Another Preview!

I'm so sorry! I'm getting really behind on this blog thing!

This past week has been really fun. Tracy, Christina, and I went to 6 Flags on Saturday. It was SO MUCH FUN! I absolutely love amusement parks- and this park did not disappoint. There were TONS of rollercoasters and other fun rides. My favorite was probably what they call the Batman. I was absolutely terrified, but I had a blast.

I didn't bring a camera to 6 Flags because I was scared that someone would steal it. But, here's a picture of that monstrosity.

It was a very long day (I got up at 4am and went to sleep at 3am the next day). But, it was totally worth it and would do it again and again.

On Monday we had our first dancing class with one of the directors, Teo. I have never been a dancer myself, and so I thought that the class was overall, okay. But, the rest of the girls had a blast. I honestly am not a dancer, and don't really enjoy it. But, I praise those who do. At least now if I was forced to dance in Mexico, I'd be able to follow along. I don't know. I think the extent of my "dancing" expertise is dancing to an amazing song. Alone. In my room.

Then, on Tuesday we went out to eat tacos with Rachel and her family. It was really good, and lots of fun. That's about the extent of this past week.

We're coming up on the crazy November vacations! This means, that I have a vacation planned EVERY WEEKEND! Though I'm so excited, I have a lot of work to do :/. We are going to the following places: Taxco, Coscomatepec, Orizaba, Teotiheuacan, Puerto Escondido (and 4 other cities around it), a small city nearby that makes really cool pots (can't remember what it's called), Oaxaca (2x), and.... I think that's everything. So, yes it's going to be crazy busy- but immensely fun!

This weekend we have a day off school so we'll be celebrating in Taxco. Here's a preview of this beautiful city!

Taxco is what they call a "magic city" a couple hours outside of Mexico City. It's called a magic city because the government pays them to keep all of the buildings the same as they were in colonial times. Taxco is a city that makes most of its money on making silver jewelry- so I'm excited to buy lots of suvineers!

Here's some pictures of this beautiful place and some things nearby!

I am a SUCKER when it comes to Baroque cathedrals. Apparently, this is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in all of Mexico. The man that built it went broke because it's filled with gold and silver on the inside. Gorgeous huh?

This is a picture showing the Christ statue on top of the city. Yeah. I'm going there.

There's also these AMAZING caves nearby. Can't wait to see them in person!

Life is good. I'm really missing home right now, but that's typically what happens when you leave home for a long period of time- figures. On the bright side, I have less than two months until I'm back in good ol' Utah. On the downside, I'm leaving Mexico. But, at least I can give it a proper goodbye by seeing everything that I can before I leave. Again, I hope that everyone is safe and happy. I'll be sure and write all about my Taxco experiences when I get back.

Good news! My application for BYU-Idaho finally got finished and I will be hearing of my acceptance in about 6 weeks or less. I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftop when I hear back. I don't think I'll hear what track I'm on until a few weeks after that. Crossing my fingers for Spring/Fall (so I can be with my Anna Marie Elmer again) :)

Funny Student Quote:

One of my teachers was handing out sprinkles to decorate cupcakes in kitchen one day. When she asked "what are these? These are sprinkles" one of the kids started singing "Sprinkle, sprinkle, little star".

Harry Potter Day!

Hello Friends and Family,

This week has been CRAZY (I know, I always say that). But, it really has and I only have a couple minutes to sit down and write a little something about my life and what has been going on.

Mid-semester visits were on Monday and Casey from ILP came down to see how we were all doing. It was really fun and we all had a blast- as well as learned so much! There are a million things that I can improve on and I'm going to work on them ALL. But, I'm convinced that I have the best teachers ever. Yes, ever. They're all simply amazing and we're having a blast.

Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday one of my teachers was sick so I taught for her class. At first I was sort of bummed out because my To Do list is about a mile long, but I really do love teaching and I get to know all of the students better when I teach.

