Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! Letter 9-29-15

I Adore Hermana Blackmore

Goodbye Hermosillo

Goodbye Hermana Pina

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

It’s okay to make Bowie references in mission email titles, right?

Hey sweet Family!!

Well it’s been quite the week. TOONNNNSSS has happened. I guess I’ll start from the beginning.

Monday

So I think I`ve mentioned a few times that the dogs here are awful. Not just the Chihuahuas but ALL SONORAN DOGS. While trying to leave an appointment in peace this monstrous animal that supposedly was a dog but seemed to me to be one of those crazy bear/dog things from Lord of the Rings... ya know, that bites off the face of that one guy? Anyways, one of those BIT MY LEG!! It was so scary, but don`t be too worried, I didn`t bleed at all. It just got pretty bruised. The mission life is pretty crazy! :)

Wednesday

We got to go to the temple this day! It was so wonderful and peaceful inside (one reason being there aren`t any psycho dogs). Then later in the day we moved to a different house in our area, because our area has changed a bit. The new house was sadly cockroach infested, :( but on the bright side, I didn’t stay there too long (I`ll get to that part in a second).

Gilda Baggins decided she didn`t want to be baptized this week. No, her name’s not actually Gilda Baggins, I just decided that she was a Baggins--I don’t know what`s up with the Lord of the Rings this week. Anywho, her family is Catholic and told her that they wouldn`t support her, so she’s having some struggles with that. 

On Saturday I had the opportunity of calling Mom and Dad for special circumstances. THAT WAS AWESOME OF COURSE! Hearing their voices was kind of weird but made me feel super happy. It sound like they played my message for the rest of the fam bam. I hope you could understand me. Lots of love (and learning a new language) makes it hard to talk sometimes. Later in the day I got to watch the General Women’s Conference although in Spanish. I didn`t get all of the messages, but it made me super excited for General Conference this weekend, which I`ll be able to watch in English!

Yesterday I left Hermosillo to be transferred to a city that is right on the border of the US. The journey was about 3 hours so I had some good time to read and sleep. :D

I am now in Nogales Mexico with Hermana Blackmore from Canada. The climate here is a lot cooler and there are hills everywhere. It`s really mild and pretty. I like it lots here. My new companion is absolutely adorable!! She`s 20 and has just two months left on the mission. She is super happy and has a really cute and contagious laugh. :) She`s also a bit sassy, which is perfect because the people here can be a little rough but she totally holds her ground. I’m really, really looking forward to this time I’ll have with her. 

We live at the tippy top of this hill (carrying groceries is quite the work out) in a cute little house. However, there are cats that live on our porch. We have to spray them away with water every once in a while. 

This change was a super blessing for me. It’s kind of been like the first day of school. Also, I live WAY close to the border so I think I might be able to find a way to send you letters. :)

I’m so looking forward to General Conference this week. How sad that now we have three apostles that have passed away, but it will be very interesting to see new men being called. I can’t wait to hear what our Prophet has to say!

I hope all is well at home! I love you all so much and you’re always in my prayers.

Con amor,

-Hermana Hauck

A Day in the Life Letter 8-21-15

Walking to Church with Gilda

Hi everybody! 

I have my first baptism this week with Gilda!! I´m super excited. I´ll take pictures and tell you all about it next Monday.

This transfer our area grew double it´s size so I´ll be walking even more, but the good thing is it’s FINALLY beginning to cool off a bit here. Now I said beginning. It is still super hot some days, but we get clouds and nice breezes every once in a while, which is amazing for my sweaty pits. 

We have a new Hermana, Hna. Rocha, in our district who replaced Hna. Fletcher. Now the crazy thing is Hna. Fletcher reminded me lots of Taylor. Well Hna. Rocha reminds me a ton of Jocelyn! I´m not sure who it´ll be next but I´ll keep you updated.

We have an investigator that is progressing pretty well, Jesus Antonio. The only problem is he doesn´t really love going to our ward because there are lots of older folks and the neighboring ward has tons of youth, but I guess the important thing is that he´s going to church!

Also, a random fact that I wanted to share, there is this awesome Christian church in our area that has these Gospel rock concerts a couple times a week. It’s my favorite to walk past the church during these slamming jams about Jesus to see everyone swaying and wiggling to the beat. Another random thing, last night I found a dead Chihuahua. As much as I hate them, it was kind of sad to see. :(

We had a ward party to celebrate the 15th of September (Independence Day here), where we ate some yummies. Like pretty much everything here it started about an hour late. Gotta love these people! :)

I met an Elder Zerkle from Logandale who said he knows the Rebmans! Yay, for connections! Lots of random little facts today.

