Familia!!
Mexicans are obsessed with donuts. And Chinese food. There are restaurants solely for Donuts and Chinese food. I don't get it.
Hola from El Centro! It's currently 100 degrees here and the palm trees are waving in the breeze. I don't know why there are palm trees, because we're smack dab in the middle of the desert, but they exist.
Missionary work here in the Valley is a bit different from other areas in the mission. We work mostly with the ward members and less actives/recent converts. At first that really surprised me. We have a very small ward (100 people on REALLY GOOD Sundays), but there are 6 missionaries assigned to it. When I got here I couldn't believe that there were 3 companionships in one ward, but now I definitely know why. The bishops wife passed away just in September, and he is struggling with his health as well. He carries a very large burden, and has no one to delegate responsibilities to. The ward members don't know how to operate a ward (it's relatively newer) and there is a lack of leadership, so a lot of the responsibilities get passed to the missionaries. We get to do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work in the ward and our goal to help it get off its feet and start involving the members in leadership positions. The people here are incredible-they just don't know what to do, they've never had a strong example. So we get to help them out. It's stressful, and some members don't like being led by a couple of gringo teenagers, but my love for the people has grown so much as a result. I can't wait to see what happens in a few months! So we teach a lot of members and less-actives. Me and my companion have 7 investigators that we are working with right now. Our main goal is to get them to CHURCH, but they all leave on the weekends for Mexicali (the city right across the border). Mexicali is our greatest enemy. Family is super important to the Mexican culture, so very few people actually go to church because they spend their Sundays with them. I hate Mexicali.....hah.
We had zone conference on Wednesday, which I LOVED. Our mission president is just a shoot-dang cool guy. He started off the meeting by saying "I only send the strongest to the Valley. You guys can take it". At about that point I started laughing. I'm definitely NOT a strong missionary. I actually think I'm the comic relief of the ward, the members laugh at me a lot...But if I can make them smile, I consider it a job well done. It really made me respect the missionaries in my zone, and made me very grateful for the opportunity to be learning from these incredible people.
Mexicans don't eat with utensils. The universal utensil is the tortilla. And homemade tortillas are GOOD.
Success of the week:I ate refried beans without throwing up. Good week. I am going to have to get used to beans being a staple, here. Heavens have mercy upon my soul.
Whenever we ask an investigator to come to Church, they always say, "Si Dios Quiere" (If God Wants). I've learned that this means "No". It's a tad frustrating. We're working on it.
We taught a woman named Lorena on Sunday, and while we were teaching on her front porch, her two pit bulls began to fight right underneath my chair. I thought I was going to die.
YOU GUYS. GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEK. IT'S LIKE CHRISTMAS. I wonder is our Prophet will drop any more bombs this weekend.....
This is hard. Missionary work is hard. It's frustrating, and at times it's heartbreaking, but it's worth it. Heavenly Father has given me a lot of tender mercies these past 2 weeks. Yesterday I taught the entire restoration, all in Spanish, and saw that tiny flicker of the light of Christ enter into a man's eyes as he listened to the first vision. That one single moment made all the hard and frustrating things that has happened this past week worth it. Missionary work is worth it! I treasure that experience, and I draw great strength from it.
Hey family, thank you for your prayers. I feel them every single moment of every single day, and there have been times where that's what keeps me going to the next house. I feel you surrounding me constantly!
I have no words to describe my love for the Savior. He's given and shown me a lot of grace. I couldn't do this without Him.
Being Here Is Worth It.
All the love that I have in my heart, I send to you.
Hermana Hess
No comments:
Post a Comment