Week 33: Confession: I miss Chipotle

Surviving cold Monterrey 

Yes.  It is true.  I miss chipotle.  I shouldn't be saying this as I am currently living in the heart of homemade tortillas and salsas...which really are so good...but our "classic mexican food" we have at home really isn't "legit mexican food" at all.  I have come to appreciate our take on mexican food as I have discovered the following:

1.  Guacamole is rarely seen or made.

2.  Chips and salsa are not served berfore meals

3.  Those really good "juarito" fruit drinks sold in mexican restaraunts can't be found.

4.  The enchiladas are not smothered in cheese like they are at home

5.  You are instantly judged if you just order a quesadilla

6.  The "mexican blend" shredded cheese sold in Safeway does not exist.

so yes...at times I truly miss my beloved burrito bowl from chipotle.

***I also have been corrected:  "toquitos" are not what we call "toquitos" at home...they are actually "flautas" toquitos are simply miniature tacos with miniature tortillas hahaha.

Yes, we were brave and ate habanero chilis...almost died

It's also pretty funny here because if you say an american brand in an american accent, no one understands you:  for example, The following words I now have to say with a mexican accent:

Ruffles (chips):  roof-les

Catchup:  cat-soop

KFC (Kentucky fried chicken):  kaw-efe-say

Waffle:  waw-flay

Pizza Hut:  peeksa-hoot

Google:  goo-glay

etc.

sometimes the struggle is far to real as I can't really hide the fact that I'm that blonde blue eyed outcast trying to fit in hahaha.

Around the corner from our apartment

Well we are currently battling a nasty head-nose-throat cold, along with the rest of the inhabitants of Monterrey.  Because the weather changes so often lots of people get sick Jan-March.  A woman in our ward literally has 9 cats and all of them are sick and sneeze all over the place hahaha her home is a cat hospital with a bunch of shots laying around...I blame her cats for my sickness.  My companion has had a brutal cough and has had to wear a mask....leading the children in the street to yell DOCTORA DOCTORA!!! hahaha.  We both have super manly sore throats...hopefully we can recover this week.

Us at church yesterday hahaha

Us crazy 4 here in Sada Vidrio

It's interesting how some of the coolest experiences we have are talking with taxi drivers.  We always present ourselves and ask taxi drivers about their families, religious beliefs, the role of God in their life.  Most of them work all day all night and rarely see their families.  This week we talked to a taxi driver in particular, and when we asked him if he believed in God, he paused and meditated for a second, not knowing if he did or not.  It makes me sad when people don't know that Heavenly Father really does live, and that he produces miracles in our lives everyday.  I love my mission because I can testify of this to all I come across.

Mom- the people here are amazed by the invention of hand warmers hahaha thank you!!!

We also go to the temple next thursday so I will write thursday Feb 5th!

Sweet boy in my ward

Doris, a sweet lady in my ward

"God Cares about you.  He will listen, and He will answer your personal questions.  The answers to your prayers will come in His own way and in His own time, and therefore, you need to learn to listen to His voice.  God wants you to find your way back to Him, and the Savior is the way.  God wants you to learn of his Son, Jesus Christ, and experience the profound peace and joy that come from following the path of divine discipleship" Pres. Uchtdorf

Love these 4 ladies

C O N  A M O R

hermana riches

Here Comes The Sun.....doo n doo doo….(Week 32)

Well I can honestly say that we had a great week!  The sunshine came out, and the people were a lot more nicer to us haha I definitely felt all of your prayers, thank you!  Not to mention I received my favorite delicious dark ghiradelli chocolate, chocolate covered pretzels, and peppermint chocolate kisses from mamariches :)  Hermana Mendoza has been putting the candy wrappers in her journal hahah it's adorable

Our favorite peppermint kisses

 Elder Burnett (Utah)  Elder Connell (San Diego)  Hermana Mendoza (Mexico City)

So It has been almost exactly a year since I opened my mission call in the BYU Dorms, and I just want to express how happy and grateful I am to have made the decision to serve a mission.  During high school I didn't think once about serving, but I can honestly say it is one of the best decisions I have made and that it has changed my life.  Through all the sweat, tears, stress, joy, peace, and miracles, I have witnessed my own conversion.  Everyday I recieve more and more conviction that this church is true, and how this gospel changes lives.  I have developed a love for the people here in Monterrey, and have been greatly affected by their humility and internal strength.  

