K first off... JEALOUS Greece and Turkey next week....just come like---pick me up on the way or somethin...ya?? :) pretty please.
Tetela has just been WONDERFUL lately!! We taught a TON of lessons this week and found a bunch of news and, oh, NOBODY came to church, actually 30 minutes into it, there were only 12 because 3 hermanas left because one of them had a dentist appointment with the OTHER member who is the dentist. Oh the wonderful examples of the Telelan members, oh and to make it better the other hermana who left (one who has her "own" investigators) is the leader of the Relief Society. ya um ya. So be thankful that… first of all, we live in the United States of wonderful America, and second, that the majority of the wards and branches there and pretty much in all other places have at least a little bit menos de problemas. Yes, so that’s my week.
Tetela has just been WONDERFUL lately!! We taught a TON of lessons this week and found a bunch of news and, oh, NOBODY came to church, actually 30 minutes into it, there were only 12 because 3 hermanas left because one of them had a dentist appointment with the OTHER member who is the dentist. Oh the wonderful examples of the Telelan members, oh and to make it better the other hermana who left (one who has her "own" investigators) is the leader of the Relief Society. ya um ya. So be thankful that… first of all, we live in the United States of wonderful America, and second, that the majority of the wards and branches there and pretty much in all other places have at least a little bit menos de problemas. Yes, so that’s my week.
Tel Cel lady we just figured out she’s not married, great. So, gotta work on that one, went to Ometeptl like 30 minutes away and knocked the entire puebla---nobody. But, I met this sick guy who was in SD and sells movies and works next to Tel Cel. My comp was teaching him while I was in Tel Cel teaching the other lady---they’re like super close...and after a while he tells my comp he had talked to the missionaries in the US 8 years ago and took out his Book of Mormon and pamphlets and stuff, but after he taught him he taught this other lady cause I was still teaching Tel Cel in Tel Cel and he started to teach her friend whose family is Mormon. We worked that little area for like 2 hours. It was tight. I taught her all about the Plan of Salvation and a ton about the Book of Mormon because that’s what really interests her. She’s so sick though the lady at Tel Cel---she’s like 45 I think, but looks like 55...but I think everyone here looks older; the 15 year olds could be like 25. Anyway, she took us out to eat at a RESTAURANT!!! Remember those?? I don’t...prob. because it’s the first real restaurant I’ve been to my entire mission. She is so awesome. I got this potato vegetable cheese thing with spaghetti...guess what---coolest part---they gave us 3 DIFFERENT pieces of silverware!!! Like a spoon AND a fork AND a knife...so we didn’t have to cut our meat with a spoon this time!!! leeeeeeegit....we thanked her big time for that.
Knocked some casitas in Cuautempan, I’ll send a pic of them, found some great people but later checked up on them and NO...not anymore. The testigos, geeeeeeeeze they are everywhere, just super happy in a creepy way and are like, what’s the name of God, then we just shoot it back at them and they run in circles but never get there. ahhh testigos...vivan en su ignorancia. Anyways we found one goodie but obvi no fue a la cap so she can’t be baptized in the next 2 weeks. But, we taught her a super good lesson on her doorstep and I think if she took the time to pray she’d get an answer---like...everyone who has taken the time to pray. One hermana DID pray though and got an answer!!! Sweet I know. We’re going back this week to teach her some more...obvi.
