Hermana Rachael Lutze: Week 19 (Is the Holy Ghost Your Constant Companion?)

Dear family and friends,

This week just flew by! I'm not even sure what has happened!?

Description of new area: Well, for starters, it is actually civilization. There are a TON more cars here which presents a new hazard. Here the pedestrians yield to the cars so we have to always be on the look out so we don't get run over. Also, this area is so much smaller, but has a billion people crammed into it. Durango is much cooler, but it still feels like June in Utah which is a problem because it is ONLY FEBRUARY! It's already in the 80s here! I am going to die of heat and also come back looking like burnt toast. I've already started to get tan lines! I thought I would use my umbrella for rain, wrong, it's for the sun. The sun is so INTENSE here! Good thing I only have one summer. It is much greener here in Durango which I love! but still a desert. My companion Hermana Santiesteban is wonderful!! She is so loving and fun! I have been so blessed with my companions here in the mission! And mom, no I didn't get my package. They didn't bring it. So I won't get it until Zone conference which is the first week of March. In other news, my watch broke so I am trying to pull a Frederick and Fix it. Oh look at that! Fix it Frederick! ;) Love you dad, thanks for teaching me to be a fixer.

My house: Well, it's like a Hobbit Hole, I am almost too tall for this house. There is a bathroom with a shower and our wash basin (no sink)-so we wash our hands in the wash basin out of a bucket. There is a room with our beds, a room with our study desks, and the kitchen. But we do have a Balcony! Best day;). This house is tiny and has numerous problems. The Glenwood was a 5 star resort in comparison! But it's all good. It makes me so grateful for what we have. Also, just so you know, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to have a good shower here. This shower is worse than the other. It is more like a drizzle and it is either too hot or too cold. If there is one thing I miss here it is my bathroom. Sorry family. I have you for eternity, but this bathroom is only temporary. I must enjoy it whilst I have it! ;)

My week

Monday: Unpacked and went to District Meeting which is actually Zone meeting minus 4 people. Our zone only has about 20 people! It is tiny in comparison to Gomez Palacio but it is also much more fun to have lots of people every week!

Tuesday: Woke up at 5 to take Hermana Ruiz to the Centro de Camiones so she could go to the offices and go to her house in Guatemala. (I am never going to catch up on sleep). Then during the day we met and taught some great people! We taught one family that are investigators and they are so golden! I hope they can progress and be baptized! Also, Hna Santiesteban is really good at teaching when we find. We teach everyone in the streets and with this we have about 9 lessons every day! Awesome feeling!

Wednesday: All the missionaries from Torreon, Gomez, Lerdo and the Ranchitos arrived! It was a giant fiesta! We took Hna Avila and Hna Rivera home with us to the Hobbit Hole. We ate la comida and then rested at our house until 4:30. We then went to the Holiday Inn with all the members to listen to Elder Oaks! He went around and tried to shake each of the members' hands!? All 1200+ of them! Then he held a Q&A which was great. There were so many members there that all of the Elders had to stand in the back to have room for the members! Once it ended we talked with some of the missionaries and then went to the store to buy snacks! At our house we made a makeshift couch with the air mattress they brought and watched a movie (The Testaments, aka the Missionary Chick Flick ;)) and pigged out on chips, popcorn, lemonade, ice cream, and cookies! It was so much fun! Sleepover! Pillamada!

Thursday: We woke up at 5 and got ready. We had to be at the church in Aeropuerto by 7:30. We arrived and got in our places to take a photo with Elder Oaks. We ended up waiting outside for about an hour before he arrived. While we waited we sang hymns with all the zeal and energy of our souls! It was such a beautiful sight to see all the missionaries singing together. We were still singing when Elder Oaks came. We sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" for him when he was in front of us! The spirit was so strong! Then he sat and we took a picture. Then we all followed him in side and each got to greet him! Later he and Sister Oaks talked about how strong the spirit was when they arrived and were impressed with us.....yah, that's my mission ;). Then he held a Q&A which answered some amazing questions in regard to our work here! Afterwards, we said goodbye to all our missionary friends and went to la comida. Hna Santiesteban hadn't felt good so we went home after visiting the doctor so she could rest. I wrote in my journal, read, watched church movies. There are so many good ones I have never seen before!!

Friday: In the morning the Jehovah Witnesses tried to teach us. That was interesting. I mainly felt sad for them because they are missing out on so much in their lives. In the morning we visited Socorro and Javier (the golden family). Then we had la comida and went home so Hna Santiesteban could rest again. That night we went to visit a new investigator, Martin. He is amazing! His wife is suffering from health problems, but his love for her is still so strong and they are married civilly! Woohoo! He has such great desires to change. I hope that we can help him and uplift him with all his hardships. I wish I could describe his house though! You thought you had entered the house but then it was a long alley way with bedrooms off to the left. It was strange and a bit creepy I'll admit. I can't believe how these people live in these conditions!?

Saturday: We went to see the doctor. She told us to go to the hospital so H. Santiesteban could be checked out with more equipment. We went to Blue Cross (super sketchy hospital). They don't accept our card so we went to San Jorge (super pretty hospital). They accepted us. We waited for the doctor, he came and checked her out and explained things. (It was weird! He kept glancing over at me like I was an inspection officer from the US or something?) Then he only prescribed her Ibuprofen!? All of that work for Ibuprofen? I could have done that! Afterward, we had Coordinacion Misional which felt strange because it is just the ward.

Sunday: We attended church which consisted of RS first, then Sunday School, and then Sacrament meeting. They were all good until we got to the part in Sacrament meeting when it was announced that I would have time to speak after the first speaker! What!? I wasn't informed of this! Yippee....life of a missionary ;) It turned out well. I think they felt the spirit. We had la comida with an amazing Hermana Gloria! She has so little but has so much faith that if she shares and feeds us, blessings will come! Gloria's conversion story is hilarious! Her grandson was going to be baptized and she forbade it. He did it anyways and went on a mission. While he was gone, she started to read the Book of Mormon and go to church so she could find fault in the church and prove that it was false. She ended up receiving a testimony and getting baptized!! What a great story and proof of the power of the Book of Mormon. The rest of the day was good. We met some amazing people and had the opportunity to comfort many that were sad and struggling. We gained 5 new investigators. I have great hopes for them!

Well that is all for the week.

Something I have been thinking a lot about lately is the promise when we receive the Holy Ghost. That we can have it with us always! Wow! How great a blessing is that! That we can have one of the Godhead with us ALWAYS! However it is not that simple. It takes so much work to have the Spirit with us always. We need to watch our thoughts, actions and words constantly in order to be worthy of his presence. It is so easy to offend the spirit and drive him out of our lives. It is something I have been working on lately, to have the spirit with me ALWAYS. Because the scriptures always talk about how the Spirit is purifying, the prophets talk about how it is an honest companion that will tell you the truth when no one else will. He is the one that guides us, uplifts us, edifies us. He will tell us how we can change how we can be better. He will protect us and warn us of sin. The Holy Ghost is honestly one of the greatest gifts here on earth because he will help us be better and continually improve if we keep him in our life. How amazing to think that we are the only people on the planet that can have the Holy Ghost with us always! No wonder people think we are different! No wonder they see something else in us. It is because we are literally being guided by a divine being. I encourage you all to look at your life and see if you have the spirit with you always, sometimes, or once in a while. Then I encourage you to look at what you can change to have him with you always. Without him this life is so much harder and darker.

I love you all! Hope you are all well!!

Love,

Hermana Lutze