Tuesday was amazing- you want to know why? Because it was Harry Potter themed day!!!! So, I taught Quiddich and spells Sylvia sorted them into houses and made color-coordinated ties, and Tracy decorated cupcakes with them with their house colors. I also got the chance to dress up- which is always a plus in my book. (By the way, I was sorted into Ravenclaw.... because I'm really smart haha). It was a really fantastic day! It was incredibly fun and I realize now that I needed that day away from my long To Do list. So, here's some pictures of our Harry Potter Day (because I know that you all are dying to see me in costume).

Sylvia and I in costume (yes I did make my glasses myself, thanks for noticing)

Tracy, Sylvia and I before classes. By the way, those awesome aprons were sewed by Sylvia and I- they hold the kids tokens. They're pretty amazing. I'm glad that I have some homemaking skills....

All of the kids in their ties and glasses- we have Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.

Okay, how cute is this girl? Her name is Vale and we call her "our doll" because she's always dressed so cute. When we made glasses, I asked her what color she wanted and obviously she said hot pink. She also is sporting a scar and a ravenclaw tie. How cute huh?

So, that's about all of the news from this week. This Saturday me and a couple of the other teachers are planning on going to Six Flags on Saturday- so I'm really excited about that. I've basically only been to the Lagoon Amusement Park and enjoyed their rides, so I'm really excited to experience a new place (even though that means I have to get up at 4:30 to be there on time).

Anyway, my life is great and I plan on getting around to talking to everyone on the phone pretty soon. I also have a few letters in my bag that I'm planning on sending as well.

I hope everyone is doing well.

I'M ALIVE!

I'm sorry everybody! It's been a long week and I've had a difficult time finding an extra hour or two to update my blog- even though there's not much to report on.

I've been incredibly busy this week preparing for the upcoming mid-semester visits where one of the directors comes down and sees how the other teachers and I are doing. So, I had a lot of paperwork and other things to get completed and finished. I still have quite a few more things left on my endless "to do" list, but after tomorrow almost everything should be completed. Tomorrow we are having a "cleaning party" at the school for a couple hours so we can bleach the whole place from top to bottom. Party indeed.

I've also been busily planning the vacations for the rest of the semester so the girls can know how much to save. We are going LOTS of different places, practically one every weekend. Next weekend I believe that we'll be headed to Six Flags. I'm incredibly excited because I love roller coasters and amusement parks. Then the week after that, we are headed to Taxco for a 3 day vacation (exciting huh?) I'll be more excited when I get all of the planning finished. Yes, I'm a planner. I would rather think of all of the things that could go wrong than roll with the punches when things do go wrong. We'll have to see how that goes :)

Other news. My family and I went to a party tonight.

That's another thing that I forgot to put on my "Mexico is Weird" post. They don't like to tell you where they're taking you. Rather, they let you guess or vaguely describe what's going to be going on. So, tonight they said that we were going to a dance at the church. So I thought whatever, I'll go. It ended up being a birthday party for this 18 year old girl that I didn't know. :/ But, it was really fun and they played lots of good American music like Backstreet Boys and Grease. Oh, and the song "Macho Man". I haven't heard that one in quite some time.

It was really funny because tonight when my roommate said "Feliz Cumpleanos" to the birthday girl, it was really loud and you couldn't really hear. So, the girl thought she said "Donde esta el bano?" Haha! Anyway, that was a funny story.

My plans for next semester have changed a little bit for those I haven't told yet. Though I was so excited to go to China, after many prayers and contemplation, I decided that it wasn't the right thing for me RIGHT NOW. That doesn't mean that I'm not going in the future. But, right now I have other plans in store. So, I've been putting together my application to BYU-Idaho for this Spring semester (starts mid-April). Hopefully things work out, but if not, I know that the Lord has something in store for me that I just don't know right now.

