Man-Eating Monsters

I'm pretty sure I am currently serving in the craziest of all missions ever but I won't go into details! Life is still super good and I've never felt safer in my life.  Mexico is amazing!

Recently there has been, well they're calling it a plague, of mosquitoes.  But let me be completely honest with you, these are not mosquitoes!!! I've never seen a bug like this.  They look like gnats and they don't just stick their little straw in your skin, they bite, and then stick their whole head in.  I don't know how so little a body can take in so much blood but they hurt like the dickens and when you shoo them away you re left with a hole in your skin that doesn't stop bleeding! (and one just bit me as I wrote this soooo the irony).  Basically my already too white skin was quickly covered in quarter size red bumps, over a hundred, and i only have lived to tell the tail thanks to my comps 100% deet bug spray.

'Because I know someone wants to know, my comp is Hermana Garcia and though her name can be deceiving, shes American. Born and raised in Utah, just about as Mormon as she can get.  BUT both of her parents were born and raised in Mexico and her dad's actually from Cuautla (a city in my mission) so she has a lot of family near by (REMEMBER THIS!). Shes done with the mission super soon so were hoping that she dies with me. Basically life is one big laugh!

It was Hna Garcia's bday this Sunday and it was a fabulous day.  We hit the streets early and went crazy knocking every MA and investigators door and teaching little spiritual thoughts because everyone invited us in.  We ended up being a little late to church because Lady wasn't completely ready when we showed up to pick her up.  We sat down and I looked around in sorrow cause no one else was there.  But then magic happened as little by little all the other investigators began to arrive.  I had huge smiles as I stood up to help them find seats and everything.  At this moment most of our investigators are teenage girls.  With our investigators we doubled the size of the young women's (11) and it was fabulous.  But the number one best part of sacrament meeting was when Hna Garcia turned around, gasped, and then turned back to the speaker with this huge smile on her face.  YUP, her grandparents were sitting right behind us!!!! Probably one of the funniest moments of my mission life.  We both had huge smiles on our faces and were slightly laughing and to make matters worse all this went down while the new elder who has threeish days in Mexico was trying to bare his testimony in front of an entire congregation.  We then had all the ward missionaries stand in front so that we could know who they were and Adolofo would not stop making faces cause he felt so awkward and my comp and I were just even more all smiles! The bishop's family had a special cake made for Hna Garcia that was probably the most delicious thing I've ever tasted and Pochi did a REALLY good job of smooshing her face in it which had us all laughing for a good 20 minutes.  The night was topped off by a lesson with a new investigator that we got the chance to teach with Angel Moroni, I don't think it gets much better then that!

Were looking forward to a great new week!

Hermana Neuberger!

Adolfo Saves the Day

Wow, wow, wow, what another amazing week! So many good things happened and I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to remember them all so I'll just try to highlight the greatest in a form that is not to "novelish" for all the readers.

Adolfo is a YSA in our ward that returned from his mission about a year ago and has about 4 years as a member of the church.  He's basically the new Mohamed (a helpful member in a previous area), and wants to help us with everything with the extra added bonus that he knows how to do missionary work and knows everyone in all of Chilpo.  Basically, he's a huge help to two very lost missionaries who still can't figure out the labyrinth of streets that make up the 40 colonies in our area.  Long story short, this week we were a little ill (if you want to know how ill you can remember back to the story about the lady who didn't have a bathroom that lived on a hill....basically that ill) and when you combine ill and lost it doesn't always make the greatest combination.  As we were trying to make our way to an appointment, we found ourselves walking ovals and I thought I was going to pass out right there in the street.  I was trying to keep cool (as I was sweating bullets) but in my heart I was praying so super hard that there was a member who lived nearby who would miraculously open their door, see us, and invite us in.  In the midst of my agony, who else do we see then Adolfo walking down the street with a huge smile on his face.  We were slightly confused because he doesn't live anywhere close nearby, but I was just about ready to let out the Hallelujah chorus because he knows where every member in the ward lives.  He told us that he had been returning home when he randomly decided to try and find a faster route cutting through the colonies instead of taking the avenida (Yes, I believe in miracles). I'm soooo thankful that Heavenly Father hears and ANSWERS prayers....especially those of a "dying" missionary.  We began walking up the street with him to see the closest member, all under the pretext that that was who we were looking for, but then they weren't home (NOOOO!!!!).  Adolfo, the RM that he is, gets all excited and asks if we want to contact their neighbors.  At this point I'm grasping a car and trying not to show that IMO in pain.  After contacting three neighbors I just burst out, "I need a bathroom, NOW!" and Adolfo runs us to his aunt's house where both me and my comp die for an hour and then feel amazing! The whole rest of the day he took us everywhere and kept asking us how we were feeling (we got some quite delectable home remedies).  We went to visit a MA family that gave us the greatest agua of all time and as I was enjoying myself, eating the left over pieces of guanabana in the bottom I hear, "NEU, what are you doing!?" The whole room gets really silent and I look at Adolfo super confused. "Why are your fingers in your mouth, Neu I can't cure a patient that's trying to kill herself! Can someone get the poor thing a spoon, please?" The whole room bursts into laughter and I went super red, but holy cow I just love the people here and am so thankful for everyone of them!