The street I live on

Yesterday we attended a baptismo with our investigador, Victor, and it was perfect for him to see as he prepares to be baptized.  It is crazy how much energy and prayers we dedicate to the people we teach....We are so excited for this conversion he is experiencing!

La Comida:  So dad... I finally tried CABRITO....the famous Monterrey goat haha it is sooo tasty!  Seriously you would love it.  I also have a word of caution:  Never put a handful of straight up "chile piquin" in your mouth...one day during lunch us 4 missionaries all put a couple in our mouths (the hermana who gave us the food insisted), and us 3 gringos were dying- literal tears streaming down our face hahaha soooo spicy I wanted to die.  The people here like to laugh at us americans as we nearly die over how spicy the salsas can be....but hey, I have increased my "spice game"- Dad you would be proud :)

Amo ser misionera.  Si, extraño a mi familia y a mis amigos bastante, pero no puedo explicar estas experiencias maravillosas que he experimentado aquí.....y es increíble que estoy hablando español todos los días y puedo entender todo!!! :)

MORE PHOTOS:

Well my time is up, and it's time to go buy a giant coca light filled with ice next door :) LIFE IS GOOD. LA IGLESIA ES VERDADERA.  LOVE YOU ALL. 

C O N  A M O R

hermana riches

Are You Kidding Me???? (Week 31)

So I am proud to announce that I have officially taught the phrase Are you kidding me?  to my compañera.  Being the first gringa compañera she has had, naturally I have to teach her classic english lingo such as Watsup Man, Holy Cow, and Are you Kidding me.  I'd like to share the top 10 Are you Kidding me Moments that happened to us this week:

1.  Presidente now cutting our email time in half :(

2.  Walking in the pouring rain without our umbrellas = looking really good for our lessons

3. Shattering the mirror in our house

4.  Ant - infested food

5.  Wondering why Mexico is so dang cold

6.  Street contacts giving us fake addresses

7.  No one opening their doors to listen to us because it is too cold out

8.  Mi compañera having an allergic reaction

9.  The taxi driver speeding = me spilling hot coco all over me

10.  The taxi driver "not having change" = giving him my 100 pesos for a ride that cost us 20 pesos

hahaha it is safe to say it was not our week...but we had lots of oportunidades to learn, grow, and to be humbled.  In life, we have to face these are you kidding me moments with faith in the Lord, knowing that every experience we have in life is to enhance our progression as children of God, to make us stronger (and maybe to give us something to laugh about afterwards)

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory  2 Corinthians 4:17

On the plus side we had 2 less actives at church on sunday that havn't been to church in about a year!  So I was filled with lots of joy to see them yesterday.  Victor Manuel (18 years old) is set for Baptism in February, and we just keep praying and fasting that he will keep progressing

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable  Psalm 145:3

Les amo mucho, y espero que tengan una semana maravillosa y exitosa, llena de bendiciones del Señor

coldness and sickness

C O N  A M O R

hermana riches

Starting Off on a High Note (Week 30)

¡¡¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!! This week I have been reflecting a lot on all the great memories of 2014... and how 2015 is going to be even greater!  Jordan will head off to college, Becca will get her driver's permit, and I will be returning home!  The people here celebrated new years eve with fireworks, fiestas on every corner, and of course:  Tamales.  We had to teach all day and couldn't eat dinner with a family, but we brought home some prepared ham, mashed potatoes, spagetti, and a marshmellow dessert cooked by the amazing Alma Sanchez.  Hermana Mendoza taught me a mexican tradition= "12 DESEOS" OR "12 WISHES" that it is common here on new years eve.  You write down 12 wishes you want to come true or goals that you have, and then you have to read them off to each other and make a toast to the new year (with coca light of course)....then at 11:59 you have to eat 12 grapes and think of every wish you wrote down before it turns to 12am.... or else they don't "come true"...i successfully did it so we will see how lucky I am this year :)

us sharing with these kids pass along cards for the christmas video the church put out

New Years day was celebrated by eating HÍGADO.....drum roll please....LIVER.  yes I had my first experience of eating liver.  Luckily it looked like a piece of steak so i just pictured myself eating dad's riquísimo flank steak....although it wasn't exactly the same haha.  I also have put lots of goals for myself that i want to complete here as a missionary.  Goals help us improve and progress a humans, and here in the mission we have an outline we use for goal setting:  

goals should be.....

