Week 56

Querida Hermana Lutze,

It was so great to hear you speaking Spanish and teasing your companion! We enjoyed watching the videos that Hermano Maldonado sent us. I hope you had a very Happy Birthday! Did you get your presents?

This week has been the usual busy...I charged on Wednesday and taught Blended Learning on Thursday and finished the week with a conference on Friday. I definitely had overtime! I went out with Lisa for her birthday on your birthday. We went to Kneader's. 

Aubrey had her baby on your birthday at about the same time you were born! I was able to hold Kate on Wednesday! She's so stinkin' cute! I can't wait to be a Grandma! However, I can wait until the time is right. ;)

Hannah came home again this weekend. She's been studying most of today for her two tests this week.

Natalie's busy with school and seminary. She's still hanging in there with guitar and piano.

Jakob went Trick or Treating on Monday. I told him this was his last year. He went with Matt and they were only out for just over 2 hours. I thought they would stay out longer. He starts indoor practice this next week. He still seems to love this soccer team.

I loved both of President Uchtdorf's talks this year. The following is a quote from his Saturday morning talk "O How Great the Plan of Our God!" "But I have confidence that we will not only be satisfied with the judgment of God; we will also be astonished and overwhelmed by His infinite grace,mercy, generosity, and love for us, His children. If our desires and works are good, if we have faith in a living God, then we can look forward to what Moroni called "the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge... Does it not fill us with unspeakable joy to know of the glorious future that is prepared for all who wait upon the Lord?"

I'm so grateful you have this opportunity to share the 'good news' - the joy of the gospel with the people of Mexico!

Love you!

Mom

Feliz Cumpleanos Hermana Lutze!

The Maldonado family asked if we would like to send a video to Hermana Lutze for her birthday. We sent this Saturday evening:

Below is the conversation after she watched our video.

Familia  Maldonado:

• Ella esta muy feliz de verles.
• Mas tarde le mando mas fotos y video.

Familia Lutze: Muy bien. Muchas gracias!

Familia  Maldonado: La manda un saludo. Ella esta muy feliz!

Familia  Maldonado: 

• Buenas noches
• Hna Lutze vio su video. Lloro fue la emocion de verlos, especialment a si papa. Ella creia que el video habia sido antes del infarto de su papa. Le explique que lo habian mandado el sabado por la noche y al ver a su papa cantando le dio much gusto.
• Quiere le envie ese video?

Familia Lutze: Si por favor!

Familia Maldonado: 

• La vera llorar pero despues nos dijo era de gusto al ver a su papa bien
• Estoy editando el video que es muy grande

Primera parte

Va la segunda

Familia Maldonado:

• Tuve que editar porque era muy grande. Va en dos partes.
• La veran llorar pero fue de alegria sobre todo vera su papi bien.
• Nos hizo llorar a todos
• Tiene un espiritu grandioso
• Felicidades familia

Familia Lutze: Gracias! Estamos agradecidos por su familia y como se cuida a los misioneros!

Familia Maldonado:

• Es una bendicion tener Angeles como la Hna. Lutze en casa
• Los felicito familia Lutze, tienen un Angel de un corazon gigante sirviendo en tierras Lamanitas 
• No les conocernos pero les amamos como hermanos hijos del mismo Dios!

Familia Lutze: Nos sentimos de la misma manera! Gracias por compartir su cumpleanos con nosostros! Fue la mejor parte de nuestra semana!

Familia Maldonado:

• Un abrazo fraternal
• Nuetras oraciones especialment por su esposo

Week 55 (Happy Birthday Hermana Lutze!)

Dear family and friends,

Well this week was alright. We were a little short on time with some cosillas that we had to do, but over all it was a good week. 

Martes we had another awesome capacitacion!! We made another inspiring video for our Zone! They loved it!  That evening las hermanas de los ranchitos stayed because the next day we had interviews with Presidente. So, we, of course, took advantage of the opportunity and went on divisions! Great day! Then, of course, we had a mini fiesta con las hermanas. What do you expect to happen when you have 6 hermanas in your home? ;)

Miercoles we had our interviews with Presidente. They were great as usual and mine was a direct, clear and powerful interview as always. I think I set a new record of 3 minutes. Good long day.

