Week 11 March 31, 2014

Hola toda!

Monday was THE BEST! We got up at 4:30 AM, got ready, and made our way to the estaca to meet with our district to hike one of the mountains (hill compared to the mountains in Utah) here in the city. Six of us stuffed into one taxi, the other 6 into another and we made our way to the base of the mountain. There wasn't a trail so we just improvised knowing that if we continued to hike up hill we'd eventually reach the top. About an hour later, we made it to the top to find a giant cross on a big cement block. We all climbed on it and looked out into the city....THIS CITY IS HUGE!!!! The houses go as far as the eye can see!

We then all sat it a circle and played spoons but with stones. After a few games of 'stones' we hiked back down, stuffed into another taxi and found a little taco shop to eat at. There is nothing better than hiking after a long hard week!

We've been teaching to guys named Raul and Julio...and to be honest, I'm actually a little bit scared of them...they always seem to be a little drunk. We teach them in their recording studio full of guitars, drums, bases, whistles, etc, and every time we begin, they insist on playing a Christian Rock song with their instruments for the opening hymn. And they REALLY get into it. Did I mention that both of these men are over 50? Just a tad different than singing 'I Am A Child of God'....but if they insist!

So...turns out that Hermana Valdez (my old companion) didn't get sent home after all.... And I had the wonderful opportunity of doing divisions with her this week...do I need to say more?? The entire day she criticized me and bragged about how much success she has had since she left. 8 baptisms, 10 investigators in church the previous Sunday, baptismal dates lined up until the end of March, on and on and on.... But, to get back for all the hard times, I worked her SO HARD! Normally we have around 8 lessons, but when I was with her we had 11 lessons and 15 contacts. And when she complained that she was feeling sick...well I walked just a tad faster! I'll repent for it later;) Turns out...that EVERYTHING she told me was a complete lie...every baptism, date, investigator...EVERYTHING! Poor girl...

Hermana Benson and Bravo had a baptism yesterday at noon and we went to support them. He was a 9 year-old little boy and his entire family and extended family was there to support him too. He entered the font with one of the Hermanos in the ward, the baptism prayer was said, and went under. When he came back up he was completely out of breath and, arms spread, backed himself up against the wall of the font. Unfortunately, his feet didn't go completely under the water so he was going to have to do it again. He was completely freaked out. I thought, "He'll get over it." But no! He stood in the pila for an entire hour backed up to the wall as everyone tried to talk him into trying one last time. He wouldn't do it! So...we left without a baptism...crazy stuff!

That night we walked to Sofia's house and as we were teaching her, her son walked in. It was the first time that I had ever seen him because he usually works until 2:00 AM. By the look on Sofia's face, I knew that it wasn't good. The 3 of us sat half scared to death while he hovered over us asking us questions, insisting that we answer the way he wanted. Did I mention that he was completely drunk? The smell of alcohol on him was completely overwhelming. That's when mama Zambrano came out...my companion chewed him out big time. The whole time I was cringing thinking that at any moment he was going to explode on us. He was absolutely fuming! He stood up, barged out of the room, and cranked his music up so loud that we couldn't even talk to each other. As if things couldn't get worse, he came back in with 5 of his shirtless drunk friends. We immediately stood up, grabbed our back packs, and left the house. I felt so bad for Sofia...she was bawling..begging us not to leave... Oh! I wanted to knock some sense into all 5 of those guys! If only! As sister missionaries, we are definitely protected in times of danger. Thank goodness!

Hailey labeled this one: "You know you're fat when your dessert is the size of a quarter"  

The work here is progressing! We are finding more and more people who are ready for the gospel each and every day! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Les quiero mucho! Hasta luego!

Hermana Ingram

Week 9-10 March 24, 2014

Hola!

