Yikes - Jess is sick, please remember her in your prayers. Even sick, she's happy.

My Dear Family!

Oh I am so excited to read and get all these updates this week, they were exactly what I needed. So you might be surprised that I am writing so early today, but it is due to a bit of a bump in the road that we’ve hit. I’ve been a little sick this past week and don’t really understand why or what it is. At first it was exactly the symptoms of chickenpox, but now I’m on day 4 and no bumps or red spots have come, so it’s something else. It’s been pretty weird. I’ve been so blessed to be a healthy person always in the past, and especially here in the mission, but these days I’ve felt a little on the down side. The main problem is pure tiredness. I am SO TIRED and it’s so hard to do anything. An intense fever and chills comes and goes and during the night they are the worst. My comp told me this morning that last night I was groaning and moving a ton in my sleep. Every night when we get back to our house, around my eyes are black, and planning is pretty hard. So that’s been pretty much my week this past week. Not much to say more than that. But I am happy and just plugging through it! We are going to go to the doctor today at 5:00 pm to find out just what the case is here, and I’m just hoping that we figure out what it is and that I can feel better. I am happy and just chugging right along (maybe chugging a bit slower than normal, but moving nonetheless:)) Haha. No need to worry about me. I’m sure I’ll be just fine.

Bahaha! I love this! Thanks Brandon! Keep being awesome.

Oh my goodness, this week we ate two of the worst meals of my whole life! The first was this soupish kind of thing where it was basically a puree of carrots. Yep. Basically imagine baby food and some water and throw it on a plate and there you go. And in the same house after that, we ate some sort of mystery meat with cactus and super dry beans. Wahoo mission meals! ;) And the other meal we ate yesterday is called chicharron. It’s pig skin, just so you know. How delicious. And then they fry it and soak it in chile and serve it up. It’s texture is like you are eating pure fat. But, we had to eat it anyway. Yum, yum, yum. I’m so grateful for their generosity to us, but… oh my, it was a tough week.

It’s been raining a ton this week, which of course has made me super happy. I feel blessed every day to be here and learn so much. Every night the sun sets in the mountains and I make sure we see the sunset and appreciate it every night! It makes me think of the song “Hula Girl at Heart” by Jimmy Buffett - when the hula girl always sees the sun go down. :) Ah, gotta love Jimmy. But one night where I was just feeling rough and struggling, my companion made us stop for a moment in the street. I was a little bugged, but grateful at the same time, and she told me to look at the sunset and the clouds and how pretty they are. Wow. It was one of those amazing moments. I can’t really explain it, but I’m super grateful for her and how she’s been here for me these past few days.

I GOT THE PACKAGE!!!! I got my apron! Haha, yep, you sent it the 20th of October, and it got here in January. Haha, oh man, but I got it and I love it and it was amazing! Thank you so much! And seriously the fruit snack were the biggest blessing! They don’t have them here, so it was the best surprise. :) I asked Hermana Egbert the best way to send packages and she said to keep them under 49 dollars of value, and to insure normal AND shipping and to put pictures of Christ or Virgin Guadalupe on them. She told me stories of families who, when their kids don’t get their packages, file a claim in the mail office,, and generally the package turns up the next day and yada yada, yada. Just to pass the info along. :)

I am learning that happiness is a choice. If you want to be happy, you’ll be happy. It doesn’t really matter what your situation is, it’s more important to just choose to be happy. What a blessing. It’s not the things that happen to us that make us happy, it’s how we want to react to those situations and things that make us happy. 

I’ve played the piano in sacrament meeting for the hymns and it’s been great, I’ve made more pancakes, and I’m still teaching English to people. I feel so incredibly blessed and every day I have a reminder of just how good life is back home. Oh! We have a baptism this week! Wahoo! Well, two actually. It’s truly amazing. These two boys Gabriel and Carlos are some of the chosen ones. Gabriel is 29 years old and Carlos, his brother, is 10. They live with a recent convert Jorge, whose mom is named Concepcion. They have had chickenpox for 3 weeks now and are finally better and are able to be baptized! Wahoo! So here’s hoping all goes well and we’re super excited!

Our District had house inspections with Hermana Egbert this week.

Hermana Egbert's evaluation...

Bosques # 3- Hermana Ortiz/ Hermana Anstee 

What a perfect duo these two are. They live in a locked street where their phone service never works and so we 

couldn't tell them we were here to pick them up. The district leaders were YELLING at the top of their lungs 

from the front street. We left and came back and tried again- luckily they finally heard us and came out! RELIEF...

