I Love Mexico

Time is very short today.. we have been running around like crazy! It was good to talk to you on Christmas!! I loved it!! I love Mexico!! Next week look forward to a grand email! Life is good. I love you! Sorry this is very short. I talked in church yesterday.. it was an adventure. A lot of the members told me the spirit was really strong and I did a great job. My favorite member (this cute little grandma that has the cutest broken English) said That I am such a beautiful missionary and my spirit glows. I had to copy this from my pres. email because I told you on christmas about how we have wires. English:  Do not go up on your rooftops for any reason.  Too many have live electric cables that are not properly secured.  Do not touch any wire or cable, even if it appears to be harmless.  Always be careful and observant.     

Each Day Gets Better

Each day gets a little better. Its still very hard, but I can do it. I have sure been humbled. My companion is great except she doesn't have patience with me and the language.. but other than that it's good. We haven't done language study once so I talked to her about it. I don't think she's very happy with me, but I have to learn this language somehow. I will be honest. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I am far from home and anything and everything that's familiar. My companion is great and I love her! but she has no patience with me and the language.

  The members here adore me. It's weird. I know it's because I'm American and they've never seen a sister here serving from America, but I find it weird. I'm not used to the whole greet you with a kiss thing. 

  We got hot water on Friday!! Yay!!! I will never take my hot water for granted again.The water works in the shower. It was just cold. So we would use this heating tool to heat a bucket of water. 

  Hermana Barraza is from Veracruz. Her family is all members, but not her extended family. 

  The church is weird. The floor is all tile and no pews, just chairs. They just call you up to talk too. Our area is huge, but our ward isn't. 

 

  We are all alone here. The next closest missionaries are Elder Calle and Elder Caro in Progreso. They are from Peru and Chile. I'm the lone American. We had a mission Christmas party on Friday and I got to see Hermana Slaughter. So that was good. We are both feeling the same way. My Spanish still sucks but Its getting better. 

 

  Oh do I have a story for you! So I clearly stand out here.. Like I said, I get honked at, starred at, cat called at.. but I have quite the story from Wednesday. So we live right by the Farmacia, and the man who works there speaks English. He lived in Cali but got deported. He told me like everything about his life. Anyways, my comp was looking at eye drops and he was talking to me and he said: I like you hair, it's really pretty, your eyes are gorgeous, your lips are cute, you are beautiful. So I said oh thanks. Then he said you're really hot.. and I laughed right at loud and told him that I was a missionary so he can't talk this way to me.. long story short he asked where I lived because he wants me and he wants to show me off to his family and friends. We now have to take the back way home which is a dark alley. Not fun. I hate standing out!! 

. On Thursday we ate at a members house and she gave us strawberries and lettuce. I totally knew I was going to get sick from it because she didn't clean it and sure enough. I spent Thursday night and Friday morning throwing up everywhere. It was not fun. 

  This week we have 12 new investigators!! 8 have baptismal dates!! Only three made it to church yesterday though.. Sabino, Raul, and Erik. They're going to be baptized on Jan. 25. His wife left him a while ago and he is an amazing man. We also got our first rejection. It made me really sad. I have come to love and care about our investigators and when they decide they don't want this anymore its hard. You know it will change their life and bring so much happiness. 

  I've lost a lot of weight (ha-ha). If you want a good weight loss program, come to Mexico. I'm not a big fan of the food here. We had pig skin tacos and it was gross. I had my first Mexican Ice cream on Saturday. I liked it a lot!! (ha-ha). 

  Things are still really hard here, but every day things get a little easier. I love you! Until Next week.

  Hermana Turek

So I'm Here

So.. I'm here. I don't really know how to feel about it. It is very different from Utah and I'm very homesick. There is a huge language barrier and the food makes me feel blah, We also don't have hot water, but my companion has this weird thing that uses electricity to heat the water so we shower with a bucket. Just don't touch the water while its heating. I learned that the hard way haha. 

   The people make such a fuss about me here and I don't exactly know why.. but this cute little abuela (grandma) in her very broken English told me that I was very, very special to her. I get honked at and stared at all of the time. It's annoying. I'm  in an area called Atitalquia. We are the first Sisters to serve here ever. So the President has a lot of faith in us. We have four new investigators and visit inactives a lot. Today, we hiked this huge mountain!

    Also, our house is sketchy haha. There is a bunch of wires right outside our door. And, the toilet and shower are all together. Mexico is very different than I expected. I realized something really, really cool the other day. The reason I had problems with my white count is because if I wouldn't have had that week delay, I wouldn't be here!! My  mission opened up to American sister on July 1, and my call was assigned on July 5th. Pretty cool. 

    I am also very sunburned! President Call says to tell Tyler hello. 

    I will be sending photos here in a min. 

    I love you all and miss you much!

 Ps I dont know how to work this keyboard. 

week 6.. goodbye MTC, Hello MEXICO!

      Last email from the MTC!! Man, time has sure flown by! I got my travel plans on Wednesday. I leave for the airport at 2:30 in the morn. My flight doesn't leave until 6:15 though. I'm flying with American Airlines on flight 304 into Dallas/ Fort Worth Texas. From Texas I fly into Mexico City on flight 393. So you can track me Dad. To answer some of the questions you've sent me, no, no one helps us get to the right place at the airport. They stick us on a bus then drop us at the curb. The Elders take VERY good care of us Sisters though, so don't worry. 

      My Thanksgiving was SO good and busy! You prolly already saw on the news but we filled 350,208 bags of soup for kids who are hungry in Utah. We also listened to Elder Russell M. Nelson. He and his wife did a really good job. I LOVED Ephraim's Rescue. I cried the whole entire time. I also cried when Lyssa got engaged. I wish I could be there, but I know this is where I'm supposed to be. It still doesn't make it any easier. 

       I'm sending home quite a few packages because the over weight fee is $330. I'm still at 60 pounds in my big suit case so I'm kinda at a loss of what to do. 

      Dad my favorite scripture right now is Luke 1:37. My favorite thing to teach is The restoration of the gospel of jesus church through joseph smith. It's so powerful. As far as my baptismal dialog.. Seguria el ejemplo de Jesucristo al ser bautizado por alguien que posea la autoridad del sacerdocio de Dios: El (enter date here) tendemos un servicio bautismal se preparara para ser bautizado ese die? :) That's the baptismal invitation in Spanish. 

        Mom, Hermana Slaughter is like my best friend. We are in the same district and are both going to Mexico City North. She's from Orlando, Florida. :) 

       This week has been pretty busy. I love you all bunches! The next email you get will prolly be from Mexico. So long America! -Hermana Turek