Jueves, well we had planeamiento. Yay! At first I didn't like planeamiento semanal, but with time in the mission, I now see how important and useful it is and now I love it! We also found an amazing investigator who already wants to go to church and be baptized!!! Wow!! That never happens! Hurry prepare the baptismal font!!

Viernes we met with the Lideres de Zona to plan our capacitacion for the Lideres de Distrito. We talked with them about how we can improve as liders and it was a good chat. Then in the afternoon we had a great lesson with Karina!! She just felt tingles and goosebumps all over when we taught her about the restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith!! I think another baptism soon!! Yaya! Then we went to the actividad for Relief Society with Caro and mutual with Joseph.  It was a good day!

Sabado was another great day!! We visited with our investigators and recent converts with the best part of this day being the food!! We had a carne asado!! O yah.....they know how to do a good barbecue! We had carne asada, salchichas, and quesadillas with guacamole and salsa. All the good stuff!! Today we also had a crazy man attack us verbally. He started out with " Jesus is love. He loves everyone." and then he began to say "The Mormons are liars and are wrong. They are the worst. There are no prophets in modern day. Joseph Smith is a fool." I almost turned to him to ask "And where is the love of Christ? How is it that you show the love of Christ by attacking us?" But it wasn't even worth it. My companion just replied, "No, no, Mormons are the best!" ;). Oh these people that don't even understand what they are doing. I sure hope they accept the gospel before it is too late and we are all in el juicio. 

Sunday was mas o menos. Sadly el chamoco intervened in the lives of our investigators and they couldn't attend church. Only one came. However, this one investigator is the chosen one for November! We were sitting in church with him when suddenly he turned to us and said. I AM going to be baptized in your church. However I want you to explain to me my responsibilities and commitments that I will have as a member. :) Wow!!! He has always said that he will probably get baptized but never really accepted his baptismal date. He was working on his answer. He said he just needs to be 51% sure and he will be baptized. Today we gained that 1% !!!!! Woo hoo!!! He is going to be baptized!!! It is a miracle!!! He is our investigator that didn't believe in God and now believes in God!!! Yay!!!!!  

Well, I'm sorry I don't have more time to write a big spiritual thought. I only want to testify to you today that specific prayers, obedience and fasting bring miracles. Not only in my mission but in my family. And I know that I am not here to just bless the lives of these people but also my life, the life of my family, and my future family. So onward and upward for the next 6 months. Here we go!!

I love you all so much!!! Cuidense!! 

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 55

Querida Hermana Lutze,

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS! We hope you have a wonderful birthday! We love you! (It's nice that it fell on P-Day!)

I just want you to know how grateful we are as a family for your faithful and diligent service as a missionary for your Savior Jesus Christ. How did everything go on Tuesday? I hope you've had a great week. It was an unusually crazy week that I'll tell you more about when you get on tomorrow. Bottom line we received so many tender mercies last week! 

Hannah is working hard in school. We saw her and Marissa again this weekend. They came over Friday night and stayed until late Saturday. Guess whose wash I did when she came home? Sound familiar? Natalie finished range this week and has road left before getting her driver's license in January. Jakob got his braces off on Tuesday. He looks great and of course had a grin from ear to ear. He's the only one going trick or treating tomorrow and it will be his last year. 

I've thought a lot this week about the service others render to us... I was reminded that we just need to act... not ask what we can do for them but just do! I had a flat tire among other issues this week. I called Michelle Howell and asked if Trent could come over and put the spare on while I was gone. She not only offered that but took the car down and picked it up when they finished putting a new tire on. I'll have to show you what was in the tire. It's really an unbelievable story in an incredibly difficult week. I decided to keep it to remind me of the way I want to serve others! In order to serve others in this way we must have the spirit with us to guide us and direct us to what is truly important-to be His hands. 

I love you!

Have a great week!

Mom

Week 54 (Humility-What is Right Not Who!)

Well this week was genial! It went by so fast!

Monday was a normal P-day - clean the house, kill the cucarachas, wash my clothes the old fashioned way, stare at a computer for an hour and  a half, go to the coolest meeting ever and then finish it with a missionary "sleepover" where we actually just sleep and we don't even stay up late. ;) Mondays are always good and productive. That is what I like about them!

