The darling house belonging to the Jacos
This is Sister Brown and I taking out the shower frame and then cheesing it
So this is the far west side of Albuquerque
Yeah I am not sending anymore pictures- it is a hassle.
Hey All!
What a week it has been! one full one down in New Mexico! Time has flown really! I really have no idea what I told you last time I sent out a message so this one might have some repetitions, plus it will probably be uber scattered - I will get better at this, I promise.
So the first thing you need to know about New Mexico - IT IS HOT!! I realized this as I stepped off the plane to 106 degrees and only one short sleeved shirt.. posed a bit of a problem - but I have since gotten a few more. This too shall pass. But back to the heat- I was really shocked at how hot it has been, especially because the elevation is so high here - it really confuses me. I remember when I was little, I used to think that the higher up in the mountains you would go, the hotter it would get because you were closer to the sun- that wasn't the case. But here, that is the case. It is hot. And brown. very brown. But it is pretty. Also, the southwest influence is not as abundant as I thought it would be here. There are some neighborhoods of the adobe/stucco style which I love, but then there a lot of brick homes too. The picture is of one of the less active members homes we visit and I love it! If I were to ever move here (people call New Mexico the Land of Entrapment because no matter where you go, you will always be back, so it is a real possibility) my home would look like this one. The one thing that has really showed me New Mexico is hot is the temperature we keep our apartment at. We keep the thermostat between 74 and 75 degree and I have to put a sweater on in the morning during study becasue I get cold! Something is seriously wrong there...
Oh, another weather phenomena about Albuquerque is the monsoons. They come between june and july and it just rains every afternoon for 2-10 minutes and it just comes down hard. Then it all evaporates and comes back the next day. My companion and I are still waiting for these. The clouds have come out every day but there has been no rain. Most people say the monsoons won't be coming this year. Bummer. But the clouds still come- you would think that would cool it down. Wrong. According to brother Chavez, another less active we visit, the clouds keep the heat from rising which makes it hotter. He told us we live in a turtle tank. It was hilarious.
One more thing about the weather.. The wind is horrid here! Every evening betwenn 7:00 and 8:00 the winds pick up and blow so hard for about ten minutes at a time then stop for about 5 then pick up again. This continues for a few hours at least! Too bad I don't have my kites.. actually no. the windis too strong for kites in the evenings. The mountains disappear in the wind because it picks up mo much dirt and sand and dust that it creates a wall and everything in the distance is gone. It is during those times I am thankful we are in a car and not on bikes.
Also, Kokapellis are everywhere here! Will someone look up the significance of hom and let me know? I am curious. thanks!
So this is a really slow area we are in.. The members are so wonderful! but the work is slow. In one ward, we don't have any investigators, and have 5 - onlly 2 of which are progressing - in the other ward. There are a lot of less actives in both wards that we are trying to reactivate but they are never home or are just not very receptive - usually not home though. So anyway, the area is slow. We are really looking and trying to find new people to teach - so for that I am asking for all you returned missionary's help! What was the most successful finding method you utilized? Try something other than referrals from memebers - like I said before, they are all really great and want to take care of us missionaries, they just aren't up to par on missionary efforts themselves.. But, we did have a cool experience this Sunday!
During planning meeting on Thursday (which I LOVE! I have learned that I love love love planning here. It just gives so much direction and makes so much sense to me!) we really came to the conclusion that we need more people to teach. so we brainstormed and came up with some ideas and we decided to fast on Sunday. At church we received FOUR referrals! That may not sound like a lot, but it was a lot better than what has been happening... We were able to contact two of them that evening and one invited us back for a lesson! We are both really excited for that! We also got into a couple of less actives homes that we have been trying for all week and that was good too.
Oh and one more thing about the work being slow and rather depressive sometimes- I guess the whole zone is like this becasue the Friday before I arrived, there was a zone conference where they introduced the Glad Game- from Polyanna!! It made me so happy! So now when things are slow, we paly the glad game!
We also are trying to get involved in service opportunities. A family in the ward - less active I believe- is redoing a bathroom because water has gotten behind the tile and molded the wall and the wood through to the other side and has just made a mess. So we offered to help and this last week we went over and helped get it started! We just took out the track doors - which were screwed to the tile and glued! It was insanely tedious to pry that frame off.. But we did it! and we removed the hardware and such.. Not much, but it was fun to do some manual labor again. We will be going back this week to do some more.
Last weeek, Sister Brown and I were going to go teach a lesson to an investigator on the reservation (which is out of our area) and a few hours before she talked with the District leader and they determined we didn't really have the right permission to go and it would probably be best if we didn't. So we didn't. And good thing too! That evening, President Miller called us and asked if we were going. We told him no that we didn't think it would be the best idea for us to go and such and such- I can't really remember the whole conversation but all in all it was a good thing we did not go. We probably would have gotten in heaps of trouble if we did. The other crazy thing is, President MIller wasn't even involved in the planning of it. It was Sister Brown, Our District leader, the zone leaders and the branch president on the reservation - the mission president knows all. As does the spirit. When he tells you no, listen. He will keep you out of trouble.
Funny thing that happened this morning! So last night as I was discussing what happened on P-Day with sister Brown, I realizd I did not have any laundry detergent and if I could borrow hers. She told me that they have always gotten it as a companionship for the apartment and just shared. Swell! So this morning I go to start my laundry and I cannot find the detergent. I go ask her where it was and she point to the bottle and I say "No, Sister Brown, that is not detergent, that is fabric softener." They have been washing their clothes in fabric softener for twelve weeks!! So I definitely bought real soap at the store today. It was funny!
That was last week for you! The evening of this coming week are looking good so far. Monday night and wednesday night are full of appointments which is a good sign! So here is to a great week ahead!
I love you all!
Love Sister Stuart
Oh and my moment of revelation this morning came from President Uchtdorf. He said "It is not your responsibility to convert anyone. That is the work of the Holy Ghost. Your task is to share your beliefs and to not be afraid." What wise words. It says explicitely in the missionary purpose that we are to INVITE others to come unto Christ by HELPING them receive the restored gospel. We do that by sharing what we know to be the truth and letting the Holy Ghost convert them. I think that is something all too often forgotten.
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