Two other funny things that happened this week in short form:

We were really excited as we were walking home one night that there was a light on in the house of a reference.  So we ran around the corner to contact the reference in the five seconds we had before dark.  First off the door was wide open.  Second, there were a ton of people around the kitchen table.  Third (and easily the best part), the dinner was for the pastor of the church that she currently attends.  If I can just say . . . awkward moment;)

Yesterday, we forgot to answer the elders' question about what we were going to do today and then we went to an appointment so our phone was on silent.  During the entire lesson I just felt the phone ringing nonstop.  I was so stressed I couldn't even focus by the end of the lesson, by which point every member of the bishop's family had called us.  We finally got out of the lesson and called the bishop back.  "oh hey hermanas, the elders just wanted me to tell you guys that you need to call them" Really elders, you called our bishop?! So I gave my favorite elder a ring (the Mexican LZ is my favorite because he's already laughing when I answer the phone just waiting for my jokes) "bueno" "Elder, what on earth is going on?! Is the world ending tomorrow?! Will President Monson be giving a fireside?! Is President Kusch here and wanting to talk to us?!" "No hermana we just wanted to make sure you guys were okay...." and that sums up the elders! The bishop's family thought it was the funniest thing ever and laughed about it all through dinner.  It was only made better when the LZ actually showed up at the bishop's house to give him something and the whole family was trying to hide their smiles. If I haven't said it enough already, GOSH I LOVE THIS WARD!!!!

Which brings me to one of the greatest miracles of the week! The people here just seem to get it.  They understand how great a blessing the gospel is in their lives and they are so ready, so willing, and so forward in sharing it.  In my mission I've experienced wards that never give references, people who give them, but don't want you to say their names, but I have never experienced members who want to take us to meet all their neighbors or when were walking with them in the street just start pointing at 30 houses and rattling off names of people we should see.  It's truly a miracle and such a testimony builder to me! Recently we went with a sister to talk to her neighbor who didn't want anything to do with the church, as we were walking back to her house she wasn't depressed at all, as usually the members are, instead she had a huge smile on her face and said, "well at least we planted a seed!" She then went on to give us two more references. The way the ward here works truly makes me think about my own life, the one outside the mission, of what I've been failing to do.  Do we all look at everyone of our neighbors, family, friends, associates, and random people on the street and think "they need the blessings of the gospel, I'm gonna go talk to them so I can give their information to the missionaries" because that's how this ward thinks! How many are perishing in unbelief because I was too embarrassed, scared, or worried to give their names as a reference to the missionaries? How many people would have accepted? I guess those are things that I will never know, but I do know now the power of member missionaries.  It is truly only through our actions and are personal desires that we can accomplish our goals.  We cannot sit around hoping that someday, by some chance a pair of missionaries will run into or knock on our friend's door and they'll accept the gospel.  We don't need to wish because we can give them that gift first hand! The next time the missionaries pass by your house, don't leave them hanging when they ask for a reference, start listing off everyone you know, because here is the real question: Who doesn't need the gospel? And who are you to judge if someone is ready or not? The Lord knows their hearts.  They are children of God and He wants them also, not just you, to return to His presence once again one day.

