And A Happy New Year December 28, 2015 Saltillo, Coahuila, México

So I talked to my family for the last time and it was weird. I talked to them in Spanish and they didn't understand. I ate a bunch of food and I nearly threw up. And that's the spirit of Christmas!

Christmas Eve Hermana Mis talked to her family and then we went and ate with some members. We could be with the members until 10:30 but we were so tired that we called it a night at 9 like usual. Christmas morning we woke up and studied like usual and then we bundled up and opened Christmas presents under the tiny Christmas tree I had made a couple days before. I got my companions socks. 

All in all, it was a pretty quiet Christmas. It's just weird to think that next Christmas I will be at home. Yeeaaahhhh, let's not think about that. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! It was hot on Christmas day and yesterday it was FREEZING. I <3 Saltillo.

I have a funny story to tell. So a couple weeks ago we left our house to go work. It was a great day, the sun was shining, we were finding awesome people in the streets, and I was ready to teach the world. We went to go find a person that we had contacted a couple days earlier. She came out of her house and didn't look too excited to see us (that's normal). She told us that she didn't have anywhere to sit in her house (the usual excuse that they give us) and us being good missionaries said "That's okay! We can teach standing up!" So we started to teach her outside her house. 

Hermana Mis was in the process of inviting her to be baptized, when all of the sudden I felt really woozy. My vision started going and in my mind I thought "I should probably tell my companions that I don't feel well. No, that would be rude. I'll just wait." 

Then BOOM. I fainted. 

Hermana Mis thought that I had knelt down to pray (I fell in a kneeling position) and Hermana Aragon just stared at me until it registered that I was unconcious. Haha Hermana Mis whipped out her hand sanitzer to wave it under my nose, and in the process accidentally squirted some in her own nose, and Hermana Aragon started waving me with one of our pamphlets. I eventually came to and they sat me in a chair and gave me some Coca Cola to raise my blood pressure. I still wasn't really quite there until I heard someone ask "Is she pregnant?" I woke up pretty quickly and set them straight. 

Anyway, long story short we went to the hospital and did a whole bunch of tests and turns out that I have another type of tachycardia (a heart condition) and now I'm taking medication for it. 

BUT I'M ALRIGHT. Don't worry. Just workin' like normal. 

Anyway, just thought I'd give you that update. 

I love you all and I hope you have a vverrrryyyy happy new year!

I really am fine. 

🐉🌵😁Hermana Murset

Pictures:

1. Christmas morning! I'll admit, the tree I made was pretty pathetic. But the socks I gave them were FANTASTIC.

2. We went caroling as a zone and we stopped to take a selfie as we were crossing a precarious bridge.

!Feliz Navidad! (December 21, 2015) Saltillo, Coahuila, México

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Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you enjoyed our bearded faces. We were smiling underneath the beards, I don't know if you noticed. We had a long discussion; "Do we smile? They won't see it.... Well, might as well, it's tradition." 

FELIZ NAVIDAD. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

 

Um... I don't really know what to say besides that. 

This year has FLOWN by. I remember thinking when I was in the MTC, "I'm going to be in Mexico for all of 2015.... How am I going to do it?!" And now it's almost 2016. I've learned a lot in this year. For example: SPANISH. I've also learned how to be a better leader (I've still got a lloonggg way to go). I still haven't learned how to make Mexican food. I did learn how to be straightforward (sometimes you just gotta tell the sisters what's up). I learned more spiritual stuff. I learned how to work hard. I learned that faith really is power. 

I learned a lot.

I don't know what I'll be like when I get home; probably the same old awkward Megan but with greater spiritual knowledge. But I know that I have a better perspective on life. What a cliche missionary thing to say. I just hope that I have changed enough to be able to really help people out. Help them rise higher than they are. You know, be inspirational. 

I'm thankful for my family and friends. I'm thankful for the people that have had an influence in my life. I'm thankful for the companions that I have. I'm thankful for Christ. His birth, His ministry, His Atonement. I'm thankful that I came on this mission. I can't even begin to think where I would be if I hadn't come. 

Remember Christ.

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful Christmas! I'm thankful for each and every one of you. Even if you don't think that I remember you, I do and I'm thankful for you. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

🌲 Hermana Megan Murset

We Went to Walmart (Saltillo, Coahuila, México)

We went to Walmart today, totally ready to be Americanized. Turns out they sell the exact same stuff that they do in all the stores here. We were quite disappointed. We did find Kraft Mac and Cheese, so the trip wasn't totally wasted.

This week was pretty normal, adjusting to being in a trio again, realizing that I speak Spanglish now. Remember when I was really good at English? Not anymore. 

This week we were walking around, looking for referrals that we had gotten. We weren't finding anybody and we were in a part of our area that doesn't really have work. So like the good senior companion that I am, I said "Let's go wander around and see what we find!" So that's what we did. 

