Great Day, Ramon Gets Baptized

Hola Family and friends!

How were your weeks? What new things happened?

Well, This week was a very busy one to say the least. We felt like we were running a marathon the whole week. And, we have not had water here since Monday. All of Tula and the surrounding cities have not had water for a whole week because there is no water here. We need more rain!

Because there is not any water, it made the baptisim for Ramón very complicated. It came to the point that the Bishop said it was just better to wait, but my companion and I fought for his baptism and he was able to be baptized on Saturday at 4 in another church. No-body came, but it did not matter to him. He was so happy after. He comented how he had waited for 63 years for this day and now he finally feels complete with his new life. It was a very special experience to be a part of. After, we were talking with him about how Heaven had a lot of happy people this day because he was baptized then we talked about family history. He asked me to do his families work when I get home. It is pretty special for me. Right now, he and Junita are working on getting to the temple in a year.

We celebrated my Birthday on Saturday with Mari, Juanita, and Ramon. They bought us a cake and put a firework on it!! It was pretty sweet. I recorded it so, I will have to send a CD of it here soon. On Sunday, we had another party! I did not know about it. One sister asked us to come to their house to eat dinner so we were like "Yeah, we like food! :)" So we went and it turned out to be a surprise party. We made pizza and she made a german chocolate cake. Man, it was good. It was pretty fun.

Things here have been pretty complicated with no water. The good thing is, we have a well here at our house. The bad thing is, every morning we have to get up at 5 to get water. We have a 5 gallon bucket that we throw down this huge hole.. I swear you can see China with how deep it is, then we have to pull it back up. We do this like 12 times. We will be buff when we come home. 

This week, my infection has seemed to get worse. I have decided to not treat it anymore. I am going to put it in our Heavenly Father´s hands. I am asking for you all to please pray for me. I could really use some extra prayers.

And.. the news as far as transfers go. I have a transfer. I am going to the city of Huehuetoca (pronounced way way toca) I am finally leaving the small towns and the state of Hidalgo and I am going to the big cities and the state of Mexico. I will be Sr. Companion again, and that is about all I know. I do not know who my comp. will be or anything else.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I really do have the greatest friends and family. I hope you all have a great week! Until next week- Hna. Turek

Sore Throat Again

Hola hola!

This week was an adventure. Where to begin, I do not even know.

I woke up with another sore throat on Wednesday. We called the Dr. and she could not come until 6 in the afternoon, so I kept trying to endure until she could come look at my throat. 6 o´ clock finally came and we met with her in the church. I have the infection again, and it is also on my tongue now. My poor tonsils look like they were put in a blender and blended. I am doing another round of antibiotics and we will see how I am on Saturday. I do not know why I just can not beat this infection.. but it is kicking my behind pretty good. I am so tired physiclly.

We went to the visitors center here in the city on Saturday. We took two less actives with us. It was a pretty good time. I wish the temple was  open, but it will not be open for another year. It was good for the less actives. Hermana Eldenia (the sister we took) was asking alot about being sealed and endowments. She wants to do that and she proved it by bringing the whole family to church. She told me she wants to wait for September of 2015 to be sealed so that I can come. We will see what happens. :)

Ramon had a hard week this week. His friends came with alcohol on Friday. He is really looking forward to being baptized that he told his friends to leave. It was neat to watch because we totally thought he would drink and that his date would fall. The good news? He will be baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It is kinda weird how complete strangers come to be close friends and you have such a huge love for them and want them to do what will truly make them happy. That is how I feel about all of my investigators and recent converts here. I just can not describe the love that I have for them.

One sister is coming to St. George the last week of September. She asked if I wanted to send something so I am going to be sending a package. But, I need someone to meet her at the temple. (She will call when they are there) Also, they do not speak very much English so it would be helpful to have someone who can translate. If this is pòssible for you, please let me know. 

My thought for the week: "As we extend our hands and our hearts towrad others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger." - Elder Uchtdorf. 

I think that this is about all that I have for this week. I hope you have a fantastic week and do what is right. Love you all. Until next week- Hermana Turek

Feeling Better

Hello! Sorry that I am late writing today. We went to D.F. (Federal District in English)

This week was fast and long and hard. On Tuesday Hermano Eliseo told us that he did not want to continue listening to us nor be baptized because Miguel Angel baptized him and he asked Miguel if he had authority from God and Miguel said "yes" so now we are liars and all that jazz. He was mad at us. But he just does not understand authority or the apostasía. Tal ves it is just not his time. 

Hermano Ramon is still doing great. Staying strong. He is preparing for his baptism for the 16th and is excited. We have transfers the 19th and it is very likely that I am going to get transfered, so we were telling him this so he said that he is ready and it will happen because he wants "hermana gringa" there. :) We are also going to celebrate my birthday with them the same day. :) 

Hermana Gabriela is amazing! She had an emergency yesterday, so she could not make it to church, so that means that she will be baptized after I leave. :( But, she is so ready.

Hermano Jesus also has a baptism date for the 24th. So I will probably miss his baptism too. But it is amazing to see all the people that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us. An area that has not had baptisms in one year in September now has three new members. Our Bishop is pretty happy. 

I am finally 100% better! Yay!! It only lasted three weeks! My tonsils are pretty damaged, but at least I feel better and we can worry about those in April. 

On Wednesday, I had the weirdest allergic reaction. My stomach, neck, and face were covered in hives. It sucked. But the Dr. thinks it was a reaction to a medicine for my throat. When I come home, I am going to be immune to everything. Lets just hope and pray that I will be good for the rest of my mission.

Thought for the week- This month in the Ensign there is an article about a wife with a husband who has cancer and in this article Pres. Monson said something that I love. " Difficulties come into our lives, problems we do not anticipate and which we would never choose. None of us are immune. The purpose of mortality is to learn and to grow to be more like our Father, and it is often during the difficult times that we learn the most, as painful as the lessons may be." I loved this. A lot of time when we are passing trials, we say "why me?" But, what we need to ask is "What can I learn by passing this trial?". I promise that our Father will never give us more than we can handle. Our lives are in his hands. He knows the end from the beginning. The other thought because last week I did not include one. This week I was reading in Alma. I came upon the Story of the 2,000 strippling warriors. I LOVED this story! (I highly encourage you to read it. It starts in Alma 53.) My favorite versus are 53:21, 56:47-48 and 57:27. I owe a lot to my parents. I know that I was NOT an easy daughter to have as a teenager. But, somehow my parents were able to drill into my mind correct principles. I am very thankful to have them as my parents. also, if we put our trust in our Heavenly Father, what else matters? Nothing. 

I hope that you all have a GRAND week. This week, try to find somebody that you can share the gospel with. Love you all! Until next week.- Hna. Turek

Grounded Three Days Battling Infection

Hola family and friends,

This week was a kind of a boring week. I left a lot of information out last week. I ended up with a pretty nasty and strong infection in my throat the past Sunday. Because everything was closed here and the infection was transforming pretty quick, I ended up in the ER here in Cruz Azul. Due to this infection I was not allowed to work as much as I would have liked this week. The Dr. put me on house arrest pretty much until Thursday. So it was a long and boring week. On Thursday when we left time started to speed up again. The brightside of all of this? Well, I am down about 50 pounds. Yay! So for the 3 and a half days we worked this is what happened:

We taught Hermana Isaura. She was very excited for her baptism which will take place on Saturday at 5. (Well we hope). She called us yesterday just bawling and telling us how the ex wife of Hermano Marco (Isaura just got married last Monday to this member) came over and was creating problems so she does not know if she should continue on with this. We gave her a lot of chapters to read in the Book of Mormon and told her how Satan does not want this for her and so he will do everything in his power to stop it. And she said that she knows but it is just hard. So please keep her in your prayers. 