In the words of my fabulous bishop (who entered the RS room agitated that there were very few people in church), "Where are those who you visit teach? Are they here? If they aren't here, why not? Vacation isn't a good enough answer! If you don't know their every need, you're not doing your job! This is where they need to be and they need to know that this is where you want them to be! It's not difficult, were asking for three hours of your time in the course of month at the minimum. But it's not me that's asking, this is your Heavenly Father that's asking! And I wouldn't be surprised that if on the day of judgement He looks at you and says, "well I'm glad you made it back, but I'd like to ask you something, where is so and so, why aren't they here too? Was it too much to ask for you to go and see them?!" Think about that sisters. What are you going to say to the Lord?! Repent!!!! And go find them that are lost!" May we all heed my bishop's call.  This isn't the work of a few, it's the work of many, and it's the work of God!!

Love you all soooo much,

Happy Neu Year ;)

May we all try, and not just try, but be a little better this year!!!

Hermana Neuberger

What Didn't Happen?

I am about to recount the greatest week of my missionary life!!!! I hope my sheer giddiness doesn't show too much ;) This week seems like a month because so much happened and I'm now living 4 hours away from Tepoztlan...but we'll get there in a moment.

Monday - After I finished sending my email home and finished yet another P day, we found ourselves with time to fill and no appointments.  As missionaries, when times like these come the only thing to do is get on your knees and ask the Lord for His guidance that you can make those hours worthwhile, and boy were they worthwhile! We ended up going to Ocotes to knock the doors of two references (for the 100th time) and, MIRACLE, they were both home and ready to hear our message.  We also found out that for one of them we were actually knocking the wrong door, but the women who lived there invited us in and was super excited to listen.  We then were walking through the square at the end of the night and I felt impressed to contact a woman in the three minutes that we had.  Turns out it was Gloria, an  old investigator that we had been trying to find at home repeatedly for two weeks.  Gosh, it was such a good day!

Because it was Christmas eve/Christmas nobody wanted to talk to the missionaries, or were on vacation, or had all their family in town, but it was okay because (like so many other missionaries across the world) we took to the streets caroling for everyone and knocking the doors of everybody we knew.  I'm pretty sure I've never had a more rewarding Christmas.  It sure wasn't white, but it was raining cats and dogs all Christmas eve and about 50 degrees so we found almost everyone in their homes with ALL their family because the parties at the Catholic churches were canceled! (huge blessing and miracle). The people were thrilled to see us. Safe to say that caroling isn't a thing here, so nobody knew what we were up to but the Latin comps took to it like it was a totally natural thing and just loved it.  We ended every visit with a joyful chorus of "we wish you a merry Christmas" just like back home.  Safe to say I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time!!!! By the end of the night we had so much candy in our bags that we just started giving it away to random strangers cause there wasn't room.  We also had about 7 sweaters and 2 umbrellas that were borrowed from members and MA that were worried about our health being soaked through in the rain ;)

The real drama went down Christmas day at 10:30 in the morning, Albino Ortego, #14, Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico.  We were headed to make our first rounds of caroling when the phone rang....and in the process of pulling it out of my bag I dropped it, sending the pieces in different directions, and ending the call.  "hope that wasn't important" were the joking words that came out of my mouth, oh how little I knew.  Instantly the phone of the other sisters began to ring, "......ummmm it's the zone leaders asking for you Hermana Neu" WHAT?!?! "Hermana Neuberger?" "yes?" "Pack your bags, you re shipping out tomorrow morning from Civac at 9:30" WHAT?!?! I managed to hide all my shock and surprise and then lie to everyone that he was just asking about our plans, don't know why they ever believed that.  The day passed just as fabulous as Christmas eve! After lunch we ran to the president's (of the branch) house to skype our families and they had everything ready.  I wish I had a video of the Neuberger shenanigans that went down in the hour that we were trying to get the skype to work because they were priceless and soooo labeled my family that I was almost in tears about how perfect it was.  First there was no sound, then there was no video, and then, when we had tried the laptop and tablet with no success and were going to resort to a phone call the skype decided to magically work! What a great chat/dance party/giggle fest with the greatest family ever! Everything was super great until I told my family that I was transferring, in English, while my non-english speaking comp and the other Latin comp that lives with us were sitting near by. Later, my family brought it back up again.....but there were English speakers in the room and they freaked out, leading to a Latin freak out when they found out what was going on....and then a lot of tears. The night was REALLY REALLY REALLY rough to say the least.  My comp refused to leave my side and I couldn't get her to crack a smile.  Words cannot describe how much I love that girl and how much I'm going to miss her! Truly my "daughter" that one, and I know she's going to just keep being a spectacular missionary! That night we all slept together with  7 blankets on top of us and it was the first good night sleep in days because we weren't all shivering to death!

