Long, Hard Week!

This week was so long. We had some problems with our house and the President wants us to move so, we spent all last week house hunting and haven't found any that he will approve. :( Some other bad news, all of our golden investigators dropped us this week. That stinks! But, don't worry, we are going to jump right back on the horse!

Although we didn't teach a lot last week, I honestly went home feeling like we had worked our hardest everyday. I haven't been this tired at the end of the day my whole mission. My companions and I are getting along great! I love them, and I am so glad to be working with them.

Tomorrow we have a Zone Conference with the President and I am so glad. I am ready to learn and know what we need to do, to be better. It's going to be great!

Today in my personal study I read in Alma 30 and I loved it. It was an answer to my prayers. So, I challenge you all to go and read it this week!

I love you all, and hope you have a great week! Oh, and Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you!

Hermana Riedelbach

p.s. sorry for the lack of pictures, it takes more than 30 minutes to upload mine. I think I need to change the resolution on my camera.

TRIO!

This week was really interesting! Working in a trio is a lot different than working in a companionship. I have learned so much, and I really do have good companions!

We don't really have any progressing investigators so, this last week was just full of street contacting and revisiting old investigators. We found some really good ones and are hoping that they will feel what we can feel!

Yesterday we had to give talks in Church, I was so nervous. The other two times I spoke in church I got a big piece of humble pie handed to me. This time I didn't really have time to prepare anything, and I just went up to the stand and gave a talk. It went so well! My Spanish was soo good, and I didn't forget anything. I am always so amazed at how much Heavenly Father really helps us out when we really try our best.

Hermana Zimmerman gave the most wonderful talk about her Dad yesterday and it made me think about how lucky I am to have the best Dad ever! One of the things that I have really learned here on my mission is how much my Dad (and mom) have taught me. I am so grateful for all that I have learned from them. A lot of the things I learned from my Dad I have used here in the mission field and it has made a world of difference. I love you Daddy! Thanks for everything!

I hope you have a wonderful week! Love you all!

Hermana Riedelbach 

20th B-day and a Transfer!

Welp... I was transferred! I'll spare you the details and just say,  Frontera wasn't that friendly to american girls...but, now I am in VILLAHERMOSA! I am in a trio with Hermana Suazo and Hermana Knowles! Hermana Knowles is form Herriman, Utah woot! Another gringa! She is so awesome, and I am so excited to be working with her! We are in the Espejo Ward, which also happens to be the Mission Presidents Ward...that makes me just a little bit nervous but, that's OK!

This last week kind of stunk because we couldn't leave the house. We all got sick, and there's hurricane coming to Mexico so, it rained really, really,  really hard. But, I have some hysterical stories!

We kind of got in to a prank/joke war this week.  It all started when my companion began to scare me, and you know, I couldn't let her get away with that, not with out getting her back! :) It got really bad on Friday, I went into the bathroom and Hermana Suazo hid under the bed, when I came out, she grabbed my feet. I thought I was going to die! It scared me to death. Don't worry, I did the same to her, and it was just as funny!

That night we had a Family Home Evening with some of the young single adults for my birthday. We made tacos and tortillas.  That's right, I can get married now because I am a pro at tortillas. It took us 4 hours but, we had the best time! That night really is one of  my favorite memories from my mission so far.

As we were eating, Hermana Martínez turned to me and said "we need to play a prank on the members, it's part of the war". I asked, what are we going to do? and she told me that I was the master mind, and needed to come up with something.

It was about nine, and we needed to be home so, I thought of the perfect plan. Fake that the assistants had called a bunch of times and we were going to be in big trouble because we weren't home yet. So, Hermana Suazo started calling Hermana Martínez and we couldn't hear the phone because we were having so much fun, laughing and goofing off at dinner. Then, Hna Martínez had a Hermano pass her bag to her. She checked her phone and said, "you've got to be kidding me!" The assistants have called 5 times, everyone shhhh! Hermana Suazo called her again,  she faked a story that the President was coming to our house at that exact moment, and we needed to get home.

I hadn't quite finished my Taco yet so, I grabbed my plate and headed out the door! All the members couldn't believe what just had happened, they all followed us out worried to death. The ward mission leader jumped up and yelled no! But, after 5 minutes we came back, because we still hadn't eaten my birthday cake. They all wanted to kill us... but, man that joke was sooooo goood! :)

I am so sad to leave Frontera, I have another family there. I cried so hard saying good bye.  I will miss them all but, this isn't goodbye for good! They really have changed my life, and I am so grateful for all I learned from them. I am so excited to be here in Villahermosa!  I know it will be great! 