Tuesday In the morning we prepared for our capacitation that we are giving next Tuesday. And let me just say that it is going to be awesome! Then in the evening we started our grand service project! We (hermanas lideres and lideres de zona) are going to go to all the areas of  the missionaries in our zone and bring them a poster and little gift and work in their areas to try to animarles (motivate them) and help them feel our love for them! Today we went to the Ranchitos (Bermejillo y Cuauhtemoc). They were so happy to see us! They liked their little gifts and poster! It was nothing big, la verdad, but it is really the thought that counts and that we were there in person. We stayed with them and went to go sing to their investigators. It was a great day of service!

Wednesday we worked some more on the capacitation. Then in the evening we got to work in our area! Yay! We  made some good contacts and found some new investigators! One is a young woman who has a problem cutting herself because her parents don't pay attention to her. I hope her mom lets her listen to us because, la verdad, she needs help from her Heavenly Father.  Overall it was a dia tranquilo.

Thursday we had a Junta con los asistentes. It was actually a very good, productive meeting. We talked about what problems we are facing in our zones and this time we actually came up with SOLUTIONS and not just a bunch of scriptures to plancharles. and for that reason I liked it because I think we came up with some good ideas that are going to help us a lot in our zones. Then we all ate pizza together!! Yay!!! It was a good start of the day! Then we returned to our area and worked a little, until it started to storm really bad. So we went to the church to work on the capacitation some more with the Lideres de Zona. Oh, and by the way, the people say that as of this day, it will start to be cold. Ya empieza el frio.

Friday Well it's true, it's starting to get colder here! But colder here is like 70s and 80s. I will not complain because it feels so good in comparison to the 90s! The morning was again spent on the capacitation. No me diga! This capacitation is taking forever to make. However, it will be truly amazing once it is finished!! In the evening we went to pick up Joseph and his family so that he could go to mutual and his mom to Relief Society. They had a great time at the activities! We are working really hard so that Joseph can be baptized. (his mom is member). We are trying to help him have good friends at church so that he likes going to church and activities ;). We played a little with the Jovenes and then we went to correlacion misional.

Saturday we finally finished the capacitation!! Yaya!  We went to la comida and then visited all the people we need to attend church on Sunday. We found Thomas and he accepted a baptismal date! Also, Joseph and his mom and brother are going to go with us as well! It's going to be a good Sunday!

Sunday Thomas and Joseph both went to church!! Yay!! That made the whole day wonderful! After church, I ate my first brownie in over a year! Wow, it was amazing! I'm going to have to eat more brownies in about 6 months. Then we ate an amazing comida de pollo verde! So good So good! Afterwards, we had to run off to go and visit more missionaries with the elders (good thing they have a good bus system here because the areas are far, far away). It was a great finish to the week! 

Monday, well today I cleaned.........a lot. We deep cleaned our house because the hermanas are going to basically live with us for 3 days because of meetings and interviews and such. So now the house is really, really clean and beautiful! I think it is actually the cleanest house in all the mission ;). Hopefully that will help with the cucarachas. There are a lot here!! Each night I have to kill about 4 or 5! So, I am now practically a professional cucaracha killer ;)

This week I have learned a lot about "if you want to be the greatest in the kingdom you have to be the servant" and submitting to the will of others. As an Hermana lider, I see now how we have to serve and not try to make ourselves better than those we serve because we want to be the type of lider that inspires, encourages and elevates the level of performance. To do that you have to make everyone be better than yourself and the way to do that is to serve them, help them, and nourish them. I am learning to love on a whole new level. I have learned to submit. There are just some things in life that aren't worth fighting over. With my companion I am learning to just let her do things her way because those things are not going to change our eternal destiny. So I try to love and help her in any way I can. We have to remember that this is not a popularity contest. We are not here to gain position for popularity or prestige. We have to remember that we are not even here to do our will or the will of others. We are only here to do the will of our Heavenly Father.  Therefore, when we work with other people, other members, etc. we have to learn to work together and get things done. We can't afford to be divided. We have to learn to accept others and be united in purpose. It's true we are not going to get along with everyone on the planet or everyone in our ward or seminary, etc. But we can learn to be kind and courteous and to be united in purpose. I have learned that we can't live in conflict. because the spirit of contention is not of God. If we make an error we need to be humble enough to accept it, ask forgiveness, and change. I have also learned this week to humble myself, even if I am correct on the matter, I have learned to humble myself and ask forgiveness on my part. To be humble so we can work for what is really important in this life.  

