Back in the game

Hola Family!

Well, we worked super hard this week to make up for our horrible week last week! Last week was super slow and we didn´t have as many lessons as we hoped so I felt pretty bad and I made it my goal this week to work super hard and what do you know I saw success!

It´s incredible how much Heavenly Father blesses us when we work with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. One success that I saw this week was my Spanish! I have seen a drastic change in my Spanish in the last week. I have been more diligent in my studying and it has definitely payed off. Sometimes we have times where we talk in English because Hermana Morinigo wants to work on her English and most of the time I start a sentence in English and then finish it in Spanish without even knowing. I´m really worried that I´m going to forget all my English because right now it is literally so hard for me to speak in English. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I sound like I child when I pray in English because my mind wants to talk in Spanish. Hermana Morinigo thinks it´s funny, but I´m truly concerned. I think it´ll be for the best if all you guys just learn Spanish for me. Gracias :) 

 

My teaching has also gotten better! I haven´t had a lesson where I didn´t feel the spirit this week, I was so happy! We had a super cool experience with one of our investigators, Sandra, this week. We gave her three baptismal dates in September and told her to pray about which one she felt was her date and that we were going to pray too and so when we got to her house for the lesson we asked her what date she felt was right and she said 27 de Septiembre and we were like, US TOO! She started crying and kept saying how crazy it was that we all got the same date and that she had the chills. I was so happy and the spirit was so strong during that lesson.

 

We were able to talk about hope because she just lost her job and she was pretty discouraged, but I know that the Lord is looking out for her, and I know that she will be a strong member of the church because Satan is working really hard to get her to not get baptized. She came to church yesterday with her two sons and her son Luis didn´t like it apparently because during Sunday school he left and went home. After church we all were waiting for him to come out of the classroom but he never came out and so we asked one of the young men and he said that Luis said he had to go to the bathroom during Sunday School and he never came back. Sandra called him and he was at home. We felt pretty bad that he had left but he´s 17, what can you do? We are going to try and work on getting him to feel comfortable during church and enjoy the other youth.

 

We had a meeting with the area seventy of Mexico Elder Valenzuela, and it was such a great meeting! It was with all the bishops and ward leaders in our stake and the other stake in Aguascalientes. Elder Valenzuela was so direct and super clear that the members need to work with the missionaries more. He talked about how President Monson spoke about how now is the time that members and missionaries need to work together to bring people to Christ and he pretty much told us that we weren´t following the prophet and we need to repent and change. I loved it!

 

And another miracle, I understood everything that was said in the meeting without even trying. Guys, I can speak Spanish. It´s weird to think that if you guys were here you couldn´t understand anything anyone said but I can understand pretty much everything. I always think about how you guys would feel if you came and visited me right now and saw me talking to every one and how happy I am in my little piece of Heaven.

 

Speaking of little piece of heaven, our area is huge and yesterday we ate with one of the members all the way in Canteras which is super far from our house, and I didn´t want to take a taxi back to our house because it was Sunday and I didn´t want to use money ( also cuz we have no money) so we walked all the way back. It took us an hour to get back to Espana which is the area closest to our house, and we were pretty tired by the time we got back, but I felt really good that we didn´t take a taxi.

 

Also we saw a miracle as we were walking back. We passed by a house and the gate was open and this huge dog came running at us and was about to reach us and bite us when suddenly it stopped dead in it´s tracks and turned around and walked away. We were so confused and terrified and grateful at the same time. We decided that it was a blessing for not paying for a taxi on Sunday and that the angels were watching out for us. But I seriously almost peed my pants ... the dog was so huge!

 

I love you all. Sorry I don´t have any fun stories to tell. I wasn´t very fun this week.. It was weird, I felt like such a missionary :P But I´ll work on having more experiences in this week. Maybe I´ll get a parasite, or lose an arm or something :) Cross your fingers that I don´t lose an arm.

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

These are the other elders in my ward. Elder Montes de Oca is from Guatemala and Elder Chavez is from Honduras. They are some of my favorite people!

I made us pancakes again and I failed horribly with making an M for Hermana Morinigo. Forgive me dad :)

On our hour walk yesterday we found this super pretty river! How cool is that?!

Four months baby!!