Thanks for all of the Birthday wishes! I will try to send pictures but, this computer is unbelievably slow. Maybe, I will end up sending a CD home full of pictures of this transfer.

I love you all tons!

Hermana Riedelbach

Another Week Has Flown By...

Transfers are next week, I can't believe a whole transfer has flown by! I am pretty sure I am going to be transferred to a new area. I am sad about that but, I know that I will only go where the Lord wants me to go! I have made some life long friends in this area and am so grateful for that! One brother is even planning my wedding to his son...which is a little awkward, because his son is only 16...and seeing as how I AM GOING TO BE TWENTY THIS WEEK...it's a little uncomfortable. But, we have a lot of fun joking around about it. The theme of our last lesson with them was, Families Can Be Together Forever! Hahahaha.

Yesterday we had an investigator commit to be baptized on June 21st! I am so excited for her, and hope she can meet her goal! The little boys we teach are doing great! They are still the cutest little bunch! Last night I got to play with them and it was a blast! We raced and danced and skipped and sang! Their family has a lot of problems, and I want to cry every time we teach them but, for some reason last night they were all happy, and I was so glad to be able to run around and be a kid again!

The 4 little boys we are teaching at a members house.

On Saturday Hermana Triana and I got to go on splits. This is her first transfer in Mexico so, let's just say it was interesting! Two gringas walking the streets of Mexico! I was really nervous at first but, I said a prayer and Heavenly Father helped us do the rest! It went really well, and we had some really great lessons! I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have to learn and to grow. It was hard, but I loved every minute of it.

The weather here in Mexico is almost as bi-polar as Utah! At the beginning of this week I was dying of heat, and now it's raining harder than ever.   My boot broke today, which means my foot has enjoyed swimming all day! :)

And CONGRATULATIONS SAWYER! I am so proud of you! I can't believe you are old enough to graduate high school! Keep working hard!  I love you, and I am so proud of you!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Riedelbach 

O Sea, Hay Tamales

This last week was superb! I can't even begin to tell you. We met all of our lesson goals. Every week we set goals to work towards, and this week we met them all! We worked so hard, and were so surprised to see our end results at church yesterday!  Woot woot!

The members of this ward really stepped it up and visited with us every day! We were thrilled! We also got permission to work in the other half of our ward, which means we had a lot of great references!

This past week we met with a man, he's a less active, he told us how he was offended and would never come back to church again. He basically told us not to visit him but, to visit the people that wanted us or needed us. Then, the next day we went on visits with our ward mission leader and we found the same man in the street, he suggested that we go talk with him and I told him no, he doesn't want us.

YE OF LITTLE FAITH!

We went and talked to him and set up and appointment...which we happened to forget about the next day, oops!   Then on Sunday we were waiting in the door and HE WALKED IN!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. He was a completely changed man. He told us sorry, that he wasn't at home yesterday, he had another commitment. THE LORD IS SO GOOD.

We have been working with another YSA he has a tough heart, and pierced ears. We talked to him and invited him to church. He told us he couldn't come because he had work. Then, during the first song he walked in and get this, without his earrings! I couldn't believe my eyes!

We also had THREE investigators come as well, they were the three that I never thought would come either. Truth is we dropped two of them because we thought they were so disinterested but, now we are going to visit them this week! I can't wait to see what June holds for us! The President really wants us to baptize EVERY week in June, and we are thinking that we can do it!

One of these investigators told us that she knew  the Church is true, everything that we had taught. I can't wait, we are going to visit with her this week and challenge her to be baptized in June. Cross your fingers, and PRAY!

Today we got to go to the beach! It's about 30 minutes away but, a member lives there, and she taught us how to make TAMALES! They are sooo good, if you forget the fact that there is a liter and a half of pig fat in them! We made 60 and our fridge is stocked! Mira Mar, the beach, is what I thought Mexico was going to be like. I am thinking we should all invest in a Vacation home! It's beautiful and private!

I have learned a lot of good lessons this week, and I am so grateful for the chances that we have to better ourselves!

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Riedelbach 

A Great Week!

This week went by really fast! We had a surprise visit from our President on Wednesday. I always love it when he comes. We always learn great things!

