Supresa!

Well I am such a fan of all the surprise visitors that have been passing through Tepoztlan!!!! It's also become a problem cause I think I've given myself serious whiplash from all the crazy head turning it's caused.  I'm also a little jittery now because I truly believe that I keep seeing people that really aren't there.  Today we were standing in the center not really looking at anything, WAITING FOR FERB AND CAPENER TO COME SEE US (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), when around the corner walks Carlos.  We make eye contact and awkwardly stare at each other as he enters the square.  I wasn't positive it was him cause he was still far away and he wasn't positive it was me cause he couldn't see my name badge, but the awkward moment ended with huge smiles and a heartfelt handshake. I was so excited and didn't even know what to ask him first.  I really wanted to know if the entire Garcia family was there...but no.....BUT then Mohommad, Ali, and Eric!!!!!! And while we were standing there laughing and talking I got jumped from behind by two of the coolest/most amazing/greatest people ever which resulted in a lot of joy and happiness and crazy hugging.  So we had a Oaxtepec reunion and it was awesome! It was one of the greatest Pdays ever just cause I got to spend the entire time with Ferb and Capener and laugh out of my mind at all of our crazy stories and stuff.  It's really weird cause I haven't seen them both in over four months....and now it just feels like normal times all over again....I don't want them to leave in 30 minutes :(

Reunion with Oaxtepec crew

Time is passing so fast I don't even know what to think.  You all wonder what I did last week and I have to be perfectly honest when I look back and wonder the same thing.  Weeks feel like days so I often have a hard time realizing what I did each day.  Daddy Morningstar was back in town this week (and only for a week...) so we only had a chance to teach them once cause they were crazy busy doing everything family with the very short time they had together.  He won't be back again till February but that's okay cause the missionaries who are here in Tepoztlan in February are gonna be so grateful for how much we have prepared this family and how ready they all are for their baptism.  Our goals is to act like they're already members and to continue strengthening their testimonies so they're beyond ready.  I love how much they love us and their desire to know more.  Plus the fact that their oldest daughter (Christina) is now a crazy awesome and strong member happens to help a LOT! 

Attendance at the branch has been really little as of lately and we don't know what to do.  We have some of the most powerful lessons of my mission with MA and I was so certain they were gonna be back at church the next Sunday.....nothing.  This week was Stake Conference so we had to take the bus ride to Cuernavaca for conference...which meant that basically everyone decided not to come, even the "active members".  That was super ruff and yet really rewarding, let me explain why.  Saturday night we went beyond crazy inviting everyone possible and reminding everyone possible that tomorrow the bus was leaving from the gasolinera (which is kind of far away from everything) at 8 am.  We promised everyone that they could sleep on the bus ride there and that it would be a really rewarding experience.  We arrived at the gas station first Sunday morning and waited as the member started trickling in.  First surprise, Yeni showed up and was ready to go (she's only been to church once in my time here) and then not just Mireya but ALL OF HER FAMILY (even her non-member children) showed up! Needless to say it was quite jaw dropping.  The conference was very enjoyable, primero, because the talks were amazing as always, second because it was a conference year when a general authority visits, third because everyone decided to speak in Spanish instead of using a translator....giggle, giggle, giggle....I hope you can imagine how that went down.  We listened to Elder Neil A. Anderson speak some interesting Spanish, but I think it's safe to say that he fought to the end and everyone really appreciated it.  I think the coolest part about the whole thing was that it was the first time that any of the Spanish saints had heard the real voice of Elder Anderson, usually they just listen to a voice over of a translator!  After the conference I didn't know what to do with myself as everyone gathered around their friends from the stake and missionaries with their investigators.  Safe to say I felt like the biggest loner of all time BUT looking around at how happy everyone was, especially the investigators, filled me with a greater resolve to get my investigators to church next week and back on track to progression.