Hola,

 

Well, I had a bunch of spiritual experiences this week that I am so grateful for! The first experience was Martes (Tuesday) during my hour of training with Hermana Morinigo. That day I was having a rough time and I was being really hard on myself and wondering why I´m out here. I had prayed that morning and begged my Heavenly Father to either give me a desire to stay on the mission or a reason so that I could go home. He definitely answered my prayers! We watched a video of The District and as  I watched the experiences of these missionaries I was gradually comforted but then one of the Elders said, “any person who is worthy to serve a mission and chooses not to go is making the worst mistake of their lives.” When I heard that I just started crying because the spirit testified so strong to me that I am supposed to be on a mission. I was able to think back on all the progress I have made in these four months and all the people I have met, how much my testimony has grown, and how much I love the people I´m teaching. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and even though in that moment I wanted a reason to go home .I am so thankful that I am still out here kicking Satan´s trash J

 

Another spiritual experience that I had this week was with one of our investigators named Sandra. She is so special to Hermana Morinigo and I. She is our golden investigator right now and on Saturday we went to visit her and we were supposed to teach about profetas pero (prophets, but) we felt that we needed to talk about baptism with her so as we talked about how wonderful baptism is and all the blessings we get from this convenio (covenant.) I invited her to be baptized, but I felt impressed to let her pick the date that she wanted to get baptized, but to give her three dates in September. When I invited her to get baptized and gave her the option of the three dates she started crying and said that during our lesson she kept thinking of September and she didn´t know why until I gave her the three dates in September. Needless to say she wants to be baptized and she agreed to pray about which date in September is her baptismal date. I was so happy that I was able to follow the spirit. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had just picked a date for her? Maybe she wouldn´t have had that experience that she needed in order to have a desire to get baptized! Wow!

 

Well we saw a huge miracle this week too! We have been trying to get one of our investigators Johanna to actually do the commitments that she promises to do! Like go to church or read from the Book of Mormon between visits! She is really receptive during our visits and always says she is going to read and go to church but she never does. We were getting pretty frustrated because she always says she wants to get baptized and change her life but she isn´t do the things that she needs to! Finally during one of our lessons she was talking about her baptism and I was like Johanna, you can´t get baptized unless you read and go to church! (I used more loving words but I was pretty direct). I talked about how much we love her and how much my love for her has grown  over these past 3 months and that we weren´t leaving her chapters just to leave her chapters. We were leaving them so that she can better her life and learn the things she needs to do to get baptized. We left her with 4 verses to read and I promised her that if she read these 4 verses she would have clients in her hair salon because she doesn´t have very many clients. She agreed to read. 

 

The next day we passed by and the first thing she said to us was, "Hermana I read!" Oh I almost had a heart attack and then I just wanted to hug her and cry all at the same time but I thought she would think that was weird so I just said, "Yeah, that´s cool." JUST KIDDING! I was so happy! I really did hug her, but I didn´t cry! She had two clients in her salon at that point and she talked about how reading really brought clients. We talked a little bit about the power of the Book of Mormon and then we left. We passed by at night and she was sitting in her chair and looked like she was about to die. She told us that she had tons of work that day and she was so tired. We asked her why she wasn´t reading in her down time and she said she doesn´t want any more clients cuz she was tired. I´m so grateful that Heavenly Father gave her that experience to increase her testimony of the Book of Mormon. He works in weird ways but I know he always answers our prayers.

 

I finished my 12 weeks of training yesterday and now I´m officially a real missionary :) To celebrate we had a district meeting in English which was super interesting and ate cake and I taught everyone how to play chubby bunny! Unfortunately Elder Montes de Oca can fit 14 grapes in his mouth and still say chubby bunny and I can only fit 12 so I didn´t win but it was a great bonding experience for the district!

 

Hermana Morinigo had a dream that we were going to have cambios (transfers) this week and we had made a pact that we would eat a chili if we had cambios. I have no idea what we were thinking but we decided to trust her dream and eat the chilis on Saturday. We went to the Munoz´s house and they gave us each two chilis de arbol which are apparently one of the hottest chilis. I wasn´t too worried about it, but Hermana Morinigo was about to cry, but like a good companion I forced the chili into her mouth and we suffered together.

 

At first nothing happened and then I swallowed and it was like Satan was in my mouth. Hermana Morinigo was crying and I was breathing really hard and we ate tons of salt which was supposed to help but didn´t really do anything. We looked like a bad Mexican soap opera. And then after we thought it was a really good idea to eat habanero peppers.. The members told us that they had a pepper that was hotter and we were already suffering so we agreed to eat a habanero which was another bad idea! Luckily it was not as hot as the first chilis but still it was pretty bad. But we survived :) But it was a good experience until after when my stomach started hurting... I wasn´t too happy at that point but one of our investigators gave me some stuff to take away the pain, here they call it drogas but I don´t know what it is in English... Just kidding! She gave me jello :) Turns out we didn´t have cambios so we ate the chilis for nothing! I decided to never trust her dreams ever again. 

 

Anyway family, I´m with Hermana Morinigo for another 6 weeks and we´re still in the same area! We committed ourselves to working harder and longer this cambio and we´re going to see tons of baptisms! I love you all and I love this gospel. More and more ever day :)

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

4 months!!!

