Week 4

H. Garcia H. Henderson Me H. Warner and H. Davis.

They left this week to go to Peru. They were our sister trainers.

I CANNOT BELIEVE KATE AND WILLIAM ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!!!!! This was the best news, I'm so stinkin excited! When I read the letters (one from mom and one from Sarah) saying it I started to cry. My whole district thought that we referred to Sarah's family as "the royal family" and I was happy that Sarah was pregnant. They, however, laughed at me when they realized that I was that excited about the Royal family in England having a baby. I will never live it down but that is okay.

THURSDAY

We went to the temple center. We didn't get the chance to do a session but we got to take pictures outside and go through the visitors center. It was a great time and I loved it. 

FRIDAY

We watched a video in class today called "I'm Holding You". It was about a lady whose husband told her he was cheating on her the day before Christmas and told her that he was leaving her but they should stay together for the holidays so it doesn't ruin it for everyone. She said all she wanted to feel was comfort and when she was holding her niece she felt as if she was holding the savior as a baby and then she heard a whisper in her ear, no I am holding you. It just made me realize that Jesus really is holding us through everything that we do. He wants us to be happy and have joy and He knows that is hard sometimes but He loves us and knows what we are feeling. 

This night we were suppose to teach Cecilio but he (Hmo Solomon) had a meeting with the stake president so we taught his girlfriend Yanis (pronounced Janice and she was also Ana) instead. She was a less active member who had served a mission but as soon as she got home she became inactive because of school and work and she just didn't have time. We mostly just asked her for advice on the mission and we shared with her that Heavenly Father loves her even though she isn't going to church. She committed to go out with us once this week and to come to church on Sunday. Afterwards she told us that we did a really good job and it was an awesome lesson. 

SATURDAY

We had another BOM activity today and we studied Alma 22.  Verse 12 really stood out to me when Aaron saw that the king wanted to hear and believe his word so he shared with him from the scriptures. This got me to thinking about how many times I've known someone to be ready to hear about the gospel but didn't have to words to say. It made me feel so embarrassed that I wasn't more open about sharing my love of the savior before I left and all the people I missed bringing happiness to because I was too scared to open my mouth. 

I've also been trying to work on service. A girl who sleeps in the room next to us (we have a slightly joined bathroom) was bawling her eyes out in the shower. We decided to heart-attack their door. She then wrote us a super nice letter telling us how much she is going through and how much that helped her. It made me feel good that such a simple act could make someones life just a little better. 

SUNDAY

For Relief Society we watched Pres Monson's conference talk from April. It was all centered on love. One line that really stood out was "The most important thing is our ability to recognize someone's need and then respond to that need." and that is the thing I've been trying to do. It is really hard but it makes me feel better whenever I do it. 

We had a devotional by Elder Bednar. He explained that the gift of tongues doesn't come until you've opened you mouth and started talking. The leap of faith is first required and then the blessing is given. 

MONDAY

We taught a lesson with Cecilio. We just read 1 Nephi 1 with him and at the end, Hmo Solomon sat us down and told us that it was the  best lesson he has ever heard or seen taught at the CCM. He said that he was going through some personal things and it really helped him as a person. The weird thing is none of us felt like the lesson was going very well but I think all that matters is that the investigators feel what your saying is true. 

TUESDAY

Both of my companions were sick so not a lot happened. We just had class all day. 

That night our devotional was by Elder M. Russell Ballard. He did so good. I wish you guys could be hearing these things. I love them so much. He told us we need to work hard and do the best that we can. That is so true and that is all that the Lord expects. He just wants us to work hard and He knows we can finish it, He will fulfill the other stuff we can't do. 

WEDNESDAY

We taught Karina about the law of chastity today. We were really nervous about how she would take it. She took it really well and said that she would go home and talk with her boyfriend about moving out or getting married. She also said that she would invite him to our next lessons. We were really excited about that. 

QUESTIONS

How's it going with your companions?

My companions and I are doing alright. We have our ups and downs. We really struggle with including everyone's ideas. 

What is the weather like there?

The weather is perfect. Mexico has 0 humidity and it is 70 every day with a nice breeze. 

What is the funniest thing that happened all week?We were all singing songs that we had sung as a kid and someone brought up that Shark song. We all started to sing it along with doing the motions. Hma Santiago then told us that this is why everyone in Mexico thinks gringos are freaks. We were all laughing so hard about it. Also, E. Frame farted in class. 

Are you getting use to the food?

Food still stinks and I'm a little blocked if you know what I mean. I've been trying to eat more fruits and veggies but they don't serve many of those here. Chocolate milk is back and that is a plus. 

How much are you walking a day?

I'm not sure how much I'm walking. 7,000 to 10,000 steps I think. We sit for long periods of time which stinks. 

Which skirt ripped?My skirt from Downeast Basics that was gray and had the little flower things on it. 

Did you get to go into the temple or just to the grounds?Just temple ground and the visitors center. 

What is the city like?It is so cool and different than America. Brad would love it because of all the graffiti on everything. It is a lot busier than America too. There is always horns and sirens coming from outside. 

What are you studying in PMG?

So many different things. You don't get a lot of study just for you. It is all for the investigator. I am studying a lot on patience this week and I'm trying to work hard on improving that. Also the commandments. 

Which shoes do you wear the most?

I wear my favorite shoes the most. The Clark's that look casual. 

Are you homesick at all?
Not yet. I love receiving letters and pictures though. I'm mostly just sad that I cant tell you guys everything that is happening every day. I'm trying to write it down so I can get the most out of it. 

SHOUT-OUTS

Shout-out to Sarah for the letter this week and picture of Ella! (her hair is too cute)

Mimi (aka Sharon) your letter made my day. 

Grandma and Grandpa for reading the blog

Abby Ringstrom 

Laura Faulstick for the letter I got. Loved it. 

Momma Misty

And Daddy.

Sorry if i forgot anyone. 

Love you all and Have a great week,

Hermana Porter

 

PS I'm getting nervous about leaving the CCM because I love it here. I love the structured environment and I love everything. I'm scared that once I get to the field it won't be as busy and I will have time to think of home and get homesick. I really don't want that to happen. I plan to work hard though. 

The donuts were fab!

 

Week 3

Hermana Henderson, H. Warner, Me, H. Presley, H. Taoa

Mexico City Temple

Me and Josh Smith!!!

Week 3

Dear Everyone,

I am not actually sure what week it is because nothing really ever starts on Monday. They say we are on week 4 but yesterday marked officially week 3. So that's where I'm at. 

This week has been rough especially companion wise. I'll get all the bad stuff out of the way that way we end on a good note. 

We have had a lot of contention this week and it really affected our relationship. We have different views of our purpose here and how far along we should be with the language and everything in between that. H. Henderson thinks we should be fluent and every time we would start to master something she would find something else that was nearly impossible to reach. That was really aggravating to me considering every time we don't reach something I take it personally. I was crying every day and I just was really unhappy. I finally talked to Hermana Santiago about it can she came up with some things that really helped us. We were already having companionship inventory every night and that wasn't seeming to help so she told us to keep doing that but also to start writing 5 things we like about ourselves, so that we can see the good in ourselves and we aren't comparing how were doing to how our companions are doing. She also told us to write 5 good things about each companion and then share them with each other. I think that activity really helped us see our individual worth and the greatness God sees in us. We have been doing a lot better since then. 

I didn't write out the major things of every night this week so my thought may be a bit jumbled. 

Sunday is the night that great things happened. Relief Society was all about John 15 and pruning the tree. Hermana Pratt (MTC Pres. Wife) talked about how trees only have so much energy and the more fruit on the tree the smaller the fruit grows but when you prune the tree it can grow more fruit and it will be bigger and better. She said as missionaries we have the same problem. We only have so much energy and that is why we have to give up our family and our TV and games and everything like that. We need to be focusing on the big things in life and give all our energy to that.  That really stood out to me and made be feel better about giving everything up. I just need to dedicate this time to the Lord. 

