Martin Carrera - Hola

Hey there fam bam... well life is so so so good here in Martin Carrera. We have a ton of work right now and we are pumped!!! Baptizing week to week has been a goal of mine since I got to the mish and this Sunday will be the start! Carlos will be baptized this coming Sunday between conference sessions! He is pumped and he has invited all of his family! Then next week Naomi is getting baptized.. she is the cutest little 9 year old. We just started teaching her this week and she has been going to church with her cousin who is the primary presidente... her parents are both less actives but we are trying to get her mom back... her mom doesn't go because her husband is alcoholic... and she works to support the family.. she works a couple jobs so that is why she can't get to church. They both are really excited for the baptism of her and so are we she is such a sweet heart and actually enjoys reading in the book of Mormon! Then Rogelio should be baptized in three weeks and he is really excited... he just need to get mas asistencia and we need to finish the lessons with him. but he really is someone prepared for the gospel and yeah good things coming... also GUESS WHAT! 

   We just heard today that Elder Dallin H Oaks is coming to the mish in three weeks!!! the 16th of April! We are PUMPED! We thought something was going down... because pres asked hna Mortenson to lead music at a special meeting that is coming up and told us he had to send the agenda to salt lake and we were like... hmmmm something's going down! So yeah we are really excited!! 

Also everyone else is doing good... Orfe still has doubts about which church is true but left today for vacation for a week so we will see her on Saturday! Angeles is doing good but we saw her smoking the other day in the street so we will just work with her a little bit more to help her!!  This last week was vacation here and this week is too... so that means NOBODY IS HERE! haha it just makes missionary work a little bit harder but all is well! Funny story this week we were helping Niyeli and Osvaldo get a blessing so he can stop smoking drink etc and we got to their house late so they left real quick and we were there with the elders .... and then they came back and Osvaldo had his dang bird on his shoulder... they went to the market with is bird on his shoulder... actually last time we had fhe he wanted to bring his bird ahah! Honestly this week was really fast. 

The traditions here are basically for the catholic church... so the whole week is celebrated especially fri, sat, sun. On Friday they go from church to church... on Saturday its called sabado de gloria... Saturday of glory and what they do is go around in the street getting people wet to baptize them or that is what is symbolizes... anyways he figured we wouldn't walk on certain streets so that we wouldn't get wet.  We walked down one we didn't expect and there was a bunch of grown men chasing each other with water balloons, water guns etc and then they started yelling gueritas gueritas... SABADO DE GLORIA! and we were like crap... and we walked faster and then we heard them behind us and so I cringed expecting a water balloon thrown at my back and then they all started laughing and saying... gaurita es broma es broma no se preocupe amiga... and then we laughed with them and went on our way... but yeah close one there hahah! Then on Sunday here is just normal church and fairs in the street with a whole bunch of drunk men! haha so super fun! 

Sounds like everything is good at home... the womens conference we got late to and I was really confused as to why there was a whole bunch of black and asian women in the Salt Lake choir... haha! One of the hnas said.. this is deff a hand picked choir! hahah After hearing some of the talks, I got it, refugees and all! Sorry I don't have a ton of fotos today.. we went to a mall looking for crocs and we couldn't find any.. mom would you be willing to buy some for me... I heard you can buy them on amazon.... just some black ones that are undercover would be great!!!!! let me know if you have questions! Know that I am happy and we are doing good over here in Martin Carerra! jaja love ya fam... have a good week! and well THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

love hna Heywood 

Martin Carrera - Holy Cow

Dear fam bam.... 

    Today I shall start with a story .... the other day we were teaching Iker the cute little 8  year old that is getting baptized the 10th of April. Anyways I showed him a pic of the Gilbert temple and he said... "what the F$"%" jajaja we were trying so hard not to laugh so instead we taught him to say holy cow... and we told him to teach all his grosero friends in school that that is cooler! But yeah his madre just gave him permission for his baptism!! 

   Honestly we saw un buen de milagros este semana! It was a crazy week but a good week. Well i think a couple weeks back I told you about Angeles she is Gibrons (recent convert) sister. Anyways we started teaching her and then she moved back to the state of Mexico and now she is back for good and she is also planning on her baptism the 10th of April! We had a super good lesson with her this past week about the plan of salvation... and man I love that lesson SO MUCH! It just strengths my testimony every time I teach it because I really know and understand my purpose her in life! And that I am a daughter of God! It was really good and me and Angeles are buds and I just feel like she gets me and I get her and I know we are gonna be GREAT BUDS! 

