Aleluya!

Hi Everyone!

 

My brother reminded me that I haven´t been including any culture fun facts lately, so here is one for this week: in general, Mexicans are very, very tone deaf. But they still sing loud and proud, which I love, even if I can´t distinguish one key to sing along with sometimes. 

Also, related to that, not all of the hymns in the English hymnbook are in the Spanish one, but there are some hymns in the Spanish hymnbook that we don´t have in English too.

 

This week was a really special week. We beat our record this week for number of lessons taught (27 in total this week!), and we beat our daily record twice (6 lessons in one day). Hermana Gonzalez and I have really been working hard to try to meet the Standards of Excelence in the mission, and the Lord has really been blessing us. 

 

Last Monday we had our first Ward Family Home Evening, or Noche de Hogar. We made invitations and really advertized it and worked hard to make it a success. But it turned out to be so much more of a success than I ever imagined! We had investigators, muchos menos activos, conversos recientes... Martin y Pilar brought their son, the whole familia de la Cruz came, Ana Lilia came. And so many members came as well! The Bishop said that we had about 80% attendence of a regular Sacrament Meeting! And everyone had a good time. This was the first time the ward has tried to do something of this nature, and Hermana Gonzalez and I could not be more happier with the success that we had. 

 

We are finally starting to see some success in this area, not really in baptisms, but in attitude of the members. They can feel the difference. We have more people willing to work with us and accompany us. This week was a little hard to get members to accompany us simply because we only had phone signal half the time, but we still managed to find members for all but three of our lessons, which is another miracle. Yesterday in the Ward Counsel some of the leaders thanked us for the work we are doing because they can truly see the difference. The funny thing is though, we aren´t the ones doing anything. I mean, we´re working as hard as we possibly can, doing all that we can, praying, fasting, teaching, improving, but it´s obvious to me that the one doing the real work isn´t us, but the Lord. Just an example, Israel. Israel is (or was) a menos activo who came to church yesterday for the 4th week in a row. But literally all we did was show up at his house one day to meet his mamá. We had no idea Israel even existed. And as we were talking with his mom, he came up and asked us what time church was on Sunday, because I wanted to come back. And now he´s attended four weeks in a row, just like that. And we misionaries didn´t actually do anything, it was 100% the Lord´s work. 

Speaking of Israel, the first time we visited his mamá, Lupita, she was willing to talk with us, but she had very very little desire to return to church. Well, that has changed. Thanks to the example of her son, everything about her and her family has changed. Now every time we visit them, she has questions for us from what she read, and now she has desires to return to church. It´s amazing the influence one person, like Israel, can have just through his example. 

 

As you hopefully all know, a very special day is coming up, when we will remember the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ. I encourage all of you to go see the Easter video that the church has put out, you can find it in English here www.mormon.org/easter/hallelujah. It´s only about 2 minutes long but it is powerful. I know that through Him, and we can find new life. I know that He lives. I know it. I know that He is my Savior, and I love Him. 

 

Hermana Herron

 

ps. Also a quick reminder, General Conference is in less than two weeks!!! I have seriously never been more excited for General Conference before, I´ve been counting down to it since about mid January. I hope you´re all preparing to see it and learn from it and apply it in your lives. 

 

Happy Pi Day

Just a quick reminder from your misionera/math major to eat some pie today. Pie isn´t really a thing in Mexico, so I probably won´t be able to, which is sad but I suppose I´ll live. They do have pie in some places, but it´s not really the same, and the spell it "pay" which I think is funny.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well. This week was a little hard for Hermana Gonzalez and I. We had a lot of canceled appointments. Every day was like a Saturday. The Missionary Manual says that we should spend as much time as possible proselyting Saturdays and Sundays because it is a good time to find families together at home, but that´s a lie. We can never find anyone at home on Saturdays or Sundays, and this week, every day was like that. But we still managed to have some success and some really good lessons. 

