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