   Also there is this menos activo familia that is awesome but the dad has drug and drinking probs... so when he is doing that stuff the family doesn't go.. sometime his kids go with their grandma hna valdez but the wife and daughter don't go unless he is doing good!  Anyways he was like sober for 3 days and then yeah he fell again... but we had a killer lesson with him and we are gonna help him get back! 

Also we found some KILLER menos activos this week! One is named Elda and her story breaks my heart... she wants to come back but she has ZERO money and the church is far and she just got a job and now she has to go to work at 9:30 and we have church at 10 so we went to a different building and went with her at 8! I just feel such a strong spirit when we can see someone take the sacramnet again after such a long time.  Elda is cool and we are gonna help her son get on a mission... he is also less active. 

Also would you like to know why this week was crazy... well we had divisions and I went to Olivos with hna Houghten and when we were eating we got a call from the secretary and they said tomorrow I had to be in the offices at 8 to go renew my visa ... and well we were in the state of Mexico for divisons because their area isn't in the city so we woke up early... went to the offices ended divisons there and had a nice little feel of the rich city life! Got my visa so I will be here longer YAY and yeah. Then we got home ran around like crazy getting ready for our noche de hogar (FHE) and it was awesome! we played Jeopardy!

Later on in the week han mortensons knee was super bad so we went to the drs and today we had to go down town to find a knee brace that fits her!!! but it was cool where we were and we took lots of selfies!!!! It was a good week and man oh man I just love the mish... I hit a year this Friday! crazy! But honestly the mish has changed my life and I am so happy I am here serving these people! Sounds like everything at home is good!  Love you all I am about to send a ton of pics!!!

love hna heywood

I am not going to label all these; just know they are Hnas Heywood and Mortensen and are either at the Basilica or in the City....

Gustavo likes to go teach with the Hnas

Martin Carrera - Aye Aye Aye Miracles

Well I ' even know where to start this week! 

  It was a GREAT WEEK! With lots of freezing wind and lots of work. This week we have been working a lot with Bishop because there are only 35 members in the ward right now... but there are 553 in the registry or what ever that thing is called! So we have started on the list to bring all these lost sheep back to the fold! It is so sad to get to know some of these people and learn why they fell away from the church... for being offended, not reading their scriptures and praying or laziness, not understanding anything, or being baptized for missionaries and not with a testimony... this is mas o menos what has gone down with these people!  We have found a couple that want to come back but they are afraid so we are working a lot with the ward right now to help them come and visit the menos acitvos with us. Honestly being on a mission makes me so excited to go home and have a calling and do work with my calling. Something really interesting that was said by Elder Oaks in the big missionary broadcast we had like a month ago was that he told us to work more with less actives! Because these less actives usually have family members that are not members or friends neighbors and all... so we can find a lot of people through them! 

    But honestly we have miracles this week...MIRACLES! first of all about a week ago for our fast we fasted to find two families... and we found TWO! And we are teaching them... one was the family that came to church once and we found them again!! and then the temple reference we got at Christmas when we couldn't find the house ... we found them again....and both familias... as in the parents are REALLY INTERESTED! So #holla

   WE have also been working with Carlos and he is doing good and ready for his baptism for the 3rd! And Orfelina is doing good and loving church so yay!!!!!!! 

Hna Mortenson is awesome... her trainer was  cv sister so hna mortenson has a killer Columbiana accent and I am learning from her because I still sound like a gringa o guera whatever you would like to call it! She is from Lehi and loves musicals and has a beautiful voice so we enjoy talking about musicals and she is the 1st comp I have been able to harmonize with since hna back in the CCM so that is fun!!! 

   Another mircale we saw this week was that Alejandro one of our little friends in the street went to church AGAIN! We are gonna start focusing on him a little more he is a funny old man that tells us the joven rico (rich young ruler or whatever in English) he tells us that story from the bible all the time but always says and when Christ asked him to leave everything he had... he left it all to follow Christ and we are always like close but not quit right on that story! haha 

But yes lots of good things coming out of here in Carrera... its fun because we have been involving the ward a lot more and they are getting more excited about the work! OH also today we went to the basilica and I took a bunch of cool pics...... but haha my card reader got stolen soo I will get you those pics next week when I buy a new card reader! But todo bien here.... I love the mish so so so much and I have just learned so much from forgetting myself and loving and serving others! I love the people here and I can't wait for you all to meet them... even though you won't be able to communicate that much ... it doesn't matter you will love them too! But EVERYONE reading this just know that I know this church is true with all my heart and that it is the only way to really find true happiness and will last for all eternity! I know this church is guided by revelation and that Christ really is the head of his church and that we need to help everyone we can to come unto him so they can receive the same blessings we have!!! Love you all so so so much! have a FAB WEEK!!!