House looked great as always - These two are GREAT! 10/10

Hermana Egbert's evaluation...

Bosques # 1 Elder Caamal/ Elder Munoz 

So this house was in perfect order ! I'd rate it a 10 out of 10! This is another house that has come so far in the last year. 

So proud of the the Elders who cycle after cycle assist in keeping this house the best it can be. I can usually feel 

the spirit of love and obedience in a clean and organized house. Perfecto Elderes! This district is also being very 

productive as a whole. They have 8 baptisms scheduled this weekend... I think two of them have the 

chicken pox.. but lots of great and effective teaching happens here!

Hermana Egbert's evaluation...

Bosques # 2- Hermana Guerrero/ Hermana Tuz

These are the two cutest sisters who have just endured two weeks house bound as Hermana Guerrero suffered through a "Chicken Pox" episode. Their attentive district leaders (above) delivered them lunch everyday. The sisters commented that they have read more material and done more studying in those weeks which will last them a life time. They also said "We will never complain about being tired after a days work... it's so much better than not being able to work!"

House in PERFECT order

After house inspections, we travelled together for interviews with President Egbert.

Elder Munoz was out like a light in three minutes flat! That's a good sign of a hard working Elder. 

Well family, that’s my week. I hope you know how much I love you and that you are my world! Thanks for all you do for me and I’m super excited to talk to you again next week. Don’t worry about me, I’m so happy and loving serving the Lord here in beautiful Mexico. Thanks for absolutely everything. Anything good that I am is because of you two. I love you more than I can possibly explain. You are my heroes and my best friends. I hope you really are doing well and are happy and know that I love you more than my little heart can hold. Dad - the other day I was talking to some members about you and how we would flip pancakes in the air together (I was making pancakes for a family and my comp) and they told me that they can see the love I have for you when I talk about you and that they can tell I miss you a ton. And it’s true. You’re the most incredible person, thanks for everything dad. You and mom are my world, and mean more to me than you can ever imagine.

MWAH!!!!

Your Little Girl

She can still climb with earrings, 3 months to listen, Jess cooking?, she found her little niche, not only no warm water - but no water at all.

Dear Family,

I’m so sad about Matt Carlson. Thank you for telling me. Life is hard, isn’t it? But how incredible it is to know about the plan of salvation and that we will all be reunited in heaven again, that all the problems we have in our life are blessings, but sometimes we just can’t see it. They’re like presents - we just have to unwrap them first. But my prayers are with Tracy and Ashley and all of the family and with you as well. Wow, crazy how life can change in an instant. 

I’m sorry that it makes you concerned that I got my ears pierced. I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting this past week on changes and changing on a mission and the balance between staying the same and changing. I like who I am. That I know. But, I want to be better and I have a lot to change. In my weekly interview with our district leader I was crying on the phone with him trying to figure out the line between staying the same and changing for the better. And here I am again crying at the computer, because I so want to stay the same person and have you be proud of me, and all my decisions, and know I’m always going to be your little girl. On the phone with Elder Caamal, he told me that we are supposed to change on our mission, and that we are supposed to become better, but never change our personality. I really liked this and it’s true.

For an update on my ears – they’re totally healthy and not infected, so don’t worry. The woman who pierced them, her sister is a nurse, so she knows exactly how to do it, and was telling me that the professionals are not sterilized, and that she was actually the safest option. She kept telling me over and over that she sterilized everything. She pierced the ears of the church member whom we were with. And, I am really happy with the results. Don’t worry, I chose to pierce my ears and wasn’t talked in to it. It was exciting to decide something big like that for the first time. Just to let you know, I thought about if I could still climb with earrings and run rivers with pierced ears and asked things about it, before I had it done... haha, yeah nothing has changed. :) But, if you want me to remove them, I will do it in this very moment, because your happiness with me is far more important than any thing else in this world. 

