HOLA familia y amigos. Que honda mengs? Guess who wrote me back this week... President Uchtdorf! I sent him a letter over Christmas just wishing him a Merry Christmas and obviously drew him this great picture of me getting chased by a dog hah, wellllllll he totally wrote me this personal letter and signed it and everything.
Pretty sweet huh. He gave me some really good advice too, to study my preach my gospel more, which is something I should probably start doing, so I will---because he told me to---and he’s an apostle so if I don’t--that’s bad, but it was a super nice letter and I was so amped and surprised when I got it. I’ve also been rockin my new Ritz Carlton slippers around my house. I got this FANTASTIC package from Grandma Nancy!!! It had this WONDERFUL book called the Spirit of America, with a bunch of quotes and stuff---which I will now use in pretty much all my emails, I’m thinking. I read it in one night. God bless America…anyway, I’m going to start using lotion---because she sent me a bunch---but it’s way good, every else uses lotion, like all the Mexicans, so I’m gonna be all silky smooth when I get back =) sweet right, but I love these slippers I got, they are awesome, and thank you SO much for all the other letters I got, seriously I have the greatest family ever!!! Dad thanks so much for the stickers and the funny newspaper clips and the postcards....and I do think we should make a sweet shirt company with simple drawings...I’m in. Mom, I loved your Spanish card you sent me hah my comp didn’t even know what that one word was hah but I knew all the other ones, but thanks for all your dearelders and for that picture with Nick and Ross in it. It’s great...thanks for sending all the guys emails!!! I read them all one night and actually learned a lot. I got one from Ryan, Jordan, chase, peter, Justin, Nick, Kevin Hawkins, and Dallin too. It was so nice to get their real emails. It’s sweet to know details of what up with all my buds. gosh thank you SO much though!!! Seriously mail makes my LIFE!! Ohhhhhhh and I used the little bunny golf driver guy as my caddy when I played some golf with Elder Cranford this week. I’ll send that picture in another email, but thanks again so much. Thank you so much Grandma Nancy!!! I got BOTH your packages and I love thatCD!!! Thanks for the little notes and everything =) you guys are the BEST!!!! "Families can be like ropes!!" - Richard J. Maynes …really we’re like super good rope...like one of those yellow and black non-stretchy ones =)
This week went by way way fast, we had to go to tlaxcala for a zone conference, which was 3 hours away. We drove in the night to chingnawhapan and stayed with the elders there for the night. The next morning we went on our way to tlaxcala...hah suuuuch a long drive, but it was way pretty and I loved it. The zone conference was super good. I saw some of my buddies I hadn’t seen in a while, and I learned a ton. I heard some super good stories that people had---people always have these cool stories they share. President Rex is the coolest guy ever. I’m so bummed he’s leaving in June, he’s just the most understanding, nicest, most spiritual president ever. He really does care about all his missionaries and the spirit is always there when he speaks. We had some great trainings and practices that we did as a zone...like 2 elders teach another elder who pretends to be an investigator and we teach him and commit him to pray or read the Book of Mormon...I’ve really started to like these practices we’ve had. I didn’t really like them in the MTC, BUT being out here I have realized that they really DO help. Elder Vasquez and I used to do them for companionship study and I really think my teaching skills improved with every one. President Rex also talked about his wife, and how we all need to find wives like Hermana Rex, that will push us to be better and always care. He loves his wife SO much, and you can totally see it in the way he talks about her---when they came on the mission and were getting interviewed by President Eyring, Pres. Rex was like --I’m only receiving this calling because of my wife right... and Pres. Eyring didn’t deny it, and she just smiled-- but he really loves his wife and I love the stories he tells with her, he gave us some great council about everything, (not just this) but it was really great and I’ll definitely follow his council. Hermana Rex is awesome too. She always tells this story about this eagle and says "flyyyy eagle flyyyy" and it’s funny but I don’t laugh =) but it’s a super good story and she’s KNOWN for telling it. She has the strongest spirit, she gave her testimony in Spanish to us, which is like a big deal cause she does NOT speak Spanish. She has tried to learn her whole time here and has had the best teachers but it just doesn’t click with some, and it’s been super hard for her...but she gave us her testimony in Spanish and it was SO powerful!!! The spirit was there and she almost cried giving it, it was just simple and sweet, but it really brought the spirit and was amazing. It was President Rexs and Hermana Rex last zone conference before they go home...it’s too bad I’ve only been to 2 of them. I wish I could have been here for the others. they are such amazing people. I had an interview with the President too. It went super well and he asked me to tell him something I’ve learned in the Book of Mormon lately. I had just read my favorite story of Nephi building the ship in Spanish so I told him about that and what I learned from it. I also recounted the miracle I had the other week--it was a really calming moment sharing it with him. He asked me if I had written that to him in my weekly email to him and I said I think I had but wasn’t sure...but he told me he wanted it to put in his little book that he keeps of … I guess miracles and amazing things that happen with his missionaries---it’s kind of a great idea huh. Mom and Dad--if you guys go on a mission someday you should do that =) Oh, and our new mission presidents are form San Diego!! The Reeves?? know them? I had this really great chat with Hermana Rex while other people were having interviews. We talked for like 20 minutes just us two, it was really nice =)
