Hola from El Paso!
My fellow misioneras, there will be hard days. Days when your pelo just doesn't feel like looking dignified. Those are the days to fight back!
:-)
What a week!! This week has been absolutely awesome. Obispo's daughter, Karem Vidaurri, a girl whom we love very much, is leaving us! :) She's serving in Kennowick, Washington. She leaves January 11th! She's gonna do great.
White Christmas
So on Monday, we went to see Jahayra. Let me tell you a little bit about Jahayra - She's been being taught since May/June, and her main stumbling block has been marriage. When we set a date with her in November, she was uncertain.
When we went to see her, we were a bit worried. How are we gonna bring up marriage again when we've talked about it so many times before? How are we gonna set a date with her? What are we going to tell Obispo when he asks about them?
We go in. She's happy to see us. First thing out of her mouth:
"Sisters, we set a date!"
...
"What?"
"We - Oliver and I - we set a date for our marriage!"
"No way!"
"Way! We're getting married on Dic 25, so I can get baptized that same day. It's the best Christmas present ever - getting baptized!"
"Jahayra...that's awesome!"
So awesome. We floated out of that lesson on wings of joy. My companion, especially. "6 months!" she kept saying. "6 months I've been waiting for this moment!", pounding her palm on the steering wheel.
(Hermana, watch the road! "6 months!" HERMANA!) :) Kidding. It was sweet!
Whether or not the snow comes, we'll have a White Christmas this year - white wedding, white baptismal clothes.
On Tuesday, we had a Mission Tour. A member of the seventy was coming to teach us and give us wisdom and advice on how to be more effective servants of the Lord. It went from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. We were exhausted - but super happy! We took copious notes and implemented his teachings throughout the rest of the week.
Mexican Food
I've grown a taste for Mexican food. I like posole, tamales, flautas, and caldo. And, of course, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, and burritos. In the Mexican culture, people eat food differently.
In American culture, we cook food with flavor already mixed in. We use forks and knives, and typically, the food is all assembled once we get ready to eat it - for example, burgers, sandwiches, mac n cheese, pizza. Mexican food is different - the flavor is not in the main food items: tortillas, beans, or rice. The flavor comes in very spicy salsas, guacamole, pico de gallo, and hot sauce. These flavor agents are to be spread throughout the blander foods - for example, spread a little pico de gallo on your flautas. They also squeeze lime into literally everything. I didn't learn this until recently; the reason why Mexican food seems too spicy or rather bland is because we seek flavor in the main dish and treat the flavor agents like gravy, often using too much and therefore burning our tongues.
Mexican food also has a sweet side - if you ever have the chance, try Tres Leches cake- it is delicious!
Prepared Family
On Wednesday, our day was PACKED. It started off like any other day - wake up at 6:30, exercise, study for 4 hours. We visited the Carbajals. Hna Carbajal told us she'd given a Book of Mormon to her Back-door neighbor, and would let us know if he was interested!
We then went to try to find Michelle Rivera, someone we didn't know, but who was on the Ward list.
(Our ward list is very old - badly needs updating. We often try to contact members using the ward list as a backup plan.) To our surprise, Hermana Gay answered the door. Hermana Gay (Pronounced "Guy") has three unbaptized children, ages 13, 10, and 8. We'd been trying to contact her and set up an appointment, but we haven't been able to. I know that Heavenly Father lead us to Michelle Rivera, who ended up not even living at that address, so we could find the Familia Gay.
Let me tell you a little bit about the Familia Gay. The parents are both members, but for one reason or another, have been less active for years. Their three kids, Jose, Jaqueline, and Joshua are awesome. We set an appointment for Saturday. We planned to teach the Restoration. We thought to ourselves, "Ok, three kids - we should probably bring the Restoration video so they don't get bored. We'll have to ask lots of questions to keep them engaged - oh, how I hope they decide to get baptized!" Not a whole lot of faith from us, huh?
So we go in there. We start "How to begin teaching" - we tell them our purpose as missionaries and introduce baptism. They're quiet; they're listening. We begin to teach the lesson. They're asking questions - "Does Heavenly Father answer all of our prayers?" "The Gospel can bless our family, too, right?" "Is that why we watched General Conference?"
We were stunned. We showed them the 20 minute Restoration video. I'm certain the oldest could relate - a 14 year old boy, also named Jose (in Spanish it's Jose Smith), searching for the truth. We taught a bit more and began to extend a baptismal invitation. Prior to the lesson, we'd felt prompted to extend the 31st of December. We began:
"Will you be baptized on--"
"YES!" Jose shouted, nearly toppling out of his seat. He sat back down, saying,
"I mean, I really want to. I've been thinking about it a lot."
What!?
:D !!!
It was absolutely awesome. His younger brother and sister were a bit more shy, but they, too, were excited to be baptized. They're all on date for New Year's Eve!
That's all for this week! Tune in next time for more adventures from El Paso!
Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite
P.S. This X marks the border of Mexico!
Sorry it's blurry- took the picture from a moving car!
