Shattering Glass

Dear family,

Happy birthday to my two adorable sisters tomorrow! I love you guys!

This week was full of tons of work!! Hna. Carvajal is on fire! She's making every second count and we've been working a ton on helping others come unto Christ. We changed the way we teach our first lesson and focus on the Book of Mormon and how it can change lives. We have seen so much more improvement in our investigators!! It's amazing that we are given the opportunity to share the truth with others. We found new people to teach all over the place! Hooray! We found 2 new potentials who worked for a mormon family in Chihuahua! They would feed the missionaries all the time in the home they worked in, but they never formally spoke with them in a lesson. I'm so excited to continue teaching them! They didn't come to church yesterday because the husband got sick from dehydration, poor thing. We must all drink more water!

We also found a 22 year old young mom, Jaclin. Jaclin is super catholic and super nice. She told us that she has been married for 2 years and encourages everyone to live the law of chastity, just like she did! It's fantastic! She didn't accept a date to be baptized, but she did agree to learn more. This is going to be awesome :)

Our zone is still progressing! We had some amazing divisions this week with the hardest working companionship I have ever seen! It was such a great experience working with them and learning from them.

I had such a crazy experience this week! We were eating lunch and I poured ice water in a warm glass. I had the glass in my hand when.... it shattered! The bottom of the glass fell off! I guess the "myth" is true: don't put cold water in warm glasses (my childhood makes so much more sense now). haha who would of thought that things like that actually happen!

We have been having a ton of rain this week and the Lord has blessed us with scenes of lightening. It sounds weird, but they sky has been so awe-inspiring seeing everything light up! After the storms, we've all had a good time taking off our shoes to walk through "rivered" streets.

I challenge you guys to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and ponder on how amazing the Book of Mormon is! It is so true! Reading the Book of Mormon has blessed my life so much and I know that anyone who studies it will see that it is the word of the Lord. Wow! We are so blessed! 2 Nephi 33:10

I love you!

Hermana Zubeldia

We have to think!

Dear family,

Hna Carvajal and I. I love this sister so much!

This week was a crazy one! It was our most productive week of the transfer, but Hna. Carvajal and I feel like there is still so much more that we can do here! We're going to be working extra hard to help prepare the marvelous people in our area.

Where do I start... haha I had so much to say before I started this letter, and I forgot all of it, stinkers!

We helped a wonderful friend, Angel, prepare a his first talk for sacrament meeting. Angel has completely turned his life around and was baptized a month and a half ago. He loves the church and has a strong testimony of this gospel. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out that he had to give a 10 minute talk about repentance and baptism. Haha he was so worried for an eternity of 10 minutes in front of everyone! We went over almost every day of the week to help him find scriptures, sources, and to help him practice. He would say, "hermanas, you guys have some homework to do to help me out," and we would reply, "oh no no, it is you who has to study this one what! you have to think doing your talk." haha he would say, "What!? I have to think! oh no..."  He practiced, practiced, and practiced, and gave a great talk. I love seeing people grow through this gospel. It so amazing being a part of this work!

We had a lesson with an older woman (around 70ish) that totally took me by surprise. We asked her if she was married, and she quickly replied that she wasn't, and that she had no intentions of getting married. She and her "husband" had raised 4 children, and she counseled all of them to never get married because it was a ridiculous thing to do. She was annoyed that one of her sons didn't heed her advice and got married! Oh my goodness gracious! Hna. Carvajal and I just looked at each other in amazement! The woman was convinced of her opinion and nothing we said could change her mind. It's crazy that Satan is so good at destroying the essence of family! I'm so glad that my family is safe and sealed :)

We had many opportunities to share the message of the Restoration this week and explain the importance of prophets, the Book of Mormon, and the gloriousness of this gospel. Every time we share this, I have a deeper appreciation of the love our Heavenly Father has for us in providing us with the gospel. I can't wait to give Him a big hug someday! It's crazy to think that the world was without the gospel for such a long time! In Jesus the Christ, chapter 40, the apostasy is explained is such detail that it just breaks one's heart to see how the church was destroyed and how the doctrine was lost. But, here it is again! It's so amazing!! We are all so blessed to be part of the true church!!! Hurray for Israel!

I love you all!

Hermana Zubeldia

Here are the missionaries in our ward, Barrio Aeropuerto.
Ya... the Elders are kind of crazy, but they're hard workers :)

Another week!

Dear family,

Another week has gone by... and it went by way to fast! I'm trying to remember everything we did, because we worked a ton, but it all went by too quickly to remember specific moments. 

On Tuesday, we had splits and I got to go with Hna. Weeks, an amazing missionary from California. It was so fantastic! She's a super hard worker and we contacted as much as we could to help out the area. It was one of the most successful splits I've had on the mission because we were able to figure out how to solve a problem that she has been having. Really, the Spirit helped us out so much! The Spirit guided us to the core of the problem doing companionship study and guided us to the solution. It was such an amazing experience!

We've been helping la familia Duarte learn to love to read the Book of Mormon and we gave them a sheet to be able to update their reading every day. They now have a mini competition between all of them to see who can finish the Book of Mormon first. The Spirit has been helping us out a ton with them and I know that the Holy Ghost is helping them gain deeper testimonies of this gospel. 