S ean específicos (specific)

M edibles (measurable)

A lcanzables (reachable)

R ealistas (realistic)

T iempo definido (determined amount of time)

I promise that Heavenly Father will help us follow through with our new years resolutions.....and *** for those of you who promised to "never eat chocolate or sweets this year", you can read this scripture for motivation***:

"...God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" 1 Corinthians 10:13

My Church building

So I have a funny story and good news:  This week are transfers, and I have been in my area now for almost 6 months so all this past week I was pretty much packin' up getting ready to go, thinking I would be transferred.  This past sunday I bore my testimony in church, expressing the love I have for my ward here in Sada Vidrio, thanking them for all their service to us missionaries, etc.  The members were giving me lots of hugs and even tears in their eyes as we said our "final goodbyes" and "final pictures" together.  I even found myself passing by 7/11 sunday afternoon to bid farewells to the workers......the friendships I have established here really are so deep hahahahah!  and sure enough, late sunday night as my compañera and I were anxiously waiting for our district leader to call us with Transfer news, I was led to disbelief when we found out we would be staying here together for another Cambio!!  hahahah so I have been hit by the missionary curse of "those who say their goodbyes end up staying another transfer" but hey I am so happy to be here for another 6 weeks with Hermana Mendoza!  We have seen some amazing progress with a few investigadores and have a baptism set for February 1st!!  Victor Manuel is our golden investigador.  Him and His mom even FASTED with us this weekend to recieve an answer if this church is true! (as members of the church we fast...or go without food or water for 24 hours....in order to recieve needed answers, we fast for family members who are really sick or struggling,...or when we just need strength from God)  So yes Victor Manuel said he wasn't even hungry after church because he felt full even though he went without eating for 24 hours.  We are so happy that they are recieving answers, and even though the mom still is hesitant to go to church with us, I know that seeing her son get baptized will help her have the same desire so that they can be an eternal family.  So yes I am so happy to be here another transfer to see more miracles in Sada Vidrio.

"Behold I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true...behold I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God.  Behold I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself" Alma 5:46

some of my "goodbye" photos" hahah:

 Dani Montemayor who I love so much!

All the women here in my ward

Relief Society Counselors

Well it is FREEZING here!!! I am that missionary found wearing leggings OVER a pair of tights, scarf or a ski neck gator, pea coat, 2 sweaters, boots.....but then what will happen is an hour later the sun comes out and im found carrying all of my layers haha the weather is wacky.

Next week we may go to the temple so I may write on thursday!

some pictures from Christmas Eve:

Hermana Marlene, she made such a delicious christmas eve dinner

¡Hasta Luego!

C O N  A M O R

Hermana Riches

A Merry Monterrey Christmas (Week 29)

Holaaaaa!  Well what a week.  I officially had my first "missionary skype call" which was the best present ever!!!! I'll give you all a run down of how the skype call went:  I connected onto skype, saw that my family was online, we connected to video, and the minute I saw all your faces I just burst into tears hahahah!  I had no words!  The first words that came out of my mouth were Ï don't know how to speak english!!! hahahaha my family had to listen to me battle with "spanglish" as it seriously was so weird having an hour long conversation in english, expressing all of my joys and crazy moments I have had here.  My companion, hermana mendoza, got to speak a few words in english to my fam, which made my mom cry even harder hahaha ;) and it was just so awesome expressing to my family how much I love this area, the people, the food, and just how everyday I have learned so much abouthumility, gratitude, and love.  It was probably the fastest 60 minutes of my entire life, this skype call, and logging off was probably the most brutal thing I have ever had to do! But I really am so happy to be here. Can't wait to skype you all again in May for my last skype call here in monterrey :) 

Christmas Eve:  Well this Christmas season definitely has been far different than any other Christmas I have had.  Christmas Eve and Christmas were really hard days to teach because everyoneee is either out of town or locked inside making their Tamales hahaha allllll the women make tamales during the Christmas season....(WHICH ARE SO DELICIOUS) so no one really wanted to listen to us.  The night of Christmas eve we had a really sweet experience.  We were teaching a son 18 years old and his mom, who are progressing really well, and after our lesson with them she offered us some tamales...which we ate BEFORE our big dinner that we were going to right after the lesson hahaha, so us 4 sat at her table eating her tamales she had just made that day.  The mom, RosaMaria, doesn't have enough money to send her son, 18 years old, to school, so he does not have an education, and yet she INSISTED that we sit down and eat her tamales.  She is such a generous, loving woman, and we just felt so humbled sitting there eating with her and her son on Christmas Eve.  I will always have this memory and am so grateful for all of these generous acts I have witnessed with the people here this Christmas Season.  For our Christmas Eve Dinner us and the 2 elders in my ward went and ate at a member's home, and she cooked us a giant turkey, spagetti, mashed potatoes, tamales.....it was very tasty!  And it was great to feel the warmth and love of a family on Christmas Eve when all of us missionaries are away from our own families <3 Christmas Day......we had our 3 hours of studies in the morning, 3 hour planning session we have every thursday, and then Hermana Mendoza and I went to a members home to skype/call our families :)  Directly after this skype call, we went out and searched the empty streets for people to teach haha we could only find one of our investigadores to teach, and it was really sweet watching her kids play with their toys Santa had brought them.....I was honored to know that this little girl's barbie doll is named "hermana Riches" due to my hair color.