The next morning, we showed up to the church to find a group of 30 Elders....and I was kind of wondering if the whole thing was a joke of some sort.  All the Elders were so happy and shouting with joy and it was the Zapata gang, so basically all the coolest American Elders, so I got crazy animated off their excitement AND THEN FOUND OUT WE WERE HEADED BACK TO GUERRERO!!!!!! 

A little bit of history for those who have forgotten or don't know, three months ago they took all of the missionaries out of Guerrero due to civic unrest on the account of 43ish students that went missing on their way from Chilpo to Iguala (might need to check those facts cause I'm also forgetting).  There were huge riots and a whole lot of problems, so for safety all of the LDS missionaries serving in this mission were sent to the state of Morelos (where I have always served and never left).  

So at the chapel on Friday, once things got a little settled down, all the companions not being transfered had left, and more hermanas had showed up, they called us into the chapel where President Kusch gave us a brief devotional and then told us our new areas! "Hermana Neuberger, you will be serving with Hermana Garcia in the Area of Aeropuerta, Chilpancingo...its one of the most amazing wards in all of the mission, enjoy" YES, SIR!!!! So I hope you can imagine how the 4 hourish bus ride to Chilpo was.  There are now 34 missionaries in the state of Guerrero (4 in Iguala, 10 in Chilpo, and 20 in Acapulco) of which only four are sisters (WOW).  We took a private bus with all the missionaries that would  first pass through Chilpo and then on to Acapulco. What a great trip it was!

They dropped us on the side of the road in Chilpo where we all waved frantically goodbye and wished each other the best of luck.  Our zone leaders/district leaders started giving directions and sent us in all directions.  We ended up at the house of our bishop, who then drove us to our house.....where we remembered that to open a door keys are very necessary, and keys were not something we had.  The keys to our house were still in Cuernavaca....small overlooked detail. We are currently living in Heroico (shout out to Elder Stutz), thank goodness there are other sisters here in Chilpo! I think the only way to describe my new ward is missionary paradise! I feel honored to be here.  The people here are so excited to have missionaries again that we have been invited to so many things we don't even have time.  Due to the fact that we don't have keys to our apartment we don't have access to any of the information about old investigators or anything, but that was not at all a problem.  The bishop sat us down and started giving us a list of people to go see and members who could help us get there and take us around.  Basically the last two days have reminded me a ton of a Sunday in Brazil with my family when we passed by the house of one member, who went with us to the house of another member, and then we went to another house gaining more people as we went.  Words just cant even come to describe how amazing the people are here and this ward (whistle) Heaven!!!!

Our Bishop is part of a family that has their own street, and they're all members. They cover two different wards, with the ward boundaries running right down their privada.  Every Sunday night they have an FHE with the whole family, more then 70 people and last night we were invited. COOLEST THING EVER!!!! I'm so in love with how amazing this family is and think it would be pretty cool to do something like this in the future with my own family....but only if we can live in Mexico or Brazil ;)

I cannot even begin to express how happy I am, how hot it is, how fabulous this ward is, how lost we are, and how much excitement is pumping through my veins with every hour of every minute of every day!!!!! We just want to get out there and work (we actually worked this morning instead of taking a Pday) so that we can show the ward that were going to match their awesomeness.  I have never felt so blessed in my life!

With so much love,

Hermana Neuberger

Funny Thing

I'm sorry to report that there is not a whole lot to report about this week because we spent three days living in Cuernavaca....so we had about two days to work.