One of the coolest moments/straight up miracles that happened this week occurred late one night when an appointment fell.  I feel as though all the stories of miracles happen in the same kind of settings.  We weren't really sure to do with our hour so we went looking for a reference that lived near by.  It was super dark so we started knocking on just about every door cause we couldn't read the numbers and everyone needs the gospel anyways! As we were knocking on one door their neighbor happened to answer and asked what we needed.  We asked him if he knew the person we were looking for, "nope I'm new here", "oh perfect, well we're the missionaries", "......Yeah i noticed your badge....I'm a member..." JAW DROP!!!! Turns out he was baptized about 6 years ago in the District and was young mens president for a year.  He moved to Tepoztlan a year ago and became less active.  But he certainly won't be less active for long.  He got really excited as we bore our testimonies and then ran in to introduce us to his wife, who is now a new investigator!!! I love how much the Lord works through us to find the people who need to remember the great love he has for each of them and the joy the gospel can bring to families.  As we were walking back, giddy about the experience we had just had, we walked by another family and I felt impressed to contact them.  They accepted everything and we had our first appointment with them yesterday night.  It took an hour to find their house because they live on the most poorly numbered street in probably all the world and then they weren't home (always a missionary bummer).  We decided to pass back by later and the family was thrilled that we had taken the time to see them again.  Turns out they have an older son who has actually been to church over 20 times but in a different area (chiado!).  What can I say, I just love my families of 5!

I'm so grateful for the great work and golden opportunities that I have each day to be here truly helping others with all my energy and all my time! In the words of Lucy Smith I often wonder and ask the Lord, "What comes next for willing hands to do?"

Until next week ;)

Hermana Neuberger

Half Way . . . No Way!

Wow I just got done reading probably the greatest grouping of emails I think I've ever received and just about all of them said the same thing, "I miss you like crazy! When are you coming back?!" SURPRISE!!!!!! It's November, I'll be back soooo soon that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I past my halfway mark last week and now I'm in the home stretch wishing I could add about 30 more hours to each day cause I feel like there is never enough time to accomplish everything.

'just like to say that Tepoztlan has to be one of the greatest areas to ever be in, literally there is never a lull in the work there is to do! Better then anything else is how blessed we are to have some of the most amazing investigators EVER! Sadly we've currently been having some problems in our branch so Hna Hernandez and I have been talking with President Kusch and that leads to my greatest story ever of the week.  We were walking some back streets in Tepoztlan at about 8 pm when we received a phone call.  The other sisters had already called about 10 times because they were trying to meet up with us for divisions but just kept getting lost, so we assumed it was them.  I answered the phone with a quick "Bueno" and was shocked out of my mind when I heard the voice of President on the other side.  "Hermana Neuberger.  I've been thinking, it's been a super long time since I visited Tepoztlan, like almost 2 years, so I think I'm going to come to your branch tomorrow.  How do I get there?" (In my mind: WHAT!?!?!) In reality: "Okay President that sounds great!" The best part was that about 20 minutes later we received another phone call informing us that we would be the two people speaking in sacrament meeting (oh joy).  We decided to let the whole thing be a surprise for the other sisters so when they showed up to church the next day the president would be there.  Basically that whole night my comp was so giddy I thought she was going to ruin the surprise.

We were walking the next morning and saw President's car turning onto the street where the church is and my comp started jumping up and down she was just so psyched. Safe to say it was quite hilarious.  President accidentally passed the church (house of prayer) so we made it there before him.  We went to put our stuff down in the chapel and I stopped dead in my tracks because there was none other then MOHO, my old ward mission leader from Oaxtepec.  We both had a moment of freak outs aka "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?" "WOW BEST DAY EVER!!!" I then spent about 10 minutes before church, 10 minutes before Sunday School, and 30 minutes after church asking about everything, investigators, converts, the ward, families I love, and how the missionaries are doing.  I was super sad to hear that the missionaries currently have about zero investigators because they only work in our area for 2 days a week and then are on divisions in other areas every other day.  I guess that's what happens when the AP sister training leaders take your place, but according to Moho, the ward is ticked and want us back (it made me feel a little good). Anyway, I felt like my talk was a bunch of stammered words, but everyone really liked it.  Moho was laughing forever afterwards because of how nervous I was...apparently I was shaking, but HELLO my mission president was sitting behind me on the stand!!!! It was just an amazing Sunday and yet another amazing start to a new week.

