Alejandra

Hi Everyone!

The man in the street last week was breathing fire. Not just breathing. Sorry, I was rushed. 

Ok, so here in La Aurora, we have a lot of Tianguis. Tianguis are open-air markets, and they are awesome. There are venders selling literally everything imaginable in the Tianguis: food, clothes, movies, toys...We walked through one to get to the internet where we are emailing today, and we saw a huge booth selling just shoe laces. I love Tianguis.

Ok, well, this was a good week. I have a new compañera, Hermana Orrantia. She has one cambio less than me in the mission field, and she´s great. 

This week I thought I would tell you all about Alejandra. I think I may have mentioned her before. Alejandra is a sweet investigator that we contacted in the street one day. We helped her carry all her bags home, and then we stayed and helped her wash all her dishes and make some agua. She is very very sweet, and very sincere. She can´t read, and she learns very slowly, so we haven´t been able to teach her very much yet, but we´re working on it. She accepted a baptismal date this past week, but then she forgot that we were going to pass by for her on the way to church, and she wasn´t home. But, there´s always next week. I think once she really gets a confirming witness from the Holy Ghost that this gospel is true, she will be unstoppable.

I was studying this week in Mosiah, in the Book of Mormon, about Abinadi. And Abinadi is my hero. As I read the story, I get the feeling that Abinadi may have been a bit of an outsider even before he started preaching and prophesying among the people of King Noah. But that´s just a testimony to me that the Lord calls the weak and simple to bring about His work. I also think Abinadi must have known that he was going to be killed, but that didn´t stop him. And maybe in the end he didn´t feel like he had success or had much of an impact. But thanks to him, Alma was converted, and organized the church of God. And the whole line of prophets that came after Alma: Alma, Helaman, Helaman, Nephi and Lehi, Nephi... It all started with Abinadi. 

Just some thoughts I was having this week. If you are unfamiliar with the story of Abinadi, you can read it in Mosiah chapters 11 through 17 in the Book of Mormon. 

Love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Herron

The Intersections

Hi everyone!!

Cambios are this week, and I´m getting a new companion tomorrow. But I´m staying here in Aurora! Which is really good, I feel like I´m just barely starting to figure out my way around this huge area.

So there are a lot of people that seem to make their living in intersections here. In every intersection big enough to have a stoplight, there are always people performing or selling things. Yesterday on the way to church I saw a man breathing, so that was pretty cool. My favorites though are the windshield washers. They´re amazing. They can clean the windshield of your car in about 20 seconds, and they can do 3 or 4 cars just while they´re waiting for the green light. 

So I realized that I´ve been neglecting talking about the people here, especially our investigators, so I´ll try to tell you a little more about them from now on. Today I just wanted to tell you about Hammurabi. He´s about 25 years old, and he is what we like to call "de oro." He is golden. He has so much faith! He first started investigating the church when he showed up to the Sunday worship services in another ward. The missionaries there passed on his contact information to La Aurora Ward, but the missionaries here weren´t able to contact him for about a week. But he went to church again in the other ward the following Sunday. Apparently he told the missionaries there, "No one contacted me this week, but I have feet, so I came here myself." And he always has that attitude. His mom is not all that supportive of the church, so we can´t teach him in his house, we always have to find members who are willing to host the lesson, but that has actually been really good. Now a lot of members know him and are able to fellowship him. He was scheduled to be baptized at the beginning of this month, but due to some personal issues we had to reschedule it for the second of July. But he is bien preparado. I´m so excited to finally see him get baptized, and I hope I´ll be able to tell you all about that here in a couple of weeks. 

Ok, out of time. I love and miss you all. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that he lives today. 

And remember, "No esperes el momento perfecto, toma el momento y hazlo perfecto." Don´t wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect.

-Hermana Herron

Testimony

Hey everyone!

So, I don´t have too much time today, just enough for a quick fun fact and a testimony, but I´m doing great. We had interviews with Presidente Titensor (the mission president) this week, and I know every missionary in every mission in the world says this, but I have the greatest mission president in the world. He answered some of my prayers, and answered questions that I didn´t even ask, he´s just really in tune with the Spirit. And he expressed so much love that he and Hermana Titensor have for my compañera and I. 

So for the fun fact, when children in Mexico lose a tooth, it isn´t picked up and replaced with money by a tooth fairy, but a tooth mouse. 

I read this week the last testimony of Elder Bruce R McConkie, which he gave just two weeks before passing away, and I was really really moved by it. This is what he said: 

"As pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that He is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.

I am one of His witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in His hands and in His feet and shall wet His feet with my tears.

