Makin' Memories in Monterrey México: The Rice, Beans, & Hot Coco Diet (Week 23)

Buenos Dias! Many thanks to Mom, Eliza crowder, and Grammy Bredt for your sweet mail! Mom...the candy is much appreciated by my friends here haha the first time my companion has tried starbursts or sour patch kids....! well...so much has happened this week! i now understand this "loco" weather here in Monterrey...the same day can be both super warm and super cold. I am enjoying my daily hot chocolate breaks!

Am I in Utah?

This past monday we had some bonding activities with our zone and grilled some "carne asada"...so tasty!!! haha hermana mendoza and i were in charge of the activities, and we had contests such as "which team can down coca cola the fastest" and "who can fit the most marshmellows in your mouth and say chubby bunny" and "sherades"...it was so entertaining haha! the elders are hilarious!

This week we had a zone conference with Presidente Bird and we covered the topics of "personal revelation" "faith" "teaching PEOPLE and not LESSONS..." everyone had to come with a 10 minute prepared talk on "personal revelation" and I was chosen to give the talk! I definitely saw that one coming...haha and of course it had to be in spanish. It went really well! I just prepared bullet points for my talk, and I'm now able to express my thoughts and feelings better in spanish, and I felt totally comfortable. In my talk, I covered 6 main requirements we must have in order to better understand personal revelation, or communication from God. we must....

1. humbly pray asking for guidance

2. keep the commandments

3. partake of the sacrament worthily

4. study the scriptures daily

5. dedicate time to mediate and ponder

6. patiently accept the timing and the will of the Lord

I really do know that every day we are recieving personal guidance from our heavenly father, and that we need to pay close attention to the soft whisperings of the Holy ghost.

For the topic of faith, we talked about the importance of putting our faith into ACTION...and how we need to face everything with a believing attitude, knowing that Jesus Christ has conquered everything and that He is there for us every step of the way. 4 ways we can strengthen our faith are:

1. Express Gratitud in our prayers

2. Keep the commandments

3. Study diligently the scriptures

4. Daily repentance..changing for the better

Another main point in the conference was the importance of teaching peopleand not lessons.... everyone has individual needs/ questions and we don't just present a rote demonstration..each lesson is according to the individual needs and the impressons we feel from the spirit. The spirit is the teacher-- "and the spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith, and if ye recieve not the spirit ye shall not teach" DC 42:14 Really everything we say/ ask in lessons is given to us by the spirit-- Estoy muy agradecida por este llamamiento que tengo, y yo puedo testificar que sin el espìritu no podemos ayudar los investigadores con sus necesidades ni preguntas sobre esta vida.

Lately I have been hearing so many stories of people recently having loved ones pass away, and I just want to testify to all of you that i know God has a marvelous plan of happiness for us. I know that through this gospel we can have eternal families, and that death is not the end. In The Book of Mormon we learn that we will all have perfect, resurrected bodies when Christ comes again. I have lots of hope and reassurement knowing that we can obtain eternal life through the merciful plan centered around our Savior Jesus Christ.

"And if you keep my commandments, and endure to the end, you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of god" DC 14:7

This week we have really been pushing our investigators to ask in prayer if our message is true...for some reason, it is difficult to get our investigators to simply ask in their prayers..."Padre, es este mensaje verdadero? Ayùdame al saber si las hermanas estàn diciendo la verdad"...."father, is this message true? Help me to know if the hermanas are telling the truth"....it is so crucial that every person asks with real intent in their prayers and specifically if this church is true...because God is the only person who can give us the right answer. I challenge all of you who are reading this post to kneel and say a prayer and asking Heavenly Father specifically if the Church of Jesus christ of Latter Day Saints is true.... or any other question or doubt you might have....and I promise that you will feel in your heart the answer..soft feelings of peace, comfort, joy, and that really this message comes from God and is true. Even if you don't have any doubts in this church it is still important to ask and to recieve this confirmation.

"and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." John 14:13-14

Yesterday we had a lesson with a woman who doesn't believe in God. It was my first encounter here with an atheist...the majority of people here are very religious. The lesson was very interesting and sad to listen to as she firmly declared her disbelief in God and Jesus Christ. I honestly don't understand how one can deny the fact that we have a Father in Heaven...everything around us is evidence of our loving Heavenly Father. We may not understand all the trials and hardships that pass in this life, but i will never deny the existance of God.

"Believe in God. Believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth, believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth, believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend" Mosiah 14:9

We had a stake activity with mexican food and music and a talent show, and us missionaries had a table in the back with pamphlets and talked to investigators. Here is a pic of the sweet women in my ward!