March 24, 2014- Week 11 en Tehuacan!

Buenas Tardes!

How are y'all doing?! Well, this week was another great one!!! And this week (Week 6 of this transfer!!!!) is going to be even BETTER! 

Well, José is still progressing beautifully! His baptism is going to be on Saturday, and we couldn't be more thrilled. He has such a strong testimony already, and I have a feeling that he is going to be a real example for the other young men in the ward. All of the young men are fantastic though! We are still working with Pilar...she's having some difficulty keeping her commitments, but we're going to see how we can help her understand the importance of them. Really, the commitments are not with us - they are with the Lord. And that is something that we need to help her understand. We also have another new investigator - Miria. We contacted her in the street Wednesday of last week, and then met with her yesterday. She has cousins who are members in Oaxaca, and I think that she is eventually going to accept. We felt prompted to invite her to be baptized yesterday, but she didn't accept. But she still wants to meet with us and come to church on Sunday. So we're excited about her :)

We worked a lot with the less-actives this week. There is one family in particular that I want to share with y'all. Jaime and Guadalupe with their 4 kids. They lived in the United States for 8 years, and joined the church there. They were super duper active, and were preparing to enter the temple as a family when they returned to Mexico. Then for some reason, they stopped going to church when they came back. They never entered the temple. It has been almost 10 years since they've attended church, and really no one could figure out why. Missionaries have been trying to visit them for years, but really, Jaime doesn't want anything to do with the church. Well, we have been trying to meet with them for the past 4 weeks, and last week, we were finally able to. We were there for almost an hour. Still, we're not entirely sure what happened 10 years ago, but they definitely shared things with us that I'm pretty sure they haven't told anyone else. But the craziest part was how strong the spirit was during that lesson. As we talked about the blessings of having an eternal family with Jaime and Guadalupe...something changed in them. I could see it, Hermana Muñoz could see it...and I know that they want the blessings of the Gospel. But...I think they think that it's too late. Well, I'm here to testify that it is never too late. Our Heavenly Father is waiting oh so patiently for us with arms wide open. We just have to take those first steps and realize that He is never going to stop loving us. I hope that as we continue to visit them, they will start to come back. They are such good people and they deserve to have an eternal family.

Funny story of the week: Ok, this was also one of the weirdest moments of my life. So, there is a group of Americans that are here in Tehuacan teaching English in the school that the stake president owns. Many of them have been attending our ward for about 2 months, and to be honest, most of them don't speak Spanish. Well, yesterday, I got called out of Sunday School to help "translate". One of the girls is trying to apply for BYU, but needed her ecclesiastical endorsement signed like...two weeks ago. Problem was that our bishop had NO clue what to do, and she didn't know how to explain or anything. But good thing I know how that whole thing works haha. But the weird part was when she had to have an interview with the bishop (not like a temple recommend interview, but about the honor code and stuff) and I had to translate the whole thing. I felt so weird! But there was nothing else we could do! Hermana Muñoz has been joking all day about my "moment as a bishop". So weird. No me gusta. And I also realized that I don't know English anymore. There were times when I was trying to explain to her what was going on...but I literally could not form correct sentences or remember some words. Oh my goodness, it was so hard! But...it also helped me to realize that I know a LOT more Spanish than I thought, haha!

All in all, this week was really fantastic. It has been really really really hot (one day was 105 F) but I'm still "looking forward" to the day when it's 115! Woot. But really, I just love it here. And this week, we're going to give everything we have, and more. I know the church is true. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I know that He is watching over us, and that we are never , ever alone. Keep trusting in Him, and hold on to your faith in Christ and His Atonement. I love all of you so so so so so much, and I hope you all have a great week! Be happy too! :)

Love always, Hermana Smith