I'm a Mother (June 29, 2015) Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico

Hiiiiiii. I'm a mom. (This missionary culture really gets me.)

So last Monday I wrote my short email and then I was off to Saltillo! A 6 hour bus ride. It was great and I didn't sleep at all. We arrived in Saltillo and we didn't really know what to do so all of us trainers from up north went to the mission offices and just chilled there. 

Two hours later somebody found us and gave us food. Then all at once all of the new missionaries piled into the office and my mind was going berserk because ONE OF THESE FOUR SISTER MISSIONARIES COULD BE MY DAUGHTER. 

I already knew who it was thanks to having connections in the mission office, but it was still very nerve racking. We went to sleep in the hermana's house and then in the morning all of us headed off to the chapel lookin' all spiffy. They really like to make it a heart pounding experience because we sing Called to Serve and then they name them off, one by one. "The Hermana Murset, who is serving in Sabinas 1A, will now be serving with.......................................................................... HERMANA LUNA!" And then everyone bursts into riotous applause. 

My daughter is awesome. She's from Puebla and she's as tall as me. Now I can take my giant steps and not worry about my companion getting lost! She's really sweet and quiet and comes from a family of 10. 

When we got to the house for the first two days she informed me that she was going to enter the bathroom. After a bit I think she realized that it wasn't necessary to do that. 

I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing and I keep being surprised when I realize that I'm going to be teaching mostly on my own for awhile. But she helps me out, don't worry. 

It's been a wild week. But I feel very blessed. I have a ton of responsibility on my shoulders right now (they told us that we are basically responsible for their salvation if we mess them up) but I feel good. I feel calm, and I feel like a mom. In the missionary sense. Don't worry. 

I love you all and I hope you have a very happy happy week! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. 

I'll be singing the national anthem. 

Pictures:

Hna. Luna and I! She saw a picture of me that was taken 2 days before I left on the mission and she looked at it and said "How nice." then 3 seconds later, "WAIT. THAT'S YOU?!" Apparently I look different. The same thing happened with a picture from 3 months ago........ Who knows. 

HiBye (June 22, 2015) Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico

HELLO GOODBYE.

Just kidding I'm going to write a little bit more. I don't have much time because in... 20 minutes I'm off to Saltillo to pick up my child. Yes, I'm going to be a mother. MEANING that I am going to train. Don't worry, I'm not actually going to have a child. Anyway, I'm off to Saltillo to welcome her and then I'm returning to Sabinas. 

Last night one of the assistants to the president called me and of course I knew what it was for (the president told me I was going to train like a month ago) and he told me "Your branch president called us a little bit ago. He has called you to be the relief society president of your branch!" And I just said "Uuuuuhhhhhh..........." Then he said just kidding and got really serious and said "Hermana Murset, you have been called to be a trainer." Then he went off to tell me that I'm going to be one of the biggest influences to this new missionary and that I shouldn't MESS UP. Ha. That didn't scare me or anything. 

Anyway. I'm a mom now. The missionary culture is really weird. The first time somebody asked me who my "mamá" was I replied "Carolyn Murset." 

I gotta go. 

Love you all!

Hermana Murset

Ocho Meses (Eight Months) Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico (June 15, 2015)

HOY (meaning today) I complete eight months in the mission. That means I have ten months left and that means that I have exactly 4 months until I have a year in the mission.
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I really don't know what to think. But don't worry, I'm alright. Sabinas is hot and I might train the next transfer, but I'm alright. 

Somebody asked me the other day how many years I had been studying Spanish. I guess I'm getting pretty good at it? It was a little boost in the self-esteem. 

We are still teaching Adriana, the lady that has something wrong with her foot. I think we have been successful in teaching her that she shouldn't invoke the Spirit. Although the other day as we were praying she slowly rose her hands to the ceiling and kept them there. I don't know how she didn't get a cramp in her shoulders. She's really smart though and knows a lot about the gospel. She started crying the other day because she's still unsure if she's going to get baptized and she thought that we weren't going to come visit her if she didn't get baptized. She's sweet. 

We've been teaching the wild looking man with white hair in short bursts. He's awesome and always looks out for us. The Hermana that was going to feed us gave us money instead so we stopped by Jaime's work and ate hamburgers with him. He said "This is the first time in the year that I've been working here that somebody has eaten lunch with me!" 

I'm getting eaten alive by the mosquitos and I'm pretty sure that my legs will be permanently scarred (not being sarcastic), but the blessing is that they don't itch that bad. 

I don't really have anything else to say other than that.... It was a good week. And next week are transfers! It's crazy how fast this transfer went by. I feel like I'm just barely getting the hang of it. 

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week filled with ice cream and snowcones and everything cold!

Pictures: 

THERE ARE NO MOUNTAINS HERE. I feel very strange and very vulnerable. 

JAIME. He doesn't look so wild in this picture. Come to think of it, he got a haircut today. 

Another Day, Another Peso. (June 8, 2015) Sabinas , Coahuila, Mexico

Another week is passed and gone and I'm still trying to figure out how to tell one of our investigators that she can't invoke the Holy Spirit. 

Everyone here keeps telling me that the heat that we're feeling is just a little test of what we are going to be feeling during "canicula" (meaning the hottest part of the year where the only people in the streets are the missionaries). Apparently it reaches up to 50 degrees Celsius, but I have no idea what that is in Farenheit, so somebody please help me. I think I might shrivel up like in the heat. Someday I'll recover. 

WE HAVE A HALF HOUR MORE TO WRITE ON MONDAYS. Yesssss..... 

The day before yesterday we were walking home after a long day of walking around in a part of our area where we don't work all that much. I saw a wild looking man dressed in ragged white clothes. He also had poofy white hair. I think he likes the shade white. Anyway, I wasn't going to contact him because I was tired and didn't want to contact a wild man (I'm selfish sometimes). 

But then I repented and when he passed by us I said hello and started talking to him. His face lit up and he told us that he had always seen us passing by where he works (a beer store) and thought that we would never talk to a person like him. He excitedly gave us his direction (which happens to be just down the road from where we live) and told us to call him to wake him up so he could go to church. 

 We visited him yesterday and before we could even speak he asked us what he needed to do to be baptized. Man, I love it when that happens. He's very animated and when I told him that my grandma is paying for my mission he excitedly told me that he wants to meet her and thank her for doing that because now he has two "angel missionaries" that are going to teach him the gospel. 

He's awesome and he's named Jaime. 

The other night I was lying in bed, thinking about life (just kidding I don't have time to think about life, I was thinking about sleeping) when I started counting my time in the mission. Then I realized that in FOUR MONTHS I'm going to have a year in the mission. FOUR MONTHS. I exclaimed my revelation outloud and my companion was very annoyed that I awoke her from her slumber. Man time flies. 

I'm really tired, but I'm satisfied. This is a good area with good people. Even though it's hot. 

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Picture:

Look how tan I am. And no, I'm not burned. That's a true tan. You should see the white line I have from where my bag strap is. 

Week Week (Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico)

Oh, by the way we had a baptism. His name is Jorge Medrano. His whole family had been baptized the year before and they had been waiting vvveerrrryyyy patiently for him to take the step! He finally decided when he saw all the natural distasters and all the bad stuff going on in the world and realized that he wanted to be with his family for forever.

 He told us that he didn't want to be in the next life searching for his family and not being able to find them. He is super happy and the next day baked a cake to celebrate. It was really good. 

I'm teaching his son, Geronimo, English and I gave him an English Book of Mormon. He took it to church the other day and proudly told me that he had read the introduction. 

We almost had a tornado the other day! Our skirts were flying everywhere and we were eating dust and then we got rained on and then all of the sudden the clouds flew away and the sun was beating down on us once again. 

I don't have much time to write! But I love you all and I hope you have a great week. 

Hasta luego!

Hermana Murset

Sabinas 1 A Mexico

Hellohellohello!

Hey guess what. I'M NOT IN ZARAGOZA 2. Mwahaha! Now I am in the lovely little town of Sabinas.