Hermano Eliseo left on this trip with his church group... so we did not get a chance to talk with him this week. So we will have to see how things are with him this coming week. 

Well our other investigator, Hermana Gabriela can not be baptized because she is living with a member (who is not active) and he is married to another woman and he has a child so.. it creates some problems for them to get married. We will have to see how long it takes for the divorce process. I think that the biggest problems here with baptism are- people are not married or have problems with the word of wisdom! Always, always, always we have investigators with these problems. But then again, Satan does not want this for them so we will make it hard for us.

Hermano Ramon, well, this week he said he was done drinking for good. He has made it one week now!! Hopefully he can be strong to his promise and refrain from alcohol so he can be baptized the 16th of August. He could also use a lot of prayers.

The President came to our house on Wednesday to see how I was doing and how he could help and he brought my package! Yay! Thank you so much for everything! Especially the socks. The ones I have been using.. well.. you can tell that they have 9 months of use.. Basically they have giant holes and it is pretty funny. My companion and I enjoyed the treats too. and, the garments are the perfect size. It felt so weird to not have garments falling down for a day. The shoes are a little squishy, but I will have to make them work. So, thank you.

On Saturday, our primary kids had an activity with us. It was called "Misionero por un día" or "Missionary for a day". We got split into groups. I was with the Bishop's wife and a girl named Estefany. We left and worked like we normally do. The kids got to see what it was like to be a missionary for the day. They seemed to really like it, and the older kids were really excited about serving a mission in the future after. So I would call it a success. We also got a lot of referrals. So that is always good.

My spiritual thought for the week comes from D&C 123:17. We need to choose to have a positive attitude, always doing the best that we can. Because when we really put our best effort into the things we are doing (especially the spiritual aspect of things) that is how we are going to earn our salvation. We all have a part in this sacred work. It is not possible without members. I know that we ALL have friends, neighbors, co-workers that are not members. Why do we not open our mouths? Why do we need pass a referral to the missionaries? Are we scared? Are we embarrassed about our beliefs? We need to part our part into this sacred work. Because, one day we will be held accountable. I also testify that there are more blessings than we can see and that we can possibly think for bringing our brothers and sisters unto Christ. I have seen it in my own life with the special experience that I was able to be part of with my friend before my mission. To end- a quote by President Hinckley. "When I say do your best, I mean your very best. You are capable of so much more."

I love ya all, and I pray for each one of you. I hope you have a great week and that you will do your part in this sacred work. Until next week- Hermana Turek

Hermana Isaura Got Baptized

Hola, Hola.

How are you? What is new? This post will not be very long because we had to go to a kinda sucky internet place today.. :(

Hermana Isaura was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. She is so special. I have already been invited to come back in a year to go through the temple with them. :) The spirit was SO strong at her baptism, and a lot of people attended. So we were pretty happy. 

Hermano Ramon is still staying strong. He has a baptismal date for the 16th of August. On Wednesday, he even put his baptismal date on the calendar in their house and put a huge circle around it. He also has a lot of signs in his house to help him not drink. Keep praying for him.

Hermano Eliseo is being difficult now. He is having a hard time understanding the authority and why our church has it and his does not. Dad, can you please send me your line of authority? That could help us a lot. 

Hermana Gabriela finally came to church yesterday and liked it a lot. So, that is progress. We hope that she will continue to have the desire to learn and grow. 

Hermano Octavio (remember him?) came to the baptism on Saturday. I think he felt the spirit big time because yesterday he asked when he could be baptized. He is ready now. And basically he can be baptized when he wants. So, that is a miracle. We have an appointment with him tonight to put the date. :)

Mom, I wrote a letter to the activity day girls after Sis. Beecroft sent me a letter from them, but I sent it to her so she must have forwarded it to Tanya. :)

Things here are the same. Hot and dry right now. But things are good. We had exchanges this week and our leaders were impressed with my progress so that is good. I do not think that I have very much more to report on. I hope you have a fantastic week. 

