Monday, December 23, 2013

MERRY ALMOST CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!

FAMILY!!!! MERRY ALMOST CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!

holy canoli this week was a good one. 

So on thursday we had our christmas conference! we had to wake up at 4:30 to drive down to San Antonio but it was totes worth it. We drove with the other hermanas in our house and one other elder (who knew that was ok? but apparently it is. approved by all the higher-ups.cuz apparently they'd rather stick one elder with us than send another car down for his and his comp.) we stopped at this gas station called buc-ee's. its famous. they had ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY GAS PUMPS. smh. #texans. the store was like the size of a small walmart. we bought some beaver nuggets, which tasted like waffle crisp #thebest. there were like INFINDIDDY TIMES INFINDIDDY missionaries at the church. I got to see the few elders who came with me to the TSAM. we all filled the chapel and the overflow, packed in like sardines. we had some awesome talks, including one by President Slaughter about Angels. it was bomb. Then they fed us a huge Texas bbq lunch. Then we had a talent show. it was awesome. One elder sang Blue Christmas, and he sounded JUST LIKE elvis.... it was kinda scary actually, to hear that voice coming out of a skinny little white boy. My zone sang ye Elders of Israel. It was awesome, we stomped and clapped and it was great. Also, check out The Lower Lights band. The have a folksy country sound similar to Mumford & Sons, but they sing hymns :) I feel like someone in the family might like them. Also two senior missionaries did an Abbot and Costello comedy routine. hilarious, cute old people :) We finished with more talks and President Slaughter telling us that we would have the privilege of hearing from....... (pause for dramatic effect)\


ELDER BEDNAR!!!!!

he's coming in January! #bejealous. #stoked. We finally headed home and totally crashed from exhaustion. We were woken up half an hour later by elders pounding on our door because we forgot to text the DLs that we were home and safe.  gave me a heart attack. Member how I hate being woken up by phone calls in the morning? -_- yeah, it was like that. lol anyway...

then the next day we had Miguel's baptism! WOOOOOO! it went great even though it was 30 minutes late (but Mexican standard time we were on time). He said he felt the spirit really strongly and he really appreciated all the work we put in, not that we cared, but we were glad that he saw and realized just how important this step was in his life! Me and Hna Clark and the Elders who split the branch with us sang a musical number. Oh yeah.

The next day, We had a Pastorela (Christmas Program). Originally, we were going to sit out front and take down names of everyone who came in #newinvestigators. But in the end, only like one nonmenber showed up (BOO) and we passed out 200 flyers lol. oh well. so last minute they pinned me down and wrestled me into a shepherd's costume, while Hna Clark took pictures and I screamed for mercy. It was great. It was the funniest xmas program I had ever seen, since they had never practiced anything or memorized any lines. And in the Palm Valley branch version, King Herod follows the wise men to Jesus and somehow along the way got converted I guess because instead of strangling baby Jesus he just knelt down and worshipped him. #howitshouldhaveended.HAHAHAHA.... then we had a bunch of good food so that rocked.

yesterday we had church and it was awesome. I had to play for sacrament. And for the special musical number. wooooo....

So Juanita went to Mexico so we wont see her until January.... dang it... there goes that baptism this month. NEXT MONTH! and we still havent heard from Freddy.... his mom is keeping us away I think.

BUT we did lots of finding this week while passing out flyers and we have like 4 new investigators! They seem really promising!

Anway, I hope you guys are loving your time together!

Wanna know a secret? *whispers* nobody has invited us over for xmas dinner. But we're really happy about it cuz that means we get to stay home in our Jammies all day and make whatever we want to eat hehehehehehehehe. dont tell anyone!

Also I will be calling at 11 am texas time, which I think is 9 am cali time......

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

hermana feigel

Monday, December 9, 2013

What's this? What's this? There's water in the air!

FAMILYYYYY!!!!

how are YOU ALL (not y'all. I refuse. to. use. that. word.)?  i'm great! Let's see what happened this week...The biggest news this week? They changed our assignments so we are no longer over the singles ward (sad face) but that means we are now PURO ESPANOL!!! WOOOOO!!!!! We got to finish teaching Kendell even though he is in the YSA and we had his baptism on Saturday. It was so sweet. He talked about how hard it was for him to come to church because of work, and how he kept praying for help, and that is when the stake and ward boundaries all changed so the ward was closer to his house and his boss moved his schedule around. The church is true! I have loved teaching  Kendell even though we basically just helped him prep for baptism.  He is such a good guy. The elders who started teaching him were able to attend and one of them, Elder Olsen, performed the ordinance.  But he was really nice about it. Afterwards he told us that we must have been called to the area so that we could plan such a nice baptism for Kendell.

As of this week we now have 2 fechas flojas (lazy dates) and one fecha firma (sure date) for baptism. It's pretty great though because with one investigator, Juanita, she has had all the discussion but she refuses to be baptized because she goes to Mexico to visit family every other weekend and she doesnt want to be baptized if she knows she wont keep attend church regularly -_- but we had a lesson with her about the Family: a Proclamation to the world, and how parents have the responsibility to raise their children in righteousness, especially when they have the knowledge to choose between good and evil. And then she committed to baptism on the 28th! YAY! BUT this week was her first in church so we have to fix that... but I think she loved church, she brought her daughter, and we're planning on baptizing her once Juanita has been dunked :P

What else happened.... OH! we got to go to church for the first time in Spanish! It was great. I LOVE OUR BRANCH. they are small but mighty. The members make me laugh and smile and feel like I am home. We also had our first ward council which was kind of scary to report on our work to a bunch of serious-looking adults in leadership roles who (I imagined in my head) were totally judging my Spanish. But it went fine.

