Week 52-54 - Arcos Antiguos

 Hermana Phenix, Me, & President Crickmore

Road Trip - Hermana Blanco and I

This week, Courtney included journal entries with random thoughts from two separate days. Some of it is hard to understand and choppy but here we go ….

Day 1:

Today was awesome. First, we ate in Arcos Antiguos and it is so fresh.  Every little gated community has a pool. I want to buy a house there. We visited a family. They bought this chicken that had a sweet BBQ sauce that was so good that I ate the skin, which I never do in Mexico. Their kitchen is so pretty and their bathroom … I just sat in there for a minute and cried a little on the inside. After living here for almost a year, a nice modern house sounds so good. It would be a big blessing.

Second, we had a lesson with Pam Campos Mendoza and the spirit was so strong. We taught the restoration and shared our testimonies of Joseph Smith. The Hermana wanted us to sing by ourselves to end the lesson, so we sang “Be Still Thy Soul” in English. It was really cool.  When we ended, the spirit was like “boom” and the Hermana was like “great message, sisters.” Ernesto said he prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, and he was able to sleep that night, which he said never happens.

Third, we were outside of a door, waiting for a Hermana to come out and my companion just started hitting this random dog with her pen and saying, “apurate, apurate!”(get a move on) and I was like, “Hermana, what are you doing?” And she said, “This dog is walking so slow!” The dog later passed us in the street and she yelled, “Walk, walk” and hitting it with her pen again. A guy rode by on his bike and I could tell he was like “What is she doing?” It is such a comfort to know that we have the truth. (We have no idea what this means … we are just typing what she has written !!)

A scripture … Alma 18:35 - And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.

Day 2:

Today was a cool day. Homero, Lupita, and Ernesto came to church. Homero taught the Sunday school class for jovenes (youth) and it was pretty good. He teaches like a good American teacher. I think he learned from his American companions. He will be a good dad. We talked about studying the scriptures. We did a role play and after he told the youth, “I know you're not reading your scriptures because your actions show it.” We read in 2 Ne 1:14-15 when Lehi is saying his final words. I like when he says, “I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.”

We helped the youth do missionary role plays and it was so fun. Homero asked the class, “Who here wants to serve a mission?” Two of the girls kinda raised their hand, and then ERNESTO RAISED HIS HAND!!! AHHH!! Homero saw him and it totally shocked. He was like, “Wow, that's news to me.” It was like a little moment !

Relief Society was good because Vania taught the class and it was great! After church, we played the piano and sang with Homero and Ernesto because the Bishop was in an interview.

Our recent division with the new sisters means that we get to keep our investigators! Yes!! We went to a NDH in Arcos Antiguos because all of our lessons canceled and it was good we went because it was the birthday of the hermana and only two other sisters showed up. Hermana Phenix wasn't feel well so she threw up. Now she feels better. Finally, we had a lesson with our other investigators, Melissa and Axel. I asked Axel if he wanted to be baptized and he was like, “I don't know, like I just don't know if I'm ready?” He's been attending church for months and knows a lot about the church. He will be baptized soon. Melissa wants to also, but has obstacles to overcome.

PS – Look up Arcos Antiguos, San Carlos, Morelos on the internet!

The following week:

This week was crazy. Our leaders called us this morning and said that we have to prepare ourselves because the volcano is going to explode!!! We found so many new people to teach this week who are honestly so prepared to accept this message. One guy told us he had never felt the love of God in his life and he accepted to be baptized. I think the hardest thing this week was that our mission leader has a family who are not members. We are teaching them. When he got home off his mission, his mom lost their house and he slept literally under the stars for months until he had enough money to put up four walls for his mom to have a house. He is 22!! He was like, “Hermanas, I need you guys to help my family!” Talk about stress!