HOWDY!

Happy ONE YEAR TO ELDER AARON MATTHEW LOPEZ! I feel like you left yesterday, but already half way...Oh, we're half way there, oh Whoa, livin' on a prayer!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RACHEL JORDAN HATTEMER! 20 YEARS OLD AND WE HAVE 10 YEARS OF BEST FRIENDITUDE!!! WHOOP!

Just so everyone knows, the Mission is incredible and I love it. Every day there are so many set backs, but there are so many miracles! Manuela and Jazmin went to the Temple! There is not enough time in the day to tell y'all how many challenges they faced to get there, but get there they did. And then, on Sunday, everyone shared their testimonies of the Temple and all the youth shared their testimonies of EFY and it was incredible. They actually wound up extending Sacrament meeting to two hours becuase there were just so many people who wanted to share their experiences. THE SPIRIT WAS AMAZING! La Familia Jiminez was sealed for time and all eternity and hearing little Brayan (7) say "Sé que mi familia es eterna" was the most beautiful thing. Everyone in the Chapel was crying. Manuela was sobbing like a baby and told me thank you thank you thank you for finding us. Actually, in the morning we went to their house and they were still asleep and we woke them up and reminded them that it was Sunday and Manuela was like, What, it is Sunday, Jazmin, why didn't you tell me, get up, get ready, lets go. And she paid her tithing and signed up to feed us twice this week! I dont know what we will eat becuase they have nothing, but in her sweet humility she wants to share what little she has with us. I love her so much! It is so amazing to think of How she was when we first found her. I testify to all of y'all and the whole world the the True and Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives!

Also, cambios were today. And.....I am still in Delicias. Presidente has a habit of having cambios like 3 weeks in a row, so I don't feel totally safe yet, but for now I am very excited to remain here. I love Delicias and we have great converts and investigators that I do not want to leave. 

Also, our neighbor is trying to marry me off to her son. But only so he can get his passport back. Ha. No worries, I am a missionary. 

I love y'all!

Hermana Dudley

P.S. Yes, I had menudo. It really is not as terrible as everyone says. It is just a bit strange to chew the intestines of a cow. And Hermano Duran, our Mission Leader. He is hilarious,. a convert who used to be a straight up cholo. I love this guy. He calls me HERMANITA DUDLEY. I use caps becuase he is always yelling, ha. 

3 Generations!

Howdy!

Great news, this week Fransica was baptized and confirmed, meaning there are now 3 generations of her family in the church! She is so tiny and fragile and adorable, ha. 

Interesting thing that happened this week: In the morning my companion and I were talking about the age of accountability, and baptism, and that led to a discussion of children, and young deaths, and all that that entails. It was very interesting and Moroni 8 is very enlightening. Honestly, it strengthened my testimony of the Plan of Salvation a lot. But, we still had a few questions. Then, when we left the house, one of our neighbors asked us why there are so many babies dying in the world. My first thought was, Uh, I am only 20 years old, why on earth do these people trust me with their questions of the soul...But then we looked at each, said a silent prayer, and told her we could help her understand. We wound up having a great lesson and I know that it was not us teaching, the Spirit truly helped us. Not only were we able to help her find understanding and peace, but we both now have this awesome experience and testimony of the power of the Spirit. And I am comforted because now I understand that these people trust us with their questions because their spirits recognize our spirits. 

Right now, Hermana Velasco is sick as a dog. It is terrible. But we went to the doctor and have medicine and faith, ha. 

Love y'all!

Ahora Entiendo

Hola a todos!

First of all, I want y'all to know that I love my Companion. She is so great and makes laugh all the time, usually not on purpose, ha. 

Also, Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door this week and were like, ah, this is where y'all live...and then they tried to preach to us. I am thoroughly confused about their beliefs. 

Also, we forgot to turn the volume of our cell phone up last night and the elders were trying to call us for like an hour and we didn't realize. And they were very concerned and sent members to check on us, ha. And then, when they knew we were alive and well, nos regañó....no nos gustó. Ja. 