I want to share that my testimony has grown very much of the power of prayer during my time here. I have been brought humbly to my knees so many times pleading to our Father in Heaven for comfort and strengthen me. And though we don´t always get exactly what we want immediately or the way we want it, He is listening. I know it! He loves us so much and He knows what is best for us. 

Sorry this was pretty short. I don´t have too much to share this week.

I love you all soooooooooo much!!

Con amor,

-Hermana Hauck

Investigators, Temples and Chihuahuas. Oh My! Letter 9-14-15

Hermanas Hauck & Piña

Farewell Dinner for Hermana Fletcher

Hey Turkeys!

Sounds like a super fun week back at home! DISNEYLAND for Emme?!?!? Super jealous! But how fun! Also it was awesome to hear from you all in the letters I received in my first package (thanks a million for the Gatorade). I´ve read each of your messages like 1,001 times. Such wisdom from Shaye about the Gospel being like burritos.

K, so....Queso? No. K, so. Ha-ha, I´m hilarious.

And I am absolutely soaked right now because Hna Piña and I just walked back from McDonalds in pouring rain. BTW McDonalds here are like really nice, but weird because the menu is totally different (i.e. Spanish). The workers were giving the confused gringa (aka me) some quality smirks. I thought McDonalds could be trusted to never confuse a red-blooded American. Sadly this is not so. The world moves on. Anyhow, this week was pretty fun! I want to tell you about some of our investigators. 

Gilda is a 64 year old lady who...well, to put it softly, is a bit slow to understand the Gospel. But she´s super sweet and has a baptism date for the 26 of September. A usual lesson with her goes something like this:

Us: Okay Gilda (pronounced Hilda), the Word of Wisdom commands us to not.....?

Gilda: ...

Us: ...drink....

Gilda: ...the Holy Ghost

Us: ...No, you can´t drink the Holy Ghost because he´s a spirit. We are commanded to not drink alcohol.

And so on and so forth. 

Then we have this investigator who is progressing really well and has a friend who is a member. His name is Jesus Antonio and he’s about 25 or so. His mom has been joining our lessons too.

We just started teaching this family that is awesome! They have one baby and they are super receptive. They told us that they feel like something is missing in their lives (cough, cough THE GOSPEL). 

Prayers for these and our other investigators are always appreciated. :)

Hilarious moment! So there are these weird wire things that come out of the sidewalks here and connect to electric poles. One day we were walking and poor Hna Piña was distracted by a demonic Chihuahua and walked straight into it. She fell all the way to the ground (I waited to be sure that she was okay to laugh). As if we needed another reason to hate Chihuahuas!

On Wednesday we were invited to eat dinner with President Robinson and his wife to send home Hna. Fletcher. We ate roast beef and ROLLS and MASHED POTATOES!!! So good because I haven’t eaten normal food like that forever! Well, almost 3 months... Also cake, but don´t worry, Mom, your chocolate cake is still #1 in the world and in my heart.

On Saturday we watched this cultural event that was for the rededication of the temple in Mexico City. The dances and costumes were so pretty!

Then on Sunday we went to 2 sessions of the temple rededication broadcast. I was SO happy to see that Elder Holland was there! He spoke in both sessions (in English all for me) about temples. The last session he talked about how he couldn’t attend his youngest son’s endowment because he was area president in England and the endowment was in St. George. However, he felt incredibly happy to know that his son was worthy to enter the temple. Temple ordinances are amazing goals that all of us, as members, can have--both to be worthy to enter the first time and to remain worthy all of our lives. President Eyring was also there. He shared a sweet experience about how happy he was on the day he was sealed to his wife. He also talked about what an amazing blessing temples are, because through the temples and the sacred covenants within them, we can bring our families back to our Father in Heaven one day. :)

I am officially SO excited to go to the temple here in Hermosillo, which I get to do this transfer!

I love you all so stinking much. Really. SO MUCH IT HURTS!!

Would you all let me know what your favorite hymns are?

Be safe and have a lovely week!

Con amor,

Hermana Hauck 

Never Trust a Mexican Letter 9-7-15

Noche de Hogar with the Monge Family

I got to see Hermana Ylist at the Mission meeting

Never trust a Mexican when it comes to sauces. This week we had salads for a meal. I made the mistake of trusting the hostess when she told me the salsa wasn’t spicy. My tongue was on fire!!! Seriously my sinuses were cleared after one bite!