Con mucho amor- Hna. Turek

Juanita Gets Married and Baptized

Hola Hola! Cómo está? pues, This week was a busy one.

Juanita and Ramon got married on Thursday at the presidencia which is like the court house for you guys. Then on Friday, she had her interview and was baptized Saturday morning and confirmed yesterday. So we were pretty busy with them this week. Ramon is the next one to be baptized. He has not drank for a week.. but who knows about yesterday with Mexico playing and well.. not winning. Our asistance at church was 80.. normally it is 105. Hahaha. Everyone stayed at home to watch the world cup. It is huge here!

So, on Friday my companion was playing with my camera while I was showering. I got out of the shower and she told me that she accidently deleted ALL (over 800 pics) my pictures. So.. I lost EVERY SINGLE picture from my mission.. (Yeah I am pretty sad). It took a lot of self control not to flip out at her. But the phrase "Do not let a problem to solve become more important than a person to be loved." kept running through my head.. So.. if anyone (Kyle) knows how to get all my pics back.. I would love it. And it would make my whole life. 

I got my package on Wednesday. It had everything in it. :) Thank you!! My feet thank you too! They are happy to have shoes. The weather here is like the best! It is hurricane season here in Mexico so it has rained every single day. Like we get drenched. But the temp. is perfect with the rain! Not too hot and not too cold!

President Call left on Saturday and we now have President Titensor. I do not know him yet, but we are going to have interviews with him on Saturday. We had interviews with President Call on Wednesday and in my interview he told me how much I have changed and how he has seen miracles come about with me. I went from this little missionary who struggled and struggled and struggled some more and how I am now this gem starting to glow. It made me think ha-ha. I have changed so much. I am not the same person I was when I left eight months ago. I am thankful I have this opportunity to serve. It is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and the trials I have faced have been very difficult but I am becoming the person my Heavenly Father wants me to be. This week I was reading in Helaman 10:4-5 and I thought it applied to me pretty well. :) (I am close to finishing the Book of Mormon and el Libro de Mormón!!)

I think that is all for this week! I love you and pray for you. I hope you have a great and SAFE 4th of July!  Hasta luego- Hna. Turek

Juanita and Ramon Getting Married

Hola hola!! Como está? 

Pues, this week we got everything as far as paperwork done for Juanita´s and Ramon´s wedding. Here, it is a longggg process! You have to go get a bunch of tests done and It is a lot of paperwork. Well on Wednesday, we took them to Tula to get their blood tests done and Ramon passed out Haha, it was interesting because we were their "family" there so they turned him over to us and he was in and out for about 20 minutes. It was quite the adventure. But, now everything is ready and they will be getting married on Thursday at 3:00 :) Then on Saturday at 12:00 ,Juanita is getting baptized and on Sunday she will be confirmed. We actually reached our goals this month! Two baptisms! :) 

I do not have much to report this week, as we were busy with all the wedding stuff. We are working hard, doing a lot of walking.. all day long. And.. sadly, my shoes died this week. I do not have black shoes anymore. So I am hoping to get my package this week, and I am praying that my shoes did not get stolen. I need them. Haha.

 I love you and hope all is well! Until next week- Hna Turek

I'm the Senior Comp now

hola hola! como está? bien bien? This week was a crazy one! On Tuesday, we had transfers. We had to go to Cuautitlan Izcalli to drop off Hna. Gonzalez and to pick up the other Hna. Gonzalez. It was an adventure. I was slightly nervous for the return, because we went in bus and I was worried I would get lost on the return.. but everything was good. :) On Thursday, we changed houses!! That was also an adventure. The only people that came to help us were the Bishop, Hno. Jared, and for the first time ever our district leader and his comp. decided they could help us. What a miracle!!! On Friday, we had a zone conference. I spent most of the time in the bathroom throwing up my stomach acid. What a great time that was! I do not understand why I get sick so easily here.. :(

Yesterday, Maricela was confirmed a member of the church! Woot! She had a huge smile on her face the whole time. It is funny how people are saved for the right time. I do not remember if I told you this or not, but we were the fourth set of missionaries to teach her. She has set a really good example for Ramon and Juanita. They are planning on getting married right now.. but Ramon still needs to stop drinking. Please pray for him. 