Ok now for your questions... let's see. I got the bike! It was waiting for me the second day I arrived in Texas at the transfer meeting. It is currently sitting in my room since we are a driving area (thank goodness). My comp drives since she is senior. We have a red toyota corolla. #classic. I can now recognize missionary cars from a mile away. They are corollas with cheap bike racks on the back LOL. 

MOM: I cant find the receipt you sent! Its not in the hymn book! Not sure what to do.... But thank you for sending all that stuff! BTW the water polo shirts turned out GREAT! they are my favorite workout shirts!

Basic run down of our day?

6:30 wake up, go on a run or go to the gym in our apartment complex (its awesome cuz no on is ever there at 6:30 am)
7 eat breakfast, get ready
8 personal study!!! (its the best)
9 comp study! -we (us and the other companerisma in our casa) usually read out of the white handbook, sing a hymn, and pray, then we split up and comp study
10 training (my trainer and I do work out of a handbook for newbies)
11 lunch
12 language study
1 get to work
9 go home
10:30 get in bed

Although it varies because sometimes we have stuff in the morning so we have to sacrifice some studies. And usually the game plan is to visit one city all day (teaching investigators in the area, having spiritual thoughts with less actives and members, obtaining referrals everywhere, etc.). Half the time our plans fall through but the zone leaders gave us their GPS which has all the ward list in it so we just look up who lives close by that we can visit. Or, like yesterday, we show up and the family we were trying to contact had moved, but we gave some cookies to the girl living there and made an appointment to come back and teach her family #newinvestigator. We are only allowed like (actually we dont know the exact number) 1100-1600 miles per month which is tough because we cover half the stake. We actually LIVE in Cedar Park TX. But we cover Cedar park, Georgetown, Leander, Liberty Hill, part of Austin, and Round Rock. a trio of elders covers the other half.

also, fun fact, the TSAM has like the highest number of converts through part member families. 

Also they said they fixed our heat but they didnt. But its ok. we figured out where the breaker is so we just flip it on and off as needed lol.

What else can I share? Oh we had some time this week and we went mattress surfing down our stairs. It was really fun and I'm sure it didn't bother our downstairs neighbors at all....... 

I'm doing good though. The other day Hna Clark just started gushing to me how great I am doing. She said it's like having a normal companion, not a greenie. That really boosted my confidence. Most people are surprised when I tell them I'm only in my second week. Then they ask me where I learned spanish. I'm still not really sure where either.... #giftoftongues #thankful. But I'm still learning so much as a teacher, how to tailor to people's needs and resolve concerns. But its such a great feeling when you teach in unity with your comp and the spirit is there so strongly.... its the best. Its funny because the elders keep telling us to watch out for so and so, they're really mean or don't like Mormons, etc., but everyone we talk to cant help but be polite to us and smile and say, sure come on in. This truly is the Lord's work. Also, sister chambers (lives in our apartment) told me, you cant say the wrong thing to the right person. How true.

Also I just want to exhort you all to be better missionaries! It's not hard. Make a family mission plan, of how you can help the missionaries, ward missionaries, and be missionaries yourselves. Have family home evening! Invite people! Invite the missionaries! I know you guys have such great potential to be missionaries at home, and there's so many people who need this gospel. We have to BOLDLY declare the word. We cant "just live it" anymore. Go and do. Lift where you stand.

you guys are awesome.

love,

hermana feigel





Monday, December 2, 2013

DEEP IN THE HEARRRRRRT OF TEXAAAAAASSSSSSS!!!!!

Estoy aqui in AUSTIN TEXAS!!!!! 

I am currently serving in the Palm Valley Area which is BRAND SPANKIN NEW. Things are a little crazy right now because they just changed a bunch of stake and ward boundary lines, but yeah. We are over the Palm Valley branch (espanol branch) and Chisolm Trail ward (singles ward). How lucky right?? My companions name is Hermana Clark. She is the best. I love her.  She is a little Georgia Peach from south of Atlanta and she has been out for 6 months already. Her spanish is great and I'm learning so much from her. The day of transfers, literally 5 people came up to me and told me I had the best trainer. LOL. She really is though. She is really nice, and sweet, and funny, but bold at the same time.

I somehow made it her with my luggage intact. Another wheel broke on my other suitcase. Awesome. But I made it. I didnt see grandma at the airport.... She said I might run into her but I didnt. We ate lunch at the Slaughter's and then went to the Alamo! It was awesome! then we had to hand out blue books! It was terrifying and awesome. The were 2 other sisters who came in from Provo. We placed 5 books in an hour. Then we went back adn had dinner with the Slaughters. We stayed in some random apartment that night and then had transfer meetings the next day. Everyone got their new comps except for those of us going to Austin. So then we got in a car and drove 2 hours to Austin and had another transfer meeting with the missionaries there. And I got my comp! 