Something big I learned this week is the importance loving people to death. When we love people unconditionally, they feel it, making them want to change by their own accord. We can never force people to change and change is not easy. But, when we love people as the Savior loves them, they begin to change all by themselves, making the experience all the more meaningful. We are all imperfect and we all need to feel the love of others to overcome our imperfections.  Loving the Lord and loving others is the key to success in missionary work and in life in general. I have gained a better appreciation for this powerful principle and I hope to better apply it here in the field. I am so glad that Christ is the perfect example we all need to follow to learn to love those around us. 

I love you all! And sorry that I have no pictures this week! The week went by so fast that I forgot to take pictures to send home. 

Have a great week!

Hermana Zubeldia

Muddy oja

Dear family,

This week was absolutely amazing!!! The spirit was so strong and I learned so much! I don't even know where to start!!!

Hermana García and me.
I love this girl so much!!!!
Really, she is such a great missionary!

We went to Obregón for a conference on Tuesday and guess who was there... Hna. García Soto! The most amazing sister ever! She's back in Los Mochis, but she was at the conference and we were able to have a wonderful family reunion. She's still as sweet as ever! Before the conference, we got to go bowling again. I'm pleased to announce that my bowling as improved! I'm still not good at bowling, but hey, I've been sent to preach the gospel, not to bowl, so I'm content :). Also, because I'm now closer to Obregón, we left for the conference in the morning instead of the day before. Boy, it's so much fun waking up before 5 in the morning to catch a bus....

On Tuesday, we had our zone conference. We've been trying to implement Elder Bednar's Teaching Model on inviting the spirit more by having prepared for the conferences beforehand, asking inspired questions and letting everyone else do the talking so that the spirit can testify more. It was amazing! We've been applying this model to our investigators as well and we saw miracles with in our lessons. Our dear friends, all by themselves, were able to find the answers to their own questions though the help of the Holy Ghost. Without them realizing, our investigators bore their testimonies to us and discovered their own desires in regards to the gospel. It was amazing helping them discover the light they've been looking for.

After the zone conference, all of us USA missionaries got together to sing the national anthem. Haha I can't believe we all still knew it! Haha also, one could tell that we all need to practice our high notes :)

Also, to finish zone conference, my wonderful companion and 4 other missionaries bore their final testimonies. I can't believe how fast time flies!! In our district of 8 missionaries, 4 of them are going home this transfer... haha our district leader has named it the Panteón (aka cemetery). 

Happy fourth of July! Sister Bunting and I took a picture
with the only American thing we could find :)

We had splits with the sisters in Huatabampo after the conference and I got to go with a lovely sister from Pleasant Grove. We celebrated our fourth of July by eating ice cream while waiting for the bus... it was better than the BYU creamery!

Then... it rained.... and rained... and rained some more! We were caught soaking in the rain on Sunday before heading over to lunch with the members. Haha and we got lost, so we were even more wet! I love this missionary work! Mexico doesn't have the best plumbing in the world, so we had to cross rivered streets with our shoes off :) haha I was worried for my little companion, Hna. Carvajal, because she mentioned that she had once been carried away by the water when she tried crossing a water-flowing street. Good thing the water was only up to our ankles. Now, we're enjoying the mud and the frogs (and Hna. Carvajal screams when she sees a frog) :) I love Navojoa so much! 

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!!

Hermana Zubeldia

I curled my hair for the first time in months for church. And then it rained! Just my luck!

Navojoa!!!

Dear Family,

I love Navojoa!! This place is as dusty as can be, but it's dry instead of humid, making it feel like I'm in Utah. We have around 5 paved roads in our area and the people here are so amazing! I hope the Lord allows me to stay here for a long time. Also, there is a recently returned missionary here who served in the same mission as Elder Womack! I'm so excited to get to know the ward better.

My companion, Hna. Carvajal, is absolutely amazing!!!! She's 4 feet 7 inches tall, from Colombia, is 23 years old, and is finishing up her last transfer before going home. Haha every time I saw her in meetings throughout the mission, I thought she was quiet and reserved. I was totally wrong! Once you get to know Hna. Carvajal, you can't get her to stop talking :) She's super spunky, hilarious, very spiritual, great teacher, and is such a wonderful companion!

I'm learning the area bit by bit. We've been teaching English at the church twice a week, so I've been given the opportunity to brush up my English skills. I accidentally had a dork moment when I started teaching English wrong and an Elder (from Layton. Crazy, right?)  had to correct me. Perdón! No entiendo inglés...

We had the most amazing experience this week. We were helping a family, la familia Duarte, prepare to make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father on Saturday. Two hours before the baptism, we got a text from the mom, Azucena, telling us that her two children weren't going to be baptized that day. She said that her son didn't feel ready to make such a decision. Not knowing what to do, we told Azucena that we were on our way to her house. Before going over, we said a prayer asking for the Lord's help. When we arrived, everyone was happy and ready to head over to the church for the baptism (!!!). Her son, Sebastián, said that he felt much better than he did earlier and that he was ready to make the decision to be baptized. I don't know what the Lord did to solve the problem Sebastián had, but I know that He does His work much better than we do. Missionary work could never be done without help from the heavens. I am so grateful to be part of this marvelous work and a wonder. 