I wrote a song this week, which was nice. I haven't written a song in a long time (since February I believe) so, it was a relief to know that the ability to write wasn't taken away from me. I need to work on it a little bit more, but I'm really happy with it.

Just a small little tidbit, if you haven't discovered www.pinterest.com, you're seriously missing out. It is filled with decoration ideas, party ideas, recipes, craft ideas, and just about everything under the sun. You should all seriously check it out. I should warn you, it's terribly addicting as well- just be warned. :)

Well, that's all of the news that I have right now. I hope that everyone is good and safe back in the good ol' US of A.

Life is Hard Sometimes

These past few days have been really rough.

It's impossible to be a perfect person, and sometimes I have a hard time with that. It's difficult to accept that I'm not going to be a perfect sibling, co-worker, employee, daughter, and friend. It pains me to think of all of my inadequacies and it worries me that I'm not making any progress in this life.

One of my favorite scripture passages is found in 2 Nephi chapter 4. I title this chapter "Nephi's Lament" and subtitle it "My Lament". I love this chapter because it's where Nephi mourns of how quickly he falls into temptation and asks the Lord for His help and guidance. I find this chapter comforting in a way because I have a lot of the same feelings that Nephi did- and Nephi was a great prophet! It's great to know that I'm not alone in my struggles in life and that it's okay to feel weak sometimes. But, it's what we do with the weaknesses that matters.

There are times in everyone's lives where you feel incredibly vulnerable and inadequate. Right now is that time for me. I worry that I'm not doing enough good in the world, and that I should be a lot better at this point in my life. I worry that I'm missing out on so many growing opportunities because I'm too stubborn to learn the lessons the Lord wants me to learn.

BUT, I'm going to be better. I know that I can be better. I don't expect perfection, but I know that I can do better than I currently am. I can be a better family member, employee, and friend. I have a lot of things to work on, I'll be the first to admit it, and I have a long way to travel, but at least I'm on the right road. At least I'm holding onto the rod and pointed in the right direction. This is the point of repentance right? Changing your heart and mind to be like The Fathers?

So, if you have a rock in your stomach because there are things that you've done that you knew better? Change it! Our Father in Heaven loves you and wants you to repent so you can be with Him again! That misery is painful and the only way that you can make it go away is by repenting.

I didn't mean for this blog post to come out as a sermon, I think that maybe I needed to hear it more than anyone else out there. So, thanks for reading. I hope that maybe it will help another lost soul.

What's the Point?

Things I'm currently thankful for:

Having a laptop that works

Amazing family and friends

Good news that I received last night :)

Funny students that make me laugh (see story below)

Salad (see below as well)

Inspiration to write a song- it's been a while

My cheap Mexican guitar

The fact that it's currently 76 degrees outside

I found my cell phone (I tend to lose it a lot)

The scriptures

The power of prayer

Safety

Emails from friends- they make my day.

So- here's the story that I promised. Complete with pictures so you could understand (hopefully) the humor in it.

I was organizing the utensils that we have in the kitchen. Being a program that mostly accepts donations, we have one spoon/fork/knife from every set of silverware that has been sold in the US. Sort of ghetto, but get's the job done. During this organization process, I came across this little number:

Needless to say, I was thoroughly confused. I turned to one of my teachers, Sylvia who was teaching a kitchen class at the time and asked "What is the point of this?" After I asked, one of the girls from the class came up and touched the tallest prong of the "fork" and said "OUCH!"

For those of you who haven't taught an ILP class, the girl was showing us WHERE the point of the utensil was.

And this is why I love kids.

Second story that will be humorous to those who have seen Nacho Libre:

I have not eaten a salad since I've been in Mexico and it's something that you start to crave when every meal starts and ends with "tortillas". This afternoon, the heavens opened up and my host mom brought out the most beautiful thing I've ever seen:

A SALAD!

