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