Wednesday September 24, 2014

Final Week!!!! Woohooo!!

Well I got separate emails from you all so I will try to best explain things in this email haha. I received your package of goodies again, thank you so much!! My favorite thing in there would definitely be the Reeses! For sure :) So.. if you could send candy again haha or I know there is another package that has chocolate covered berries of some sort and its amazing. One of the Hermanas got it and I was in heaven haha. Sooooo happy that you received my letters! I was worried they wouldnt make it there. Im glad to hear about grandpa and that his heart is doing better with the pace maker! I received both letters from them so that was such a great surprise, please tell them I said thank you! I still havent received the pictures...which is quite sad. I pray everyday that they will come!! haha. Thank you mom and dad for having my back! Its rough when people are not very kind but Im glad that I have your support! Way to go in using the Spanish words I taught, haha :) OH and I will definitely be able to call you on Wednesday when I leave! You still have my flight schedule right?? Its crazy because I have to leave the Mtc at 2:30 in the morning, so Ill probably be really silly but that will just make it all the more fun right??!

Well, this past week there wasnt too much exciting things that happened. However, Sunday was mejor! The best! In Relief Society we heard the talk by Pres. Monson about loving one another (my favorite) and it was a tender mercy!  Oh and guess what?? Mi compañera y yo sang the song If the Savior Stood Beside Me in sacrament! It was so great!! The 2 other hermanas in my district sang with us too! Nothing greater than singing!

Here in the MTC they are having us practice bringing members to lecciones so we know how to in the field. Yesterday I had the opportunity to be a member and it was so much fun! Members really are super super importante in misionary work! We are nothing without them. I feel like as Ive been here Ive come to understand more what personal revelation is and its a major blessing! I dont think ive ever understood it as well as I do now. Its amazing how those thoughts can just be placed there. Another thing Ive learned here is how to love people more haha. Last week I just felt all of this love for my companion when we were talking to one another and I just began tearing up. I dont say this lightly. But I sincerely know that we are meant to be companions and she has been there for me every step of this journey. I love her soooo much!!! 

Last night we had gluten free pizza again and a piece of banana bread for dessert, my life is complete!! haha. They had another live broadcast from the provo mtc and we heard from Elder Ballard!! It was so great!! He spoke up education and how we need to remember that what we do now shapes how our future will be. We wont just be missionaries now but we will be relief society presidents and bishops and different callings. One thing Ive hoped since Ive been here is that I have grown in the gospel. It is hard to see, but I really hope that it is there! Thank you for your devotion and love for me!! Thank you for living the gospel and teaching me what is most important in life!! Im so jealous that you were able to see the temple dedication haha as I was not able too...because I know it must have been amazing! Oh and they have a slideshow with my district and photos in it, you will be getting an email this week or the next of that slideshow so I hope you enjoy it!! I may be able to email again before I leave..however Im not exactly positive. Ill keep my fingers crossed! 

Te amoooo muchooooooooooooooooooooooo Cant wait to talk on the phone and hear from you s

Hermana Buys

P.S. You are always in my prayers and in my thoughts! 

Wednesday September 17, 2014

Week 4 wooohoooo!!!

I must first say how crazy it is that I have been here so long and I leave in exactly 2 weeks from today. I only pretty much have next week left though. I am so excited to get out into the field! Well I am doing better with my sinouses luckily!! However last week my companion and I were quite sick. I´ve been having major stomach pain and I still have no idea where it has come from. I got some medicine from the enfermeria pero it didn´t help to much.. The rest of my distrito is actually getting quite sick this week so we just all have a bug or something I dont know ha. I wanted to say thank you so much for the chocolate!!! I was in heaven!! Whenever someone sees anyone else eating a reeses they get so jealous cause they want one haha. Its hilarious, we all miss american candy and food. SO yes I loved it so much and would love for you to send it again if possible!! I hope that you enjoyed the pictures haha. Even though last week was hard it was also a blast! 

We played pelota and I won!!! It was really funny because all of the elders wanted Hermana Baum and I to get competitive with eachother and we were like, no we are going to be nice to each other haha. It was a lot of fun!! The other person in the picture is one of the Elders in the district and I think he just wanted to take a picture with us because he was Hermana Baum´s ¨coach¨in a way haha. 