Things as Senior companion are stressful. Haha. Everything depends on you, and you are the one to get in trouble when things go bad.. but luckily nothing has gone bad yet. My zone leaders and distirct leader have been really good with me. I think they new I was quite nervous to be Sr. comp. But all has been well so far.

My new companion is Hna. Gonzalez. She is from Nicaragua. She has been a member for 4 years. Her conversion story is crazy. The Elders paid her to be baptized and she has not been very active. Right now, her family is not active at all. But I know that she will be a example for them. 

I think that is all the exciting news I have for this week. Please send prayers our way. We can always use them. Con mucho, mucho amor- Hna Turek

Mari Gets Baptized

Hello!! How are you all? How was the week? Sorry about last week. It was just a bad week all in all. But, this week was much better.

Maricela was baptized yesterday! It was quite the experience. But, I was happy to be part of it. She can not walk very well, so she had a lot of fear that she was going to fall in the font and drown, so she was crying. But everything turned out to be good. 

My Companion is getting transfered tomorrow... :( We are really sad. We have become best friends here and it is so hard to say goodbye. However, we have plans to visit each other after the mission. She is going to Cuautitlan Izcalli. I am staying in the area as senior companion. My new comp. only has 6 weeks in the mission. I am TERRIFIED!!!!! I am kinda mad haha. But.. I know that everything will be good.

We are having hurricanes here. The weather is SO crazy! It hails all the time and the hail is the size of golf balls and the storms come out of no where, so yeah.. we always get caught in down pours, strong strong winds and hail. No fun.

This week was quite a busy week. We had a missionary actitivy on Friday in our ward. We had a talent show. We sang a hymn in a rock version.. hahahaha... I am pretty sure our Bishop did not like it, but the rest of our ward did. We dressed as men in black.. but women because we were in our skirts. It was a pretty good night and we recieved referrals because of it!! Woot!! Then on Saturday, Mari had her interview. We were honestly thinking she would not pass because she has memory problems and 15 mins before her interview she did not remember ANYTHING!!! But, the spirit must have helped her because she passed with flying colors. Then on Saturday night, our zone sang at a single adult thing. Hahahaha.. it was rather awkward to be there as a missionary with all these poeple flirting and yeah. After, we all felt very weird. But we sang We´ll bring the world his truth and we also recieved a lot of referrals too. Then on Sunday, Mari was baptized. So it was quite the week.

I think that is all that I have for this week. I hope you have an excellent week! Please send extra prayers my way this week. I think I may need them. I love you and pray for you. 

Until next week- Hna. Turek

Great Week

Hello my dears!

How are you? How is life as a normal person? What is new in Sunny St. Geezy? Gah, how I miss that place. Yet there is so much that I love here.

This is the week!! Ahh! Are you nervous June? I am SO sad I can not be there, but I will be there in spirit. 

This week was a GREAT week!! We taught a lot and we have 5 progressing investigators. I do not know if we will have baptisms this week on Saturday. We are praying really hard and hoping for a miracle. So please please please put Ocatvio and Andres in your prayers this week. Don Ramon, Maricela, and Juanita have been coming to church and have been keeping all their compromisos. They have only been coming to the church for sacrament, but yesterday they said they wanted to stay for the whole thing once sacrament was over. We were really impressed because they had a thing to go to in the Catholic church and they did not go.  Progress!! Poco a poco. 

I think this week everything went really good. Oh! We have been having crazy storms here everyday!! We get soaked everyday. And this week we had crazy, huge, hail. This was a first for Hidalgo. It was history. 

Today, we went to the pyramids again! Haha, that is the good thing about having them in your zone. :) One thing today we learned and noticed is that they had a baptismal font!! How crazy!! It makes you think a lot. 

