Week 20 Hermana Jones

Six months in the mission!!  Thanks for all the emails. Especially Dad for the talk. Usually I don't have time to read all the emails but I just print them out so I can read them when I get back to the house.

This week was super good. We went to the doctor in Taluca and he checked out my foot and said that I just have to keep it wrapped every day and gave me all kinds of things to put in my shoes to keep the stress low so that was good.  It was really weird because I loved the city in my first area but after three cambios of being in an area where there are hardly any people I felt really uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people. When the sister training leaders came here to visit, they said "wow, why does everyone know you here?" and I just said it was because I have been here for 3 cambios and there is hardly anyone here.  There is this one dude who said "Guera de la Jordana what are you doing here in El Oro?" which means white girl who lives in the Jordana. It's super funny though, because every pueblo  thinks we live in their pueblo. We just work there every day.

Literally no one calls me Hermana Jones here. Everyone either thinks my first name is Jones and calls me Jonita or they call me Guera( white girl) Everyone! Even the ward members.  Now I respond more to Guera than Hermana Jones.

It's super funny because no one thinks my companion is from the United States because she is Tongan. One day there was this guy who asked in really bad English- "Where is she from?" and my companion was really annoyed afterwards because people think she doesn't know English. She just says "I can speak better English than that dude! Hahah!  It is super funny to have an American companion because I ask myself if I was I like that when I first got here to Mexico.

We lost our water again and my companion was super distressed! Also I love the food here because I have been eating it for like 4 months straight. Cactus (nopales) are my favorite food here but i remember how gross it was when I first got here. Because the people are so poor it is super rude if you don't eat all your food but my companion cant even get it down without gagging so when the hermana leaves we trade plates and I eat her food. It kind of hurts my stomach though because it is a ton of food. The only thing I still don't really like here though is chicharone because it is just like pieces of skin in your soup so I still make her eat that :)

Oh I also learned this week that corn stalk is edible.  We ate so much of that this week.  The best thing ever though is agua de horchata! If you ever get a chance to drink it, it is delicious.  It looks a little weird because it has rice in it but it is super tasty. Oh, I also got a letter from a lady from Dad's mission.  It was probably the most interesting letter I have ever read. I felt like I was reading a general conference talk and was sitting there highlighting parts hahah.

This week we had intercambios with the sister training leaders and because we are so far away it was for two days. I was with sister Garcia and she is probably the strongest missionary I have ever met. She was engaged to be married before her mission but then the changed the age of sister missionaries and she felt like she needed to go on a mission so her boyfriend said he would wait.  They had their house ready and everything for when she got back and then two months into her mission she got a letter from his mom saying that he had died in a car accident and it was all her fault for leaving him and going on a mission.  I nearly started crying when she told the story but it really goes to explain why I have never met a more focused or compassionate missionary here on the mission.

I had a really cool experience with her though. We have an investigator, Hector, who we visit at his house but when he isn't home his dad answers the door and is a little rude and just says Hector isn't there and shuts the door. This time though, it started raining and lightning harder than I have ever seen here on my mission which is saying a lot because sometimes it rains so hard it breaks our umbrellas here. We went to look for Hector and only his dad was home but because it was raining so hard he let us in and we started talking. He said he didn't believe in God because of everything that has happened in his life. He took off his hat and showed us a huge missing piece from his head because he had a tumor removed, last year his wife died from diabetes, and then a month later his son died from too much alcohol. Just listening to his story was painful but we told him that he could see his son and wife again and that God loved him. Then Hermana Garcia told him that tonight he was going to have a dream and his wife was going to tell his to go to the church of Jesus Christ and when that happens he should go to church the next day. I have never heard anyone say anything like that before in my life but the rain stopped and we left and then the next day came the miracle. He came to church! I feel like even our challenges can be blessings. If it had not been raining he never would have let us in and we never would have had the chance to talk to him.

Also it's crazy that we learned that two of our investigators that are preparing for their baptisms are the wife and daughter of Hector's brother. I feel like this family needs the gospel and they are coming together in ways that we never could have seen. Also I learned that if you ever feel like you should do something just do it. We went and visited an inactive member and when we got there, they just smiled and said "I prayed you would come today."  Also I felt like I should write a note to a lady in our ward. I did but it felt kind of weird because when I got to church she seemed super happy and was talking to everyone so I almost didn't give it to her because the note talked about how everything is easier with Christ and this life is difficult because we are disciples of Christ so in this life we will feel some of his pain. I gave it to her, though, and when she read it she started crying a lot and said that she has been having a lot of family problems and when she told me about them all you never could have seen it just looking at it. I don't think I have heard someone with so many problems.

I just learned this week first always listen to the spirit and second everyone has problems. EVERYONE. It doesn't matter how happy they look there is something you can help them with. With Hector's dad he was super grumpy and rude because he has had a hard life and then the hermana at church was super happy because she was trying to cover up how sad she was. Everyone needs help. Anyway we have been looking for ways to serve this week to find people to teach so if you have any good ideas let me know :) Have a great week! and have fun at school hahaha

Love,
Hermana Jones