This week has been insane! What with new branches and wards and boundaries... We came in with NO information, no ward lists, not even a MAP of our area. which we still dont have btw... the bishop of the spanish branch has been out of town and the singles ward bishop just wouldnt answer us. So the first day was a lot of working with the previous missionaries to get some info. We eventually met up with the spanish branch ward mish leader. He has a fire for missionary work! and we set a goal of 3 baptisms this month! We eventually met with the singles ward WML too and got some info from him. The previous missionaries also did some pass off lessons with us so we got to meet our new investigators and such. One of them, Kendell, reminds me of Aidan! He plays volleyball for a community college here even though he wanted to play for Golden West (the huntington CC right?) He is super nice. He is getting baptized this weekend which is super awesome! Although the missionaries who worked with him and taught him everything are a little bummed that we get to be there and not them... LOL. They also passed off a new investigator Christian. He is already ready for baptism and has a testimony of the gospel, but he is reluctant to set a date because he hasn't even told his devoutly catholic parents yet.,.... pero esta bien.

Thanksgiving was fun. We had dinner with the Elders Quorum Pres's family. Typical thanksgiving. Except in Spanish. 

We had some fun lessons yesterday. We met up with another investigator, Freddy, and his member uncle and aunt. The dinner was AWESOME (#realmexicanfood) but the lesson was SUPER awkward. I invited Freddy to be baptized (he has already taken ALL the discussions and has a testimony and has already had 3 baptismal dates) and he said yes so we were really excited but then his aunt and uncle got really weird and were like are you sure, this is important... etc. and started lecturing him on how important it was to have the protection of the holy ghost and Freddy's mom (pentecostal) started getting really upset because she doesnt want Freddy to get baptized.... Needless to say there was a solid 20 minutes where they just argued back and forth and me and my comp just kind of sat there like deer in the headlights LOL. eventually Hna Clark managed to interrupt them and point out the spirit was totally gone and we decided to have another lesson with Freddy and WITHOUT his aunt and uncle. Who knew members could be a hindrance? Awkward...., We also had a funny lesson with some less actives. The wife worked on sundays and her husband took refused to listen to the missionaries or go to church anymore. Hna got up and went into the kitchen where he was and asked him why he wouldnt come listen with us. He said there were too many hypocrites in the church and that everybody is a hypocrite. My companion then proceeded to call him a hypocrite (which had his wife laughing and my eyes bugging out of my head). He then thanked her for her frankness and came and listened to and participated in the lesson! He continues to refuse our invitation to church, saying he felt offended by some discrimination that he once felt in the church and he kept telling us he refused to come to church unless a specific person came and talked to him and that he wouldnt tell us who it was so we couldnt get him to church (his wife later whispered to us that it was the bishop- haha). When we got up to leave he bore his testimony of the power of prayer and gave us 10 oranges. It was a weird day. It's been pretty great. What else? Our apartment is BOMB. brand new. its great. Except the heater broke yesterday. we came home and it was SO HOT that the thermometer didnt even give a reading!!! After an hour it cooled down enough to tell us it was 95 degrees in our apartment!!!! It was pretty awful. We didnt get much sleep. But we have managed to keep it down to 85 somehow and we're hoping they can fix it soon. Its the worst. Oh and our phone broke. This all happened yesterday. It was a rough day. Satan is a bum. But we managed to laugh about it and take some silly pics in our stairwell while we retreated from the heat for a bit (our apartment is all upstairs except for the front door. We tried to all fit down there on the landing to sleep where it was cooler but couldnt lol)

I got your package! didnt know the receipt was there so I might need another week before I can return it... but yeah. We are going grocery shopping today! #stoked. Also I had my first dessert tamale this week. SO GOOD. I love the food here. Except I still dont know what tex mex is. Food here is either authentic Mexican or the white people serve Mexican food and like... italian food. The other day we had lunch with some members. They served tamales and lasagna. We have been served that twice actually... weird.

What else... Sorry no pics this week apparently i never brought my camera cord. I have been using my comps card reader. Ill probs buy one soon. I dont really need anything... other than those 2 things I asked for last week :) 

Everything is so good! We are working so hard And the spanish branch especially is really open to missionary work and excited to have sisters! I am learning so much from Hna Clark and my testimony is growing everyday! I wish I could share everything with you but there just isnt time! AHHHHHH missionary work is the best! Its so hard but so rewarding!

My spanish is pretty good! I am kinda quiet in peoples homes but I understand almost everything and input my fair share in lessons. My vice is calling people in spanish. spanish over the phone is SO HARD!!! working on it though!

Oh also, Hna Clark likes to run (in your face mom :P)

I love you all so much!

go be member missionaries! give the missionaries some referrals! Invite people to FHE!

love

hermana f

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

SORPRESA! ...And then there were 3...

oh waddup family...

so... I´m not sure if I´m even allowed to write you but here I am... I leave tomorrow! Que loco, no? it seems like I got here just yesterday.

