A Conference Week

This weekend was quite nice because we were able to see general conference! Definitely a nice thing to be able to do! Again I watched in Spanish, but it was a lot easier to understand this time. And it was cool to be able to listen to a few of the people give their talks in Spanish - from their actual mouth. Two of the speakers spoke in Spanish and Richard G. Scott also has his talk pre-recorded that comes from his own mouth too. So that was pretty nice. I am looking forward to when I get to watch conference in English again. And I would love to see conference in the conference center. Everyone asked me if I've been their for the conference and I can only tell them no. But one day I will get to I hope!

It hasn't been a super eventful week, but it's been good though. It was really hot this week and my body wanted to fall over and die, but no worries. I'm alive!! We did take a minute to sit and rest though so we wouldn't have any incidents in the middle of the street. It's so weird having such a hot October. I feel like it's still July with the weather how it is here, but then I remember that it's not.

We have had some great lessons. On Friday when I was just about to die and my head was pounding, we went for a lesson at 5 and Roberto told us that the day we contacted him, he saw us talking to someone and crossed the street so that maybe we would talk to him too. And if we didn't then whatever. So really he was prompted to talk to us, but didn't want to make the first effort. It's good that we made the effort to talk to him.

Also on Wednesday, we stopped by house of a girl who is reactivating in the church so we could go the the RS activity. And her cousin wanted to go too. So we all went and since then she has shown a lot of interest in the church. We're going to keep teaching them both and the others this week and hopefully we see more progress soon!! It is a great thing to see how the Lord works in different ways we sometimes don't expect. And when we make an effort to see the miracles He sends, life is just that much better!!

Have a really great week!
Hermana Humphrey

Sunset

Intercambios (splits)

Hna. Agustin's birthday (hooray for chocolate cake!)

A Birthday Week

We had a birthday week this week because Saturday was the 23rd birthday of my companion!! WOOO!!! After the baptism of the other hermanas of our ward, they surprised her with a cake, and some other little snacks. It was so cool. We had almost all of our district there for a little celebration. We had a cake that was chocolate (that was pretty special for me, since I haven't had a chocolate one since I've gotten here). Then we continued with our various things for the day. It was nice to have a little change in the rhythm of things.

*side note for everyone.. I really do realize that my English is not completely English, but it's all cool. I hope you are patient with me because it's a lot more work to think through the way to write things normal.*

On Friday, we had a conference with the two zones in Tapachula. It was pretty nice to be able to see a few people from my MTC district and others who I haven't seen in a while. And the president came which was really great too. We don't see him and his wife much down here.

The only other news for the week is the intercambios that we had. I went to the area of the other hermanas... waaaayyyy far away (the other half of our ward). It was nice to be able to be in another area for a little bit of time after so much time in one place it gets to be a little repetitive. But I'm glad to be back here in my normal area having a good time and teaching the investigators that I know. It's great to be able to know the people and help them learn about Christ and all the things of the Gospel. It's really great being here and to be a missionary in this time and it's going to be even greater that we can have conference this weekend!!

I hope every one of you has a great week and that you just keep on smiling and doing good things. Also enjoy conference, folks. :)

Hermana Humphrey

I Learned the Name of My Ward

Well, to start I will tell you that I now know what the name of my ward means - at least more or less. It means herbs. Weird, right? I learned that about two or three weeks ago, but I just remembered now and thought I'd share.

This week has been pretty good. Sometimes it's not super easy and we don't have lots of lessons and such, but we still have other good things. We had an activity on Saturday that was nice. We were part of a choir as all the missionaries of this stake and we sang 5 hymns and there were also a few videos in between. As we started, they showed a few videos before we sang our first one, but as we were sitting there all of a sudden we all felt weird (at least all of us missionaries who were sitting still and not watching the videos because we had our back to the screen). It was another earthquake (third one that I've felt so far). It wasn't very big, but it was another one. It's so weird how many there are here. I still don't feel like I'll be prepared when the big one comes in Utah. They scare me a little, but it's all good. It's always a new experience!

After the activity, there was a baptism in our ward which was great! Jose was baptized and he's super excited to be part of the ward and the church! But the funny thing was that the curtain to the baptismal font was locked and so he was baptized with it closed and everyone watched from the doors. Anyway, it's so great to see when people are so dedicated and excited to be baptized and even greater when you see that they are going to keep going as members and help out as much as they can.

It's also cool to be a part of ward council and see how everyone works together. We're seeing a lot of progress as a ward and also are seeing things that we need to improve and we'll do that by working all together!

As a close for the week, I wish you all a happy week and that you do fun things! Also I hope you all can watch conference in two weeks because it will be so great and important! I realize more and more the importance of the things each day and it's just great! The end.

Hermana Humphrey

The current district

Thought this fruit was a rock at first - it's not!

September 15/16 Equals 4th of July

Well.. Today is transfer day, BUT I'm still sticking around here in Tapachula with my trainee Hermana Agustin. :) Our district is going to change a lot though. They're whitewashing an area - taking out both who were there and putting in new people. And the other two companionships are having a transfer. So it'll be weird, but it'll be good though too.