I do not think I have very much to tell you about, but enjoy the pics. :) 

I love ya and hope you have an excellent week!! Please pray extra hard for me on Saturday. It is going to be a hard day, but I am so excited for June. 

It's An Earthquake !!!

Hola mi amors! How was you week? How are you? This week was interesting to say the least.

It was semana Santa this week. Or in English Holy Week. It was big and crazy here. People were marching in the streets throwing water and chanting weird things on Friday. Friday is the worst day because its the day they act out the final days of Jesus´s life. It was crazy. This week and the past week its also vacations here. So no-body is here! We searched for 9 people in 30 mins and did not make contact with any! It has been a pretty boring last few days. Now on to some excitment.

On Friday in the morning we were doing our studies. I felt the ground shaking and I honestly thought I was going crazy. I look over at my companion and she has huge, wide eyes as well and she says "Do you feel that!?" "Yep.. I feel that. You feel that too?" "Hermana, its an earthquake!!" we did not know what to do, and it was pretty strong! It is a feeling I can not describe, but we were moving! It was only like a minute, but it felt like forever. We ran outside because we did not know what to do and we felt more safe out there. The water tank we use to wash our garments was moving and the piliars to our house were moving. It was scary. It turns out it was a 7.2 earthquake in Guerreo. But we felt it. I can now say, I have been in an earthquake, and I do not think it will be my last.

We have had a little more success this week. We have two new investigators with baptismal dates. Don Ramon and Hector. Don Ramon has a huge problem with drinking so please pray for him. Hector runs a AA group here in San Marcos. If all goes well, we will have 5 people get baptized on the 18th of May. Maricela, Don Ramon, Hector, Jacobo, and Katia. Please pray for Andres and Octavio as well. They still do not want to make a date for baptism, but they like the church and they like the feelings they get when they go. I just do not understand it.

I think that is all that I have for this week. I hope you have an excellent week!

con amor- Hna. Turek

Not Much New

I do not have very much to tell you about this week. It was a pretty boring and blah week.

Hermana Gonzalez and I survived through transfers. We have another six weeks together! YAY!! :) 

This coming week is a big week here in Mexico. It is Semana Santa. In other words this week they act out the crucificcion  and all the events leading up to it. One man from here in our pueblo is "Jesus Chrsit" and he will be crucified. Crazy crazy. So we need to be careful this week.

We watched the Joseph Smith movie with Andres in hopes that it would help him gain a testimony. But nope.. he has so many doubts and it is SO hard to teach him. But we have faith. We are going to keep being persistant with him. Please keep praying for him.

My spanish is continuing to get better. Yay!! 

Oh, and all my shoes are wearing out. This is good because it shows we are working hard.. but.. the biggest size they have here in Mexico in girls is 7 or (27) I need 9 or (29). This is a problem.. and I do not have a solution for it!!

I have a request. Can you please send some extra prayers mine and my companions way this week? We need them.

I think that is all I have for this week. But I love you and hope all is well! Until next week- Hna Turek

Being Sick is No Fun

Hola familia! 

  This week has been pretty.. well.. blah. My companion has been sick. With the same problems I have been having. Ha. The bad news? Every single doctor has a different diagnosis. One Dr. told her it was typhoid, the other said hepatitis, the other said colitis. So.. yeah. Our work this week was not all that great.. which is also bad for me. When we sit in the house all day, it gives me time to think all that I am missing at home and then I get home sick and then I am sad. So.. we just need to stay busy!!

