Life in the Pines

Dear Family, 

We had transfers yesterday but I have the GRAND BLESSING to keep living in the Pines and Hermana Guevara is my compañera!

In April when conference comes again I will have 6 months in barrio Los Pinos. Wow. Time flies. Honest truth: I absolutely love it here (can I finish my mission here please?)

Another honest truth: I don't know what it is like to have dry feet or dry shoes. Practically this whole week has been raining and raining and raining. For a day and a half it was raining non stop. But ya it has stopped-for now. 

This week has been really hard to find our investigators or to keep our appointments with them. We have lost contatct with almost all of our investigadors. This week we are on the search to find them again :) 

But walking through the streets that are more like rivers amidst the pines I got super wet and lost a pair of shoes because the velcrow (or however you spell it) was so wet it wouldn't stick. We walked barefoot for a while to get to the bus stop but the bus never came. We called a member and they helped us get home.

I almost got really upset but then I remembered something that I had learned in my personal study. I read the talk by President Dieter F. Utchdorf called Agradecidos en cualquier circunstancia (sorry I can't remember what it is called in english). 

Jokingly I started to list things I was grateful for to make my companion laugh. When the bus still didn't come, I kept listing my blessings and the two of us began to list many things but now with more sincerity. We learned the importance of elevating ourselves even in the moment of trial. In place of feeling bad for ourselves, we began to laugh and feel a greater joy that one can't experience eating chocolate (and thats a lot of joy). In place of crying over our circumstances I wanted to cry tears of gratitude for all that I had. And I have A LOT, gracias a Dios (or thanks to God) as they say here in Mexico for everything but I say it with so much more meaning.

Read the talk if you would like, it is pretty great and inspiring (especially the part that talks about how we are not made for endings but I am not going to spoil it for ya...)

Fotos:1. Us and Hna Torres una Hermana that we helped come back to church--WOW this Hermana is PODEROSA.

2. Irene-- do you remember me talking about her? She calls me Guera (white girl) because  she can't say Beardall. Ya ni modos.

3 y 4. Gorditas- basically a stuffed thick tortilla with cheese and meat and salsa y all the Mexican food goodness. En fin, this is what we ate for breakfast in PDAY.

Hermana Beardall