Fresnillo Zacatecas

Dear Family and Friends,

 

Oh my lanta I LOVE Fresnillo!! Everyone here is so amazing and even though the members don´t work much with us this area has so much potential and Hermana Rivera and I worked hard this week! We have a TON and I mean a TON of menos activos en our barrio (less active in our ward) and so we have so much work to do but 3 came to church again yesterday! We were so happy!! The Lord is blessing us despite our weaknesses and I´m so grateful for it.
 

Seriously Hermana Rivera is the most amazing missionary ever! She has been such a fantastic companion for me and I know that Heavenly Father knew that I needed her in this time of the mission. I´m going to be sad to leave her when we have cambios (transfers). 

 

So our area is huge and we have a city called Plateros (means "Silversmiths" - Fresnillo has one of the largest silver mines in the world) in our area but it is completely separated from the rest of our area. Sabado we thought it would be a great idea to walk all the way there to contact people and visit some menos activos (less active members) that live there. It was just a great day! It took us an hour to walk there and then when we got there we realized that everyone in this pueblito (town) is SUPER CATHOLIC! We started contacting people and realized that we weren´t going to have much success pero echamos las ganas (but missed the win?)and we kept going. It was actually super fun to talk to all the people! We discovered that they have their own santo (saint) in this town. The Santo Nino. I don´t know how the nino (child) became a santo pero (saint, but) everybody there worships him and literally every part of the town had a picture or statue of the Santo Nino. (See Fresnillo page for story of Plateros and the Santo Nino.) I love it. Zacatecas is known as la tierra de tradiciones (land of traditions) and it is definitely true but I know we are here for a reason and there is someone that we need to find :)

 

Also as we walked to Plateros we counted 41 people who shouted güera (it pretty much means white girl) at me. It was super funny and it kept us distracted from how much our legs and feet hurt. Also the other day a guy passed us on his bike and literally turned around to look at me 10 times and then made a U-turn to pass us by again. I mean I know I´m super white but come on! I love it here. Everyone is so funny but I feel like a zoo as we walk down the street. Everyday we have at least one group of guys shouting at us telling us to come and read them the bible. Most of the time we just ignore them.

 

Monday and Tuesday were the Mexican Independence Days and unfortunately we had to enter our house at 8. But we had a good time! Hermana Rivera and I bought moustaches and we made pancakes in the shape of the mexican flag ( Really it just looked like a square) and the republica de Mexico ( But it looked more like south america) We are very talented when it comes to pancake making but they tasted SUPER good! Dad you would be proud of me :) 

 

This week we saw two of the great wonders of Mexico. One was a guy driving a tractor down the main road pulling a trailer FULL of chile! It was so much chile and we never thought that we would see anything more amazing than that but the next day we passed by a semi truck full of Jalapeño. Only in Mexico can you see things like this. Oh AMO A MEXICO! (I LOVE MEXICO!)

 

MY NEPHEW IS SO CUTE!!! I just want to hold him so tight and kiss him until his head falls off! Just kidding, but seriously he is adorable. I don´t know how our family makes such cute kids!! I feel like by the time I have my kids Heavenly Father is going to run out of all the cute babies for our family and send me ugly ones! Just kidding I know that´s not how it works, but still I´m pretty worried :P

 

Mom you´re going to love this next part. Maybe you shouldn´t read it. The newspapers this week said that Fresnillo Zacatecas is the most dangerous place in all of Mexico. That got me pretty excited not going to lie! But unfortunately I don´t feel like I´m in any danger at all! I think the newspapers lied but it´s still excited to say that I´m in the most dangerous part of Mexico! Mom, just don´t pay attention to that last paragraph. It´s not true (maybe) and Heavenly Father is protecting me :)

 

I love you all and I´m so glad I have this opportunity to realize how important this gospel is and how much our Heavenly Father loves us. Miss your dear  sweet faces and my next package request is that I want you to send me Emmett!! I think he´ll travel well  :)

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

Emergency Transfers!

Well Martes (Tuesday) we got a call at 10 at night and the zone leaders told us that we had cambios especiales (special transfers) and that I was going to Fresnillo Zacatecas! How lucky for me! I was super excited cuz I have been wanting to go to Zacatecas my whole mission but I was also super sad to leave Hermana Morinigo!  

