First week in the Mexico!

I´M IN MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mexico mexico mexico mexico mexico

I got here last Monday and that night the new hermanas and I stayed at the house of the mission president. The next day we found out who are new companions are and where we´re serving.

My companion´s name is Hermana Alcocer. She´s 23, from Mexico City, and was baptized 3 years ago. She´s not the greatest at English, but my Spanish isn´t exactly something I brag about either. She´s been out for a year now.

We´re serving in a place called Escobedo, a suburb. We´re both new to the area, entonces [then] it´s interesting how it works because I´m fabulous at directions and my companion is horrible with directions, but she can speak the language whereas I can´t. Our first day in our area we got lost, but it´s ok because I ate my first Mexican tacos and I HAVE NEVER HAD BETTER TACOS IN MY LIFE. I even took pictures.

The members here are AMAZING! Like, I love them so much! They are so kind and considerate and wow.

 

We have some really great investigators. First, we´ve taken over after the Hermanas who were here before us and their only investigators were a 73 year old man, who we taught the other day and long story short he´s getting baptized this Sunday, and a couple who are pretty much the coolest people I have ever met in my life. They have 5 kids, the oldest 2 have been baptized, and the youngest, their 2 month old son, is named Lehi after the Book of Mormon prophet. I am not kidding. They want to be baptized but the problem is that they´re living together and not married and not only do they have to pay to get married but the ¨wife¨was married once before entonces[then] she needs to pay for a divorce. Yesterday, we went to teach them, which is weird because it feels like we´re teaching members, so we taught them about sharing the gospel with their family and friends and right when the lesson ended the wife took us to her mom´s house and we taught her mom and two of her brothers and invited them all to be baptized and they said yes! AMAZING

Our second day, we were looking for the house of the family I just wrote about when someone asked us to come and teach her. Turns out she´s the niece of the ¨husband¨ of that family and has listened to the missionaries and she and her ¨husband¨ want to be baptized, they have to get married first too. (in mexico, it costs 800 pesos to get married, take a moment america and count your blessings.) We invited them to stake conference this weekend and they came to both sessions! They´re so amazing!

Some of the people here are so poor, like I have never personally witnesses poorer circumstances in my life. It is amazing to me to witness their faith and the service they give, like really it´s amazing.

The thing about mexico is it either smells really really really bad, or really really really good. The food here is AMAZING, and smells it. I had no idea corn tortillas actually tasted good. However, Mexicans love their animals. In the past week, I´ve seen about 20 horses, 500 plus cats (dead rotting ones included) and 1000 plus dogs. and there is poop, everywhere. Lots and lots of poop. Entonces[then], either really bad or really good.

Also the milk is amazing. 

Whats really interesting about Mexicans is that in all the ads, the people look Mexican, but all of them are white Mexican. Everyone stares at me wherever I go. Last week, my companion and I are walking down the calle[street] when we start to pass these two woman, and they see me and call all their kids and whole family to come see me and start touching my hair (yes, I was weirded out). This one 20 year old girl comes out of the house (turns out the women were sisters and this is their neice) and no lie she has bleached blonde hair and is wearing blue colored contacts and I think she was wearing make up to make her skin look lighter. I was like a celebrity to her. I offered to teach her English if I could teach her the lessons too and she was so excited! Hooray for gringa-ness! En seriox[Seriously], I am constantly asked if my hair is actually red.

I love Mexico. I love it I love it I love it

And I love all of you! 

Adios from Mexico! (pictures to come in a moment) [I think she had to log off before she could send pictures, because we didn't get any]

Love, Hermana Brooks