New area!!!!

Hey all my loverss!!!!!!!!

This week was great. I went to bed so exhausted every night. Our area is huge, but guess what tomorrow I will be opening a new area!! Yeah, I´m so excited! I´m going to be with a Sister from Utah. This week was amazing that husband that is married to the less active member accepted to be baptized!! They have to get married first but I´m super excited about that. Seriously it is so amazing to see him change, everything about him is so different now. When I first met him he was quiet and never smiled, just kept to himself on the couch. Really quite uncomfortable for all of us. But now he glows! Seriously the change is incredible! On Tuesday he was just on cloud 9 telling us how thankful he was for us and how he has never felt so much peace and happiness in his life. It´s amazing what the Spirit can do to people! 

Also his sister and her husband accepted to be baptized as well. They also have to get married but they are amazing!! I am going to miss them so so so so much!! Adan is super crazy so we get along super well, he cried when he found out I was leaving. He had a really hard time accepting that God exsited because he has had so many trials. He´s 23 years old. We had a member accompany us this week and she has the most AMAZING testimony of the gospel. No joke, she shared how growing up in a disfunctional home brings so many feelings, so many resentments. She had a father who didn´t want her and he kicked her out when she was only 13, just seriously the saddest story but she testified about all those things shape us into who we are today. That we all have a time in our lives that we have the oppertunity to accept this message. I love that! Because it is so true!! And I know that the only way that we can have that perspecitve is that faith in Christ. Faith that he atoned for all our sins, that we don´t have to carry or bottle up those feelings, we can give them to Christ. I´m so grateful for the atonement!!!!

All things possible!

HEY ALL!!!

This week was crazy no joke! I attended my first funeral. It was sad, but such a learning experience. I ate a disgusting tres leches cake, such a dissapointment! And I got to testify of baptism to a sweet family.

The funeral was for a recent convert. She almost had a year of being a member. I met her once and loved her sweet character, she was so loving. She was handicapped, something to do with her hips and legs. She couldnt really walk. She told me of her conversión story and it was amazing! Throughout all her life she hated herself for what she put her family through. She wanted to die, she said but she met the sister missionaries and her perspecitve changed. So amazing. Her family is Catholic and so the funeral was really interesting. Her White cascet in this tiny Little mexican house. I mean how blessed are we to know about the Plan of Salvation? How grateful I am to know that I can be with my lovely family for ETERNITY. We got to talk to the parents and it was so amazing to testify of the Plan that our Father has for each and everyone one of us.

I also got to make tamales for the funeral with my wards relief society. And guess who was the only one with tamale making experience? ME. The American. lol. We all had a good laugh.

My companions birthday came up and so we bought a cake and it was gross. I love tres leches but I did not like that one. Life is hard when you cant get a good tres leches. Not really.

We have the privilage of teaching a sweet family and they are so funny. But this week we took them to the chapel and had a guided them through how sundays are and baptism. When we got to the Font I got to bear testimony of baptism and the atonement. It was an amazing experience, there was not a wet eye in the room! I always cry its so embarrassing. I know that the only way that we can really experience joy and all the blessing of our Father in Heaven is by partaking of the atonement. I tend to make tons of goals but I forget that I cant accomplish any of them without the atonement. Were going to all make mistakes in trying to become like our Savior but we need to recognize that with the atonement it is possible, and to keep trying!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!! SO MUCH!!

Hermana Sánchez

EARTHQUAKE!

Hey all,

This week flew by!!! Seriously though!! haha But a lot did happen. First of all I was in my first earthquake. I didn't really noticed until I saw my scriptures running away. It was early in the morning during our personal study time and man it was pretty strong. Supposably it was a 6.5 earthquake in a town near by. I got a headache from it haha. Then the next morning at 3 am we had another one and my bed was just moving haha. LIke that one episode of the Simpsons where Bart has a car as a bet but it doesn't have breaks hahaha. lol. I was scared to death by a drunk man that wanted us to read Ecclastics to him. I was so drunk and it was hilarious after we read like 10 verses haha. He was so scary though, tall and deep voice and was ordering us to read it to him. After we read it he calmed down and said that he respects us to be out here preaching where there is so much crazy around. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any crazier than that man. I pray anyways. haha

I also asked my first person to be baptized. She was a Jehovah Witness and declined. haha Then when we were teaching a less active members husband. I felt so prompted to ask him to be baptized but I totally brushed it off because of fear that he would decline. Thankfully one of my companions felt it and went ahead and asked and he said YEAH. He's really an awesome guy. Seriously it's incredible to think that The Lord is doing everything in his time. That the pieces are all coming together. We also taught this guys sister and her family. They are seriously so funny and so great. They have awesome questions and I love teaching them!! I got to bear testimony why I joined the Church and the spirit was so strong. Oh man it was awesome! 