FUN FACT: My comp (dear little Hna Hernandez) is DEATHLY afraid of cows.  I'm pretty sure I have never seen anything funnier in my life!!!!  It's also a fabulous experience because when are there not cows in the street? Let me try and paint the picture for you of how it usually goes down.  So we're walking down a beautiful country lane, laughing and joking, nobody in sight when we walk around a corner and bam, there in front of us are 4 to 8 cows munching on the grass on the side of the road.  Instantly my comp freezes and is like, "oh no, oh no, oh no! Espera Hermana, espera! Alguien va a venir a ayudarnos." (Wait, Sister, Wait! Someone is going to come and help us) Ayudarnos con que? (Help us with what?) Was my question the first time this went down. They're just cows.  Basically it ends up with me walking closer towards the cows dragging my comp who is clinging to my arm just begging me to stop and flinching like crazy every time the cows move.  We finally get passed them and she instantly starts consoling me, "Véase, no pasa nada" (See, nothing happened).  I need a video of it!

Soooo really thats my whole week basically, I'm super sorry. Enjoy the pics instead

Hermana Neuberger

Our Christmas Tree

The hike above the city

Just making pinatas

Our new zone jerseys

Where There Is Faith There Are Always Miracles

First off, not to brag or anything, but I have the most amazing family on the planet.  No joke. No lie. No discussion. I was thinking about all the amazing things we've done together and I'm just beyond amazed.  The things we're doing don't even matter, we could just be at home, but the joy that we experience together is unmatched and truly fantastic. I'm more then ever grateful for all of our fabulous Christmas traditions.  Mom, you would be pleased to know that your Christmas traditions have not been wasted on me.  The people of Tepoztlan have been very touched with the simple box that says "Eternal life, with love, Jesus Christ".  There are times where I hand it to people when we're contacting and I fear that I'm not ever going to get it back because they just love it so much.  That is certainly a Neuberger tradition that I cherish with all my heart!

On a funny note: recently people have been freaking out when I tell them that I from Missouri.  The conversation usually goes something like this:

"You're from Missouri...like in the United States?!"

"Yup"

"WOW, it's like crazy dangerous there.  I heard recently on the news that people are like shooting people and stuff and that the whole city is having a huge riot!"

I just look at the people and start laughing.  HELLO, WE'RE IN MEXICO!!!! But it sure makes me smile that people are worried about what's going up in my state when the neighboring state of Guerro is currently facing similar problems and it's only a 100 miles away.  Got to love the people here!

More then anything this week I'm beyond grateful for miracles!!! I truly know that the Lord will never leave us alone, He will always be there to help us overcome.  I'm beyond grateful for the opportunity that we had to fast this week.  And I know that the power of the Lord is stronger then anything that we can do.  We have an investigator named Ana that we've been teaching now for about a month.  We found her by accident one day when we were trying to find the home of a MA.  To say that she lives in the middle of nowhere would be an understatement! But anyway she has the most amazing spirit about her and has a testimony that the things we are teaching her are true......with all that being said she has never made it to church which means she can't progress.  So this week when we were planning out our lesson we talked about how we were going to address the matter.  As we were going over the part of the plan of salvation that we had discussed in the last visit and talking about our life here on earth she got super quiet.  We asked her if there was something shed like to share. "Well I just feel terrible that I always say that I'm going to go to church and then I never do.  I know that it's where I should be, and where I want to be but something always gets in my way.  Our time on earth is super precious and I can't just say that I'm going to do something, I need to do it!" Yeah, so we didn't end up talking about how church was important cause she covered it for us :) Later on in the lesson, because that moment wasn't mind blowing enough I guess, she asked," Do you guys think I'm ready to be baptized? Its something I REALLY want to do and I've been thinking about my date a lot this week. Do you think I know enough to be baptized? What do I need to do more to be ready?" Well safe to say that my comp and I were at a loss for words.  She looked at me to say something and I tried my hardest to make sense of Spanish because my brain was whirling in dizzy circles! All the next day we were thrilled about it and so sure she would be at church this Sunday, but all Saturday I kept thinking and worrying about her until my comp finally asked what was wrong.  I suggested that we pass by for her Sunday morning just to make sure that she knew where the church was.

