Week 12: Feliz Navidad!!!!!!

I have officially made it through my second cambio (transfer).  Sisters only have 12 cambio I believe, so 10 more! Feliz Navidad everyone! Its a bit weird for me to think Christmas is this week, probably because of the weather.  Its like spring here.  Its absolutely perfect for me, but everyone else is dying of cold apparently, or so says my companion.  Id like to see her spend one day in Utah weather, haha.

Yezmin is getting baptized officially this Next Tuesday!! It was set for this Saturday, but this Saturday is also the ward temple trip, so we had to move it :P.  She is so excited and is so amazing! She keeps all of her commitments, does all of her assignments, and always says how she can see the blessings of the Gospel already in her life!!

This last Friday was the Ward Christmas Party which was fun, we had 3 investigators show up which was great.  Sadly we couldn't stay because we had to be back at the house at 9.  Also that night we were in an internet and were leaving and I became friends with a cactus plant when it got caught on my skirt on the stairs and fell on me.  Thankfully I only had to pull one needle out of my skin.

The Fernandez Family! Love them!

Then we had the Stake Christmas program, where the four of us hermana's sang in front of everyone.  We had about two days to practice and we couldn't even practice the day of, we just winged it.  But it was all good! I also had to speak in Sacrament Meeting, and I prepared my talk that morning...haha, but it was also good.  Although, I read my talk off a piece of paper.

This week we have meeting with our Zone and with Presidente, and Hermana L. is going to call home, and we get to return to casa at and I get to call home and also return to casa at.  I just cant believe this year is almost over!! I think that its cool I will be a 3 year missionary (2015, 2016, 2017).  

Cant wait to see what the new year will bring! Hopefully, lots of investigators and better Español!  I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and to really meditate the true meaning of this holiday.  A Savior has been born! It is only one time a year, so cherish it!!!

Love you all!! 

Hermana Boice

We are feasting on the words of Christ.

We had 2 members, Liz and Zelzin accompany us on our lessons!

My new friend that I ran into the night of the Christmas party, Thankfully, they moved it off the stairs so my skirt doesn't get caught anymore.  :)

Week 11: Parahgaricutirimicuaro

Hola!!

Okay, first off, the subject of my email.  It is a word here that is a sort of tongue twister, it took me a whole day of saying it over and over again, but I finally got it!!!

This week was super fast and not too much happened.  One day this week we didn't have a lunch appointment, and so a member paid for some food at one of the tiendas, which is pozole.  I like pozole, but I feel like its all I eat.  I had a nice little surprise in it.  Pig cheek! And you know how I know it was pig cheek? It had all the little hairs still.  Blah.  That same day Hermana L. wanted tacos in the street, and the meat was fried intestines.  It actually really wasn't that bad.  I love eating tacos!  And I really shouldn't be eating in the streets, but they are just so good! I haven't gotten sick.  I think in total I have eaten around 25, so I must be a true Mexican.

  

The weather right now is absolutely perfect!! Its cold for everyone else, but its like spring and I love it!  There is a certain food here called Churros, and they are kind of like Cheetos, but a lot more airy.  I feel like I am eating straight butter and air, but they are so delicious! Hermana L. and I bought 2 huge bags of them. One bag is about twice the size of my pillow...haha.  If I gain weight from anything, it will be this.

We are getting super excited for the 27th because Yezmin (Jazmin, we got her name wrong this whole time) is getting baptized!!!! She is just so amazing and we love her.  Tonight we are going to be teaching her and her daughters about baptism a bit more, and how her daughters also have the opportunity to be baptized.

Sorry if I didn't email you this week! I really didn't have much time to email today, hopefully next week!!!

I want to encourage everyone to visit the site www.mormon.org/christmas and watch the two short videos on why we celebrate Christmas.  And share them on social media, so that others that may not know why, can understand and feel the Spirit.

Love you all!

Hermana Boice

We just love our Chapalita! I had no idea that the guys in the background where totally photo bombing.  :)

So before my mission, I went to the Mexican consulate in Utah and met a missionary there that was leaving to Guadalajara East?? I found her again!! Hermana K.

Week 10: First month in Tlaquepaque!!!!

Hola Todos!!!

First month down in the mission!!!! I can't believe all of the progress that I have made since I left the CCM, although I am still not completely fluent in Spanish quite yet.  I can't believe that it is winter! It feels like summer here and I love it, my farmers tan is really starting to show now.  

Lets see, the highlights of this week.  Yesterday was AMAZING because our investigator J. came to church, and got up and bore her testimony!!! It was a really good meeting, although we went over 30 minutes.  But I just love our ward even more.

Package from Karatassos's and Activity Day girls.

A huge thank you to the Karatassos family and the girls in Activity Day's for their package.  It was a wonderful surprise! My companion has never had Taffy or No-Bake Cookies before so she really enjoyed it, too.  I don't remember what day it was this week, but we came home and found the biggest cockroach I have ever seen in my life.  I really dont know how to explain its size, probably the size of a pickle. But it didn't die the first time Hermana L. stepped on it (I don't have the courage yet) because it was so big. And it made a really nasty crunch. Bleh!