Well, with my week? It’s been incredibly full of learning moments, learning through other people’s example and stories. We were in a house with a woman named Maricela, who sells cake, so we call her Maripasteles. ;) Haha, but we were talking with her about her husband and how they have big issues and troubles in their lives. She showed us pictures of their wedding day in front of the temple with the biggest smiles and so happy. It was a crazy moment to look at the picture, happy and smiling, and look at the woman in real life and see her crying, because she said that she didn’t know the true person that her husband was before she married him. Wow. A big AMEN to what you said the other week, marry a good guy who you know well. I thought about dad’s advice of ¨Don’t marry a guy you need to fix - marry one you like as he is, because he ain’t gonna change¨. It’s so true. So… here goes to “in 5 years” to start looking for a guy I will truly get to know inside and out. But no sooner than that for me... ;)

 

President Egbert serving up cake and ice-cream

There is an elder in my zone named Elder Bickley, who is from Utah, and knows the Clapier family, and we are friends. He’s a little older (24), but so funny and nice and looks after me. I asked him how he got so good at Spanish (cause he’s AMAZING) and he told me a story. In his first 3 months he cried a lot and that it was super duper hard for him. He said that one night he just got down on his knees and prayed and asked why it was so hard for him and he said his answer was immediate. The answer was... that in the first three months you learn to listen. Whoa, it gave me goosebumps. He told me that he didn’t quite know why he was telling me that story, but I know it was an answer to quite a few prayers of mine and it makes me feel a little better about my own progress. 

 

Love my bag

And more about Spanish, this week I finally understood why it was so hard for me, and why I had so many sad moments, because of Spanish. It was so I could help a little lady in one moment here. She is in her 40’s and used to know English. She worked for people and had an interview where it was so horrible and sad because she had a block. Boy, do I understand having blocks when you get nervous and you can’t speak for nothing. She stopped working and now is looking at working again, but found out she needs to have a level of advanced English to be able to work there. She doesn’t remember English and feels it’s too late to learn it again. I let her know she’s the furthest thing from alone. That it is hard, but with the Lord, everything is possible. It’s really hard when people laugh at you, and make you feel bad, because you can’t speak their language, but these small challenges that we have can be overcome. One day we can prove to all those people that we truly can do it. It was just pretty amazing to finally understand why it was so hard for me emotionally - not being able to speak well in Spanish, and now to be giving advice of hope in that very language. Pretty cool.

 

Yes, this is me cooking

I'm taking notes Mom!

Rice and mole to share with a member

We went and taught an incredible little girl named Fernanda, who is 16 years old, and has cancer. I don’t know what happened in that lesson (it was Hermana Ortiz, me, and the elders), but I felt the spirit so strong. It was one of those moments where you leave and say, “Wow, I can never deny that I know God exists.” - a real testimony builder for me. I was super nervous beforehand, because I always cry when we are with people with cancer, because I think of you mom. I think about how I didn’t understand completely what was happening and it was scary. I think about how I didn’t help you at all when you had cancer, because I didn’t get it. But now I do and maybe I can learn from my past mistakes and help her. So I said a personal prayer before we went in for the lesson and I didn’t cry, rather, I think I cheered her up. When everyone else was timid and nervous to say anything to her, I jumped in and tried to make it all feel normal - to tell her she is beautiful and that I loved her big fuzzy hat that she wears, because she doesn’t have her hair. It was a small miracle for me. Later when I was talking to Elder Caamal, he told me that I was an amazing missionary in that lesson. He told me that now he understands why we have baptisms, because I speak with so much love. Well if I didn’t cry before, I did then. Haha, I’m a little crybaby sometimes. But this was for pure happiness, that maybe I am an ok missionary. It made me think of certain lessons where my comp says a ton, because they are scripturally based lessons, where I don’t know much. But when it comes to love, and giving people hope for the future, that is where I have my little niche. I was really grateful that Elder Caamal told me what he did. He’s a great elder and so is Elder Muñoz.

 

Happy Birthday Abby!

Remember how we didn’t have warm water, because we didn’t have gas? Well now we have gas, but... no water. Yep. Last night we found out that our entire cerrada is out of water and that we don’t have one drop. So when you thank Heavenly Father for warm water, thank him for water in general, twice. ;) Haha, but really, when you think about water, it’s essential. Now we can’t shower, can’t wash our clothes on Monday, can’t flush a toilet, can’t wash our hands and can’t wash dishes. Wow. Water is essential. Here’s hoping for water to come back!

 

I made my comp pancakes

Yeah! We went to a home and washed our clothes in an actual washing machine today!!!!

 

Miracles really do happen...

That’s all folks! Mexico is amazing. We ran out of water and almost everyone has chickenpox, but I love it here. Never really been happier. I hope you know how much I love you. How you are my world and I thank God everyday for you. I miss you so much. I miss you more than you can imagine and am counting the days to when I see you again, but in each of those days, I am living the best and most that I can. I love you more than life! I don’t have the words to explain it. Just remember I’m always your little girl, pinky love, and pinky promise. Thanks for the pictures, keep ‘em coming! You’re amazing and I love you.

Your Little Girl