Heywood and Mortensen

Zone with Mortensen

Martin Carrera - Holding it DOWN in Carrera

Familia MÍA! 

  Well divisones have come and gone and my #1 homegirl (hna woodard) has left, and now I am with Hna Mortenson! She is super cute and from Lehi Utah... she has a voice of an angel and can play the piano way better then me so the ward will love her hahah!!

  

    This week was CRAZY! Well to start out.... we got really sick this last week. I had lost my voice completely and had a super bad cough that just killed but that didn't keep us from not working... well except Thursday hna woodard was bed ridden because she has really bad gastritis and couldn't get out of bed.  I called pres with my no voice and got permission for the zone leaders to come and give us blessings. haha poor elders we looked terrible and I know that when they saw us they were generally scared ahah! But I am perfectly perfect now.. gots lots of meds and I am doing well. Also I had to go to the offices this last week to sign something for my visa and we have to have a signature just like the one we did in our passport and well it took me 30 mins to do it good enough for the secretarios because it has to be perfect haha! #struggle Also we did divisons with Moctezuma and hna beck (mi nieta) came here with me to Carrera and it was fun to get to know her! And then lots of other stuff happened this week we saw MIRCALES! 

   Okay to start off Gibran and Aris my two fav people in the whole world introduced us to Gibrans sister Angeles. She is 22 with 3 little kids and getting separated de su esposo... anyways she was telling us how she has been wanting to talk to us because when Gibran got baptized (he got baptized last august) she saw a ton of change in him and she wanted to be happier like him. Anyways she is a solid and went to all of church on Sunday and LOVED IT! We just love her and tomorrow we have a cita with her. We had a noche de hogar planed (FHE) but she couldn't make it because she was dealing with her ex-man. But we did noche de hogar with Aris and her 3 kids, her mom and she brought two of her nephews and then Angeless' two little girls so it was crazy but fun! I had a bunch of pics of it... but yeah computers in mexico. 

   Also Orfelina is our new golden girl. She came to church last sunday with her cousin and they signed up for comida and that is when we found out Orfe isnt a member. So we started teaching her and have a baptismal date for the 20th of this month. She is in her twenties I think and has 2 little kids... a boy of 6 and a girl of 4 (Victor y Paola). She was taking the missionary lessons like 3 years ago but was living with the kids dad and she didn't separate with him but then he left her 2 years ago. Anyways she loves the capilla and has come two times now! She is someone very prepared!!!! And it is a blessing to work with her!

Carlos is doing ok he told us he would close his tienda this sunday but then when we walked by in the afternoon it was opened... we dont know if we should call him out or not. But we shall pray about it! And Gilberto y patty are doing good they were sick again this sunday so they didnt go... but they are very open to learn... but they are not married so we have lots of work to do! 

I think one of my favorite moments this last week was we heard Aris was sick (the young women's presidente) and she does SO MUCH for us... so we showed up and cleaned her house with her little kids and she tried to clean but we told her just to go sit on her couch and talk to us. She wasn't happy we came but we felt good that we could help her! 

Also highlight of the week. So in socidad de socorro this sunday (RS) we were talking about the world today and how it is so important to be obedient... anyways HNA VALDEZ this crazy little 60 year old red headed women was like We have to be so careful because this week I learned about iluminate and then she did the sign and was talking about how it is a secret combination and that they are all devil worshipers and going on and on and I was laughing so hard because.... remember when my Sunday School Teacher was  talking about the same things. Well I relived that moment here in Mexico and it was so funny!

Also in the comida the other day this kid Braulio that always listenes to m&m while we are at his house was like hnas what are your beliefs in aliens... because I KNOW THEY ARE REAL! and he was trying to show us a youtube video of what convinced him ahaha we told him we couldn't view youtube videos but one day when we are home we will look it up for him. I am Braulios biggest fan... probs because he is always rapping songs and he is like this little gordito 10 year old! 

We have lots of work here in Carrera and I am PUMPED! Mortenson is gonna be a good comp and she has a killer columbian accent because her trainer was from Columbia! But madre y padre, I love all you Jerusalem letter; it sounds so cool and yo y hna Woodard are planning on going when we get home and have money to pay for it!  Love you all stay chido!!

hna Heywood