Monday, April 14, 2014

Week 2 In Mexico City

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So this week has been great!  I love Mexico City so much!  Everyday is quite the adventure!  I think riding the Metra is my favorite part because you never know what is going to happen.  This week I got dragged on with a bunch of people.  I looked out the window and my companion was still outside!  Luckily my companion had already went through with me what to do when that happens.  It is so crazy in there.  My companion is so funny.  The very first thing she taught me when I got on my mission was how to call a taxi and how to find the microphone in the Metra Station.  I found the loud speaker in the Metra Station and called her name so that she could find me. 

The longer I am here the more I love it.  I don’t feel like my Spanish is getting any better.  However, the ward members keep saying how much better it is getting so that is encouraging.  We go to Hermana Dulce’s house all the time for family home evening and other stuff.  They just got baptized three weeks ago and their family is amazing!  Her daughter is our age and goes out teaching with us about 3 times a week.  Her son is about 10 and says my Spanish sounds about like a 1st grader with a really bad accent sooo... :) 

I have a new best friend.   A lot of people can’t understand my accent or my grammar.  However, there is a 6 year old boy who understands me perfectly even when I am trying to sign out what I am saying.  He translates for me. 

Another fun thing that happened this week was I am always afraid to street contact because I can’t speak very well.  My companion said I had to street contact this one guy.  I was really nervous but then he came up and talked to me about the gospel!  So that was definitely a tender mercy!

This Sunday we were so sad because we went to go pick up our investigators for church and none of them answered their doors. Then when we walked into church there was someone who just decided to come so we got a new investigator.  Getting our investigators to baptism this week was super hard.  It seems when someone is making progress all of a sudden everything goes wrong.  One of our investigators got chicken pox.  In Mexico when you get chicken pox you have to stay in your house for at least 3 weeks so that you don’t spread it to everyone.  Then the pregnant lady I talked about last time is having difficulties with her family and wasn’t able to get baptized this week.  We only had one baptism this week.  Even one was amazing though.  It just makes me want to work harder so other people can look that happy when they come out  of the font.  

This week church was so funny.  It was fast and testimony meeting and they told people to stop coming up after ten minutes of the meeting.  It still went for 2 hours because so many people wanted to share their testimonies.  Hermana Magaña and I also went up to bear our testimonies.  We went straight from sacrament to relief society.

 I love all the ward members here though because they are super involved.  The young women leaders came with us yesterday and we went and visited all the inactive young women in the ward.  Then on Sunday the young men leaders came in and had us talk to the young men about missionary work.  From that experience we are going out with the young men and their moms.  We talk to their friends and  less active young men.  This week we are scheduled to go with a different young man and his mom everyday this week.  It is great when members want to go out with us.  It is so much easier to get someone to come to church when they have a friend.  The ward is also amazing at giving us references! This week we got 32 references to go visit.

As for danger it is not that bad.  There are a few areas that are a little bad but our mission president is super involved.  He refuses to let us go to those areas alone even in the morning.  He will either come with us or send one of his counselors out with us.  As for you praying for my safety I will laugh if you prayed for me either on Friday or Saturday night.  Don’t worry though there are plenty of experiences where I am just so surprised how much Heavenly Father is protecting us.  We will make decisions that don’t seem to have any reason or significance and then the next day it becomes very clear that those ideas came directly from the Holy Ghost.  

I am so happy because my companion and I get along really well.  She says I am her favorite one to train because I don’t cry at night or complain when we are working like a lot of the other people she trained.  I think it is just because I am having so much fun.  I really don’t think I have had this much fun in my whole life as I have had in just two weeks here.  Everyday feels like I am eating at a restaurant and you just never can expect what will happen the next day.  The people here are so nice  They love to help me withy my Spanish and random people will come up to me and try to say things in English.  Usually it is “Ello” as in “Hello” or “Bi” as in “Bye”.  It is actually super funny.  It makes me hope that is not what I sound like to them when I am trying to speak Spanish.  

I also love this place because I haven’t gotten sick yet.  It is super hot and I have gotten some pretty bad sunburns but it is strange because I never feel it when I’m out working only when I get home.  I know Heavenly Father is blessing me with strength here on my mission.  I have never been so exhausted in my life.  There have been a few days I get home and literally collapse.  I woke up the next day in my dress. 

Oh also I am the first American my companion has trained.  She thinks it is so funny because I say some things so wrong.  She says it is like teaching a kid because I accidently swear a lot.  She try’s not to laugh.  She just corrects me.   If she laughs, she is worried I will always be afraid of saying it wrong.  It is just hard because normal words in English like stupid.  If you say the Spanish version of  it apparently it is a really really bad word.  Also I was pretty proud of myself today because I ordered food for the first time by myself.   They understood me!  
Another good experience we had this week is there is an inactive family who decided that they want to meet with us again.  Their son was invited to mutual.  He told his parents afterwards that he wanted to go to church with his new friends the next Sunday.  It was really cool because the son was 16 and his family hadn’t been to church since he was 8 years old.  

Ok I just remembered the only thing I don’t like here and that is their nasty flower water.  They give it to us all the time.  I am always so thirsty so I drink it anyway. Literally sometimes you can see pieces of flower petals in it.  Other than that all the food is great!  

I love visiting members because they are just so humble they live in tiny houses but they are just so willing to give you everything they have.  I have to go but I loved hearing about your week and I hope Dad makes it home safely!

Love you guys!
Hermana Jones

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