So I just love general conference more then anything else and recently found two talks that I think are just incredible.  The first is by Presidente Uchtdorf that talks about Regrets and Resolutions.  He points out three things that most people regret at the end of their lives; not spending enough time with my family, not reaching my full potential, not letting myself be happy.  But the part about the talk I love the most is how President Uchtdorf teaches that all of these things that we can regret in the future are affected by choices we make in this moment.  Right now is when we need to be spending time with our family, right now we need to try our best everyday and then in the future we can accomplish what we want to become BUT, more then anything, WE CAN CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.  Despite everything there is ALWAYS a reason to be happy and when we find it we should keep it close to our heart so when the hard times come we can remember and continue to be happy through it all! All of this reminded me of a Holland talk about the disciples after the death of Christ. Elder Holland expressed what the Lord may have said, "What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world." Truly our message is something that can change the world and it can change the world everyday by the manner in which we share it.  We can choose to live the gospel, to live the things we know to be true, and this will cause us to be happy.  I know that to be true!!! The more and more we live the gospel each day, really really live it, the happier we will be!!

Choose to be happy this week,

Look for the good in every moment,

Hermana Neuberger

Ghosts in the Streets

Wow can I just start by saying that Mexico just has got it all going right. Here they’ve truly accepted Halloween, but made it their own and mixed it in with their own holiday, Dia de los Muertos.  Basically they do what we do, but on steroids.  The streets were so crowded I kept losing my companion.  If you’re not giving out candy you’re in the street asking for candy with your family.  Here there’s no age limit so everyone takes part.  It’s also super cool because here you carry your jack a lantern with you.  Yes, the pumpkins are a whole lot smaller so it’s not a huge deal and the street just looks awesome with all the light.  Everyone was so happy and animated about the whole event.  I wish I could have taken pictures of the whole thing, due to new regulations we can’t take pictures, but I guess I’ll leave it up to all of you to look at pictures on line.  Also Mexicans aren’t happy with just one chance to go around asking for candies.....so in eight days the whole festivities will be happening all over again in full force and I’m super excited!

This week we had a huge drop in church attendance, I blame Dia de los Muertos, but in the missionary department there was crazy success.  We have huge goals with both presidents about church attendance and we’re trying like crazy to get more and more people each week.  This week had me down cause we had been rocketing upward, but then I looked around at our investigators, recent converts, and the crazy amount of less actives that were back and I had to smile because it was just a small tender mercy that they were all there.  Two amazing things that happened at church: Well Salvador came to church this week for the first time in about 5 years and he was so happy that all he could say was that he was happier than words could express.  Other thing, there was a young couple visiting from the District and the awesome guy grabbed a hymnal and sat right next to one of our investigators to show him how it was all done.  Yup, I know understand why the missionaries in the district baptize about five people each week, those members are unreal amazing! It really got me thinking about the members that we want to be.  Any member who acts like this is instantly golden in the eyes of every missionary.  But more than anything, more than just the members we should be, it’s more about the people we should be.  We should always have this general desire to reach out and touch all those around us.  In every moment we need to look and not just stop there but find the way in which we can help.  We shouldn’t need to wait for someone to ask, we should just do, and do it willingly and with happiness.  I love the people from the District and they always animate me when they visit our branch, never the same twice, but always the same amazing spirit and powerful testimonies.  Just remember who you mean to be, who you want to truly be, and then be that with all your heart!

