Ha nacido un Salvador

CHRISTMAS IS THIS WEEK!! Can you believe it? I know I sure cant. It's so crazy I dont feel the holidays haha! Just doing the Lord's work and staying focused :) 

There are a few things that happened this week that really stuck out to me.  First of all, Wednesday was the best day. We had our Christmas devo with 4 zones. The other zones on other days because they are a little far. Anyway, it was wonderful. President and Hermana Egbert talked. Christmas time is fun with all of the lights, trees, snow, presents, and music. This moment only lasts so long. We can keep the Christmas spirit all year round in every moment of every day. We can remember our savior by our actions, such as reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, serving and loving one another. After the talks and the songs by each zone, we ate food of course! Actual Christmas food! Ham,  turkey,  mashed potatoes, salad, and of course, pumpkin pie!! It was a great day. That night, we had our ward Xmas dinner. Hna Ojeda and I sang Feliz Navidad and helped in the kitchen with food and stuff. Man it was fun! 

Thursday I had splits again. This time no nerves and I really saw an improvement in my Spanish and

knowledge of the area. Splits are super great for learning! Sunday a new investigator came to church with us! WOOOO! The work is progressing and I see a baptism in the future :) 

Yesterday was a zone activity. Love them because you are with a bunch of missionaries just having

fun! Eating, playing sports, hitting a piñata and exchanging gifts. The mission is hard work but definitely is fun! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! I LOVE YOU!! Remember the true meaning of Christmas is our savior. I love him and am happy to be a representative of him!

love,

Hermana Cross

Building the Kingdom of God

Wow this week was so great everyone. I don't know why because we did the norm like everyday BUT I think the little spiritual experiences just made the week fantastic! I know it may seem a little boring if I go day by day but that is honestly the easiest way for me to think of what happened ha ha. 

Okay so Tuesday nothing was crazy exciting. We helped one of our recent converts with putting up Christmas stuff in her house. She is just the sweetest old lady ever. She is like another grandma here and seriously like family. Man I just love old people. Wednesday...oh we had a lesson with another recent convert and her Christian friend was over so it was teaching a new investigator. Anyway, this friend of hers starts talking about how the book of Mormon has incorrect stuff and just was bashing a bit. Nothing that hasn't happened before but I was really worried that our recent convert would believe all the stuff. Then she said the closing prayer and in her prayer she said "I know the book of Mormon is true with all of my heart." TALK ABOUT A TRUE CONVERT. That moment was just like WOOOO.  

We have new progressing investigators and that just feels great. The members are a tremendous help. Always. So for all of you members out there, we really enjoy your help so thank you :) We just had lessons on Thursday but after our nightly companion prayer, A SPIDER FELL FROM THE CEILING ONTO MY PILLOW. That was absolutely terrifying.  Friday we only had 2 lessons. That was rough. But the sky was super cool so that's a bonus. Literally the sunset every night here is incredible and beautiful. Saturday...ha ha the funny experience of this day was we had a member with us but we had to get from one edge of our area to another super fast, so the member used my bike and I stood on the pegs of my companions bike. I wish I had a picture but unfortunately no. It was a childhood memory come true! 

And as for Sunday, the dedication of the Tijuana, Mexico temple. this is why my title is Building the kingdom of God. Wow the dedication was WONDERFUL. Temples are the best thing on the planet. The talks and everything were just wow. I miss the temple for sure. They are truly the house of the Lord. President Uchtdorf said the dedicatory prayer. It was nice to hear it in English and then the translator well translated hahaha. Man yeah it was just a great spiritual experience :) 

And lastly, today Hna Ojeda and I went to a mall because she wanted to buy a new skirt. It was so weird ha ha I heard a lot of Christmas music so that was fun! Also it feels really awkward to walk around in church clothes in a mall where everyone looks normal. Anyway, that was my week!! Love you all and have a great one!

Hermana Cross

A look-in to the apartment

A look-in to the apartment - the study area!

A day at the mall!

Christians, Catholics, and Mormons OH MY!

[Posted a week late - letter is from Monday, Dec 7, 2015]

Okay everyone I apologize in advance that my emails are getting shorter and less exciting ha-ha Really the work is the same everyday. We wake up and do the usual studying and training until noon. 

Today is the start of a new cycle. Each cycle is 6 weeks. Since I'm in training I don't have cambios (transfers). I'm really glad about that but it blows my mind that I'm starting my second half of training! It's December so that's absolutely wonderful! I love December! Christmas is just around the corner! Speaking of which, there is a new Christmas video out on www.mormon.org/christmas you all should take the 2 minutes and watch! Know why we celebrate Christmas :) All of the streets are starting to have Christmas lights. Oh how I LOVE IT! The Christmas trees too :) 

Right now with the work we don't have really any progressing investigators. We have one who was supposed to be baptized and confirmed this week but she's just having troubles with some of the commandments. It breaks your heart a little when you see them so close and then just fall a little. She still wants to get baptized and it totally awesome so we are just working towards that goal so she can work towards the ultimate goal: eternal life! 