Pero, la cosa mas bonita de esta semana....MANUELA Y JAZMIN SE BAUTIZARON!!!!!!! Ay Caray, no puedo explicar el gozo. Primero, tantas cosas nos pasaron antes del bautismo, pero nada importaba cuando ellas entraron el agua. Y the coolest thing! Jazmin told us that she was having some doubts about her baptism. She is twelve and honestly has more questions than anyone I have ever met, ha. But she said she was doubting a little bit the day before the baptism but then she had an amazing dream. Mexicans are really big on dreams, ha. But she told us that in her dream, she was sitting at home and someone knocked on the door. When she answered she saw Hermana Velasco and I and standing behind us was Jesus Christ. Jazmin said with this, she knew that she was making the right decision. How cool is that? And really, it made me think. We are Representatives of Jesus Christ, this is His church. He really is with us, just like in her dream. 

And I just cannot explain the love I have for this family. I have discovered that the really hard thing about the mission is not staying in the house of your converts all day every day, ha. When we leave, Jazmin and Perla ask us to please stay just a little longer and as we are walking out the door they are following us and Perla always runs down the street to give us just one more hug, ha. It is so wonderful. 

I love my Mission. I love Delicias so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here, to work with these people, and to share the joy and love and truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Dudley

Short but Sweet

Hola a todos,

Happy Anniversary (last week) to my awesome parents who have now been married for 24 years and have an eternity to look forward to!

Pues, no tenemos mucho para decirles esta semana. Todo esta bien, ja. Manuela y Jasmine estan progresando mucho y sus bautismos son esta semana. Jasmine tiene 12 años y Manuela es su abuelita. Encontramos las dos en Abril y tenemos mucho tiempo, muchas lecciones, y mucho amor. Las dos han progresado mucho y es la cosa mas bonita, ver sus progresos y sus cambios con El Evangelio.

Oh, another highlight from this week: the Valenzuela Fuentes Family made me Green Chicken Enchiladas and yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I was so incredibly happy, ha.

Also, the limits of our areas were slightly rearranged this week. Our area is now a bit smaller. In all honesty, it is a good thing. We were working the largest area and we were stretched pretty thin. So now that the area is smaller we have the ability to focus our time and efforts a bit more.

Oh, and this week we were looking for a reference and these two Jehovah´s Witnesses passed by. We were talking about them before they passed by because we are really curious as to what they believe and what they are preaching to people. So we tried to talk to them, but when they saw us they just started walking faster...

And this week we are going to have comida with Ellie´s Mom and Sister! I am really excited!

As always, I love y´all and I hope all is well!
Hermana Dudley

Howdy, Whoop! and Gig ´Em!

Hola a todos,

Update: My comp and I are doing great. Sometimes she kind of spaces out and I have to repeat entire conversations, ha. But, she is really great and we laugh a lot and I am learning so much from her humble example! My Spanish is improving a lot. Like, a lot. Today, I went off on some rant and afterwards I realized that I said everything in Spanish and it was pretty sweet, ha. 

The other day, Joel described me as ´´Blanca, romántica, fiel, y alegre.´´ I was pretty happy with that description, ha. Joel continues to progress wonderfully. The bishop is working on finding a calling for him and he will be having an interview to receive his priesthood. And, yesterday he bore his testimony! He talked about how important it is to keep the bathrooms of the chapel clean, ha. But, I was so proud, ha. We are teaching him how to read and yesterday we covered A and B. I love teaching Joel, it is a constant reminder to be patient, loving, and that in reality, the Spirit is the true teacher.

Oh, Happy Independence Day! I wore red, white and blue to celebrate, ha.

Funny story: Here, the traditional salutation is a handshake and a kiss on the cheek. Well, with the hermanas that is not a problem and I have not had a problem with any hermanos for three months....but this week, ay. We were teaching an investigator named Josandres. And he shook my companion´s hand, no problem. Then he shook my hand and tried to kiss me! It was so funny, like, slow motion. I was thinking, ´what is he doing...why is his face getting closer to mine....AY YI YI YI NO!´ And I said that. Ha. It was hilarious.

Greatest thing this week, we have finally started to work with the members. It is starting off slowly, but this ward is very hard working and very willing to help us. This week our goal is to have a member in every lesson and I am so excited to see the results! One family, Jiminez Mimbela, is a family that I absolutley love. Ella cocina bien rica, siempre, y siempre nos da comida, ja. Pero, ellos estaban inactivos por como 7 años. Pero, in August they are going to the Temple to be sealed together for time and all eternity! I was so happy to hear that! One thing that I have truly come to love, appreciate, and KNOW is that our families can be together forever. I know that with the proper authority, I can be married para siempre. I know that I can base my future family on love that has no bounds. I know that my family is forever. I am so grateful that my parents were sealed in the Temple, by someone who truly holds the keys of the Priesthood to do so. I know that families are forever, I know that this Gospel is the truth, I know God lives and loves us and thanks to His Infinite Wisdom we have infinite opportunities through the infintie sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He lives. Christ lives. I know it. I love it. I will live it.