here´s whats happened... Hna Hendricks left early monday morning. Hna Schumacher and I got up at 2 am with her to escort her to the bus where we said our goodbyes. She didnt seem sad at all lol just excited to go do the Lord´s work. The rest of the day Hna Schumacher and I ran around like chickens with our heads cut off because we had to get all our stuff ready AND it was still a normal day of classes and lessons and such... But we did somehow manage to squeeze in a ping pong tournament with the only other companionship left in our district. (there are only 3 of us left out of the 11 we had) The rest of the elders left early monday morning or monday afternoon. I was actually really sad to see them go... I have always been able to bond with guys better than girls... and we all got really close! It was like sending my brothers out into the world. And they really are my brothers in the gospel. Its ok though because I know heavenly father will take care of them so they can work hard. Plus, we have already scheduled our district 13 B reunion for October 2015. Hno May told us that if we call him after our missions he´ll take us to cafe rio..... so.. yeah. done. Anyway... yesterday was a mad rush in between classes trying to get our stuff packed and print off Hna S´s boarding pass and get everything ready for her departure. AND we had to move into a new casa because I couldnt be alone for a day so I had to pack all my stuff too and lug it all (including my broken dragging suitcase) to a casa all the way across campus. Awesome. But the Hnas we are assigned to now are AWESOME. Hnas Miller and Buhler. lol...bueler... Everyone calls Hna Miller the Amazon because she is 6 feet tall. She is so awesome though. I really like her, too bad we are leaving tomorrow lol. But this morning, I got up at 2 again to help see Hna S off. She seemed really nervous but I told her that she would be fine and not to worry about anything. She´s like almost 22 and lived and taught on her own in Russia for like 7 months but she always seemed younger to me. I was sad to see her go but glad to get back to bed. So I´m hanging out with my new Hnas today and they´re great but they are under the impression that today is Pday because its the day before we leave... Or maybe it actually is their Pday I´m not sure... Anyways so I get to email you again since they are. I kinda feel bad because the only elders left aer probably in class right now teaching more lessons and I get another Pday lol. although theres not really much to do since I´m already packed and did laundry and stuff. Oh well.

So I got an email from the Mish pres just saying hi and to bring clothes in our carry on, etc. #stoked. So apparently we are staying the night there. Thanksgiving at the mission home maybe?????

Anyways. I´m ready. Not sure if I´ll get to email you again when I arrive or if I´ll have to wait until Monday.... 

I´m sad to leave Mexico. It´s currently 65 and sunny... but I´m so ready to leave the CCM and hit the field. It´s been such a great experience and I cant wait to enjoy the friendships I have made but I know that right now I need to go serve!

Also in our last district testimony meeting one of our elders said that we get the companions that we need. I really think its true, although at times I wanted to strangle them, there were times that I truly loved them, and I know I learned a lot from them. Patience among the forefront, but also Christlike love, sincerity, and spanish lol. I´m really grateful for them but I´m stoked to see who I need to learn from next!

Also funny (I thought) story I remembered... I was telling my district of this nice thing an elder did for me... On the flight here, the overhead bins were so full that I had to put my carry on like 5 rows behind where I was actually sitting. But of course, upon landing, everyone was trying to get out and it was like IMPOSSIBLE to go back and get my bag so I was stuck. Then I saw an elder coming up from the back and he saw me eyeing my bag and he just grabs it and brings it up to me. I was like thank you so much! I would have had to wait for all 500 people to get off the plane (see? no patience). And as I was telling them this story, I remembered something and I was like, Elder Meidell (nuestro lider zona), that was you, wasn´t it? He was like yep. So that was cool, plus we´re going to the same mission and will be on the same flight again! So it´s kinda nice that I´ll travel with someone I know really well. Plus I told him, I have this feeling that he´ll end up being my DL again or something and I´ll have to call him every week to report. lol. Also, side note, Elder Meidell trained falcons before he came here. Our district has so many awesome people with awesome stories like that I just love them all to death. 

So don´t worry about me, I´m doing great! I have learned so much and my spanish is... not amazing.... but its amazing how far I have come and I cant wait to use all my talents to help others!

con amor
hermana f

PS here´s a quote I really like from elder Holland (sorry if this is super long by the way I´m only writing one emial and there aren´t many to read so I have a lot of time)

Satan is a real being, set on destroying you. You cannot travel down forbidden paths, and expect to go down the straight and narrow one. The game is close, and victory is everything. Get in the game and play your hearts out. Be a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, and voice for God. Unbind your tongues and watch your words work wonders. We need a lot more missionaries opening the gate of baptism and helping people through it.

Monday, November 25, 2013

spanish slang, snakes, and skype

Hola familia!

como estan ustedes? This week was great. I can't believe I leave in like 5 days!!!! My plane leaves Mexico on wednesday around 11. YAY! I'm gonna be sad to leave beautiful Mexico at the same time I'm so ready to hit the field.

Stuff from this week... Devo was great. I feel like I say that every week but its true. This week was my pal Davy Beddy Nar Nar. He spoke about applying General Conference talks to our lives. And it was given right after the age change announcement so that was kind of cool. By the way, Mom can you get me a November ensign that has the recent conference talks in them? Actually can you get me one from the april conference too? PLEASE :) Also our branch got to sing a special musical number before it. We sang I know That My Redeemer Lives. It was really pretty except for the fact that we sang the first verse a capella and the sopranos went totally sharp. LOL it was rough but whatever.

This week we were walking to church (because its in a different building) and we saw our District Leader and the 1st counselor sprinting away from the building. We shout after them: Where are you going? Our DL turns around: I dont know! so were like uhhh okay whatever. Then sacrament comes around and I realized they sprinted off to the Comedor to get me a tortilla so I could have sacrament with everyone else. Our branch presidency is the best.