Monday was a blast!! After personal/companionship study at the church we met with the Albendano family because they wanted to take us to another part of Mexico to eat and visit a few places (that's code for impress us so that we might be interested in marrying their son...not going to happen). We all squeezed into a mini van and began our 2 hour drive. I have never seen so many houses in my life. I've been stuck in this same little area for so long that I about forgot that I live in the second biggest/most populated city in the world! We got to drive past a really big mountain called "la mujer dormida" and a volcano called "popo". I miss mountains SO much! All I wanted to do was jump out of the moving car and hike them! The volcano was erupting as we spoke (normally it is snow capped but since it was erupting the snow had melted).

 When we got there we sat down in the middle of a little market and ate "la cecina mejor del mundo" (it's a meat that you can't find anywhere else in the world). I am literally addicted to salsa....if it is 'picante' it has my name written all over it! Tacos and live accordion music...does it get any better??

 Afterwards we visited an old catholic church form the 1800s. There was a wedding going on and we could hear the catholic choirs singing from inside.

We didn't get home until late but still had time to have a family home evening with one of our investigators. Afterwards, as we got to our apartment, I noticed that the crazy/aggressive lady was sleeping in front of the door. I stopped Zambrano and showed her...the look on her face was priceless...pure fear. Honestly, I couldn't stop laughing! We quickly said a prayer and very quietly snuck up to the door. I reached over her, making sure to be as quiet as possible...and, as I put the key into the key hole, I felt two hands grip my ankles. My companion ran away and I was left to fend this lady off for myself! I tried to turn and run but couldn't break her grip and before I knew it, she had me in a head-lock!!! Ok..ok...none of that really happened....got ya! Rewind to when I was putting the key in the key-hole. Very quietly, I was able to open the door. I pushed it open as wide as I could, took a few steps back and hurdled her through the door. Zambrano hurdled her just as she was waking up and as soon as she was inside, I slammed the door shut. She immediately began banging her fists on the door with a face full of anger...Scary! But we survived!

This week was definitely one of the harder weeks. Got to keep working hard though! Stumbling blocks like these only make us stronger! We didn't have a baptism this week but are continuing to find more and more people who are ready to receive this gospel. Work hard and no regrets!!!! We started teaching one of David's sons named Arturo. He's the only one we can teach because the other 5 are always on drugs...To the point where they aren't even there in their minds. They all are over 20 but have minds of 12 year olds....super super sad. But I'm hoping that Arturo will progress and change his life around. He lives in the same van as his dad and had to quit school to start working. He's 16 years old and every time we teach him I imagine him in a white shirt and tie with a missionary badge...that would be amazing!

That's all for this week!

Les quiero!!! Gracias por toda!! Hasta luego!

Hermana Ingram

Week 9 Aventuras.... March 24, 2014

Hola from Mexico!!!

So the weeks just keep getting better and better!

I had my weekly "division" with Hermana Benson Wednesday. Just like good old times in the MTC! One thing is for sure...we sure know how to have a lot of fun. We taught one of our investigators named Isabel... Isabel is a 72 year old lady who isn't exactly all there up stairs if you know what I mean... She has a testimony of the gospel though so we continue to teach her. She was previously a member of the Pentecostal church and has a hard time changing the way she prays, reads scriptures, etc. (not going to lie...it's hilarious at times) After our lesson was over, Hermana Benson was giving the closing prayer and Isabel kept burping...and if that wasn't bad enough she let out the biggest 'pedo' I have ever heard....it gets worse...she stood up, raised her arms to the sky and said, "Padre Celestial! Perdoname!" Ya...there was no holding back that laugh. Hermana Benson quickly ended the prayer and we got out of there quick before things got worse...

Later, we had a 'visita guiada' with a family of investigators at the church. They showed up (dog included) and we set up chairs to teach them in the chapel. As we sat down, the mom said, "Y la otra silla?" I didn't understand why because each family member had a chair. But, I stood up and set up one more chair. She then whistled and their big St. Bernard dog came running in and sat it's little behind on the chair with the family just like he was a person. Who knew the dogs in Mexico were so spiritual?

