DEEP BREATH. April 11, 2016 Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

BBBRRREEEAAAATTTTHHHHHH.

Oh. my. gosh. 

I'm traumatized. 

Just kidding, I've only cried twice. 

In two days (more like 3 because I'm going to get home super late) I will be stepping off the plane and walking into the arms of the people brave enough to go to the airport at 11pm. I will most likely laugh nervously and wonder if hugging my dad is allowed. 

I can't believe that 18 months have already come and gone. I remember the day that my parents dropped me off at the MTC. I hugged them quick, let my eyes get watery, straightened my shoulders, and said, "Wellgottagobye!" I was led into the building were I put on my nametag for the very first time. And from then on, I have been known as "Hermana Murset." 

I NEVER thought that I would love the people of Mexico so much. I never thought that I would feel so much joy, and so much sadness. I never thought that I would see my weaknesses so clearly. I never thought that I could care so much. 

And I definitely never thought that I would be able to learn Spanish. 😁

Being a representative of Christ is something that I will never forget. 

I know that God exists. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. That only through His name are we able to step into the kingdom of God. I love Them, and in this short space of time, I have learned to love Them even more. They have always been by my side, and They have always told me (even though I had a hard time believing it) that I am good enough.

I know that this is the true church. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that The Book of Mormon is true. I am going to be able to be with my family forever, thanks to our Savior.

I <3 󾓩. 

Thank you for all the emails, the letters, the love, and the support that you have given me during my mission. I will forever be grateful. 

Goodbye, Mexico. I love ya tons.

Aaaannnnddd for the last time, signing off.

HERMANA MURSET.

Oh yeah, and pictures. 😄

1. Basilio got baptized! Agapita, his wife, was also going to get baptized, but she has a mental illness and got freaked out when she started getting in the water. But she promised her husband, in the name of "The Virgin Guadalupe" that she will do it another day. 

2. A Kodak moment.

Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Stayin' Alive, Stayin Alive (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México)

STAYIN' AAAALLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE.

That's about the only worldly song that I remember. And it applies to the situation. I'm singin' my last week blues. The missionaries are very kindly counting down the days for me. I've started to give all my stuff away so I won't have to take it home. I've already started packing my bags, so I guess you could say that I'm trunky.

I accept it. 

Our awesome investigator, Jesus Manuel, will probably not get baptized this week, but he has promised me that he WILL get baptized. So at least I have that promise. He's a really good singer and at the end of each lesson has been singing a song for us. He's about 80 years old and he gives us treats every time we go to visit him. And he talks about us and the church with everyone he meets. I love him a lot. 

Actually, I love the people here a ton. I'll be glad to be home, but leaving the people.... man, that's gonna be hard.

General Conference was AWESOME! I got to watch it in English, which made me happy. Somebody pulled out a selfie stick and we took a selfie with Jeffery R. Holland. It was a really good conference. I'm going to have to watch it again when I get home.

I love you all and I can't wait to see you next week! I'll be the one that is clinging to my mom because I'm not used to being without a companion. 

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

Using the selfie stick. The missionaries one the left didn't hear me when I said "MODEL FACE." 

Tu (2) Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México (March 28, 2016)

Elder Taylor, one of the assistants to the president, very kindly made me a paper chain so I can count the days down. He thought it was super funny. I've come to the conclusion that they spend wwwaaayyy too much time in the offices. 

Tú, tu, two, to, too, 2. I have two weeks left. I have 14 days left. I'm planning on just giving the paper chain to my companion so she can count down the months. Heh.

Jesus Manuel went to church again! His daughter in law had a car accident and he went to go visit her in the hospital Sunday morning, but he told us that he was antsy to leave because he wanted to get to church on time. But I worry about his driving because one time I saw him drive and..... it's worrisome. But he got there! And that's what counts. 

You may ask me how I feel, and I'll be honest and tell you that I forget that the time is ticking. I STILL HAVE TIME TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE MEXICAN FOOD. DON'T WORRY. 

