Joy In The Work

MONDAY:  

So I am back to cleaning all my clothes by hand because we don’t have a washer.  But I don’t mind because I just turn on a General Conference session while I wash all my laundry.  :)  Plus my wrists have gotten super strong!

In the evening we taught 2 of Hermana Teresita’s children.  She is a recent convert and has 4 children who are all great!  (Brandon is 14, Michelle is 12, Anthony is 9 and More is 5).  The three older children really want to be baptized, but their dad won’t give them permission, so we are working with them / visiting them often.

TUESDAY:

In the morning we had our weekly district meeting, which went well.  I tested / helped our district leaders with a couple of chapters in their English books.  I think it’s great when the native missionaries truly try to learn English - and I LOVE to help them because it makes me feel useful and happy.  :)

Just to give you all an idea of how hot it is here, I sleep with the fan on HIGH all through the night and don’t use a blanket!   In the mornings, I shower with cool water and almost always have my hair up in a pony tail.

There are these super big trees that provide tons of cool shade and hang low!
Sometimes we sit under them for a water break.

WEDNESDAY:

Today we encountered 4 new investigators to teach!  One thing I really like about opening an area is all the people with individual and unique backgrounds / stories.

Today when we were a bit lost, we approached an elderly man sitting in the shade with a scruffy little dog on his lap.  We asked if he knew where a specific building was, and he gave us directions.  Of course we weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to “contact” him (or receive his house address, full name, and date / time for a lesson).  After explaining about our role as missionaries, … to invite others to come unto Christ and [for] them receive His restored Gospel … the elderly man said, “You both are really close to my God.  I could feel it when you approached me and started talking.  Here is my number, please call me when you have a chance to visit and share your message with me.”  This experience made me even more thankful for the Spirit which testifies to others that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and carry with us the important message of salvation for all His children.  I love being a missionary and I love this are of Boulevares, Aguascalientes!

THURSDAY:

We tried to teach a man named Orlando.  (The husband of a less active member who had a bad experience with one of the members).  And now he won’t listen to us or our message and won’t give the Gospel a second chance - all because of the actions of another person.

I know we must respect people’s agency, but as we walked away, I started to cry.  Hermana Perez asked if I was okay, and I tried to describe to her that it’s heartbreaking and sad to know how much this Gospel can bless others, but regardless, some people choose the harder road and reject it.

The more I learn of the doctrine of our church, the harder it is for me not to shed a tear or two when others don’t accept it - even though some of these people are practically strangers.

FRIDAY:

Happy Friday the 13th  :)  We bought all our fresh fruits and vegetables for the week from Tianguis (the once a week ginormous and super long farmers’ market / swap meet).  I bought raisins, mangos, bananas, apples, guavas, papayas, lentils with tomatoes and onions and cilantro and some candied peanuts and granola - all for 100 pesos (about 9 dollars!)  We have been having a lot of success in our area.  We encountered 2 new investigators today and set up dates with 3 less active members to teach.  Hermana Perez and I make a good team.  :)  

SATURDAY:

English class went well!  We learned and practiced the verbs To BE and To HAVE.  One of my students made me laugh when she couldn’t pronounce the word “fish” and kept saying “I have a fierce”  ha ha  :)  

At 6pm the Elders had a baptism, so we brought Anthony (our 9 year old investigator) so he could see what it’s like.  He said, “I can’t wait to be baptized!”

Here is Anthony at the ward activity!
Doesn't he have a great smile?

Afterwards, we had the ward activity to celebrate Father’s Day.  It was so much fun.  The Relief Society sisters had prepared a variety of musical numbers.  Then the Primary Children danced and sang, which was cute.  Finally, we all ate tacos, horchata, and cake while taking turns at the Karaoke machine.  :)

Relief Society Sisters dancing and singing for Fathers Day

Here are the primary children singing

SUNDAY:

Happy Father’s Day to all the men and dads!  I am incredibly grateful for my wonderful Dad.