I was so excited! I may have even said "Can't we have a salad or something?" numerous times. I also poured the ranch on the salad like Nacho does. I resisted crumbling up tortilla chips and blowing them onto the salad as well. I'm sure my host family thought I was crazy.

So hopefully that gave some a good laugh, some others will be really confused, feel free to laugh anyway.

So when you turn your face to the heavens and ask "What's the point?" Realize that there's always a point- right in the center of the fork.

Story Time!

I just wanted to share a story that happened this week- because it is an amazing story.

So, I was sitting downstairs eating breakfast with my host mom and dad when I noticed a book that they had from their church. I asked them about it and they explained that a new book comes out every month and has suggested study topics from the Bible. I first said "Oh, my church doesn't have anything like that, that's cool." But then I thought of the Ensign/Liahona! "Wait!" I shouted, "We do have something like that, wait one minute". I then rushed up to my room to pick up the October Liahona that I purchased on the temple trip. I showed it to my parents and they read a story or two.

I was then prompted to give them the Book of Mormon that I purchased at the temple. At first I argued against the prompting because I had already shared quite a bit, and they were doing so well with the Liahona! But, I've heard enough conference talks to know that you follow the prompting, no matter how weird it may seem.

So, I said that I had something else for them and I ran upstairs to grab the Book of Mormon and said a quick prayer that I could bear my testimony and that they could know of my love for the gospel and the Book of Mormon. I went downstairs and gave it to them. I bore my testimony and said that I knew the Book of Mormon is true and it means so much to me in my life. I said that if they did not want it, they should just give it back to me because I would hate to see it in the trash. They said that they understood and that they would read it. So, at the breakfast table that morning, my host mom opened up to the introduction page of the Book of Mormon and started reading while my host dad read the Liahona. It was a fantastic sight.

I don't know if anything will come of this anytime soon. But, I know that it planted a seed that they may someday remember and nourish it.

I know that God loves all of His children and that he wants us to return to Him. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it truly testifies of Jesus Christ. I know that this gospel is true.

General Conference

So, I didn't play in a Born Again Christian church today like I thought I would. Things like that just sort of happen in Mexico. You never really know what you're doing. I guess I just need to not expect it and it will happen.

Other things that happened this week: I worked, I worked, I emailed, I worked. I slept sometimes, and ate during inconvenient times, but everything is fine and I'm doing well. I hope that next week is a little less crazy because we finally end "training month", which means I have many less meetings and evaluations to do. Hurray!

This weekend was General Conference and if any of you missed it, I highly suggest that you go back and watch it! It really was amazing! I got so many of my prayers and worries answered, and a list of things to be improved on. I enjoyed every talk, I can't even begin to think of which one is my favorite.

We watched both Saturday sessions in the stake center in a separate room (for English speakers). So, it was four English teachers and about 6 missionaries. It was very different than how I typically watch conference, but still enjoyable. Maybe it helped me concentrate more :)

I watched one Sunday session at the school (because the English version was not available at the stake center) and headed home to watch the second session. To my dismay, I found that the door was locked and that my mom had not left keys as she promised. So, I walked around town for a while, thinking that they would be back soon. Not. I finally decided to call my host mom and see if anyone had a spare copy of a key. She said that there wasn't a spare copy but she would call her sister in law (that lived next door) to see if she could open it. So, I then spent 20ish minutes watching a little old lady try and open the door with a long stick. I finally got in, and good thing because my family is still not home and it's close to 9:00. So, I need to still watch the second Sunday session of conference, but I'm sure that it's just as good as the rest of them :)

I just wanted to bear testimony that I know this is the true Church! I'm so thankful for a God that lives and loves all of his children and answers even the most inconsequential prayers! I have seen so many blessings in my life since I've been in Tehuacan, and I'm sure there are hundreds more that I cannot see. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that Thomas S. Monson is the true prophet of God. I KNOW all of these things, I have no doubts.

I hope that everyone had an awesome conference weekend, and that everyone is healthy and happy.