Iiiiiiiiiiii don't have much to talk about, haha. I'm sure I'll be a Chatty Cathy when I get home.

I'm well, I'm happy, I'm working, I'm preachin'!

I love you all!

Hermana Murset

Picture:

My paper chain. 

Tamales y Tortillas de Harina (March 21, 2016) Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México

HEY GUESS WHAT I LEARNED HOW TO MAKE!

Flour tortillas and tamales. 

Soy màs mexicana que los nopales. 

Those that speak Spanish are going to get what I just said. Trust me, it's funny. 

I actually ended up learning how to make flour tortillas because at the time I was having a tachycardia attack or something like that and nobody would let me leave the house. So me being all productive suggested that the Hermana should teach me how to make them. I'm an expert now. 

Tamales, on the other hand................... Nope. Not an expert. Sorry, ma. 

This week was a good week! Jesus Manuel came to church again! This time he didn't go to the other church. He jokingly told our mission president that we had gone and pulled him by his ears out of the other church.... the president laughed, don't worry!

Hey guess what, I'm not trunky or anything, but I have three weeks left. I'm gonna leave Oceanía FULL OF AWESOMENESS. My companion is happy that I'm leaving because she's going to inherit all of my clothes. And my notebooks. And my pens. And my shampoo and conditioner because I'm going to leave it there, heh.

Well, that's all for now folks. I'm gonna go make more tamales.

Love you all!

Hermana Murset

No pictures because this computer is weird.

Where's Jesus Manuel? (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México)

That's my half hearted attempt at word play. (Where's Waldo?)

I would tell you the story about how we decided to go to Centro (where all the cool stuff is) but the bus ended up taking us to the very edge of Saltillo.... but I'll save that story for when I get home. But I don't know if I'll be able to tell it in English...

But don't worry, I have ANOTHER story. So a while back we started teaching a man named Jesus Manuel. He's about 80 years old and has a sickness that always makes him feel dizzy. The first few lessons I wasn't super convinced that he wanted to hear our message, but then we taught the Restoration, and he went "WWWOOOOWWWWWW! I WANNA GO TO CHURCH!" He's super convinced that this is the true church and he wanted to go see what it was like. 

I was pretty sure that he was going to go to church, but for some reason I felt uneasy. Sunday morning we were going to go pick up some investigators, but I kept feeling like we needed to go make sure that he had left to go to church. So we passed by, and saw that his car wasn't there. Good! So he went. But I still felt uneasy. So we got to church, and he wasn't there! We called his phone, it was turned off. We waited, he never showed up. (The real life of missionaries). So we went into the sacrament room and sat down because the service had already started. 

BUT THEN. 

I turned to my companion and said "Let's run out to the main street and see if he's there." 

Fat chance that he was going to be there, but we left the chapel and started running. The members probably thought we were crazy. We get to the main street and lo and behold, there's his car! It's easy to spot seeing as it's a red Volkswagon Beetle. But.... where was he? And THAT was when we started to hear rock and roll Christian music. We turned around and BOOM, we realized that he had entered into a rock and roll Christian church that is on the same block as the chapel. 

Uh....

Um...........

So what did we do? We started talking to a guy from that church that was standing outside with his kid. We kindly asked him if he could go see if there was an older man with white hair named Jesus Manuel in the church. The whole time very aware that our black name tag was shining in the sun. Within minutes Jesus Manuel came out, looking very disoriented, led by some people. 

We didn't wait for them to react and we practically dragged him to the chapel, just in time for the sacrament.

Haha later he told us that he was actually just about to leave the church that he was in because he was really confused and because he didn't see us anywhere. 

He's great!

And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I would also tell you about the time when I had to open a pop bottle with pliers, but that's another story for another day.

Next week I'm going to learn how to make flour tortillas! Wee!!!

I love you all and I'll see you next week!

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

1. We teach a recent convert, Willy, outside of his house because he lives alone. This is a common occurence. I did the same with Tomas! Rain or shine.

2.Hahahaha a recent convert family that I love. The Vasquez family. The hermano is such a jokster.

