Off to San Luis!

On Tuesday, we had the district meeting in English!  (once every month & a half)  So that was fun :)  I am always so surprised by how my English is changing, because of day after day in constant "Spanish mode"  :)  Spanish is so AWESOME and I am so grateful to have the gift of tongues as a missionary.  Hermana Perez continues improving her English - and we put a sign on our door to our bedroom that says "English Only" so we get to help each other a lot in the different languages and that has strengthened our friendship and been such a blessing.

Wednesday we worked hard and taught a lot of lessons.  Having busy days definitely makes the time fly by faster - and in general these last months of the year always go by the quickest for me, so I feel like I'm in a time warp!  Our investigators are progressing and we have a solid relationship with the less active and active members here.  It's been so great to work in this area  :)

Here I am with Hermana Alondra and her son

Thursday we ate lunch with a less active Hermana who hasn't attended church for years.  She is so sweet and after knowing her story, you grow to love her more even though she's inactive.  I remember, at first, in the mission.  I would be irritated or sometimes frustrated with several inactive members, but now my perspective and feelings for them has dramatically changed.  I love them.  I truly want the best for each of them and their families.  And although I still get sad at times, because of situations and challenges they have / are dealing with, my emotions of frustration and irritation have been replaced with genuine interest and a deep love for them.  I've also come to realize that this deep love is the heart of every aspect of missionary work.  In Preach My Gospel it says:

Charity is 'the pure love of Christ,' and it includes God's eternal love for ALL His children.  We are to seek and develop that kind of love.  When you are filled with charity, you obey God's commandments and do all you can to serve others and help them receive the restored gospel.

As you follow the counsel in Moroni 7:48 and strive to do righteous works, your LOVE for ALL people will INCREASE, especially those among who you labor, you will come to feel a SINCERE concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. 

Here is Anthony with his pet parrot

Friday was a BLAST!  We had exchanges / "intercambios" for the day and I got to work with Hermana Anderson again!  woop woop :)  We worked in her area and had a lot happen.  First, we visited 2 other sister missionaries, who have been in the hospital the past 4 days (one of them has a parasite in her stomach).  I am SO grateful for my health.  Then we attended a baptismal service - which is always an amazing experience.  Then in the evening, we contacted all the people in this little restaurant.  I passed out a Book of Mormon to one lady we contacted who lives in San Diego, CA!  She was just visiting in Mexico for a few weeks but said she's seen our temple in San Diego. She said she'd start reading the Book of Mormon on the plane flight home!  All in all, the lessons went smoothly, the people we contacted were great, and I had lots of fun with Hermana Anderson.

Saturday there was another baptism!  Hermana Perez and I brought 2 of our investigators and shared our testimonies and a lesson about faith.  It was a wonderful day and we made a lot of visits  :)

On Sunday, church went well (3 investigators attended!) So Miguel officially will be baptized!  Our lessons went well until we received the phone call from our District Leader, who informed us of changes.  We were with the Cadena family, who started to cry when they found out that I would be leaving this area.

Here are the children from the Primary Program that sang on Sunday

I have been called to be the Sister Training Leader in San Luis Potosi (it is the 3rd state of the mission) with Hermana Mora! Hermana Perez will stay here in Aguascalientes and train a new missionary :)  As a Sister Training Leader, we are responsible for all the sister missionaries in our zone (usually about 12 in total or 6 companionships)  Remember when we would have exchanges with Hermana Anderson once every 6 weeks?  I will be doing that.  Every week Hermana Mora and I will have exchanges with one of the 6 companionships of hermanas to give them advice and see their work habits.  I also will give talks in front of the whole zone once each month in the zone meetings and work more closely with the President.  We have special meetings with him and the zone leaders from the entire mission.  And lots more....

Here is Paola and her three children!

I will write more next week about what San Luis is like and how the area is, etc.  But I am super happy to be serving as the new Sister Training Leader for this zone and especially to work with Hermana Mora!  I can tell this is going to be a great learning experience! I can tell we are going to be a great team and accomplish a lot here! This week is going to be super busy and especially now as the Hermana Leader of this zone, there will be lots more to do and lots of responsibility.  I know I am going to learn a TON! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Hermana Eliason