Blessings from fasting

This week has been an AMAZING testimony builder to fast and fast offerings. We realized that we had been slacking a little with this commandment. So Sunday, we decided to fast and pay very generous fast offerings. We have been seeing the outpour of blessings from keeping this commandment!! We have been a little tight for money...like counting the little pesos that we have left, and this week EVERYONE has been offering us food. We are definitely not going hungry. ALSO, we have met some AMAZING people this week and have some great appointments lined up for this upcoming week. WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! My testimony has grown exponentially. Never again am I missing fasting on fast Sunday or fast offerings.

I have heard so much apostacia this week. If I had a peso for every false doctrine thing I have heard, I would be a very rich missionary right now. A man told us that he read recently in the Bible that it says you need to pray to God in the name of Christ asking to the Virgen Guadalupe.....Hna P and I almost started dying laughing when we looked at each other from the corners of our eyes. But we maintained the calm. The Virgen is SUCH a big thing here, but is SO false. It is completely against the commandments, but people choose to see what they want to see.

We got caught in a torrential downpour this week. At first we waited under a tree to see if it would lighten up a bit....but it is almost like the weather could read our thoughts and thought HAHA NO. It then started to rain like I have never seen before. We break out in a sprint to P's house - which was the nearest one but still not that close - and finally get there, looking like we had just gotten out of the ocean. It is funny how we resist it at first but then when we realize there is nothing we can do about it, we embrace it and think how funny the whole situation is.

I LOVE HERMANA P!!!!!! We get along SO well and I love this time with her. We are some very happy missionaries.

Still working on my Spanish hahahah I told Hna P one day to look at the pole thing that has the meat for the tacos al pastor, because it was a wicked small one and we are used to seeing ENORMOUS ones. It is called a Trompo. Trompo de tacos al pastor. I said trompa. Trompa is the mouth of a large animal......hahahahha we lost it laughing then too

P and F - We met this brother and sister in one of the oddest experiences of my mission. All our plans fell through last Monday...we ran into this really humble woman walking and started talking to her. We ended up at her house, asked if we could share a message with her, and she accepted. We entered, their house is basically made of trash, and met her brother also. They live a very humble life, and have minds more like children. I think they are in their 50s. Anyway, we put a cita to go back with them in a couple of days and we get there and we realize AFTER we are in their house that F is drunk. That is why his handshake was lingering and uncomfortable and he kept toughing our arms. I grabbed his hand and told him NO, DO NOT TOUCH MY COMPANION. We got out of there quick, but told them we were going to pass by for them Sunday at 9. Leaving, neither of us really had any expectations that they were going to go on Sunday. BUT, Sunday we go to pass by for them and F took a shower, brushed his hair and was wearing clothing not WICKED dirty. Wow. He was like another person. They ended up getting to church by themselves because we had to go look for other people, but they showed up!!! They are impressing us a lot. Miracles are possible!

D - Excited for her baptism!!! The only problem is her mom....I do not think she is our biggest fan

B and family - B had some problems with her baby and he was in danger. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and everyone was super stressed and crying at the Mother's Day activity we had. The bishop is great and was able to give her a blessing and the next day we saw B in the street - coming back from her appointment - and she said that everything is fine now!! YAY for priesthood blessings!!!!

G and E - references from their neighboor who is a member. The member told us Sunday that they wanted to meet with us and that we could drop by around 4. So we did, 3 hours and a lot of questions later, we have 2 new investigadores! WOW is all I can say. They literally were asking the perfect questions. How can the Gospel change me? How can the Gospel change my family? What is the Gospel? How does your church have the authority? WOW WOW WOW :) We are very excited for them.

This week we are having conferences with Elder Pino on Wednesday and Elder Christensen on Friday. We are very excited!!!! Back to Xalapa again!

Love, Hermana Westergard

making atole

after being soaked 

dinner

making pancakes floor-style

Happy Mother's Day!!!