In the morning, we picked up Anthony and More for church.  I was so touched to see how excited they were to attend with us, all on their own.  They sat quietly and listened, and when we dropped them off afterwards, they said they liked it.  Lunch was yummy, and shortly after it started to rain.  It was more than a light drizzle, but I liked it because it was cooling and refreshing.  Plus, I love the smell of wet earth and wet asphalt.

We visited several families - during which time the rain stopped.  Then we entered a building and encountered a young woman crying with a young baby in her arms.  I asked what was wrong and she embraced me in a hug and cried on my shoulder for a few moments.  I asked her some questions to calm her down; like how old her daughter was and what her name was.  She then told me that her boyfriend had kicked her and the baby out into the street and she now had absolutely nothing.  She was waiting for her brother to return from work and thinks she’ll be able to move in with him for the time being.

Hermana Perez and I sang her a hymn and then taught her about the Savior’s love and the plan that He has for each of us.  We emphasized the importance of prayer to communicate with our Father in Heaven and said we can learn from all our experiences here in life and grow for the better.  She was really grateful and said we arrived just when she needed us.  

I know the Lord will never leave us alone.  He always wants to help us and hear from us. 

A little bit later as Hermana Perez and I were walking again, we heard the voice of a child shout, “Hey Misioneras!”  It was Anthony with his cousin and younger sister, More, all running towards us giddy and smiling.  :)        More said, “Let’s go to the park!’  to which I replied,       “Of course!  Come on.”  

Hermana Perez looked at me a little confused, but I said we would just stay for 5 minutes.  The “park” right around the corner consisted of a couple of swings, a basketball court, and a merry-go-round cage.  The 3 children said, “Hermana Alyson, push us on the merry-go-round!”  So I told them to hold on tight and I started spinning them.  Soon, due to their laughter, other kids in the park started running over to join in the fun … all shouting “Faster!  Faster!”  Hermana Perez was soon laughing at the sight of me - a tall white girl - spinning all these little children on the merry-go-round.  :)  We were all happy and had a good time.

Here are the kids that I was spinning on the merry-go-round at the park

This is just one of the examples of all the cool and crazy graffiti here that decorates all the sides of buildings and walls

I am truly happy here in Mexico on my mission and with my companion.  All is going great and I know this is the work of the Lord.  :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.”  Romans 10:15.  We all have the potential and power to be missionaries and preach this gospel unto all!

All my love and support,

Hermana Eliason

BUGS!!!

This week was CRAZY!!!

Monday: We were still living with the other two Hermanas, so we cleaned the house quickly, washed our clothes and then went out to eat together. Think I mentioned this last week :)

Tuesday: We moved into our new house (which used to be the old house of the Elders in our district).  In the morning we spent most of our time packing and then unpacking.  The good news is the house is two doors down from the church and in the middle of our area.  So we will be super close to the people we are teaching and won't have to walk as far any more.  The house was fairly clean and the Elders warned us that there were cockroaches - but we thought they were just trying to scare us .... boy were we wrong!  

This is our kitchen
(you can see the window that connects to our bedroom on the left)

Wednesday: The day was normal and all went well in our new area. And at first when we returned home in the evening around 9:30pm everything seemed fine.  Before we sat down to do our nightly planning, I wanted to get a drink of water and that's when I saw a cockroach on the counter!  I called for Hermana Perez and we used the H24 spray to kill it.  Feeling all victorious...we returned to our planning desks and received a phone call from our District Leader asking how our day went.  As I was talking to him, Hermana Perez started checking the kitchen cabinets to see if there were any more cockroaches.  Due to her wide eyes and hand signals of more cockroaches, I quickly ended the phone call and grabbed the H24 spray.  She told me to open the cabinet under the sink and just spray for a couple seconds. While doing so, I was screaming and got some of the nasty spray in my mouth and started gagging (apparently the spray isn't too great for humans either).  Thinking we had accomplished the task, I ran to brush my teeth in hopes of getting rid of the gross taste in my mouth, and Hermana Perez followed laughing ;)

Oh and I learned my lesson the hard way ...
need to use bug spray here. Over 21 bug bites on my legs! Ouch!
[Nice shoe tan, Kiley!]

This is when things got really gross and scary. (Our bedroom window connects to the kitchen, so we can see everything in the other room). When we returned from the bathroom and passed by the window, it was like a scene from a horror movie!! Tons of cockroaches were fleeing from the kitchen cabinets and emerging from other small spaces!  We ran and shut the door- locking ourselves in our bedroom and watching with complete disgust and horror and the cockroaches kept coming!  We did not sleep well that night, but luckily none entered our room.

Thursday: In the morning we awoke to a grave yard of cockroaches in our kitchen/ study area!  Over 35 of the filthy creatures laid dead all over!!! EW EW EW! We bought a special paste/goo that we placed all over the house to kill any remaining cockroaches.

Hermana Perez in the area where we study

Friday:  We had a zone meeting which was fun! There are some familiar faces in our zone (Elder Aguilar who was my first District Leader in Fresnillo, Hermana Anderson who is a friend from BYU, Elder Arreaga who always helped me with soccer in my other area, and Hermana Martinez who arrived the same day as me and was companions with Hermana Flores in the CCM!)  I also got my first package from home! It was so great to receive something and it made me feel so loved! Thank you family!!  [*note, 1 package was send at the end of January that she never got and she just received the one we sent March 28th.]

Saturday:  In the morning we had english class! (8 people showed up and I taught the basics).  It was fun, but I was also a bit nervous!  Then we encountered some new people to teach and passed out two Books of Mormon :)  It was great, and the Lord truly is preparing the hearts and the minds of the people here to receive us and this message of the Gospel of Christ.  It is amazing! Then, in the evening was the baptism of Tere! 

Tere got baptized!! wahoo! She is so awesome!

This was the big party afterwards in their house

 She is the daughter of a recent convert  (Hermana Hernandez is her mom and we eat with her almost once a week).  They are a great family!  Tere was grinning from ear to ear before and afterwards, and the Spirit was so strong.  The Elders and Hermana Perez and I sang a special musical number :)  Afterwards we went to their house to have a big dinner with all their family and friends.  It was so fun!  There were about 27 of us all eating, chatting, and having a good time together.  It reminded me of a big family reunion!

Sunday:  Hermana Perez and I gave talks in church today!  I spoke about Obedience and used the General Conference talk by L. Tom Perry.  It went well, and I learned so much from preparing the talk. In the evening we continued visiting people and received 5 references for new people to teach from some of the members.  There is a lot of work to do here but I love it!

Here I am holding a bunny ;) haha

Hey Gael was baptized the saturday after I left my area in Fresnillo!!!
I am so happy for him and his decision! Hermana Flores sent me these pictures!

These are all the sister missionaries in our new zone

All in all, it was an exciting and adventurous week for me!  I love Mexico, and I love my area and time right now training Hermana Perez.  We get along so well and have a great time together!

I know this gospel is true and hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Hugs and BUGS,

Hermana Eliason

New area, new companion, new experiences!

Lots has been happening this week in my new area called Boulevares, Aguascalientes!  It is a lot different from Fresnillo - it is more developed (there is a Walmart!), there are no stray dogs walking around, and the streets are really clean.  It is hot like Fresnillo, but more humid here (and of course these are the hottest months of the year!) .... but I am staying hydrated and drinking lots of water ;) 

There is ton of "tenant like housing"

Another difference here is the living conditions: in our area there are two different types of living conditions.  First is the "sector style", which are clusters of 3-4 story apartment buildings. There are over 10 sectors and each sector has about 6 or more apartment buildings - so basically there are a ton of people living within a very small area. But it is nice for us because we don't have to walk super far distances to visit a lot of people, and there are always a TON of people outside. The kids like to play all together, and the adults sit in their plastic chairs talking or eating. 

This is the view outside our window

The second style of living is more like the housing in the common US neighborhoods- decent sized homes that are painted regular colors and are well built. There is a lot more traffic here (no dirt or cobblestone streets) and like I mentioned, a lot more Americanized (there is a McDonalds, etc.)