 

So after moping around for a little bit I started to pack cuz we had to be in the central at 7:30 the next morning so I could take a bus all the way to Fresnillo at 8. We got to bed at 1am and woke up at 5:30 the next morning. Needless to say I was a little tired and didn´t want to move, but I like being obedient so we got to the central 10 minutes early and waited for everyone to get there. The zone leaders didn´t get there until 8am so I missed the bus, and everyone was so confused what was going to happen because my zone leaders said I was going to be traveling with another Hermana. But she was going to San Luis and then other zone leaders got there and said I was supposed to travel alone. So finally we got it all figured out (or so we thought) and I bought a ticket for the next bus and I was going to be riding to Fresnillo sola (alone.)

 

Turns out Hermana Rivera had bought a ticket to come to Aguascalientes to drop her companion off and to pick me up and it was too late to change my ticket, so I ended up buying a ticket for nothing and had to wait in the central until she got there. I was waiting for her until 12. I was pretty upset that I woke up so early to just sit and wait, but I enjoyed myself as I talked to everyone. Hermana Rivera got to Aguas and we went right away to buy our tickets and then got right on the bus. I felt so bad for her cuz her whole day was spent on a bus, but we had a long ride to get to know each other.

 

They told me that I was going to be Companions with Hermana Rivera who is from Puerto Rico and that she was pretty serious. I was kind of worried that I wouldn´t get along with her very well if she was serious, but then I actually met her and she is the complete opposite of serious. We laugh so much and I seriously love her to pieces. She has really helped me and we have only been together 4 days. I can´t believe how alike we are!

 

I know Heavenly Father knows me so well and He gave me her because I need what she has right now. I need her support and her encouraging words. The experiences that she has had have helped me more than I can even imagine. She has 6 months in the mission but has had a super different experience than most missionaries because she had to go back home because of visa problems and ended up serving in Puerto Rico for 3 months and then was able to come back here to finish out her mission.

 

She is seriously so incredible and she´s the friend, companion, hermana that I needed in this moment.The first thing she asked me was if I was obedient and I told her that I tried my absolute hardest to be exactly obedient and she was like oh thank goodness! She tells me every night that I am an answer to her prayers and that I´m her dream companion. But in reality she has helped me more than I can put into words.

 

I LOVE FRESNILLO! Even though it is freezing already and I have to wear a jacket every day this place is amazing! It´s a little more ghetto than Aguas but I wanted experiences right? The people are super humble and super kind! The thing that shocked me the most was that we have about 15 active members in our barrio and about 500 members total. We have to work super hard with the menos activos (active members) in this area but I know we can do it. Everyone always says Fresnillo is the most discouraging place in the mission, but I see it as a challege that just needs love and a positive attitude. I´m hoping to stay here with Hermana Rivera for the rest of my mission. 

 

I´m almost out of time! The hour goes by so fast! But I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Huff

 

PS - Check out the Fresnillo page to learn more about where Sarah lives.

Where did this week go?!

Oh hey there Family,

I feel like every email you guys receive from me has a subject about how fast the time is going by! But it´s true!! Can you guys believe that it´s Septiembre already?! Pretty soon it´ll be Octubre and we´ll get to watch General Conference! And celebrate mom´s birthday! But I am seriously so excited for General Conference, I don´t know what happened to me but I feel like the weekend of GC is going to feel like Christmas for me.


President Thomas S. Monson

 

I can´t wait to hear the words from the Prophet and the Apóstoles. I might pee my pants from all the excitement! But hey, it´ll make for a good story, right? haha

 

So funny story. Viernes (Friday) we had a Zone Conference which was pretty good and really spiritual like usual. But after the Hermana Leaders pulled Hermana Morinigo and I aside to talk to us. They proceeded to tell us that someone had seen us separated from each other and we were talking to some men while we were eating at a restaurant. We were super confused because, first, we have never eaten at a restaurant unless it was with a member family and, second, we have never been separated from each other. ANYWAY, they told us to be careful and not flirt with people. Needless to say I was pretty upset and I felt poopy because I have worked so hard to not flirt with people and to be very professional, but Hermana Morinigo said it was probably just cuz someone got offended by something and that I shouldn´t worry. But of course I still worried about it because I don´t want to be known by the missionary who flirts with everyone; I want to be known as a powerful missionary who has the spirit always.

