Half-way to Mexico!

 

These pictures were during a rain storm we had here last week.

Me and Hermana Cookerham. She's from Texas, but not Mexican at all.So we're the Tex-Mex and the real Mex!

Those elders drew a mustache on my face - don't know if you can see it or not...

So I got your package yesterday and I loved all of the healthy food you sent me! It’s really hard to find food like that here surprisingly! I loved all of the letters and emails and dear elders you guys sent! I got super excited about the package! In my district all of them get packages like every week cuz they are from Utah, so it makes it easier; but it was finally my turn! Any ways thanks!

So I had two really cool experiences this week. So first, I had to go to SLC on Thursday to go and get my visa taken care of. Anyway, we had to take the front runner then another train to get to the building. So anyway, on our way back we were waiting for the train and this lady comes up to all of us (about 20 missionaries) and says really loud that she needs us to pray for her to find somewhere good for her to live. We all told her we would and she just walked off. It was super weird. So anyway, some elders were saying they wanted to go talk to her and all this stuff, but while they were all in a debate whether to talk to her or not I looked over to my companion and asked if we could go over to talk to her. She was nervous, but she said yes. So we just walked over to her and all of the missionaries just got quiet and stared at us, ha-ha! So I went and sat by her and asked what her name was so we could pray for her and then she just started bawling! She thanked us for coming to talk to her and apologized for the desperate plea for help. She told us that she felt she was stuck in between two worlds; drugs and the Mormon world. She said she believed in our church, but it was just hard to follow because she was just so deep into drugs and didn’t have a good place to live. So I told her to pray and ask for Heavenly Father to help her and guide her where to go. She said she would and it was really cool. I felt the spirit and it was really strong while we were talking with her. We talked some more and I asked her if she would start going to church again and then here’s the turning point! She told us she got excommunicated from the church 3 times, so I didn’t really know where to go from there... So I just told her to pray and remember what she had been taught when she attended church. So yeah it was a pretty cool/weird experience!

Any way, my second really cool experience was awesome! Mom - prepare yourself - you’re probably going to cry. So this week me and Grandma Wood got real close.:) On Friday I was having a hard day. I was struggling with the language and just being hard on myself. So I was wearing the ring that has her and Grandma Hope’s name on it, and I went and said a prayer to feel comforted and calm and it was amazing. I went and sat back down at my desk and looked down and saw her name on my ring and instantly felt the warmest feeling of the spirit with me. It was like I was being hugged from behind me. I have never felt anything like that in my life! And then the rest of the day I could just feel her so close to me, just helping me get through my day. I know that she is right beside me pushing me to keep my head up and keep working. It was the best part of being at the MTC.

On Saturday we taught one of our teachers who is pretending to be an investigator named Lewis. When we taught him the first time I was so frustrated because I had no idea what he was saying in the lesson and so I couldn’t really say anything back, so I just kind of sat there and put my two cents in when I could. So before our next appointment with him I said a prayer that I would be able to understand what was being said. It was amazing! When we got in there it was so much better I could understand more; not everything, of course. But enough to be able to talk to him and give good insight!

The spirit is just so strong here and I am so grateful to feel it every day when I wake up. Ever since that experience I haven’t been hard on myself and I have been doing amazingly better with the language. I am able to remember more and memorize things so much easier. I think Grandpa Wood has been helping me out a lot on that end! He was quite the wiz at memorization as you all know! I love our family and I am always so grateful for the choices that dad made to join the church and the way both of you raised us. I am so so so blessed to be a part of your family and I will never forget that, and never take for granted how amazing my family is!

So that's basically all the excitement that happened this week. It is all going by so fast and I can’t even explain how fast it goes here! Brothers - you understand - it’s crazy! I can't wait for the day when I have a nasty sick Mexican accent and have trouble speaking English! I am so excited! I love you all and hope your week is amazing like mine is! I want you to all look for blessings that you have in your life this week. Whether big or small, I know that you will all have a lot better week for it! Look for all the good in life that the lord gave you. 

I love you all so much! 

Love Hermana Velasquez!