Dear loved ones,
I'm heading off to Los Mochis to open up an area! Ahhh! This is going to be so fun and so crazy! I'm way excited! I also get to welcome a fellow Americana (at least, I think she's American, I haven't been told yet) into the field and help her ease into missionary life! I'm picking her up tomorrow in the missionary office. Until then, I am in a trio with Hna. Rojas and her new companion, Hna. Nielson. Hna. Nielson seems like a hipster, so I know that Hna. Rojas and her are going to have the time of their lives!
It's really bittersweet to be leaving my first home out here, but I'm very excited to find out what Sinaloa is like. I've heard it's very different from Sonora, so get ready to hear some crazy stories!
We finished off this transfer with so many miracles! This beginning of this transfer was crazy hard, but, "porque tras muchas tribulaciones vienen las bendiciones." We ended up the transfer with a missionary activity in the ward and almost 50 people came! With many of our investigators there! Then, all our investigators with baptismal dates all came to church as well as many of the less actives we have been working with! We have been so humbled and blessed to see the Lord work miracles in our area! Maria Teresa will hopefully be getting baptized this Saturday, and Francisco Javier will be getting baptized the week after :) I won't be here for their baptisms, but I am so happy that I got to help teach such wonderful people and help them on their road to Christ, entering the Kingdom of God.
I don't know how to express how much I have loved this ward! When we found out I was leaving, we quickly went to visit the people who have impacted our lives here in Mayo. We visited our recent converts and I got to share my testimony with Cesar, the husband of Maria Jesus, who has still not accepted to be baptized. There will hopefully come a day when I receive news that he has finally decided to join his family in the church. Until then, I will continue to pray daily that he will receive his testimony, strengthening his life and his family forever.
I love you all! You are all in my prayers :)
DyC 58:2-4
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Quiero ser honesta :)
Hola familia! ¿Como están todos?
We received some fantastic news this week! Barrio Mayo will be receiving 2 new missionaries! There will soon be 3 areas in this ward! I love how this work is progressing so much. I remember wishing for this moment many months ago, and it has finally happened! We're not sure if the new missionaries will be elders or sisters, but all 4 of us have been on the lookout for a place for them to stay.
Okay, I love how the Lord helps us with this work! Our dear friend, Maria Teresa, was having some doubts about being baptized and wasn't coming to church because she would go to the cemetery every Sunday morning. Knowing that the last thing we could do was kidnap her, Hna. Rojas and I prayed and prayed to know what to do. We decided that if she didn't come to church yesterday, we would sadly have to stop teaching her to find other peoples. Well, guess who came to church yesterday! Maria Teresa! I know that they Lord is preparing her to make such an important decision in her life and I am very happy that the Lord wants us to continue teaching her :)
Francisco Javier is progressing very nicely :)
Yesterday at church was absolutely fantastic. We were sitting in the Gospel Doctrine class, talking about the importance of honesty, and we were all having a blast. One of the members decided to join us in the class and kept on asking questions to see if he was being honest in his work. He sells water, candy, chips, and such in the street, and he kept on asking business questions to see if he was selling the right way and we got into a funny discussion about cost and demand. Great stuff! Then, halfway through the lesson, an 83 year old convert blurted out, "I'll be honest: I'm hungry! So I'm going home now." It was absolutely hilarious! If only every week could be as funny as yesterday!
I know this church is true. We we have the desire to discover the truth and we nourish this desire, we will discover that we have incredible faith in our Savior and in his teachings. I know that the Savior is rooting for us as we bring others unto Him, and it is an honor and a privilege to be a missionary, helping people discover the truth.
Alma 32:28-31
Love you!
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
I'm so sorry I haven't sent many pictures! I haven't been carrying my camera around while proselyting... But here's one! My companion and I decided to straighten our hair today because it hasn't been so hot lately. Hna. Rojas is so fantastic!
Really, she and I have had such a blast! It has been so fun training her :) Week 12 of her 12 week training, here we come!
We received some fantastic news this week! Barrio Mayo will be receiving 2 new missionaries! There will soon be 3 areas in this ward! I love how this work is progressing so much. I remember wishing for this moment many months ago, and it has finally happened! We're not sure if the new missionaries will be elders or sisters, but all 4 of us have been on the lookout for a place for them to stay.
