September 29, 2014- Week 8 in Atlixco!

Hey family!

So this week was a little crazy haha, but it was a good week!

Monday.... ok this was a hard day. Remember that we were going to see Gabriela last Monday? Well we did...and she told us that she didn't want us to come back anymore. It isn't because she doesn't feel like it's not true, because she does. She wants to get baptized. But...she has been facing a lot of opposition from her family, enough that she doesn't feel like she can listen to us, go to church and especially get baptized. There was nothing we could do to change her mind... It was a really hard day for me. I could barely keep the tears from coming out before leaving her house. I don't know... it is so hard to meet someone, watching them change right before your very eyes and watching them push it all away. But...I know that she will be baptized one day. She just needs more time to prepare and develop more faith.

Tuesday. This was the day that kinda started the craziness haha. It was all going pretty good...until we realized that being a missionary includes more than just teaching the gospel. We went to so many houses that day and we saw a lot of tears flowing out of almost every one. I'm not really sure what it is, but everyone seems to think that two white girls who really don't know much about life can fix all of their problems. We can't....but God can. We wrote down so many "prescriptions" that day of scripture passages and tried mending broken hearts with hugs. We came home pretty emotional exhausted from everything we had heard that day. But...I was rereading in my study journal yesterday, and found some quotes that I had taken from the talk "Four Titles" by President Uchtdorf. It is a talk that is about the "titles" we have...and one of them is "Healer of Souls". He mentioned D&C 81:5 then said, "It is our job to build up, repair, strengthen, uplift, and make whole." As members of Christ's church, we have all taken this responsibilty upon us as we took upon us the name of Christ. As a missionary, I'm not a therapist. But I am a representitive of Jesus Christ, and one of my jobs is to do as President Uchtdorf says and heal souls. I got to learn that lesson a lot this week haha.

Wednesday: Yeah...learned above lesson once again with a pair of sister missionaries in our zone. 

Thursday (and part of Friday)! So first... we were invited (we being the missionaries in Atlixco) to sing at a YSA convention! We went with President Stellmon and sang "Called to Serve" then "We'll Bring the World His Truth" after President gave a small talk. It was really cool because it was a YSA convention for ALL of the Puebla South mission...including the stakes of Cholula and Tehuacan! AHHH! I got to see a lot of very special people again...it was so wonderful. Then after that, we had our zone conference with President Stellmon. I definitely learned a lot.... there are always so many things to change and do better, and thank goodness we have the Atonement to help us out with that! After the conference, we started intercambios with Hermana Carli and Hermana Junca! Hermana Carli came with me to our area. She is the cutest :) We actually got here to Mexico the same day, but she was in a differnet district than us in the MTC. I got to know her when she was in Tehuacan with me for 3 months. (We joke a lot that if we could ask President for anything, it would be that we spend our last transfer in the mish as companions in Tehuacan! haha! But really though.) But we had a fantastic intercambio. I'm not sure what I was able to help her with, but I learned a lot from her. We had a blast just working super hard, finding new people to teach and sharing experiences. 

And Saturday was just great with the General Womens Meeting. If you missed it, go watch it online! It was great! And watch conference this weekend too!!!! All of it, if you can!!!! :) I love conference!

The church is true, folks! I sure do love being in the service of my Savior :) The work may be moving slower than we had hoped, but I know that He is preparing the hearts and minds of the people in Vista Hermosa. We just gotta find them :) Have a great week everyone!!! My thoughts and prayers are with you, along with all my love!

Love always,

Hermana Smith

Photos: 

-Our crazy trampoline/getting caught in the rain P-day adventure last week!

-YSA from Tehuacan! Ilse, Brendi (who just got her mission call!) and Monica :) And Hermanita Gomez too haha :)

- Awesome graffiti, eh?

So uh, Hermana Traylor and I might be becoming more Mexican than we thought we would...

- Zone picture :)

- We got stuck yesterday in a CRAZY rainstorm! We were trapped on this street corner for FOREVER, the street was a RIVER and cars kept rushing by, splashing water all over us. :/ But...we were stuck with a couple of new buddies! So it was ok! :) (The woman may not look very happy to be stuck with us...but I promise she was!)