Felíz Dia de los Muertos

Hello everyone I love!

Happy Halloween everyone! And happy Día de los Muertos on the 1st and 2nd of November! We've heard that everyone leaves to visit the cemeteries these two days... pray for us that we find people in their homes! I have a feeling that we will be teaching the Plan of Salvation quite a bit this week :D

Nothing super out of the ordinary happened this week, besides the amazingness of serving the Lord, every single day! We spent the week trying to visit a list of inactives... Of the 20 or so names on the list, we found a 3 new families that we have appointments to visit this week. The other families either do not exist or have been abducted by aliens. We got to know our area VERY well trying to find all these people:)  Because of all the time in the sun, my mind is super fuzzy as to specifics that happened this week, so I have decided to dedicate this email to all the goof moments I have had on my mission.  Hopefully you get some laughs on this fine Monday!

• One time, after a District Meeting, I was with all the other sister missionaries, having innocent fun by sitting in a spinning chair and not hurting a fly. All of the sudden, I found myself on the floor, underneath the spinning chair. I still have no idea how this happened or how I fell....
• I usually trip on the side walk at least once or twice a day. I can usually catch myself and Hna. Rojas gets a good laugh every time. Someday, maybe not now, I will learn to walk 100 steps without tripping once :D
• Last week, we had just contacted a family when we walked into the Bishop's wife and Maria Jesús. I have no idea what happened, but I fell (again!) Both the sisters were flabbergasted and tried to help me, after I had already fallen, of course. My companion just laughed and I couldn't help it but laugh with her, making the sisters even more confused :) She's getting used to me falling. Who would have thought that 6(?) years of ballet would leave someone as clumsy as me?
• Spicy things. Enough said! I ate a Mexican hamburger one time, with spicy Mexican sauce. Wow! I couldn't feel my mouth for about an hour!
• My companion, Hna. Rojas, has made it a goal to get me to eat spicy things. Who knew that after so much chile, I would finally get used to a little bit of spice! I think she has made this her goal because she loves seeing the kind of faces I make when things are too hot to stand.

I am so grateful that the Lord gives us moments where we can truly laugh and enjoy life. We are out in the mission field to enjoy every second, the good and the bad. I know that Heavenly Father smiles every time we laugh, every time we help others laugh. As said in 2 Nephi 9:39, "Spiritually Minded is Life Eternal." In other words, SMILE! Smile your hearts out this week. Happy Halloween!

Love you!

Hermana Zubeldia

¡Todo está bien en Sión!

Burros! We had a little party today before writing and ate some massive burritos. I am sooo fulll!

​Can I share with you a message about this wonderful book? Haha the best part about this is that I tried smiling underneath the helmet :D

I love Mayo!

Queridos hermanos,

¿Como están? How is everyone? This week was a great week to really have the idea sink in that I get to be with my family, FOREVER! We went to visit Maria Jesús (she got baptized 2 months ago) and we were blessed with the miracle of having her husband, César, stay and join our discussion. He talked about how he has noticed how much happier his wife is and he has liked everything he has seen in our church so far. He told us that he has seriously considered being baptized and has accepted to be taught by us. You should have seen how happy Maria Jesús was when he was telling us this! He doesn't have a baptismal date yet, but I am so excited to help this family get ready for the wonderful changes and miracles that are about to take place in their lives.

It's moments like these when I really see the impact of missionary work. We are helping families so that they can be sealed together for now and all eternity. Really, I don't know how much greater this work can get. I have been blessed to be sealed to a wonderful family, and we are now helping Maria Jesús, César, and there 3 children get ready for this covenant as well.

What other exciting things happened this week....hmmm...I ate menudo! I'm still not sure how this happened, but we went to a member's home yesterday with the other sister missionaries in our ward before eating lunch, and they fed us lunch as well, for some reason or another. Hna. Rojas and I arrived a bit late, so it was never fully explained to me as to why we ate twice. The first meal, menudo, is a soup of cow(?) intestine (look up some pictures! it's white). It's not that bad, but the intestine is a weird looking thing that can't be chewed. Fun, right? Afterward, we had ceviche with a recent convert (whose family has also decided that they all want to be baptized!). Ceviche is shrimp that is cooked (actually, just marinated), without heat, in lemon juice. After the shrimp has been "cooked," veggies are added and it turns into a delicious meal.  All in all, I am learning some great recipes!

