Bobby pins don't work quite as well as keys

Hola!

I don't have a whole lot of time to write this week because Hermana Canul and I decided we would celebrate because Christmas is just around the corner by going to Wal-mart for todays P-day activities.  Wal-mart is a big deal here because you can find everything you need all in one store...it's awesome.  However it is 45 min away from where we live so we only go there on special occasions, and today is one of them:)  I will try and write fast though so you can hear the latest updates of this weeks adventures!

Last Monday for P-day Hermana Canul and I decided we would go get our hair cut.  And well, the good news is that hair grows back right?:)  If I don't send pictures home for a little while you'll know why...

Another day this week my lovely companion decided that we didn't need the keys to the house and left them on the table.  Long story short, bobby pins don't work quite as well as house keys...so we ended up calling the Land Lord to bring us a spare.  After trying all the keys he had the Land Lord realized that he didn't have a spare to our front door.  I explained how I have practice with getting in a locked door and that I could do it easily...but we would need a new doorknob afterwards.  Not knowing what else to do he told me I could go ahead and break in.  Luckily before doing so I thought of something else that might work.  There is a door in the back of the house too that is also locked that I suggested he tried his spare keys in.  However, the back of our house is surrounded by a ten foot high wall.  So he got his ladder out and went around back and climbed over the wall.  Luckily one of the keys worked and we were able to get in.  Since then we decided we would bring the house keys with us everyday.:)

This week was so great and was full of several hard days of work and several miracles we were able to see as well.  We were able to witness first-hand the power and Spirit of the Lord's work and feel his love for us and for those that we teach.  The church is true!  There is no doubt in my mind of the power of this gospel.

We have a new mission rule of bug nets!  This is our Bishop installing them over our beds

I love you guys! Have a great week.

Love, Hermana Peine

World War 3 Christmas Morning

Hola!

It was great to talk to you guys on Christmas Eve!  However it was quite a bit more difficult than I thought it would be speaking in English again. It is one thing to write letters to you guys once a week in English, but it is another thing to speak it.  We speak Spanish all day everyday here and I haven't spoken English in quite some time.  I felt awkward speaking it again being here in Mexico.  But that's o.k. it was great to be able to talk to and see you guys.  You look like you're doing well.:)

I hope you all had a great Christmas, we did here.  At least I think it was Christmas...I'm still not completely convinced it was real.  The calendar said it was Dec 25 but it was too hot outside for that to be true.  We had our Christmas dinner as missionaries on the 23....Hamburgers and french fries, I felt right at home;).  The dinner ended late and we had district meeting the next day early in the morning so we spent the night in Tapachula. We stayed at the sister training leaders house along with the other 2 hermanas from Cacahoatan.  6 sister missionaries, 1 bathroom and 2 beds...it was pretty crazy! To sleep we pushed the 2 beds together and the 4 of us laid across them horizontally.  There was an extra twin mattress in the house that the other 2 sisters used.  As you can imagine it was a night of musical chairs with the sleeping arrangements.  After a little while I decided the floor was the best option if I wanted to get any sleep and that's where I spent the night.  I don't think any of us got much sleep if any at all, but it sure made for a good story:)  The next night was the 24th.  Hermana Canul and I were so excited to catch up on some much needed sleep.  However, the people here in Mexico are not aware that the missionary bedtime is at 10:30...at midnight the sky exploded with fireworks and people yelling and celebrating. I awoke in a panic from a very deep sleep thinking we were in the middle of World War 3! Apparently they celebrate holidays different here....

Christmas morning I woke up and opened my Christmas package.  As I was opening it I felt as if something was missing.  I walked over to my study desk and picked up our family picture and brought it back to where I was.  I set the picture up so I could see it and opened my package,  It was just like I was right at home with the family:)  After breakfast we went to work as usual.  We were able to find several people to teach and share a message about the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of Christ.  It was a great day.  It was such a great opportunity to spend Christmas in service to the Lord.

Saturday night I witnessed the greatest Christmas present I could've asked for, Fausto was baptized:)  Fausto is the 3rd member of his family to be baptized.  His mom was recently baptized a couple months ago and his older sister a few months before her.  I felt the spirit so strong as I saw another one of Heavenly Father's children enter into the waters of baptism.  Words cannot describe how great of a blessing it has been in my life to work with this family and see as the gospel has changed their lives.  My time spent in service to the Lord thus far has been the greatest gift I could've ever received and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Love, Hermana Peine

Natural Disasters

Holy cow, since when is Christmas next week? That is CRAZY!

