Hello Family and Friends!
This week has been very
important for me. Elder Lopez and I worked so hard and gave it our all. We came
back looking and feeling like zombies because we were so tired but it was so
worth it!
Impressions of Mexico (forgive
me if I begin to repeat, I have been here for a while you know)!
1) It is really common to find young men with squirt bottles
and rags at every major intersection in Cuautla. They anxiously await for the
signal, and if you say yes, they literally swan-dive on top of your car and
clean your windows in 4.5 seconds. You should see it sometime. Truly amazing.
2) The equivalent of 7-Eleven in Mexico is called OXXO.
There is literally an OXXO on every street
corner and they are amazing for one reason. They have AC. And the AC is turned
up to full-blast. So you can imagine what we sometimes do when it is literally
100 degrees and we have been walking for a long time...and then happen to pass
an OXXO....
3) People here think that when you have the hicupps that
someone that loves you is thinking about you.
4) We taught a lesson this week in a cement bathroom,
outside of the house, on the side of a hill.
5) In Mexico every single
person has two last names. They inherit the first last name of both their
father and mother. For example if my father is Kurt Nielsen Wolsey and my
mother is Mary Synold Holman, my name in Mexico would be Jacob Nielsen Synold.
Everyone is shocked to find out that I only have one last name!
I had a really powerful
experience this week that I want to share. We received a reference from a
less-active sister in the branch named Wendy to go and visit her friend named
Guadalupe. When we went to visit her, and I saw her situation, I literally got
so emotional. Guadalupe is a single mother with two little girls, the youngest
is named Noemi. Noemi is four years old and
recently had a severe heart-attack that left
her in a vegetative state. When we walked in, we saw them living in a small room, and we saw the little girl lying on her
back in the only bed they have. She had tubes leading into her throat and
stomach and it was so hot (the roof was made of pure metal). Guadalupe sells
clothes in order to make enough money for the treatments and special diet of
her little girl. The first time we visited her she broke down into tears and
told us that she still has faith that God can heal her child. That she has
already been making improvements and is beginning to see a little and feel
little things like flies landing on her feet, etc. We taught her the Atonement
and then set an appointment at 12:00 pm to return the next day with the Relief
Society President. That night, the sister missionaries called us and told us
that there was a sister in the ward that wanted us to give a blessing and if we
could go with them at 10:30 am the next day to give the blessing. Turns out
that the sister in the ward took us to
Guadalupe. When we arrived she was about to leave with her daughter to go the
hospital because she had been vomiting, convulsing, and had not slept the
entire night.
This next part is very important
to me, and something that I will never forget. We were able to sit by the side
of that little girl and give her a blessing of health with consecrated oil. I
literally felt so much love for both the mother and the child. I felt something
different during the blessing, I felt that God was literally working through
Elder Lopez and I to bless this child. Immediately after the blessing, the
little girl calmed down, she stopped crying and convulsing, and immediately
started to sleep peacefully. Had we arrived at 12:00 pm that day, we would have
been too late.
My testimony has been strengthened even more. The power of the
priesthood is real. How grateful I am that God gives me the opportunity to
bless others and serve others. That he brings us directly to those that need
our help. How grateful I am that my mission has also taught me to love and
minister unto others and to give all of myself in their service. Even thinking
about it makes me a little emotional. Sometimes we do not think that we are
growing or progressing as fast as we would like, then God gives us
opportunities to see that we have, and that the growth will continue.
We are starting to see growth
again in the branch. We have found new families to teach and we continue to try
and strengthen and reactivate the less-actives and new converts!
I know that Christ lives. This
life is just a small little blimp in the eternities. The choices we make truly
have eternal consequences. So I think that we all need to focus a little more on eternal things. Christ rose from the tomb and
because he did, we will all be resurrected. We will all be with those we love
again. The Atonement is real. It is so real. I can feel the hand of God
changing me day by day and helping me become a new creature in Christ. I will
forever be grateful for the people I have met, blessed, served, and taught
while serving as a missionary in the restored church of Jesus Christ.
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