I saw a man outside of his house repairing a door. We mosied (moseyed...) over and started to talk to him. We ended up teaching him and afterwards made another appointment to return. But the day that we had the appointment someone got sick and we couldn't go. But we ran over to his house and left him a note, inviting him to the ward Christmas party that we were going to have. 

We spent the day in the hospital with the sick hermana and were pretty bummed because we didn't get to work. We went to the Christmas party and who do we find? The man! His name is Thomas. And believe me, to find someone who will go to things like that of his own free will... IT'S HARD. So we all nearly leapt with joy and got to work introducing him to the members. He fit in pretty well and within no time he was dressed up as a wise man! It was great. Afterwards he told us that he is planning on buying dress clothes so that he can go to church on Sunday. 

Sometimes wandering around has it's benefits.

I'm doing well, living everyday like I'll never see a gordita again.

4 more months and I will set my feet on the red sand of Utah. But for now I'll be walking along the Mexican earth.

I love you all!

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

Hermana Mis, Thomas, Hermano Sergio (he took the whole wear a costume thing seriously), Hermano Mora, me.

S.O.S Save Our Sisters (Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico)

So one of the sisters here in the mission has chicken pox. She has to stay in her house for 15 days. Hermana Mis, being the mission nurse, and me, having had chicken pox in days gone by, went to go take care of her and her companion. Today we're going to do the same. Weeeee!

ALSO. It's a new transfer! The President told me that I was going to train, but then he asked me to stay as sister training leader. So here I am, about to complete 6 months in Zarco! We're also going to be in a trio again with a sister named Hermana Aragon. She's from Utah. We'll see how it goes!

This week we had our mission Christmas party. It's pretty much the only day of the year when all of us missionaries try to look really nice. We had a talent show and each of the zones got to present two talents. The other two zones did stuff like play the piano, play the guitar, sing. What did we do? The Haka and a skit called "Dear John." The elders wrapped towels and blankets around their waists and a Hawian elder lead them in the Haka; which involved screaming and scary faces. We won that round. Then we did the musical of "Dear John" in which I was the girlfriend who was going to faithfully wait, but then married the best friend. You can find the video on the mission's facebook page, I'm pretty sure. We won that round as well. 

Then we ate, exchanged presents, and went out to carol and contact people. It was quite festive and I had a ton of fun. 

BUT THE BEST THING OF ALL.....

Cesar got baptized!!! Something always has to go wrong the day of a baptism and Thursday wasn't an exception. The font wasn't filled up all the way, so the elders had to fill it with buckets. Cesar told me that if the water wasn't warm, that he was going to throw me in the font. He was pretty serious so I breathed a sigh of relief when the water was warm. Afterwards he looked so happy! He told us that he felt like a new person. Then yesterday he was confirmed. Afterwards he came up to us to thank us and was so happy that he got emotional and almost started crying. He was practically bouncing and skipping from happiness. It was probably one of the best experiences of my mission, seeing him being made a member of the church. I love him and his family a lot. 

I have two transfers left, so I gotta make them count, huh?

I love you all a lot and I hope that you have an absoutely fantastic week. 

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

The day Cesar got confirmed. His big happy smile and his sweatshirt. Gotta love it. 

Hermana Roberts and I at the Christmas thingy. We sure are some happy Americans.

Another Week, Another Baptism (Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico)

So I got my hair cut today. I feel young and wild and free as much as a missionary can be. Or in other words, I wore my hair down instead of pulling it up like I usually do. 

Cesar is getting baptized this week! We asked him if he has white cloths to get baptized in and he assured us that he has some. But I'm a little worried that he's going to show up in his baker's uniform... He's a baker, by the way. But that doesn't really matter because I'm really happy that we've finally gotten to this point! He wants us to sing "Called to Serve" in the baptismal service. Gotta love that man. 

This week we met a young lady named Karina. We had a pretty cool experience with her. She was sweeping the sidewalk when we went up to talk to her. We asked her if we could share a message and she let us into her house. To be honest, during the whole message she didn't look very interested. She doesn't really have any religious background and so I think she was a little bit uncomfortable because she didn't know what to say. But that's okay, it's a learning process! 

She told us that she had never prayed before, so at the end of the lesson we taught her how to pray and asked her if she could do it. She said that she could. She started with "Heavenly Father," then there was a long silence. She started praying and when it ended, she was crying. I asked her if she felt something in her heart and she nodded. I asked her to explain what it was like, and she said "Love." We explained what it was and she invited us to come to teach her again. Who knows if she'll accept our message later on, but I feel especially privileged to have been there when somebody prays for the first time, and for the first time in their lives, knows that God is listening. 