This week we also taught the fabulous Morningstars about temples and the work we can do for our families there.  We watched Together Forever (probably one of the greatest church films ever) and after bore our testimonies.  I don’t know if it was just the fact that we miss our families or the spirit, but both me and my comp were in tears and a loss for words.  WOW oh wow the truth of it all just hit me with a force I can’t describe! Do we realize how good we have it?! We are part of amazing families and there not just a temporal thing, they’re meant to be eternal and that’s what they can be.  How often I think I take this knowledge and the blessed covenant of sealing in the temple for granted.  I know that my family can be together forever someday, to never again be separated! To share that message with other amazing families is a huge blessing.  It doesn’t matter who you are, we all love our families.  So why not love them forever? Why not be with them forever? Why not enjoy that blessing for all eternity.  I’m truly grateful for the spectacular family that God saw fit to bless me with and I am truly thankful for the covenants that my parents made in the temple so that we can be together forever.

This week we challenged Itzel, who is also less active, to invite him to church.  She was really freaked out cause she said she’s done it about a thousand times and he always gets super mad, but she did it anyway, and there he was Sunday morning.  I ran over to shake his hand again at the end of sacrament meeting.  I asked him how he felt and with a huge smile he said, "a joy I cant describe!" Wow missionary work is so worth it.  There are so many amazing MA (which sometimes feels like a double negative to write) that are just so ready to get back to church....we just have to find them and then get them out the door.  Its certainly difficult here because the branch has so much history and everyone talks about everyone (a super bad thing).  A lot of people have left the church just because of the untrue rumors that have been spread about them.  As the missionaries we get the story from both parties and then have to try to figure out the truth so I decided to try to put an end to it all this week during branch council (which we’ve actually had for two weeks in a row now which is nothing short of a miracle).  I was magically called on to give the spiritual thought and I shared the scripture about the moats and beams in our eyes.  I invited them all to forget everything that’s happened in the past and invite all the MA back with open arms. I challenged them all to reach out to those that they haven’t talked to in a while or who possibly aren’t there because of something that they once said.  Everyone was super silent for a good minute afterwards, during which time Presidente Pineda reentered the room.  He looked around and was like, "what’s wrong?!" and that broke the silence.  Hopefully everyone can take that message to heart and we can stop all the gossiping.  Also in branch council we were talking about different MA and someone made the comment that they’re never going to come back to the church.  Israel (who’s a recently reactivated MA and now young mens president...still not sure how that works) got really angry and serious and told the branch council to never give up on anyone until they say you’re never allowed to come back cause we can’t judge when they might return.  It was super awesome and powerful and gave me more desire to get out there and find even more Menos Activos (less actives).

We have seen nothing but blessings from the Lord here in Tepoztlan.  Recently we’ve been spending the last hour of the night just in the center of Tepoztlan contacting everyone because it’s a better use of our time then trying to find people at home.  Every night we’re standing in the square thinking, "wow we need a MA" and Bam almost instantly there is a MA walking by and they have the desire to sit down and talk to us for a while.  It’s crazy! I can’t really explain it all but it make us more desirous to talk to everybody because we start with a prayer and then we enter the center knowing that there is a MA somewhere we just need to talk to everyone to find out who!

Have the greatest of weeks,

Hermana Neuberger

Nothing But Smiles

WELL Hello there all you fabulous people!!!

Hermana Hernandez in the hospital

First off I have to comment, because I promised my branch president that I would, we had 71 people in church this week. Yes that's right, SEVENTY-ONE!!! It was nothing short of a miracle.  The weird thing was that it didn't feel like there were any new people there or people who were returning because everyone was just so warmly accepted.  Basically it was thrilling.  Also, thanks to mother nature and Benjamin Franklin, we gained an hour...and most of Mexico was not aware so everyone showed up early, thinking they were late, and we not only started Sacrament Meeting on time BUT there were about 40 people there.  It just had me and Presidente with huge smiles on our face the entire time. 

