Dear family and friends,
This week passed in a blur! Happy 5th "mes" to me today! Yay!
Monday: Tonight we went to visit Kimberly who is a "recente converso." It was her birthday on Tuesday and Hermana Santiesteban´s birthday on Saturday so we celebrated them both! We bought a giant tub of Neapolitano Ice cream! (Apparently that is the Mexican favorite ice cream here because that is basically all they sell! ;)). We also ate Gorditas Haciento which actually is gorditas (tortillas that are like a pocket for food) with pig skin. Then you add lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon juice, salsa and cream. They were actually really good! I'm just glad they told me what they were AFTER I had eaten it! I don´t know if I would have eaten it if I had known before!
Tuesday: Today was Zone Conference which was really good as always! However, the weather was terrible. It was windy and dusty-worse than Utah. Then it started to pour down rain like none other. So it was a cold wet day. However, I did finally get my package! Yay! Thanks mother! The zone enjoyed all the cookies. You are their new favorite missionary Mother! ;)
Wednesday: So the miracle of all miracles happened today. As we were walking the street, it was still wet, rainy and cold. Then suddenly the rain changed and became white. It was literally snowing in MEXICO! This is something I never thought I would see here in Mexico! But it happened! It snowed in Mexico! It snowed for a good hour and they were big fluffy flakes! Unfortunately it didn't stick, but it sure made it really cold here! Needless to say, we have been dressed like penguins these last few days. Another miracle, we contacted a woman and it turns out she has been looking for us! Okay.....what? Her sister in law is a member and told her to look for the missionaries (una morenita y una guerrita) so when she saw us she knew that we were the missionaries. Apparently the church is famous for always having a morenito y guerrito together. ;) Hopefully, we can start to teach her and she will progress.
Thursday: We went to visit a "menos activo" family. Their house is......interesting. I call it "La Tierra de los Perros!" They literally have 30 dogs living there and at least 10 cats! Their house is full of animals! When you come to the gate they all run the fence and bark at you and then you enter and are surrounded by all of them as they jump up on you and bark! It's like entering the war zone! But you can't show any fear just look ahead and stay calm or they will react and never leave you alone! The dogs go everywhere in their house-in their rooms, bathroom, kitchen, on the furniture, on the counters where they eat. It is actually terrible and probably why she has so many health problems because it is so unsanitary. But she will never get rid of them. It always makes it an adventure to go visit her in her house!!
Friday: Today was kind of hard and disheartening. Practically all our "citas" cancelled on us and were not there. Who knows what happened, but it was really hard to find people in their homes today.
Saturday: Well I think we had the strangest lesson ever today. We went to see Mercedes. Her two daughters and her mother were also there. They all have a different religion. So needless to say it was like a religious battle front! Everyone was talking and asking questions and arguing! It was hilarious because they would argue and then laugh at themselves especially the Grandma! It was like a movie! She was so old and had these giant glasses that made her eyes HUGE! She would say things like they were possessed of the devil and that their words were of the devil!! They fired question after question at us, trying to find fault in our doctrine or in us. It was Jesus and the Pharisees. This was a long conversation that spanned the plan of salvation, temples, abuse and rape, and even reached the supernatural level of ghosts, phantoms, and apparitions. Apparently people visit one of the daughters. Pretty creepy stuff. I honestly don't have answers for the supernatural but it was really cool to think of how that works! I know the spirit world is here on earth and I know Satan has his demons. Hopefully we helped answer some of their questions and planted some seeds! It was fun to have such an interesting gospel discussion. It is really amazing how much knowledge we have in the church! Then we went to visit Blanca. She is so receptive but she is listening to the Christians as well. We are trying to help her receive her answer but we think she likes the Christians because she has seen the miracles on TV and wants a miracle for her grandson Benito. He is debilitated and can't move or speak. I think it has something to do with CSF. I'm not sure. But I think that is influencing her. Hopefully we can help her understand that this is the true church upon the earth.
Sunday: Our "asistencia" was 59 today. That is terrible for this ward. The ward is dying here. We are going to have to start putting more emphasis on reactivating the members again. This ward has no retention. There is a lot of work ahead of us.
This week has been hard. We haven't made much progress with our investigators and some have hid from us and some have also been out of town. We have been asking ourselves, what more could we do? Why is this happening? Why are we not having success? Sometimes, it is easy to feel alone and to think that God is not here helping us and our investigators. I feel like the gauntlet has been thrown down by Satan. Well, I have taken the gauntlet and will win this battle and the glory be to the Kingdom of God! I refuse to believe that God has left us here alone because I know He loves us. We are his children. He wants our success. I love the scripture in Joshua 1:5, 9 He tells us "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee".."have not I commanded thee? be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." We may feel alone, but He promises us that He will never forsake us! He will never leave us! He will never ever fail us!! And since this is the case we should never give up on Him!! Simply confide and have patience and do all that is in our power to be successful. He COMMANDS us to be STRONG and of GOOD COURAGE. He asks us to not be afraid and to not become discouraged. Keep working, keep striving, and He will be with us always. He will be with us and when God is with us we always win. We always triumph. However, we need to understand that we triumph in His way. Our triumph is not always the same as His triumph. We need to accept His will. We should be satisfied if He is satisfied. I love Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's quote:
I testify that this is true. BLESSINGS WILL COME. They will ALWAYS COME!!! I have to believe they will come. If I don't believe, then there is no hope in this world. All we have is hope and to walk by our faith. Someone asked me if being here has opened my eyes to the world. They thought that my experience here would change me and weaken me. They are wrong. This experience has opened my eyes and has changed me but it has only strengthened me. It has helped me love the gospel even more and increased my desire to share it, love it, and live it!! I am more determined than ever to live it and receive these blessings in my life! I am more convinced than ever that this is the truth. If my investigators won't believe it, I will still believe it and will not fail my God.
Have a wonderful week!!! Love you all!!
Love,
~Hermana Lutze~
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