But I shall not know any better then than I know now that He is God´s Almighty Son, that He is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way."

I too know that Jesus Christ is the Creator and Savior of the world. I know He lived for us, died for us, and lives again for us. And like Elder McConkie, this isn´t just something I believe because it´s a nice doctrine and because I like this church. It is something I know. As an official representative of Jesus Christ, I testify to everyone of you that He is real, and He lives. He is the way and the truth and the life, and I declare it in His name. 

I love you all, and I pray for you all.

-Hermana Herron

¡Sea feliz, sea Mormón!

Hola familia y amigos!

I hope you all are doing well. Because last week´s email was so long this one is going to have to be pretty short. I´m sorry about that. 

For a fun fact today, I´m going to tell you all the origin of the word "mosquito," because I am sure you are all dying to know. Mosquito is a Spanish word. It literally means "little fly" (mosco = fly, ito = little). Thankfully at this altitude in Cuautitlan, mosquitos aren´t too much of a problem, but they are definitely still present. 

Well, as all of my siblings reminded me in their emails today, I´m basically ancient now. I turned 20 this week. And I celebrated throwing up all night from something I ate. But it honestly was still a good birthday. I felt a lot of love from a lot of people, and I was just happy to be here. 

I´ll just say that I love the Gospel. I love this church and the opportunities it has given me to learn and grow and share. I love my Savior. I have definitely had some hard, trying days recently. But I am coming to know that Jesus Christ, the Creator and Savior, of the world, knows and loves me infinitely better than I know and love myself. 

I hope you all can come to know that too.

Love you all, remember, ¡Sea feliz, sea Mormón! 

Hermana Herron

The Atonement

Hi everyone!

So, have I mentioned the rain yet?

We have hit the rainy season here in Mexico. Back home in Ohio, it rains at random all the time. Here the rain is really bizarrely predictable. It rains every night, starting at about 6 or 7 o´clock. But when it´s not raining, the sun is burning. So every morning I put on a ton of sun screen and pack my umbrella.

Well, other than that things are going pretty well here in la Aurora. We had a couple of miracles this week. We helped a woman in the street carry all her bags home this week. Her name is Alejandra, and she is super sweet, always smiling. She is very poor. Her house is a shack, and I honestly don´t think it´s been fairing very well in all this rain. She lives there with some of her sons and daughters-in-law, some of her grandchildren, and about 3 cats, 10 chickens, 3 pigeons, and probably 20 dogs. But I loved visiting her. We helped her with the dishes and comida, and then we talked a little and invited her to church. And she came! She and one of her grandsons came!

We also miraculously found a less active family. And they also came to church yesterday! I honestly couldn´t believe it. They told us that it was unlikely because the mother works, and the nephew didn´t seem all that excited about the church. But they all came!

Ok, I promised that I would tell you all about Angie this week. I´m a little late, she is from my old area, but she has really been sticking in my mind a lot lately. She is another amazing example of a miracle.

So Angie is the friend of one of our investigators in Mira Azul, Paty. One day Hermana Gonzalez and I stopped by Paty´s boutique, and Angie was there. We invited her to sit in the lesson, and she did, largely thanks to Paty, who bore her testimony right then and there about what she was learning from us. That day we were reading together in the Book of Mormon, from 2 Nephi 31, which is a chapter all missionaries are very familiar with. We finished the lesson, and Angie hadn´t said a word yet. But before we left, she told us that earlier that week she had seen or heard something, I think it was on Facebook, that said that there was a book waiting for her, with a message just for her. And as we were reading, she felt very strongly that the Book of Mormon was that book. Well, of course it is! We had literally just given away our only spare book of Mormon, but we promised to deliver her one soon.

Well, weeks, months went by and we didn´t see Angie again. She has a very very busy work schedule, and we could never  find her home or set up an appointment to meet with her. I had almost forgotten about her. Then my last day in Mira Azul, three weeks ago, we stopped by Paty one more time so that I could say good bye, and Angie was there again! Well, we shared a quick thought, I said goodbye to Paty, and we were just about to leave when I remembered Angie´s Book of Mormon. I reached into my bag and pulled out a Book of Mormon and gave it to her. And Angie started to cry. She hugged me and told me that even though we had hardly seen her, we had no idea the influence we had had in her life. And she told me that she would read it. 

And then I left. I haven´t heard anything, I have no idea if the sisters in Mira Azul have been able to teach Angie more. I don´t know if she has read at all in the Book of Mormon. But I sincerely hope and pray so.