Sunday morning we left the house at 7 to walk to her house (because we don't have a lot of money) and found her in the street with her three kids walking to a neighbor's house.  They were crazy surprised to see us and her face was just shocked when we asked about church.  "of course I'll be there.  It starts at 12 right?" UMMM it starts at 9, like in 30 minutes.  Ana was horrified to say the least!! She grabbed her baby, threw him over her shoulder and told the other children to start running.  We made it back to her house in record timing and I'm pretty sure she was ready in a time that was fast even in Neuberger standards.  We made it to church with 5 minutes to spare and huge smiles on everyone's faces.  Her children were AMAZING for all of Sacrament meeting (they're all under the age of 4) and then were thrilled out of their minds when the primary teacher came over to ask if she could show them to their classes.  Ana wasn't going to stay for the whole three hours (because they hadn't even eaten breakfast in the morning because they were in such a rush), but her kids refused to leave so they stayed longer then most of the members.  It was just awesome! Not to mention that the Family Morningstar was back at church this week and back in the progressing mindset, Sergio was faithful and fabulous along with Hilda who just has the strongest of testimonies and it was just the greatest Sunday of all Sundays!!!! For the second Sunday in a row the chapel was so full that we had every child sitting on a lap and still had to have people sit outside cause there wasn't anymore room to sit.  The best part is there are still so many more to get to church and then I can't even imagine what will do! I just love this place soooo much!!!

The Lord will NEVER let you down,

What we face in this life is nothing compared to what He faced and because He faced it He knows EXACTLY how to help us,

Have faith in Him in EVERY moment, of EVERY day, 

He truly lives,

He is the Gift http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

Hermana Neuberger

Accepted of the Lord

So I have like 20 minutes to write cause I'm covered in dirt and sweat and need to shower before 6.  BUT we went on the craziest hike today and I cant wait to take all of you on it.  The fact that we made it to the top is nothing short of a miracle!!!!! Safe to say it is a kind of Mexican "Angel's Landing" and the trail is really tough....if you can find the trail that is!!!! Safe to say,sorry mom, you and your fear of heights are not invited!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!! (safe to say I kind of forgot it was a holiday) After 50 pics of New York City from my mom I'm feeling slightly trunky and super psyched for my next Thanksgiving in NYC the only place to be for turkey day....that being said I can't really complain about where I am, the greatest place on earth!!!

This week was really, really, really, really hard.  The kind of hard that leaves you racking your brain for a Plan M because every other idea has fallen through; crazy jealous as you pass yet another eight references to the other Sisters of T for an address that used to be part of our area; and on your knees more then ever pleading for answers from the Lord.  I mean we are here to share the gospel with others.  Why on earth aren't missions easy!? BUT with all the thinking this week I made quite a few realizations.  Where is the success in a unfought battle? Without opposition mission life would just be 2 years without growth and that's exactly the opposite of what I want for my mission.

So with all that said let me tell you how much good comes form the bad.  No, it's true, we're still struggling more then ever, but we know there are people waiting and we need to find them and that vision gets us through just about everyday....that and putting our arms around each other as a silent sign that were in this together. I truly believe one of the greatest promises we have of the Lord is that He will always send answers or guides.  If we truly analyse every moment of our lives will soon quickly come to realize that there are no bad days, maybe hard moments, but never a bad day.  No matter what happens during the day, how many appointments fall, how many people flat out reject us, we still have the opportunity to have an effect on these peoples lives and that's all that really matters in the long run.  Hopefully were planting seeds and making a difference for the future.  If we accomplish that I can wake up every morning with a huge smile on my face ready for anything!

I found answers with answers this week in a talk called Accepted of the Lord.  Its times like this on the mission where you literally analyze every little thing and wonder what on earth it is that I'm doing wrong.  But naturally were all going to have low points and it might not mean anything at all.  People will ALWAYS have their agency to choose I'm just here to give them another option.  The talk outlines three important things to do in times like this that I've seriously been reflecting this week: self reflection to see if you truly have an honest and broken heart, contrite spirit to receive direction and understanding from the spirit, and to observe our covenants no matter the sacrifice (DC 97:8).  Having the spirit is the number one way to know you are accepted of the Lord, and without the spirit this work is truly nothing.  So I'll do my work for all I'm worth and continue to improve because I'm crazy human and there's always room to change and be better.  I truly treasure the spirit that I can feel in the lessons I teach, though they might be few.  I feel blessed everyday just for the opportunity to be a missionary cause there is no greater cause in the entire earth.

I also feel super accepted of the Lord this week in my own silly ways.  I hope I've explained chump change before (the money I find on the street after we did what the Lord wanted us to do. I consider it a pat on the back from heaven) because this week I found over 70 pesos worth of chump change.  I guess more then ever the Lord was looking out for me and just letting me know that He still has an infinite love for me and wants me to feel it!  

