Well...after the
interesting first week....Im still alive!
So we went in for
interviews with the president this week and the first thing he said to me was,
you are alive! Haha he heard about all of the interesting things that went down
my first week and he and all of the american missionaries laughed and laughed
and laughed and told me I had just experienced once of the worst first weeks
they have ever heard of. Soo.... i know my first letter from Mexico was not
exactly the happiest or most uplifting but now you know for a fact that I was
not overreacting- it really was a HARD first week and everyone else thought so
too haha. The president also then told me that my area is the most dangerous
and ghetto area in the Puebla North mission and afte hearing more about my life
when he first met me he said he sent me here because he knew I could handle it.
....Thanks
President.....I guess....ha
So yeah, this week
was definitely a million times better than last week. For starters, we got
PLUMBING which means no more bucket showers for me.
Which is too bad
because I was really getting the hang of showering out of a bucket. Im serious-
it totally is a hidden talent of mine that I did not discover until here in
Mexico! ha
We also got rid of
all of the bed bugs and spiders that had infested our house so thats a huge
plus.
Along with getting
house issues in order, this week was so good because I really focused on
changing my attitude. I realized that I was missing so many blessings and
miracles because they came from unexpectd places and often I focus on what and
how I think things should be and I end up missing the beauty of what is. I love
Mexico. I love the dirty streets and dirt roads. I love the fact that I go to
bed exhausted everynight because I walk for miles everyday and I love, LOVE
these people. I have met the most Christ like, humble people here and I just
love them. Right now I am trying to love Spanish, and the drunk men that lunge
at me and scare me. Haha it may take awhile but Im working on it.
Anyways this week
was freaking crazy. It started off with cinco de mayo and the big parade and
let me tell you, this parade was NOT anything like an American parade. We went
with one of our investigators and I have seriously never seen so many people in
my life try to squeeze onto bleachers. People were screaming and the Mexican
police had their guns out and were shouting over loud speaking and yeah..it was
crazy.
The funniest part?
Ok so the parade was 3.5 hours long (kill me) and they went through the history
of Mexico with floats. For some reason they had floats dedicated to specific
countries and so I was pumped when the American float came out. It was
decorated like the battle of Gettysburg and so they had a huge Abraman Lincoln,
a flag, and cannon balls. Well they ended up lighting those cannon balls off
and all of a sudden the entire float catches into flames!
I was basically
sitting there like uhh...... did they just set fire Abe Lincolns head on
purpose??.....
Buttt by the way
people started reacting I soon realized that it was totally an accident. They
couldnt get enough water in time to put the fire out so it completely burned to
the ground.
God bless America.
Also during the
parade a man got bucked off a horse and died. Like I said, Mexico is crazy.
This week we also
woke up to an earthquake. I have now been through 2 earthquakes and have lived.
I am pretty much invincible to them now. hahah sike. Knock on wood, knock on
wood.
Ok remember how in
my last email I talked about how in Mexico all of the really mean dogs walk on
the roofs? Well I wasnt kidding. So many times this week I pretty much had a
heart attack by walking under a roof only to have a huge dog lunge at my face.
So far they have all stayed on the roofs but I just know that the time will
come when one actually decides to take that leap off and attack my face. Well
anyways all of the dogs on the streets are super nice and laid back. Well most
of them that is.
So Gonzales and I
are walking past this house and I see 3 weiner dogs sitting there. And so I
start to tell her about how my family once had a weiner dog and so for some
stupid reason I get the idea that I am going to go over and pet them.
Im such an idiot. I
know.
The second I get
near them all three of them start attacking and lunging at us and so my
companion takes off screaming and sprinting and all I can think is, shoot if I
dont outrun her these weiner dogs are going to kill me and that would be a
embarrasing cause of death that would be printed in the newspaper.
And so all of
Mexico witnessed two missionaries screaming and running for their lives from 3
weiner dogs that WOULD NOT give up.
It was terrifying.
And one of the funniest thigns that has ever happened to me. Seriously I was
dying it was so funny.
We also had alot of
encounters with drunk men (as always) and I know my last letter freak some of
you out but I want to let you know about the miracles that have happened this
past week.
Miracle #1- So we
had a late teaching appoitment and we were walking home in the dark which we
try not to do. There were no taxis or buses in that part and so our only option
was to walk really fast and pray really hard. Well we got to this one road we
were trying to cross and all of a sudden we see this huge group of about 7
drunk men and they were coming straight for us and to be honest we were scared
and I was not feeling good about the situation at all. And so I told my
companion to keep her eyes open and I was going to say a prayer outloud in
ENGLISH because I did not want to have to think really hard about saying one is
spanish. The men were really close and were calling out to us when I ended my
prayer and seriously seconds after I ended my prayer a car pulled up. It was a
recent convert we didnt know. She pulled over and said, you guys are
missionaries arent you? Do you need help? YES. She pulled up just in time those
men approached us and got us out of there and home.
Miracle #2- Ok so
in Mexico people have these metal doors that lock from the outside and can only
be opened from the inside. The metal doors then lead to a hallways which leads
to the front foor. Anyways, we were contacting people and ended up on a street
with not many people. We had tried to visit a member and knocked on their gate
but they wernt home and so we were standing outside their house talking about
what to do next. Without warning a man came up and started talking to us and
the next thing I know, he grabs me and wont let me go. Ok, I have never been
that scared in my entire life. But the second he grabbed me there was a gust of
wind and the members metal gate opened. I ended up being able to pull away and
my companion and I ran through the metal door and slammed it behind us. We were
completely safe. After, we stood there in complete shock because there was no
one there on the other side to unlock the gate but it had opened for us exactly
when we needed it to.
