Bipolar Week

Hermana Salcido, San Juan and Ochsenbein

Buenos Dias!

So Texas was having a really bipolar week this past week. On Friday everything here in Baytown was FROZEN and we weren't allowed to leave our apartments and then the next day it was like 70 degrees and beautiful outside. And apparently this next week is going to be really freezing too and might even snow so we will see!

President interviews were this week and they went really well! President Crawford gave us these things called "tassels" to memorize when I first got to the mission. We are asked to memorize about 100 scriptures and what they say and what points they go with in the lessons. And he asked everyone to have them memorized by their interviews. So Hermana Salcido and I were memorizing like crazy all week and when president interviews came we aced the test the assistants gave us. We were pretty proud of ourselves haha. My interview with president was so good. He is such a great, kind, wise man and I look up to him so much. He makes you feel special even though he has 200 other missionaries to worry about. He always asks how I'm doing and especially at this time of year because he knows that this is about when Mom passed away. 

So kind of sad news. We had to drop the Gutierrez family. It was definitely one of the hardest parts of my mission so far. We really didn't want to drop them but we had been praying about it and we just knew that it had to be done. They just didn't want to give up some of their beliefs. And we completely understand that it's hard and it's not easy for people to change. The good thing is that things ended really well and the spirit was so strong. I know that down the road they will accept the gospel and welcome in that spirit again. They are such great people.

So now good news! Katia is BACK from the Dominican! And even better news she is still good for being baptized on Feb 1! Oh how I missed her!

Things are going really well with Hugo still. We gave him 3 dates to pick from and pray about. When we extended the dates to him his wife Gloria started crying and he had the biggest smile on his face :) It was a really happy moment for us all. Ahh I just LOVE them!

I love all of you and I'm so grateful for you love and support! Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Hermana San Juan

She hasn't lost her love of life!

P-Day Bowling

Champions!

So basically every P-day we get together as a zone and play nerf war.

(This sounds super nerdy!)

This is a picture of the WINNING team. Champions.

HOLA,

Sorry the library was closed yesterday so that's why I'm e-mailing today! And apparently my e-mail last week didn't make it so I'm really sorry. I'm alive. I promise!

This week we had a baptism in our branch! His name is Hector and he is so amazing. The service was beautiful and he looked so happy. Vilma came to the baptism and she told us that she felt the spirit. I don't know if I have told you about Vilma? She is one of our progressing investigators. She comes to church every Sunday, reads the Book of Mormon, prays. But she won't accept a baptism date because her son is on a mission right now and she wants to wait until he gets back to be baptized. He still has about a year and a half left soo..... We are trying to help her understand why it's important to be baptized and that she can have even more blessings. She is so amazing. We love her.

Also, we are teaching this man named Hugo right now and he is SO great. Let me just tell you about him. So his wife Gloria is a member and she was less active for a long time, about 10 years. Her mom passed away of cancer and was a really strong member of the Church so when she died all of her kids fell away from the Church because they felt like they just couldn't do it without her. But recently she has decided to start coming back to church and so has her sister Diana. When I first met them it was an instant connection. I shared experiences about Mom and how she passed away from cancer as well. They have helped me understand things and I hope I have helped them in some way. And now we are teaching Gloria's husband, Hugo. He accepted the invitation to be baptized and is progressing really well. They are at church every week, never miss a Sunday. They are so strong and faithful now. Ahhh I love them. They are already making plans to come visit after the mission so you guys can for sure meet them :)

Also I just want to say that I love Hermana Salcido. She is the best. We are twins you guys it's crazy. Baytown is growing and we are seeing a lot of success and miracles! I love you all and I love this gospel! Have the best week ever!

Love,

Hermana San Juan

Forty Day Fast

Hey dad this was the e-mail I sent last week sorry I don't know what happened!

 BFFS (But seriously guys I love her.)

So this was a pretty normal week! How does Mason always have so much to say in his e-mails?

Funny story. So the English Elders were knocking some doors in this apartment complex and this man answered and they stared talking to him about the Book of Mormon and his neighbor randomly comes out side holding up a Book of Mormon and says in broken english "this is a good book read it!" and then went back inside of his apartment. So naturally the elders decided to go knock on his door and see what that was about. Well he didn't speak much English so the elders called us and gave us his information. So we went over there and you guys, this guys knows more about the Book of Mormon than most members of the church. He told us that he has read it 5 times!! 5 times! He has all the stories memorized and also knows Joseph Smiths whole story. He is a super genius. So we have been teaching him. He has a hard time with accepting a couple of things and doesn't want to come to church because he doesn't believe in organized religion but he is really great and we are seeing progress!

The Gutierrez family is doing really awesome. We taught them the word of wisdom the other night and they just completely opened up to us. Hermano Gutierrez told us that he has had an addiction to smoking for almost his whole life and he has tried to quit so many times but it's hard. And now he has a lot of health problems because of it. But we felt really prompted to promise him that with the help of your Heavenly Father you will be able to quit smoking and you will have the health that you need. They are progressing really well. It's just hard with them sometimes because Hermana Gutierrez was raised in the Catholic church and her whole family is catholic so it's hard for her to change. But they told us that they can feel that this church is true and they are willing to change even though it's hard. We see them almost every night and we have such a good relationship with them.

So as a mission we are doing this thing called "The 40 day fast" It started yesterday. So yesterday we had a mission wide fast and we chose 3-5 things each that are holding us back from being the consecrated missionary. So for example I wrote 4 things down in my study journal that I want to give up for 40 days. One of this things was singing worldly music. Sometimes I find myself singing a song that I liked before the mission and it's not the worst thing in the world but it's all about giving up those little things that might be holding you back so that you can become the missionary Heavenly Father knows you can become. I am really looking forward to doing it and I know we are going to see a difference.

That's about it for this week! I love all of you SO MUCH and I hope you have an amazing fun week.

Con Amor,

Hermana San Juan :) 

Orange Leaf!!!

New Years Resolution: Eat Healthy

Photos from Our Christmas Party

The missionaries had their Christmas gathering on the 11th of December:

I Love Being a Missionary!

Heeeeyyy,

So exciting news! It's finally cold in Texas! Today it's going to be in the 20's so pretty excited for that.

Hermana Salcido and I saw a lot of awesome miracles this week. First miracle. So on Saturday night for our last appointment of the day we went and saw the Gutierrez family. Our goal was to get them to come to church with us the next day (yesterday). They haven't been to church before because they are a little bit nervous about going. They both grew up Catholic and that is the only church they have been to. So we invited them and asked them if it would be okay if we came over in the morning before church and they could follow us there. They said that was okay so we were really excited about that. So we went over in the morning at 10:00. And no joke this was probably one of the best moments of my mission life. They were all patiently waiting there for us to show up and they all looked BEAUTIFUL in their church dresses and nice clothes. You guys I can't even begin to explain the joy I felt in that moment. They were SO nervous the night before about church. They are a poor family so they also felt like they didn't have nice enough clothes to go. But you guys they looked beautiful and they were glowing. On the way to church Hermana Salcido and I started to cry a little bit. haha we were just so happy!

Also I don't know if I told you this but I gave a talk in sacrament last week! Oh and you will never believe something else I did I sang "Nearer My God to Thee" also! My first time ever singing a solo in church, and in Spanish too! I was so nervous, but I think it went alright.

I know I say this every week but I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. And I love all of you! Sorry I don't have any pictures I left my camera at the apartment again, ha ha. Really sorry, I always do this!

Love you all. I hope you have a great week and you are always in my prayers!

Con Amor,

Hermana San Juan