Monday, July 28, 2014

Two months!

Hola Queridos!!!
 
Today has been a great day for two reasons: I entered the MTC exactly 2 months ago and it's my two adorable little sisters' birthday today! Happy birthday Sofía and Soraya!!! I love you two so much! Eat a good homemade cake for me!
 
We saw so many miracles this week! Eight of them is that eight of our investigators came to church!!! O my goodness gracious! The Lord has blessed this area more than I can even imagine. One of them, María Jesus, came for the second time even though we weren't able to teach her at all last week. She and her kids are loving going to church and we are going to be working on getting her husband to accompany her this Sunday. She tells us that he'll come around. I love seeing her faith!
 
Another investigator, the great guy with the Word of Wisdom problems, also came :). La Famila Castro Morales came with three friends from out of town. La Familia Castro Morales is an elderly (well, not really elderly... late 60s...) couple who saved us from a rainstorm two weeks ago. They were very interested in the church because they have family who are members. They asked if someone could bless their home and we went with a member of the bishopbric this week. When we arrived, they had their three guests there. The Spirit was super strong and la Hna. Shiraki and I discovered that all five of them are "escogidos". Sadly, their guests are not from Obregon, but I have no doubt that they will accept the Gospel as soon as they go home and we pass their references on. Like I have been telling my ward here for the past two Sundays, some plant the seeds, some nourish the seeds, and some reap the fruit. I feel so blessed that the Lord has allowed me to help plant and nourish the seeds in this family!
 
A funny moment of the week was yesterday when a sketchy black car stopped by us. The driver, a guy in his early 20s, rolled down his window and started talking to us in English. The first thing he said was, "You're from SLC! Me too! Fistbump!" He told us that he had attended SLCC, had lived in Utah for two years, and that he had bought a car in Kaysville. He then asked Hna. Shiraki if she was a Mexican because she is insanely tan right now. Hna. Shiraki and I had a good laugh about it after. I feel like we're going to be fistbumping each other for the rest of our missions.
 
So, we totally condemned a woman and her son this week. They were lively Catholics and were interested in hearing out words. We gave them the first lesson and they believed what we were saying, but they happily rejected the Book of Mormon. They accepted the truths, but rejected knowing more or try to gain their own testimonies. It was so weird. They were so happy to invite us in and deny the true church. Oh well, I guess we will see what happens on judgment day... I feel that 2 Nephi 33:10-15 explains how I felt.
 
Love you!
Hna. Zubeldia

Carne asada! It's steak in a taco! Genius!

This is the one and only day on my mission that I had my hair down. A member of the 70 came to speak with us and all of us sisters got dressed up. Hna. Shiraki and I enjoyed our only glamour shot of the mission.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Transfers and Miracle Tamales

Dear everyone,

Thank you for your letters! I think this might have been one of the happiest weeks of letter receiving! Family, thank you for keeping me updated with your lives and for the wonderful photos you sent this week. Yes, I was/am very happy indeed!

We had a wonderful investigator family come to church yesterday! And the little kids came as well! The mom is very interested in the church and how we help children learn about Christ. We will be visiting them again later this week :)

I am also very happy that I get to stay in Obregon for another transfer! I even get to stay with my same mom, Hna Shiraki! It's common for the new missionaries in this mission to have two trainers, and I am very pleased to say that I have another 6 weeks to learn as much as I can from Hna Shiraki. We're looking forward to miracles in this transfer and I want to share with you the first miracle we witnessed...

Like one of my previous miracles, this miracle also includes food. Trust me, I am eating well, we have food, and we have miracles that do not include food, but this experience is one I will never forget. Yesterday was a kind of crazy day when most of the ward kind of disappeared and the people we were supposed to eat lunch with had to go out of town. They had given us money Saturday night, but it was too late to buy anything for Sunday. Hna Shiraki and I were against buying food on the Sabbath when we knew we could make do without, so we made sandwiches for the four of us and brought them to church. We ended up giving 2 sandwiches to the APs because they were pacing around the church working out transfers, and we went back to the other sisters' apartment to eat(?). None of us were super thrilled that we wouldn't be eating much for lunch, and I was hoping and praying that no one would cave into temptation. We're missionaries, we will live without a meal! Here's when the miracle occurs: When we got to their house, their neighbor told us she had made tamales for us. We looked at one another and thought, "yes, this is really happening! The Lord loves us and works miracles!"

Family and friends, I want to bear witness that the Lord knows the desires of our hearts and will bless us if we keep his commandments. Heavenly Father will shower us with blessing and with miracles if we are willing to do our part. I am so grateful to know that I am here to serve Heavenly Father. He truly exists. This work is real.