Anyway.. today is independence day. Also tomorrow which is weird, but I'm sure you all can look up on the internet why, because I only know a bit of why. So far it's pretty tame, but I'm sure tonight I'll be hearing a lot of "viva Mexico!" It's fun to be here in it all. Also, Thursday we had a Mexican night in our ward. It was fun to be a part of it. The young women, the youth together, the YSA, primary, and a few other people did their dances. It was a cool thing to be able to watch and I want to be able to be here for a Mexican night stake level like my companion tells me about. It sounds like fun! And we had an investigator come too! It was really good that he came because he was able to see that we're not super weird and we do listen to music, dance, and have fun. He has a baptismal date, and we're working with him so that he can go to church and keep on progressing. It's always difficult for the people to go for the first time, but I'm sure with a little time, he'll be more comfortable with it all and have a great time!

Also it was really cool one of the lessons we had. We have a couple who are investigators. We invited a member family to come with us for the lesson and they all got along really well. It is amazing what the difference is to have lessons with the members and I hope all of you who are members are willing always to do your part, because the work is not just of the missionaries, but of everyone together! I'm so happy to be here working and have experiences every day and I know that it is so worth it. I know that this Gospel can bring so much happiness to the lives of everyone and I hope you all recognize that as well.

Much love,
Hermana Humphrey

The hermanas: Agustín, Humphrey, Zuñiga, and Aldas at the Mexican night

8 MONTHS of MISSIONARY

Today marks my 8 months as a missionary. It´s pretty weird to think that I have already been out that long, but it´s also really cool. I've had a great time and I am happy to be here! This week was a good one. As all of the missionaries here in our stake (28 in total I think - unlike the 2 in Utah stakes) we are doing a choir thing that we will perform as an activity for the people here. It will be really nice I think. Doing our little choir does take time away from the work - on Saturdays sometimes, which is our best day usually, but it´s all good. I´m still just working and walking everywhere and it´s just great!

This week we had a wonderful week fun of mice. Monday we found one and then caught it that night. Then two others we caught this week. We know just the way to do it. With sticky mouse traps. The getting it out of the house part is the challenge, but it´s another trial of our faith and a learning experience. It´s definitely a little eww though.

We had a good week and we´re working hard with a few of our investigators who really are interested and learning. It´s not always easy because the people feel nervous to go to church and don't go or other things similar, but when we just keep working with them, it makes it so they feel better. It's a great experience to see the change in these people and I know that if we just keep at it, they will eventually go and they´ll be able to recognize the importance of the things we teach here as missionaries. It´s not a fast process, but it is wonderful and so worth it!

Anyway I hope that everyone has a cool and lovely week! And always keep me updated on your lives. It makes me happy! :)

Hermana Humphrey

September Already

This week was a little less exciting and a little more tiring than most. We had a few days where all of our lessons fell through and we had an activity that really didn't seem worth our time, but Saturday and Sunday went a bit better and now we're so ready to get back out there and work! Yesterday (and many days this week) we had a good fair share of rain. It was really quite nice, but also very wet and a little dangerous. Only dangerous because I'm really good at slipping everywhere. And by "good at slipping" I mean that I slip frequently, but in a great manner! I haven't fallen from the rain!! What a blessing that is!

Anyway.. Today we had another friend join our house. Well we've had this friend for a while and we just got to see it today. Another mouse. EWW!! But we're going to kill it tonight. We bought traps and hope that it finds one of them tonight!

Funny story of the week. You have to continue reading to know it's funny though. Once upon a time we were waiting outside of someone's door waiting for them to answer - and never did. But as we waited all of a sudden we hear tires screeching and a mini crash!! I saw it all. And then they pulled over as most do. And I thought it was about to be big and bad when the one person got out of the car and yelled that he was so sorry. But they worked it all out really fast and it was all good. The only damage is that the license plate went flying in the mini crash. The funny part is that in the middle of it all the two men turned to us and smiled and waved then went back to their talking. And as they left they both were sure to wave to us as they left. I have no idea why they made such an effort to wave to us, but we got a kick out of it the way it happened. That might not be so funny to you all, but it was a good old time!

Anyway I hope you all have a funny experience this week and a very happy week too!

Hermana Humphrey

Pants Day

Well as my pal says it, today is "Pants day". My very first pants day. I'm sitting here in an internet cafe in pants. And it's really weird. But it's cool.. in a warm way. This week has been fairly normal (other than today). I will explain. Today we had our activity - like the activity I had the first Monday I was here. And since I'm still here in Tapachula, we went to Izapa again. It was nice. The best part of it was seeing the people from my MTC district (well three of them) and also other people. It was lovely, but the same-ish. And we were told we could wear our regular pants for the rest of the day (well until we teach again). And other than that today is a normal p-day.

The rest of the week has been fairly normal. We have been contacting, teaching, eating food (even though we have had a bit of miscommunication in the food situation and almost didn't eat a few times, but did end up eating - just a little later than usual), and all that stuff. We did have something really cool happen. We got to a lesson with an investigator (Octavio). And we were verifying if he read the Book of Mormon since the last time we saw him and he said well yeah, but I haven't finished yet. So we asked what he did read because we didn't leave a whole lot to read. And he showed us he's already read 75 pages. What?? That was pretty cool. Now what he needs is to go to church and all the other fun stuff! It'll be great!

We also had quite a lesson with another person. We went to teach a new person that we contacted and when we got there someone we taught once but who supposedly used to go to church for about a year but never got baptised, showed up. And he has so many things to say. We hardly could get a word in during the whole time we were there. It was a bit difficult, but this is where I'm certainly learning patience. It was weird and he's full of many words and things to say, but it was funny too. So there you have it. My week and all that fun stuff.

The end.
Hermana Humphrey

Hermanas Humphrey and Agustin

Pants Day in Izapa

 The Book of Mormon is true. It's written in stone. :) Well this is Lehi's Dream.