When it rains, it pours

Hey everyone! 

This week was awesome! I had a lot of fun and hard experiences!

Most importantly: I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM!!!!!

The girl's name is Karen and we started teaching her my first week here, she was a referral from an awesome member. She is 16 and super sweet, and super tall! The experience was amazing.

Karen's baptism!

We were running late, our ride picked us up late, and when we went to pick up Karen and her mom they weren't ready (we ended up being 20 minutes late for her baptism). When we got there everyone was already there waiting (including our mission president and his wife...oops), and when we were getting ready we realized Karen had forgotten a change of shirt (luckily I had brought a sweater, which I never do because I rarely get cold here...thank goodness for a prompting amiright?). Usually all of that would've left me feeling overwhelmed and stressed, but as soon as the meeting started, and when she was baptized, all I could feel was joy. The spirit and this gospel are truly amazing!

Had my first intercambios (I don't remember the English word) this week, so I spent a whole day in Spanish (except during comida when the members wanted to practice their English with me). But I survived! 

It was sad though, during one lesson, right at the end, I was sharing a scripture and testifying of it to the people, and feeling like it was really powerful. When I finished the woman we were teaching just smiled and said "que linda" (translation: how cute) and clapped because I spoke Spanish. That was pretty sad, but also funny.

Hermana Hernandez as Sadness

And it also rained. A lot. They were talking for days about how this huge storm was going to hit, something about a hurricane even. The "big storm" hit Friday night, and flooded the streets, and soaked me and Hermana Hernandez pretty thoughroughly, (mom help, idk how to spell anymore, and never did). But with the rain came miracles. We were in the midst of getting stood up for appointments (whats new) and trudging through the puddles when we saw the house of a contact from a while before who we had never actually visited. We decided to knock and see if she was home, and she actually let us in! The spirit was so strong during the lesson, and let me tell you she was prepared by God. Before the end of the lesson she accepted a baptismal date!

rainy day (my coat was a little tight over my backpack, but gotta keep the scriptures dry!

The Lord prepares people, and we are not the ones who convert them. We go and we teach and try our best to do it well, but rely fully on the spirit to carry it to their hearts. Never be afraid to share the truth with others. Don't be afraid of saying something wrong. If we are doing our best, relying on the spirit, and speaking from our hearts, the Lord will bless us with the words to say. This week while in a lesson I really wanted to share something with one of our investigators, but didn't want to mess it up, so was about to just tell it to my companion to translate when I remembered a story from the bible (I can't remember what prophet, sorry) in which he was promised that if he would speak he would be given the power to do it, but he instead asked God to give him someone else to speak for him. I decided I wasn't going to pass off my blessing I was promised (the gift of tongues), I was going to claim my blessing, so I went for it, and I spoke. It was definitely not perfect, but I was able to speak without hesitation, and I felt the spirit come over me. If we let the Lord use us as His tools and trust Him to help us, He will. If we are doing His will, He will always bless us with the power to complete our task. Turn to Him, trust in Him, and He will work miracles through you.

Love and miss you all!

 Hermana Naatjes

Before and after our taco feast today (which some unknown good Samaritan paid for)

 

Oreos and menudo--the food of an angel

 A cactus for Izzy (and all other cactus lovers)

Hey everyone!

This week was good! I'm definitely getting more used to the schedule (up at 6:30, work out, plan, study, walk until 9:00 at night), and my understanding is getting better, though the communicating part is still a struggle. But despite my lack of ability, we have people who are progressing well! We have three investigators with baptism dates, all amazing people with sweet spirits who have blessed my life (though I may not understand everything that they are telling me). 

