The Hardest Time For The Hardest Work... Also Cold

I was able to talk to my parents yesterday on the phone, and they informed me of the passing of my brother-in-law, Kadin from heroine addiction. It definitely isn't news you want to hear while on a mission, let alone while not on a mission. My heart is both saddened and yet praising our Heavenly Father for His Plan that he has for us, and of the infinite love that both our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ has for every single one of us. I know that Kadin is in a better place now and that his journey isn't over yet. And that we will see him again one day in the mansions of our Father with a joyful reunion. I want my family to know that I love them with everything that I have, even though I am in some other place right now. Life is hard. This mission is hard. But that is exactly what we knew it would be like before we came to this earth. We chose to follow our Savior's plan, and I am so glad that we did. And I hope including this next bit from my sister will help you to feel of the immense love that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for each of us. 

"About 10 am, was when I had two police detectives come to our apartment and tell me that Kadin was found that morning at 7:45 am by the pastor of a Baptist church. He was propped up, leaning against the door of the backside of the church. The view Kadin had as he passed away, was of the St. George temple.. shining so bright in such a dark moment... Kadin was alone physically, but he was not alone spiritually. He had angels there with him that night. It is comforting to me that he was looking on to the temple as he drew his final breaths. Kadin's heart definitely has a testimony of his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ."

With that said, here's how the past week went in Mexico.

This past week in Sabinas has been quite interesting, to say the least. The weather was starting to cool down a little bit, but it was still hot for a part of the week. And then Thursday hit with the coldest temperature I have felt so far here, about 50°F. But that day it felt freezing with the breeze that was there too. So I decided I probably needed to expand my winter collection and bought a new sweater-jacket and a jacket for P-days as well. The next few days were still cold, though it gradually got warmer and warmer with each day and now it's back to around 70-75 degrees, which is where it should be. 

The new jacket I bought (great decision btw)

The homemade lamp

Also, we lost power to our house for about a day and a half. So we didn't have any light or a working fridge or microwave either. But we still had hot water, so that was good. But we made these really ghetto homemade lamps out of the waterbottles that the CCM gave us and a red solo cup. I also had two flashlights that were both busted. So I took the light of one of the flashlights and the little trigger/button end of the other one and combined to the two together with tape! It's super touchy and goes out with the slightest movement, but it works! It's interesting how resourceful one can be when they are given so little to use. I'll include a picture or two of that! 

So we are teaching these two investigators who are part of the Velasquez family, and that whole family is just hilarious to be around. We have invited them to be baptized twice now, trying to set a date. But Araceli, the mom of Sofia (the two investigators), doesn't think she is ready yet. So we challenged her to continue to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to find the answer that she is looking for. So hopefully when we go back she will decide to set a date for baptism. We are really working hard and praying for those two, but we believe that the daughter, Sofia, is ready to be baptized. So if we can get her mom's permission, then we can set a date for her.

Part of the Velasquez Family, and 4 other missionaries 

(from left to right, Ana-Maria, Sofia, Elder Garcia, Sandra, 

Elder Lorenzo, Elder Atkin, Elder Junior, Elder Alarcon, Diana, Me, and Araceli)

And then we also taught our first English class at the Cultural Center here, and we had a great showout with 3 people and the director, Felix. Haha, but Felix said that more people had signed up for the class, so next week will probably be a little bigger. But it went pretty good for being the first time. We just talked about our homes, Utah and California, and then went over some sentences and animals.

Qué más... Qué más..

Oh yeah! The 4 of us missionaries in Sabinas 1 gave talks on Sunday! That was pretty interesting. We all talked about missionary work and about the "Plan de Área" for Mexico and Coahuila. My talk was more specifically about missionary work and Charity, and it may have only lasted for 4-5 minutes. But it was quite the experience giving my first talk in Spanish and being able to see how far my Spanish has come. Though I still can't say it's good, because I can't really say what I want to say a lot of the time. Anyways, a lot of the members complimented my accent and ability to speak Spanish for the time that I have been here. But I can't speak nearly as well without a script as they think I can.

But yeah. that has basically been the past week. One crazy rollercoaster of a week. We are going into the last week of my first change here in the mission this week, so next week there might be some changes. Though I expect it to be the same for me and Elder Garcia.

I love my friends and family everywhere. I love our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, Jesucristo. I love the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of it. I love this restored gospel and the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation. And many more things I could name. I love them with all my heart. I love you all.

Until next week,

Elder Shwa Turner

And me attempting to do that one thing

  A Jenga Tower