  Today we were playing basketball and another missionary threw the ball and it smacked my face.. I now have a split lip.. that should probably use a couple of stitches. But that is not important haha. I do not exactly trust the medical care here yet. :) 

  Andres is still struggling. Yesterday the lesson was combined for the last hour. It was on how to prepare a body for burial and a lot of things to do with the temple came up. We know he is going to have even more doubts now. Gah. haha. Oh the joys of being a missionary. On a happier note, we told his wife to bare her testimony in church so he could here it and she said no, I do not like that blah blah blah. Anyways, I bore my testimony yesterday and after me she did it and after the block she told me that she figured if I could do it when I am learning a whole different language, she could do it too. That made me happy. :)

  Speaking of the language.. I am starting to dream in Spanish.. oh cielos! It is the weirdest thing! Also another thing with Spanish. A lot of people here when I talk say "No entiendo" or they laugh and it is starting to get a little discouraging. I know my Spanish is not great.. but they could at least be understaing that I have not been speaking this language my whole life! In fact.. 5 months ago yesterday was the first time I really started to get into real Spanish! 

  Can you believe it has been five months? I do not know how it has been for you, but for me the time has FLOWN by. And just for my mom.. tomorrow.. one year ago around noon we were sitting in Chilli's and I said "oh by the way.. I am going on a mission" and you just cried, and did not know whether it was an April fools joke or the truth. :) Ah.. It is still so weird to me. I honestly never thought I would be a missionary. I never saw this in my future. And at times, I feel so inadequte, but I just put my trust in Heavenly Father and he makes up for my weaknesses. But I honestly love being a missionary. It is discouarging at times and it is very hard. But I love it. Complete strangers become like my family. Ah. I just can not explain it.

  You asked about my companion- Hermana Gonzaléz. She is from Queretaro. (very close to here. In fact in July before they re-did the mission boundaries she lived in this mission.) She is like my sister. We have so much fun and we stay up all night talking. It is horrible but it is fun. I feel like I have known her forever and it is going to be a very sad day when we have transfers. She is an awesome companion. 

  I watched the broadcast on Saturday, obviously in Spanish.. and it was so neat! I loved the I am a child of god video. It made me think of just how true this church is. If it was not true.. it would fall and it would not be in all the countries and places it is in. 

  I think that is all that I have to share for this week, but please pray for Andres, Juanita, Maricela, Fernanda, Liliana, Yanet, Yolanda, Octavio, Marybel and Viridiana. I love you and hope you have a great week! nos vemos- Hna Turek

I Love Mexico City

Hola mi amors, 

    How are you? This week went by really fast. We had interviews on Wednesday. Not much happened this week. We have one progressing investigator. His name is Andres. His wife, Raquel is a member and they have a baby. Now that they have a baby she wants an eternal family. This is why I will only marry in the temple. Just because I have seen how much she is hurting now. But anyways back to Andres. He has a lot of doubts and what not. But he is coming to church and is learning. Which is good. Please pray for him. 

  Things are getting a little bit better with the ward and the members working with us. They are slowly, but surely gaining trust and confidence. This is good.

I got fired from the choir hahahaha. No. They called a member now. Which is also good. It is better for the member than for me because who knows when I will leave.

  This week I had a lot of little spiritual experiences and I learned and grew a lot. On this coming Friday, it will mark one year since the night I knew what I needed to do and that was to leave everything behind and serve the Lord. I have reflected on this a lot this week. It is a decision that I will always be thankful for. I do not know why the Lord has called me. I am a inadequate, 19 year old girl . But I am thankful for it. I have learned and grown in ways I did not know were possible.

  Oh this week, i finished the book, our search for happiness. it is a must read! I learned a lot. but one thing that really stuck out to me was this. elder ballard said: every year thousands of young, single men and women and older couples leave home, family, and friends at their own or their families expense to serve the lord as missionaries in various parts of the world- even though, to be perfectly candid, most of them feel every bit as uncomfortable standing on your doorstep as you do finding them there. Whenever you serve the Lord, He blesses you. Many of our missionaries begin their missions thinking they are going to repay Heavenly Father for His goodness toward them by serving Him for 18 months or two years. But before long they learn an important eternal truth: you can never do more for the Lord than He can do for you... The work they are called to do is hard and sometimes discouraging. But because they have the assurance that they are on Gods errand, they are able to valiantly serve Him. I often suggest to those who want to know if the Church is true that they spend a few hours working with our missionaries. It doesnt take long to learn that no one can do all of the things a missionary does every day without knowing beyond any question that what they are doing is right and true. The Lord does bless his missionaries just as surely as they bless the lives of those they teach and baptize. Difficult languages are learned with astonishing speed and skill. Financially strapped families back home find unforeseen means to support their missionaries. Weaknesses become strengths, challenges become opportunities, trials become triumphs, and adversity becomes an adventure in the service of the Lord. I LOVE this and I wanted to share it. 