I love y´all!!!
Hermana Dudley

P.S. The men with guns in the corner close to our house are still there. We are currently working on a plan to contact all of them with the goal of entering the big house. We found out who lives there. He is, basically, in charge of their national guard and his grandfather or great grandfather was the secretary of the national army. He is important, ha.

Bienvenido a Julio en México

Hola a todos!

First of all, Happy Birthday this week to my dear Grandpa. Secondly, Happy Independence Day! Thirdly, Aaron Lopez hits 11 months as a missionary today! And fourthly, I have officially been in Mexico for 3 months today.

Well, what a week. First of all, I learned of El Mundial. It is huge, how did I never know what that was? I bought a Mexico shirt, then they lost, ha.

We decided this week that we are going to teach Joel how to read. I am really excited, we will see how it goes.

BIGGEST NEWS: CAMBIOS: Yes, I have a new companion. I was so sad to see Cervantes leave and I was so nervous before finding out my new situation. But, all is well. Her name is Hermana Velasco, she is from Oaxaca. She is 25, a convert, and she sleeps with her Missionary Tag on, ha. She is so sweet, and a hard worker. She is a bit spacey sometimes, ha, but all is well. We worked a lot this week and it is so exciting and fun.

I have grown tremendously this week. I have more responsibility, more worries, and just about no time to think. I plan, I lead the lessons becuase I know the Investigators, I am in charge of the cell phone and passing along the data, and I have to navigate. I successfully made it to all of our comidas this week, that is a huge accomplishment. Also, my new district is just us and a companionship of elders. Elder Sanchez is from Peru and Elder Cox is a redhead from Arizona. It is hilarious that there are now two redheads in one ward. But, the elders are new to the are as well and dont know anything, so I am always in the lead. I was really worried, but I know more than I thought I did, ha. All has been well. I have really progressed this week and I love it.

I know that this Gospel is true. I know that the Lord doesn't give us things we cant handle.

I love y'all!
Hermana Dudley

Ay Caray

Howdy, 

Pues, yo terminé mi entrenimeinto esta semana. No sé como yo siento. I am excited to have a change, but also slightly terrified, as always, ha. But, I know all will be well. I learned a lot about charity this week. In Moroni 7 we learn that without Charity we are nothing. And we know that Charity is the pure love of Christ. So, without Christ, we are nothing. But, when we really focus on Him and try to follow His example in all that we do, we can do all things. I know it. I know that He loves us, that He understands us. I know that Christ loves me, and you, and every single person. He loves us purely and perfectly becuase He knows us purely and perfectly. He truly experienced every pain, every doubt. I know that Jesus Christ loves me. I know that He loves me so much, He came to the earth and suffered more than anyone can imagine. I know He did this willingly, so that I could live, so that I could be happy.I know that He feels the same way for each of us,  but the most beautiful thing is that I know that He would have done all of what He did for only one of us. In reality, we are nothing. But, because we are loved, because of Christ{s Charity for us, we can do all things. I know it. 

This week, I have seen Charity in action. I have studied it and practiced it and am still trying to develop it. It isn't an easy thing, to love as Christ loved, but I know that it can be the most rewarding thing. I have learned so much about charity from Hermana Cervantes. Yes, I have had moments of frustration with her, but ultimately, I love her. I can't believe she is leaving. As far as transfers go, I don't have much info. I don't know who my next comp will be and I dont know if I will get  my new comp tonight or tomorrow. But, I do know that I will not be training. THANK GOODNESS. I was so worried about that. But, Presidente Chávez me dijo que solo va a llegar dos hermanas, entonces no necesito preocuparme. However, the next cambio....it is very possible. 

This week was slow and fast at the same time, I don't know, time is weird. But, I learned so much. I am so grateful for the mission. Everything is worth it. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He loves us. I know it, I know it, I know it. 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Hermana Dudley