2 Months!!

CONFERENCE WEEKEND! We had a very nice room to watch conference in English! It was really, really, really good!

Already 2 months on my mission!

My Dad will be so jealous! He loves KFC, so I thought of him with every bite!

It is so crazy to me how I have already been on my mission for 2 months. It kind of freaks me out to be honest. I don’t want my whole mission to go this fast, but I’m afraid it will. This just makes me want to work that much harder and not waste any of my time here! 

So this week had some nice ups and downs, but mostly ups. On Tuesday I wasn’t feeling very well at all. I had a massive headache and the stomach issue and I just felt like death. Luckily that was the day for planning the week out so we didn’t actually go out and teach till 2:00. So I was able to relax a little. We went to go and try and find these references and all I was thinking about was how crappy I felt walking in the heat of the day. We found the house and yelled at the gate and they told us to come right in. That doesn’t usually happen. We usually talk at the gate for about 5 minutes then the people let us in. Anyways so we walked in and there was a mom and her two daughters one 17 and the other 16. They gave us water, (because I’m sure we looked like death and were melting away) and then we just started into getting to know them. When we started talking to them my headache went right away and I didn’t fill sick anymore. They are great and loud. Ha-ha, the girls remind me of Tia, Annie and me. They were really excited for us to be there. One of the girls was just staring at me when I first sat down and kept talking about my eyes and how pretty they were, ha-ha.  We started teaching them the lesson and they were all very interested in the lesson. We talked about families and the plan of salvation. Then before we left we asked if they would be baptized and the mom agreed, but one of the girls left before and the other one didn’t quite understand everything. We had to go so we went back the next day and taught them again. This time we found out the 16 year old has a 2 year old daughter. She had her when she was 13. The mother was in prison for 2 years while her daughter was pregnant. It’s a pretty sad story, I felt really bad for them all, but they are doing great now. The mother also has a son and he is 10 and wants to get baptized! I’m hoping it all works out. We have taught a lot about baptism and how they can live with no sins and I think that really opened all of their eyes. We are going to go teach them tonight about the law of chastity. So that should be interesting, but I know it will all be good and the spirit will be there to help. 

For conference I got to watch it in English! I was so happy about that! There were about 10 of us missionaries in there watching it. That’s what the picture is of me and the hermanas. We had a nice room to watch it in. I didn’t get to hear President Monson’s talk because it glitched out and didn’t work (it was Satan) but we got to watch everything else. I loved Elder Bednar’s talk about investigators! There were a lot of investigators at the church watching conference so it was great for them to be there to hear it! I loved the Saturday sessions so much. I noticed how much it really focused on families a lot. I know this world is getting worse and it is so important to have your family grounded in the gospel. Like they said, shield your children with prayer before they leave the house for the day. Protect them from the wickedness of the world. Also it is so important to read the scriptures with your family even if it is for 10 minutes. Lead your children by example. Show them that the gospel and family are your number one priority in your life and set that example to them. It may be hard to find the time, but you can be blessed if you do. Also I have noticed how important morning prayer is. I know my day is so much better when I pray in the mornings. 

After conference on Sunday you could say I was on a pretty good spiritual high, ha-ha. We went to go and find some people after conference to go visit and on our way we passed this guy sitting on a chair. We said hello and kept walking. I wanted to go and talk to him, but I was nervous and brushed it off and kept walking with my companion. We walked about a block and I was physically stopped in the road and yelled for my companion and told her we needed to go back and talk to this guy. So we did and we found him again. I was really nervous to talk with him, because my Spanish is not that great yet. We walked up and I just started talking with him. The words were just a flowin' ha-ha. It was really cool. My companion joined in when I couldn’t think of anything else. But as we were talking with him I just felt an over abounding love for him, it was the weirdest thing. His name is Johnathan and he is 22. Some missionaries met him about 3 months ago, but never visited him again. I gave him a Book of Mormon and our number, and we are going to go visit him again tomorrow. It was a really cool experience; it was different to feel so much love for someone I didn’t know at all, and that I just barely met. I think it was just a little piece of me seeing him through Christ’s eyes. That was something I never want to forget, and want to happen every time I meet someone new! 

I love this place so much and I love these people I meet here even more. This gospel is true and I know in my heart that Christ lives and loves us so much. I am blessed every day here and can feel all of your prayers helping me every day. I am so grateful for the plan that the lord has for me. I feel so blessed every day for the situation and plan I’ve been set with in my life. Elder Holland’s talk really made me remember how blessed I am to be where I am in my life. I haven’t felt the same struggles these people have here that I’ve met in Mexico. Yeah, I have had trials in my life, but they seem so small compared to so many people’s lives here. I am so grateful for my life and my family’s lives. I know we can all be blessed with eternal life and live with the savior and god again in the amazing kingdom in heaven. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week and realize how blessed you really are. 

Love Hermana Velasquez