This week was bittersweet because our dear teacher, Hno May left us. It was cool though because we got to Skype with Victor, an investigator who Hno May baptized (the same investigator he portrayed). So that was neat. He was really nice and it was amazing to see how the gospel ended up changing his life. He ended up sacrificing basically his family so he could live the law of chastity and be baptized, and his wife never spoke to him again but he is so much happier now and in a healthy relationship.

sidenote: I didnt think I wanted anything for Christmas, but I would LOVE 2 pocket size Books of Mormon in english.... pocket size... Idk where to find them but they are tiny and awesome. also I want a case for my mini quad... NOT one with handles... just a zippy one.

But anyway, we had a mini testimony meeting with Hno May. He was such a great teacher. He leds us more than he taught us. His favorite thing to say when we asked him a question was "okay, I;m not gonnna give you the fish but I;ll give you the fishing pole." This usually causes more groans than anything but I lnow we all learned a lot from him. We gave him a tie that we all signed and we stuffed it with thank you notes. 

Also, I have almost finished the BoM! I will finish it before I leave. Also I memorized D&C 4 yesterday. Booyah.

Also Since I have been in Mexico, I have found 2 bullets. One turned up in my purse (and I was SURE it was one of our elders who put it there, but no) and one I found on the volleyball court. Awesome. #Mexico

Oh we got a bunch of new investigators this week. Most of them are our own elders now. Daniel and Tyler were the hardest (we teach them at the same time, so thats interesting too, since we have only had single investigators before), they are both baptized members, now inactive. One is even atheist now. So its a new challenge for us but we are adapting! Its just interesting because they already KNOW the doctrines so its more a matter of testifying and helping them feel the spirit again, and more than anything, helping them have a DESIRE to return. because otherwise, nothing we say will help. We also got another pair of investigators, Octavio and Santiago, who are a homosexual couple who attend that pentecostal snake handling church -_- yeah..... they aren't really taking their profiles seriously, but we are trying anyway... LOL

ALSO! we had an investigator for one day who was an illegal, so of course the question came up in class can we baptize him... and I remember mom you asking if they could serve missions... turns out, living the laws of the land isnt directly asked in the baptismal interview (at least, Im like 85 percent sure) and (according to Hno May's Mish pres) as long as they are striving to keep the laws of the land in terms of paying taxes and following traffic laws, etc., he sees no reason why someone's citizenship status should stand in the way of their salvation. so. yeah.

Also we went to the temple today. It was great. I understood almost everything and only needed a little help at the end (which is funny cuz I think I know it in spanish better than I do in english now). 

But yeah, things are going great!

Love you all!

hermana feigel



Thursday, November 14, 2013

tostadas, tsunamis and stuff

hello all

[insert cliche about time passing fast but not at the same time]. Where to begin... well I guess I'll just get it over and say I was pretty bummed about Ranger, but I;m glad he not in pain anymore. He has "gone the way of all the earth" as the scriptures would say. I can't wait to get to the celestial kingdom and be tackled by all my puppies.

On a happier note. We had a great devo this week by elder L tom Perry. we were all pretty stoked because it was our first live broadcasted devo. He talked about the importance of companions, so I guess I needed to hear that lol. Also did you realize that Elder Perry is like 91?? And he practically skipped on up to the podium. Its crazy. Also its cool because he blessed his son as a baby, ordained him to all the offices in the priesthood, got to set him apart as an elder (his first mmissionary set apart when he became stake pres) then got to set him apart as bishop, stake pres, and when he got called to be a mission pres, pres hinckley flew Elder Perry from the Netherlands because he wanted Elder Perry to be able to set apart his son again. so cool! Also at the end, the video cut off so we had to say a real prayer, and in the MIDDLE of the prayer the feed came back on and it was in the middle of the prayer in provo and it was super awkward/hilarious.

ALSO everyone was talking about the tsunami in the DEVO. WHAT?? why the heck did nobody tell us this?? Man... and I thought PROVO was the bubble... apparently mexico is even worse...

Sooooo... we got more investigators! Most people we have talked to have 2 the whole time in the CCM but we currently have 4 and are losing one and getting 2 more! #cray. its sad though because the one we are losing was my favorite. he was our teacher, hermano may, and his character, victor, had such a tough life and was really struggling and I just knew the gospel could help him and he was progressing really well. unfortunately hermano may is going back to provo, so no more victor. oh well. but yeah 2 of the investigators we got this week are 2 of our elders and they ARE SUPER HARD. they both impersonate less-actives and its a challenge because we havent had to teach less actives before. they KNOW all the doctrine, but for their own reasons, they choose not to act on it anymore. its tough, but we are learning.

our sister training leaders left this week which was sad because they were the hermanas we hung out with most (they are the ones in the pictures with us at the temple). and one of them, hermana baker, knew elder crook. pretty cool. but it finally started hitting me that I wont see any of these people for a while so we made a pact in our district to hang out once we all get back, since most of us will be in utah lol #mormonprobs.

Funny story this week. we were singing at night before we went home, and I usually pick they key so i sing the first line of Brightly beams our fathers mercy(in english, cuz I knew the words) so we start singing and Im just belting out english and everybody looks at me and then I realize that I'm singing in english and everyone just laughs at me. good stuff.

Also, we sometimes have to get creative with food here. One of my favorite desserts is frosted flakes with a GIANT blob of nutella. the first time I did it everyone was judging me.... and now I have got our whole district hooked and I see about 15 people a day doing it too. Im a firm believer that its easier to convert people to nutella than it is to convert them to the gospel....

also BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO ERICA!!!!!!! happy 20th! you're so old! no longer a teenager! I hope your day is awesome and wonderful and I hope you do something fun with Ty and I hope you got my postcard. 