Shawn Cates spoke. He and his family (BEAUTIFUL wife and ADORABLE 3 kids) live here at the MTC and they take care of all the grounds stuff and he is also a teacher. He had so many great thoughts. 

1. The decisions we make now affect our future. How serious we take this calling as a missionary can affect our life forever and that could change it for the better. 

2. Everything gets easier IF we persist. Not because it becomes easier but because our will to do it becomes stronger. That hit me deep in the chest. The more we keep working the better we get because the more we will want to accomplish it. 

3. Don't dwell on the things from the past. The past is meant to be learned from not dwelt on. Don't doubt the Lords ability to give you a better future. I think that speaks for itself. 

4. STAY ON TARGET, YOURE A DISEASE. He kept saying this throughout the night and then at the end he explained it to us. It means never give up. Keep working hard. Keep doing something because even if you don't like it, it will become like a disease and stick to you. 

5. The reason that got you on a mission is a different reason than why you'll stay. 

6. GOD GAVE UP 1/3 OF THE HOST OF HEAVEN FOR US TO HAVE AGENCY. Agency is important. 

Monday was Mexican Night. Tuesday was Mexican independence day so we had a party. There were tons of dancers and stuff and it was awesome. I recorded a video and ill try to send it. 

Tuesday we watched Elder Scott live from Provo. It was amazing. I had already heard it before but he just kept talking about prayer. He had given the same talk twice but this time some things that stood out to me were different than the last two. The thing that I realized most is that You are Gods child. He wants to help you. That really touched me because I had never though of prayer like that. 

Wednesday we (me and my comps) had no contention. We taught an awesome lesson to Karina about the plan of salvation and some of the commandment. She committed to daily scripture reading and daily praying. She's already committed to be baptized. We really have connected with her and she is progressing great. (She is just our teacher but it is still really exciting.) 

WE TAUGHT A REAL LIFE NON MEMBER. It was so great. Her name was Liliana and she had us teach her about prayer. She has only lived in Mexico for 1 week and she was looking for a church to attend. One of her friends is Mormon and she decided to try us out. The Missionaries asked her if she would be willing to come to the MTC and have us teach her. She said  our Spanish was really good for only having had 4 weeks of learning. I really had the gift of discernment. I understood almost all that she said and I felt on fire. It was so great to feel like I was finally making progress. I also broke a table today in the lunch room which then ripped my skirt. It had to be one of the most embarrassing moments. (The skirt in not reparable incase you were wondering. The table however should be fixed in about a week. )

Today we went to the Temple and it was great. We watched this awesome video called Gods Plan and it is all about eternal families. It made me extremely grateful for the opportunity we have to live together for every. Go watch the video for me. I wish

I could watch it all day. 

Sorry this week is super jumbled. I will write out what happens every night so next week will be better. 

Love you 

Hermana Porter.

My favorite Elders.  Elder Anderson (with glasses) and Elder Garbaro (red hair)

My friends left this week and I'm so sad.
 H. Webb H. Veazie me H. Bacy and H. Marble

 

At the Visitors Center

I LOVE H. Jones.  She is the most motherly lady ever!

 

Week 2!!!

This week has been super hard but also super great. Ive cried most every day and my district has become accustom to it. haha. Home sickness still hasn't hit yet which I am grateful for.

THUR

We taught Fernando and Ana for the last time and it was really hard. I didn't understand much of what was said and i was lost the majority of the time. I started crying half way through and i was so embarrassed. I was feeling super frustrated and upset all day because i couldn't understand the language. 

FRI

I had a really hard time being happy. I cried all night and then i decided to ask Elder Garbaro and Elder Anderson for a blessing. Elder Garbaro was stressing out to so i decided to have it Saturday morning. 

SAT

I got my blessing and it was amazing. I was weird getting a blessing from someone other than dad but it was really needed. It was such a unique blessing. Elder G. gave it and he told me that heavenly father and Jesus want what is best for me and they want so badly that i succeed. If they could, they would come down and walk with me but they cant so they have sent the holy ghost to be my companion through out the hard times and all i need to do is heeds its teaching and i will know what they should have me to do. That blessing helped my so much. It reassured me that i am where i am suppose to be and doing what i need to day. 

My companions and i were feeling a lot of contention this week so Saturday we decided to sit down and talk about it. The advice James gave me really helps. He told me to remember that everyone is having a hard time adjusting and that i need to just treat people with love. That helped so much and we resolved everything we felt contentious about and we haven't felt it since. (the contention was mostly in planning our lessons. we all had different ideas of where it should go.)

We also had a stress management class from my night teacher (hermano Solomon who is actually Fernando, so yes, he is a fraud.) My biggest take away from this was that Heavenly Father has set the standards for what a missionary should be. He doesn't want you to lower them but he also doesn't want you to raise them. They standard are divine revelation for what they perfect missionary can be, do raise it for yourself. 

SUN

Relief Society

WE learned about the attributes of Christ. I decided i need to work on courage because i am not very courageous when speaking my language or saying what i think. Since i have decided to do this Spanish has come so much easier. It has helped me so much. I want to challenge you this week to watch 

Because of Him and Attributes of Christ (they had me balling like a baby) Then pick an attribute to work on. It will change your life. Pick one and then once you see progress choose another and continue to grow. 

I also learned that faith is not faith until it is tried. I have felt all week that i have been having so much faith in Christ and that he wasn't blessing me with the gift of tongues and, not going to lie, i was mad about it. I was doing his work and his will but he wasn't blessing me. As soon as i heard that phrase i knew i had to repent. This is my trying time and i need to have faith that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will see me though. 

MON

We taught Cecilio (aka Her Solomon) and it went really well. We balanced it out evenly and no one dominated. We had no contention. 

H. Solomon helped out and gave us advice after and I just started balling. I was feeling so stressed and his advice really helped but i have no clue how i am suppose to fit everything i need to do into one day. He brought his girlfriend in, Janice (aka Ana) and she helped me so much. She doesn't speak much English but she just told me i needed to turn it all over to the Lord so that is what i did. She really bore her testimony in Spanish and told  me that i need to remember why I'm here and thank the lord for it and pour my heart out to him. That advice has helped me so much. 

TUES

We did only Spanish all day and it was so hard. We (me and my companions) were so mad at each other all day because we couldn't understand each other all day. By dinner we had given up. 

We watched a devotional by Elder Holland and it was so good. He said that " WE need to have at least one convert by the end of our missions and it had better be us.." That hit me right in the heart. That is so true and I am going to do everything i can to make that true. Elder Holland is the best and that talk was so great. 

WED

We had TRC where we teach investigators (real ones) but they didn't have enough volunteers and so we taught another set of Hermanas who were on their 5th week and let me tell you that our Spanish was way better than theirs. It made me feel really blessed and assured that we are being blessed and our hard work is paying off. 

QUESTIONS

1 My companions loved their necklaces. I'm sorry i thought it was a nerdy idea, mom. Once companion wears it nearly every day. 

2. My favorite class this week was both the Video from the relief society lesson and they Elder Holland devotional . It really hit home and i had the spirit so strong. Another video that was super good was HOPE IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST. Those things really hit home. 

3. I am not walking as much but we are playing a lot of sports with our elders. We also work out in the gym they have here and i do the elliptical and the bike. 

4. I did get your dear elder letter but i have a faster way for you to get stuff to me. 

missionarypackagemx.com

also 

www.mtcmexicocarepackage.com

here is a discount for one of them it is "sharefun "

Well, that is all i have for this week. Love you all and hope you are doing well! 

Love, 

Hermana Porter

Daddy,

Your spiritual thoughts are the best! and they always go along with what I've learned. Keep it up. You are the best. How much weight have you lost now? You aren't stress eating because I'm gone are you?

