Rachael's Mission

Mexico Torreon Mission October 2015 - April 2017

Rachael's Picture

Rachael's Picture

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Week 3 (Called to SERVE)

Dear family and friends,

I can't believe another week has gone by already!! It feels like just yesterday that I was emailing!

Here are the events of this week's adventure:

It was just a normal day of studying, eating food, laughing, etc. Nothing exciting happened that day. We came, we ate, we left. That's our lot in life, it's not much, but it's our life! ;)
Friday
Apparently the "squirts" (aka diarrhea) have been going around our district. Those poor people!! But I almost feel more sorry for their companions!! They are the ones who have to accompany them to the bathroom every 15 minutes!! I have to say that it's different having someone attached to me 24/7. Someone that has to go where I go. Sometimes it feels weird dragging them to the bathroom when they don't have to go or you forget something and they have to go all the way back with you!!

On this day I received a special surprise from my family-a dozen donuts and they were all Halloween donuts!! They were so cute!! It made my entire day!! And they were sooooo delicious!! My mother knows me well because she sent my favorite donuts! I also received the email with their birthday wishes!! I love that and read it often :). This totally made me cry though. It is like an emotional roller coaster here!
Saturday
My Birthday!! Although, I will be honest, it wasn't my best birthday because it was the exact same as every other day and nothing happened. My Hermana did by me a Twix for my birthday which was so nice!  Also, today, for the first time, we had something called TRC. I have NO idea what it stands for. However, it is where they have volunteers come in and we talk to them, get to know them and essentially try to uplift and strengthen them. It was odd because we had no idea what we were doing.
Hermano Sanchez, my teacher, was telling us how excited he was to go 'trick or treating' tonight!! I was so jealous!! They totally let adults dress up and go 'trick or treating' here!! The US really needs to adopt this policy!! I want to go 'trick or treating' until I'm 102! I love Halloween! Oh and because they have Dia de los Muertos here, they 'trick or treat' for three days straight!! So awesome! Again, adoption of this policy is REQUIRED! It would be the best thing ever!!

By the way, I met David Archuleta's sister here. We are now friends and I am "totally" famous  by association;). Actually it was sooooo funny to hear all the Latinos go crazy over her!! All you can here is "Hermana Archuleta? Es la verdad?!"and little squeals. So stinking funny! The Latinos are so enthusiastic :). 

Now for the part that probably stunk the most on my birthday. The next day was fast Sunday, so we didn't get dinner or breakfast. So.....no birthday dinner for me. But maybe that was a good thing after all the donuts I ate.
Sunday
Sundays are always awesome here!! We have wonderful lessons and devotionals!! It would take way too long for me to write everything I've learned. We watched an old devotional of Elder Holland speaking. Needless to say......it was awesome!! So inspiring! One thing I learned that I love was that we are Called to SERVE. I am not called to teach, or talk, or even share the gospel. I am here to serve the people in whatever aspect that may be. Hopefully, that does include teaching them the gospel because that is what I have been doing 24/7 for the past 3 weeks, but no matter what, we are here to SERVE.
 Monday Tuesday and Wednesday
All were essentially the same. We studied and goofed off. My district has been struggling  to actually study during study time this week. We definitely need to be better because we are not here for just our own conversion, but we are here for our future investigators. It is not fair to them if we are not as prepared as we possibly can be. So we need to be better. Part of the distraction is that we made a ball out of tape and paper and we play pig and horse in class. We try to study and quiz as we do it. I am actually pretty good at this game. Thank you cousins who played basketball with me!;) Also, we somehow found out that the lids to Pringle cans can be used as frisbees!! There you go world, boredom is now cured forever!! Pringle lids are so much fun to fling around the classroom. 
Thursday
We went to immigration to finalize our Visas. It was fun driving through this crazy city! On the way home we took the scenic route!! It was so awesome!! So many amazing, beautiful old buildings!! I loved it!! Hopefully, you will get the picture I sent. (Rachael's camera wouldn't upload this week.) It was funny because all of us were stared at......a lot. We stick out like sore thumbs here.

Something I learned this week that is very important in life is....FAIL FORWARD. We need to be always trying to do our best, and if we fail, oh well, at least we were trying to move forward!! That is something very important here at the CCM. We are not perfect at Spanish or teaching or the gospel for that matter!! However, if we don't at least try to do our best, we will never grow. Don't be so afraid of perfection that you never grow. There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone. It is very uncomfortable to be growing so fast. However the feeling of success in the end is so worth it!! As I was thinking of 'Fail Forward' and 'Becoming', I realized that I don't want to come home the same or to the same life. At first I wanted my life to just go on pause while I left, but now I want to return home changed, refined, better than I was before. I want to return and start a life that was even better than the one before the mission!! I know I can do that as I continue to grow. But if I come back the same, what a waste of valuable time and effort. If I come back the same I would not have strengthened my relationship with God which would be disappointing for Him and for me.

So while I've been here, people tease the people from Utah. They think we are 'Molly Mormons', that we have never experienced real life, just live in our bubble, and nothing bad happens. They think in some ways that we are less and that our testimony must not be as strong. It is very annoying and even hurts that they think that. They make fun of the things we are not familiar with and the fact that I don't say bad words. At first I was sad but as I talked to Hermano Sanchez, he helped me come to some huge realizations. First, so what if I am from Utah! We all go through hard things and we all have lessons to learn! Second, I would never change the way I act or speak just to please others or be funny to fit in. Third, I would not trade my wonderful relationship that I have created with God and Jesus Christ for anything!! They are so much more important than anything anyone can say to me. Fourth, these people are probably just saying those things because they are jealous of what I have. Hermano Sanchez says there are three things a missionary needs to be successful. First, know the language (check, well enough), second, well prepared lessons and third, a good knowledge and love of the gospel. He said I am doing wonderful on all of them! He said I have no reason to be sad at this and to just focus on the eternal perspective. Others can say what they want but I will not change who I am and can become just to please them.

I love you all!! I love receiving all your emails!!

Love,

Hermana Lutze

P.S. It is really cloudy here with some sunny days. It is always in the 60s or 70s. Loving it! :)

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!


Halloween Cookies



Birthday "Halloween" Donuts


Hermanas Peterson, Robertson, and Knudsen


El Comedor

I found the last remaining Blockbuster on the planet!



Hermana Peterson and Robertson with Hermana Knudsen and Lutze

















Katniss from The Hunger Games















Or is this Katniss Everdeen?



These are all pictures from our trip to the immigration office!

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