Chubby Bunny:)

This is called Elote or something like that and it´s corn and mayonaise and chili and cheese. It looks gross but it tastes so good!

We like to ride bicicletas

The chilis de arbol

I made pancakes:)

I ate crickets!!!

 

 

 

What happened to this week?!!

Well this week seriously FLEW by! I´m in my last week of training! I was talking with one of my investigators the other day and we were amazed that I have been in Mexico for 3 months.. This week I´ll have 4 meses en mi misión! (months in my mission) I have no idea where the time went. I feel like I´m been out here for like a week, but I also feel like I´ve been in Mexico for years and years. The mission is super weird like that. 

 

This week we went to the doctor at the beginning of the week and he was pretty upset that Hermana Morinigo (HM) had been walking so much with her foot how it is, and he pretty much threatened to break her other foot if she didn´t rest this week. I don´t know how he became a doctor but that´s Mexico for ya! :P 

 

Anyway, HM had to be en reposo Lunes until Jueves, (resting Monday until Saturday) so guess what! I went out alone with the members again! How fun. It was super difficult to help the members understand that they aren´t missionaries and that they weren´t allowed to give the whole lesson, but I kept everything under control. I went out with one Hermana and I had to interrupt her while she was talking because she started talking about really weird things that had nothing to do with the lesson we were teaching. I taught about the apostasy and for some reason she thought it was a good idea to talk about how the bible came about. Granted the bible was changed and stuff during the apostasy pero (but) she didn´t have to give a 10 minute talk about who did what to the Bible. When she started talking about all this stuff I had to be really quick on my feet and figure out how I was going to take control of the lesson in the most loving way. Luckily, Heavenly Father helped me out and I was able to fix the confusion. Needless to say I really started to miss HM by the end of the day. She is the greatest part of my life right now because I get to serve her so much everyday and I completely forget about myself. I love that feeling! 

 

Anyway! Friday we started working together again and let me tell you I was so glad that I had her by my side as we taught. There is a power in a companionship that is really hard to describe especially when we get along and we look to have fun and share the gospel. We have one more week before transfers and I´m really really hoping we don´t get transferred but the Elders think they are super funny and keep telling me that I´m going to train the only Hermana that´s coming in this transfer. I really hope not, I don´t feel ready to train, yet, but if Heavenly Father trusts me enough to train a new misionera then I know I can do it! We´ll see in a week! 

 

This week it rained a ton! Like more than all my years in Arizona combined. It was insane! Jueves (Saturday) I tried to go out and work with a member but it started to rain bien fuerte (very strong) and I was about to go out to work anyway, but then it started hailing and the street flooded and we couldn´t go anywhere. But of course I ran out in the rain and took a video and pictures! The next day was Friday and it was the first day HM went out to work and of course it started raining really hard again and, first, HM´s foot started hurting pretty bad and, second, she didn´t want to get her ankle wet cuz the cold would make it worse. We were stuck in a papeleria (stationery store) for probably 20 minutes until I finally convinced her to walk down the street to an investigator's house. But when we tried to cross the street it was like a river and HM didn´t want to cross cuz of her foot, but there was no turning back, so I gave her a piggy back ride across the street. It was probably the weirdest thing we had done together. Well, not really.

 

There was one day that an investigator gave us ice cream after the comida (food) and I ate it cause I didn´t want to be rude, and of course I got sick again and HM rubbed my stomach as I laid on the floor of our apartment and we told stories to each other. That´s probably the weirdest thing we´ve done together. But I feel like that´s pretty normal.

 

Anyway! We finally got across the street ( good thing I´m so strong) and into the estetica de Johanna and we tried to call a taxi but because the streets were so flooded. No taxis would come and get us, so we had to walk all the way home in the pouring rain, and I carried HM across every puddle. It was definitely the best and most hilarious experience of my mission.

 

I´m not sure what else happened this week. Everything is such a blur at this point! We had a lesson with an investigator named Johanna yesterday and she was telling us a story about how she was talking with her husband and they were having an argument about how she is turning Christian and she was like, No, I´m not Christian, I´m Mormon. We were super confused at this point because here she is telling her husband that she is a Mormon, but she has yet to come to church or read a lot of the Book of Mormon or get baptized! (Besides, Mormons are Christians.) We were happy that she was willing to defend herself and her beliefs, but we have to find a way to get her to come to church and read!! It´s really hard when people have albedrío (will) :P

 

Well, I love you all and I miss you tons!! But I´m happy and healthy. I haven´t had any parasites or anything so I´m still waiting for the real fun to start :)

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

 

The RAIN here is crazy!!