Matthew 23:20-22

Love you!

Hermana Zubeldia

¡Todo está bien en Sión!

Mayo para siempre!!!!

Dear kindred spirits,

I'm staying in Barrio Mayo for another transfer! I'm so excited to be able to finish training Hna. Rojas and to be in this ward for 6 months (or more! the Lord knows). We have so many goals for the next 6 weeks in improving the way we teach, the way we learn, and helping all the less actives in our area. We're ready to see and make miracles happen!

So, this week was full of miracles! My favorite was Bernardo! The background story with him is that 2 weeks ago, when he was supposed to be baptized, he backed out and we lost contact with him for a week. Of course, my companion and I were sad and confused, so we turned to the Lord and prayed for him day and night. Every single prayer was for him. Well, last Monday, we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, watched a movie about Christ, and told him that we had taught him everything that we could, but it was now up to him to decide if he wanted to continue learning more. He then said to us, "Hermanas, I think it's about time that I get baptized." OH YES! Prayers work! They work, they work, they work!

Bernardo's baptism was this past Saturday and it was amazing! Everything went just the way he wanted it to be. Again, prayers work! Baptisms can get pretty crazy on the missionary's end because we sometimes forget let people know what's up until the last second. But no! This time, we got everything in order and it all ran smooth and spiritual. The best part about it (well, there are three best parts) is that it was his birthday! We had a cake to celebrate his 22 years of age. The second best part is that his mom was there! She was so interested in learning more, came to church yesterday, and we'll be seeing her later this week! The third best part was that our other fantastic investigator, Maria Teresa, came! She was so happy to be there and had a wonderful time talking to the Bishop's wife. Yesterday, Bernardo received the Aaronic Priesthood as well as the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and we're hoping that he decides to serve a mission at some point in the near future.

All in all, I want to say that I love this work! This ward is great, my companion is great, and the work of the Lord is progressing. See you all next week!

3 Nephi 14:9-11

Todo está bien en Sión!

Hermana Zubeldia

Happy birthday baptism, Bernardo! Some people never forget their 22nd birthday. I hope he remembers this day forever! It was so crazy/fun teaching someone my age, we all had a lot of laughs along the way.

Conference!

To start off, HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY SISTER SUSANA ZUBELDIA! I realized this week that I have missed two of her birthdays and will miss her 23rd as well, but hey, we've got eternity! I'll be the first one to celebrate her 1000th birthday :D

Now...

Dear everyone,

This whole transfer, I have been counting down the days till conference. My fantastic companion, Hna. Rojas, would be constantly saying, "Hermana! 5 (4, 3, etc) días más!" Now that it's over, I feel like it's the day after Christmas: I'm trying to treasure every sentiment I felt over the past two days.

Conference was so amazing! I loved how the talks were focused on people who don't know much about the Church. Our prophets and apostles know what's up. They know that many people are joining the Church rapidly, making a need for basic and wonderful doctrine to be discussed and explained. They also know that we, as members for many years, need to be reminded of the beautiful simplicity of this Gospel and this Church. I know that this work is real! Our prophet, President Monson, was called of God. And now... 6 months till we get to hear him again!

Maria Teresa is progressing nicely and is so self-efficient! I loved watching her this week help a less active get to church and encouraging her to go to Conference. She is going to make a wonderful member when she get's baptized on the 25th. We had an FHE with her, Lourdes (less active) and Pedro, a very receptive investigator. It was such a great feeling knowing that they are all beginning to understand God and His plan in a different light. I love this Gospel!

As Hna. Rojas and I enter our last week of this transfer, we are excited to work hard and work with the Spirit. We have both learned so much this transfer! I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us this week and with the transfer to come :)

Mosiah 18:8-10 (this is the scripture I'm hoping to share with Bernardo tonight when we see him. He is completely ready to be baptized!)

Love you!

Hna Zubeldia