Okay, I love how the Lord helps us with this work! Our dear friend, Maria Teresa, was having some doubts about being baptized and wasn't coming to church because she would go to the cemetery every Sunday morning. Knowing that the last thing we could do was kidnap her, Hna. Rojas and I prayed and prayed to know what to do. We decided that if she didn't come to church yesterday, we would sadly have to stop teaching her to find other peoples. Well, guess who came to church yesterday! Maria Teresa! I know that they Lord is preparing her to make such an important decision in her life and I am very happy that the Lord wants us to continue teaching her :)
Francisco Javier is progressing very nicely :)
Yesterday at church was absolutely fantastic. We were sitting in the Gospel Doctrine class, talking about the importance of honesty, and we were all having a blast. One of the members decided to join us in the class and kept on asking questions to see if he was being honest in his work. He sells water, candy, chips, and such in the street, and he kept on asking business questions to see if he was selling the right way and we got into a funny discussion about cost and demand. Great stuff! Then, halfway through the lesson, an 83 year old convert blurted out, "I'll be honest: I'm hungry! So I'm going home now." It was absolutely hilarious! If only every week could be as funny as yesterday!
I know this church is true. We we have the desire to discover the truth and we nourish this desire, we will discover that we have incredible faith in our Savior and in his teachings. I know that the Savior is rooting for us as we bring others unto Him, and it is an honor and a privilege to be a missionary, helping people discover the truth.
Alma 32:28-31
Love you!
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
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| This one is a couple weeks old, but here are some of the amazing missionaries in my zone :) |
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| Hermana Rojas and me |
Really, she and I have had such a blast! It has been so fun training her :) Week 12 of her 12 week training, here we come!
Monday, November 10, 2014
Todo su Corazón!
Dear loved ones,
Crazy things happened this week! The craziest thing that happened was that I contacted a bus! My companion had a training meeting in a different church building and, when I dropped her off, I went with two other missionaries to study and work until her meeting was over. While waiting for the bus, my Zone Leader called me for some information. When he discovered we were waiting for a bus, he challenged us to contact it (I guess he does this a lot) and to call him afterwards. The three of us were at a loss of how to do this, but I was designated to stand up front and talk to the bus passengers in general while the others would talk to individuals and get references. We did it! It was done! And wow! What an experience! It made me realize that, yes, new things can be scary. Yes, we oftentimes have to leave our comfort zones, but it's all worth it if we are working for our Savior. By the end of the experience, we came to the conclusion that there are too many things to worry about in this world than to worry about being scared. Fear drives away faith, but through faith, comes power. I am so grateful that the Lord is on our side!
We found an amazing new investigator this week! His name is Francisco Javier. He uses a wheelchair and loves everything that we have taught him thus far. He insists that all our lessons take place in the church and the brothers in our ward have rallied around to help him out, especially when it comes with helping him go home after church. I am very excited to continue teaching him as long as we can! Transfers are in 2 weeks and, even though we have no idea what's going to happen with transfers, I want to have this area full of people who are progressing :)
I love you guys! Stay strong, stay true, and work with "todo su corazón!" Eso es lo que el Señor requiere de nosotros. No la mitad, pero todo su corazón! DyC 24:12
Hermana Zubeldia
Crazy things happened this week! The craziest thing that happened was that I contacted a bus! My companion had a training meeting in a different church building and, when I dropped her off, I went with two other missionaries to study and work until her meeting was over. While waiting for the bus, my Zone Leader called me for some information. When he discovered we were waiting for a bus, he challenged us to contact it (I guess he does this a lot) and to call him afterwards. The three of us were at a loss of how to do this, but I was designated to stand up front and talk to the bus passengers in general while the others would talk to individuals and get references. We did it! It was done! And wow! What an experience! It made me realize that, yes, new things can be scary. Yes, we oftentimes have to leave our comfort zones, but it's all worth it if we are working for our Savior. By the end of the experience, we came to the conclusion that there are too many things to worry about in this world than to worry about being scared. Fear drives away faith, but through faith, comes power. I am so grateful that the Lord is on our side!
We found an amazing new investigator this week! His name is Francisco Javier. He uses a wheelchair and loves everything that we have taught him thus far. He insists that all our lessons take place in the church and the brothers in our ward have rallied around to help him out, especially when it comes with helping him go home after church. I am very excited to continue teaching him as long as we can! Transfers are in 2 weeks and, even though we have no idea what's going to happen with transfers, I want to have this area full of people who are progressing :)
I love you guys! Stay strong, stay true, and work with "todo su corazón!" Eso es lo que el Señor requiere de nosotros. No la mitad, pero todo su corazón! DyC 24:12
Hermana Zubeldia
Monday, November 3, 2014
Every day gets sweeter :)
Hello everyone!
