful member of the ward. Last week we went and visited her and her testimony is so strong and unbreakable! I know she's gonig to be a powerful missionary on the other side! This week I got the change to really reflect and strengthn my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. And especially in eternal families. I know without a doubt that familes can be together forever, and I'm so grateful for my family and the example that they are to me. And that I get to be with them forever. My purpose in going on a mission has always been along the lines of the phrase that says "A missionary is someone who leaves their family for 18 months (2 years) so that others can be with their families forever" This sincerely is my modive. I want every family to have the blessings that I have in my family and will someday have in my future family. There really is NO other way, no other path that will bring us true happiness. And to see the happiness that the gospel brings to people is something I wouldn't change for anything.
Friday I got the change to go to Mendoza in divisons. It was such an amazing day! The best part was at the end of the day. The lession that they had planned fell through so we ran (In pouring, pouring rain...) to visit a recent convert that lived close and we started teaching her when her uncle came in to listen to what these "mormons" were teaching. He started asking all sorts of questions about the restoration and we started to teach it from the beginning. As the lession went on I could tell that it was really affecting him...When we started explaning the Great Apostasy the power went out. It somehow made the lesson perfect. We had a couple cell phone lights on so that we could see a little bit and it applied perfectly to the Apostasy. That the lights were off, the world was in darkness, and the only way for it to be fixed is for the power to come back on. Sure there are tiny lights but it can't light up the whole room. It isn't sufficent. And we then started talking about Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the gospel. The spirit was so strong that when we invited him to baptism he had no other option but to say yes - because he could feel the spirit and he knew that it was true. One of the best lessons in my whole mission - I'll never forget the spirit that was there in this moment!
Well the only thing left to say is that I love you all! Hope everything is going well. That you're all making good choices and strengthening your testimony every day. Working to be a better person and starting every day like it's going to be the best day of your life! I started thinking this about a week ago - Every day I wake up and tell myself it's going to be the best day of my mission because I know that I have the power over whether or not a day is going to be a bad day, a good day or an amazing one! So that's my invitation this week, Look for the blessings in every day because you won't have to look hard to find that there are a million.
Hermana Terry
Pics. . . Today we went to a little museum and then later to a little zoo that's by the river. The best part of today - Hermana Skousen wanted a picture presenting a Book of Mormon to the monkey and he gladly accepted it! The only problem was that he couldn't actually take it through the fence and he got a little frustrated.
Sharing the gospel with everyone - like a good missionary!
Not a single one from Mexico...But Mexican at heart.
Smile you're in Orizaba.
Singing with the Jiminez family.