After the zone conference we went to this store close by---Waldos!! THEY had PURPLE skittles from the united states!!! and root beer--cause Mexicans don’t drink root beer--they stick to the regular--and a lot of it haaah--and I found this little golf set , which I got. That night Elder Cranford and I played with it and I set up different obstacles, like---lava rocks---boulders---sand traps---and ponds--- yes...it was awesome. I sent the picture of the 18th hole of "dirt pond" an exclusive golf club for only men. The reason we were still there with Cranford and his comp from TJ was cause the bus took too long and there were no combis left to take us back to Tetela so we had to stay another night there, but it was fun. Ohhhhh and they have tacos al pastor in chingnawhapan ---GLLLLLLorious!!! Seriously the best food ever---and gringas--so good!!
Back to Tetela, we ran into this guy knocking doors earlier in the week---super funny. We went into his store and started talking with him. He had heard the missionaries before and had received the pamphlets but never took the time to read them because he was scared that if he were to read them that he would think it was true and he didn’t want to drop his catholic beliefs so he never read for that reason, which is kinda crazy right? Because he kinda knew it was true in a way. We talked to him for about 30 minutes about everything and gave him another pamphlet. We also started to talk about idols--cause all the Catholics worship their idols, and he told us that he had been reading some of the bible in his free time and was confused over the whole idol thing and knew that it was wrong---told us straight up---because it said in the bible. He was thinking about why they do it, and pretty much told us he knew that the catholic church was teaching incorrect truths and that he shouldn’t have idols...but a lot of people here are really just TOO lazy to change and don’t want to put forth the effort or think about things that could disrupt their relaxed do-nothing lifestyle--and I’m not just saying this cause that’s what I see, I was talking to Hermana Rex about all this too and that’s pretty much exactly what she said too. She said it’s just super hard for people to put forth that effort to change here cause it’s so grounded in their families. We’ll probably pass by this guys store this week to see if he read or not...hooooooopefully he did.
We’ve been trying to find a lot of new investigators lately. I really find knocking doors super entertaining and fun, but I don’t think my comp does, so I have to do some convincing and dragging sometimes to get him to knock with me. The people are super hard here. They don’t want to listen or change, but we have found some medium people you could say, borderliners that we’re going to try to teach.
This week has been ups and downs with Paco and his sister. His sister is SUPER awesome!! She is in chapter 8 of Nephi. We told her to start reading from the beginning. She remembers everything and tells us the details about the chapters and everything. She’s loving it--it’s amazing--we asked who the servant of Laban was and she knew his name. She read well. Paco was doing great at the beginning of the week. We taught him and his sister about diezmo and how to santificar el dia de reposo and castidad, and they committed to keep them all and it was just perfect. But then one morning we saw his sister and she told us Paco had come back at 4 that morning and had been drinking...so we went to see him at the pool that he works at, and bad, bad, bad...he was drinking again... he came up to talk to us and was just telling us he didn’t want us to see him like that and he wanted to be like us and stuff, so we scheduled to meet with him and his fam at 6:30...but he didn’t show so we went to the pool again with his sister and her son and ooooooooooooooo it was bad...he was like suuuuuuper drunk, almost falling over. So we tried to take him back to his house but he didn’t want to go, but we told him there was no way he could work in the condition he was in, but he said he could haah. But then after his sister left for the next hour we were there with him, and a bunch of stuff happened. He had a fit in the street cause he was disappointed in himself for what had happened, then he was bawling and saying he couldn’t change--and I told him that he coullllllllld, and that we had seen him change in the last 2 weeks, and I told him how proud his mom was of him, and told him how we were his friends and how much we cared about him and just wanted the best for him. He just felt super sad and was crying. He then did some other random stuff that drunk people do, like dancing and singing and then he almost passed out 3 times. It was really sad...REALLY sad!! Because we have seen the change and then we see this fall and it’s just terrible. We warned him the day before that Satan was going to try to tempt him even more now that he was going to get baptized and that he had to be careful. Just like the Lords kingdom is on the earth, Satan has his reign on the earth too, and doesn’t want anymore people joining the kingdom of God--that’s why he works so hard on those that are going to get baptized, and targets members and missionaries also, to destroy the