I'm starting to realize that my mission is coming to an end. I mean, I still have quite a bit of time, but that time flies. I just hope I can adjust to eating without tortillas when I get home...

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I didn't do anything for it. Actually, I forgot about it... 

Anyway. I love you all and I hope you have a great week! By this time next week I'll have my next transfers. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to the border of Mexico and the U.S. to a town called Acuña. We'll see. 

Hermana Murset

Pictures: 

The Katrina Museum. The Katrina is the skeleton dressed as a woman. It was actually closed (closes on Mondays) so we didn't get to see it. Hmph.

I don't know if you remember this family. They were some of my converts in Zaragoza 2. I got to see them the other day! Minus the hermano, but oh well.

Happy Turkey Day Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

I never thought that I would like EFY songs until I listened to the same 200 Mormon Tabernacle Choir hymns for a year. 

Anywayyyy. 

This week was pretty normal. We kicked Zarco in the behind this week and ended the week with the best numbers in the zone. They say that numbers don't count, buuut...

I also went to the hosptial to get my heart checked out. DON'T WORRY I'M FINE. I've been having really bad pains in my chest and in my back and my handy dandy nurse companion made me go to get it checked out. They did a whole electrogram or whatever it's called. My heart's great! Where there's scars on my heart from the procedure they did a couple years ago showed up, but that's normal. Turns out the pains are muscle contractions caused by changes in the weather. Now you know why I complain so much about the weather here... But we just happened to be on splits when I went to get checked out. The poor Hermana thought I was going to die. 

Hey! This week is Thanksgiving! I'm planning on cooking a turkey and some pie. Just kidding, I never have time to do anything. Let alone make a bowl of cereal. I've said it so many times, but the mission has helped me to learn to be grateful. When I was going through some of the hardest times in my mission, I wrote down grateful thoughts and that's how I got through it. So to end this highly informative and entertaining email, I will tell you what I'm grateful for. Just imagine that we're all sitting around the Thanksgiving table sharing our thankful thoughts.

-My family

-My shoes that have lasted me this long.

-The gospel.

-Flour tortillas

-Handwritten letters *cough* *hint*

-Literacy

-Books

-A good night's rest

-Air conditioning

-Indoor plumbing ("It's gonna be big.")

-That I learned Spanish. What a miracle.

-Utah

-My friends

-Dogs that don't bark or bite when we pass by.

-Awesome people here in Mexico.

-Honest people

-Cereal

-Ramen noodles

-'Merica

-Chocolate chip cookies

-Pretty much everything

Happy Thanksgiving!! I love you all and I am very grateful for all that you do. :)

Hermana Murset

Pictures:

I was a milk maid walking back from the grocery store. Hermana Mis got a real kick out of it. You can see the box of Cheerios in one of the bags. Cheerios 4 life.

Remember a year ago when I sent a similar picture? I would have you know that a half our later the sun was shining and it was hot. ;alkdjf;alksdjf

Clever Title (November 16, 2015) Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

You know you've been on the mission for a while when someone tells you to renounce your prophet, The Book of Mormon, basically all your beliefs... and it doesn't even bother you. You leave the appointement, and as you're walking down the street you say to your companion "I've heard worse." And you give them a fist bump and walk away knowing that you at least bore your testimony of what you know is true.

Those are very inpirational moments. 

Remember way back when when I first got on the mission and I started telling you about a certain family called Esparza Rodriguez? If you don't remember, it's okay. The mom and the daughter were my first converts. The other daughter, Dariela, loved going to church, she gained her own testimony that it's true, and all that jazz. But she never wanted to get baptized! That's okay, it's her choice. Well it sure was a surprise when I recieved a call from the Hermanas that are now in Zaragoza 2 and they invited me to Dariela's baptism! I guess after a year she finally decided to do it. But she told the Hermanas "I will get baptized. But only if Hermana Murset is there!" 

Well lucky her my area is 20 minutes away. The day of the baptism arrived and we hurried to the chapel, only to find a whole bunch of people I didn't recognize, the bishop in Zaragoza 2, and that they had just barely closed the baptismal font's doors.

I thought: ARE YOU KIDDING ME I MISSED IT?

No, turns out it was another person. Whew.

Eventually Dariela showed up, but the sneaky Hermanas in Zaragoza 2 told her that I wouldn't be able to make it. She nearly tackled when she saw me! It was a beautiful baptism, and a lot of tears were shed. Hermana Martha (her mom) nearly suffocated me with hugs.

I love them a lot. More than I love gorditas. 

It made me happy knowing that they are still going to church and that they love the gospel. It makes the whole mission worth it, doesn't it? 

On the other hand, 13 months on Sunday! In five months you will be seeing my tanned face.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Murset

Pictures: 

Me, Dariela, Yudith, Abdiel, Martha, and the new baby. <3

A fuzzy picture of me and a fuzzy cat.