 

Well, Heavenly Father answered my prayers because that day we had one of the most powerful lessons I have ever had on my mission. Every lesson was like the spirit was teaching and I was just the mouth piece. It was incredible! After every lesson Hermana Morinigo said, there is no way that Heavenly Father is displeased with us because we have the spirit and we are seeing miracles in our area. 

 

POR FIN! (AT LAST!) We found someone who let us do some service for them! We  visited an investigator named Tete and we asked if there was anything, ANYTHING we could do to serve her and she was like yeah! I have to move some boxes to my new house if you want to help. We were so happy! So we went to work packing boxes and walking them down stairs to her new house ( it´s the house downstairs). But from this experience we met her daughter Nayelli who we were able to teach afterward and she is so amazing. She is 13 anos (years) and is really excited to meet the young women. Unfortunately, she got sick Domingo (Sunday) and couldn´t come to church, but we are really excited for her.

 

Speaking of being really excited, our investigator (Name withheld by mom:) is getting baptized 27 de Septiembre! We had an incredible lesson with her yesterday. Seriously it was the best lesson I have ever had and it´s incredible what people are willing to do to receive the blessings of the gospel. We talked about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity yesterday and we were pretty worried about it because we didn´t know if she had problems with coffee or with the law of chastity. Anyway we taught the word of wisdom first and she told us that she drinks coffee every morning but that she isn´t going to do that anymore. And that was miracle One! I have never had anyone accept the word of wisdom so easily.

 

Prepare yourselves for miracle two. We talked about the law of chastity and asked if she had any problems with it and she said yes. She has lots of problems with her husband, they have been separated for 6 years and she just wants to feel love from someone but she said but if you hermanas tell me that I can´t continue with my partner then I will end it. This is more important to me. WOW! My face was probably hilarious because when she said that I was amazed. She is so strong and so prepared! I know the Lord is going to bless her for her sacrifice. We were so grateful for that lesson and after we were on a spiritual high and pretty much danced all the way home. 

 

I´m so grateful for my companion. She is just about as crazy as I am and we laugh all the time. I´m amazed that I´ve actually been able to see her every moment of every day for almost 12 weeks and not start to hate her. Every day I have grown to love her more and more. That´s the third miracle that I have seen from my Father in Heaven this week! 

 

Daniel, Happy Birthday! Sorry I missed it and I meant to send you a letter last week but I forgot and by the time I remembered it was too late but just know that I love you and I´m so proud of you for getting the priesthood! I talked about you a lot to Hermana Morinigo yesterday and Jueves tambien (Thursday also) when it was actually your birthday. I hope you ate tons of cake and ate double for me. The next package I want some ice cream cake please ;) Just kidding, but I´m kind of serious.

 

I love you all and I´m so happy that I´m out here and that I have more and more experience everyday to help me grow and become a better person! Thank you for your support and your letters. They mean the world to me, seriously, every single one :)

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

PS: I absolutely loved all the pictures that you sent me last week mom. As gross as everyone looked I was pretty sad that I couldn´t be there! (Eric's birthday party)

Now ... a letter from Sarah's companion!

Hi Huff family- I’m only writing you to tell you that your daughter, Sister Huff, is an excellent missionary and is very well taken care of, actually she always takes care of me. Haha.

 

We are working very well together getting to know Aguascalientes and enjoying the mission which is marvelous to us. Thank you for your prayers and worry when I had the problem with my foot. Sister Huff is more than my companion she is like my sister and in this short time that we have been together as companions, I have learned to appreciate the great strength that she has to be here as a representative of Jesus Christ and I have a lot of love for her. She has a lot of patience with my English, she is helping me a lot and I am sorry for writing in Spanish.  The next one I will write in English.

 

I love my companion, she is very special! Have a great week.

With Love,

Hermana Morinigo

September Already??

Dear Family,

 

I can´t believe that it´s September already! Pretty soon you´re going to be planning my welcome home party ;) Well, not really. This week was pretty great! We taught bunches of lessons and met a ton of people and walked a ton. All in all it was a pretty typical week for a missionary. 

 

Lunes (Monday): We actually washed our clothes in a washing machine! Oh it was incredible. One of our investigators found out that we don´t have a washing machine and we wash all our clothes by hand and so she invited us to wash our clothes at her house and eat with her too. We were so happy. 