Well, this is my invitation to you all, that you can be humble in all aspects and situations. Even if you are correct or think your way is better, be humble. Humility is when we worry about what is right and not who is right. It is hard, but it is what helps us move on in life and live happily in every type of relationship.

I love you all!!! 

Love,

Hermana Lutze

Week 54

Querida Hermana Lutze,

Yo espero que todo anda bien alli en Mexico! Life here is the usual busy, crazy of course. I kept working all week even though I was really sick. I started getting sick over a week ago on Saturday and feeling better on Wednesday afternoon. I think I had a short version of the flu. The kids were on Fall Break this week. They have tomorrow off as well.

Hannah and Marissa came over Friday night and stayed until late Saturday night. We had fun carving pumpkins and watching movies. Hannah is really having a hard time in school and not getting awesome grades. We just keep encouraging her to work hard and do her very best. She is adjusting well to the social. I'm so glad she had a date last weekend. She will be singing again with the choir for the young single adult fireside coming up in December I believe. She's excited about that. 

Natalie and Jakob are working hard in school and enjoying their break this weekend. I took them up to Heber Friday. We went bowling with Papa. He just watched us. Natalie beat us in both games. She even got a turkey - 3 strikes in a row in the last game. We then spent time at Papa's with the Millers and finished the evening with a visit to the Train for dinner. Coming home we were so protected... We'd just left Heber driving on the straight, fast portion towards Midway when a deer came across the road from left to right. I missed hitting him by inches going 70 miles per hour. Blessings! What's weird is that he was so fast I didn't see him cross in front of me until he was on my right front bumper. Yikes!

We attended Stake Conference last night and this morning. It was all excellent! Last night we had a discussion about loving those around us and not judging them - less actives, early return missionaries, single church members, LGBTQ, really anyone and everyone right... We need to assume everyone has good attentions and they are doing their best. This morning we heard on the topic of coming unto Christ. I really enjoyed President Lyman's talk. He spoke of three enablers of hope.

Perspective - We need to remember Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts... We must seek God's perspective on our lives to gain His view. Doing the fundamental practices consistently helps us to gain His perspective and brings us peace.

Focus - Our focus must be on Christ! Remember faith in Christ and doubt cannot exist at the same time. When we learn to control our thoughts we will learn to master ourselves.

Grace - We must have daily application of the Atonement! It is only through the enabling power of the Atonement (being yoked to the Savior) that we can pull the hard loads of life! The Lord loves us and hasn't left us alone. We are His work and His glory!

I love you! I hope you have a great week! We sent something from Mexico City on Wednesday for your birthday! So let me know when you receive it. There should be two items! :)

Love,

Mom

Week 53 (Do I Lead with Love?)

Dear family and friends,

Another week has flown by and I'm sure these 6 months remaining will fly by as well! There is so much to do, learn. and change. I just hope I have enough time to do it all!

My week was pretty good. 

Monday Today was fabulous!! We went to eat with Presidente and Hermana Ramos in their house (muy nice).  It was quite the adventure because Hna Jimenez and I had to find buses that would take us to Torreon and then from Torreon to Hacienda where we were going to meet up with Hna Moronta, Hna Vazquez and Hna Ramos. It was a miracle that we arrived! But, we got to the meeting point unscathed ;) Then Hna Ramos took us to the office. And that is where I met up with my two old companions from Estacion (they are now companions) and let's just say Hna Reyes almost killed me from  her excitement of seeing me. ;) Luckily I have strong bones and a soccer stance at all times ;). Then we all went to the Mission home. There we ate some delicious Mole. Mole from the DF and pollo encacahuatado (basically mole but with peanut butter). They were both delicious! After that we took some great pictures on the playground and by the famous "river" Nazas. (It is more of a dry dirt river than a water river.) That was basically P-day :)