This is me with the hermanas in mi distrito y the pelota game!!    Another great thing last week was Sunday night! We were able to watch the Testaments video and I loved it so much. I could feel the Saviors love and it gave me an even stronger desire to find people who need God in their lives. The best part was after the movie though. I asked for a blessing from the Elders in my distrito. They all set their hands on my head and I could feel that it was really Gods priesthood power. I heard exactly what I needed and the spirit was so strong there. I know that they are all worthy priesthood holders! I was just crying and then all the hermanas and 2 elders received blessings too. We all just were in awe of how strong the spirit was in that room. I have been blessed with a close distrito!!

Mexican Independence Day!! We didnt do anything during the day but at night we had this huge celebration! I wish I had pictures..but I couldn´t have my camera there with me, sorry! They performed all of the traditional Mexican dances for us! We had a flag ceremony and Pres. Pratt waved the flag and we all shouted ¨Viva Mexico¨It was so cool!! Then we topped it all of singing the National Anthem. It was so neat!! THey also had a firework go off in the auditorium haha it was scary but so cool! Im pretty sure the only song I´ll be singing the rest of my life is this one. It is the only song that is ever in my head haha..oh boy. We saw some really neat fireworks outside of our casa as well! It was fantastic!!! I definitely feel like im part of this country now too!

Yesterday was the best lesson mi compañera y yo have ever had!! We didn´t know who we were teaching or anything. We just went in and taught and the spirit was there so strongly. We just shared personal experiences and testified. My spanish may not be that great, but I didn´t really have any struggles. I could just feel the spirit so strongly..ah its hard to explain haha. I just know that God called me here to keep me humble and constantly relying on him. Because when I know what I´m doing I dont as much...and I HAVE to have the Spirit when teaching. So it definitley brought my compañera y yo closer! 

To answer your questions...haha that makes me so happy you sent me mail!! I love mail!! I havent gotten anything yet..but maybe today!! I have had emails from Sis. LaBare, Sis. Williams, and Elder Hobbs ha. None of my other mission friends or other friends have really emailed me. Oh except for Camille has!! Its okay though since those are my closest friends!! Is everything going okay mom? How is your health?? I am kind of going crazy that the doctors havent gotten back, they better this week!! My compañera has rubbed my hand once haha but I will ask her to do it more cause it´s a killer..lol. OH and I was going to say make sure you send my package for the mission president by this coming Monday or Tuesday. I will be there 2 weeks from today so don´t delay ha, which I´m sure you wont. That´s so cool we have an apple tree!! and I´m so jealous about making apple crisp, that just sounds amazing!! How was the Ogden temple?? And I just laugh so much from all of your emails, I love them!! That makes me so happy mom that you think of me often! I feel bad about the ticket...oh man but life is just rough sometimes right?? haha. It sounds like you guys are having so much fun!! Well its actually cooler in Mexico than everyone thinks somedays I am just really cold and always wearing a jacket. I cant wait for California haha. 

My skin is better, but is still kind of funky idk haha. It is still peeling from one of my face washes. It was like burning my face so I had to throw it away. 

Also, I didnt receive your pictures, can you please send them again mom?? And I forgot to tell you that on my plane ride here one of the sister missionaries was accidentally given beer instead of gingerale. It was so sad... the plane staff felt so bad. But I just couldnt help laughing haha. So the craziness started before I even got here. SOrry my email is so long this week, I have so much that I didn´´t even get to say..ha. Love and miss you guys sooooooooooooooooooo much!! I am always amazed by how much you have done for me and blessed my life. I could never repay you. Thank you for your support and sending me love through letters and candy haha. 

TE AMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hermana Hollie Buys :) :) :) 

Wednesday September 10

Week 3!!!!!

WOW!!! I love all of your emails I have been feeling so blessed!!! I received 3 letters in the mail at the end of last week and it was amazing. Thank you all so much for the letters that you sent!! I also received the letters from the mexico mtc website! I love that so much because it is actually a hand written copy! Wooohooo for being half way done haha I am so excited to finally be able to go out into the field!! Thank you all for the pictures as well, It is so great to have. Oh I didnt know that packages were so expensive, if you want to wait until California you can mom! My companion and I have just been buying candy bars from the Tienda like every day haha. If it was cheaper Id say send one though, cause they give you like 10 treats in it haha. My companion is super sick and other people in our zone are gettting sick to, so I'm trying to stay as healthy as possible! I am so jealous that you went to a BYU game! Thank you for having me be there in spirit haha! Go BYU In beating Texas!!! Haha!

 Well last week was amazing as usual!! We had fast Sunday and it was super tough, but super worth it! We had fast and testimony meeting all in Spanish and it was the most beautiful thing ever! I loved it! I actually went up and shared my testimony and I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life. What a blessing it is to be able to testify! 

This week my companion and I have been blessed with food!! Haha they made us curly fries and they were amazing and gluten free!! The best though was yesterday! They made us GLUTEN FREE PIZZA!! Right!!! I was so happy when I got my pizza! So yesterday was amazing, I will treasure that memory! Also I found the lady that I did pathway speaking with at BYU Idaho. She works in the clinic and since we went there from sickness I was able to talk to her. We smiled and hugged like 10 times! Such a tender mercy, I definitely know that everything happens for a reason!! 

All the elders in our district love to play basketball!!! And they have showdowns every week.Haha! like one against one. Well...today Hermana Baumb and I are competing, hahaha. So we will have to see who wins lol. Its going to be so funny. We will definitely take a lot of pictures!! Spanish is going well! I know. The teaching is also going well! My companion and I have been having less time to plan and so we have had to go by the spirit a lot more. Which is so good because we really need to do that. Learning new things every day! Well I love Mexican food but I miss  USA food haha! I cant wait to go back to the USA!! Oh and we saw a devotional from last year by Elder Holland to the missionaries!! I loved it because he said THIS IS REAL LIFE! When you go home you aren't changing back to the old person you were. You are always a missionary and always a disciple of Christ. We must not forget that! There was more thoughts too but I dont want to overwhelm you all with my ideas haha. The mission is definitely work but I love it!!! This week we are going to talk in all Spanish! Wish us luck!! Haha! Love you all soooo much!!! I miss you!!! 

Im glad to see that you are all surviving with work and everything! haha. I sent a letter your way so you should get it next week!! Thank you for having faith in me and setting amazing examples for me to follow!!

TE AMO,

Hermana Buys!

Wednesday September 3, 2014

 Well 1st I have great news! YOu can send me letters everyday and I will get them that day or the next! send them to this websitewww.missionarypackagemx.com

 You can also buy treats and they deliver them that day too. it is like dear elder but just for mexico!! Please do this because I would love to have a handwritten copy from you both! Also tell everyone to do this as well!! Everyone else in my district is gettting like 10 haha so please send one! I cant think of any other addresses at the moment, but just any are fine. oh and if you could find out what kykys email address is thatd be great too!!  Also I am getting a little bit of vegetables mom haah mostly fruit! We have this sweet gym and so I have been doing the eliptical everyday, and let me tell you I am getting buff"!! haha just kiding, but really, my legs are so strong lol. Our investigator actually ended up being our new teacher now haha so its crazy he knows everything about us!! We have 2 new investigators now and theyre both our teachers including the previous one so its a little scary. Oh and guess what???? My companion and I were called as Sister Training Leaders for our zone!! Its such a great opportunity, I feel so luckY!!! 



I also had to speak in church last week all in spanish and that was pure scariness haha. It went good though! It was on the apostasy so it was mostly information haha. Im so glad that you guys were able to see grandma and grandpa! Oh and please send those pictrues again! I cant see them on the email... 

2 days ago my companion and I taught a lesson and when we got out I was just sitting writing in my notebook feelings i had and they were all in Spanish. I stopped and looked at my paper and was like oh my goodness!! I felt right there and then that I really did have the gift of tongues. So I turned to my companion and told her how I was feeling and we just started crying cause we could feel the spirit so strongly while doing our Spanish. I truly know that the gift of tongues exists. Itis amazing!!! 



Also I challenge you guys to read Alma 32 its an amazing chapter!! Oh and every Sunday they play a video for us! We watched the video on John Tanner and it was so touching!! How he gave away all of his money for God and we also watched about Christ and the Resurrection that always makes me so emotional. Every Sunday we say goodbye to missionaries too and sing God be with you till we meet again. I just cry and cry and cry each time i hear this song!! Its so neat to hear everyone sing that song here with such power and love. More news!! Haha We are learning the mexico anthem for their independence day here!! Woooh hoooo!! Haha Well thank you for your love and support!! I think and pray for you guys everyday!! It is so hard here but you guys make me strong. I cant wait to hear from you again. You're the best parents ever!!!! Please send pictures often!! and I hope to hear from you tomorrow haha if you can!!

TE AMOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hermana Buys