Opening a new area implies a lot of work. We have been doing a lot of contacting (talking with people in the streets, getting their address, and setting up a date and time in which we can begin teaching them). We also have been getting to know the ward members so they can have the confidence in us to share references (or people they know like family members, coworkers, neighbors, etc. that we can teach). The ward members are few (at church we only had about 45 people show up) but they are super friendly and so excited to have sister missionaries. We are the first sister missionaries in this area for over 25 years- and everyone has been commenting on how happy they are to have us here. Basically...we can definitely feel the love ;) haha

Me and Hermana Perez

My companion is amazing! I am training Hermana Perez who is from the state of Mexico and is 28 years old. Although I, at first, felt totally unqualified to train this native who is almost 10 years older than me... God has been helping me in so many ways and I have been learning so much this past week.  Hermana Perez is so kind and open to receiving advice on how to adjust to the missionary life.  She has been actively participating in the lessons and our contacting, and her testimony is strong.  She helps me improve my spanish (although she says it is about 95% perfect) and I help her with her english which she loves.  In fact, it was announced in the sacrament meeting on Sunday that I would begin giving english classes every Saturday from 12-1pm in the church and that all were invited and asked to bring their friends as well.  Hopefully it can turn into a great missionary experience as well as strengthen our connection with the ward members :)   I will be sure to update you all on how it goes this week :)   Kinda nervous though...

Right now we are living with two other sister missionaries which is a blast! Sister Mora is from Ecuador and is training Hermana Huff from Arizona. It works out great because we all help each other out and share in the responsibilities of the house. Today we ate together at Walmart - I got a footlong Subway sandwich with Hermana Huff, and Hermana Mora and Perez got Chinese food.  It was fun to sit and talk together about why we decided to serve missions and our future plans for when we return.  It has become a little weird to think about returning home in a year. The time here passes by so quickly and I realize more and more each day what a privilege it is to be serving a mission here. 

Here I am with Hermana Perez, Mora and Huff

I am so grateful for all the love and support I have been receiving and hope everyone is doing well. 

Hopefully next week I will have more stories because these past couple days Hermana Perez and I have just started to become more familiar with this new area and the people here :)  But all is going great and I am loving my time here with Hermana Perez!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Eliason

[cute picture from last week I forgot to include]

Hermanas Winsor & Eliason

CRAZY!!!!! LOTS OF NEWS!

This week was awesome!  We had so much success in our area and have been seeing a ton of improvement.

We had a ward activity this week in the church called Feria de la Vida (which means Fair of the Family).  Hermana Flores and I, with the Elders and ward mission leader planned the entire activity and it turned out fantastic!  It was a blast and lots of members showed up to play games, eat food, and just socialize :)

Hermana Flores trying out a ukulele

I don't have much time to write today because we had changes!!!  I am going to be OPENING a new area in Aguascalientes and I am going to be a TRAINER! 

It was so hard to leave my area in Fresnillo after spending so much time there and becoming so close with the people, but I am excited for this new opportunity and challenge.

I promise to write more next Monday!  All is well and I hope everyone is doing great :) 

I love you all.  Please write or email me!

Hermana Eliason

[Some pictures]

It RAINED!!! there was so much rain this week, this is one of the streets that became like a river!

Here I am in front of a tae kwon do place and thought of Quinn

[I think the following pictures of pictures of people of Fresnillo
that Kiley took before she went to Aguascalientes]

Here I am with an investigator named Luz.   She is great!

Here I am with Hermana Bringas
(the member that is a chess master and has a super cool house!)

   This is hermana Lupita and her daughter Diana
(the daughter and grandaughter of the Perez family) They are awesome. 

This is the Piña family! She always makes super yummy food! 

They are the ones with the animals and the rooster.

Here I am with Hermana Winsor
(She and I have the same birthday and have been in the same zone here together!)

This is the Hernandez family (the progressing family we have been teaching!)  I ADORE them!

AMAZING WEEK!

This week was pretty much a perfect week in the mission :)  Nothing huge happened, but everything went so smoothly and I am truly comfortable here with Hermana Flores.  We both like to work hard but have fun along the way- it makes the time fly by!