  I start my English classes this week on Thursday.. gah. I do not know what to teach.. so please pray for me! We need success from this!

  I love you and hope that you have a GREAT week!

-Hna Turek 

San Marcos 2

How was your week? Mine was pretty good. :) Things here in San Marcos are pretty good. Yesterday Doris, Israel, and Sherlyn were baptized!! I am so happy for them. While I did not get to see them enter the waters of baptism, the joy I feel for them is pretty great. 

   Here in our ward San Marcos 2, we are struggling to get the members to work with us. Yesterday the first councilor to the bishop was talking to us because the mission work here is sucking big time and the members do not like the missionaries because of two that were here previously. They were a burden but he can see that we have excitement for this work and every time he sees us in the street we have huge smiles on our faces. So yesterday we talked of ways to get the members to work with us and get this work going again. I am going to start having English classes. This scares me too death because I do not know how to teach! But I know it will all be good. If you have any ideas on how we can get the work going please let me know.

   My companion pushes me too, she is just different than hna barraza. It is what I honestly needed. My Spanish is okay, I still have a lot to learn. But for being here only 4 months my Spanish is pretty good. It is definitely because of the gift of tongues. Yes, we have language study as companions actually. I help her with her English and she helps me with my Spanish. It is pretty good, I just love Mexico.

   We have a couple of investigators. Vidiana, Yolanda, Octavio, Katia and a man named Edger. Edger stopped us on the street my first day here and said he wanted to learn more and be spiritually strengthened, but when we went to his house his wife was so rude, and was like I do not want anything he doesn't need anything we are good and slammed the door in our faces..So yeah ha-ha. The fun things that happen when you are a missionary.

    I had a spiritual experience this week I am going to share with you. It is really hot here now and I have not felt that great.. well we were walking down the street and I had like a I don't know what.. it was weird.. it was like a vision. I saw a family and I was teaching them. (before this as I was walking, I was thinking in my head.. ugh.. its so hot here. I am tired and I am sick. none of this would be like this if I was at home) I was teaching this family and I saw them change right before my eyes.. I don't know it is weird. Its hard to explain.. but then I realized why I was here. and how great my calling is. Its a pretty neat thing. Its crazy to be living so close to the spirit. Part of my mission theme is.. "Because I have been given much, I too must give. This is a time for me to give back to my Savior" So I want to be the best that I can be.

   My mom asked me a couple weeks ago if I had bought or thought of any souvenirs.. I told her yes. A new love for the book of Mormon. A new love for my parents and all that they have done and do for me, and a new love for this gospel.They make me a better version of me.

    

             I will have a great week. :) I love you muchísimo! 

First Transfer

I made it past transfers. My new companion here in San Marcos 2 in Tula is Hermana Gonzalez. I LOVE her!!! We have SO much fun! It was a very very good and needed change. I am only 30 mins away from Atitalaquia too. But I love San Marcos SO much. The members are golden! 

Hermana Slaughter went home. I have struggled with this, but she wrote me today and she is so happy. My companion has also helped me alot with this. What she doesnt know is we would have been in the same district. But all is well.

I got stung by a bee today three times. I was worried cause I know lyssa is alergic and I do not know if I am or not, but so far so good. 

Okay to answer your questions. No, we do not have hot water here. But I am used to this now. It is normal. Members do our laundry here. I like this. :) 

I do not have much to write this week. Other than I am happy and all is well. Oh.. and guess what? I am the new choirs pianoist. yay.. ha. 

I hope all is well and that you have a great week!