Instead of our regular district meeting we had zone training. That was so fun! It's really great to be with a ton of missionaries and learn what we need to do better. I really learned about being consecrated to the work. Sometimes it's easy to think all about ourselves, but when we think about others and serve, we can find true happiness! A lot of people we meet are either catholic or christian and they aren't always the biggest fan of us ha-ha It's all good though! It is what is is :) 

The members are still awesome. We eat with them everyday and always have someone to accompany us. Fast Sunday was just grand! And with the Christmas devo it was better! I mean it was all in Spanish but the songs weren't so that was great! Oh man I can't wait for Christmas!! Any way, I hope your December has started off wonderful!! I love you all and thanks so much for your love and support!!!

Hermana Cross

ps sorry no pics this week. Literally took zero...oops!

Goodbye thanksgiving, hello Christmas!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!! I heard that it snowed! Wow that's so crazy to think about because I swear it just keeps getting hotter here! Thanksgiving was like any other Thursday here. I didn't even feel like it was thanksgiving. Anyway, I hope the turkey was great :)

I've been trying to think about what happened this week for the past few days. It went by slower than the past weeks. This is the start of week 6 in the field. My first cycle in the mission is almost over...which means I'm almost half way done with training...that is absolutely scary! I really don't feel ready to go out on my own (figuratively because I'm always with a companion of course haha). This week we taught many lessons to people who seemed interested. But always they turn us down. It's okay though because we planted the seed and that's all that matters!

I taught English on Wednesday. Okay totally thought it would be easy but nope! We taught her how to pray in English because you know, we are missionaries. I haven't prayed aloud in English in a very very VERY long time. It sounded so foreign. I was shocked that my own language could sound weird. I'm really enjoying learning and speaking Spanish. I'm not pro that's for sure but I can see a difference. We knocked on a house that was decked out for Christmas and when I introduced us and shared a little, she said that my Spanish was good!!! BEST FEELING EVER. Honestly made my day. Everyday has a small spiritual experience, even if it's as simple as noticing the blue sky or talking to a  simple contact.

We contacted a bus on Sunday. First time doing that! We just stood in the front and talked to everyone in general. That was really cool. Church is my favorite. It's always great to partake of the sacrament and learn more!

Today we went to Wal-Mart again and ate at a pizza buffet. It was like America! Hna Ojeda started decorating our casa for Christmas because tomorrow is December! WOW! Can't believe that 2015 is almost over! Anyway this week was good because the mission is good :)

Have a great first week of December everyone! Oh and fun fact, I saw a horse on someone's patio. that's absolutely out of the ordinary here :) 

LOVE YOU ALL

Hermana Cross

María de la Luz encontró la luz de Cristo

Wow! Another week? Time doesn't slow down for anyone, does it? This week was great. Sometimes it's hard to remember what happened because what I would do in 3 days at home happens in one day here! I love it! It keeps me going and I love the feeling of being tired, because I know I worked hard that day. The best part about this week was when we had a baptism. My first one! Oh wow it was great. Maria de la Luz is an absolutely outstanding lady. She said after the baptism "I feel clean!" It's moments like that that makes me feel like I have made a difference. I know I didn't find her, but I actually ate at her house my first night in the field. I can use her as a progress scale. I didn't have a clue what she was saying when I first met her, but now, I understand so much more! The Gift of Tongues is  amazing. Hermana Maria de la Luz also wanted to pay her tithing that next Sunday too! WOW! Talk about a dedicated member! I feel very blessed to be in this area. The members are just outstanding. We have a ton of support from them, and they are always willing to accompany us on appointments. 

Like I said, Spanish is coming along. If I don't understand why they are laughing, I just laugh with them. Happiness is easy to understand. Finding new investigators has been a tad rough. We thought we found some great people, but when we returned there wasn't anyone there. That can be frustrating sometimes. Hermana Ojeda had the idea to have a companionship fast on Sunday. After we started our fast, I saw a HUGE difference. I felt the spirit more strongly. Fasting has always had a special place in my heart and testimony. 

A highlight of my week was that I had my first bike crash. I didn't get hurt, so no worries there. I just laughed because of how funny it probably looked to everyone else. You always have to find the funny things in every situation! I also ate helado frito...fried icecream. Talk about DELICIOUS!!!! 