I want to tell you all about just one lesson in particular. It was with an investigator named Patricia. She is super happy and spirited and always wearing about 6 inch heels. For her work she designs children´s clothes. She is always fun to visit. Anyways, this week we had a lesson with her in which we introduced her to the Book of Mormon. And she accepted it so well right off the bat! It was amazing! We would say something like "The Book of Mormon is scripture like the Bible," And instead of asking why we need more, like most people, she would get all excited. We talked about how the Book of Mormon describes Christ´s visit to the Americas and she said,  "I always thought He came here too." It was so exciting to be there in that lesson, seeing someone I love discover for the first time a book that I love so much. I know it´s true, and I´m so happy she is willing to accept it, and I´m so excited for her to come to love The Book of Mormon as much as I do. 

One last thought, which is actually a scripture from the Book of Mormon. It´s one of my favorites, Alma 37:6-7.

 6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

 7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

I don´t know what God was thinking when He formed His army, the hope of Israel, out of a bunch of 18, 19, 20, 21-year-olds. But I suppose He knows something that I don´t. Every day I´m reminded of my weaknesses and of how small, simple, and weak I am. But then I´m reminded that this isn´t really my work, it´s His. It´s not really about me, it´s about Him. And it´s not my strength that this area needs, but His. I just feel so blessed that I get a front row seat to see the "great things" He is doing here.

Love you all! Have a great week

Hermana Herron

Milagros Son Reales!

Hey everyone!

This week started out very hard. We had very little success, no one was keeping commitments, members who had said they would accompany us kept canceling us last minute, we couldn´t find any one at home... it was just rough. I was also struggling because I started wondering if the reason we weren´t having success was something I was or wasn´t doing. I know I´m never going to be a perfect missionary, but I was really starting to think that our lack of success was because of me and my imperfections.

Well, I did improve a lot as a missionary this week, thanks to that. But I believe now that Heavenly Father was just trying my patience a little bit. Because the second half of the week was absolutely amazing! We saw so many miracles, there´s no way I can write about all of them. So just to sum up some important ones:

An eternigator of more than 3 years accepted a baptismal date!

In a lesson with a very angry, very unforgiving menos activa, I felt prompted to ask her to bear her testimony. And her entire countenance literally changed. It was amazing.

We walked into the store of an investigator to visit her, and she had a friend there. We sat down for the lesson and her friend joined us. We were reading from 2 Nephi 31 in the Book of Mormon. Her friend, Angie, said that earlier that week she had heard a quote somewhere that said something along the lines of "There is a book waiting for you, with a message just for you." And she said that as we were reading together. she felt the Spirit tell her that this is that book.

We were in a lesson with a menos activa, and who should knock on the door but one of our investigators! An investigator that we have only taught twice, and who is often hard to find and hardly every home. We had no idea they were friends! She joined us for the rest of the lesson, and once again the Spirit was really strong.

Yesterday all of our appointments fell through, so we were headed for our plan C or something like that when we ran into another less-active. She asked us if we could get some hermanos to come give her niece a blessing, and without going into too much detail, it was really good that we were able to do that. The niece was not in good shape emotionally, and was on the verge of suicidal. The priesthood blessing, and the incredible mother-powers of the hermana who was accompanying us may have saved her life in that moment.

Just a few of the amazing miracles we saw this week.

I love being a missionary.

Ok, for a spiritual thought this week. This mission has a tradition of decorating our planners. On my planner for these 6 weeks, I have two quotes. I want you all to pick one of them, think about it, and share your thoughts with me next week!

"Unless we lose ourselves in the service of others, there is little purpose to our lives." - President Monson

"I testify that He is utterly incomparable in what He is, what He knows, what He has accomplished and what He has experienced. Yet, movingly, He calls us His friends." - Elder Neal A Maxwell

Oh, and pictures! The first one is just a fun one that I took with El Libro de Mormón for my mom. The second was an attempt to get a picture of my zone, and we got almost everyone in. The last two.... so a few weeks ago we had our water tank cleaned because it had a bunch of little bugs living in it, so we had to empty the tank so it could be cleaned. We hated seeing all that water go to waste, so we went ahead and used it to clean and wash clothes, with the facets all the way open. It was actually pretty fun. 