We have been walking a lot because we focused on using the ward lists to encounter less active members.  The ward list is super outdated so sometimes when we knock on the door, the new owners inform us that the person we are searching for moved over 13 years ago or passed away 7 years ago.  It is kind of a hassle, but at the same time rewarding, because if the less active person doesn't live in the address we visit, we ask if we can stop by and teach the new owners (and most of them accept the invitation!)  So we gained 5 new investigators this week to begin teaching!

We ate pigeon eggs this week...tasted just like regular eggs,
but super tiny so we each ate 5! haha

The only bummer about walking a ton, is that is has been scorching hot!  Hermana Flores introduced me to the saying "me quema mi coco!" (which means "my coconut is burned!" or my head is getting burned)  It is amazing how happy I am here.  Although sometimes plans fall through, or we are tired we both help each other look for the positive.  We are constantly smiling or making each other laugh and we have become the best of friends.

Hermana Flores wants to study English in school when she returns, but is using her time with me to begin practicing. I t is a lot of fun, and she has been picking it up quickly. 

During a lesson with the Velazquez family we watched the Restoration video, which describes a bit about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  Samara (one of the 2 little cousins) took my hand and placed it on her lap and then announced to everyone "este es mio" which means (this one's mine).  I truly adore all the children here.

This week there was a big motorcycle event with a huge dirt course
and this is the day after (before there was tons of people,
music, and easy ups set up!)

Oh, one day for lunch with the Gonzalez family I was enjoying my tacos until one of the Elders commented on how good the meat was, and how Hermano Gonzalez prepared it.  He then proceeded to tell us it was a mix of several meats including cow tongue....yum ;) haha

We helped Hermana Lupita pack up her house to move.  We used newspapers to wrap up her glass cups and plates and pretended we were wrapping presents for each other and practicing for Christmas. Hermana Flores and I both LOVE Christmas even though it is super far away, we sometimes sing Christmas hymns in the mornings ;) haha

Well, that is about all the news I have for this week. I am loving the mission and learning so much each day.  I keep you all in my prayers and hope all is going well for each of you.  I know this gospel is true and can bless the lives of everyone.

Quote of the week: "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs." - President Spencer W. Kimball

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Eliason

Special Changes

Tuesday:  We woke up like every other day and did our 30 minutes of exercise, then prepared to shower / get ready for our studies.  But then, the phone rang and all I heard from the zone leaders was "Hermana Eliason, you and Hermana Ortiz have special changes.  Hermana Ortiz needs to be in the central today at 4pm to leave for her new are in San Louis."  When Hermana Ortiz heard the news, she started to cry and tell me she's never been so happy or close with any of her other companions and didn't want to leave.  I was too stunned to accept that my trainer and only companion so far in the mission would be in an entirely different state, and I would be left here in Fresnillo to teach the area to my new companion.

We spent the few hours packing her belongings and passing by some of the members' houses for her to say good-bye.  It finally hit me when she gave me one last hug before boarding the bus that would take her far away.  We both cried and promised to keep in contact.  I love Hermana Ortiz and am going to miss her.  We had become more than companions - we were best friends who helped one another become better.

Me & Hermana Ortiz

Wednesday:  My new companion is Hermana Flores (Sister Flowers) and she's just as sweet as her name implies.  She's 19 years old and from an all-member family of 12 in El Salvator!  What's super cool, is we arrived the same day in the mission and I remember sitting by her during our orientation by the Mission President in Aguascalientes back in January.  When we found out we were going to be paired up together, we were both thrilled.  I am so lucky to serve with her.  Hermana Flores is so sincere and kind.

Hermana Flores

Thursday:  We had a great day together!  We taught 9 lessons and the people here love Hermana Flores!  She's learning the area quickly and teaches with the Spirit.  I absolutely love being with her.  She and I have clicked so quickly and it already feels like we've been friends for years.  :)

Friday:  Walking.  Walking.  Walking.  We went all over today and it was dreadfully hot; although they say this month we should be receiving rain.