Cristina's Baptism

Speaking of miracles, there were so many that happened this week I think it would be impossible to list them all but something that was certaintly a miracle for two sister missionaries who were crazy lost in what felt like tornado winds and a lot of rain was the random car that stopped and offered us a ride! I love all memebers in every part of Mexico! Our baptizm this week came together and we had an amazing turn out.  The coolest part was that the boyfriend from Utah gave a talk via skype! Probably the first and last time were going to do that but it was super cool! At the end of the service we were talking to her boyfriend and Cristina got all serious and told her boyfriend that she was going to serve a mission....the whole room got REALLY silent and the poor guy got super red....and then we all started laughing cause it was a joke.  Basically shes asked him a LOT about missions because she now has such a desire to serve one...so we shall se what actually ends up happening.  She would be such an amazig missionary and im kind of half supporting it.  The whole family is just so incrediable that i cant help but smile when Im around them.  The mom is mom, if that makes sense and I cant wait for Momma N to meet her cause I know theyll be great friends.

There truly is no greater joy then watching others take the steps that we know will bring them more happiness then we can express.  This week I was hit a little by a wall of pride that made me realize that I know this language now and I can really say stuff.  I think the best part is that I can now target peoples needs and really express to them the importance of the message we bring.  There is nothing like the

gospel and there certaintly is nothing else that is as precious in our lives.  I just love how the mission has given me such a different perspective on life and true purpose.  As we keep an enternal perspective we can have more joy then we can even fathom.

So much love,

Hermana Neuberger

Inspired Leaders

Well Hello all you Fabulous People Whom I LOVE,

Just because I'm pretty sure there are some rumors spreading a little too rapidly, I'd like to confirm that I am completely fine! Yes, there are certainly big problems going down in the boundaries of my mission' but I'm pretty sure the whole thing has only increased my perspective that the Lord calls inspired leaders.  In any other situations I'm sure the idea of moving over 100 young adults into safety would have been considered quite daunting, but here we're a team.  The mission is so well organized that everything moved like clock work and there was not a moment of panic.  Though I'm sure there was a ton of stress on President's part. Right now all the missionaries are living in the boundaries of Morelos.  They closed the four biggest zones of the mission and every area in Morelos is now stocked with two additional companionships.  Elder Chiser was a little shocked when he found out he was training....but I think he was a little more shocked when he found out that he now was going to have six more companions.  They walk down the street like an army and it's all quite amusing.  There are still a few elders living in the offices and doing random splits with different areas everyday, but overall everyone's settled into a random corner and really happy.  I'm so excited for our district meeting tomorrow because our district is going to have gone from 7 people last week to 35 people this week. GOSH, its going to be awesome.  Plus all my dear friends are now so close to me that I just want to go to Cuernavaca everyday so I can run into all of them!

The break down:

-Last Saturday we received a call that transfers would not be happening Monday.

-Monday we received a call that we would find out about transfers on Tuesday at district meeting. (1st trip to Cuernavaca)

-Tuesday we found out that they were pulling the sisters out of San Andres (the other companionship that lives with us) and closing the area for a time.  We gained Hna Harmon as part of our trio. (2nd trip to Cuerna for district meeting)

-Wednesday we headed to the offices (3rd trip to Cuernavaca) to drop off Hna Ayala and say goodbye...then we hiked to the estrella oro (where we were supposed to meet the zone leaders) which really isn't that far away from the offices...but if Hna Neuberger is leading to an unknown destination....well it took us a half hour, but we talked to some really cool people and ran into two sets of zone leaders who let us in on some transfer secrets so it was all good. We waited for about 20 minutes and then called about all the missionaries in our phone trying to figure out which was the number of the zone leaders.  Which resulted in some super funny phone calls.  We finally got in touch with the zone leaders only to find out that they were in the offices :l so we hiked it back (this time it only took 5 minutes).  Biggest secret surprise that was going down in the offices that we got to also know about, our zone leaders were becoming the APs....after only being our zone leaders for a week :/

-Thursday we received a call that we needed to be at the offices at 9 am

-Friday morning, as we were leaving the house, we received another call that we didn't need to go....only to receive a call two hours later that they needed us in Cuernavaca.  So we dropped everything and headed out to pick up our new companion.  (4th Trip to Cuernavaca) Her name is Hna Hernandez (also) and she's from Vera Cruz and just awesome and bubbly and perfectly happy about life, basically the description of every missionary I know.  She was a little bit sick and apparently had been sick for about 5 days.