By the way, I thought I would be nice and warm here, it being MEXICO and all.... FALSE. yesterday we had a blistering high of 45 degrees -_- our teacher checked and it was warmer in salt lake than it was here...... smh. but we're surviving, and its supposed to warm up again, but it does stay around 40 at night now. 

Last week my companions were doing laundry and they always ask me if I need anything taken out to hang dry, and I NEVER do so I said no... not remembering my yellow slouchy pocket skirt that I have never washed before. and I also heard them discussing turning up the dryer temp all the way to dry our clothes faster. Needless to say, my skirt shrank about 2 sizes :( oh well.

this week on sunday they didnt have tortillas for lunch like they normally do. it was toastadas this week. So they blessed a tostada for me. which is pretty much a crunchy tortilla but the elders insisted on blessing the "tostada" LOL.

That's about it for this week. The spanish is coming along. the more I use it the better it gets. we have 3 days a week where we try to use only spanish all day. its really hard but it really helps. plus when I think about it, its pretty impressive that we can use spanish all day to say what we need to...

iré y haré [I will go and I will do]

hermana feigel




Thursday, November 7, 2013

The marvelous adventures of the tallest woman in the temple (again) and other such gems

FAMILY! como estas? no enter button in this email again sorry.
#mexicoprobs. well! let's see... well the best thing that happened
this week was that I GOT THE SACRAMENT!! woooo! so yeah you may be
wondering why I didn't before. Well week 1, I went up to our sweet
little branch pres and told him my dillemma he told me not to worry
and that he would get me some tortillas or something. Next week?
nothing. week 3? nothing. BUT. after sacrament he apologized and said
he would have the elders break a tortilla for me later in the day. So
that was awesome. I was really grateful to them. also I learned that
when you bless a tortilla, you have to say "please bless this
tortilla" HAHA. So. We had DEVO on tuesday and it was great. It was by
Elder Scott (and it was recorded) then halfway through I realized it
was the same devo  that abby was present for like her first few weeks
in the MTC! so that was cool. He gave the missionaries an apostolic
blessing for the gift of tongues and I'm not sure if it counts because
we werent really there, but I appreciate the thought. Also at this
DEVO we had a special musical number by 2 sisters playing violin and 1
elder on piano. they played I know that My Redeemer Lives. and it was
BEAUTIFUL. also one of the girls on violin was the girl I hung out
with at my cross country camp at BYU! ALSO one of the new hermanas in
our ward this week was in my  american heritage class! which is cool
cuz it was like a class of 40. ALSO i think I forgot to mention that
my first week here a girl was like... Are you hermana feigel? I was
like.... yeah... do I know you? and she said no, she just knew me from
Pinterest HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh also I just discovered that Joseph Smith's
First Prayer can be sung to the tune of Come Thou Fount. TRY IT. its
beautiful. We did it for one of our "hall singing" nights. Also we
have committed BOTH our investigators to baptism! WOOO! Now we just
have to get them ready since both are living with women they arent
married to.... #awesome #lovethelawofchastity. Congrats to my
siblings! shoutout to Ten especially for WINNING! you go girl.
#hottestonethere. yeah good job to you to aidan. Maybe next year.
oh... wait... :P haha jk. And CONGRATS to you all for WINNING LEAGUE
CHAMPS!! WOOT WOOT! #mysiblingsarebeasts. I brag about you guys all
the time. Also one of our elders loves water polo so I always read him
your stories. He's going to Cleveland Ohio :) ALSO we got a TON of new
hermanas this week (just to the CCM in general, not in my branch) and
one of the hermanas who is in my house is going to Fresno! Hermana...
shoot I forgot... oh well. Also late BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT to CAM!!! I
sent her a postcard awhile ago... I hope she got it... For those of
you who are wondering, Elder Crook is doing great! He has another
baptism scheduled for the next few weeks I think! Guys give Ranger
some loves for me! Que mas.... My spanish is doing better. My
understanding is a lot better than my speaking. But every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday we have all spanish days in our district so we
are really improving. Also Elder Riffel and his comps had the chance
to teach some of our elders. They then came running back to me
laughing that Elder Riffel didnt say a word the whole lesson....
HAHAHA. Elder Riffel the spanish master... knowing him though Im sure
he has a reason... Ok to end my letter I thought I would impart some
gems that I have began collecting during my time here. The Second
coming began 193 years ago, YOURE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. -elder holland.
I dont know what other institution would hand over the reigns to a
bunch of aaronic priesthood escapees -elder holland. Fear not, for
they that be with us be more than they that be against us -2 kings
6:16. English is the language of the world, german is the language for
dogs, french is the language of love, italian is the language of
music, but SPANISH is the language for talking with god. Shall we not
go on in so great a cause? -Joseps Smith. El mision es la gran
aventura de su vida (The mission is the greatest adventure of your
life.). con mucho amor -hermana f


Thursday, October 31, 2013

week 2!... Semana Dos(2)

can't believe I'm already starting week two. Cray. Not much happened this week but here's the rundown.
 
