Viva Mexico!

¡Viva Mexico!

Quick quiz. First answer that comes to your mind.

When is Mexico´s Independence Day?

Did you say Cinco de Mayo? Let me educate you a bit.

History Lesson with Hermana Clark:

Mexico´s Independence Day is September 16th!

What? Then what in the world is this Cinco de Mayo that we celebrate?

May 5th was when the Battle at Puebla (where my awesome companion is from) happened. Research it, you´ll learn some stuff!

But September 16th happened this week, so the Pueblo was looking very festive and patriotic. They actually celebrate September 15th and 16th. The 15th late in the night they celebrate "la grita de independencia," which is the "shout of independence." They have a big event in each city/Pueblo and at midnight they yell "Viva Mexico!" Then the 16th they celebrate Independence because that is when the war started. 

Interesting stuff!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Morder- to bite. As in, "Hermana Clark, did my son bite you?" Yes. Indeed, her 1-year-old son did bite during a lesson. I was listening to my companion teach when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my thigh just above my knee. The baby bit me. Hermana Hernandez said she will never forget the face I made.

Cumpleaños- Birthday. As in "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!" My Mom shares her birthday with Mexico! Isn´t that awesome?

La Libertad- Liberty. As in "As children of God here on the Earth, we have agency, or free will. We have the opportunity to choose liberty and eternal life through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or captivity and spiritual death. We just need to make choices that draw us nearer to Christ in order to have eternal liberty and happiness. As missionaries, this is what we invite people to do."

So we had 6 investigators in church yesterday! It was amazing! It was also one of the most exhausting and stressful experiences of my life. We were running around like crazy to make sure they were all finding their classes and meeting people. It ended up being a fantastic Sabbath day, though. I am so grateful for that incredibly stressful experience.

We have 2 investigators with baptismal dates- it´s a Mom and her 8-year-old son. She´s the one who practically invited herself to be baptized in our first lesson. She is also the one who cut our hair last week. She also signed up to feed us every second Friday of the month. She is so cool. She is also learning a ton about the gospel and fully embracing it in her life. We always leave lessons with her smiling from ear to ear. She is just fabulous.

You also might remember the investigator who came to stake conference with us a few weeks ago. She also came to the cultural event for the temple. She came to church yesterday with her 3 kids and.....drumroll.....her husband! It was awesome! He hasn´t ever been against her investigating the church, but he hasn´t been especially supportive. Yesterday we passed by in the morning to take them to church, and at the last minute he decided to come. It was awesome!

We're also teaching 3 brothers who are 22, 17, and 12. It´s been tough to teach them all together in one lesson. Usually there are only 2 of them there. But our ward mission leader and his wife have really reached out to them and they´ve become good friends. They came with us to a lesson this week, and the ward mission leader was able to explain some doctrines in a way that they understood really well. It was a great lesson!

We love our investigators, and we love the members here. They are all amazing people!

Transfers are next week, so we´ll find out on Sunday where we´ll be. I don´t know if I´ll stay here or if I´ll be heading somewhere else. That´s the life of a missionary. We don´t decide where we go. We go where the Lord needs us. It´s truly amazing to feel the guidance of the Lord in such a strong way and see the miracles each day. I don´t know if I´ll be here next transfer, but wherever I go, I am so grateful for the time I´ve had here in the Pueblo this transfer. I love these people.

I love all you people too! Thank you for all your support! I actually wrote this email about 3 hours ago, and the internet crashed in the whole Pueblo right when I was going to send it. So I don't have time to answer many people. But I got to read most of the emails I got before it crashed, and I will try to answer next week!

I hope you have a great week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark