"Can't we ever have just like a salad or something?"

This week had its uppsss and dowwwwwwns.

We went back and saw the dog that bit me to make sure he had all his shots and stuff. While we were asking his owners, a little kid came up to me and said, “Be careful, that dog bites." Oh really? You don’t say?  The owners said that he has his shots but they lost the papers, so who really knows.

Also last Monday when Mexico played in the world cup we were at the grocery store just standing in line waiting and there is this huge TV. For the 20 minutes that we were waiting in line Mexico scored 3 goals. So that was so sweet. They lost yesterday though which was a bummer because no one came to church because they were watching the game.

We helped this less active older lady Maria clean her yard this week. She has these really cute baby bunnies so she let us hold them and let them run free in her yard. Then she told us that her family only has the bunnies to eat them. She asked us if we wanted to try them. Luckily we had another cita so we had to pass. There was no way I was going to eat those cute little baby bunnies!

We also had zone conference this week which was just so fun. President Christensen and his wife gave out prizes for the people who had the cleanest houses.  Only 3 companionships got this reward and your never gonna believe who got it. Yep, me and Hermana Reyes! I know what you guys are thinking, “Wow that’s a miracle that Hannah got a clean house award”.  Well I’m here to tell you guys that miracles happen. Also, Hermana Christensen made food for everyone, and better yet, she made American food. She was talking to me and said, "I cook for my Americans.  They need some food from their country". It was such a comfort to eat American food, especially the nice big salad.

On the way home from zone conference there was this Mexican grandma on the bus who stood up and started belting out to the tune of Abba songs but replaced the words with scriptures and prayers. She walked up and down the bus just singing her little heart out. I asked my companion if that was normal and she said that usually people preach but don’t sing, so that was nice. One of the Elders passed around a note that said "apostasy".  Everyone thought that was a hoot. #missionaryjokes

This week sadly I got sick and had to go to the hospital. I will spare you guys the details but I had to spend 2 days there. While in the hospital I was going crazy because I had nothing to do. Luckily my companion brought our mini DVD player. We watched all the church movies that we have and, no joke, seen 60 times, but it was better than doing nothing. I ended up having the same doctor as last time and he told me that my Spanish has gotten a lot better, so that was a plus. They gave me lots of random meds and liquids and sent me one my way. As we were leaving one of the nurses told me that I should probably go back to America. I just laughed and smiled she probably thought I didn’t understand what she was saying.

We found out that one of our investigators who has a baptism date created an event for it on Facebook. The Young Women President told us that she had invited like the whole world. Isn’t that so awesome? She is so excited to follow the example of Jesus Christ. 

Well, love you all. You guys are in my prayers.

xoxo hna han

Strange Stuff

I would just like to start out this letter by giving my good friend KP a shout out. Thank you so much for my first real letter while here in Mexico! (ps hand written letters are way quicker than Dear Elders and also much more fun) 

This week a lot of really strange things happened. Let me just say I was laughing the whole week long. Here is some of the strange and weird stuff from the week...

-This week after it had been raining my companion stepped in a puddle which was actually a sewer hole. She fell in but she was okay. She started busting up laughing which was good because I did also and I wouldn't have wanted to have been laughing at her pain. Only 3 little kids and a grandpa saw so she still has her dignity. 

-We received a reference from the Elders. It was for a less active member named Victor. When we went to visit him he told us that he didn't have time to talk to us but then continued to talk with us at his doorway for 40 minutes. He actually did all the talking. Then he started picking up rocks and started making up all these metaphors about how Christ is our rock. After he told us that he was called to be the Bishop but that he turned it down for his family. Anywho, we teach him this week so it should be interesting.

- One of our investigators offered us chocolate cigarets, yep.

-One of the members gave us mugs that say coffee on them. Yep, again. Looks like we need to teach the word of wisdom.

- A hobo came to our sacrament meeting this week. This random man in a torn up sweat shirt and sweatpants just came in carrying a bag of raw meat and a sprite. He stood up and said "NOW ARE THE LATTER DAYS". Then he sat down and was silent for the rest of the meeting. After the meeting however when he stood up his sweat pants were very very low and he pretty much flashed the whole congregation. lol.

- Also during sacrament the bishop mentioned Martin Luther King Junior in his talk because he was quoting him and I leaned over and asked my companion if she knew who MLK was. She replied by saying "I know that he helped reform the Catholic church. lol, close... 

The highlight was that choir started this week.  Hmmm, how do I put this... A lot of people here have never heard the hymns with a piano or in the right tune at all so choir was quite the ordeal. They had an Hermano from the stake who does know how to play the piano come and help us. He split us up into parts. Let me tell you we could hardly all sing the right tune in the melody and singing parts was a whole different thing. He had the bishop sing a solo part so he could teach him the tune. Uh the poor bishop was so off tune that after the whole choir just burst out laughing. I love my ward. 

