Hola Everyone!

Hola!

Before I begin, let me apologize for all the grammar mistakes I'm about to make. This keyboard is ridiculous.

Happy Birthday, wonderful father of mine! Enjoy the fireworks and the hotdogs! (I'll have to introduce you to Mexican hotdogs when I get back! They are so much better!)

I hope everyone is doing fantastic! I know I sure am! Missionary work is long and hard, but very satisfying. I love helping seeing others feel the spirit and working with them so that they can have the Spirit more in their lives. This sure is a marvelous work and a wonder!

I can't believe I have already been out for a month! Really, the days are flying by and I've heard that it only goes by faster. I know that I'm still a youngling, but it's crazy how much I've already learned in the past month. I've learned so much from my companion and all the scripture knowledge she has to share. I want to soak up all the insight she gives me about the gospel so that I can help others the way she helps me.

One of the best things about missionary work (besides the heat, que apenas esta empezando...[It only has begun...]) is watching the gospel change peoples lives. I love seeing investigators be touched by the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so true! I'm grateful for the opportunity to help people understand what their lives have in store. 

Anyways, I love you all! Keep on reading scriptures and looking for miracles!

Love,

Hna Zubeldia

Philippians 1, verses 3 & 4.

My companion!

My wonderful companion and trainer: Hermana Shiraki! She's from Hawaii. She's been out four months. She is fantastic at Spanish!

She and I are the first companionship in our mission made of two American sisters. Every day, we get asked the great question of why "una Japonesa y una güerita" are outside in the heat. It's a great way to start a conversation with others!

[una "güerita" = a light complexion person]

What a week!

Hello friends and family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER AND TO MY FANTASTIC BROTHER, LEVI! I love you both!

This week was amazing! My companion and I went through almost all of the mission experiences a person could have! We had our highs and we had our lows. It was pretty amazing. 

To start off, the highs for the week included miracles left and right. We truly found some golden investigators and we are excited to continue teaching them. Two Americans CAN preach the gospel in Mexico! The Lord blessed us with miracles and truly answered specific prayers.

  

My companion and I make it a point to write down a miracle every day, and one of my favorites was yesterday's. Yesterday, we were kind of running short on food (do not worry, I am eating and am just fine, it was just a crazy weekend and you'll find out why soon. The Lord truly does provide for his missionaries!) Anyway, we went to church knowing that we would probably be a bit hungry until we could shop for food on Monday. During church, one of the brothers in the ward came up to us and handed us a bag of rolls, without explanation and without reason. Wow! I looked at my companion and she just smiled. I guess she has seen this happen before. The Lord truly protects his missionaries. 

     

Now...the crazy moments of this week: We were lucky enough to run into a 7th day Adventist... that was fun... We were told that we were pretty much doomed and that we were bringing people down with us. Oh well, I guess you can´t convert them all.

  

Hna Shiraki and I were VERY hot without electricity at night.

Our electricity went out after a 10 minute thunderstorm, so we came home to no light... and no cold air. My companion and I, the troopers that we are, opened the windows and slept blissfully in 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Good times! We finally got the electricity fixed. We took some awesome pictures and had a great time planning for the next day with flashlights. That will be a night I will never forget! Let's see if it happens again....

Really, I am loving my mission! It is so amazing to see people change with the spirit. It is amazing to be a representative of Christ and letting the Holy Ghost work through us to touch other peoples' lives. I've been out for almost a month and I am very excited to see what the next 17 months have in store.

Remember to look for miracles! Write down a miracle you see every day and you will discover that they are all around!

Love,

Hna. Zubeldia

Here is our humble abode...

A typical day

Buenos dias! How is everyone doing?

I have one week out in the field! It's not a long time, but it's already going by fast. The days are long, but the week flew by. I was asked what a typical day in Obregón is like, so here it goes.....

I wake up at 6 in the morning with the sun shining bright and hot. We're supposed to exercise for a half hour, get ready for the day, and eat breakfast before 7:30. Our breakfast consists of wonderful oatmeal and some type of fruit. After that, we have language study until 8, then we have personal study until 9, and companionship study until 10. Because I'm new, we have an additional study until 11. We then leave and work, work, work. We visit investigators, new members, less actives, etc. It's a lot of walking, but it all works out great when we find the people we're looking for. We have two people, Edgar and Ivan, that we're really trying to help and get to. They are both interested in the gospel and we're excited to continue teaching them.

We eat at a member's home at 2 every day, then we continue to work, work, work. We find lots of people who are interested, but they end up not living in our area. But that's okay! We're planting seeds!

We´re home by 9 o'clock. At this time, we eat dinner and plan for the next day. We're asleep by 10:30. It's all pretty great!

Throughout the whole day, we drink LOTS of water and electrolytes. It was 105 degrees today around 2 o'clock, and the heat is just getting started. It turns out that Obregón is one of the hottest cities in the world, and many of the locals say that it's hotter this year than usual. Hna Shiraki and I are great about making sure we both drink lots of water and that we keep each other healthy.

There were miracles this week! One of those miracles was that a man we met on the street said he would accompany us to a baptism! When he didn't show up, Hna Shiraki and I tried finding him at his house. His daughter answered and said he wasn't home, and we sadly walked back to  the church. But, lo and behold! HE WAS THERE! He had come to the church while we were gone and was super interested in learning more about the gospel. We're teaching him again this week.

So, guess who got to speak in church the first Sunday of her mission....yep. I've been out for one week and the ward wanted to hear my funny Spanish accent. My companion also spoke for the first time on her mission. How is it that she has been out for 4 months, and this is her first time, while I've only been out for one week? Oh well, the Lord works in mysterious ways and I know he helped me with every word.