church from within. We need to be so strong in these last days and not fall to the temptations of the devil. I’ve been able to witness this first hand this week, and in all my mission, how Satan works on investigators and members. We’ll always have temptations, but the scriptures say that we will never be given any temptation of the devil or test that we can’t overcome if we just rely on the Lord. I hope Paco can overcome his addiction. We’ll be helping him all along the way. He’s a great guy and I know that he can turn it all around if he just prays---it’s the most effectual way to overcome an addiction... and there’s such a difference too. I was reminding him the other day of how happy he was and how much fun we were having and the peace he was feeling in reading the scriptures and praying, and then to view himself now when he’s totally drunk. He knows what’s right, and I KNOW he wants to change and I know he can if he just puts his trust in the lord. I hope for the best. Pray for him. I’m so happy I never had that problem or temptation with the Word of Wisdom, it is the BIGGEST problem here, and seriously I feel so lucky that I really never DID do anything cause my comp was saying how he had done all this stuff---which he shouldn’t--then like changed and stuff but still, I’m so happy I can say I’ve never broken it. And it’s super sad to see, cause there a lot of Mexicans and Americans here, and I know this happens in the US too, the missionaries that do stuff up till 18 then repent and wait a year and serve missions. I’m so grateful I never had to go though that. Keep the Word of Wisdom...it will TRULY bless your life. :) Oh and on Friday night we gave his mom the Proclamations for the family. Well actually, we gave it to her daughter but the mom read it too and por esooooooo she wants to start talking to us too!
Paco came with us to General Conference and I THINK he liked it.
Oh conference...I watched the Saturday one online. Missed the priesthood cause they don’t have it online---sooooo bummed. I loved Elder Oaks talk about what do we desire? And I loved when Ballard said "where charity exists--there is no place for gossip or unkind words? gotta show that one to the ramma here. OH and I loved when he said this too-I wrote it down "kindness is a passport that opens doors to make relationships for all eternity." THAT is a good one!!! And Samuelsons 10 things were super good too and I’ll be putting those into effect. There was a ton I liked but I know you ALL took good notes :) I loved Russell M. Nelsons too---I took a BUNCH of notes on him. Saturday was bomb! I loved it! I just gotta see priesthood cause I REALLLLLY wanted to see that one---that’s my favorite. :)
In the place we went to watch conference they DIDN’T have it in English--like all the other stakes do, so I watched it in Spanish and really didn’t get that much out of it, SO y’all should send me your notes!!! :) I’m gonna try to watch it sometime though. It took us 3 hours to get to conference, maybe a little longer. We woke up at 4:30 because of the time change that I DIDN’T know about, so it was really 5:30, and caught the combi to Chingnawhapan, then got another buss with some other elders to the place. It was wonderful, reuniting with all my wonderful wonderful American missionary friends. I love them all. We had SUCH a fun time talking, probably the highlight of my week I worked the tables in between conference, it was FANTASTIC...everyone was eating with their own ward but nobody comes from Tetela so I was like "WOW IS THAT ICE CREAM" and they were like "YA, YOU WANT SOME" and then I was like "SURE!" HAH it was great, and then I got these good taco things too from another table, then I talked with the other Americans in a circle while everyone else was eating and we recollected about our wonderful country. 2 of them are from California. It’s weird, I feel like I’ve met ALL of them before, and we all get along so well, it would be the coolest thing to have an American companion!!
Anyway, really I didn’t understand that much of Sunday conference, the general idea but the translators are TERRIBLE at translating jokes so it kinda killed it for me, just those parts though. The journey back took way longer, like 4 hours or something, and Elder Cranford and I just talked about the glory days, great. Then on the ride back to Tetella my comp and our investigator Paco were sitting in the front and I was sitting in the back of the combi---that’s where they make me sit. Anyway, this lady prob in her early 30’s with her baby sat next to me and started asking me all these questions and it was SICK!!! I talked to her nonstop for a straight hour before she got off. First she asked me if I was studying or working and I explained I was a missionary, then she said she had seen us before and then I answered every question possible about missionaries. She even asked me if I had kids--obviously I said I had six--then there was like this silence after an hour of talking about her family, where she lives, how all of her family has bible names (hahah kinda awesome), where she was going, ya everything. Anyway, during the silence I was like I NEED to give her a little pamphlet thing...so I whipped one out right before she was about to leave and she read a little and asked me some questions and I explained it for her and I also testified a bunch about why I am in Mexico, coming from the most wonderful United States, and I just told her I knew it was true and really have seen the blessings in my life and a whole bunch of other stuff :) Ahhh, but after she left I felt so good inside, it was a great moment for me. Oh and I told her "HEY OPEN YOUR DOOR WHEN THE MISSIONARIES COME K!?" It was great, and my Spanish was ON!
