Hermana Webb in Washington: Has It Really Only Been Three Weeks?? The Mexican Adventures Continue!

August 20, 2014

Another fantastic week here in México! I literally feel like I´ve been on a mission for months already. But I am loving every minute! My Spanish is getting so much better. We have soló español days 3 times a week now and it is such a struggle to not speak any English. I always go to bed with the biggest headache because of how much focus it takes. But it helps our Spanish so much.

Well, this week was filled with tender mercies and exciting opportunities. I got thrown out of my comfort zone a few times and it was terrifying, but awesome!

On Sundays at church, they have everyone prepare a talk but they don't tell you who is going to give talks until the second before you get up there. So the topic was on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and we're all sitting there, sweating bullets and waiting to hear who the lucky few are that week. I played the piano for all the hymns so I thought I was off the hook. Then our bishop gets up and says "First we will hear from Elder Richardson, Elder Upchurch, and then Hermana Webb." Literally every single person in my district snaps their heads back to look at me at the exact same second. Haha. So funny. Mind you this talk is completely in Spanish and we've only been here for 3 weeks. So I get up there, and just start talking. Didn´t use my notes hardly at all and just testified of Jesus Christ's love for all of us and my love for Him. I felt the Spirit so strongly. I sat down and everyone starts fist bumping me and Elder James whispers "Why are you even in the MTC?" Haha. It was a great experience.

Also, me and mi compañera have played some mad tennis and volleyball this week! We took on the state champ and actually beat him and his partner 2-1. Dad, you would have been proud. Haha. Me and Hermana Frei of course matched with some sick headbands. Pics included.

Also, our whole district sang in the choir in front of all the hundreds of missionaries here! It was amazing. We sang "How Great Thou Art" with a sick violin and piano accompaniment. It was so beautiful and so fun to be part of the choir. We got front row seats for the devotional. Me and Elder Olsen are still holding out for the day that Elder Holland comes to give a devotional here. Haha. We can dream.

Oh, and you know the whole "Hermana Webb is tearing this family apart" joke? No one really knows why it started. Haha. But it is literally the theme of our district. So funny. Well they have this super good European chocolate here-Kinder- and we got these Kinder bars for dinner and Elder Valentine took his back to the classroom to eat later. Well I couldn't resist framing his companion and putting it in his bag like he took it. So the new joke is extended to "the serpent beguiled me". Haha. Hence the picture of the whiteboard with all the drawings on it.

I also have gotten pretty sick of the food here. The sketchy Mexican meat just aint cutting it anymore. My saving grace and tender mercy is frosted flakes! Haha. They have them out every meal and that has turned into my dessert. Sometimes you get desperate when they only have strange meat and nasty Mexican fruit for an option. And then you remember-Frosted Flakes though. So don't worry, Andrew and Tyler. You can survive here solely off cereal.

This morning was amazing because we got to go the Mexico City temple. Unfortunately, it is closed right now for cleaning, but we got to go to the visitors center and walk around the grounds. So beautiful. And we got some sweet authentic Mexican attire at the store there. I love it.

My favorite part of the week was watching a devotional that Elder Holland gave- because well, it's Elder Holland. He talked about being a disciple of Christ and said "You´ve left your nets. You can't go back. Now feed my sheep...I asked you to be a missionary forever. I asked you to follow me forever." Soooo powerful. It's so true. I will never go back to the person I was before my mission. I will forever be changed for the better because of what I am learning here on my mission. I will always follow Christ and serve Heavenly Father's children.

I love being a missionary!

-Hermana Webb