This week was awesome.  Hermana Canul and I survived 3 natural disasters, the first of which I caused in the microwave.  On our trip to Wal-mart last week we decided to buy pop tarts because my companion has never tried them.  When it came time to prepare them I quickly glanced at the box and read "heat in microwave for 3 minutes."  So I put them in and returned to my desk to study.  After about a minute and a half I looked up to see smoke seeping out of the microwave.  I ran over to it and quickly turned it off.  I took out the plate to see an exploded and very burnt pop tart.  After cleaning up the mess I returned to look at the directions to see what I did wrong.  As I re-read the instructions I realized it said to heat in microwave for 3 seconds not minutes...oops!  After a lesson well learned the house continued to smell like burnt pop tart for the next few days.

The next natural disaster of the week was when the impossible happened...Surprise, snow in Mexico!  Yep, we got snow here...well at least my companion and I did.  Our freezer decided it wasn't Christmas without snow and snowed over the whole fridge freezing everything.  Hermana Canul has never seen snow before so she was pretty excited:).

The last natural disaster of the week was an earthquake.  Two of them actually, one right after the other.  They were both small but it was my first experience in an earthquake so I thought it was pretty awesome.

Other than surviving 3 natural disasters this week we were also able to see some amazing spiritual progress in some of our investigators.  An investigator who had been in teaching with the missionaries for 3 months now prayed for the first time.  Though it may seem like a small step the progress that came from it was amazing.  I felt like a proud parent watching a child take their first step.

Hermana Canul and I will also have the opportunity this week to watch as two of Heavenly Father's children enter the waters of baptism this Saturday.

There is no better Christmas present I could ask for than to be a part of this work and be able to help these people make these changes in their lives.  It's true what they say that Christmas is not about what you can get but what you can give.

This Christmas I invite you all to give a gift that comes from the heart, whether it be service to someone in need, friendship to someone who is lost, or the gospel to someone searching for peace.  By giving you will receive.  I love you all, have a Merry Christmas:)
Love, Hermana Peine

My Miracle

This morning we received the long awaited phone call that would decide what would happen these next 6 weeks of the mission...transfers!  As the phone rang this morning Hermana Canul and I both looked at it in fear not wanting to answer it.  As I answered the phone my district leader greeted me and then asked if we were ready to find out transfers.  Ready or not he asked me to pull out a paper and something to write with.  When I told him I was ready and he could go ahead and tell us he paused for a few seconds and then said, "Hermanas, you are staying the same, together as companions and also in Cacahoatan."  We both sighed a sigh of relief.  Yay!  I will be staying here for at least another transfer with hermana Canul.  I love this area!  The members are all so great, they feel like family to me.  I never want to leave this area.  Though I know I will have to leave at some point I am very grateful for another transfer that I get to spend here.  Hermana Canul and I have a renewed motivation to continue working harder than ever here.  We have lots of great things planned for this area and are more than excited to put them into practice.:)

This week my testimony was strengthened about the importance of opposition in all things.  Looking back on this past transfer I reflected on how much opposition we have faced.  After thinking about it I also realized how much I have grown from these times of opposition.

There truly is opposition in all things.  There are several people in this world who think that the opposition and trials we face in this world who think that the opposition and trials we face in this life is a sign that there is no God or if there is that he doesn't care.  However, it is exactly the opposite. The fact that there is opposition in all things testifies that there is a God and that he loves us very much.  It is because our Heavenly Father loves us that he gives us trials and challenges so we can learn and progress.  "For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39

God's plan for us is so glorious and so perfect.  If we will just trust him and do as he asks we will receive blessings beyond what we can comprehend.  This is the Lord's work and we are merely instruments in his hands.

Love, Hermana Peine

Baptisms, Sleeping on the Floor and Giant Spiders

What a great week it has been! This week flew by.  I cannot believe it's already Monday again, it is crazy how fast the time goes.  I also cannot believe it is December already, it doesn't seem real.  As I turned over another page of the calendar this morning it felt as if it was only a dream.  I am still in denial that it is December though, it's way to hot and humid outside to be December.  Maybe when the snow comes I will believe it (snow doesn't exist here.):)

This past week was Thanksgiving huh? I honestly forgot about it.  Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here.  However, there is a family here who is from the United States.  They are members in the ward and invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner with them along with the other missionaries. Because the other sister missionary in the area and I are Americans we felt right at home celebrating the traditional Thanksgiving with turkey, rolls, jello, sweet potato pie...the whole deal.  It was so good. They were so sweet to invite us over.  My companion didn't understand what all the celebration was all about.  I told her it had something to do with the pilgrims and Indians and we always eat a lot of food.  She was still left with quite a bit of confusion..