-Saturday Hna Hernandez called the doctor and he asked her to come in for a check up....two hours later we got a call that she had forgotten all her cards and couldn't check into the hospital...so the never failing Tepoztlan sisters headed to Cuernavaca (5th Trip) to bring her insurance cards and money.

And so this week we never had a full day of work, only about 2 hours every night, which made things rather interesting and us determined to make every moment count just a little bit more.  Fun fact: it takes an hour and a half to get to Cuernavaca by bus...and then the same amount of time to get back...plus waiting for buses...

But despite it all we were still able to find quite a few blessings.  The German Family that I believe I mentioned last week, was one of the most amazing lessons I've ever had.  We were laughing so hard the entire time with there adorable children and just about other things.  They have officially nicknamed us Mary (because I'm American) and Maria and its just amazing.  When we asked them what there belief in God was they went off on a tangent for about 30 minutes where they basically described and talked about everything that we had planned to teach them.  I'm pretty sure I've never heard anyone say that they believe an apostasy happened after the death of Christ and that there needed to therefore be a restoration of the truth except at church.  Also, that the only way that God could do that would be to call a new prophet for our time.  My comp and I just sat there gapping.  They're not promising us anything but even if were just planting a seed with them it will certainly be the greatest seed Ive ever planted!

A quote that I really liked this week comes from the always incredible Elder Holland (can't remember it word for word):

"Imperfect people is all God has ever had to work with.  Don't focus on your imperfections, look past them.  Better yet think of all you can become if with His help,  and then do it!"

I'm not here to be perfect, my imperfections get me down each and everyday.  But when I truly put it all in the Lords hands, that's when we see the miracles, that's when were lead by the spirit, that's when every single moment becomes sooo worth it that there aren't even words to explain.  Let the Lord morph you into your most perfect self! He wont do it against your will but with His help we can truly accomplish all things :)

With an abundance of love,

Hna Neuberger

So That Happened

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WHAT A WEEK!!!!

There once was a place called O, where once upon a time they almost killed the missionaries...let's just say the Elders came back from there a little worse for wear.  Every Catholic church (there's one every two or three blocks in all the areas of T) has a loud speaker at the top of its steeple to announce when mass is going to start and other prayers. The dear people of O used this speaker to announced to the whole community NEVER to talk to the young men in white shirts and ties.  Better yet if you see them, get rid of them.  So yeah were not suppose to go there....but I'm new here and so is my comp so how am I suppose to know these things right?? I'm all about seeing every part of my area because my thought is that if we don't go to every pueblo then possibly we are missing out on a golden person who wants to hear more of our message.  That being said I can see why O is off limits, the people really don't like us, but I survived and the best part is that we got to find a less active family that was thrilled to see us.  Positive or Negative?...I think it was more positive! ALSO there once was a place called A where the people threw rocks at the missionaries when they tried to visit a member....needless to say, I've been there too....there should really be a sign or something ;) I think the best part about these areas is that there is no cell phone service (let's be honest there is no cell phone service in almost all of T) but there must be angel service because not only were we protected BUT we found some truly amazing people!!!!

I guess that was basically our whole week, the best way to describe it, MIRACLES! We were walking down the street last Sunday night and stopped to talk to a young family.  Turns out the mom had talked to the missionaries before about 10 years ago.  My comp and I still can't describe why the spirit was so powerful during our first lesson with them, but we both left just in awww with the biggest of smiles across our faces.  They're such an amazing family with four kids under the age of 8 (with the craziest nagwat names you've ever heard so I can't even come close to saying them).  I think my favorite part of the entire lesson was when Maya (the mom) committed to be baptized and the husband´s (Ramon) jaw dropped straight to the ground.  He said that his wife never commits to anything if she's not certain about it and that she's never been super big on religion.  Basically he convinced himself that if this was something his wife saw as a turning point then he did too and quickly agreed to be baptized also!