Oh, the circus is in town!  They have their big yellow and red tents set up with animal cages and other exhibits on the side of one of the main roads here.  While walking past, we saw monkeys, lions, and tigers and bears (Oh my ... - reference to Wizard of Oz  haha)

The Circus & Hermana Flores

The circus is in town and here I am in front of the elephant near the front gates

Saturday:  Happy Mother's Day!  Here the 10th of May is El Dia del Madre!  All the mothers received flowers, watched the elementary school children dance and sing, and in the evening there were tons of celebrations.  :)

I got to Skype my family in the evening - which was wonderful.  Hearing their voices and seeing their smiles made me feel like I've only been gone for a week or two.  They gave me encouragement and assured me that all is well back home.  I can't wait to be with them again.  I know that one of the main reasons we are here on earth is to experience the joy that comes from families.  I am grateful to have the peace that comes from knowing that we can be together forever.

Good quote:  "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." I am learning that people matter most, and it is the small moments that together have the impact on others.

This is a meat shop in our area and every time we pass by, we bust up laughing at the picture of the cow who is smiling while his rear end is being cut up! haha I tried to mimic the action ;)

I hope everyone is doing well! Don´t forget to show the ones you love how much they mean to you (we should never assume they know our feelings, we must show them through actions of appreciation or love).  I love you all so much!  Happy Mothers day!

-Hermana Eliason

GREAT Week!

This week was GREAT!! Hermana Ortiz and I are having a lot of success here with less active members.  We've been using the church list that has the addresses of these less active members (some of which haven't been visited or attended church for years!)  One man named Jose Luis was baptized over 10 years ago and now has a wife, and three children who aren't members, but who we've been able to start teaching!  He is now a tattoo artist (his wife does the piercings) and he lived in the US for 6 years. So while he was tattooing a big dragon on the back of some random man, he and I talked in english for a good 20 min (while Hermana Ortiz talked with the wife).  It was such a different environment, but regardless, I could feel the Spirit and they were so kind and welcoming.  Their kids are adorable and they have 3 huge bulldogs that we got to play with before leaving.  We´re going to continue visiting them so I´ll be sure to keep you all updated.

This dog made me think of aunt Michelle! I miss her

Here they celebrate a holiday called Dia del Niño (day of the child).  There was no school for all the kids and tons of parties!  There were lots of piñatas in the streets and children running around with all their candy ;)  It was a lot of fun, and Hermana Ortiz and I bought some cake.

The Velazquez family taught us how to make tamales from scratch! (a surprisingly long process) After a couple of tries, I finally mastered how to spread the masa on the corn husks ;)  LOVE the food here! They turned out totally yummy!

Hermana Ortiz and I completed 100 days together!  It is amazing how fast the time is flying by here!

Sometimes I still feel like such a little kid because the simple and small things make me so happy and can entertain me for hours!  The other day Hermana Perez was using her walker to get some fresh air outside, and gave Hermana Ortiz and I permission to use her wheelchair.   We then proceeded to make speeding car noises while pushing each other around super fast (oh and the cobblestones made it all the more bumpy and fun!) Hermana Ortiz and I had a grand ol' time and Hermana Perez got a good laugh out of how much we were enjoying her wheelchair ;) haha

Hermano & Hermana Perez

For P-day today we played soccer again! We all had a lot of fun...and great news...I used sunscreen and didn't get burned ;) 

I don't have much time today to write, but all is going well here.  I see miracles everyday and love the mission life.  I hope all is going well for everyone back home.  I keep you all in my prayers and am so grateful for the love and support I receive!

Hermana Eliason

[Last week Kiley's photos wouldn't load, so below are follow-up photos]

Little dog that relaxed on my legs as I prayed
(story from last week's letter)

Here is our entire zone with the mission president the day he visited (last week)

Here are all the sister missionaries in our zone right now with the mission president´s wife
(as you can see, i am the tallest!) haha

This is from last week when I described Hermano Perez visiting Hermano Vargas when he was sick

This is one of the daughters of the Vargas family that we've become close to; her name is  Lupita.

This is Hermana Romero when we had intercambios together

I got a package from the Carter family!!

BIGGEST farmers market EVER!!! it was crazy cool!!!

This is our kitchen

This is where we study

This is our new district