I had a good week and I hope all of you guys did too!! I'm not as homesick anymore because of all your guys prayers. And as I love the people I do here as I love all of my family and friends, it's so easy to get lost in the work!!Yesterday I was studying the chapters in the Book of Mormon that talk about Christ. And as I was reading I realized that my testimony of Jesus Christ is why I'm here. He lives and this is His gospel. And man am I far away from home but as long as I'm worthy I'll always have his Spirit with me. What an amazing blessing because all the times where I've felt so alone and not capable of being here, I've felt his Spirit and I remember that testimony. And I'm here so share that, what a privilege!!! None of can't do this, do life without him .

 Plus it was super awesome to talk to my awesome family yesterday for Mothers Day. Love my mom. 

Also today I played soccer with the Elders of my Zone and I kicked butt!! It was so great to play! 

LOVE ALL YOU!!!

First week in Mexico!

      The flight was long well it felt long anyways because I was so exausted I had to wake up at 2am. When we were flying over Mexico it was crazy to see all the little pueblos. Finally we got to Mexico City with so many people and buildings. Sometimes I get really discouraged and think what am I doing here? Seriously it is ghetto, haha The thing that really gets me through is that my parents lived in probably worse than this!! My parents are my heroes. It's crazy to think that I could be living in these same circumstances if they didn't move to the States. I'm in a trio with two Meixcans who don't speak a lick of English. It's hard sometimes but I can understand mostly everything. Our apartment is ok. I'm still getting used to the bathroom. We have no toilet seat nor hot water. If I want hot water they have these these that plug into the wall and have a rod that you put in the water to heat it. So dangerous!!! But it's all good. My comps are fun one is seriously exactly like mom. In her manersims and everything she says. So weird but I'm learning to love it. They're really short and here you call your trainers mami but I can't cus I'm too tall. Also I have an Elder in my Zone who is really good friends with Neibeds brothers his name is Elder Brockman or something. haha idk. 

I've had some real hard times here but I know that I have to give this my all because the time will fly. The people here are so humble and they're houses are tiny!! I love the people and bearing testimony all day pretty much. My first day out we taught 6 lessons and contacted 15 people on the streets. We can only contact on the streets because knocking doors here is dangerous. They tell me it's because missionaries have been killed doing that because they disrupt drug deals. hahah lol. I've only seen 3 drug deals. It's super ghetto here. Everyone has a little table selling something on all corners. It's insane and the traffic is horrific. We jay walk all the time and I swear we are going to die. The streets are also filled with tons and i mean tons of stry dogs. Huge pitbulls and everything just roam everywhere. I haven't seen a dangerous one yet because they are abused here way bad. But the other day I did get scared by one and since I flinched and screamed he also got scared but my mexi companions jump in front and saved me. We walk on dirt roads and super rural area and they we have a busy busy town. I'm in the area called Ixtapaluca. Check it out. 

We teach a lot of less actives here. It's crazy they bear testimony and it's so strong but they just aren't converted. I'm so grateful for the oppertunity and for everyone that has helped me get here!!! One day no one was home and it was just a super downer day where I was just thinking what in the world am I doing here? I'm not making any kind of difference. We finally found a less active family and I decided to teach about a certain chapter and just bear testimony about families and how God put us in families to feel joy. A joy that can't come from any other place than a family. I felt the spirit so strong and the lady started crying and saying that we were her angels and that that message was exactly what she needed. Amazing experience to learn that God is so aware of us. 

Another story so one of my companions is a leader and she had to go to a day long meeting far away and so my other companion and I were going to pick her up and as we were waiting, I mean there was tons and tons of people around us, this young lady like early twenties comes up to us and asks if she could talk to us. She said she saw us from far away. I have no idea how really. But I just had the feeling to hug her and as I did she just started sobing in my arms. After that we decided to sit down on the curb of some road and started talking. She was a less active and was in a really hard situation were her family wasn't members and they wanted to kill her member finance. stuff like that. So my companion offered a prayer of comfort and so we prayed right there on that curb. Right when we bowed our heads a bunch of men started yelling and screaming at us from across the street saying stuff like "you idiots there is no God" and all that. But the spirit was so strong and I felt this bubble of protection from them. The power of prayer is amazing!!!!

love you all,

Hermana Sanchez