This Sunday was the Primary Program in church which resulted in attendance of 86 people....there wasn't even room for all of us.  Safe to say it was just mind blowing.  Our next plan is to figure out how to get those numbers every week.  Looks like the Primary might have to start making it a monthly event ;)

Life can never get better then serving others,

Love everyone around you,

Share the real meaning of Christmas (He is The Gift)

So much love,

Hermana Neuberger

Is This Legal?

It's fun not being the short companion

This morning we were reading out of the mission manual, My comp in English and I in Spanish, when all of a sudden (I might not have been paying the best attention) I hear my name, like my real one.  I look up super shocked and she just has a huge grin on her face.  "Whoops.  I meant Christ like.....Did you know that your name is super similar to Christ like??" I died of laughter :)

Well I'm going to use the term lost in a fairly free way because as missionaries, or in at least my case, we're never truly lost(Editor's note: this is said tongue in cheek as KL has a long reputation of getting lost).  This week we found out, or it might have been last week, that the Guerrero missionaries aren't ever going back so every area in Morelos was divided again.  We lost three investigators because of the area divide.  It was crazy hard to decided which half of the area we wanted and where exactly we wanted to divide the area because every investigator matters and for sure has a huge place in my heart.  I hope the other missionaries take good care of T B, but I know they will!! But with the divides we took T A and have decided to start working that very untouched part of our area.  Yes we've been warned of the danger so we only go when we have a fixed appointment, but its been nothing less of rewarding.  The best part is that Amatlan is beyond huge!!!! I'm still not super certain about exactly where it starts which means that we do a whole lot of walking down this country lane to find the correct turn off.  This week an awesome member that's also a taxi driver saw us waiting for the cambi and insisted on giving us a lift.  We tried to explain to him that we didn't have the slightest idea where we were going, only the name of a street, and it only put a bigger grin on his face (taxi cab drivers like a challenge).  As we searched, stopping at every store along the way to ask if they knew the street, he became more and more giddy and just laughed about how much it reminded him of his own mission.  We finally found the dirt road that lead off into the distance with no houses in sight and climbed out of the taxi.  He looked up the road and asked if we could say a prayer because he felt a little bit responsible for leaving us in the middle of nowhere and wanted to make sure that we would make it back.  It was an amazing adventure where we walked down this dirt road for 20 minutes looking for the white house that the store lady had described to us.  I was certain that I could see the house off in the distance and, being the taller one of the duo, my comp mistakingly believed me.  The "house" ended up being a lake that was reflecting the clouds above it (HAHAHA!).  But we did eventually find the BLUE house and taught a fabulous new investigator.

My Mexican comp never ate gorditas

As we were walking back to T (because a cambi never passed) we passed a huge field of flowers and it was basically like my wildest dreams come true, so we took a ton of pictures and my comp thought I was even more crazy then normal.....what can you do!

This week the attendance in the branch was back up and it just felt right.  I know the mission really is about the service that we do without reward, but it felt super good this week when the branch president saw our four pages of informa de progresos and simply said wow under his breath.  After consejo he took me and my comp aside and thanked us for all the work that we do/are doing to make Tepoztlan better...it just felt good.

Earlier I was reading in the Isaiah chapters of Nephi (always a doozy) and really trying to find something that I could apply to myself.  I was half focusing and more thinking about how blessed our week has been when I came across a scripture that I really really like: (2 Nephi 20:15)

15. Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!

Is this legal?

I truly beleive that one of my biggest struggles for my entire life is humility.  Truly this work has nothing to do with me because, just like this scripture so clearly states, its impossible for us, the tools of the Lord, to function without His force.  In this work we need His power, His guiding spirit, and His gospel to change the lives of others.  I cant boast of my own strength because its not me thats carrying this work.  In reality my time here will be really short, but thanks to Him this message can be carried to the people of Tepoztlan forever by the missionaries that follow me.  This message truly is life changing and its something that will last forever.  Its not only something that functions for a moment, that gives a few answers, but its doctrine that when truly applied can bring us a joy that we have never experienced and will never experience anywhere else.  I know the church is true and more then anything else I want others to experience and feel of that joy that can only come from the gospel in their lives!

Share this great message,

Hna Neuberger

Sound of Music Mexican Style