The low part however was that I diagnosed myself with perrophobia (fear of dogs) because this week I was attacked by a dirty mutt. Let me explain. On Saturday I was just walking down the street getting ready to preach the gospel and swinging my arms when all of a sudden this dog pops out of nowhere and started to bite my arm and hand. At one point my whole hand was in his mouth. As quickly as I could I ran away but but my hand was killing me. We headed to the pharmacy that is owned by a member and she fixed me all up. My hand isn't horrible just some cuts and scrapes from the teeth but all should be good in no time. We do have to go talk to the owner of the dog and make sure he doesn't have rabies so that should be fun. Dumb dogs. 

Honestly this whole week I just kept thinking "what the heck just happened". 

On a more spiritual note one of our investigators needed some help in the morning during the time that we usually work out. So we had to skip working out. I was so mad thinking "ugh this is really the only 'me' time i get every day". However after I thought about how selfish that sounded and how its not my time right now, its the Lord's time. After we helped her I felt so much better. I had joy in my heart. That's what service does for you. When we got back to our house and as I was saying my morning prayers I repented for my earlier negative thoughts. That's the beauty of repentance. We have the opportunity to change and progress and get better every day. Many times we think repentance is only for the giant sins. Yes, it can be used for that but also it can be used for the little everyday negative thoughts. Its for the saint and the sinner. I've seen a change in my life though daily repentance. None of us are perfect but through the atonement we have the opportunity to be better. Don't take it for granted. 

I apologize if this letter is so all over the place but honestly thats how this week was. 

Much love,

xoxo Hna. Han 

Photos

Thanks KP!

Hope this little guy doesn't bite my hand!

Mural of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan

People watching the World Cup

Focusing on the ups

This week… well we had some ups and downs.  I just like to focus on the ups.

We received 2 more missionaries in our ward. They are both American: Elder Hubert, who has 21 months in the mission, and Elder Stephens, who is brand new.  So Loma Florida now has 6 missionaries. I was glad we received a brand new Elder because now they ask him to say the prayer in every meeting, opening and closing, and not me.  But prayer brings blessings, so pray.

For the activity this week we planned it again. Surprise, surprise, we taught about how the Gospel blesses families. This is one of my favorite things to teach because I have seen first-hand how the gospel can bring a broken family together.  It is also a hard thing to teach because it makes you think of your family who may or may not be living in a different country at the moment.  After we had the games, we just brought the rope that we usually dry our clothes on and used it to play jump rope. It was a hit. One of our investigators Estephanie was late to the activity. When i asked her why she was late, she replied by saying she went and stopped and bought us cupcakes. She is so great. With her I really had to love her first before I could start teaching her effectively.

The world cup started this week so and it was a mad-house here. Our investigators were like planning the next time we could visit them around the game schedule. In the streets and in all of the shops people were watching the games, so we pretty much know what’s going on. Mexico won their first game so yeah, go Mexico!  They play Brazil on Wednesday so hopefully we get some lessons in on that day. lol

This week the Steak had a dance for all the young single adults so we invited all of our investigators and less active members that fit into that category. One of the less active members is a guy named Johnathan. We were really excited when the bishop called us saying that he stopped by and saw Johnathan there and it looked like he was having a good time. On the other hand we were kind of concerned when the next morning we got a call from Johnathan’s mom asking what time the dance ended. Ha ha, the question of the day was, “where is Johnathan??”  That night we had a family home evening at Johnathan’s house and he was there and all was fine. I don’t really know what went down but I think it’s safe to say that Johnathan had a good time at the YSA dance.

Random tid-bit of this week, I saw a man cooking a hamburger with a hairdryer in the street. So there’s that...

Oh yeah and a happy Father’s Day to all the padres out there. I hope your day was filled with breakfast in bed and hugs from your kiddos. Here is a cyber-hug. Love you all.

xoxo hna han

Okay, first things first.  I can receive Dear Elders here in the mission.  Ha.  So far the only one that I have received was from Bishop Alder. LOL.

This week was a busy week!  It was a great one because our investigators are like actually doing the things that we ask them to do. We ask them what they learned from reading the book of Mormon and they have like real responses!  We also had to drop one of my favorite investigators this week, so that was hard.

Anywhooo, this week for the missionary activities that we put on for the ward, we taught the primer principal. Dios es nuestro amorso Padre Celestial.  We teach this principal a lot to people but it is honestly a great place to start because the reason we have this gospel is because he loves us! More than we can really even understand.  After, we played games. Ahh, I love how into the games everyone gets. We played the “eat the doughnut off the string” game and also played soccer. Then we played this game where everyone had a balloon tied to their foot and you try to pop other people’s balloons. One of the adults ended up accidentally hurting one of the kids. That’s what I mean by everyone gets really into the games. Hah.

