Hola mi familia! Espero que toda anda bien!
Well I'm still in Durango and Estacion-land of the hills and rocks and mine. I actually like the hills. You can take some really cool pictures on top of them! You also meet some very interesting people! This area is always an adventure! I'm still here with Hna Reyes! Woohoo! And, we still have our 2 baptisms for August! However our baptisms for September keep falling. These people like to party and not go to church. Work in Progress.
Well I'm not even sure what to write. The week just goes by so fast, like a blur really!
Monday: We went to Paseo del Viejo Oeste!!! It was a blast! It was so much fun to go and take lots of pictures! However, I don't really recommend the show. It was a bit sensual y diabolico you could say. We started watching the shows. The first one was good, and western. Then the Indians arrived who started dancing like strippers, so we left and went to take pictures. When we came back there was another show, but this time they had the men dress like girls and they looked ridiculous! There was a Peppa Pig (famous cartoon character in Mexico). Oh dear, this place is better for just taking pictures, I think. But I did buy some cool things!
Tuesday: We had a surprise Women's Conference. It was a capacitacion for sola Hermanas. It was a good time spent with the Hermanas de Durango.
Wednesday: My companion has been sick in her stomach and intestines so we went to see the doctor. Basically all day was spent with the doctor and getting the medications and such. My companion is suffering from bacteria and amoebas that are eating her intestines.......sounds lovely right? ;) I am praying I don't suffer from the same or worse.
Thursday and Friday: These were normal days. It has been really hot this week. It's a miracle I'm not red as a tomato.
Saturday: We had another amazing capacitacion con Hermanas y Hna Ramos. We talked about what we are doing well, what we are doing wrong, what we thought the mission would be like, how it actually is, trials people have faced in going on the mission. It was really interesting to listen to everyone's experiences. We then wrote on a piece of paper what we no longer wanted to do or be and tore it up and put it in a box. Really I think we should have burned them, but we were in the chapel so not a good idea.
Sunday: Well, Jorge and Viki went to church. However Miki, Kevin, and Lizbeth did not. We're going to have to look for another tactic with them. However this Sunday was very special. We took the sacrament to Hna Viki (Abuelita who is 82 years old and has dialysis Thursday and Sunday). She reminds me so much of Grandma it's scary. :) We went to her house with a bunch of members and gave her the sacrament, sang her a hymn and gave her a blessing of health. It was a beautiful day for a beautiful service that we could provide for Hna Viki. The spirit was there and it was so great for her to get to know other members of the church.
This week I really liked learning about all the sacrifices that many of the Hermanas have had to face. Not because I like to hear of their suffering but because it always amazes me how strong so many of them are. I don't know if I could have gone on the mission if I had had the same trials. I would like to think that I would but I don't know. I really didn't sacrifice anything to go on the mission. Maybe I sacrificed my time, my effort, my money. But these sisters have sacrificed families, friends, careers, jobs, school. I have really come to admire them for their intense desire to serve. I have come to realize more and more on the mission that life is sacrifice, but we have to decide what we are going to sacrifice and for what cause. God has told us that we must first seek the Kingdom of God and after we have obtained a hope in Christ we shall obtain riches if we seek them. And we will only seek them for the intent to do good, to help those in need and bring relief to those who are suffering. Jesus Christ also told his disciples that they should give up family, friends, riches, homes, clothing, careers, everything to follow Him. We must have our priorities set. We have to decide if we are really willing to give up everything to be with God-to do His will. Will we be like the young man who asks the Savior "What lack I yet?" and then cannot sacrifice what the Savior asks us to sacrifice or will we humbly ask and humbly follow? What are we willing to sacrifice and for what? Sometimes, as members, we sacrifice Sundays, church attendance, scripture study and prayer for things such as sleeping, watching movies, reading other books, saying we don't have time, taking the weekends to go to the lake with the boat. Sometimes we sacrifice the wrong things for the wrong reasons and justify it. We can't sacrifice the things that God expects of us. That is when we sacrifice to Mammon, to the world. God actually expects us to sacrifice TIME to go to church, to magnify our calling, to study the scriptures, to visit the sick and needy, to do our visiting teaching. He expects us to sacrifice our TALENTS to help others, sacrifice friends that are a bad influence, jobs that keep us from keeping the Sabbath Day holy, even our reputations in order to stand for what is right. There are millions of ways that we can sacrifice things in our lives. But we have to be aware of what we sacrifice and for what reason. and be sure that we are not sacrificing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. I know that with sacrifices for the right reasons, come many blessings. I just want to say to all the youth, you WILL NEVER regret the decision to go on a mission. You will never lose time or an opportunity or your future husband/wife or a career. For putting God first, He will bless you more than you know. He will arrange your life more perfectly than you ever could. But the key is we must TRUST in the Lord. Many say they trust the Lord and know that He exists. But do we really trust IN the Lord? Do our actions really show that we confide completely in Him? It is like the trust game where people fall back and the other person catches them. Some can't trust and step back and some trust completely and fall directly back. We have to be the people that fall directly back and trust that the Lord will catch us. If we do what He asks, He will fulfill His part of the deal. We have to learn to trust completely and only then will we fully live the law of sacrifice.
Well, I love you all!
Have an amazing week!! Hope you all have adventures and I hope to hear of your adventures!
Hermana Lutze
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