hermana schumacher is heading to vegas and hermana hendricks is going to albuquerque?...... can't spell anymore. yesterday i was trying to write prophets receive revelation and ended up writing profets recibe revelation. #spanishprobs. thats a good sign right? Well i love them both, and they are both very nice people, but hermana hendricks is the nicest, bossiest person ever lol. like you don't realize it because she will be bossy with a smile. so basically, we do everything on her schedule, even though I am the senior comp. but i kind of just let her do what she wants (even though that means we're late to class EVERY DAY) to avoid awkward confrontations. I pray that they will both have the desire to be obedient everyday and I do my best to be a good example but yeah...
 
so we also do a version of tunnel singing (Idk if i ever told you guys about it, its something we did at byu. go into the tunnel by the marriot every sunday night and sing hymns). we sing in the hallway of our classroom building every night before we all go home. its fun and the echoes make us sound great

also I didnt most of your guys's emails till this week, so sorry if i didnt send you one last week. I;m doing my best!
 
OH I had to give a talk this week, I wasnt too excited because the topic was the priesthood -_- hahaha but its whatevs. just stressful because everyone has to pre3pare a talk so you literally dont know if youre speaking until the brach pres calls you up. but he said i did good, so... *hairflip* i mostly just bore my testimony about how awesome priesthood holders can be, since the elder before me also spoke on priesthood, i let him tell all the boring doctrinal stuff
 
BIG NEWS!!! well, kind of. so THE HEAD OF ALL THE MTCs was here this week (and gave us a great DEVO (devotional) btw) BUT the big news is that he had a meeting with all the staff and admin. SOMETHING IS HAPPENING!!! all the people in the meeting were sworn to secrecy, but we managed to wrangle out a few details from a teacher who came back crying because the spirit was so strong. whatever it is, it will directly affect missionaries, they dont know if we'll be mature enough to handle it, it will cost a lot, and will probly come forward during our missions. But whatever it is has already been approved by the first presidency.... We're thinking China is opening or maybe we're receiving new scriptures or something!!! CRAZY!!! I hope you guys are preparing!
 
which reminds me, you guys BETTER still be doing scrips reading.....
 
also, today is halloween. Me and my comps switched nametags so I;m hermana hendricks for halloween lol. a bunch of grils came dressed up as the YW values which I thought was SUPER CREATIVE until the MTC pres's wife came and lectured them and I was like booooooooo
 
but we're having a fiesta with our district. I bought a bunch of suckers from the tienda to give out. 14 suckers = 1 US dollar #awesome. yeah and Dia de los muertos is tomorrow but if today was any indicator.... the pres wont let us celebrate. But I'm sure we'll hear plenty of bombas from the MExicans tonight... luckies.
 
well... that's all for now
 
love you all!!!
 
hermana f

pics: a head, polks dot Sunday, hermana schumacher tiny hands, my desk





Thursday, October 24, 2013

First Pics



Sink or Swim...

AHHHHH guys it´s been too long. well sorry for the silly grammar and such but I cant find the apostrophes on this keyboard #missionaryprobs. also the enter button is broken so I cant make new paragraphs. Whoops. Well lets see... I found un otro misionero in Phoenix. I actually saw an elder in Fresno but he was heading to Provo, so yeah. In Phoenix I found like 8 other elders. I was the only hermana. 3 of them are going to my mission. and one of them is even in my district here at the CCM (centro de capacitacion de mexico- center for learning). So anyway I get off the plane in Mexico and There's 2 hermanos from the CCM to pick us up except of course they dont speak english. One leaves and takes half the group of missionaries wqith him, and we're left with this dude who not only knows no english but has a thick accent from a cleft palate/lip. Sooooo his spanish sounded like hunnun muffalo gumluerisbfosdjfbavbhbvd basically. Mexico is crazy. I thought we were gonna die on the bus ride to the CCM but I guess people here know how to drive (even though its completely insane and half the streets have no street signs/stoplights-here they just put in speedbumps and hope people slow down). But the city is CRAZY!! there's like infinity houses and everything is just crammed into the smallest space possible and theres infinity people and all the buildings are bright colors its awesome. So I get to the CCM and they basically have us do some stuff on the CPU before they're just like... okay good luck! So, dragging my broken luggage to my casa took like 10 minutes. My comp wasnt there, so I found my way to the comedor to eat dinner. I sat with random people and then went home to unpack. Still no comp. Hours later, she finally shows up. And it turns out I'm in a trio! Hermana Schumacher from Minnesota, and Hermana Hendricks from Seattle. They are really nice. And they are really good at trying my patience. But I'm working on it. So then the first day is mostly orientation, blah blah boring whatever. Our teacher is great. Hermano May, the little white boy from Utah. He's the best. Also, we got our first investigator on the 3rd day here. Carlos. He is like a different peson everytime we go to teach him, and he's the most apathetic person ever..., but somehow we managed to commit him to baptism! We are already getting a new investigator tomorrow. The food here is great actually. Although it usually looks pretty scary and the main colors are brown and browner, its always delish. And they have tons of fresh fruit and veggies everyday which is the best. I'm learning so much here. It's only been a week but I can already pray, bear my testimony, and teach (a little) in espanol. Que bueno no? Its actually really tough. Theres a few elder in my district who aare straight up PROS at espanol- although we are a non-native speaking district. Oh also church was great. we ALL had to prepare talks and the branch pres picks 6 speakers the day of. I wasnt picked. but like 3 of the speakers spoke in english and mis comps y yo looked at each other like ummmmmm.... and the CCM pres was there too... afterwards he got up and straight up called them to repentance. It was quite uncomfortable lol. This week we also got our first PDAY (WHOOOOOOOO) and we went to the temple! IT WAS AMAZING. Pics to follow. I listened (with headphones) in english. but the next times I will have to listen/learn in spanish. Also I met someone who grew up with Cameron. Excuse me, Elder Crook. So that was cool. And then one day MACK SHOWED UP! excuse me, elder riffel (who kept calling me chan in the lunch room -_-). Who also has apparently been quite the little rebel lately (working on it). But I was glad to see him. In terms of music, we are not allowed to listen to anything here (lame) and they dont want you sending packages here (cuz by the time they get through customs I'll be gone). que mas? Also called to Serve is way better in Spanish. Idk why. it just is. I love my district. We are the only hermanas (though in our branch theres like 10 total) and we are almost all going different places. Elder Meidell is going to Tejas with me though. It was pretty nice when I first got here but its starting to get colder. Its like 50 in the mornings/at night. Also sometimes its hard to sleep because of all the bombas they set off in mexico. Apparently its a cultural thing that they shoot these fireworks off whenever they have birthdays, weddings, funerals, births, anything. I have also heard they write down their sins and set them off. I have ALSO heard that they are for prayers. LOL anyway, there are constantly these loud BOOMS going off (yeah they're not even pretty fireworks, just a quick flash of light and a cannon-like BOOM) typically around 5 every morning and 10 every night. Its great. I'm learning a lot though and really growing. We get to listen to the devotionals broadcasted from Provo and thats like my favorite part of the week. They are really good. Also if you're feeling down check out JR Hollands talk In Times of Trouble or For Times of Trouble. ITs from the 80s but its great. Also the CCM Pres-Pres Pratt- is like bffs with Elder Holland. ALSO I MIGHT BE FAMOUS. one day they randomly asked my district to leave class to take some pics so look for me on the front of the New Era or on the church website or something :) Its a pic of elders and sisters walking on the lawn at the CCM. Im on the left in the back. I dont even know if you can see me but yeah. PICS: day 1 exhaustion, broken wheel, district, temple, comps, etc. LOVE YOU ALL!! -hermana f. also I havent gotten your dear elder yet mom but my DL only checks on wednesdays...