Tender mercy this week:

On Tuesday I was feeling pretty bad for myself. It had been a long day of walking, getting stood up for lessons, and rejected by people on the streets. As we were walking I started thinking about how nice it would be to be able to just go home, sit at our kitchen counter and eat some Oreos with my family (a common occurrence in the Naatjes household). That night when we got home we stopped by to make sure our appointment with our neighbor across the street (Mateo, a literal angel) was still on. After talking for a bit, he told us to wait for a second, went into his house, and came out with a box of Oreos for us. We tried to say no but he insisted we take it. 

God cares about us each so much. He knows our struggles, our desires, and our needs. He cares about each part of our lives, and if we are striving to serve Him, He will bless our lives in many ways, no matter how silly it may seem. 

 Finally got some Wendy's! (American food!!)

                                                                         And KFC.... (sorry mom)

Also: IT RAINED THIS WEEK!!!! Multiple times. It made it cool enough that I actually wasn't sweating the whole week, and today its actually a bit cold (like 70 probably) and my companion put on a sweater. I am just loving the cold and soaking as much of it in as I can!

Funny thing: Mateo (neighbor angel) gave us some of his leftovers this week, and it was a dish called menudo (cow stomach). My companion thanked him and then told me not to eat it because she said menudo was gross. After it sat in our fridge for a few days we went to throw it away and my companion saw some stray dogs and decided she wanted to give it to them. We set it down and left it for a few hours when we walked, and when we came back it was still sitting there, untouched. Not even the dogs would eat it.

News flash: you can't flush toilet paper in Juarez

I hope you all enjoyed General Conference this weekend! It was so powerful, I cried multiple times (as I tend to do with spiritual things). Study it as much as you can, those messages were sent directly to us from God. He knows us and knows our needs. If you feel like you need any direction in your life, I would suggest going there first. There is personal revelation to be found for each of us among these talks. They have answered many of my prayers and will yours as well. 

 Me and Hna Thompson watching conference (in English!!!!)

Love and miss you all!

Hermana Naatjes

The Adventure Begins (again)

Hey Everyone!

I'm officially in Juarez! I'm right on the border, my area is called Frontera Norte. I can see El Paso from here haha. I spend the majority of my time walking (a lot), sweating, standing (or sitting) silent and confused (because I hardly understand any Spanish), smiling (because I don't know what's going on), butchering Spanish phrases that I try to say, and eating a lot of tacos. 

My companion's name is Hermana Hernandez, she is from Mexico City, and SHE SPEAKS ENGLISH!!! So yeah, I can actually communicate at least some times, but I do try to practice my Spanish the majority of the time. 

Some things that have happened:

1) I stepped in a large pile of mud (which idk where it came from because it's dry here)

2) We lost power in our house. I guess one of the girls before liked to keep the AC on all night which used up all the power we had, but don't worry, we got it back the next night. 

3) I got one of those fruit/ice cream bars (just for you mom).

4) Got lost on the buses (la ruta) for two hours while on exchanges with Hermana Thomson (a girl who came here with me) and another Hermana whose name I can't recall who had only been here for 6 months, so didn't know the area very well I guess (don't worry, we found our way back).

5) Opened a box of Mini Wheats, which I was very excited to eat, and found (after I had finished a bowl) that the box was full of small bugs. And there were none anywhere else in the house so they must've been in the package.

6) Got asked by a little boy if I saw everything in blue (because my eyes are blue)

Already in my first week I have experienced the heartbreak of rejection, the sadness of disappointment, and the joys of sharing the gospel with God's children.

Being here on a mission I get the opportunity to see the miracles that God is working in this world and feel the Love He has for all of His children. He wants us all to come unto Him. He is reaching out to us, just begging for us to reach back. Turn to Him. Let Him help you, heal you, and change you into the person you want to become.

Love and miss you all like crazy!

Hermana Naatjes

I'm alive!!!

Hey guys!

I made it to Juarez! It is definitely dry here, and it's around 80/90 degrees and they said it was a cool day, so this will be an adventure for sure! The flight was good, saying bye to everyone was hard, but I am so excited! We get our new companions tomorrow, and I was told she will most likely be Latina, so I'm jumping straight into only Spanish! I have realized I know absolutely nothing as far as living life in Spanish, but if you have a question about the Atonement or Eternal Life I´m all over that! (until you ask me a question speaking normal speed in Spanish). 

But eh, I could not be more excited to start teaching. I have come to help others, and I will do all I can to do just that, even if I look like a fool, just a gringa who knows no Spanish, at least I can make people laugh (mostly when I´m not trying).

I love you all like crazy and miss you! Keep me in your prayers por favor!

Hermana Naatjes

ps I would've called but they said it would cost like 500 bucks for you so decided not to.

One week more!!!

Ballin' it up with the boys  (Lightning only, no contact )

¡Hola Todos!

I'm down to one week left in the CCM! I leave on Monday for Ciudad Juarez!

This week it finally caught up to me and I got sick, but it only lasted a day so all is well! And it was only bad for like half a day so I only missed a couple of morning classes and then jumped back in! I'm hopeful that because I've been so healthy here it just means I have a great immune system and won't get sick in the field! .....hopefully? (Probably not but gotta stay positive right?)

This week we found girls to play basketball with!! A new wave of missionaries came in (as they do every week) and this one included a group of girls who saw us shooting and asked to play with us, so we had a game of 3v3! It wasn't super pretty, but it was dang fun!

Lightning with my district

In other news, mi maestra aqui learned about the fact that I don't drink caffeine and was making fun of me for it, until she walked in this Monday, looking quite upset. When I asked how she was, she said "bad" because she stopped drinking "coca" (coke) and blames me. She said she got a prompting one night, when she was thinking about how weird it was that I didn't drink caffeine, that she should stop, and now she blames me. She tells me daily that she hates me for it and it's my fault, it's pretty funny. She also made our Word of Wisdom lesson (that me and Hermana Madsen were practicing teaching) quite difficult because of it. 

me and Hermana Madsen packing and chilling on bunk beds on pday

On Sunday we got to hear an awesome devotional from Elder Holland from a few years ago for missionaries, and it was crazy powerful. It was entitled "Feed My Sheep" and I cried at least 4 times, the spirit was so strong.

Thought for the week: It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. We must reach as far as we can. We must get up on our tiptoes and stretch as high as we can possibly reach. And when we do, we will find His strong, brotherly arms outstretched, just waiting to lift us up and embrace us.

Christ has given us the greatest gift in the world through his Atoning sacrifice. We can and should use it as often as we can, and we can each and every day.

Love and miss you all!!

Hermana Naatjes

some of the guys right before they got their hair cut (they were pretty sad).

Big Bugs, Girlish Screams, and Spit takes

me and my district

This week was another awesome one! I've already been out here for a month now which is crazy, the days are starting to fly by as I realize I am in no way prepared to live in Mexico and to speak only Spanish. But it's slowly coming! I can generally get across ideas, even if the delivery is a bit strange and if it takes acting some (a lot) of things out.

Funny things from this week:

1) Bug incident number one

So, a giant moth flew into our classroom this week, probably about the size of a hand, and was just chilling on the wall. One of the elders (Elder Grimsman) decided that he wanted to see this thing move, so we took a vote and the majority agreed. To do this, he decides to throw his pen, and the moth flies off the wall, directly at him, and then out the window. The best part was, when it flew at him, he let out a quite high pitched squeal as he cowered in fear.