My comp and I decided to start running in the mornings. It feels painful but very great after haha. Thanks for everything and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! I am grateful for all of you! I would say to eat a lot of food for me but everyday is like thanksgiving with the amount of food mexicans give you! 

LOVE YOU GUYS!

Hermana Cross

Book of Mormon stories come to life!

Wow another week come and gone?! I can't believe it. I probably say that every week, but it's true! Time is something different. Today is month 2! Tell me that's not crazy. This past week felt great. Honestly just awesome. 

Last P-day we went to the Teotihuacan temples. Coolest thing ever. There is gret signficance to everything there. We hiked up one of the temples...in SKIRTS! and it was really hot haha. There are so mnay people from all over the world so when I heard a language that wasn't spanish I said, "that is definitely not the language I learned in the MTC!" Stories from the Book of Mormon just kept popping into my head. It absolutely amazes me.

Tuesday was my first time doing splits. I was scared out of my mind. It's a scary experience to do the work with another companion only at the beginning of your 3rd week. Hermana Hoopes (another american) was my companion for the day, and I learned so much. It was a great experience to work with an almost done missionary, like she finishes in the beginning of December. I really saw things in her that I want to develop, such as asking inspired questions and really listening. She let's her personality shine! Had zone conference on Thursday.It was awesome! I didn't understand every word but what I did understand was exactly what I needed. It's fun to see so many missionaries at the same time. 

We are just working hard everyday and I'm learning day by day how to forget myself and focus on the work 100%. Saturday night was a youth activity. Let me tell you, the youth here are AWESOME. They did like a theatre type thing. Each ward did a different Disney movie and acted and danced. So fun! They went all out with costumes and makeup and lights and wow. Just reminded me how fun YW's was and theatre in high school. All of it was in Spanish and that was fun to hear Disney songs in another language! They also played some "worldly" music in English. Who knew I would hear so much of it here! do have a funny experience to share with you. Dogs are a tad crazy here, running

around thinking they own the streets, right? Well, Hna Ojeda and I were leaving an appointment and a little black dog started to chase her and barking and right at her heel. Next thing I know, she jumped off her bike and was swinging her bike at the dog and stomping at it to back off. I couldn't stop laughing! No words were said but sometimes actions speak louder than words. Needless to say, the dog gave up and we went on our way. 

I'm loving it here!  Hermana Ojeda says that I sound the most American when I speak English out of her companions that were American.....I don't know what that means but as long as I don't sound too American speaking Spanish then I'm good! Oh yeah Spanish is still hard but it's coming! That was my week in a nutshell! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Hermana Cross

Hermana Guzman and I with some hippies

Carvings on steps at the temple 

Hermana Guzman, Hoopes, and Ojeda and DOMINOS PIZZA

I think I'm turning Japanese....rice, rice, baby

Okay this will be a shorter letter this week, we are going to the Teotihucan ruins today!!! Wow I can't believe it's Monday. Where does the time go?! Days are sooooo long and feel like they will never end then next thing you know I'm in this little internet place writing to you all!! You may be wondering about my title this week. I'll explain now so I don't leave you wondering! If I could describe my mission in one word it would be rice. RICE RICE RICE. I have never eaten this much rice in my entire life.I love rice but holy smokes. It's like a plateful and then the main meal which has even MORE food. They really like to feed you here. Like one time I thought the soup was the main meal and ate all of it....then the sister came out with a huge plate of food. My heart stopped a little in that moment haha. Honestly eveyday is the same. It's one of the hard parts of the mission. Routine. I never knew doing the same thing daily would be hard hahaha.

We are having a hard time getting new investigators. That's just how it is sometimes. People are very nice though. I have been doing more of the contacting. (talking to people about the gospel...stopping them on the street and knocking on doors...etc).. It's fun haha Every time is probably the same but I've got to start somewhere! When we knock on doors we pretty much knock on gates becasue everyone has a gate guarding their housesWe have a couple of progressing investigators and just teaching as many people that want to hear! I feel like I'm understanding more spanish everyday so that's a bonus.

Ummm my companion got sick this week. Just a cold but I know that's it's hard to do stuff when you want to sleep. We walked a little more this week because when we have members join us we walked. and guess what?!?! I GOT SUNBURNED. Only a bit but STILL. It was actually really hot this week. The weather needs to make up it's mind haha. But I still sang christmas songs all week!

Hna Ojeda and I assisted a baptism of another ward. I was called on the spot to talk about faith and repentance. I also sang a musical number - in Spanish!  It was scary! Definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone which helped me learn a lot.

Let's see....coke in mexico is really good and had my first dr pepper after almost 2 months! wooooo! Yeah that was my week in a nutshell!! I love you all!!

 

Love,

Hna Cross

Ahhhh...a Dr Pepper - how I missed you!