To add to our marvelous week I got ridiculously SICK on Friday night, the worst night in ALLL of my mission I could have gotten sick, because the next day I was giving the class in Cuautempan in the district meeting, and who was going to be there---only the president and the zone leaders and the pres. leaves in 2 weeks and was going to do interviews too. I had to call him at 6am and tell him I probably wouldn’t make it because I was dying. Woke up at 1am went to the bathroom. Exploded. After, died in pain for the next 4 hours until 5am sleeping on a blanket on the ground next to the bathroom rolling around in pain...oh ya, I didn’t sleep...just rolled around in pain and went to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Plus I had a fat migraine, and obvi I was sleep deprived. It was fantastic. Everything just FLEW through me... then at 6am I called the pres because there was no way in the world I could make it to Chingnawhapan on that 1.5 hour drive though the windy mountains. Oh and I was on the verge of throwing up all night but refused to because I HATE throwing up. So, I lived in that terrible state for pretty much the entire day until 5pm. We went to eat with an hermano that we had visited in the morning and he gave me coke and carbonated water mixed....it actually was super good...but in don’t know if it worked...then we ate at his house later and he gave me bananas and cookies intergranal or something like that, the ones that will stop you from ya... and it worked...after suffering in my bed for like another 3 hours. It was HOT too, hot and sticky and humid...best day huh...so, I loaded up on Sudafed and Excedrin and those diarrhea pills that I got from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Dick and ya---pretty good by 7pm
FINALLY we got out and went and visited Tel Cel cause they are progressing more than the others and taught them a quickie. Oh, and we ran out of gas which heats our water, so we have been taking cold showers. OHHH the mission. love it. I actually prefer cold showers now, and usually just take them and don’t turn on the gas. I’m praying for rain so hopefully it comes soon, I think everyone is, but mine are the only ones getting there because everyone else prays to the virgin. Oh, other quick little note--to block out the demon dog of our neighbors I put on some Josh Groban or if I’m really feeling it, I whip out my Kenny G and fall right asleep---only to wake up 2 hours later like always.
OH, sick part of my week/day. We went on the NARLIEST SICKEST ADVENTURE EVER TODAY!!! soooooooooooo awesome!!! It was like the Tucson adventure, but way harder, smaller, doleroso, and had water. We journeyed to these caves like an hour and a half away with some other elders, the sick other elders in Chingnawaupan, both Mexicans, super awesome. We wore these helmets. I chose the sweet shiny one, reminded me of that sweet Vespa helmet we have. Ahh, these caves were super gnarly. We hiked up this hill for 30 min. and went into this little hole with our lights and stuff and our guide who went in his sombrero and sandals. Some parts were SO TINY, water up to our knees, and usually we were sitting on our heals in the water walking though...ahhhh it was LOCO...I have an epic picture that Gonzalez took. There was this one part that was seriously like 100 feet or more of just crawling on my hands stomach and feet in this FREEZING cold water, it was crazy. My camera got soaked cause I had it in my mouth but my mouth was like in the water pretty much...but don’t worry, it’s still good. After all that, we got to these HUGE rooms with all these cool rocks and stuff, ah, but the water, with the 2 feet of space, and at one part climbing on 2 metal rods over this drop off into water was so sketch, but totally epic. It was crazy. My comp and Gonzalezes comp barely fit in some parts. Nobody told us not to wear shorts. My comp came out and his knees were bleeding...duro on the manos tambien. but ya---made my day, pretty much made my week too.
I DID get some sweet dearelders updating me on the missions of my buddies and another AWESOME one ;) so ya, that made me super happy as well. Found some cool scriptures too though...I’ll share them:
1 COR 9:14 --- if we’re gonna preach it, we gotta live it, and we gotta live it right, obediently.
1 COR 9:19-23 --- I took it as---if I want to teach the Mexicans I have to become one o them....it will be VERY hard and I’m going to have to esforsarme muchisisisisisisisismo but I shall try :P
1 COR 11:7 --- hah. I was like whaaaaat? No way kindaaaa sexist. haha :P
1 COR 11:4 --- DONT PRAY WITH A HAT...BAD.
ROMANS 16:24
I love you all :) Thanks for everything :) Church is true; God will always help us if we ask him :) I REALLY LOVE YOU FAMILIA!!! Have the best week ever and think of me while you are having wonderful adventures....snag me a souvenir or something :P Crazy turkey ropa, ahh love you all. I pray for all of you every night..
LOVE ELDER BERTHA
PS. IT IS RAINING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HARD RIGHT NOW....never in my life have I seen more rain than this...its like standing under a waterfall probably and its been 10 min. and the streets are flooded, sooooo SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIK.