 

And this is how we get to all of our appointments right now since HM can´t walk :P

 

 

I learned how to mop yesterday! I´m so prepared to get married it´s insane!!

 

My last week of my training!! How exciting is that!!

 

 

Street tacos!! I´m really hoping to get a parasite this week!!

 

That is our investigator Johanna!

 

These are pictures of my zone.

 

The one with happy birthday is because it was an elder´s mom´s birthday

 

 

Bautismo de Paloma!!

Oh what a great week!!

We saw so many miracles dealing with Paloma´s baptism this week! So we were able to get Paloma´s mom to sign the papers for her baptism on Tuesday and we were beyond happy, but then on Thursday ( the day before her interview) Paloma told us that her mom said she couldn´t get baptized because they got in an argument. WHAT??

We were so distressed about what to do, but we taught Paloma about repentance again and she said she would ask forgiveness from her mom and ask if she could get baptized again. Anyway, we called her on Friday and she said her mom still hadn´t given her permission, so we went to talk to her mom. Her mom was super nice and as she saw us talking to Paloma and trying to get her to apologize, the heart of her mom was softened and she let Paloma go to the interview! Woo Hoo! Paloma passed the interview with flying colors and after was so excited for her baptism! 

 

The next day, Saturday, Hermana Morinigo and I went to the chapel to clean and fill the font. It took two hours but we entertained ourselves by singing our lessons to each other. I´m getting really good at making up songs about the prophets and Joseph Smith. I think I´m going to record a cd when I get home. :) Anyway, we went to get Paloma after the comida (meal) and she was so excited.

 

She would have run to the church if Hermana Moringio could walk faster. We were so happy, and she had us take a ton of pictures of her in her baptismal dress. One Hermano asked her if she was nervous and she said, YES! And when he asked why, she said, "because it's my first time getting baptized!" We laughed a lot at that and then afterward made sure she knew that this was going to be the only time she was baptized too. 

 

The elders and nosotras (us) sang "Cuando me bautice" (When I am Baptized) for a special musical number and she teared up. It was so precious :) After she got baptized she couldn´t stop smiling and kept telling us how good she felt and how much she liked it. Seriously, it was the best day of my mission so far! To see someone that I taught enter into such a special covenant with Heavenly Father is so special! 

 

Hermana Morinigo is using a cane right now to help her walk. Poor girl looks like a grandma but the youngest and cutest grandma I´ve ever seen :) We went to the doctor because her foot had swollen up again and was hurting and he said she needs to rest again so this week she is going to stay in the house of familia Echeverria and I´m going back out with the members! Woo hoo! More training!

 

I guess Heavenly Father really wants me to learn to not rely on anyone else but Him. I´m really grateful for the experience though :)

 

One day this week we were crossing the street and Herman Morinigo has to go slow cuz her foot hurts and she thought she was being funny and she just stops in the middle of the street with cars coming and says, "I think I need to take a break." I practically carried her out of the street and told her she wasn´t funny. But in reality it was pretty funny and she laughed a lot while my heart calmed down and then I started to laugh with her. She´ll be the death of me, in the best way possible :)

 

This week I learned something very traumatic. I´M NOT READY TO GET MARRIED! Who would have thought! We were at a member's house and I offered to cut the tomatoes and onions and she told me that we´re going to see if I´m ready to get married or not by the way I cut them. I was super nervous and I tried to cut them super thin but I failed miserably. Well, atleast I have 15 more months to learn how to cut tomatoes and onions right! I´ve been practicing all week and I´m going to be so prepared for married by the end of my mission :)

 

Also this week I ate a chicken foot. It was very interesting but it looked like a baby´s hand. I had to be very careful not to eat the bones but the meat tasted like chicken. But I had to close my eyes as I ate it because it didn´t want to imagine eating a baby hand. That was my experience for the week :)

 

All this week we studied about how we can recognize the spirit more and use the spirit more in our lessons and yesterday we had an incredible experience with an investigator named Sandra. We taught her about the Spirit and it was the first time I felt the spirit super strong in one of my lessons and I felt the guide of the spirit to help her learn to recognize how she recieved her answer. She could feel the sprirt too and she was super interested in our lesson. I was so grateful for this experience and I can´t wait to have more and more experiences like this one. 

 

Well Family! I love you guys a lot! I´m doing better with my Spanish and my confidence in my lessons has improved. I´m like a whole new person! I have never been so happy as I am right now :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

This is Dana! My mexican version of Summer!

 

Happy Birthday Shelly! I love you!:)

 

Because Hermana Morinigo can´t carry anything I carry everything!

 

It´s so fun to serve her :)

 

 

 

 

Paloma!!

 

And her Aunt Bertha

 

Paloma and Shayla

 

My Chicken Foot!