Love you all!

Hermana Herron

Happy Leap Day!

Because I couldn´t think of anything else to title this email. And I won´t be able to say that again for another four years, so why not.

I hope you all have had a great week. I don´t have too much time today, so I´ll just jump straight in. 

Listening is so important in missionary work. We had a really neat lesson this week with an investigator where we hardly taught anything, but we listened, and were able to help her a lot. This investigator has been going through some really hard times in her family recently. And during one of our lessons with her this week, she finally opened up to us and shared some of her worries and concerns. We were able to listen and help and comfort her. And even though we never actually taught our lesson plan, I felt so grateful to have been there to listen. 

Yesterday we contacted someone who has talked to a lot of missionaries before. He lives on the same street as the mission offices, so it´s not that surprising. He has a Book of Mormon and has read the entire thing! But he read it without real intent and without prayer, so he gained absolutely nothing out of it. That kinda shocked me. The Book of Mormon is such a powerful book. It´s true, it´s so true, and it is life-changing. I just can´t understand how someone could read the Book of Mormon and not be changed by it. 

I know that a number of you aren´t members of the church. But whether you are a member or not, my invitation for you is to begin reading the Book of Mormon. Begin with the introduction and the testimonies. If you are a member, read it with a specific purpose in mind. If you´re not a member, please read this book with an open mind and an open heart. It is not meant to replace the Bible, but to support it. And it is true. It is so true. I can´t even begin to express all that I have learned and felt from reading this book, or the power I have felt come into my life from it. 

I love and miss you all. Have a great week, read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and choose the right. 

Hermana Herron

ps, I was going to send pictures this week for once, but this computer isn´t cooperating with my camera, so you will all have to wait until next week. Sorry!

Teaching Piano

Hola everyone!

Quick fun fact about Misión Mexico Norte, we are not allowed to wear watches when we´re out and about during the day. They don´t want anyone to think we are super rich wearing expensive watches. Which is funny, because I´m pretty sure my watch was about $5 from WalMart.

So it finally happened... I tried a seso quesadilla. Seso is brain. I´m pretty sure it was brain of cow. Really, for a meat it wasn´t too bad, but it´s meat, so it was nasty. I was happy sticking with my quesadilla de queso. 

This week we started teaching piano lessons in the church. Hermana Gonzalez doesn´t play the piano, so that means I started teaching piano lessons this week. The first one was a little rough because I didn´t know any of the music vocab in Spanish, but now I have a nice cheat sheet of all the music terms I could ever need, so hopefully it will go better this week. The whole point of these lessons is to find new people to teach and to help involve members, recent converts, and investigators, and already we are seeing that happen. In the first lesson we had an investigator and two less actives attend. So we are pretty excited about that. 

Another big achievement for me this week was the talk I gave in church yesterday. I was a little nervous about it because of the Spanish and all, but when I started speaking, all of that worry disappeared and the Spanish came out rather easily. Still far from perfect, but easier. It is so cool to see instances like that when the gift of tongues is so obvious. And I couldn´t have asked for a better topic either, The Atonement of Jesus Christ.

By the way, if any of you have not seen the talk None Were With Him, by Elder Holland, go watch it right now. 

Yesterday was a little frustrating for me because once again no one came to church, and I just really want to have a progressing investigator, or an investigator who keeps the commitments that we extend to them. But something my district leader told me really helped. He reminded me that everyone has their agency, and sometimes I´ll be disappointed in the choices they make. But if I am working hard and doing all I can, I will never be disappointed in myself. And I still know that if we keep working hard, we will see miracles here. 

Ok, last thing, the mission president's wife shared a really beautiful song with us that just about made me cry. So I thought I would send you all part of the lyrics. If you can find the whole song on lds.org, definitely go listen to it. 

"It´s Not About You"

You look into your father´s eyes when he

takes his hands off your head

He whispers that he´s proud of you

and he knows you´ll do your best.