one of mis mejores amigas, Dani Montemayor <3

Well, this Christmas Season has taught me so so much.  I have been so humbled.  I stressed this to my family over skype...SO humbled as I am away from family, all materialistic items, and as missionaries we are constantly worrying about other people and no one cares/worries about us hahah.  I have felt so much joy seeing others recieve happiness with this message, and this Christmas away from home will always be in my heart as one of the greatest times I've had in my life.  Very difficult times, but life changing!  

Well I just want to remind you all that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.  One night this week it was pouring rain and freezing, and some members offered to drive us back to our home at 8:30 pm.  We are supposed to be back in our home at 9pm, so as much as we wanted this ride back home we knew we had to keep working hard this last half hour and find one last person to teach before returning home.  Right after this phone call with the members, we knocked on a door and a family opened up and let us go in and share a message.  We watched the church christmas video El es la Dádiva / He is the Gift and there was such a powerful feeling in that little house with the pouring rain outside and thunder.  We knew Heavenly Father had blessed us with this one last lesson because of our diligence.  Being a missionary is exhausting, but when we pray and show our dedication to this work, Heavenly Father always opens up doors and experiences.

Cheers to 2014....and on to the next!  Thank you for all of your love and support and I will see you all in 2015 :)

More Pics:

 Presidente Bird and his wife

My first companion, Hermana Batalla

CON AMOR

hermana riches

¡ Feliz Navidaddddddd ! (Week 28)

12 days of christmas.....version mexico monterrey este

BUENAS TARDES!  So I have a giant smile on my face right now because Navidad is in 2 days!  and I get to talk to my wonderful family!  Well this week flew by and we had so many fun events and memorable moments.  I wish you could all just be here with me to see the crazy moments I have on a daily basis with the people here hahaha.  First thank you to Mom and Grammy Riches for your lovely mail!  And all of the fabulous emails I recieve each week seriously it means so much. hmmmm I don´t even know where to begin!  So much to say....the delicious tamales I get to eat here every day....the christmas lights on all the homes....the loco super hot and super cold weather....  Last week we had a christmas party with my ward here and there were various musical numbers performed.  hermana mendoza, me and 3 other young women sang ¨Noche de Luz¨....Silent Night.....in harmonies and it was sooo beautiful!!  We also sang it again in sacrament meeting this past sunday.  I love having all of these musical opportunities here....to sing or play the piano....and to do it in spanish is even cooler :) 

So this past saturday as a zone we went to a giant market and shined shoes and gave out hot chocolate!  It was pretty funny, all 20 of us were walking through the market and EVERYONE was staring at us....hahah because we are never out in public with a big group of us missionaries so yes we caught everyone's attention with us being half blondes and half from mexico.  It's funny too because everyone we talk to on the street always asks us... "en su iglesia siempre hay un juerito y un mexicano!!" hahaha meaning....."in your church there is always a blonde and a mexican.....yes we missionaries have that stereotype.  This activity was awesome because we got to talk to so many people and hand out pamphlets and Christmas cards and recieve lots of directions of people to go and visit.  Not everyoneeeee is willing to listen to us haha but the people here really are so warm and nice.  The markets are so fascinating as all these people really do make a living off of everything they sell......lots of different foods, handmade items, etc.  

 this is like half of the market!  it is huge

"selfy for instagram"

This morning we had our "christmas brunch" with all the missionaries here in Monterrey Este.....it was such a blast!  We had nutella crepes, and I played the piano for all of us as we sang Christmas carols in spanish all together. and each zone performed a number haha we sang the "12 days of Christmas" but we changed all the words to things that relate here in the mission.....it was seriously so perfect haha all the missionaries and Presidente Bird were applauding so loud!  Shout out to the Riches Fam Tradition of all of us singing 12 days of Christmas on Christmas Eve :)  haha I had to carry on the tradition here!  here are some photos from this morning:

 #bestySelfy award goes to Presidente Bird

So yes lots of photos and more to come next week!  although I miss home I really have learned to appreciate all the experiences I am having here....and just the joy I have to be sharing this message of Christ with people every day.  Remember......Christmas all began with the birth of our Savior

que os ha nacido hoy, en la ciudad de David, un Salvador, que es Cristo el  Señor...gloria a Dios en las alturas, y en la tierra paz, buena voluntad para con los hombres!  Lucas 2:  11, 14

Cristo vive.  Christ Lives.

Love you all!!!! Tenga una Feliz Navidad!!

C O N  A M O R

hermana riches

Christmas Craziness (Week 27)

Well.....it is almost Navidad!!! aka 9 days until I see the beautiful faces and hear the beautiful voices of my beloved family through the computer screen!!  This week has been so busy with Christmas shenanigans and what not.....but I want to make a few shoutouts to Katie Barrus, Mom, Grammy and Grandpa, and Chloe Bray (currently serving in ROME) for your mail and packages!!! you guys rock...and now the apartment is much more Christmasy :)  Here are a few pictures of us in the house of a ward member....she has a gorgeous Christmas tree so we had to have a #photoshoot

elder melara, elder burgsma, hermana mendoza, y yo!

we feel at home with christmas decoarations....

 the relief society president here in my ward

so these next 2 weeks we have many exciting plans:

- this thursday night we are having a christmas dinner as a ward with tamales, tacos, Corn, etc and there are going to be many musical numbers performed....as a relief society (the women in the church) we are singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing and I'm playing the piano and my companion is directing haha so that will be fun 

- this saturday as a zone we are going to shine shoes and hand out hot coco in a market!  It will be a good way to find new investigadores 

- next tuesday we have a christmas dinner with the whole mission which will be such a blast!  Each zone has to prepare a skit/ musical number.....and so for our zone I am planning (of course the elders put me in charge of this lovely job...haha) a "12 days of Christmas" MEXICO MONTERREY EAST MISSION version hahahah we are changing the words and each companionship is going to have a number and then a funny phrase/ inside joke that pertains to the mission..... instead of singing "on the first day of christmas my true love gave to me" we are going to sing "aquí en la misión en esta Navidad...." and then yeah!  I hope to have it recorded so I can send the memory stick home for you guys to watch it is going to be really funny haha.  But yes of course Las Hermanas are always put in charge of planning all these creative things....Gracias Elderes!!!! 

-we are always going to have a White Elephant gift exchange with the mission next tuesday which will be fun

- Christmas Eve we are going to eat dinner with a family in our ward

-Christmas Day...SKYPING THE FAM!!! for only an hour ;( but yes so so so excited going to be so weird speaking in english literally the most english I have spoken is only when teaching english to my companion!!! 

And of course we still go out teaching every day from 11 am to 9 pm every single day!  So sadly it isn't all just Christmas fiestas....

So now for the "spiritual" part of my email haha.....so I have been reflecting a lot on my time here as a missionary....I have completed a little over a third of my mission experience!  As a missionary you feel a lot of pressure.....and it's easy to feel like you havn't accomplished enough or maybe not spent your time as productively as you should.  It's easy to get down on yourself!  But What I always have to remember is it is the Lord's Timing....if people don't want to listen, it's not in our hands...every person has their agency to choose to go to church with us, to listen to us, and to progress and ONLY the Lord can convert people.  I have learned a lot about El Albedrio/ Personal Agency....how every person has the choice to act or decide for themselves...and at times you just want to make people act a certain way haha!  but you can't.  All you can do is trust in the Lord, and with His timing all will work out in the end. 

"Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him" Psalms 2:12

"Behold, they have been sent to preach my gospel...wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, thus:   thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt though bury thy talent that it may not be known" DyC 60:13 

During Church yesterday one of my best friends here, Bebita, was secretly taking some photos of Hermana Mendoza and I hahahaha "Las Hermanas caught in action"  

 posing for the camera slash trying not to sleep during church

very intrigued

well, this email wasn't very long but I will write next TUESDAY and then Skype on thursday!!

Remember the words of Buddy the Elf....

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear 

C O N  A M O R

hermana riches