Well, I love you all lots! Keep on serving the Lord and keep on reading the scriptures! We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives! Look around you and see all the miracles that are right before your eyes!

Love, 

Hna Zubeldia

ps one of our investigators was really touched by a scripture we shared with her. It was Ether 12:4. Hopefully this scripture helps one of you as well!

Todo está bien en Sión!

Dear friends and family,
  

I'm in Obregón! After leaving the CCM at 2:30 in the morning and helping translate everyone's needs and the desires at the airport, we finally made it onto the plane. I'm for sure going to miss the wonderful people I met at the CCM, but I'm super excited to actually be out in the field. And boy oh boy! What a field it is! We got out of the airport in Obregón, and the heat hit us like a tortilla to the face. Wow! This is going to be one hot summer! And the summer just barely started... I'll let you all know when my innards are cooked. That's a picture you won't want to miss.

  
Fun fact! Sister Sarah Clark, my roommate at BYU, arrived at the CCM this past Wednesday! It was great to see her smiling face and I hope she enjoys the next 5 more weeks she has in the CCM.

I'm not sure what to talk about.... all I've done so far has been studying in the CCM.... the time really flew by and from what I've heard from the other sisters in Obregón, time flies by even faster out in the field. They've all reminded us to keep our hopes up and keep going when the going gets tough. That is exactly what I plan to do. Our attitudes determine our perspective and there is no way I'm going to let a bad attitude get in the way of preaching His gospel. I'm sticking around in Obregón for the beginning of these next 18 months and I'm hoping to enjoy every second I'm out here.

My trainer is Hna Shiraki, a cute little girl from Hawaii. She's been out four months and she is fantastic at Spanish. I can't wait to see what she will teach me. I wish I could send you all some pictures, but that'll have to wait for next week.

  
For my spiritual thought of right now, I want to share how important prayer is in my life. Prayer provides direct communication to the Lord and He hears us. He loves us. There have been so many times in the past 2 weeks that my prayers have been answered. I have a firm testimony that if we ask with a sincere heart and with real intent, miracles will be seen in our lives. 1 Nephi 10:19.

  
Love you all! I can't wait to read your letters!

  
Hna Zubeldia

Here at the CCM!!

Wonderful friends and family,

I love you!!! Remember that always!

I've been at the CCM for a week and I have 5 more days to go! Oh my goodness gracious! Where do I start?

Before I start, let me apologize if my English skills are horrible. It has only been a week, but my writing, even speaking, skills have flown out the window. It's even hard to pray in English now. Writing in my journal each night practically ends in disaster because I'm having to translate Spanish emotions into English ones. I'll probably give up on that soon and just write in Spanish. I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be totally immersed in the Latino culture because it has given me the opportunity to improve my Spanish skills immensely and rapidly. Let's just hope I can write a real letter that everyone can understand. 

After my two lovely parents dropped me off the first day, I found my companion and we went to work (that is, sit, learn, sit, listen, sit and practice). My first emotions where: What have I done?!? There is only one other person from the United States in my zone (And guess what! He's from Kaysville! I've never seen him before, but he went to Davis and knows Pablo). Everyone else is from Mexico or South America, which made the first day super overwhelming because I discovered that my Spanish was rusty.

 

I have been greatly humbled here because I have had to put my complete trust in the Lord. I was even more humbled when my companion and I were made the equivalent of zone leaders, but in sister form, for our stay at the CCM. I thought "the gringa? really? are you sure???" I have had to ask for the Lord's help every second, bringing me closer to him. It has also helped my Spanish skills because my companion and I have had to talk to sisters, even some elders, to find solutions to problems they were/are facing. 

I finally know why I am supposed to be in the CCM instead of the MTC. It is to learn from the people in my zone and especially in my district. Each one of the Hermanas and Elderes have their own story and reason for serving a mission. Many of them are the only members in their family and many don't have the support of the parents in choosing to serve. They are all so excited to serve the Lord! Their examples have humbled me immensely and I have learned a lot from them. 

I'm sorry that I don't have much time to write today. My companion is begging me to leave so that we can play volleyball. If only I could spend the whole afternoon writing!

Because of the shortage of time, I'll quickly share some of my thoughts for the week: 

1. The CCM is a beautiful place (for reals) and the food is great. I've visited the doctor once or twice (to take care of Montezuma's revenge) now so that I can continue to enjoy the food ;)

2. Yes, my accent is made fun of constantly. Oh well. It will go away eventually. I'm enjoying the true Spanish accent as long as I can, before it goes away.

3. My companion, Hermana Rojas, is amazing. She's an adorable girl from Veracruz who wants to be the best missionary possible. We're both going to Ciudad Obregón and it will be great to see her out in the field. 

4. Classes are full of gospel doctrine, how to teach lessons, and hours upon hours of practice. It's all in Spanish and I received no Spanish help books upon arriving at the CCM. To learn how to use subjunctive and stuff, I'm going to get some grammar books later this afternoon. That way, I'll be perfect at speaking by tomorrow ;)

5. Someone I look up to a lot gave me a wonderful scripture before I entered the MTC. It is D&C 58:3-4, and it has helped me more than anything else this week, especially the first day.  I've also been able to share it almost every day with the missionaries in my district. It has been a great help and read it all the time.

6. I'm glad the family is doing great! Tell Aunt Wendy and her family hello for me! I can't wait to hear how EFY went!

7. The picture is of the sisters in my district: Hna. Jauregui, Hna. Rojas, me, Hna. Franco (in that order). They're all thinking, "one of these things is not like the other..."

7. I LOVE YOU!

Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Zubeldia