6-1=5 (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México) March 7, 2016

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey. 

It's not like I'm super good at math or anything, but if I count on my fingers, I only have 5 weeks left. 😲

I would start to reflect on my mission right now, but I won't do that until my last email, don't worry. 

This week went SO WELL. Goodness. I was seriously worried for our area. It seemed like the people decided that they were allergic to the sun and missionaries, so they weren't out in the street and they wouldn't open their doors. But lo and behold, they aaaaalll accepted us this week. So I'm happy. If the people are like that for the rest of my mission, I will be one happy sister.

A new assistant to the president is here. He has super long legs so beating them to contact referrals is a little more difficult. But he's cool, so I guess it's alright that we're sharing an area with them. 

The other day we went to go look for some less actives that the bishop asked us to find. We only knew their last names and when we approached the house there was a man outside. Hermana Novoa whispered "What's their last name?" and I replied "Ramos Sosa." 

She walked confidently up to the man, pointed at him in a friendly manner, and said 

"Your name is Eduardo!" 

Man, I don't know where she got the name Eduardo and he looked a little confused and I turned red and reminded her that we only knew their last names, only to hear the man reply: 

"Yeah, my name is Eduardo." 

MY COMPANION CAN READ MINDS.

Anyway. That's my experience for the week. I hope you enjoyed it.

Love you guys and all that stuff.

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

1. Maribel and Jose Manuel are two people that my companions and I found in Zarco. They got baptized on different days, but they invited us to both. They actually got baptized at the beginning of Febuary, but I just barely found the picture. They're GREAT. They're also going to invite me to eat when I leave so that I can say bye to them.

2. I said to my companion "THAT'S IT. We need a picture." So we took a selfie. I'm skinnier than normal, I know.

Let There Be Light (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México) February 29, 2016

Let me just tell you a story real quick.

So Tuesday we woke up all cheery and ready to start the day. I hopped out of bed joyfully and flipped on the light, only to find that the light didn't turn on.... Hm. That's happened to us before, but the light has always turned back on. So we went out to work. When we came back, still no light. BAAH. Turns out the light bill blew away, meaning that we never recieved it, so they cut the electricity. Hmph. So that night we took a lloonnnggg journey to the electricity place, typed in all the information, looked at how much the light bill was, and said "I have like... 50 pesos?" Yeah, we didn't have enough money. 

But two hermanas were going to stay in our house that night.

So we went and picked them up, warned them that we didn't have light, bought some stuff to eat in the morning, and went back to the house, only to find it all lit up! What the.... somebody had turned our light back on. 

Hermana Novoa yelled "GOD LOVES US!!" 

Which is true.

Aaannnddd when we woke up the next morning, there wasn't any light. We took out some money, paid the light bill, and waited.... THREE DAYS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY. I know, I wouldn't survive if I was a pioneer. 

Turns out they really did turn the electricity back on, but there was a shortage so it didn't work. 

The bishop fixed it. They got a kick out of me when they asked if we had a screwdriver and I pulled one out of my bag. I found it on the street and I thought it would be useful.

But now we have light, and I am a happy missionary.

And that's my story for the week. 

That's really all that happened. But hey! I'm staying in my area with Hermana Novoa. I guess the president thinks we're a really good team. Today begins my last transfer, and before you know it, I'll be walking around in Utah.

I love you all! I can't send pictures because this computer is weird.

Hermana Murset

A fin se acerca y hay poco tiempo (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México) February22, 2016

I´ll be honest and say that I really didn´t think all that much about what I was going to write this week... soooo....

BUT. I got to go visit Zaragoza (for like the 50th time) and I took some pictures. I went to go visit the Esparza family and when I came into the house Abdiel, their little boy, yelled "HERMANA MURSET!" I nearly died. They must have been teaching him how to say my name. I took a video of him saying it, don´t worry.

I also got to see my convert Tomas!! I went to a baptism and he was there in his white shirt and tie. He has a calling in the ward and he proudly told me that he hadn´t missed a Sunday since his baptism. I was so proud and I almost cried. 