This week also we were on a bus, and there were sooooo many people!!! I think I counted around 87 people más o menos.  It was awful!  So this last Saturday I believe, we were at J.'s house and she had a nephew there that was around 10 years old.  We were saying hello to her daughters by kissing them on the cheek and then I reached my hand out and shook his hand and he went in for a kiss on the cheek faster than I had time to react.  Its a normal thing here, but as a missionary it doesn't matter the age.

And yesterday we went to the Christmas Devotional.  The MoTab was wonderful!!! I will be honest that I couldn't really get much out of the devotional because it was in Spanish.  I never thought much of the voices of the Apostles, but I really was missing President Uchtdorf's voice.  Hermana L. asked me if I understood the Devotional and I said yes, they talked about the birth of Jesus Christ.  My default answer. After the devotional, a member gave us a ride home and I wore a seat-belt for the first time in 2 months, it was weird...haha.

Activity with  zone and yes, I am red because I am hot!

On Friday we had splits in our zone and I went with Hermana A. in her area.  It was super fun.  She doesn't speak any English, so I really had to use all of my knowledge of Spanish.  Today we had an activity with our zone and played with water balloons.  And I got 5 buckets of water dumped on my at different times by the elders. My poor shoes are boats right now.

Tengan una buena semana!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Boice

Our lunch for Thursday...we had a fiesta!

Tacos fritos and these are so good!  I had three of these.  :)

Week 9: Broken Hearts and Contrite Spirits

HOLA!

First and foremost, and I want to wish my little brother Ethan Feliz Cumpeaños!!!!!!!! I can't believe you are already 13!!!

The 2 month mark with 16 more to go.

Well, now I feel like the days are flying by! I feel like it was Monday two days ago, although that really isnt a bad thing haha. First things first!! Last Sunday one of our members Hermana T. brought a friend of hers to church.  We got her name and address and set an appointment with her.  You have heard of golden investigators, but she is pure gold! She so amazing and I just love her!!  She has two daughters.  We had a lesson with her on Friday on the Restoration.  At the end of the lesson, we asked her if she will pray to know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and she told us that she didn't need to, because she believes he was, and she believes that the Book of Mormon is true also! She came to church yesterday with her family, and the sacrament meeting talks were all about the temple and family history.  And now she is super excited to do her family history work! She is scheduled to be baptized in December.  We also had two other investigators at sacrament meeting.  It was really great that they came to church, even though they were a bit confused during the whole thing because we hadn't had our first lesson with them yet, haha.  But they are both great.  

So I talked a bit about the guy last week and how he only wants to learn English.  Well, we had a lesson with him on Wednesday, and decided to do the lesson in English.  We figured that it is better that he listens to the lessons than not at all.  This lesson was directed by me which was super weird.  And it seems now that I don't know two languages.  I kept stuttering the whole time because I kept saying Spanish words and couldn't remember how to say them in English. So we asked him what he aspires in these lessons, and the only thing he said was to learn more English........I will admit that that made me a tiny bit frustrated.  But we continued on.  I felt the spirit really strong in the lesson, and at the end was expressing the feelings of the Holy Ghost.  Then he asked us a question that I think was inspired.  He asked how he can feel the peace and the joy of the Holy Ghost.  We told him that he can feel it only when he is doing his part, when he is praying, or reading the scriptures, that the Spirit doesn't come to us out of our curiosity.  I really hope that maybe this will spark something in him.

Anyway, on to other short stories! We went to K.'s house to give her a lesson, and were standing outside her door.  She opened and started to let us in.  For some reason Hermana L. just stopped right in the doorway to talk to her and so I was left outside.  Then I heard someone calling to me, and I looked and there was this guy 2 doors down, that was calling at me, and not saying the nicest of stuff.  So I tried to get into the house but Hermana L. was blocking the way, so I started shoving at her in the back and tried to push her in the house. I got in eventually. K. lives with her two brothers and her baby, so we talked for a bit with them.  When they left, K. turned to me and said that her brother really likes me. Awkward........

Hermana L. told me that because I am American, pretty much 99% of the men here are going to like me, and then proceeded to tell me that I will be breaking a lot of hearts.  I told her that that is totally fine, now we just need to work on getting them to have contrite spirits! 

3 Nephi 9.20 ´' ......And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.......´'

Boom, missionary purpose!

You could say that with some of our lessons with less actives, its like sitting on pins and needles. Thankfully with Y., she is super sweet and our conversations are really good.  But I never thought that 'sitting on pins and needles' would ever actually happen physically.  But as we sat down on her couch, Hermana L. jumped up immediately with a surprised look on her face.  Low and behold, there was an actual needle sticking up out of the couch.  I guess its just a thing that we can never avoid.

Thanksgiving Dinner

On Saturday, I was surprised to hear that we had a breakfast appointment with C., who feeds you a lot! And then we had lunch 2 hours later, and then we had dinner appointment.  That never happens! My stomach is sure stretching.

Last but not least, on Friday we got served tea in a lesson, which I hate tea, can't stand the stuff, don't worry, its just fruit juice heated up.  But I told Hermana L. that I hate hot chocolate too.  So later at our lunch appointment, guess what I got served??? Yup, hot chocolate.  Murphy's Law at its finest.

Well, that is all! Love you all and have a good week!

Hermana Boice

Found this is in one of the books of J.'s kids for school, look familiar? Nephi???