I had this amazing experience on Saturday night also. We were with Paco, his sister and his mom and we were just reviewing the Book of Mormon reading they did and then somehow family problems came up and it was super touchy and I can’t really describe it but the mom was saying how she doesn’t like how Paco drinks. They were saying there wasn’t love, and everyone was crying for like 15 minutes. I talked about the family and the importance of it and why we have it, and I shared a bunch of examples from my life that have made our WONDERFUL family stronger. I talked about family home evening, about forgetting the past, about overcoming some of the family problems they had, showing love at home and a whole bunch of other stuff. The mom kept bringing up excuses and stuff and I said like 5 times "You just gotta forget hermana". At the end when it was super intense but peaceful---oh and I was sitting on the bed too---just so you can imagine this better---it was kinda a cool scene...but after --my family is awesome and provides the best support in the world lecture-- I was like OK, NOW TIME FOR HUGS--which I had mentioned we were going to do when I was done with what I was saying...and the hermana was like, ohhhh, he knows I love him...then I pointed to her and did my sarcastic smiley face and was like HERMANA, levantese y abrase su hijo...like get up and hug your son, so she did...and at first it was just all normal, then they started to squeeze super hard and BOTH started bawllllllllllllling!!! And it was such a wonderfully tender moment--one of, if not the most --AWESOME thing I’ve seen on my mission. He was like I love you mom, I love you, and she was crying and saying I’m sorry son I love you, I love you and it went on for like 5 minutes and they were kissing each other too---but not in a weird way, and then the mom went and hugged her daughter and sameeeeee thing, oh my gosh it made me feel sooo good inside, like we had just fixed this family or something...then after there was just this peace present and I can’t even describe it. Everyone just had the biggest smiles on their faces ahhhhhhhh fantaaaaaaastic!!! :) highlight of my week---above talking to my American amigos. It was a great experience that I’ll remember forever :)))))
Oh, I also found all these super good quotes that I wrote down off one of those random copy picture things that dad sends me---I love them by the way--- but it’s "your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself." so I’m going to have to say I’m kinda obsessed with myself and love myself a ton cause I love life, and I’m amped for the future and everything that’s gonna come with it, on my mission AND when I return to the world =)
Man, I have some other sweet ones too but I’ll save them for next time---I hate waiting, but I’ll DO it...plus I forgot the Spirit of America book I have...dang it . Thank you so much again for everyone who wrote me, seriously you have NO idea how happy I am when I get mail :)) Especially from the ones I love---it helps me deal with evvvverything that’s going on :) and I’ve been studying the atonement of Jesus Christ lately because it’s simple yet verrrrrry complicated so I’ve been trying to put some more of that in my brain and I’ve been reading Preach My Gospel like Uchtdorf told me too :) and I’m loving it. Y’all should start studying it, it’s great :)
Love, Elder Bertha
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| Finally Elder Wennerholm sent me the picture. sweet right. Elder Tingpin, Elyse and Nicole's kinda cousin guy was the zone leader, he is in the middle. then Wennerholm is on the other side---he is awesome. We had a great time at conference. Tingpin kinda lacks in the form department...alot....it was a little crazy---but we still love him :) |
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| These were from my comps camera...our adventures :) |
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| Me with the short people :) those guys are awesome. |
President and Sister Rex
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| Can you find the ginger? I'm in the back and I MIGHT be making a face, but it's my smile so don't make fun of it! |
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| E...for estados unidos. or ENCINITAS. or a W sideways for west coast. OR an E for excellent or Erica or entertaining OR Estados Unidos rules. any one. pick it |
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| Picture of the week. "no lo toque!!" at the stores here you can’t take your backpacks in and I didn’t want anyone to steal my stuff---so being smarter and taller than everyone I put it up SUUUUUUPER high hahah and the packages too =) and then I went and got my purple skittles YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! |
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| ninth hole at dirt pond. |
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| I found this sweet bridge scene with a church in the back in this pueblo in the middle of nowhere after we went to look at the river-poolthing that we’re going to baptize in. |
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I drew you all a picture. BEANS. It’s how I would describe Mexico. Everything about it.
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