On Saturday we had Stake Conference which meant we had to travel to Villahermosa. A member of the 70 came and spoke to us about the Work of Salvation. I was re-energized to share the gospel with everyone I meet!

I guess the big news for the week is that Fritz and Giovani accepted our challenge to be baptized! We don't have a date for them yet but, we are more than excited! They are the two oldest boys I told you about last week. Fritz read 10 pages out of the Book of Mormon and even marked it up. He is such a great little kid! They all have the biggest brown eyes. Seriously, they are the cutest. We are going to have a Family Home evening with them tonight so, I will try to take pictures. I will keep you posted on their progress and baptism.

This week my companion hit her ONE year mark and we threw a small surprise party for her! It was a lot of fun! We had some good laughs and some yummy cake!

Today we bought a BEAUTIFUL new fridge, but I forgot to take pictures....next week!

Sorry this letter is really short! I hope next weeks will be longer!

Have a wonderful week and be good!

I love you all!

Hermana Riedelbach

P.S. It happened again...I truly am a bird poop magnet!  :(  So gross this time!

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so grateful I got to talk to you all yesterday! It really was a great day!  I love and miss you all!

I had to give a talk in church, and let's just say it was a big slice of humble pie. I am totally going to study more this week!

I want to share an awesome experience with you all that I had this week! We went out with some of the Young Single Adults on Saturday to find some less actives and invite them to the activities. We left at 11 and didn't have any success. By 6 o'clock I was so frustrated as we had prayed and fasted to be able to find a family to teach.

We decided to hit one last name on the list. Here in Mexico not all of the houses have numbers so, it's kind of a hit and a miss. We found the name and started walking down that street, one of the Sisters knocked on a door and no one answered, we moved on to the next one and nothing. The next house was a horrible looking tin shack. We decided to give it one last shot and we yelled Buenas Días! and waited. Nothing. We decided to call it quits, and just as we were walking away we saw a dirt covered little boy. We stopped and started talking to him when his Grandma answered the door, with a knife. She was just sharpening it...yikes.  :)

She asked us who we were and why we were there. We told her that we were members and missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her eyes lit up and she invited us in. We were searching for her kids and she told us that they didn't live there, but that she was a member too, and that she was raising her 4 grandsons.  As we walked in her yard I saw 4 dirt covered shirtless boys, they all stuck their dirty little hands out and gave us a hand shake.

I have never been in a poorer house in my life. There were so many animals running around everywhere, and they don't even have a floor, just dirt. I felt so sad for these people. We sat down and immediately the members started talking to her and asking her questions about her life. Her husband died and left her with very little money, and then her son left her with four kids 10, 8, 6, and 4. She doesn't have time to work because she is always taking care of the kids. We decided to give them a book of Mormon and a pamphlet. When we handed the book and pamphlet to them the little boys eyes lit up, and the 10 year old started reading it to his siblings in the back room. I smiled so big! I couldn't believe my eyes.

We invited them to church and the Grandma said that they would come because they needed it in their lives! At Church yesterday we didn't see them in sacrament meeting and I was so disappointed but, they came for the last two hours! I can't tell you how happy they all looked. The little boys all ran up to me and told me how their classes went and how fun they were. I know that the Gospel is going to change their lives! We are going to do everything we can to get them help and to share with them our testimonies!

They really are an answer to my prayers! I am so amazed at how much our Heavenly Father really loves us! I am constantly surprised at the faith of the members as well. WE wouldn't have found them without their help. They seriously jumped right up at the opportunity to share the Gospel and to help others! We are going to visit them this this Wednesday with a handful of members! They all want to help and we are so excited!

I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers and is always watching out for us! The field really is white to harvest! We just have to have faith and go out and find! I encourage you all to pray to have a missionary moment this week, whether it's to share your testimony with someone, invite a less active to church, go visiting teaching, or home teaching, share a talk or scripture on Facebook, or send a text to someone whose struggling with life, whatever it is just do it! Then email me at elise.riedelbach@myldsmail.net or write me a letter with your experiences. I want to hear what you are all doing,don't let the work move on without you!

I love you all and am so grateful for your testimonies and for all of the support! 

Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Riedelbach

P.S. another bird pooped on me today. I don't understand, I am like a poop magnet. :)

And it is SO hot here...I am dying but, on the plus side we do have fancy fans to cool us down.  :)