Even the eggs are Catholic in Mexico

Wednesday we were teaching another investigator named Sofia in her little cinder block home when it started to rain worse than I have seen yet. Her house doesn't have doors so I could see outside. It was raining horizontally and the walls turned into waterfalls. The thunder was literally shaking her home and I could see flashes of lightning brighter than ever. As we were finishing the lesson the rain was coming down even harder. We knelt down on our knees and Sofia offered the closing prayer. All she prayed for was for the fain to stop so that the Hermanas could visit more people who needed the gospel. As she spoke, the rain kept on coming down. However, when she said the word "Amen", no joke, the rain absolutely stopped. My jaw was literally dropped to the floor because I could not believe it. She didn't even look surprised! If only we all had faith like Sofia!

Hermana Zambrano: I am learning a lot from her

Later that day we were teaching another family of investigators when a person in one of the doorways across the room started snapping her fingers, clapping her hands, and whistling saying, "Venga guera! Guera! Venga!" (Come here! White girl! White girl! Come on!) over and over again. In my mind I was thinking, "Whoa now...I might be a guera, but I'm not a dog!" After about the 10th call, the white dog sitting next to me got up and ran to her...yes yes...they named their white dog Guera...

Sofia's Baptism

Saturday we baptized Sofia! When we got to the chapel, Sofia was already there waiting for us. The first thing she did was give both of us hugs and completely broke down in tears. She then explained to us that her son had just come home very drunk, broke just about everything of hers, beat her, and threatened to kill her. I have never seen a face more sad than hers. I was mad...and wanted to go kick some Mexican butt... But what faith...to still come to her baptism after all that?

Mexican Cheetos

Love you all!!!

Hermana Ingram

Week 8 No Time.....March 17, 2014

WHAT A DAY!!! I DON'T HAVE ANY TIME TO WRITE... A DAY FULL OF ADVENTURES... BUT NEXT WEEK I WILL WRITE A NOVEL! I PROMISE!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!
DON'T EVER FORGET IT!

Week 7 Headless Chicken Roast

Hola from Mexico!!!

This week was a great week!

Hermana Zambrano (my companion) is the leader of all the sisters in the mission which means that we have to do an exchange once a week. That means that once a week I have to be the senior companion and plan with another Hermana in my area. Late Monday night, we met up with two other sisters and I switched to a Hermana from Mexico. It was pretty stressful because the next day we were going to teach 5 lessons with investigators and 5 lessons with inactive families. I thought, "I'll be fine...she knows how to speak Spanish and will help me out..." But no! She was THE shyest girl ever and hardly spoke a word! Let's just say that it was a really good day to practice my Spanish.

 I love getting packages!!! The people here think my family is Catholic because of the way my mom sends them :)

Wednesday we had our second lesson with our investigator named Sofia. We took her to the church so that we could teach her about what we do there. We walked over to the sacrament table and began explaining what it was for. We pulled out the sacrament trays and asked her what she thought they were for and she replied, "Pues...por los galletitas!" (For the little cookies!) Wouldn't that be great? Little cookies instead of bread?? Then we went to the baptismal font to explain it and invite her to be baptized and when I invited her she paused, looked down at the floor for a few minutes, and said, "I have one concern....is the water going to be cold?" If that's her only concern....bueno!

Thursday, Zambrano had a big meeting with the president and all of the leaders in the mission. When we got there, the President sent me with THE GUERAS OF ALL GUERAS. We took the metro to her area and went to her apartment to plan for the day. Her apartment was a very tall building and she lived on the 5th floor. Every flight was separated by a hallway and at the end of each stairway was a tall barred gate with a lock. As we were leaving her apartment, we walked down the first stairwell and as we approached the gate, I reached down and accidentally hit a button which locked the gate. I thought we would be fine and that she would have a key but she didn't... We were locked in the stairwell and couldn't leave....In my head I was thinking, "Great...I'm going to have to tell the President that it was my fault that we couldn't teach because I locked us in a stairwell for the entire day.." We sat on the stairs for about an hour waiting for someone to walk by with keys. Thank goodness for the little old lady with the keys! We got to our first appointment with a 70 year old Catholic investigadora and began teaching. She started telling us about her conversion to the Catholic religion...that she had had a vision and in the vision God had sent a headless chicken roast to speak to her... She went on and on and on.. I'm pretty sure the other Hermana had no idea what the lady was saying because she was testifying about testimonies... I was just trying not to laugh the whole time!!!

