First of all.....FELIZ DÍA DE INDEPENDENCIA DE MÉXICO!!! Second of all.....HAPPY 9 MONTHS!!!
Can you believe I've hit my half-way mark?! I can't! Time flies in the mission...before you know it I'll have been here an entire year...and then heading home on a plane! They say that the first half of your mission is the longest 9 months of your life but that the last 9 months fly by. It's all downhill from here.
My companion and I burned skirts to celebrate. I made sure to light it in the shower...in case it got out of hand or anything. I'll have you know that I didn't burn down our apartment building or anything.
Thursday we went to talk to one of our investigators named Ernesto. About 3 weeks ago he had stopped us in the street, tears in his eyes, asking if we could help him. We agreed and made an appointment for later that day. When we got to his house he told us that his wife had just walked out of the door with his 2 year-old little kid and all of her possessions. We've been teaching him and things have been getting a lot better for him. But Thursday things didn't go the way we wanted them to... He told us that he couldn't leave the Catholic church. Does he go to the catholic church? Nope! Has he read a single verse of the Bible? Nope! He doesn't even pray! He said he couldn't accept prophets... He looked up a picture of Thomas S. Monson and said that he didn't believe in him because he was wearing too nice of a suit. He also wouldn't believe that no one in the church gets paid...or that we as missionaries don't get paid....I was not happy at all. I left his house pretty offended.... So, I turned to my companion and told her that we weren't going home until we had contacted 20 more people...and I took my anger out knocking doors. At night?? Dangerous and scary...but I was angry! And later in the week we found some new investigators out of it! So that was great! You've got to take what's thrown at you and make the best of it!
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| Next door neighbor that spends almost all of his time sleeping like this |
The other night I was sitting at my desk planning when I dropped a piece of food on the floor. I paused, looked down, looked back up, and yelled, "Chloe!!!" (Chloe is my family's dog) Then I realized that I wasn't at home... It was a funny/sad experience. My companion was very confused.
Friday we had our first zone conference with our new President, President Stutznegger. We talked a lot about obedience and watching out for our companion. Things have been tough in the mission...BUT...we're improving a TON! Just give it a little time. We practiced contacting and did a hilarious "mouse family" skit (courtesy of Hermana Stutznegger).
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| Me and Hermana Taylor |
Afterwards, Hermana Bennett and I went home to make some lunch. We made pasta with red sauce and garlic bread...home sweet home! I'm sure you are all wondering why I always write about random food that we make...All I have to say is this: If your diet consisted of beans, rice, and tortillas..you would too!!
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| Homemade Cheesecake! |
Later Friday night we headed over to the stake center for the "Noche Mexicana" that the stake put on. SO. MUCH. FUN. They set up a GINORMOUS tent with a big stage and chandeliers. Each stake made a Mexican dish; there were tacos al pastor, pozole, takos de suadero, vambasos, helotes, sopes, agua de jamaica, tomales, horchata...you name it, it was there. (I'm sure none of you know what any of that food is but it's very typical Mexico City food) To top it off a band came and performed and played live salsa music. Mexicans seriously know how to throw a party! No worries...when I get home...I'm going to teach you all how it's done...Mexican style! People were salsa dancing, eating, talking, and just having a good time. I was dying. I don't know how to dance (and a lot of people can attest to that), but I wanted to get out there and dance! (Must be the Amie Ingram in me;)) 9 more months and I'll be able to dance the salsa all I want! We brought a bunch of investigators and they had a blast. Us missionaries...well we partied as hard as missionaries can...which means a little head bobbing and finger snapping;)
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| Me with some missionaries at the party (I recognize Elder Smith, Hunsaker, Hermana Bennett and Gurley) |
Saturday was a GREAT day. Our day was full of contacts and new investigators to find. We found a lady the other day but she was never home.. we knocked the door one last time and a 15 year-old girl invited us in and we taught their entire family. It was awesome. A drunk guy also contacted us in the street today and told us he wanted to quit drinking...and then went on a 10 minute creepy rant about how pretty my eyes were...creepy.
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| A pet dog that follows me around EVERYWHERE |
We have a family of four that is really progressing. They are the Mariscal family and have fallen in love with the church already. We've been teaching them everyday this week...and they've quit smoking cold turkey in order to be baptized. We also found a lady who's leg got destroyed by a car...and it's bad. It got ran over and is absolutely crushed. She has to wait 15 days to get surgery. She's single with 3 kids and is unable to work anymore due to her leg...you can imagine how hard that would be. We invited her to church and she agreed...the tricky part was figuring out how to get her there (she can't walk). Saturday we spent all day trying to find a wheel chair to use to get her to church without any luck. Sunday we found one just sitting in the church and hurried and ran over to her house...BUT she lived on the top floor...3 flights of stairs. We managed to carry her down the stairs with out dropping her and we made it to the church in one piece.
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| Neza is ready for the celebration |
That's about it for this week! Today is independence day here in Mexico (Mexican 4th of July) which means today is going to be a bit crazy. I'll have a bunch of "missionary-style" celebration photos next week. So...get your Mexican on and go eat a burrito or something!
Love you all! Viva México!
Hermana Ingram
P.S. This Friday I will be turning 20... or in other words the first 'over the hill'. BUT that also means that Hailey-graw will officially start Friday! Get prepared!
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| Trekking clean drinking water |
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