Wednesday the sister training leaders did divisions with us, which was just what I needed to remind me of how lessons works when your companion has more time on the mission then you.  It felt kind of relaxing to let them take the lead and to really listen louder.  It was also a huge wake up call that in a lot of our lessons I've been really focused on trying to follow the lessons and make sure my comp knows the order instead of following the Spirit which is what it's all really about.  Safe to say we had a day full of finding amazing people at every turn.  It just reopened my eyes to how amazing my area is and how much work there is to do here.  It made me even more desirous to get my hands dirty and just talk to EVERYONE! Basically I was super spiritually renewed and it felt so good.

The next day we finished the last segment of the districts, and with that ending, and the memory of the spirit that was here with the sister training leaders, we hit the day with a force of a thousand winds and a ton of faith and hope.  And basically when you enter the day with hope like that you see everything as a miracle and a blessing and there is nothing better!!! (Side note: I'm trying a lot harder to note every blessing I see in my day and trust me it brings so much extra happiness that I basically burst with smiles)  We were walking down the street and passed a lady reading the Bible on her porch and I felt impressed to talk to her so we stopped to ask her what she was reading about...."oh just James chapter 1," she responded and I just about had a heart attack! So she invited us in and we talked about how true James 1:5 is and how we can always ask God for help and shared the Jose Smith story.  And that was just the start of blessing after blessing after blessing of that day.  We got lost walking (I would love to know how many miles I walk each day.  Let's just say going from Ocotes to Tierra Blanca to return to Ocotes and after to San Jose was a doozie that left me cramping at the end of the night.  The members think were absolutely crazy for ever walking that, but we don't have 30 minutes to wait for a cambi and we're cheap and don't want to pay for cambis.) BUT ANYWAY, we ended up in Xilotepec which is the neighboring barrio (yup here the whole place is divided into barrios, as every good Catholic city, where each barrio has its own church in the center.  Basically it's as if we lived in Utah and our stake center was in the center and then their were the different church buildings around it) BUT ANYWAY we found ourselves in Xilotepec that's the neighboring Barrio to Tierra Blanca, except that its higher up on the mountain and has the most amazing view of everything.  It was so pretty that we're going back today to take pictures and just enjoy the hike.  As we were trying to figure out how to get to Tierra Blanca we found more amazing people.  And basically in quick summary we taught the family Vargas (less active) and they all came to church this Sunday, we found a less active that had been praying that we would stopped by, an old investigator wants to take another go, and that amazing family that I mentioned before kept us smiling. The moment that capped it all right before we entered the house Saturday night was when we found the German family (that I've been praying we would find again) sitting in one of the cafes.  At first we just walked by and exchanged hellos, then kept walking, but I paused long enough for my comp to ask what was up.  I told her that this was an answer to my prayers, but I didn't know how to go back and talk to them without it being weird (yup, I'm a failure what can I say) but my comp, being the amazing person she is, insisted that we needed to talk to them and dragged me back...where I did all the talking in a mixture of English, Spanish, and German.  Basically it was awesome and we're going to meet with them later this week. I was so giddy that I just fist pumped it out all night long ;)

I guess all I'm trying to say is that I have a firm faith in the Lord.  Not only that He is there watching over me, but more importantly that He can do all things.  Therefore with Him I know that I can truly do all things.  I've felt the lows and the highs of the mission, but I'm certainly appreciating the highs more then ever.  I look all around me and all I see is miracles and all I can see in the future is loads more.  Here it's safe to say there are a lot of people that don't like us, but once upon a time they didn't like the prophets of old either.  Once upon a time they even rejected Christ.  But amidst all of that there are those who are ready and there are those who have such a great desire to follow Christ that those who don't are quickly forgotten.  The hard times get us down, but the good times and amazing experiences are so sacred that they fill us up to the bursting point.  I know Tepoztlan is on a mountain, and possibly that helps, but I don't think I've ever felt so close to heaven then in my time here! Angels are truly walking with us and directing our paths.