This past week Hermana Canul and I spent a night sleeping on the floor.  A couple weeks ago we made an agreement that we were going to contact more people.  The goal is that we can contact (or talk to people and invite them to church) at least 20 per day.  In order to make sure we did so we made an agreement that at the end of each day if we didn't have at least 20 contacts when we came home we would spend the night on the floor.  The plan worked great and was great motivation for us each day to make sure we reached our goal.  However, one day last week we returned to the house exhausted after a long day of work when we realized we hadn't completed our 20 contacts that day.  As exhausted as we were and as much as we wanted to spend the night in our beds we remembered that we had made an agreement and that with every action there is a consequence.  So we got a towel and laid it down on the cement floor and that is where we spent the night.

After a long night with little sleep it is safe to say that we learned our lesson!  We now have a renewed motivation to fulfill our goal because we have felt the effects of the consequence!

There was another night this past week where I walked out back to wash some clothes when lo and behold I saw the biggest spider I have ever seen about 5 feet in front of me on the wall behind our house.  As I stood looking in fear I called for my companion to come see.  I then ran for my camera to take a picture of this spider that was literally bigger than my hand!

As I went back in the house to put the camera away and figure out how I was going to kill it I came back outside to look at it and it had disappeared!  Long story short I spent another night with little sleep in fear of the giant spider I was sure would be waiting for me in my bed as I went to sleep!

This week I had the opportunity to see 3 of Heavenly Father's children enter into the waters of baptism.  Lupita, Noel and Victor were baptized on Saturday.  It was such a special day.  I felt like a proud parent watching my children grow up!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary and to be even a small part of these peoples lives who we teach.  We became so close with them that they feel like family.  We cry with them we learn with them and we help them as they overcome obstacles and prepare to make covenants with our Father in Heaven.  As much as I love my family at home I honestly feel as though it will be harder to leave these people than it was to leave home.  Being a missionary has been such a blessing in my life and I never want it to end.  A year and a half spent serving the Lord is such a short but beautiful time.  But the good news is I still have over a year left:)  It is not enough, but it will have to do.  I sure love you guys!  Have a great week:)

Love, Hermana Peine

Sentenced to the House

What a week it has been!I spent the majority of the week stuck in the house, but the good news is that I got lots of studying done.:)

It all started last Monday when P-day finished and we left the house at 6 to begin proselyting.  As we started walking to our first appointment I began to notice that my ankle was hurting but I didn't think much of it and we continued walking.  By about 7:00 I realized  how many bug bites I had on my legs and feet that were very red and starting to swell up.  We continued on and by 8:00 I was limping around to get to our last appointment.  We taught our last lesson and when it ended I looked down at my feet to see how they were doing.  They didn't look like they were even my feet anymore.  It looked like someone had inflated them during the course of the lesson.  They were very red and puffed up and swollen.  When the member whose house we were in saw them she gasped and went running to find something to put on them.  She came back with a bottle of green gel which appeared to be something close to aloe vera.  She sat down and told me to put my feet up on her lap so she could put it on me.  After she had finished her and her husband told me I should go home and put my feet in salt water to help with the swelling.  So I slowly limped my way back to the house and my companion warmed up some salt water and put it in a bucket for to soak my feet in,

Everyone here really loves to help.  I have learned that if you tell someone you're sick here, members, investigators or strangers in the street, they love to give all kinds of suggestions and advice as to what you can do or use to get better.  I don't know that the aloe vera gel or the salt water really helped all too well, but the love that was shown and the intentions to help were there just the same.  It helped me feel better just by the fact that they were worried about me because they care about me and wanted to help.

So that was Monday.  Tuesday I woke up and they were even worse.  After personal study, companion study and planning we went to the Dr.  He told me it was an infection from all the bug bites I had and gave me medicine for it.  He sent us home to rest and told me I was to stay in the house until Saturday and walk as little as possible so the infection would clear up.