It is truly amazing to me, the way Heavenly Father is working behind the signs with all of these people, preparing them, teaching them, guiding them. We missionaries don´t actually do any of the actual work. 

Well, sorry this is so long this week. I just want to close with one last thing. Saturday, we took one of our investigators to a piano recital in the stake center. There was actually a really good turnout. Half way through, we had a little missionary moment, and my zone leader asked me to bear my testimony on the atonement of Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you all what I tried to tell the people there.

I don´t understand the atonement. I´ve learned about it my whole life, I study about it for an hour every day here. I teach everyone I can about it. And I don´t understand it. I don´t understand how it was possible. I don´t understand, not even close, what our Savior suffered. And I don´t understand how He could love me and you enough to be willing to pay the price that He paid. But I do know one thing. It´s true. Jesus Christ loves us enough to have suffered for every one of our pains, sins, and struggles. He understands us, He loves us, and because of Him, we can be made clean and return to live with our Father in Heaven. I don´t understand it, but I know it.  

And because I didn´t start with a fun culture fact, I´ll add this. The most important Spanish word that they never taught me in high school: la Expiación, or the atonement. 

Have a wonderful week. I love and miss you all!

Hermana Herron

A Baptism!

Hi Everyone!

So, I might hit my 6 month mark this Wednesday.... but I´m still telling everyone that I only have 5 months in the mission. I can still say that for two more days. 

Things are going well here in La Aurora. I´m starting to be able to find my way around without getting too lost. In some places in this area, I can see Lunaparc, the mall that was in the corner of my last area. I´m really not that far away, but it is completely different here. 

We realized this week that a large percentage of our conversos recientes are menos activos ahora. That´s kinda a problem. Like President Hinckley said, there is absolutely no point in doing missionary work if we can´t hold on to the fruits of that work. 

Ok, big news, we had a baptism on Saturday, Ramses. His wife and two daughters were baptized in April, and now the whole family is members. They are all so happy. During the baptism the face of Hermana Lucy, the wife of Ramses, was just glowing. 

Photos! Going backwards in time: 1. from the baptism of Ramses 2. Hermana Rito´s birthday was on Friday, and we had some cake, Mexican style 3. Me and Hermana Bingham. The Binghams are the senior couple that work in the offices, and we were best buddies while I was in Mira Azul. 4. Me and Hermana Loyola and Paty, an investigator in Mira Azul, in her little boutique. I´ll tell you all a story about her friend Angie next week when I (hopefully) have more time. 

Love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Herron

Barrio La Aurora

Well hello world,

So quick fun fact this week, about colonias. Mexico has states, just like the U.S. Right now I am in the state of Mexico (creative name, right?), and I am still in the city of Cuautitlan Izcalli. But Mexico also has things called colonias. They´re like neighborhoods, kinda. For those of you who are familiar with the Midwest, they are kinda like townships, except they aren´t all regular sized squares. If you understand colonias it will be a lot easier to understand my new area. 

I am in Barrio La Aurora now, and wow. I´m about 10 minutes away from my last area, Mira Azul, but it is a lot different here. Mira Azul was a little area, with only one colonia, Cumbria. La Aurora has... I don´t know how many colonias we have here, but it´s a lot. None of them are as big as Cumbria, but this area is still a lot bigger than I´m used to. It´s also a lot poorer than Cumbria. And all of the colonias are different. We have one colonia that actually looks a lot like Cumbria, so I feel pretty comfortable there. We have another colonia that is out in the campo. It is very poor and a lot more farmy. The kind of place where you go to a house and the chicken coop is almost as big as the actual house. We have another colonia that is very nice gated community. We aren´t allowed to proselyte or make street contacts there or we´ll get kicked out. We have another one where we aren´t allowed to be out in that colonia past 6 pm, because it´s a little more dangerous. And then we have a colonia that is more like how I imagined Mexico would be. That´s where we live.

My compañera is Hermana Rito. She is also from Oaxaca, Mexico, like Hermana Gonzalez, and she also has one transfer more than me, like Hermana Loyola, which, with my 6 weeks in the CCM, means she only has 2 weeks more time in the mission than me. Her birthday also happens to be exactly two weeks before mine, so that´s cool too.

Sorry I don´t have time to tell you all more about my area and the people here. I´ll make sure and tell you all next week. And I´ll try to include more pictures next week.

In the mean time, I want you all to consider this question: Am I personally converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

I´ve heard it said that Testimony is to know and to declare, Conversion is to do and become. It´s a big difference, and my personal conversion is something that I´ve been pondering on a lot lately. 

Love you all! ¡Cuidense mucho!

-Hermana Herron