The day before I left I went to say goodbye to everyone. I think the hardest for me was leaving the Esparza family. I sat down and told Hna. Martha, Yudith, and Dariela that I was leaving, and like they had rehearsed it for months, they all burst out crying. Haha I had no idea what to do so I ended up crying as well. Crying all around, tissues flying, things being said like "you'll always be a part of our family.", and flour tortillas being eaten for comfort food. I'm going to miss them a ton.

 I left Saltillo at 8 in the morning. I traveled with a bunch of elders and one hermana in a huge bus. (Can you imagine 15 elders on a bus...) It was about a 6 hour drive and all of us missionaries were completely absorbed in the Disney movies that were playing (we're allowed to watch those). So the ride was pretty uneventful. Frozen played and we sang along.

I got off by myself in Sabinas and was welcomed by my new companion! Hermana Sanabria. I admit I was super relieved when she excitedly ran up to me and greeted me by kissing me on the cheek (we do that here). Because sometimes when the new senior companion comes along it's like "GET OUT OF MY AREA. VAYASE." But she's awesome.

She's from Honduras and just finished her training. And guess who was her trainer! Hna. Peñaranda. SWEET. She's super on the ball and has been dragging me all over Sabinas, showing me the sights. I still get super confused, but sooner or later I'll learn the area and everything will be A Okay. 

We are serving in a branch called Sabinas 1.

What can I say about Sabinas... it's not Saltillo. Sabinas reminds me of home. It's a small town and the houses here don't have bars on the windows. But oh dear. There is no end to the sweat. I don't know how hot it is right now, but as soon as you step outside, you don't stop sweating. I'm learning to take cold showers because the heat is EVERYWHERE.

How do I feel? Good. Nervous. Tired. Hungry. Really I just feel accomplished that I finished one week without blowing up Sabinas.

I have to go write the president about the area now. Responsibility....

I love you all a ton! I say that every week so it must be true.

Pictures:

Me with "Gordo" His name is Abdiel. He's the son of Hna. Martha.

Hna. Sanabria and I! The stuffed dog was Hna. Peñaranda's and the monkey is (in Hna. Peñaranda's words) "my inheritance." She recieved it from her trainer and now it has been passed down to me. 

Happy Mother's Day. Yesterday. I'M TRANSFERRING to SABINAS! Mexico

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAYYYYY!!!!! I talked to my family yesterday and I forgot to wish all the Mother´s a Happy Mother's Day. I didn't realize until this morning. Then I felt bad.

But as I'm sure you all know, I got to talk to my family yesterday! They got to see my tanlines. I'm sure they were just dying to see them. After we said goodbye and I had to snap back into normal missionary life I went to go sit with my companion while she talked to her family. Man, they were saying things that were worthy of being found in a general conference talk, and I was thinking "I told my family about my throw up story...."

TO EACH HIS OWN. 

Nothing really happened this week besides getting really sunburt. And let me tell ya, every single person that I saw afterwards told me: "You're burnt." 

I KKKNNOOOWWW. 

But hey, I have news! Today we found out our transfers. I'm sure you're all dying to know. Yeahhhh.... I'm staying in Zaragoza another transfer. It shall now be forever known as Mexico Zaragoza Mission Hermana Murset.

Just kidding, I just pulled all of your legs. I'm leaving! I'm going to a little area (just kidding it's a huge area) called Sabinas. I will be the senior companion of the Hermana that Hermana Peñeranda just finished training. I should probably know her name... hold on. Hermana Sanabría.

I would tell you that Sabinas is a beautiful area, but all I've heard is that it's super hot up there. Everyone keeps telling me good luck with the heat and so that doesn't really boost my confidence. We can't carry around umbrellas to block the heat because then we look like Jehova's Witnesses. Oh welllllll. At least I'm leaving! Wooooo!!!

This first picture is with Hno. Gabriel, the less active that started coming to church again back in January. He's awesome. He told me that he was going to miss me. He told me that there is always a special bond formed when people work together to come closer to God. I'll miss him.

The next picture is of Hna. Barrientos. She's basically like my grandma here in Mexico. She's so sweet and when she found out I was leaving she gave me a huge hug and a kiss and told me to write her. 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week! The next time I write you I'll be dying of the heat!
--

Hermana Murset