I'm not sure how many missionaries there are we just lost a ton. I am going to guess there are about 800 or so now.  I haven't seen how many have come in yesterday yet so it will change

No my investigator is not real. He is my night teacher. He was a really good actor so i though he was real at first. 

Love you tons and miss you bunches. Thank you for getting me here and giving me this opportunity! I love you so much.

Love 

Hanny

Yes, I had to clean up this hair!!

Week 1!!!

Okay, so I only have an hour to email and a lot to talk about so we'll see how this goes! This week has been awesome so far with very little home sickness (your prayers have been answered mommy.) I'll start with the beginning of the week and work my way to present if that is okay with yall. 

WED

I met my first Hermana at the airport. Her name was Hermana Henderson and she ended up being my COMPANION!! How crazy is that? She was super kind and friendly. We got to talk for an half hour before we met another sister who is in our casa. We also met two elders. One is in my district, Elder Garbaro and the other i cant remember. We all had a good time though. 

Once i got to the CCM I got my name tag and i felt official! It was great. I still look down and it am like ¨"what, I'm cool enough to wear this?" I love it! 

Hermana Warner came in that night and she go word that we were going to be a TRIO! So it is me Hermana Henderson and Hermana Warner. We all get along really well. 

THURSDAY

We met our teacher Hermana Santiago. She is so cute, i love her to death. She is 23 and is going to school to be an administrative counselor. She really likes what she is doing right now and she does a great job at teaching us Spanish. She served her mission in Argentina. She has a lot of great advice from us and i have already learned a ton from her. She focuses more and teaching us  how to teach the gospel rather than how to teach the gospel in Spanish. I think that helps a lot. The gift of tongues comes over time ( i have yet to receive it!)

We also met our district this day. We have 4 sets of elders and 1 set of hermanas (us). Us hermanas are totally living in a mans world! haha

In the afternoon we had a welcome meeting where we learned more about the purpose of being a missionary. Here are some things i realized. 1. We are representatives of Jesus Christ and we need to act as such. We need to take some of the characteristics we had before and change them in to Christlike ones. 2. We need to pray to the Lord to help us. (this was a big thing i realized over the last week. You will see) He wants to bless us but he is just waiting for us to ask him. Make sure we get on our knees and ask. 3. Pray and scripture study will help us stay close to Him. Make sure we are doing those things daily or we will lose our relationship with Him, and really, who wants that?

This night we also watched other missionaries teach. We then had to correct some of the things they did wrong. The teacher went out and told them how to improve and then they came  back in and did it again. After that we had to take the things we had learned and apply it to our own investigator (as a group of 20 people, not as ind. companionship's.)  some of the things I learned were 1. Adjust to the need of the investigator. We might have planned something but they might need something else. Listen to the spirit and adjust to their needs. 2. Understand what the other person feels. They could be having problems and the spirit will guide you. 3. Teach people not lessons. Make sure you are building a relationship with the people and you are making sure you get what they want. 4. Don't convert them to you, convert them to God. Make sure we don't forget the real purpose we are there, which is to bring them unto God. Don't get so caught up in becoming there friend that they get caught up in the friendship not the gospel. 

FRIDAY

WE TAUGHT OUR FIRST INVESTIGATOR COMPLETELY IN SPANISH!!!! It was a lot of copy from preach my gospel. His name is Fernando and his girlfriend is preggo and wanted him to change his ways. He saw the change in his  brother and wanted that for himself. 

I'm going to be honest, we bombed the lesson. Totally butchered it. We taught him the restoration and it went horribly. But at the end we asked him to pray and he said he didn't know how. WE did the best we could do explain it to him in the little Spanish we knew. He accepted our offer and the spirit was so powerful during his prayer. I was crying (shocker, i know.) That was the highlight of our week. 