Next week I wil be starting my last transfer, and before you know it, I´ll be home and you won´t be able to get rid of me! 

I love you all. I promise.

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

1. Flashback.

2. Another flashback.

No Hablo Ingles (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México) February 8, 2016

I don´t know how I´m going to do it when I get home because I can´t figure out how to speak English. Sure, I speak it with American missionaries, but we seem to have created our own mix of Spanish and English. If I´m right, that happened to the Nephites one time. 

I don´t have a lot of time to write! We went to write in the morning but the church´s server was dowwwnn. So we went and did other stuff and then came back. So I have to do it quick!

This week was a pretty good one. We found 3 "escogidos" (golden investigators). They are awesome and all of them went to church. Our other investigator, Cruz Javier, was fasting for the first time. But I think he got a little confused because he showed up to church and looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He said "This fasting thing is hard! I didn´t even brush my teeth or shower so that I wouldn´t drink water. I don´t know how you people do this..." Bahahahahaha.... I was dying. 

I´m goooood. I´m starting to get a little freaked out when people ask me how much time I have in the mission. Everytime they ask me what I´m going to do afterwards my companion says "SHE´S GONNA GET MARRIED." And then that causes a riot and I can´t explain that boys are gross.

Anyway. I love you all! I hear that it´s snowing over there. Weeee! Have fun with that.

Hermana Murset

It's Raining, It's Snowing....What. (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México) February 1, 2016

So the other day we woke up, and it was pretty chilly outside. So we turned on the heater at full blast because we like to save energy, when all of the sudden Elder Ninataype (the assistant and one of the missionaries that we share the area with) called us and yelled "IT´S SNOWING!" He´s from northern Utah so this was a pretty big deal for him. And yes indeed, it was snowing. I´m pretty sure that the news of snow got on the top news and got put in the history books of Saltillo.

I would have you know that two days later I was walking around in a short sleeve shirt.

But it was cool, I have to admit. I never thought I would see snow while I was on my mission. I still haven´t written about it in my journal, though. Pecador... (Sinner...)

This week was pretty slow, but we did find a super awesome family! Their daughter has already been going to church with her grandma in a different stake. The missionaries had visited them a bunch of times, but the dad would always say nooo. But when we stopped by for our appointment, he stopped what he was doing, sat down, listened to our message, and accepted a baptismal date. You should have seen the look on his wife´s face, her eyes were bugging out from surprise, haha. We´ll see how it goes, but I have faith that they´ll progress.

This transfer is going by SO FAST. I think Hermana Novoa can feel my anxiety because I am constantly barging down the streets, knocking on doors, and demanding to be let in. Haha maybe not exactly like that, but almost. I´m just glad to be here and I´m going to make the most of the time I have left.

I love you all! I hope you have a fantastic week and I will see you in a few.

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

1. It wasn´t really snowing when we took the picture, but it was a real deal. Oh, and I got bangs. But they look horrible because I was soaking wet at the time. The mission isn´t a fashion show, folks.

2. The day after.

!Qúe Frío! (Oceania, Saltillo, Coahuila, México) January 25, 2016

"¡Que frio!" Is my companion's favorite phrase. It means "How cold!" 

Our house is super cold.

Hello hello hello! Here I am in Oceania, workin' hard and teachin' people. You know, the normal stuff. I am currently seated next to my companion, Hermana Novoa. She's from El Salvador and she's awesome. We set goals, and then we KEEP them. Woo! The internet cafe is like, one minute from our house, so I'm super happy. We're in the mission president's ward, so that's weird. And we share the area with the assistants. And when I mean share the area, I mean that we find them in the streets and sometimes we have to run to contact a referral before they contact them first. It's fun.

Other than that, this week has been pretty normal. Nothing wild has happened. I don't have to travel anymore! So that's pretty nice. The only excited thing was that I had a dream that I was really good friends with Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and that he accepted to hear the missionary lessons. 

Life is super exciting.

