Transfers

Well, what can I say? This Sunday in the middle of our ward council (and eating delicious empanadas) we received a call that we would be closing our area and be a part of a mass of emergency changes. Through the tears, I packed my bags and headed to CALPULALPAN, TLAXCALA. Now, my mission is Mexico Puebla Norte but it also includes the tiny state of Tlaxcala. The funny thing is, it's the farthest place we can go in our mission. I have to say though, IT'S ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

I will fill you guys in next week!

Hermana Herrera 

Zone Conference

Saying goodbye!

Crazy how the members are straight up fam!

Nos vemos Hermana Vargas!

Lesson learned

Hello all! 

It's funny, because whenever I think that I understand something from the Gospel fully I just give it a little time and the Lord will show me that I truly don't know that much. For example, something that I learned a lot about this week was the Christlike attribute of temperance. We had our interviews with our President and I asked him what temperance meant to him. He showed me Mosiah 4:27  which basically says that a man shouldn't run faster than his strength. He later shared some personal advice from Elder Oaks when he came to visit our mission a year ago. ¨ President, your job is hard. It will be impossible to accomplish everything that you need to do throughout the day. So I will tell you what I do, I get on my knees and pray that I can have the spirit to guide me to do the most important things, even if that means things that I didn't expect. ¨ So basically temperance is being diligent but according to the Lord's will. This made sense and I thought I understood it pretty well... but shocker I didn't and the Lord showed me why.

This Sunday was not what we had hoped. Our investigators didn't join us for church and we were pretty disappointed. During church we received a call that one of the older ladies who is less active was in pretty bad  condition in a hospital about a half hour away. Thinking that is was possibly her last day here on the earth she specifically asked for the Hermanas to come and visit her. As we looked at our plans we were anxious to get to work and find our investigators in the afternoon. We decided that we would ask for permission, knowing it would probably be a long shot. To our surprise we received permission and this family arranged to pick us up to go to the hospital. Although I was thankful for this opportunity, I still was stressing about our day. 

As we entered the hospital room, we saw Hermana Isabelle very weak and sad. It was also hard because she's blind. As we said hello and she felt our hands her eyes filled with tears. She expressed her fear of dying and the failure she felt that her children weren't active in the church. As we listened, we felt impressed to sing "I need thee every hour" and "Come come ye saints" to invite the spirit. Afterwards we spoke and gave counsel which I know was from the Lord because I don't remember anything that my companion or I said. As we said goodbye, I took her hand to introduce myself because we have never met before. She said, "I can't see your face and I don't know much about you but I love you! I needed my saviour and he sent me you." 

That's when it hit me! We were literally messengers to give this daughter of God the peace her Heavenly Father wanted her to have. What an honor to be a representative of Christ and to minister to God's children! That's when I truly understood the meaning of temperance.  Sometimes we fear man more than God. We care more about opinions of our fellow humans than we do of our Heavenly Father's.  I personally was frustrated because we didn't have the ¨success¨ we expected but in return we did something more worthwhile. We did what the Lord wanted us to do that day and what a satisfaction and tender mercy. I felt the pure love Heavenly Father had for his daughter Isabelle and it inspired me to always follow the spirit in my doings because that is when we are truly doing the work of the Lord. My invitation is to do what Elder Oaks does, to go on your knees everyday and ask to have the spirit guide our day. I know that this is important and truly the way we should live our life. 

 I love you all and have a great week! 

Hermana Herrera 

I found out that Michelle and Cristian got baptized in Independencia.
So happy for them!

Celebrating Valentine's with pink tamales!

Mama Nelson!

7 months

Hola familia and amigos! 

So for the first news of the week: I'm officially dreaming in Spanish! Glorious moment! The bad news is my Spanish is heavily influenced by my many different companions and roommates, for example, poblano, Chihuahua, Argentina, chilanga (Estado de Mexico) etc. I don't think anyone is going to understand me when I go home.

And that is what I want to talk about this week, what is understanding? And how does it relate to the Gospel? I have come to see a great difference between our investigators who want to learn about the Gospel and the investigators who want to understand the Gospel.  During a lesson this week, we were teaching a teenager and his mom. They have been trying to work up the nerve to go to church with us and the teenager expressed some concern about following the word of wisdom. No matter what we said, he just didn't feel like it was necessary. As I sat in thought this came to mind and I would like to share with you all. There is a difference between learning about the Gospel and understanding the Gospel and I'll explain why. 

1. To know: The Gospel is easy to comprehend. Like the prophet Jacob said: "For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after the manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men." (2 Nephi 31:2) Here is the promise that if we listen we will know the Gospel, it is not difficult.

 2. To understand: I think the step to understand isn't just listening but it is the involvement of sacrifice, which means from the Bible to make something or someone holy, and through sacrifice we can obtain the blessings from our Heavenly Father. When we sacrifice, we understand that Heavenly Father has all power and that He loves us with a perfect love. Through this testimony we trust in him. 

The question that we asked the teenager was ¨Do you want to learn about the Gospel or do you want to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ?¨ His answer was to stand up, pull out a bottle of vodka and take a shot. Now this was sad but it confirmed what I know to be true, that when we follow the words of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and "choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong" we are making sacrfices and becoming more like Jesus Christ. That is our mission here on the earth and I know the blessings are just too precious to lose. 

I know that when we strive to do our best we truly feel the love and support from our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  In Luke 9:56 it says "For the Son of man is  not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Now the Question for you all is this ¨Do you want to learn the Gospel or do you want to understand the Gospel?¨

Love you all and Happy Valentine's Day! 

Hermana Herrera 

Hitting the 7 month mark. Que es eso?

The crew: Arizona, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Chihuahua, Tejana!

Happy Happy!

Wake up call

Hola! I hope y'all had a great week! 

Things are def new here in Xonacatepec! I traded my fields of flowers for tall buildings with many, many did I say many? stairs. But it's nice to have a change. Something I found out about my new area is something called ¨Bien Muerto¨ which means that there aren´t any new or progressing investigators. Although this may be discouraging at first, it's a new opportunity to start fresh and really rely on the Lord. 

Since Hermana Vargas and I have this opportunity, we hit the ground running; trying to find new people to teach without much success. On one particular day, I was asking myself what we were doing wrong? Aren't we serving with all of our heart, might, mind and strength? It was through the spirit that I received this correction. ¨Why aren´t you involving the members?¨ Even a seven monther like me needs this repeated correction. Talking to my compa about this we realized our mistake which I think helped us reach a state of humility that was greatly needed. 

As we prayed to know who we could ask for help, it came to mind that we needed to ask an older lady named Eunice  and her husband that are less actives. As we arrived at their home our humble attitudes permitted us to say that truly we needed their help and not only that but more importantly that the Lord needed them. This started our wonderful relationship and they introduced us to their neighbor who is truly willing to listen to the gospel. What was even better Eunice and her husband attended church this Sunday and she bore her testimony about missionary work. 

I know that working with the members is an important part of missionary work. I know that many are willing to do their part but sometimes wait to be asked. They are truly powerful tools that the missionaries need, that I personally need. I love the talk by Elder Uchtdorf named ¨Learn from Alma and Amuelek."  He says ¨reach out to them, teach them, inspire them, ask them. You may be surprised to discover a valiant servant of the Lord who otherwise would have remained hidden.¨

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Hermana Herrera