I know for a fact
that God is mindful of his missionaries and I know more specifically that he is
looking out for a Hermana Wells and a Hermana Gonzales. There are angels
protecting us and I feel and see that protection on a daily basis. God is so so
mindful.
Anyways so those
two experiences were pretty amazing. Along with miraculous experiences with
drunk men we have also had some hillarious ones.
I got proposed to
this week! He went to Jared! ha....not. For some reason I always thought my
first proposal would be....less creepy..... haha but dont worry I shot that one
down real quick.
We also were
stalked by a man wearing a , I LOVE SATAN shirt. hahahaha it was hillarious.
Bless his soul.
Being a missionary
is pretty cool, in fact I kinda like this missionary thing. Being a missionary
is seriously like being a pro stalker. We have little books with every detal of
peoples lives written down and let me tell you, we can find ANYONE that we
want. Investigators cant hide from us. Whenever we go searching for an
investigator that seems to like to play the game, wheres Waldo, I always sing,
one way or another Im gonna find ya, im gonna getcha getcha getcha
haha but really. I
do. My comp loves it....i think.
I also like being a
missionary because I have completely fallen in love with these people. Right
now we are teaching a recent convert, Guadulupe Estrella to read. She is 75
years old. Last time we taught her the alphabet and sounds. It is actually
helping me with my spanish also! Haha. She seriously looks like a lamanite out
of the BOM because she wears her long hair in 2 braids and she wears leather.
She also gives us moldy fruit to take home. Gah, i love her.
We are also working
with the Juarez family who were just baptized. We are getting them ready to
attend the temple to be sealed and they are by far my most favorite people in
all of Mexico. They are also the poorest. Their house is smaller than my living
room and they have dirt floors. When we teach them they let us sit on buckets
and they all sit on the floor. They have so little but they are grateful for so
much. Last time we taught them about the law of tithing. That is when we found
out that the father doesnt have a job and they barely have enough to eat. But
do you nkow what? They accepted it without any questions and I was dumbfounded.
After the lesson the father said the closing prayer and thanked God for all of
his many blessings and I just sat there thinking, every American needs to
experience this. What more in life do we need then family and the Gospel?
Nothing.
The last family I
am going to talk about is Maria and Mario. Maria was a prostitute and so she
has 10 children from 10 different fathers. One of those children, Mario, found
the gospel and wants to be baptized. We have been working with the family every
single day and I have never seen such a drastic change in people. Mario (age
10) is going to be baptized this Saturday and we are helping Maria become
worthy for baptism.
I have never
seen the atonement work such miracles in someones life before. I walk around
all day and all I see are unhappy depressed people. But the people that have
the gospel or are being exposed to it are different people. I am learning that
the miracle of the atonement is not that it can help us through our
difficulties but that it transforms us. Maria is changing. I can see it every
day. The Juarez family has hope when others dont. Its amazing and I am so so
grateful that Gd is granting me the chance to see him perfom his miracles among
his children through the power of the atonement.
Haha ok heres a
funny story for ya. So on Sunday we had 4 of our investigators at church- 2 of
which have baptism dates. Anyways there is a special class for them after
sacrament meeting. Anyways during this class the teacher decided to teach about
the MIllenium. And like she went into DEPTH about the millenium. All about
satans army and how we live happily but then he releases them all and freak I
dont think I would have understood it even if it were in English! Our poor
investigators. One of them kept leaning over to me and saying what is going
on?!
I hear ya sister, I
have no clue.
I pretty much just
sat there in horror and thought, well we might as well talk about where Kolob
is.
Our poor
investigators.
Anyways thats about
it. Lifes good. Spanish sucks. My companion is starting to understand how I
feel because the president implemented a program and so I am teaching her English.
It frustrates her so much and she hates it and I like, ok now you know how I
feel ALL THE TIME! Haha seriously though Spanish is hard. And somtimes I worry
that Im not progressing fast enough but I am seriously working my butt off and
so I just have to tell myself to chill out and have patience. We will see if it
works haha.
Best part of my
week:
So I cant
communicate with people the way I would like to yet and its been really
bothering me because I want them to know how much I really do love and care for
them and so this week I decided that if I couldnt talk to them, I could serve
them. This week I was praying really hard about how I could serve and one
morning I woke up and immediately thought about the Juarez family. Then I
realized that they came dressed to church in rags every week because they didnt
have anything else to wear. I asked my comp if I could give the mom and
daughter some of my skirts and so on Saturday I went over to their house and
gave them my favorite and best skirts and let me tell you, when I saw them walk
into church that Sunday with those skirts, it was priceless. They wore those
skirts better than I ever did and so it was meant to be.
Did I bore you all
enough with this long letter? You wont hear from me for another 7 days so its
all good. Love you all!
Hermana Wells
P.S. I heard that
Coldplay came out with a new album. Someone please listen to it and tell me how
it is. PLease please pleaseeeeeeeee
Had to take a picture of the number someone gave me...
You know how couples take pictures after they have been engaged well i couldn't let the tradition die! this is a pic of us after the guy proposed.