AAHHH!!! It was so great talking to my family!!!!! I miss you all so much, and I cannot wait to see you all!!! It was one of the more interesting skype sessions...Ruth in Utah, Mom, Dad and Riley in MA and Jess in England. Thank goodness for modern day technology and free skype calls!! I know that families can be forever, and that mine will! THAT is why I am here! Because I want to see eternal families too.

We have done a lot of good contacting this week. It is so great to not feel scared to talk to these strangers! If that makes sense? Basically we just open up our mouths with everyone. Planting little seeds everywhere we go :)

This week they called me to ask me which airport I want to go home too....that was really WEIRD.

We made carlota for a Mother's Day treat and went around giving it to the different moms who live in our apartment complex. Some were a little weirded out but others looked so grateful and it looked like we made their day. SO, it was definitely worth it :) 

We had consejo this week, so back to Xalapa again! I love being a part of it. I learn so much and can see how much Presidente loves us and how EVERYTHING he does is to help us have more success in this great work!

Hna P is participating more in the lessons which is great!!!! She is still timid, but we practice the baptism invitation walking around, and she builds a little more confidence each time! We have HILARIOUS practices in companionship study hahahaha it is weird to see what amuses us as missionaries. But I love working with her, she is so sweet and humble and we are doing some great work :) We are a very happy companionship.

Y - we finished teaching him everything this week and his baptism was Sunday!!! I really saw a huge change in Y. Right before the serivce started, he went up to a teenager - who is a member - and asked his forgiveness. I guess they go to the same school and they have not had the best relationship. Wow. I do not think I have ever heard of a 15 year old doing that. He also gave a beautiful prayer ending the baptismal service. I love this kid a lot. I am so excited for him and B and S. I know they are going to be able to help each other and be examples to the other members of their family.

Don M - needs a testimony of Joseph Smith. We taught him the Word of Wisdom, but I know that in order to have a desire to actually follow this commandment, he needs to be really sure of Joseph Smith first. He has a desire to do what is right and to be a better person, and I know that the Gospel can help him with that.

Happy Mother's Day to the best mom in the world! I am so grateful for mine, and I know that without her I would be a very different person. Everyone make sure to tell your moms how much you love them, because you don't realize how much you will miss her until you can't hug her for 18 months.

Love, Hermana Westergard

gringas locas, Hermana Hidalgo :), El Calvario, this scripture does not exist...

gringas locas

Hermana H :)

El Calvario

this scripture does not exist...

poor missionaries with one outlet in the kitchen and no table

Happy Mother's Day picture!!!

Y excited for his baptism

Y's baptism!!

enormous ice cream

Hermana P

So Hermana P is still amazing! I love this girl so much! She is like a sponge ready to learn and ready to soak up everything I say and do. She has a sweet spirit and she has a contagious love for the gospel. How blessed I am so have such an amazing comapnion!!!! She doesn't really say a whole lot right now but I remember how I was when I first got here and how I did not want to talk to ANYONE!!! She is much further advanced when I was hahha but she really is great!!! It is a great experience training from the very beginning. Hna P asks me lots of questions and looks up to me a lot and follows my example in TODO. I feel like she helps keep me on track too :) I love doing the 12 Semanas, I love remembering all the little things, I love training! I feel like each time I testify of something or teach a little thing to Hna P, my testimony grown that much more and I am reminded that all of this is 100% true!!!!!! AHHH JUST SO HAPPY :)

I have also realized how much I have come along in my Spanish! Right now, I am basically teaching the whole lesson every day and saying everything...AND PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ME :) It is such a satisfying feeling. I have been very blessed to have Latinas as compañeras my whole mission.

If there is something I have learned here, it is that we need to fight for EACH investigator. Each soul is SO importand and Satan isn't gonna give it to us without a fight. Salvation is not an easy experience.