2) Bug number 2

We walk into the computer lab to do our daily online Spanish training (TALL for those who know) to find a very large spider or mini tarantula in the room. The first one to see it was one of the elders (Elder Ranstrom) who had a very similar response to Elder Grimsman's with the moth. All of the elders were freaking out about it, but me and Hermana Madsen were just chilling. It was quite entertaining. Then, one of the guys decided to pick it up and hide it in his keyboard, but all of their fun was ruined when our teacher walked in. They decided to just tell him and then carried the spider outside and killed it. 

me and Hermana Madsen at the track (which is straight gravel so it feels like running in sand, which is hard)

3) Spit take

During class, right after an activity in which we tried to make others laugh to make them recite a Spanish sentence or something like that, two of our elders and our teacher decided to play a little game, in which you hold water in your mouth and try to make the others laugh and spit out their water. It was quite entertaining watching them struggle, and Hermana Suarez (our teacher) was the first to let a little water trickle out of her mouth. This sight, however, made Elder Adcock laugh quite hard, and he spit all of his water out, all over Hermana Suarez and Elder Grimsman (his companion).

4) The accident

So me and Hermana Madsen's roommates are extremely funny. Especially Hermana Chatwin. She has a talent of making everyone laugh, including herself. She also has no shame so has approved of me telling this story. But a couple nights ago, she decided to try to lean out of her bunk bed to grab something off of her desk, a few feet away and down. She ended up losing her balance, falling on top of Hermana Judd (who was sitting at the desk trying to catch her), rolling onto the ground, laughing so hard she choked on her snot, and then laughed even harder and peed her pants directly onto the floor and all over her flashcards. It was fantastic and had us all laughing for the rest of the night.

Less funny thing: 

Hermana Judd got sick along with another girl in our casa, so we all woke up at about 3 AM to the sound of them taking turns coughing\throwing up. They both were fine 24 hours later though, so I'm pretty sure it was just food poisoning or something. On a happier note: I have still yet to get sick though so that's good!

Spiritual thought for the week:

We had an amazing devotional last night from Elder Pingree (that's probably spelled wrong) about the Atonement. One of my favorite thoughts from the whole devotional was when he was speaking about how often people fail to use it to its full potential. He told us that "the Atonement of Jesus Christ enables us to do things beyond our natural capacity." Christ's sacrifice doesn't only allow us to be forgiven of sins, but it gives us the power and ability to become more than we ever could be. With His help, there is NOTHING we cannot do. Stop wasting time trying to do hard things on your own. His atonement is INFINITE. We can use it as often and as we choose. 

Oh, and I lifted weights with some guys from my district today and lifted like the same as two of them and one lifted just a little more. It was super painful and I'm gonna be super sore, but it was awesome!

Love and miss you all!

Hermana Naatjes

---

Celebrations

 Hey everybody!! 

This week (well 5 days) has been awesome! Lots of very spiritual experiences and lessons. Hermana Madsen is starting to trust her Spanish more and the lessons we're giving to our maestras have been awesome! After one of our lessons all three of us were in tears and our teacher said it was the best lesson she had ever received in the CCM! It was definitely all because of Hermana Madsen, but I was there too so I'm gonna totally claim some of the credit.

Oh and my birthday yesterday was awesome! Thank you everyone for the letters and notes, it really meant a lot! But yeah, the day started with a run with one of my roommates (I was given permission to go on splits to work out from my district leader) and some abs. Then, when I got to class, I was greeted with a jump out surprise from my district at 7:15 AM with banners and balloons and party hats. 

Then things were pretty normal, classes and language and such. So I assumed that meant that that was the end of it. But then come dinner time, my teacher asks me and my companion to meet with her before dinner, so we have a quick little meeting, checking how we're doing and such, and as soon as we wrap up she takes off. So me and my companion walk back to the classroom to drop off our books before dinner, I open the door to the classroom (which is dark) and a group of ten 18 year old boys scream surprise and flip on the lights. I legitimately fell to the ground (a video was taken that I will try to get and send). After I was able to compose myself a bit we ate cake (I was forced to stuff an entire cupcake in my mouth, per Mexican tradition I guess) and ice cream. It was awesome. 

I couldn't decide what to give for a spiritual thought this week so I thought I'd just send a page of my notes from one of our devotionals. (Also I'm nearly out of time). The spirit is always so strong, I love it.

I  love and miss you all and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Naatjes