This week hasn’t been too bad with weather. Actually two days were really nice, almost (almost) like California weather. Then of course it returned to the usual 115 and up temperature. OCTOBER WHERE ARE YOU???!!!

I want to thank you all for your love and support. I can feel your prayers for me. I’m doing better with homesickness. It’s still there, but the Savior is helping me lots. I hope you know how much I love you. It’s more than I can tell you. I pray for you lots. You mean the world to me.

Monday 31/08

After writing you lovelies Hna Piña and I taught a family a Noche de Hogar (FHE) lesson on temple marriages. I got to show them the video I had made for you before I left on their tablet. Super weird but awesome to see it cause I had sort of forgotten what it was like. I had to translate as we watched it. It was so good to see you in it! And it was nice to hear my sort-of testimony of sharing the truth about eternal families in the mission field. This is for sure the peaking aspect of my testimony. :) The Monge family really liked to see you and they think you look like movie stars.

Tuesday 1/09

Today we had a meeting to go over our first weeks here in the field. I got to see my CCM companion, Hma Ylst!!!!! That was super fun. 

Okay generally the people here are very polite about my Spanish, but today I was totally dissed by this 12-year-old girl. After I gave my little recitation of what we share as missionaries she said (in Spanish) “I didn’t understand a word you said. Excuse me, but you talk really weird.” Then my super companion swooped in and saved me! I didn’t really feel too embarrassed; it was more funny than anything else. 

Wednesday 2/09

There was something super different about today. I started the morning a little sad and homesick, but I felt really happy and myself all the rest of the and on Thursday as well. A member, Edna, came with us for some lessons again. We taught one lesson to a 20-something year old that was super spiritual. The more present the Spirit is the better my Spanish is...Coincidence? I THINK NOT! (Cough, cough…Gift of Tongues).

Thursday 3/09

Today while contacting, at one moment the Spirit was so strong. Hna. Piña was talking and there was this incredible sense of authority she had that was straight from the Holy Ghost. I was sure the family we were talking to would accept a lesson from us, BUT THEY DIDN’T. I felt super super sad because I knew that they has felt the Spirit, but they rejected it. It´s hard to see something so dear to you be cast aside. 

Friday, Saturday 4-5/09 

Both of these days were pretty similar. Studying, walking, teaching and sweating, then a baptism in the night. The first was in our ward and the second in the previous area of Hna Piña. The missionaries in my district sang Grande Eres Tu or How Great Thou Art at the baptism in our ward.

Sunday 6/09

Sunday was kind of hard because an investigator that we’ve been working so hard for, Lupita, didn’t come to church. Hna Fletcher shared with me Alma 8, where he is discouraged by the wicked people in Ammonihah and is about to leave. An angel visits him and tells him “Blessed art thou...for thou hast great reason to rejoice. Thou hast been faithful” or something like that. This made me feel better about some of the rejection we had had this week. Also, how awesome that an angel appeared to him to comfort him in his trial. I know I have angels here in Hermosillo with me as well as you, my awesome family, in my home. 

Today 7/09

After our regular P-day activities we went to this Hill Calle Zero. It was seriously just a hill, but I guess people go there all the time to hike and take pictures and what not. While we were taking a picture a homeless man came and just joined in the picture. Ha-ha! I’ll send some of the pictures tomorrow or later in the week. 

Be safe with everything you do and pray always. And remember to give lots of love to one another. That’s one thing I miss very much, being able to tell you everyday how much I love you. AND HUGGING YOU!! Hug lots for me. 

Con amor,

-Hermana Hauck

Thrust in Your Sickle Letter 8-31-15

Hermosillo Centro

P-day at Hermosillo Centro

Hola! Love you lots!

Thrust in your Sickle

More details about my life: 

My area is Hermosillo Balderrama. It’s a good 20-30 minutes by bus from the Hermosillo temple. I´m really close to a Wal-Mart…HALLELUYA! (Sorry when I spell stuff weirdly, learning another language has basically ruined my ability to spell.) I´m told that it’s a pretty middle class area for Hermosillo. The sun is still a killer. I wear lots and lots of sunscreen but I´m still getting pretty tan. I carry an umbrella too! That’s how powerful the sun is here--its rays penetrate solid objects!

I have developed an extremely passionate hatred for Chihuahuas. Like, they´re up on my hate list next to people who don´t use blinkers and Hawaiian pizza (both of which are abominations to the name of humanity, if you ask me). But seriously, there are Chihuahuas EVERYWHERE and they chase us with their yappy little barking bodies. I´m getting worked up just writing this because I hate them that much.