P, Y, A, J, J, S, B - They have been reading and praying. Committed to live the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. There is so many problems with this family though. Lots of little things that bug them and prevent them from keeping the peace. S and B are not gonna be able to get married until June, they have to pay some debts and save up the money. They love us a lot and the kids are always playing on the roof of the house when we show up, and when they see us they shout HERMANAS HERMANAS and everyone turns to see us.

S y B - S was confirmed and B is still going strong :) Spiritually and physically! I JUST LOVE THIS FAMILY :)

Y - not reading, BUT FINALLY started praying. We made a prayer rock with him to put on his pillow to he remembers to pray. And so far so good! He has some problems with the Word of Wisdom, but we put goals and ya esta mejor. We taught him the Law of Chastity and no problems with that either THANK GOODNESS. Everything looks good for his baptism on Sunday! He is a really good kid. He brought 3 amigitos to church on Sunday :)

D - J's step-sister. She has been partially listening the the missionaries for a while too. But no one has taken the initiative to really TALK TALK with her! Well we did, and she wants to be baptized! She ended up running from centro to make it to the last hour of church, but she made it! I was suprised when she accepted una fecha, I thought I heard her wrong hahaha but no! 

Don M - he has kind of semi been listening to the missionaries for a while because his daughter was baptized a couple of months ago. We had a great lesson with him last night, and he has been to church the last couple of weeks. We put a goal for his baptism May 24th. He told us one of the reasons he has not been baptized is because he feels like he can't forgive his ex-wife. And he feels like he would be a hypocrite to be baptized knowing that he isn't completing with one of the 10 commandments. He has a point. But he has been reading the Book of Mormon, and has a real desire to do what is right.

Love, Hermana Westergard

OH. Please do not send me anything. I probably won't get it before I go home

our new

veryyyyyy small zone

disgusting finger paleta

new agenda!

Changes!!!!

Hola!!!!

Well guess what!!!!! We had changes this week and I know that this next transfer is going to be so great!!!!!! I felt it in my stomach all week that I felt like I was going to train, and it came to pass. I did not want to say anything to anyone hahaha because if it didn't happen well that is kind of embarrassing I am training a fresh, new missionary, Hermana P! She is a short little Mexicana from La Ciudad de Mexico who is so sweet and full of life and love and is so excited to be here. I am really grateful to be able to work with her - hopefully to start and end her training. I really do not think there would be a better way to end my mission than going back and reminding myself of al the basics while we are doing the training together. We are both here in Teziutlan, and she really lucked out because all the other areas of the mission are getting up to 43 degrees Celsius. Lucky us! It is actually kind of cold right now, hahaha we are both wearing our coats. But yes! I am so happy! I did not want Hna A to leave, we were finally starting to work really well together and we were having a lot of success, but Heavenly Father knows what is best!

I GOT TO SEE HERMANA Q AND HERMANA H because they are both training too!!! I HAVE MISSED THEM BOTH SO MUCH!!!!! I love them like my sisters. We didn't get much sleep hahaha. Also in Xalapa I got to see M and C and C from Museo!!!! They took me and Hna Q to Chiles for breakfast. It's nice to feel like a part of a family again sometimes.

We had a rough district class this week. Not for me, but for Hna A. We were practicing the Law of Chastity, for me one of the harder things to teach. The whole thing was basically a mess because the elders being our investigators were goofing around and Hna A got frustrated and it was basically a tornado of a practice. Then one of the elders planches Hna A because she really likes to use examples in her teaching, and that destroyed her and she ended up crying and  so yes you get the picture. BUT, after some hugs and consoling words, Hna A was better and she didn't worry about it too much. I have really gotten to know her and I have learned SO much from her. Hna A really is a fantastic missionary and I am going to miss her a lot! She also made me realize how EXTREMELY blessed I am and how many unnecessary problems I avoided sticking to my standards while growing up. But I always tell her what doesn't kill her makes her stronger and that she was called HERE for a reason. Because her past experiences can help her understand others and help them become truly converted. I know she is going to have a lot of success here!

Random things from this week. A dog bit me. We ate rabbit. The rabbit was the pet of B and its name was Bunny....RIP conejito.