I'll be super honest and say that I have nothing super wow to tell you, soooooooooooooo...... I hope that you are well and I hope that you're not freezing too much. Right now I'm in a short sleeved shirt. They say that it's going to get really cold, but they've been saying that for 2 weeks now. 

I always talk about the weather.

Anyway, I love you all tons and I hope that you have a fantastic week! 

I will leave you without a picture because I didn't take any... oops.

So, I've Been Spelling His Name Wrong (Saltillo, Coahuila, México)

It's Tomas. Not Thomas. Something about not pronouncing the "h" here. 

But anyway. TOMAS GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! It was a beautiful day. Us and four other companionships got together and had the baptism program all at the same time. The chapel was FULL and half of the people were investigators that us missionaries invited. It was really awesome and the spirit was really strong. Haha I asked Tomas if he was ready and he said "I've been ready since yesterday!" He didn't bend his knees when he went down in the water and Hermano Mora had to practically push him down until he was completely submerged. He was so happy and afterwards he and Hermano Mora happily went to the other chapel to go clean. 

WHICH is funny because one time in the MTC instead of saying "After baptism we are clean" I said "After baptism, we clean."  So now I feel kind of prophetic. 

I am so happy that I got to be there for his special day. I can't imagine what would have happened if we hadn't talked to him that day. It just goes to show that there are people waiting for the gospel in places where you would least expect it. He accepted it so quickly and so happily, I feel like I didn't even have to do anything. I love him a lot. 

I am being transfered to an area called Oceania. I will be finishing the training of Hermana Novoa. I actually would have already been training her if I hadn't stayed in Zarco, so when transfers rolled around, I suspected that I would be put with her. She's from El Salvador and is super smart (she was studying industrial engineering). I went on splits with her last week and it was pretty fun. I'll tell you more about her next week! I'm still with Hermana Mis and Hermana Aragon right now. *Sniff* I love them so much!

All is well here in Mexico. I'm doing well, I'm healthy, I'm walking a lot.... I'm good. I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

Hermana Murset

Pictures 

1. Mass baptism! I promise Thomas was super happy. They just have a no smiling trend here.

2. Hermano Mora baptizes more than we do. 

3. Another photo of everyday missionary life. Hermana Aragon on on the right.

Week 4568 (Saltillo, Coahuila, México) January 11, 2016

A little kid keeps turning off my computer. It's fine... I'M JUST TRYING TO WRITE MY FAMILY. Just kidding, I'm calm, it's fine.

The other night I had a dream that the President gave me permission to see my family, but on the condition that I had to share them a message. So I'm with Hermana Mis and we're trying to share a message but we could only do it in Spanish and my family didn't understand. I think I know how it must have felt in the Tower of Babel.

This week was pretty normal. Filled with work and cold and rain and sunshine. This week is going to be better because it is going to be filled with all those things plus a baptism! Thomas is going to get baptized and he is pretty excited. He has the church app on his phone and I'm pretty sure that he's been reading Preach My Gospel because he has the lessons down better than I do! We asked him if he wanted us to do anything special in his baptism and he asked me if I could dance ballet. I said no. He wasn't offended. He's really awesome and he loves the gospel. He's made a bunch of changes in his life. I'll tell you more about him when I get home. 

The kid is standing next to me again... I think he's going to turn my computer off.... Nope. He left.

I went to my last leadership counsel this past week. I am ending my time as sister training leader. The sisters will no longer have to hear me drone on about numbers and contacting!! I'm sure they are all so happy. I got to see almost all of my MTC district there. It was pretty cool. We're making some big changes here on the mish. It's gonna be big. 

Next week we will be ending this transfer and I will be on the countdown. It's weird, I feel like I have no time at all. Really the only difference is that I can speak Spanish fluently now. And I've come to like spicy food. Improvements.

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week :)

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

1. There's a big gap inbetween us because we're missionaries and because I almost accidentally put my arm around Elder Nay. Everyone practically screamed and we almost had to disinfect him from cooties.

2. Hermana Mis LOVES cats. So I bought her this calendar secretly. You should have seen how she reacted. When she makes her bed she also sets the calendar on top.