Tuesday We had our Capacitacion de Zona which was awesome! But really, really long (6/7 hours). And at the end I went with Hna Santiesteban (Yay!) to Cuauhtemoc (ranchito) in an intercambio. We had so much fun! And in the night time we went to the Ferria where the ward had a booth set up that was so cute! You could take your picture in a frame that said "Families are Eternal" and other frames and then they print the picture right there and then! It was so cute! We got a lot of referencias! So much fun! Then we went home and "slept". No, I couldn't sleep I wanted to talk to one of my best friends in the mission! It was so good to spend time with her!

Wednesday It was a normal day to say the least. And that is all I remember :)

Thursday In the morning we made surprise visits to the Hermanas to do their inventarios. Wow! It was surprising to see their houses when it is not an intercambio with one of us. Some of them were still very clean and organized. Some of them were a disaster. So we helped them do a bit of cleaning this morning ;) I realized in that moment that how my house is here in the mission is how my house is going to be in the future. So all you missionaries I hope you practice keeping your houses clean. 

Friday The day I left my home one year ago!? Wow!!! I cant believe it!! I now have a year in the mission!!! Crazy! It doesn't feel like a year of my life has passed away!? But the date says that it has passed! Now only 6 months to go!! Woo hoo!! Today was a good day. It was really hot but we found some good people to teach. I hope that some baptisms will be coming soon.

Saturday We did our last inventario!! Woo hoo! They take forever and we have to go so far to their house to do them. We have easily spent over 500 pesos in transportation just doing these inventarios. However, they are now done and we just have to submit them. This day was actually funny because a couple miracles happened. We hopped on a bus to go back to our area and we decided to go on an adventure and see if this bus could actually take us to our area. So we kept going and going and going and then it passed by the very end of our area! Yes! So we hopped off and started walking and then a member with a taxi gave us a lift to our comida and the comida was the healthiest comida that I have eaten in a while! It is the little things that make life great! ;)  The rest of the day was great as well. We talked to some very confused people that don't want anything to do with the gospel. We talked to people that only want to fight with us over doctrine. I have to say I'm very good at winning the battles in Spanish ;). Then in the night we went to help the Elderes with their baptism because their was no water. You kinda need water to baptize someone. We ended up going to another capilla but it all turned out well. 

Sunday  We went to church, ate yummy food and went to go teach those who would accept to listen on a Sunday afternoon (the weekends are always the hardest with so many fiestas and everyone is drinking.....a lot).

This week I have been thinking about being a leader and all that it requires. Something I liked a lot about the Capacitacion with Presidente is that he said we have to be leaders that are loved and not feared, respected and not scorned. We have to learn to be leaders so that one day we can be leaders in our home. I think that is so true. In life we have to be respected because we are loved and not because we are feared. Love gains the respect and loyalty that lasts forever. It's the type of respect our children have for us. And as leaders we always have to lead with righteousness and sometimes make the hard decisions. At times we may be hated and people may say mean things or gossip, but in the end they will be grateful that we decided to lead in that way. I also really like a scripture I was reading the other day. In English it basically says that the proud will be humbled and the humble will be lifted up and blessed. If we want to rise, if we want to be better, if we want to be of more use in the hands of God, we have to be humble. We cannot seek after position in the kingdom of God. It is not the Game of Thrones here. We are here to serve. Let him that is greatest among you be your servant. We can't seek to be president or bishop or any other calling. We must learn to be humble, have a desire to serve and that all the glory is for God. In our callings, we have to magnify them and magnify them for God, magnify them to build up the kingdom of God and be willing to accept whatever calling may come our way. We can't say "I want a calling, just not that calling that you are giving me."  God needs people who have the ambition for Christ and want to serve how, where, and in what they may. We need people who are ready to work and willing to grow because they are the army of God. They are the true and faithful and chosen people of God.

So I invite you all to work on being beloved leaders in all that you do, in school, at work, at home, in the street, and to learn to be humble and willing to serve so that God can build you up and make you into what you were always meant to be.

Well I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Lutze!

P.S. I'll see you in 6 months!