This week has been just dandy for the most part. I think the circumstances (i.e. heat, walking all day and Spanish 24/7) kind of amplify my homesickness. But weirdly enough, the more I work, or ¨thrust in my sickle¨ to make a fancy scriptural reference, the better I feel better. One bit of advice that has helped me was from Grandma Porritt in her email last week. She said that sometimes we pamper our feelings, which doesn’t allow us to progress. This, I´ve decided is very true in my case. I can grow a whole lots if I am more receptive and submissive with the trials that God has given me (By the way, I don´t claim to have an exceptionally heavy load in the trial department). I´ve been trying to not pamper myself emotionally this week. I´ve want to tackle this in the next couple of weeks so will you all pray for me to be strong with this so I can put ALL of my efforts into bringing Hermosillo His truth? 

Monday 24/08

After writing you fabulous people, Hna Piña and I taught these really sweet older ladies. After the lesson they accepted to read from the Book of Mormon and pray for answers. Then they gave us these things called bolis. They´re kind of like otter pops but with real juice... okay, so basically a popsicle, but anyways they are really good! We eat them a tons when we´re dehydrated (aka everyday). 

At the end of the day, Hna Piña and I celebrated my two months with chocolate ice cream. :)

Tuesday 25/08

In our district meeting we made goals to contact 20 people a day. Now, I don´t how contacting is in other missions, but in this mission during this time of year there aren´t loads of people on the street so 20 is a big number but we felt pretty motivated to do it. On the bus ride home from the meeting, Hna. Piña, E. Smith, E. Sanchez and I pretty much attacked the people on the bus. It was perfect because they couldn´t leave! However I did actually get one eye roll that was verging on Sheldon Cooper status from some young chap. We made our goal for the day! Since then we´ve made or have been close everyday!

Wednesday 26/08

An Hna. from our ward, Edna, went on splits with us the whole day today! She{s received her call to Pachuca Mexico and is preparing. During a lesson today with our investigator, Belen, I had a pretty cool experience. We were reading from the Book of Mormon because she hadn´t kept her commitment to read from it. I was pretty behind in the lesson because it takes a second for me to read and translate in my mind. A couple times I had to pass the discussion back to Hna Piña because I didn´t know what we had just read or something like that. At one point she asked something about how she could know she had received an answer of God about the BOM. I felt immediately inspired to read from Alma 32 about planting a seed in our heart. While reading verse 28 to her I was amazed at how quickly I understood the words in that moment! I was able to talk and bear my testimony right away. The words were flowing through my mouth. THE GIFT OF TONGUES AND INTERPRETATIONS IS REAL I TELL YOU!!! The Spirit was really strong. It was an awesome experience.

Thursday 27/08

Today, a kid was watching Frozen Fever in the room behind us while we taught a lesson. It was sooooo hard to not sing along. That’s pretty much all from this day.

Friday 28/08

We taught two investigators in a row that are nearly deaf. We yelled, yelled and repeated a whole lot about Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ. It can be hard not to laugh during lessons sometimes. We had a really great lesson with Lupita today. I felt sure she would come to church this Sunday, but when we passed by on Saturday to make sure, she wouldn´t even talk to us. We´ve decided that now is the point to leave her be because she really isn´t interested in the Gospel when it comes down to it. It is so sad to feel the Spirit with these people and still see them reject the Gospel. It makes me appreciate (though obviously I can´t fully comprehend) how God must feel when we receive such strong guidance and love from Him and don´t follow it.

Saturday 29/08

We taught a man named Octavio who is very sweet and very Christian today. He said ¨Amen¨ after every other sentence or so, which was pretty encouraging to be honest.

I was almost killed by two rabid dogs fighting today! Scariest moment! They were chasing each other through the street and almost took Hna. Piña and I down. 

Sunday 30/08

Church meetings are kind of hard right now because it is three straight hours of Spanish without a break or opportunity for Hna. Piña to explain to me. However, I am getting a bit better at understanding. :)  Octavio came to church! When we asked him how he liked it he said, ¨I liked the meetings very much! What church is this?” We sort of paused and said, “It´s the church we’ve been teaching you about...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” He said ¨Oh, Que bueno.¨ Which is basically to say ¨Oh how nice.” Queue sigh. You gotta love the people here!

Today 

After cleaning, washing clothes and shopping today, we went to the Hermosillo Centro, which is basically town square or main street. There are stores and little street-side shops everywhere! It was really cool. Plus I got to see Hna. Barton from the CCM, which is always fun! 

I love you all to the moon and back! I hope things are treating you well in STG or wherever you may be!

Hermana Hauck