 

Martes: Hermana Morinigo and I taught the lesson in our district meeting about the importance of receiving revelation at church. It went pretty well and Hermana Morinigo said I am definitely going to be an hermana leader because my part of the lesson was really good. I told her to stop and that I didn´t want to be hermana leader. Which means I´m probably more likely to be one... We found that the Elders were getting another companion and that they were going to train. So now they are in a trio and training a North American! Oh it´s so nice not being the newest missionary! But I do feel bad for him cuz he doesn´t understand much and I don´t like being around him very much cuz it brings back the bad memories of my first few weeks in Mexico. But it´s fun to translate all the jokes and stories for him when we eat the comida (food) together.

 

Miercoles: Miercoles was a pretty normal day I think, I can´t really remember everything that happened this week but I can tell you that we did something missionary like this day.

 

Jueves: Oh we ate with the Echeverria Family and they are so wonderful. They are a youngerish couple in the ward and they have 3 kids and one of their kids, Santiago, is in love with Hermana Morinigo and I and every time we go over there he gives us each a huge hug! He has the cutest little voice and I just want to take him everywhere with us. We ate pasta and rice and Hermana Echeverria put peas and other veggies in the rice that Santi didn´t like so every time he found a pea or a pepper he would say, "Hermana Huff, another one!" and then he would put it in my hand and I would eat it. I spoil him too much but I can´t help myself. Oh mom you are going to be so proud of me! Or you might have a heart attack... We´ll find out. I literally love Zucchini... I don´t know what happened to me but Heavenly Father has blessed me a ton when it comes to food on my mission. Ever since the first day I have enjoyed tomatoes and zucchini and every single thing I have eaten. I see it as a miracle!

 

Viernes: This day was literally the most stressful day of my mission so far, and we barely did any missionary work! We had our missionary activity Friday night and so all Friday morning we were working to get everything ready and to make the food and stuff like that and I was super stressed because the mentality and schedule of Mexico is so different than I´m used to. We had to rush to help make the food because one of our investigators Silvia helped us and she had to rush because she had to go to work and so that was the first thing that stressed me out and then the hermana that was supposed to feed us didn´t know it was her turn so she quickly made us food which made us late for getting to the chapel to decorate and set up the activity. But that didn´t matter because the Elders were late too and they had the keys to open the chapel. We ended up getting into the chapel at 4:30 and the activity was supposed to start at 6.. The activity started at 7 because Mexico has their own time schedule and so FINALLY we started the activity and it went great!! We did a game night where we had 4 spiritual games and 4 worldly games and the members had an hour to do the activities and there were changes every 10 minutes and they could decide whether to stay in that activity or go to a different activity. At the very end they presented their cards which told what activities they participated in and they were judged according to their choices. It was so funny to watch their faces as Elder Chavez announced which reino de gloria (kingdom of glory) they ended up in. Surprisingly there were a ton in the celestial kingdom! I was so proud :) But the activity ended at like 9:30 and we didn´t get back to our house until a little after 10... Long story short. I had a stressful day but in the end it was worth all the stress :)

 

Sabado: We did some more missionary work and met more people!

 

Domingo: They call it dia de reposo (day of rest) but I don´t feel like I rest at all on Domingos. We are running around the chapel making sure everyone has someone to sit with and waiting for our investigators to show up and then after church it´s just like every other day. But Sandra came to church again which was so nice and we had our ward conference and we got to sing in the choir. It was so fun to sing again :) I realized that I love this ward so much. All the people are so nice and I have grown to love them a ton! When I first got here I thought that I would never learn to love anyone because I couldn´t understand them but I definitely have some feelzies for this ward. All the youth are so great and it´s so fun to be able to talk to them and help them realize they have strong testimonies and all the hermanas are so sweet and the hermanos are hilarious! It´s amazing to me that I can actually understand all the jokes that people tell me. 

 

I am still loving my area and all the people I´m meeting and I still love my companion which is a miracle because I see her every single day all day. Heavenly Father really does bless me tons! I miss you family and I love you all! Hope you have a great week and I´ll talk to you in a week :)

 

Love,

Hermana Huff

 

Hermana Morinigo makes me food in the morning and leaves nice little notes for me :)

We were twins today because we sang in the choir :)

I made a tortilla!

It was Elder Chavez´s birthday yesterday