Halloween!

The new Hermanas in our zone!

For Halloween they have this traditional bread, so we bought some and tried it out. It's pretty good, but nothing too amazing! They really rant and rave about it here!

A kiss for my mama!

To be honest, I thought Halloween was going to be so crazy and cool here, buuttt it was just another day where people had a party with loud music and hung around. But the food was really cool! I didn’t have my camera with me all week so I don’t have very many different photos of it all. But it was really cool what they ate for the traditional food for the day. It was called pibes. It’s like a Grande tamale, you can look it up for a picture. And this was really cool; I drank poison ivy!!! And it was sooo good! They have to boil it for a long time to make it and other things but it was so good! Yesterday we went to a member’s house and ate more of the same kind of food. They only cook this type of food for the holiday. 

So on Friday and Saturday we had interchanges (I think that’s what it’s called in English but I’m not totally sure) with the sister zone leaders and that’s when we change companions for 24 hours. I was with Hermana Williams; she’s from Utah and helped me so much in just 24 hours. We taught a lot of lessons and got a lot of new investigators! It was great being with her, but I did notice how people looked at us differently in the streets when I was with her because she has darkish blond hair and is really white, but it was just all different. I learned so much and feel a lot better with everything. I stayed in the area with her and my comp went to a different area and I was so scared because I didn’t think I knew the area very well and thought we were going to get lost because our area is really big, but we were golden! I actually knew where everything was and we didn’t get lost! I was pretty proud of myself, ha-ha!

While I was with her we went to go and find this girl that my companion and I gave a book to. We were first looking for her dad, but then found her. When Hermana Williams and I went looking for her we found her brother! He was the only one home but we sat outside and taught him a lesson, and it was so good. He is 18 and is seriously so amazing! I am super excited to teach him and see him progress in the lessons! It’s pretty funny that we went looking for the dad and found the daughter, went looking for the daughter, and taught the son! We are teaching him again tomorrow again so it should be good! 

So on Sunday it was a great fast and testimony meeting! We had one of our investigators there. Her name is Patty she’s about Annie’s age and has a little girl that looks just like Lucy, it’s crazy! But anyway, she was there and the testimonies were perfect for her to listen to! They were all about how families can live together for eternity and how the church is true and just testifying of everything she needed to hear! The cool thing that they do here for fast and testimony meeting is they go up as families to bear their testimonies. It’s really great! The parents and the children go up. I really liked that they did it like that. There is this one family, they have two children but the son died about 6 months ago. They all came up and bore their testimonies about families and how they know he is in a good place and know they can live with him again. They all had amazing testimonies! I loved it all! I was able to understand the testimonies this month so much better! It’s amazing how different it was to understand them and feel the spirit while listening. 

Yesterday we went and taught this guy we found on Saturday night with some members. They are great! They went on a mission together about 5 years ago in Mexico. So they came with us to teach him and we taught about the Trinidad.  Sorry, I don’t remember the word in English but its God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost (the Godhead). While we were teaching about that it was hard to really be able to say much during the lesson because the member was talking so much and my companion wasn’t able to talk much either. So during the lesson he used me as an example with the Holy Ghost. He said Hermana Velasquez doesn’t know Spanish, but when she needs help with the words and talking in the lessons the Espiritu Santo can help her with the gift of tongues. I just kind of laughed and started speaking in Spanish and telling him about one of my experiences I had in another lesson with the gift of gift of tongues and bore my testimony about it and other things. And it was so funny, the member says “oh my gosh, you spoke so well did you hear that Hermano - that was the example of the gift of tongues right there”. Ha-ha, it was so funny because I can speak and teach in the lessons, but I really believe he thought I couldn’t speak practically anything, but I can. Ha-ha! (But I wouldn’t be able to without the help of the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues!)

But I know that the gift of tongues is a true thing and the gift of the Holy Ghost is an amazing thing. I know that if I didn’t have the Holy Ghost in my life that I would be so lost right now and I wouldn’t feel all of the comfort I need in my life. I love the Lord for all that he has given me and helped me with. I know that he always watches over me and directs me to the people that he needs me to find for him, and that he is preparing those people little by little. I know in my heart that the Lord loves each and every one of us and he listens to our prayer every time we pray. I know that Jesus Christ knows how we feel whenever we feel sad, depressed, happy, or feel like we can’t go anymore. He can relate to us, so pray to him and the Heavenly Father because they can help you; they love you because God is our father and Jesus Christ is our brother. I love this gospel and I am so grateful for it every day! I love you all and hope you all have a great week! Always be grateful with what you have and love your family and friends with all your heart and don’t be afraid to share the gospel with others you meet. I love you soooo much! 

Love Hermana Velasquez!