Oh ha, this week we were walking in the street and we saw the elders in our ward playing soccer with some random children.  One of the elders passed me the soccer ball and told me to shoot.  Ha.  So I shot and after all the little kids couldn’t stop laughing because they were so surprised that I knew how to play. Now every time we see them they ask me to play street soccer with them.

This week my companion was served chicken feet! Yes, chicken feet! With the toes and everything. Okay, so what happened is we got to a members house for la comida and she asked me if I like chicken feet. I told her umm… well I actually have never eaten it before so I don’t really know. She asked me if I would like my soup with chicken feet or without.  Ha.  I said without but my companion on the other hand said with. Guys I’m not even kidding.  Seeing the chicken feet made me sick.  It’s just like the claws and everything plopped into your soup. All I can say is chicken feet should not be for the human body to consume. Now every time I see chicken I just don’t feel the same.  Save the chickens!

As I was saying, we had to drop one of our investigators, Celia, this week. It’s sad because she knows all the teachings but she just doesn’t want to keep the law of chastity. She wants to be a good example for her 3 daughters but she said that she is a woman and has needs. I’m thinking, “Honey, I’m a women also and I have been living this law my whole life.  You can do it”.  She told us that she doesn’t feel bad when she sins. Hearing that kind of broke my heart. Celia has a daughter who is 9 years old and was baptized not too long ago.  After we told her we could no longer teach her, I told her that her daughter made covenants with god, at least help her try to keep them.  Kind of harsh but yesterday she and her 3 daughters all came to church and all came on time. I don’t really know what her future holds, but I know that The Lord has a plan for her. I hope that later in her life she has the desire to change.

I have now been here 6 weeks in Mexico which is one transfer in the field which means everyone gets a call to see if tomorrow they are going to changes to get a new area or companion.  However, since I am being trained, usually you don’t go to the first changes.  Anyway on Saturday night we get a call from our district leader telling us who will be going to changes.  He says, “Elder Ellis, Elder Valis”, and then he says my name.  Instantly my whole heart sank. I was holding back tears. Then he said okay that’s all and just hung up. I was just about to have a mental break-down when he called us back and said “just kidding, you’re not going to changes”. How cruel! Dumb Elders like to play pranks on all the new missionaries.  Ha. But not funny.

Today we went to Walmart. It was so clean and nice.  Strange.  Ha.  We also went to Subway for lunch. It’s sad because going to Walmart was like the equivalent of going to Disneyland. Ha.  Sad but true.

I love you all and keep writing. Send me some Dear Elders if you want.

xoxo hna han 

This week I ended up playing scrabble with the bishop's 8 year old son. Yes, in Spanish and yes he beat me. haha It was hard because the only words I could spell were church words haha but Spanish is coming along well this week. I could feel myself talking a lot more in the lessons and I'm not exactly needing to think of the sentence in English first. Sometimes Spanish words just come out of my mouth and I'm like okay.. this is getting a little better.

I feel so close to the bishop's family. This week something kind of funny happened. One of the Bishop's daughters Mary, she is 15, was staring at her phone and I was like, "what are you looking at?" She had a picture of some boy on her phone. I asked her, ummm okay who is that. She was like, "it is a boy that I think is really cute from my school." She asked me, "please don't tell my parents, he isn't a member." I started to smile and was like hunny we can change that would you like us to start teaching him the lessons. We both started laughing. I am so glad to have her in my ward here, she reminds me a lot of Julianne. I have been missing Julianne a lot lately and I feel like Heavenly Father blessed me with the new friend in the ward because he knows how much I wish I was there to experience things like this with my own sister. 

We ended up dividing the area and I couldn't be happier. We didn't end up losing any investigators! The Elder's area ended up being split but ours stayed exactly the same. It was sooo great. We will be getting 2 new missionaries next Tuesday. I'm excited this area is ready for more work and that the ward is ready for more work. 

This week we also had intercambios where you switch companions for a day. My companion ended up going to a different area and I had to stay in our area. I was so nervious because that meant I was in charge for the day (kind of). I felt like I was going to cry but I just told myself that I can do this. It ended up being a really great day and I learned a lot from the other Hermana. That day we had an appointment with one of our investigators. Her name is Stephanie. We taught her about the plan of salvation and our purpose in this life. Every lesson we have with her we ask her about baptism and she says, nooo maybe in 4 years. Anywho we decided to stop pressuring her as much and just give her some time to breathe. That night however I had this feeling to ask her about how she would feel to have her whole past erased. She replied saying "I want that, I want to change, and I want to be baptized." I finally felt like I had made a difference. Honestly it wasn't me though it was the Lord. I am so happy for her and I can't wait for her baptism. She is changing already. Being able to see the gospel change a person's life is one of the best things ever. 

Each week gets better and better as I adjust more to the life of a missionary. I'm not going to lie. Its dang hard sometimes but it is dang worth every second of it. 

I love you all and hope all is well. Oh yeah, write me letters. haha 

Paz y bendiciones, 

Han han