In other news I found the coolest scripture this morning and really want to share it with all of you! In a very unread section of first Nephi(chapter 17) a scripture caught my attention so much that I would mind giving a talk on it for about five minutes.  In verse 9, Nephi asks the question "Lord, Where should I go to find..." (klee spanish translation).  It had me thinking all day about how that needs to be our first source to turn and our first reply to this work the Lord has called us to do....so I pulled a Holland and took some liberty with the scripture and morphed it to us in the mission field.  Yep again another rough Spanish translation of what I wrote in Spanish, "Where should i go to find the knowledge I need to teach,  in order to do my part to have the tools to help in building your kingdom here (insert your area), following the way you have shown?"  And directly following in the next verse the Lord answers with where Nephi needs to go.  Like I said I could basically go on for an hour about how much I love this but I'll let you all come to your own conclusions.

May the Lord continue to bless each and every one of you and you put forth the effort.  May we all more readily recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives!!!

So much love,
Hermana Happy ;)

Still Swimming

Whelp I ALWAYS do that! I promise amazing stuff for next week.....and then I cant even imagine/think about what it was I was going to tell.  Whoops!  One thing that I for sure thought about a lot this week, or maybe better put finally understand, is why the FBI and CIA love hiring people from BYU so much.  We are all natural finders.  The mission trains us super well.  We go out every morning with the goals to find so and so and such and such and we don't come home till we've found them.    Lets just also throw in the fact that Tepoztlan is the worst numbered pueblo in the world so finding anybody on a good day takes expert skills. I love the surprise on peoples faces when they open the door and are like, "how on earth did you find me!?" All I can think of to say is, ".....well you gave us your direction.....and we have time...." I just love how that's truly our goal here, to find those who want to hear more about the gospel.  We're here to find so that we can also share the great gift that we have.

Really quick recap of my bday: A family that I love (even more now that I have 5 weeks in this area) invited me over for a bday meal....where we ate everything Mexican.  There were quesadillas, sopes, tostados, tacos, y empanadas and wow was mind blowing good! After that they brought out the cake.  During this whole party two other families called saying they had something special for my bday and that I should come to their house.....and the family I was with stole the phone both times to inform the other families that they had won....awesome!! After the cake, the little girls put in their Disney sing along disk and a lot of dancing and singing ensued.  Basically I really cant think of a more perfect bday experiencia.  And then afterwards we quickly passed by the other two houses where we recieved more cake and happiness.  I love the people here! They're just soooo amazing!

Tepoztlan is certainly hard to describe, it's certainly not easy.  The work here is really slow, but things are growing in a way that puts a smile on my face.  This week we finally had new people to teach and it felt so good to finally teach again that I didn't want the appointments to end.  But at the same time finding all of these less actives that have lost connection with the church is truly rewarding.  I find myself becoming more and more involved everyday and sometimes it certainly stresses me out but all is well.  There's so much to do I just have to do it one step at a time. The works slow, but there's so much work to do that I'm not complaining.  Right now we are trying to find every less active on the ward list and we have had quite a lot of success. The less actives that we find every day are truly thankful for our visits cause they haven't had contact with the church for years.  Being back to square one is a crazy humbling experience but its truly amazing and powerful to have my testimony of what this area can truly become! I can see the big picture because I've been here before.  I truly think that's the way it is in every moment of our life, we can see the big picture, the struggle is trying to find out how exactly we are going to finally make it there and color in each part. That's why God's plan is perfect! We know all the steps and the possible future results but we have to fill in the middle parts with our actions and what we put into it.  The overall picture/plan of our Heavenly Father is super clear but he leaves us the task of coloring in each piece day by day.  I'm grateful for the struggle and the effort it takes on my part cause that's certainly when i have the greatest chance to grow. 

Love,

Hermana Neuberger