Saturday was my first baptism! We baptized a 9 year old girl named Mildred. When we got to the church, the family had forgotten to bring the baptism clothes they said they had and we had absolutely nothing... Finally, one of the Elders ran to the bathroom with a jacket, changed out of his white shirt, put on the jacket and that's what we used...his white shirt! We sure know how to improvise!

Sunday we met with the Elders in our district to report for the week. As we were sitting in the meeting, we heard a lot of noise coming from the hallway. One of the Elders opened the door and we did not expect to see what we saw...about 50 people in an all out brawl. May I remind you that this was in the church!!! There were ladies ripping out hair and throwing punches, men in head locks! We quickly closed the door and blocked it off with chairs and waited it out. I see something new everyday;)

Yesterday we got a call from some sisters with a reference for a family in our area. We went right away and knocked on the door. A lady answered and immediately asked if we were representatives of Jesus Christ. She had been praying for help when we knocked on the door and invited us in. She and her two other sisters started talking to us and within minutes all three were crying telling us that we were answers to their prayers. Crazy!

Miracle Family from yesterday

They fed us and fed us and fed us and fed us and we didin't even know them!
The people here love a food they call doritos locos (doritos with jicama, peanuts, cucumber, chile salsa...I'm not really a fan but we ate it to be nice)

This past week has been RAINY and pretty chilly! But when there isn't any rain...it's super super hot! I can tell that it's starting to get a lot hotter... And it's not really humid at all. Probably a little more humid than Utah but not much of a difference.

A family in our ward make jeans for a living. We sometimes help them.

Adios por ahora,

Hermana Ingram

Week 6 Continued....Machetes and Coconuts

We finally had another activity! Monday, my companion and I and a few other companions took an hour long bus ride and met up with some of the other missionaries to go bowling. It was like I was in America! We all took it very seriously because there were drinks on the line...Let's just say that I went home with all the winnings for the day.. I hope that's allowed?;)

 

Segundo bautismo!! Saturday was David's baptism. At about 5:30PM we walked about a mile to where he lives, knocked on the door of his mini van (his house), and walked with him to the church for his baptism. He was pretty nervous but afterwards he was beaming. He bore his testimony and talked about all of the sacrifices he had made to be worthy to become a member of the church. He quit smoking and drinking cold turkey. I'm hoping that he can earn enough money to move out of his van and into a real home.
David is in his 50s and has 6 kids who are all extreme drug addicts....super sad. He and his wife are divorced.

One of our other investigators named Sofia is literally THE sweetest lady I have ever met. When we originally met her she wanted absolutely nothing to do with us. But once she started seeing the effect of the gospel in her life we have become super close with her. She lives with her son (her husband died about 20 years ago). When we went to her house for the first time we noticed that just about everything in her home was broken. She explained to us that her son comes home extremely drunk and aggressive every night. She started crying telling us that she didn't know what to do because this had been going on for years. We told her that we could kneel down and that she could ask God to help her son. When we returned a few days later, she was so happy: her son had come home that same night sober for the first time in years and told her that he had decided to quit drinking. Milagros!

Today we were invited to a member's house to learn how to cook. This family is by far my favorite family here in Mexico. We cooked beans, chicken, rice, pica (with Habanero peppers: I LOVE PICANTE), homemade tortillas, and fruit salad. I thought I knew what Mexican food was before my mission...but I didn't! And ya'll don't know what pica de gayo is until you've had it with habanero chile peppers! I'm going leave my clothes behind and come back with suitcases full of cooking utensils and we are all going to have a feast! Mexico style!!

Les quiero mucho!!! Gracias por toda!! Hasta luego!

Hermana Ingram

Before our activity on Monday. We had a "party" for Hermana Taylor's companion who had finished her mission

Herbie Blue!!! (you had to grow up in my familia)
How many Hermanas can you stuff in the back of a VW?

Week 6 No Time for Email March 3, 2014

To Be Continued.....