P and her pueblo - they are a typical family still. Lots of problems, developing lots of patience hahaha but also lots of love. There were obviously some issues with the Law of Chastity, and we have a wedding in the works so that is something new! They are accepting the commandments, are praying as a family and reading the Book of Mormon, so they are chugging along on the right tracks :) B is pregnant, new news this week, so that makes her that much more sensitive to the spirit which is great!!!! There are always a million little kids running around and screaming and crying and almost giving me heart attacks, but I do my best to stay focused hahaha. I LOVE THEM!!! We had a great Noche de Hogar and they are a happy family with a new goal of an eternal family :)

S, Y, B - B was confirmed!!! Yay!!!! She looks like an angel with her humongous belly and the smile that she seems to have in her eyes all the time :) S was baptized and OTRA VEZ C struggled a little and she went under twice. So he is improving! I am so glad that they can support eachother as sisters in this new path! Y is also excited for his baptism but didn't go to church on Sunday SO we have to push it back another week.

Love, Hermana Westergard

S's baptism!!!!

Hna A and I at the ADO

CHILES :) with M and C :)

the hermanas and their trainers!!

all the new missionaries

Hermana P and I

HERMANA Q :) and I after staying up talking the whole night hahahah suffering

scorpion thing.....yikes

Bunny it its many forms RIP

bad translations in my grammar book

Happy

This week we had a lot of really good days. Really, really, good days. Basically, I could not have asked for a better week than this. It is a good time to be a missionary.

We are working with A LOT of people. My area is SO blessed. I feel like I have reached the gold mine of the mission. I love the people, I love my companion, I love it all!!!!!! Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts, I know it would not be the same without the support and prayers from all of you.

I have felt my testimony of the Book of Mormon growing exponentially in the past couple of weeks. I cannot say that I loved the Book of Mormon before the mission, because, well I didn't. But now, when I have that book in my hand, it is like my heart gets tingly and my heart pounds a little faster and as I flip through the pages, my fingers feel a sense of adoration and respect for the prophets and the people, and the pages are like a well-known family member. I love the Book of Mormon!! With my whole heart! I know it was written my prophets inspired my God. And I know that their teachings apply to each one of us personally today. How amazing is it that we have a book that has the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ? AH :) I just love it!!!!! It is so amazing to be here and feel my love for the Book of Mormon and for the gospel of Jesus Christ growing inside of me. I never thought that my mission would make me my biggest convert. 

Some goals, I am working on talking slower. Hna A told me that I talk wicked fast, and people are not always putting their full attention in my when I am talking because they are distracted by my hair/eyes/every other gringa aspect of me. And I never know if people did not understand me because of 1) my accent or 2) they aren't focusing on what I am saying. It is a bit frustrating, but Hna A told me I have started talking slower and I am starting to see a difference! Yay for constructive criticism!

Hna A didn't believe me when I told her if you eat 2 plates in the comida, people always offer you food for the rest of the day. And the days when you only eat 1 plate, no one offers you food. There is no balance to me found. It is the awful jinx I have found in the mission. SO, we eat 2 plates. Then what happens? BOOM, sandwiches, tacos, more tacos, oatmeal with apples and boiled potatoes with salt during the rest of the afternoon. We get back the house and she looks and me and says I KNOW I KNOW YOU TOLD ME. hahahah my wisdom I have learned from the mission.

Ate tacos of tongue......GROSS. Never again. The man also tried offering me tacos of eyes but you gotta draw a line somewhere. AND tacos of eyes are WAY beyond my line.

