Joy=Life

Well last week we didn't have more then 20 minutes to write, but it's safe to say it was an amazing week....though at the moment I'm having quiet a difficult time remembering what happened last week and what happened this week...so let's just blend the two.

To start I have to share some of the funniest moments since being here that have left me laughing for days:

1. The other day we went to a house for an appointment, we knocked and heard the normal "¿quien es?".  When we said the missionaries we got, "nadie estan" (Nobody is here) .....ummmmm.  Safe to say we talked to "Nadie" for 5 minutes and all I could picture was Despicable me! Best part, "nadie" told us to come back to teach two days later.  What a great guy.

2. Being an American girl in Mexico is simply awesome for so many reasons, but one of my for sure favorite reasons is all the cat calls that leave me laughing for days.  Ive stopped trying to give them death glares like we're told to do because I always end up laughing no matter what so there's no point.  Best of all we were up in Cuernavaca this week (us four newbies without our trainers) to get visas and basically it's impossible for four American girls to ever blend in.  We were just walking down the street when a car stopped in the middle of the road so the man could welcome us to Cuernavaca in his sexy voice.  Safe to say Elder Monterith was freaked out! Which lead to a whole conversation about how that's our everday life.  He didn't belive us until it happened 6 more times within that hour.

3. This one might only leave Cara DeBellis laughing but I feel that it will at least put a smile on everyone's face.  We had interviews with President Kusch this week, the head of our mission, and I was terrified because we were suppose to teach him a lesson all by ourself.  Before my interview I was standing in the lobby doing every ice skating pattern/tap dance I could remember and basically felt like I was about to jump on the ice for an ice skating test.  My comp and Elder Nish finally distracted me by asking about my name which naturally lead to the pink panther hamburger thing as always (from the Steve Martin version).  So with my back so nicely turned to the door I started imitating the "I want a hamburger" portion for them in full action and character.....naturally right as President walked out.  "So, do I need to let you finish, cause I'd hate to ruin this moment?" Awesome and story of my life hahaha! What number is that Cara??

It's certainly safe to say the mission life is hard, but I'm pretty sure the only factor that was hard this week was attempting to see how much happiness I could handle.  I was basically exploding with joy, all day, every day.  This week we had the baptism of Adriana, an amazing women who just gets it, and she asked me to sing a solo because she loved how joyful I was when we all sang at Alexis' baptism.  I'm all in for singing, but a solo? I was a little more then nervous.  I called our district leader that morning and asked if he'd be in for a duet and he said he would let me know in a half hour. One hour went by, then two, then three....so I prepared "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and said A LOT  of silent prayers.  Ten minutes before, he shows up and is like, "you ready?"....ummm, sure, okay Elder! We sang the "Lord is My Light."  The Spirit was amazingly powerful and the whole room was in tears.  We all just sat there in silence for a moment and let the joy of the moment seep in.  Thats why I'm here!

This week was just miracle after miracle after miracle and I don't really know how to describe it without sounding like I'm bragging.  I glory in it because I know every blessing wasn't from me, but certainly from the Lord who continuously guides us!  This week we had the possibility of having 21 investigators at church, so I was hoping for at least 2.  The past couple of weeks we've only had one, Adrianna, and now she's a member.  We were praying hard and doing all we could.  We left the house to pick up Francisco (what an outstanding gentleman!) and drop off Mohommad to show him where the church was. It took him 20 minutes to answer and it was enough time to get me sweating.  He was all ready to go, so that put a smile on my face.  We waited for 15 minutes at the arches for the other families and no one showed, but I was still beaming because Francisco was with us.  We got to church and found four more of our investigators already there (huge smile), then two amazing young women told us their mom (not a member) and their neighbors that we are teaching were on their way (face splitting smile), THEN 20 minutes before Sacrament Meeting ended Erendiras family walked in!!!!!! There were so many people at church that we had to invite everyone halfway through the meeting to scoot their chairs together and get rid of the middle aisle so there was room for all the people under our little tarp/make shift church.  The outer walls, under the trees, and any other place with a little bit of shade were packed with people and I just couldn't stop beaming!!!! The greatest part was how fast our ward was to act and rush over to meet our investigators and get to know them.  That's right Dad, this isn't Oregon ;) When our investigators were leaving it was basically a receiving line out the door with so many members saying goodbyes. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!

I truly believe the greatest part of the mission though comes after the baptism.  It's safe to say the progression of our investigators NEVER stops and as the gospel works in their lives it's just....wow!!! Okay, so I'll try to explain that better.  Alexis, the boy who was baptized about three weeks ago and with whom I am now racing through the Book of Mormon, blows my mind everyday.  Sometimes I wonder if he meditates about what he could possibly say to straight up blow my mind out of the water.  The first time he told me he was already on chapter 9 two days after we started the race, the other time when he said he liked church, another time when he told us we needed to talk about repentance because he needed to do that in his life, AND THEN the other day when we asked him if there was anyone he knew that could benefit from this message (which we've done a million times) and he said he had a ton of friends he'd love to introduce us to because he knew the Gospel could greatly benefit their lives.....WHAT?!?!?! *fell out of my chair* He's just so happy at church, crazy engaged, and already being a missionary.  I can't wait to help him get to the temple and maybe out on his own mission someday! Seeing his faith greatly builds mine!!

Well remember how our area is an hour big?? It's safe to say I've never been so broke in my life!!! We get 1600 pesos a month, roughly, and I've spent 1200 on transportation! You're only suppose to spend 500.  We've really been focusing on all the areas nearby that we can walk to. For opening an area were finally starting to reap the rewards! So many golden investigators!!! We have so much work we don't know what to do with it all and the other sisters in our ward are extremely envious.  We're trying to decide how to divide the area.....and it looks like we might have to move upward to a remote town with no members, no investigators, and no menos activos (JOY) and start all over again which I'm not too thrilled about, but I have to have the grand vision of my mission so if that's what it takes thats what I'll do.  

My Book Bag

So yeah, this is my life and I could not be more joyous for it!!!! With transfers we now how 5 missionaries in our ward and four of us are Americans ;) I thought Hermana Encinas, the only native, was going to pass out! For p-day, I took the initiative and invited all the kids who live in our town to meet us at the soccer fields at 3 for some futbol! Can't wait for this next week and all the joy that I'm sure will come with it as I continue to do my part.  Thank you for all your love and support cada dia! I cannot even begin to explain how appreciated it is!! Look for the positive in everyone and doubt the bad!

 

Have a blessed week,

May the joys of life find you where ever you may be,

Hermana Neuberger