Week 23: CAKE!

It was a goodish week....goodish. lol

Wednesday: My birthday was AWFUL!!! Everything that could have gone wrong in divisions went wrong. Blah.

My district threw me a little birthday party and we ate CAKE!

Thursday: Some members in the ward threw me a surprise birthday party. Super fun and super CAKE!

Friday: We gave some fun service and for the lunch the members bought me ice cream and CAKE! Yum.

Saturday: We had divisions almost all day with two future sister missionaries. It was a great day and I loved it! My companion said her member almost beat up a man because he said something mean. Lol My member was really good.

Sunday: We sang in church with the elders. Everyone told us we sounded like angels. I hate singing in public. 

Monday: We went to the zoo. I like going to the zoo and seeing the animals, but they look so sad. It makes me sad. 

Week 22: Happy Birthday!

Saturday was my 5-month mark. Woo! Wednesday is my birthday. Double woo! Today I bought myself a little birthday present: 14 earrings and a necklace for less then 5 dollars. Things are a lot less expensive here. And I’m actually starting to like the watery cake, because you only have two options: watery, or really dry. I prefer watery.

My companion bought me a balloon for my birthday and forced me
to walk around with it. Quite embarrassing.

Thursday it was an absolutely beautiful sunny morning. Nice and warm and not a cloud in the sky, so we didn’t bring our umbrellas. We were walking to an appointment and these huge ugly clouds appeared out of nowhere and it started to rain like crazy! We took cover under something, but I´m pretty sure it was raining sideways because it did no good. Then it started to hail! We just stood there, “ouch, ouch, ouch”.  They were pretty big - big enough to hurt. So we made a run for it through the river roads. We arrived to our poor investigators house super wet. They are such a great family and didn´t mind. They helped us dry off and gave us sweaters so we didn´t freeze to death. I was explaining our fun experience to them, but I didn´t know how to say hail. I tried to say, “ice from the sky” but I said “helado de los cielos” which means ice cream from heaven. lol

Warming up over a cooking pot of corn.

Saturday was José baptism. He has been listening to the missionaries for a whole year now. He finally decided that the church was true and he was ready. Before he met the missionaries he was a preacher for the Baptist church. He has overcome a lot of obstacles in the past year. We had a great service for him and sang the song ´Te hallare mi querido amigo´. On a mission you quickly get over any fear of singing in front of people, because you do it every day. I’m super happy for José Jaime!

Jose's baptism.

One sad thing - because I don’t know the language people assume I’m dumb (or maybe it’s because of the way I act - lol). When we cross the street my companion always grabs my hand to walk. When we’re crossing the street with members they always say, “Hold on Hermana Johnston”. I’ve been congratulated for knowing how to count money. And the other day a member explained to me that fruit grows on trees, which grow from seeds. That kind of thing happens a lot. I just let it go because I know they mean well. It’s just sad to know that people think I’m dumb.

 I have been informed that Spanish is the most romantic language in the whole world. They like to say cheesy lines. The guys say some really corny stuff. It’s fun, but it’s a good thing I’m not Mexican. My companion tells me different stories of something a guy told her and she’s always disappointed because my reaction is always, “He seriously said that?!” lol.

We went to the cathedral today.
It was pretty, really big, and tons of people.

Week 21: Blah, Blah, Blah...

I’m doing great, all is well. Blah blah blah.... I’m sure you guys are sick of hearing my boring letters. I’m sick of writing them. Blah blah blah… But all is well here in Mexico. :)

View from our apartment roof.

Jose (one of our investigators) gave us each a jacket
he had from an order. We were pretty excited.

Week 20: Miracle Weekend

This weekend was ¨Miracle Weekend¨.

Miracle 1: We had a baptism for Amelia and her daughter Paola! They are great! They have been listening to the missionaries for over a year. The first few times the missionaries invited her to be baptized she said,  “Absolutely no. Not even if God told her to.” We had the service this week and she was so happy! Then we had a little pizza party. Yeah food!  

Baptism of Amelia and Paola

Miracle 2: After the baptism Hermana Vergara and I were EXHAUSTED. This week we began running every morning, then we were busy making preparations for the baptism, and we hadn’t gotten much sleep the past two or three days. We were completely physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. I actually found myself thinking, ¨What in the world am I doing in Mexico completely exhausted? ¨ The next morning I found a little personal progress booklet and thought how fun it would to start it again someday. Then during RS the YW presidency came and talked to us about how personal progress is for everyone. We can start whenever we want to and work on it now. My companion and I got a book and we are working on it. My goal is to do everything in Spanish and finish by the end of my mission!

Miracle 3: Sunday morning Hermana Vergara was kind of sad because she was remembering how on Sunday’s her family always had a big dinner together with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. On the mission you don’t really have family dinners with members. The kids are usually at school and the dad is at work, so it’s just us and the mom eating together. It’s something we miss a lot! For lunch that Sunday the member couldn’t have us over for dinner, so she gave us a sack lunch. We ate it after a lesson we had with an investigator and a member who joined us. We had a meal for two, but it fed four and we had leftovers! We are all really close, and we joked and had fun. It honestly felt like a little family dinner!

Through these miracles I was able to feel God’s love for me! Simple things in life can make you happy if you look for the beauty in them! I’m happy :)

Super sorry! I forgot my quote for the week.

¨Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with an infinite love. Just think of it: you are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time! ¨ -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

FHE with the Bishop and his family. It was so fun!
His kids are absolutely loco!