B y S y Y - Sunday was B's baptism!!! She was beautiful and VERY pregnant. I was praying the whole time that she would not have her baby right there in the water. And my prayer was answered. J baptized her, but he had never baptized anyone before and was SUPER nervous. hahahah poor kid was shaking so much!!! He had to baptize her 3 times because each time she did not go all the way under. But, 3 times is the charm! S is feeling a little nervous for her baptism next week, but I know that seeing her sister's baptism was something that really helped her. We made a little leeway with Y also, and he told us that he liked church last week when he went. He has been praying, and things are going a lot better with him! Their 11 year old friend J is in love with me. Poor little kid hahahahaha he always wants pictures and when we told him that cambios were coming up, he nearly had a heart attack. But he read all of 1 Nephi and accepted the Word of Wisdom, no questions asked. His mom does not know he is talking with us, but he is determined to be baptized when is he 18 because his mom is wicked Catholic. Just 7 more short years to wait.

P and her pueblo - SOOO!!!! This family is golden!!!!! They love everything we teach! They loved church! There are 7 people in this family that we are teaching in total. P, her daughter Y, her son S, his girlfriend B E, and her children J and C, and another granddaughter A. They come from very humble means, all are working, and S and B are not married and Y isn't married either but her husband is in Guadalajara. SO, those are their big problems. But they are reading the Book of Mormon and praying and are very sincere. Only 2 of all of them can read, but the ones who can read, read to those who can't. We have a lot of word to do with them, but we are up for the challenge!!

Weird, today Hna A celebrates 3 months in the mission, and Wednesday I only have 3 months left. We are kind of on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Love, Hermana Westergard

so many kids who cannot read :(

 B's baptism!!!

crazy big hair day

Manantiales

Nothing specific

This week we went to consejo and it was really great!!! It was weird to see the hermanas from my generation, we all feel like time is flying by! I feel re-booted again and I was reminded that every little thing matters!!!!! Down to the basics. It is all a pyramidish type thing that we are building.

Something that I have been really grateful for recently is my testimony of the Atonement. I have felt my testimony and my faith grow IMMENSELY in these past couple of weeks and I just feel so much LOVE for our investigators. Like real, actual love. I have felt all this before, but now it has grown to an exponential amount.

One of the BEST talks I have ever read in my WHOLE LIFE is Missionary Work and the Atonement by Jeffrey R Holland. YOU SHOULD ALL READ IT. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!

We ate gringas locas. No we are not cannibals hahaha it is a type of taco. I have also changed my opinion on bananas. I guess things like that happen when they are some of the cheapest fruits and you don't have a lot of money!

S - we are putting SO much effort into S. He wrote us a note and told us he does not want to be baptized until he finds the woman he is going to marry...we have a planching lesson planned for tonight with him. But with lots of love. He has SUCH a strong testimony and lots of faith.....but is equally mysterious.....ug

B, S, Y, A - B and S are progressing wonderfully. Y is a typical 14 year old boy and reminds me so much of RILEY!!!!!! I AM FIGHTING FOR HIM!!!!!! He still has not prayed sincerely or really read a whole lot, so that is what we are focusing on with him. A is their dad who showed while we were teaching B and S the Plan of Salvation. Then he just came out to us and asked us how he could be baptized in our church. CAN YOU REPEAT THAT PLEASE?! So we have started to work with him also!!!!! 

S - She is kind of resorting back to her Jehova's Witness ways and is putting a lot of excuses for things. After a long, tiring lesson, I was kind of done sugar coating things and was very blunt with her. How did the TJs get God's power of the priesthood in their church? She obviously could not answer and was like I have not really studied recently, I will need to look that one up....GAH! Also she was going on and on about the 144,000 who are going to be saved and everyone else is going to hell supposedly. Wrong. Does God only love 144,000 of his children? NO. HE LOVES ALL OF THEM!!!!

J and E - They are struggling as a newly married couple. Satan is putting all these trials in their lives, and they are kind of suffering a lot. Poor guys. E almost didn't get confirmed on Sunday, because they were fighting and J got there with the kids and E just never showed up. SO, we went looking for her. We went all the way to their house and E was not there. We leave and start roaming the streets looking for her. Then I remembered that things would probably go a lot better if we said a prayer, we said one and then LITERALLY a minute later, we see her walking down a hill. Long story short, they were confirmed and the day ended A LOT better than the way it started out. I LOVE THIS FAMILY!!!