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

libro de mi!

For this post I made a little photo album/ scrapbook thing that I can take with me on my mission. I figure when people ask me where I'm from, I can show them (because pictures are way more fun that just a description) and practice my spanish at the same time! #multitasking. Plus, it was just fun and simple to make.
I used cardboard for the covers, punched holes, lined the other side with scrapbook paper, BAM!

Some of the pages I featured included: where I live (pictures of home and where I'm from)


my family (pictures of fam, grandparents, and my doggie)


my school (pictures from/ of BYU)


my friends and my favorite elder (my amigos from high school and grade school, and mi novio)

Obviously I'm just so excited to leave, my creative juices are flowing and I have been doing a ton of crafts lately #girlprobs.

-c

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

What I've been doing with my life...

Not much.

But here's what I have done with my LAST SUMMER before I enter the Lord's service...

Work! Yes, yes, very glamorous (not) but I saved up some dough!












I ran a marathon! (finished in 4:09:31)
Yes, it was hard. Yes I would (and will) do it again.















I visited my favorite elder in Seattle (Bremerton) before he left for Japan. It was awesome. We went to Pike's Place, ate some good food, rode the ferries, etc. And the train ride was ONLY 24 hours from here to there!













I went to my friend Macklin's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. #soproud. He has been called to serve in Gauyaquil Ecuador. We will be in the Mexico MTC at the same time!














I ate here. A LOT. X)
















I got my call! #texasbound
I staged a paint war with my friends (and brother). Our clothes were white when we started...
#bestfourthofjulyever










I ate the frosting off this cake (it was HOMEMADE coconut pecan- can you blame me???) which my sister refrosted, which I ate again :)















I hiked Halfdome with my family (minus Cami)













And basically just had a great summer :)

Look what I made!

So I saw on Pinterest a missionary workout book and I thought "awesome I need that!" because I don't like having to make workouts, I just like doing them. Here's the original link but I didn't follow it exactly. Basically you just print off a bunch of Pinterest workouts and paste them into a cute journal (now you'll actually be motivated to DO those workouts [at least, if you're like me and just Pin them without doing them hehehehe]). 

The link has PDF files for workouts and even an index for them (all ready to print off!), buuuuuut I skipped the index part #lazy.







BUT

I did personalize mine a little more and turned it into my "Survival Guide." Not only does it have workouts, but I wrote down all of my mom's recipes for anything I might possibly want to make on my mission! Here's how it turned out.
Yeah... it was originally just a plain purple notebook but I thought that was boring so I covered it with some cute scrapbook paper I found. #classy













AND!!!

I printed off these cute missionary picture-a-day cards that I found here (from the same blog!) and added them in. These will help me capture all of the fun moments (and some not-so-fun ones) without taking INFINITY pictures everyday. Because I'm not super big on photos. But you know who is? MY MOM. And you know what that means... she'll want pictures every week! (If you give a mom a missionary... she'll want some pictures to go with it!)

Anyway... I think it turned out awesome, and there's plenty of room to add more workouts, recipes, or whatever else I can think of that I might need written down to survive my mission!

-hermana feigel