So I spent the next 4 days in the house.  Though I wanted to go out and work, it was a great opportunity to get some good studying done!  My companion has the Book of Mormon stories in animation on video, so I watched some of those.  My companion was able to do discussions and leave with members to teach because we had lots of appointments to be at.  By Saturday the infection was cleared up and we were able to go back to work.  It was so nice to leave the house again:).  The good news  is that this Saturday 3 of our investigators are going to be baptized.  Noel and Lupita, a married couple in their mid twenties will be baptized along with Victor, a 12 year old.  Victor will be baptized by his older brother, Carlos who is preparing to serve a mission.  They will be the only 2 members in their family after Victor is baptized and are such great examples.  I have learned a lot from them.

One of the awesome things about being a missionary is that I get to work with such great people every day.  Though we are technically the ones teaching our investigators  I often feel like I am the one who is learning from them.  We have so many investigators who have such a desire to learn.  As we teach them and help them learn and progress I feel as though I learn and progress with them.  Being able to see the changes and progression in those we teach is one of the sweetest gifts I could've ever asked for.  We often get asked if we get paid to be missionaries and for our service.  Though we don't get paid in money the opportunity to see the changes in those we teach is irreplacable.  The Lord truly does bless his servants, I am a witness of it everyday!

I sure love yoou guys!  Have a great week.  Also have a Happy Thanksgiving (that day doesn't exist here!:)

How to Change Your World

This week was awesome!  We worked so hard this past week it was ridiculous. I have never worked so hard before and I've also never been so happy doing it.  Our hard work is paying off, we currently have 10 investigators with baptismal dates.  I am so excited for them!

The day in the life of a missionary is the best!  Every morning we wake up at 6:30 and say our morning prayers.  We exercise from 6:30 to 7:00 and at 7:00 we begin to get ready for the day.  At 7:30 we eat breakfast.  Hermana Canul and I have a system where we switch off who makes breakfast every day.  This morning it was my turn.  We had french toast and scrambled eggs (both of which Hermana Canul has never eaten before.) From 8:00 to 11:00 we study, 3 hrs divided into 1 hour of personal study, 1 hour of companionship study, and an hour of language study.  At 11:00 we leave the house and begin proselyting.  At 2:00  we do what the call the comida, which is lunch, with members.  The relief society signs up for days to feed us during the week and each day we eat with whoever signed up to feed us that day.  There are tortillas present for every meal, it doesn't matter what we eat, there is always tortillas or the meal isn't complete.  There are also usually beans as well and salsa as a condiment.  I have learned to always just assume the salsa is hot and...about 99% of the time it is!  I will usually put 3 or 4 little drops of it on my food and it's about the right amount of spicy that I can handle.  My companion and everyone else we are eating with will put about 3 or 4 spoonfuls on everything.  After lunch we continue working for the rest of the day.  At 9:00 we return home and plan for the next day from 9-9:30.  From 9:30 to 10:30 we prepare for bed, write in our journals and say our prayers.  At 10:30 we go to sleep and the next day we start the day over again.

I love being a missionary.  There are days that are hard, days that are long and times that I feel like I honestly can't go any farther.  But through it all I have learned to trust in my Savior and in my Father in Heaven. When I work as hard as I can and trust in my Heavenly Father I always see the blessing that comes from it.  Through all the long and hard days there are miracles along the way that out weigh any hard time and make it all worth it.  We may have a day completely full of appointments and every single one falls through and we end up walking the entire day.  But if we find 1 person in whose life we could make a difference or help in some way or another it was all worth it!

This week I have really been focussing on how we see things.  We all live in the same world and live the same 24 hours each day, but we all see the world from a different perspective.  I have noticed personally how my perspective has changed while I have been on my mission.  The world around me hasn't changed it is completely the same, but my way of looking at it is different.  We all have different experiences in life, different challenges and different circumstances that we may not be able to choose.  What we are always able to choose however is how we look at them.  2 people can be facing the same exact trial but 1 of them may choose to look at it as an opportunity to learn and grow while the other sees it as a reason to be unhappy and lose hope.

There are several things in life we will never be able to change.  But rather than spending our time focussing on these things we can't change we can focus on those that we can, one of which is our attitude.  I remember something my brother said when asked what he did when he was put with a companion that he didn't get along with and how he dealt with it.  He said, "Instead of trying to change them I focussed on how I would change myself.  I could spend all the time I wanted trying to change them but it would never work.  It wasn't until I focussed on how I could change that it made the difference."

By changing ourselves and our attitudes we don't change the world, but we change our world.  By changing our perspective we have control over each day we live.  It's only a bad day if that's the way we choose to look at it.  Our lives are ultimately what we choose to make them.

I love you all! Choose to have a great week this week and make it happen.

Love, Hermana Peine