It is mango season!

This week was so hot...
We traveled down to Villahermosa for Elder Heninger's training and it was above 100 degrees basically all week in Tabasco. We had a really awesome week this week. We went with Juanito who recently got baptized and he loves to go collect mangos so we told him we would go with him. It was really fun, there isn't a better smell than freshly picked mango milk. It's actual heaven.

We found some really really awesome families this week. We were looking in our carpeta de area and we found an inactive family and we decided just to visit them. Turns out that 4 kids living there have not been baptized. I asked why and they said they didn't know! We shared an awesome lesson and taught a little English class and they're so awesome.
It's the beginning of May, & yeah its summer year round here but now summer is actually starting and I don't know how my skin is gonna keep up. I've just accepted I'm gonna be red my whole life.
Presedente Haws only has 1 transfer left and it makes me so sad. Actually really nervous for the new President. We have such a good time with President Haws & I don't want him to leave.
Not much else happened!!! :)

training

This week was our 3 week training for the newly arrived missionaries. Everyone went to the mission office with their trainer/companion and President Haws taught about the mission, beginning with why we are here. Moses 1:39. We had a big group of native English speakers, so we did their training in English so they could get a good foundation.
Pictured- Elders Haines & Maden; Elders Bowen & Reynoso; Me, Elder Jeppesen, & Heninger; Elders Johnson & Looney; and Hermanas Santiago & Bryant. The assistants- Elder Werner & Jimenez.

found a dead frog in our bathroom drain

SUNDAY WAS THE BEST DAY of my mission!!
We had such a good week this week it was awesome and so spiritual. Also, Elder Heninger and I have so much fun it's the best!! We worked so much and things just seemed to go our way!
We got home after a day that was in the 100's and we walk into our bathroom and it reeked like dead animal and mold. I started laughing so hard just because I feel so bad for Elder Heninger, he comes to the mission and so many things are going wrong with our house. The water is brown, and sometimes have swimmies in them, it's so hot, and our floor floods sometimes. Anyway a frog fricking died in our drain and started smelling so bad. We figured it out, we just don't know how so many animals get into our house.
We got to go to zone conference with 4 zone- Acayucan, Minatitlan, Coatzacoalcos and Los Choapas, which is always so fun and I got to see all of my long lost friends. I got to teach a little too.

I'm dying without golf, President called me out in the zone conference how it must be so hard for me to have missed the Masters with Tiger's victory.... he was rubbing it in.
The sun really came out this week it was so HOTTT. we literally wake up and walk out of our room and it's just a wave of hot, humid air and it's instant sweat. I guess the sun brings the blessings, every time we think its too hot to take another step, we remember that the heat brings the blessings.
We baptized Diego and Gabbi this week it was awesome Diego came up to me this week and he's like "I can't wait for my baptism, I just wanted to tell you thank you" it was so awesome. He says he preparing to serve a mission!!Church was solid!! We had 6 investigators come and they all had a good time! Loving it out here and miss all of you so much!!

If you made it this far then you should email me!

Tiger vuelve a rugir en Masters

Let me just say, last night we had just gotten back from a good day and I get a text message on our peanut phone with world news. I start reading it and see "Tiger vuelve a rugir en Masters" and I couldn't feel my body. I'm so sad Tiger's first comeback win, and  I'm on the mission, then he comes back and wins a major....:( I'm so sad I didn't get to see it

We had an awesome first week, Elder Heninger and I. We jumped right in teaching and finding new people and he's really getting into it now. I'm happy because now I have someone to talk English with!! but we only speak English in our house, but still better than nothing. It's awesome having a brand new missionary as your companion, at the end of lessons he can bear a short testiomony and let me just say it is pretty powerful. It really is. Although the conjugations and words are not all there, the gift of tongues is real because the spirit is there.

I remember the easiest way to be a missionary is to just do. If we have a thought to do something, don't take time to convince yourself not to talk to someone, stop by a house, share your testimony or something. Just do it. My comp asked me how he can grow his faith and confidence. Do you want more faith and confidence? Do things that require faith and confidence. The principle applies to many things. We are loving it out here.

Me with a chicken I caught.

I was super excited because we were gonna have Diego´s baptisim yesterday, and hes just got the strongest testimony. We have been working with his parents and finally, after some hard work we got permission. BUT Diego was sick yesterday so we pushed it back to this week!
We are living it up. This week was the hottest of the mission I think. There were no clouds and just pure sun. Living the best life.

I am a trainer

This week was absolutely CRAZY!! I don't even know where to begin. 

Saturday was a little rough. For lunch, we had fried Iguana and Iguana Eggs. Then Saturday night we were treated for Iguana Caldo (Soup) with Iguana Eggs.

It is shocking because they literally just cut it into 4 pieces and boil it and then make a soup out of it. They eat the skin and scales and basically everything. It's not bad, it's just the thought that I'm eating a lizard is a little weird.

I had a super weird experience, but also really spiritual. Saturday we got a call from our branch president that he needs us to be at the graveyard on the border of our area, right before the priesthood session of general conference. We went and met the president and a few others were there from the elders quorum. We learned we would be digging the grave for a boy who passed away earlier that morning. The mother was an inactive member. We dug a 6x4 foot grave for him. This took us into the night. It was hard work but worth it. We got to explain the importance of the Plan of Salvation and how He overcame death. It was very spiritual and sad, especially as we learned her son was involved in some things he shouldn't have been and was caught up in some ugly stuff. He was shot more than 10 times. This poor mother could feel the spirit as we talked to her, she said she could feel a peace that at least now she knows where he is because before she never really knew what he was up to. I'm so grateful for the atonement and the power of the Holy Ghost, It is so real.

I found an alacran. That's what they call them here but I think it's just a scorpion. They say they're really dangerous but I got a pretty cool pic.

I'm training a new Elder straight from the CCM, his name is Elder Heninger. He is from Syracuse Utah. 

We are working on his Spanish he can say a prayer and a simple testimony, he's awesome we are ready to work. I'm a little scared, When I went to Villahermosa to pick him up from the offices and go through a little training with him there are 4 new elders. 2 of the other trainers were zone leaders and have a while in the mission. I'm out here with 5 months in the field and I feel like I don't know much, so I was intimidated. In general conference, there was a lot of the talks that focused on the simple things. That's how we are gonna roll. Short and powerful, bringing the spirit to testify that really this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ and He lives. President gave a little pep talk about how transfers are guided by the spirit and the process of transfers, that was helpful. I felt a little more confidence after that.

We are super excited for a solid week this week! Giving 100 percent. Love and miss you all soooo much!!!

Primavera!

How is it already APRIL?! There is a colonia or appt complex kinda place called "Los Mangos" and now that we are in the beginning of April there are a ton of budding mangos. It's hard to see the street in some parts. 
I never know what to write about so I'll just write what I learned in the scriptures this week.

We had a cooking class with Hermana Maria she's so awesome, we are working on her baptismal date :) Also this is my favorite food in the mission right now its called "Carne Chinameca" it is so good I wish I could have it every day.

I can't wait for general conference!!!!!!!! :)

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." 

I wanted to know more about that hope, like John in Corinthians, as I read his explanation. 

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

John says Light comes from knowledge which originates from the Glory of God. In the most difficult of times, we have light (hope) which is derived from the knowledge we have through the Gospel. In General conference 2017 there was a talk, I don't remember who gave it, but he talks about an organic chemist and the Heliotropic effect. He references a universal law since the beginning of time. The tendency that in all living systems toward positive energy [Light] and away from negative energy [darkness]. He explains that from single cell organisms to complex human systems everything alive has an inherent inclination towards positive and away from negative. This came to mind when I was reading about John. Knowledge is light. It shines out fear and darkness. I have actually learned while here in my mission the importance of scripture study. I have always been told the importance of knowing the scriptures, for some reason the pattern is simple but hard to follow. The armor of light is stronger as we grow to know our Heavenly Father better through the words he has given us.