P -  a very humble woman we contacted on Saturday and she pored her heart out to us. Like the majority of the people we talk to, she has suffered a lot :( it breaks my heart. We invited her to church on Sunday, and she cannot walk very well so she said she would take a bus over and meet us there. NORMALLY when someone tells us this, it is because they are telling us to take a hike and don't really want to go. But come Sunday, she shows up with 4 of her grown-up kids and about 6 grandchildren. WHAT!!!!!! I was in shock. All of our group of investigators was about a fourth of the population of the Sacrament meeting. We were SO SO SO SO happy!!!! It was a fantastic Sunday :)

Love, Hermana Westergard

I moustache you a question 

the STLs

 gringas locas

I spy King Kong...just kidding 

 Fue el cumpleaños de J!!!

I love Conference!!!

Well, I just want to start out by saying that I LOVED CONFERENCE!!! Wow. 2 days of purely inspired words and messages, so great!!!!! I just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to spell messages.....how embarrassing is that. Moving on!!

Conference was SO focued on families. I know that they are eternal! I know that we can be with our families forever!!! We need to fight EACH DAY so that we make sure that we can have that blessing. Also, I love seeing how the church is growing so much! 3 new temples in places I never would have imagined them. THE CHURCH IS TRUE :)

We had interviews with presidente this week, and it was really good to talk to him. He and Hna Greer care about us a lot, and we all love them too. There is an enormous group of 40 missionaries leaving after this cambio, and only 16+/- are arriving.....so who knows what is going to happen with the mission. They are going to be closing a lot of areas. I am heading down to consejo with the zone leaders tonight with Hna A, so I am sure I will learn a lot!!! Ready to learn!!!

The Semana Santa here has been a little rowdy, but nothing super huge. There were a lot of processions in the streets with some people carrying a cross, others carying a huge statue or Christ with thorns on His head, all singing. I tried taking a picture from our deck without being seen by the passersby below....hence the poor quality of the photo.

I have been learning a lot with Hna A. I feel like this cambio - more than any other one - is when I have been able to see my faults and weaknesses. We try to be better each day though, and Hna A is not afraid to let me know her thoughts. So that is a good thing!

The Easter Bunny is not a thing here in Mexico, but I made it a 'thing'. I made a little goody bag for Hna A, and for J and E's children. THEY LOVED THEM!!!! :) Yay for bringing American traditions into Mexico hahahaha

We discovered some WICKED good tacos de barbacoa de borrego en el centro. Mexico seriously has the best tacos. I never thought I would hear myself say that one of my favorite foods is tacos. Vengan todos a Teziutlan. Yo los compraré.

S - things are still looking good with him for the 12th! He spent Easter with his family, it is a really involved Jewish holiday. He is kind of mysterious which kind of gets the patience of my companion, but we love reading the Book of Mormon with him! He also has a huge desire to share the Gospel with him friends, and he is going to present us to some of them this week!

J and E - Love them. They love us. They loved conference. They are going to be an eternal family. SO MUCH LOVE!!! :)

B and S etc... - B is becoming veryyyyy pregnant, so it is getting difficult for her to get out and move around. But they are all reading the Book of Mormon! We put a goal with them if they could finish 1 Nephi in one week, we would buy a cheesecake. They did it, we all enjoyed a really delicious cheesecake. BUT what is ever MORE delicious is the fact that we can see their tesimonies growing and their faith in Christ. They have been highlighting every word having to do with God or Christ or the Holy Ghost, and the fact that they can see how personal the book is helps them that much more. I love this family!

I love this Easter season, I love being a missionary, and I know with my whole heart that this is the TRUE church and that our families can be FOREVER!!! 

Love, Hermana Westergard

Processions with the cross for Easter

What we went out to run to before the time change

HAPPY EASTER HERMANA A

The easter bunny visited me here for bring treats for B and J :)

What we go out in the morning to run to now