You say you wonder if you can do it,

that´s when he says

It´s not about you

It´s not about you

It´s for the people who are blessed by what you do

It´s not about you

Everybody´s gathered ´round you

Eyes all aglow

You start to read that piece of paper

To see where you´ll go

And you wonder if you´re ready

But you already know

It´s not about you

It´s not about you

It´s for those who are searching for the truth.

It´s not about you

Sure you´ve become much better

Because of what you´ve been through

But it´s not about you."

Love you all!

Hermana Herron

Cambios and Combis

Hello everyone!

Well, I officially made it through my first cambio... uh, transfer. Each transfer is 6 weeks long. I`m going to be here for at least another six weeks with Hermana Gonzalez to finish my training, so no changes, but it is still a big landmark.

For Valentines Day, we made 26 paper roses for the women in the Relief Society in our ward. It was a lot of roses. But it was a lot of fun too. 

Fun fact, there is a form of public transportation here called a Combi. It is basically a van with some benches inside, and as many people as possible squeeze in together. I hate combis. I always feel carsick in them. But they are really good for contacting. This past week Hermana Gonzalez and I contacted an entire combi full of people. One of them ended up being a returned missionary, so I guess he didn`t count, but it was still exciting to contact that many people. 

So quick update on my Spanish. I still have trouble understanding most people, and my ability to speak is still very very very far from perfect, but I am learning a lot and getting a lot more comfortable with this language. Today I was practicing some English with Hermana Gonzalez (I help her study a little English every day) and as I was speaking in English, Spanish words kept coming out on accident. That was kinda scary, 

I hope you all know that I`m not here to learn Spanish though. I`m here because I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that His atonement is real, and that it really works in our lives. I know that because of what He suffered, He understands perfectly everything that we go through, all of our trials and triumphs, strengths and weaknesses. I have no idea how I could do this without both the cleansing and enabling power of the Atonement. 

I love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Herron

Looking for Miracles

Hey everyone!

So, first little miracle, for the second week in a row, we had five new investigators! We contacted a family in a park, and they are just golden, we are so excited to start teaching them.

On Wednesday we had a special devotional by President Titensor and his wife and an area seventy, Elder Ismael Mendoza. It was really good, and I got to play the piano for it, which was fun.

Fun fact, all the parks in Mexico City have exercise machines in them. Still not exactly sure why, but people do use them.

So, I´ve been having a lot of thoughts this week, hopefully, I can organize them into something that makes sense here. 

So last Monday, our mission president really started focusing us on our Standards of Excellence. These are goals that we have in our mission to help us aim higher and increase our faith. They include things like 10 contacts everyday, one baptism every month, and thrity lessons with members every week. He sent us the story of a missionary in Uruguay who had so much faith that in an area that hadn´t seen a single baptism in years, he baptized 18 people in only 25 days. After reading that story, I felt totally invigorated, like "Yeah, we can do this, we have the faith, let´s do this." And then in the next three days, we had one of our 10 set, fixed appointments. All the rest were cancelled, or they weren´t home. We spent a lot of time this week walking around our area finding people not at home. That was really hard. I started wondering if maybe I wasn´t having success because I didn´t have enough faith, or because I wasn´t working hard enough. 

Something I realized though is that no matter what I do, I can´t force anyone to come to church or to get baptized. Whenever I have a week where we reach our goals, it is a gift from God. And yes, I need to have faith and work hard to receive that gift, but even when I do everything I can, I might not have a lot of success reaching those standards. But that doesn´t mean I´m a bad missionary, it just means I need to be patient and keep working.

A really famous scripture in the church is 1 Nephi 3:7. If you are a member, you know what it says. If you aren´t a member, you can find the scripture and the story in the Book of Mormon on lds.org, I´m pretty sure. It says that God will never give us a commandment without preparing the way. And even then, Nephi had to try 3 times before he succeeded. So even if it doesn´t happen right away, I am confident we will see miracles here in this area.

Hopefully some of that made sense. But I will keep you all updated on the miracles I do see.

Love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Herron