In the end, Azucena and Sebastián had a wonderful baptismal service. The daughter, Mónica, was sick and wasn't able to get baptized, but we are helping her prepare for a later date. We are also working with the father of the household and have bright plans and goals for July.

I love you all! 

Hermana Zubeldia

So much, so much!

Dear family,

There is so much to say about this week! I don't even know how to start!

1. We found a new house! I have an apostolic friend here who found us a house. I love my connections :). It's a one room place, but it has air conditioning and it's all new. We moved in on Thursday! Haha Hna. Pech was sad to leave her wet mattress and open door at night. She wanted to turn off the air and use her fan in the new house. Haha she is so fantastic :)

I love the Macapule ward!!! These people are
going to be my friends for the eternities.
Here are the wonderful sisters of our ward...
and a few brothers!

2. After 7 and a half months in Macapule, I received transfers!!! All the members thought I would stay there for 9 months, but oh well. We took so many pictures on Sunday with all the members. My time in Macapule has strengthened my testimony so much. I learned so many things there that I could never have learned anywhere else. Even though the transfer didn't go as I planned, it went exactly as the Lord planned. All the questions I had for Him were answered these past weeks, and I am beginning to see and understand how thorough He is and how complete and perfect His plan of Salvation is for us and our lives.

3. Miracle: we had 52 people at church yesterday! That's the most attendance we have had in Macapule for months!

4. We found the most amazing investigator this week. She felt the spirit so strongly and was so eager to have us come back this Wednesday. I can't wait to hear what happened with her the next time I see Hna. Pech! I testify that street contacting works!

5. Miracle, at church yesterday an old investigator found his way into the chapel. Hna. Garcia and I contacted him around 4 months ago, and he completely disappeared after our first lesson. Turns out, he went to the States and is back in Los Mochis. He, Diego, is eager to talk to the missionaries and come unto Christ. 

6. I'm in Navojoa, Barrio Aeropuerto. I'm in the dry, dusty area of the mission, and I am so excited! My companion is Hna. Carvajal, a delightful sister from Colombia who will complete her mission at the end of this transfer. I am so excited!!! Also, the house has air conditioning ;)

7. Elder Benjamin de Hoyos came to our mission this week. Wow! It was such a fantastic week! Everything he said, everything that the Spirit said, boggled my mind. The Lord is changing the way He wants us to teach, helping the investigators learn to teach themselves. Really, the conferences we had with Him were going with the Spirit. It was like we were having a council with Elder de Hoyos and the Holy Ghost. Every time someone made an inspired comment, Elder de Hoyos would ask, "who taught you that?" Where the reply would be: the Spirit! It was such an amazing week! 

8.... I think that's everything... I love serving the Lord! Time is going by way too fast. Every moment is important and heaven sent!

Love you all,

Hermana Zubeldia

PS: Happy birthday to my mom and my sweet brother!!! I love you guys!

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in His name!

Sleeping in a Spa

Dear family,

Okay, I know that many missionaries don't share all the crazy things that happen, but this week has been one I will remember for the rest of my life and I want to share some of the crazy missionary experiences that we've been having. I'll share much more in the years to come, but here's a bite of what we've been up to in Los Mochis:

1. The Lord blessed us with many opportunities of finding new people to teach. We had/have so many references! I love knowing that we're helping these people come closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Sadly, almost everyone told us they were not interested and wouldn't let us walk through their doors, but that's okay. We're still excited to find many new people and Hna. Pech and I have faith that Macapule is going to flourish.

Haha I'm kind of sunburned in the picture,
but here we are, sleeping in the spa

2. It's still crazy hot at night, but the Bishop's wife helped us out a ton when she discovered how we have been sleeping in wet mattresses the past 2 weeks. She owns a spa close to our home and, because we don't sleep in the homes of members, offered us to sleep in her spa. Haha. We spent half the week sleeping on massage beds! What a wonderful sister she is! We would arrive at night and leave as soon at 6:15 in the morning to go home and shower, eat, and study. What a crazy experience!

3. This week, as well as working as hard as we could, we tried looking for a new house. We would contact people asking to share the gospel, and would add the question at the end, "and do you know of any house that is for rent?" We found a few options and will find out later today where we'll be moving. We've become pros at house finding.

4. For our last Monday of the transfer, we spent the morning cleaning the house and packing. We're hoping to move as soon as possible.

With everything that is going on, I am as happy as can be! Don't worry a bit about how I'm doing. I have never been happier or more at peace! The Lord has blessed us so much this transfer and He has answered all the questions I had for Him when we started this transfer. He knows exactly what we need and He knows how to teach us in His perfect and loving way. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He sent us His son, a son that has felt everything we feel. We are so blessed! 

Also, I invite you all to read the Liahona for this month. It is so inspired! There is an article about the Prophet Joseph Smith that is absolutely amazing. This is the best work in the world!  Wow! We're in the right place! I love you all and I hope that you have the best week ever!

Hermana Zubeldia