1 Nefi 3:7
Alma 37:35

I love you all! Thank you for your love and support! Until next Monday :)

Love,

Hna Zubeldia

Monday, July 14, 2014

I love this mission!

Dear family and friends,
What a week! The Lord sure has us working hard to bring everyone the gospel and I am loving every second of it! Like Susana said in one of her emails (a month ago? time is kind of fuzzy now), missionary work is nothing like she expected. Truer words have never been said (besides the Book of Mormon, of course). Missionary work is nothing what I expected... I think it's better than what I expected. It's hard work, hot work, and long work, but it's good work.
We've been working with a wonderful investigator who has now attended church 4 times. He is a cheery fellow, and Hna Shiraki and I have had the pleasure of teaching him the Word of Wisdom more than once. We got him a calendar with motivational quotes and such to help him out and he has been putting checks on the days he has kept the Word of Wisdom. The best part is that it's working!!! His family is very supportive of him investigating the church and we're planning on working with them ASAP. Ward members have also been getting involved in being his friend and being amazing. President Hinckley was right in saying that every new convert needs a friend, a calling, and the word of God.
A lesson I learned this week is that it's important to get the members involved in helping with missionary work. It is VITAL to the success of the mission. We were able to get the Bishop to accompany us to teach someone... the spirit was so strong!!! Not only did the presence of the Bishop help motivate our investigator to learn more, it helped get the Bishop very excited about missionary work! We now have a ward-wide plan to have an open house where all the members will bring someone to investigate the church. I am so excited to see how this plays out! Even if I leave with the upcoming transfer, I am super excited to hear about what happens!
Elder Valenzuela (setenta) came to speak to us this week! It was pretty amazing! He focused on the importance of involving the members in missionary work and the importance of teaching when you find and finding when you teach. We should always be asking for references when we visit members. I hate to admit this, but back in Utah, I was always hesitant to give the missionaries references (there aren't many people I know who aren't members over there, but still). I have repentented of my ways and I promise on giving the missionaries references whenever I can when I come home! Member references are amazing because they already have a support system in the church. Elder Valenzuela brought a great spirit and got everyone excited to continue working. It was all pretty amazing!  Him coming also meant that we got to look our very best for the conference. Yes, we should look our very best everyday, but it's not super easy with the heat and all... Anyway, we all had a wonderful time trying to look like ¨perfect¨ missionaries :)
2 Nephi 25:26
Love you!
Hna. Zubeldia

Monday, July 7, 2014

Week of Rain!

Happy fourth of July! Happy 60th birthday to my amazing father!
 
So, this week was full of good stuff. Because it was a week to celebrate America, my companion and I wore red, white and blue to our Zone conference. When we got there, we discovered that all the sister missionaries for the US wore the colors of America to support the land we love! Go USA!  Hna Shiraki and I kept up the spirit of the holiday by celebrating with hotdogs after a long day of serving the Lord and doing what's right. This may sound crazy, but Mexican hotdogs are much better than American ones.
 
It rained A LOT! We got soaked!
This week has been the week of rain before the blistering heat. We have loved walking out with the breezes that pass by, and we are enjoying every raindrop because we probably won't see any more of it until next year. We were caught in a rainstorm after talking to one of our investigators, which was super great. All we could do was run to the chapel and wait with others for the rain to stop. Life is great!
 
One of the most amazing experiences I had this week was when we visited the mother (catholic) of a woman in our stake. She has been sick, and her daughter said that she could receive a priesthood blessing. We were told that the mother (Elia) would not accept the church, but that she was totally fine with receiving a blessing. My companion and I were able to visit with her beforehand and explain to her what a blessing was and why, through the power of the priesthood, they truly bless lives. We asked the Elders to come over to give her a blessing and set up a time when we could all be together at her home. The Elders came, gave Elia a blessing, and left, allowing my companion and I to talk to her about the blessing afterward. Elia's daughter came to participate in the discussion, and we all talked about how the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints is different from all other churches because we have the Priesthood. I felt prompted to talk about baptism with her, so, even though we were told beforehand that she would not change her ways, I started talking. You could tell what was going through everyone's minds when baptism came up, but Hna Shiraki continued on with it. We asked Elia if she would be baptized by someone who held the same authority as those who gave her the blessing, and she said yes! Miracle of miracles!
 
Well, I love you all! Keep on holding true to the faith and find ways to serve others! This work is not just for missionaries with name tags, it is for everyone! Read D y C 4!
 
Love you
 
Hna Zubeldia