No Manches




Week 7: I think the last two weeks have been the longest of my entire life. So much has happened so this email might be a little on the longer side. I will limit it to the highlights! Also cause I can't remember a lot. Here's a sneak peak 👀

But first, leaving the CCM :( I loved my time there and my incredible district and friends that I made! We are all in different parts of the world now which is crazy but I know they will all do amazing things! I LOVE DISTRICTO 9G




Traveling to Oaxaca was honestly a blur and I can't remember much except for being super tired. But once I got here I met my trainor (mi mama) Hermana Tesén!! She is a native from Peru and is honestly the sweetest woman ever. She doesn't speak much English and I don't know a whole lot of Spanish (basically nothing lol) but we are making it work! Her favorite phrase is "no manches" which basically means "no way" or "you're lying". She laughs every time I say it so hopefully it means what she says it does. She is a great teacher and carries our lessons while I just smile and nod hahaha. But it must be working because we put 2 people on date for baptism this week yayyyy 
My area is a collection of pueblos on the edge of the main city Oaxaca called Etla! It is so beautiful and green!! There is also a ton of animals everywhere. Dogs, cats, cows, horses, cockroaches (in our apartment), you name it. Our area is lowkey massive. We cover a bunch of little towns that are separated by big fields which basically means we walk A LOT. We can usually get a little taxi from town to town but the rest is solo las piernas. Except for when we get rides from the members, which happens decently often. My second day a recent convert took us to the next town over in his wagon pulled by a horse. Definitely not something I expect but it was lit. Kind of like how they traveled in Jane Austen stories expect for a little less sitting in horse poop and a lot less Spanish. Check out the vid in my Google photos
The mentioned horse and cart
La Evengellio de las vacas
The members in the ward here are amazing. They are so strong and help us so much with the work, which is good because we are needing more people to teach. They feed us lunch everyday and are so kind. Another thing about México is that is rains EVERDAY in the afternoon. We were not ready for it one day and had to steal some garbage bags from a store to cover us so our bags didn't get soaked. But I think I've concluded that my feet will be drenched at least once a day. 
Today for Pday we went to this big cultural event called Guelaguetza. It was so cool! It's this huge cultural event that has a ton of dancers from all over Oaxaca that do the dances from their region. We had to get up at like 2 AM to go but it was worth it. The people here are so proud of their culture and it's so cool to be apart of it and experience things that are special to them. Check out the photo album for the vids!!!

I won't lie, being here has been so amazing but also SO HARD. I got clocked over the head with Spanish. Nothing can prepare you for it. Anyone who knows me knows that I love meeting/getting to know people, and and that I'm usually prone to talk too much hahaha. It's a big part of who I am! And it's so cool that so much of my job as a missionary is to do those things. Butttt I can't communicate!!! It's so frustrating!! So much of my day I just sit and try my best to understand my companion or the people we teach but to no avail. Luckily, the Holy Ghost is a universal language and I have been trying to let it pull through for me when I feel like my brain is about to explode (which is all the time). I read a conference talk by Elder Holland this week called "Waiting on the Lord" and liked this quote: "faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf." As much as I wish I could be fluent right now, I know that in order to progress I have to have faith and struggle a little first. Learning patience is super hard! But as long as we try and have faith, the Lord will pull through.

That's it! Pray that I don't get chased by a rabid dog (again)! Love you all 💗
-Hermana Stephenson










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts