Chilpancingo!!

March 24, 2014

Holla Familia!!!


wow what a week! a week ago i was in utah then gorgia and then mexico.... and in mexico i shall stay for 16 1/2 months!!


Warning i dont have spell check so bare with me please.


So i guess i will start rom the begining... nothing maing happened on the trip to mexico and if it did i dont remember... well except i did get to talk with Mom and dad and carlin and that was amazing... okay so when we got to mexico Preident and Hermana Kusch were there with their AP's (they  are funny.. and on is from AZ!) we went straight to the buses waiting outside to take us to Cuernavaca and our first meal in mexico was carls jr.... hahahaha that night i stayed in the house of the sister training leaders in cuernavaca. the next morning i showered with a bucket of water and ate a muffin with ants in it. it was great hahaha.  its crazy how much doesnt even phase me here.  i am happy to say i dont feel like i am suffering from culture shock in the least.  i have left my old life behind and this is the only life i have now so i might as well love it and love it well!


so the next day (tuesday) we had interviews, visa paper work, and trianing.  we met our trainers and got our assignments.  I am in Chilpancingo and i gues my area was closed for a while so there is a lot of work to be done here! my trainer is one of three hna lopez's here in our mission and she is from spain.  she is the sweetest person i have ever met and thankully she speaks a lot of english! it is a "comandment" in our mission to speak both spanish and english.  President says we should be better at english when we come home then when we arrived because it will mean that we helped someone learn english.  they are very serious about it.  so i speak more english then i ever thought i would! we try to only speak englih in the house but since i dont know any words outside the gosple i have to ask "como se dice" for everything.


So my first Real day was wednesday.  we had a zone meeting and a district meeting first thing and that was crazy.  i didnt understand what was going on but i did feel a lot of love from my zone and district!


we eat at 3 everyday with a member and its always delicious! the members are soooooo great here!


so for our first three days Hno Noe from our ward (he just got called to be ward mission leader!!) helped us get to know the area and took us to meet lots of people.  He is really nice and knows a good amount of english so that is also really great! We walk  lot and we ride these van like thins called combies. they are crazy but dont worry (mom) i am safe.


our house is pretty nice... at least we have water. i have not gotten sick and i dont plan to.  i want to send you pictures but i left my camera (along with lots of other things) at the mission office so i dont know when i will get it back... for sure in two weeks when we return to cuer for more training but it could be sooner.... but for sure in 2 weeks i will send pictures!!


well the people here are amazing. you shake hands with everyone and when you shake hands with a girl or woman you kiss her on the cheak.. im still getting used to that but its cool how loving everyone is!! and my ward... oh my goodness they are INCREDIBLE!!!! they are sooooo amazing. and so involved in missionary work! yesterday at church i had to talk to the Relief Society and intruduce myself and say why i was on a mission and the whole time the bishops wife (she is so great) was smiling at me and giving me a thumbs up when i said a big word and just silently cheering me on (: we also had ward concil and they all want to help us so much!! there are lots of women in the ward and they are all so strong.


we have lots of investigators already and one of them stoped to talk to us cuz he couldnt believe i was here and from the USA haha. the people here are so prepared!!! it is tough though cuz they have to go to church 5 times (not in a row.. thank goodness) before they can get baptized.  so we have two boys (teenagers) who are getting baptized hopefully in two weeks and many more to come!  we are teaching this one couple who are totally hipies/hipsters and they are so cool. we found several families this week as well and i cant wait to teach them! we have one family already commited to be baptized!


lessons are crazy cuz i barely know what is going on and then so strongly something will come to my mind and by the spirit i know i need to say it! it is crazy to learn what it means to rely on the spirit and the lord completley.  when i speak i need lots of help and thankfully my comp can translate the words i dont know or rephrase what i am saying to make more sense.  My comp, Noe, and Edwardo (a recent convert. he is amazing and wants to serve a mission!) have said tat they feel the spirit so strongly when i speak in lessons even though my spanish is broken.  Understanding people is probably the hardest cuz they all speak so fast and with their own accent... but this week in just 5 days i went from not understanding anything to being able to catch alot.  I LOVE THIS WORK!!!


i love this gosple.  I know it is true and i know i can not do this with out the help of the Lord. I know that the savior is with me and that he is helping me every step of the way.  i wouldnt be here if i didnt know that with my whole soul.  and i couldnt do thins without all the love i get from everyone! here in mexico and at home. thank you.


until next week!


p.s. read D&C 29:7


Con amor!!! Hermana Johnson