Another hard week of work has come and gone, and I am ever so grateful that I have many more weeks to work and see miracles. The weather has finally calmed down and we are no longer dying of heat. It's a tender mercy of the Lord that will continue to bless us the next few months...
Fun moment of the week: Hna. Munive, the mission president's wife, had a bunch of dried(?) crickets(?)...I'm not sure what they were.... but I ate one! She was so excited when she waved me over to eat whatever bug she had. I still can't believe it I ate it! I actually ate two! And I'm not dead, so all is well :)
Miracle of miracles, we were able to meet with César, the husband of Maria Jesús, and talked to him about the plan of salvation.... he accepted to be baptized! After our lesson, we ran to the church to tell Maria Jesús the good news. We're preparing him to be baptized at the end of the month, but I think we (by "we" I mean his wife, us, and maybe the bishop) will have to kidnap him Sunday morning to have him come to church this week. Haha I'm kidding. We're planning on visiting him many times this week with more of the brothers in the ward so that he can have a group of friends that have good standards, instead of his drinking buddies who come around every weekend.
Our good friend, Maria Teresa, came home from being out of town! Which means we can continue preparing her for her baptism! The downside of this is that she has dengue fever (I think this is translated into Dengue, or whatever virus mosquitoes here carry). She wasn't able to go to church yesterday because she's sick in bed, so we're going to go over this week and talk to her about receiving a priesthood blessing.
Yesterday was a crazy day of discovering that none of our investigators could come to church because it was Día de los Muertos and everyone was at the cemetery :/. After the sacrament, as Hna. Rojas and I were getting ready to leave to find our investigators, we talked to Bernardo (our bud who got baptized a few weeks ago). He told Hna. Rojas that he's preparing to serve a mission!!!! Ya!!! Hna. Rojas and I were happy as could be as we walked out of the church. Yes, we have hard weeks, but they are totally worth it. The Lord blesses us in other ways.
I love this work! I am so grateful that I can be out in the field with my two siblings! Life is so great :D Talk to you all soon!
Alma 30:34
Love,
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
Another hard week of work has come and gone, and I am ever so grateful that I have many more weeks to work and see miracles. The weather has finally calmed down and we are no longer dying of heat. It's a tender mercy of the Lord that will continue to bless us the next few months...
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| I have no idea what kind of bug this is, but you're only in the mission field once! :D |
Miracle of miracles, we were able to meet with César, the husband of Maria Jesús, and talked to him about the plan of salvation.... he accepted to be baptized! After our lesson, we ran to the church to tell Maria Jesús the good news. We're preparing him to be baptized at the end of the month, but I think we (by "we" I mean his wife, us, and maybe the bishop) will have to kidnap him Sunday morning to have him come to church this week. Haha I'm kidding. We're planning on visiting him many times this week with more of the brothers in the ward so that he can have a group of friends that have good standards, instead of his drinking buddies who come around every weekend.
Our good friend, Maria Teresa, came home from being out of town! Which means we can continue preparing her for her baptism! The downside of this is that she has dengue fever (I think this is translated into Dengue, or whatever virus mosquitoes here carry). She wasn't able to go to church yesterday because she's sick in bed, so we're going to go over this week and talk to her about receiving a priesthood blessing.
Yesterday was a crazy day of discovering that none of our investigators could come to church because it was Día de los Muertos and everyone was at the cemetery :/. After the sacrament, as Hna. Rojas and I were getting ready to leave to find our investigators, we talked to Bernardo (our bud who got baptized a few weeks ago). He told Hna. Rojas that he's preparing to serve a mission!!!! Ya!!! Hna. Rojas and I were happy as could be as we walked out of the church. Yes, we have hard weeks, but they are totally worth it. The Lord blesses us in other ways.
I love this work! I am so grateful that I can be out in the field with my two siblings! Life is so great :D Talk to you all soon!
Alma 30:34
Love,
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
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| Here's my awesome zone! The members were getting ready for a Halloween party, so after our Zone Conference, we got to help blow balloons. |
Monday, October 27, 2014
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!
Love you!
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
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.
Love you!
Hermana Zubeldia
¡Todo está bien en Sión!
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| Burros! We had a little party today before writing and ate some massive burritos. I am sooo fulll! |
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| 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 |
Monday, October 20, 2014
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!
¿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!
Monday, October 13, 2014
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.
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
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