SATURDAY

Hermana Santiago had a "book of Mormon" activity with us. We all sat down as a district in a circle and the spirit was automatically there. It was then that i realized that we are disciple of Christ. We discussed 1 Nephi 1:1 and that was it. I realized that Nephi and i have a lot in common. WE both have goodly parent. we both have been helped by god in our afflictions and we both learned everything we knew from our parents. It was truly amazing the spirit that was there. I cant even being to explain it. It made me grateful for all the wonderful things Mom and Dad have taught me and the experiences Ive had. 

SUNDAY

This was my hard day. I was pretty home sick but it was also fabulous. In Relief Society we learned about the importance of obedience. we learned that a testimony is just knowing something and obedience is following the commandment to make it a part of your life. Obedience puts it into action. I had never thought of it that way before. In sacrament that thing that stuck out to me was "enduring to the end should be done with a positive attitude. If we just grit our teeth and endure, we wont learn anything."

Our devotional was by Richard G. Scott (no he wasn't actually here, it was just recorded.) IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED. He talked a ton about praying to god. He told us to pray all the time because you can always have a personal interview with God. That really hit me hard. Also he said to be afraid to pour our heart out and be brutally honest. Heavenly Father with bless us with doing those sorts of things. He also addressed the fact that Heavenly Father but us here to succeed not fail. That was really insightful to me. I loved it. 

Sunday the spirit was strong but i really missed being with the family. 

MONDAY

We taught Fernando for the 3rd time. (we taught him Saturday but not much happened) I CRIED THE WHOLE TIME. We decided to go with no script. All we knew was that we were going to be teaching the plan of salvation. when i got to my part i just lost it and started crying. I cried for the entire 20 minutes we were in there. It was so embarrassing. The spirit was really strong to me for some reason. I hope he got our message though.

Earlier on Monday we also taught the Restoration completely in Spanish completely only and i nailed it. i was impressed with myself. 

TUESDAY

We had Alan Walker from the 4th quorum of the 70 come and speak to us. He did an amazing job. The thing i learned the most was to make sure the branches and wards we are serving are unified in missionary work. The members jobs aren't to just get us referrals. Make sure they are coming out with us and involved with us. Also to not focus on baptizing people. Our purpose might be to uplift a ward member or a struggling companion or a struggling bishop. Make sure we aren't too focused on missionary work so that we can see the things we can do to help there. 

WEDNESDAY 

we had class all day. We did teach Fernando about the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it tonight and see if it was true. That was a big step for us. He said he had prayed about the plan of salvation and that the spirit had testified to him that it was true. We hope to commit him to  baptism TONIGHT

questions

1. Whats the CCM like. 

It super busy but super cute. hopefully you can get that from the pics i send. We are in class for most of the day but the windows are always open and the cool air is so nice. 

2. hows the food?

so gross. American food is bad and the Mexican food is bad. there are also so many carbs. I am in dire need of some veggies. 

3. Met any cool people ?

My companions are awesome. there is a girl here from Hawaii also. she is so cool. 

4. How the language.?

Bad. really bad. I think I'm losing more Spanish than I'm gaining. Hopefully the gift of tongues will kick in soon though. ! 

5. Mish in Atlanta?

Si, my companion Hermana Henderson and Elder Garbaro. Also 2 others but idk what their names are. 

6. Hows my companion. 

They are awesome. I loved them. It was a hard transition at first but we get along really well. James's advice to remember everyone is going through it really helped. 

7. Fav thing about the CCM?

everything is open and green. The weather is beautiful and you can just walk place to place. The houses are cute too. there in no air conditioning but it is so cool here it isn't needed anyway. 

8. Am i exhausted?

Not at all. I have tons of energy. I do get tired from sitting all day though. They campus is spread out so it is nice to get that little walk (my avg. is 15,000 to 20,000 steps a day. Take that Daddy Lars)

9. What am i doing for exercise?

Me and my companion go on walks or play volleyball. It depends on the day. 

10. How are my stowaways. 

They are doing great. They sleep next to my head every night!

                            



I'M OUT OF TIME! Oh no! Ill try to email back some next week! 

Love you all, 

Hermana Porter