Time to catch up!

Wow! I apologize for not writing last week, things have been crazy! So much has happened, I will quickly try to summarize it all, and I promise to include pictures today :))

First off, Jessica, Monica, and Karla got baptized 2 weeks ago. After fasting with them for 24 hours in the hot Merida heat, they received promptings that this church is true and that they needed to be baptized, even though their dad is catholic and very heard-hearted. Their mom is a member, and they knew that they have her support, our support, and a wonderful ward behind them. I think that it was the most beautiful baptism I´ve ever attended, I could feel the Spirit so strong. All three of them bore their testimonies to finish the baptismal service, and I think that there wasn´t a dry eye in the whole room! They are amazing girls and I feel so priveleged for the opportunity that I was given to be a part of their baptism and learn from each one of them and their strong testionies!

2) Wendy, a recent convert in Madero, invited us to eat pizza with them on Thursday night to thank us for helping their family. It touched my heart when we realized that they didn´t even have enugh money to pay for the 2 pizzas (their family is very humble and they have 3 kids to feed). We were able to help them and on our way home were so grateful the love and kindness of the members here. Many of them don´t have much, but I have learned here that charity, the pure love of Christ, is not sharing what you have left over, it´s sharing all that you have. What I loved is that Wendy, even though were sitting at a big table outside the restaurant, brought her hymn book and asked if we could sing a song and then say a prayer to bless the food. The waiter came while we were saying the prayer and loved it. 

The only sad part of the story is that the pizza made us sick, my companion was up from 2-5 am throwing up, and I later woke up at 6:30 with incredible pain and had to pass my language study in my hammock because the same thing was about to happen to me. 

3) Last Tuesday, Marilin and Eduardo got married! Marilin is getting baptized on Wednesday. We were able to go to the courthouse for the wedding ( we´re practically friends with the receptionists there after how many weddings!)

It was a beautiful wedding and they´re happy as can be.. however, just like usual, there´s always a BUT...

If you haven´t noticed yet, the people here LOVE to feed the missionaries. They took us back to their house (even though we practically said no because we were going to go home and study) and quickly gave us some tacos. Tacos de chicharon (pig skin) and then made me try morsilla. Morsilla is...

IF YOU HAVE A LIGHT STOMACHE DON´T READ THE FOLLOWING:

They clean out the large intestine of the pig, and then fill it with pig blood and cook it.

I ate tacos filled with that...

and I DID NOT sleep that night. 

It was a bad choice..but they didn´t really give me a choice. I ate it and THEN they told me what it was. Memories, that´s all it is, right? wow. It was quite the week!

and then! 4) Cristian got baptized on Saturday night. She´s a cute little 9-year old who is so excited about the gospel. Her dad is less active and doesn´t want much to do with the church but her mom is coming back and is doing great. Her dad offered her tea to drink the other day and she told him, "No, dad. The missionaries taught me that we shouldn´t drink tea. I´m not going to drink it." and then when he said they were going to go to the waterpark together on Sunday she quietly replied. "I´m not. I need to go to church." and she showed up. Children amaze me...they really do! 

With an upset stomach for 3 straight days, a lot of heat, and then a lot of rain, it has been a great week with much success. 

The work continues to move forward.

Today was transfer day. looks like I will spend my last transfer in Madero

My companion is Hermana Sanchez. she´s from Chile and I love her! We´re excited to continue seeing the hand of the Lord and the miracles that happen as we serve Him.

I love you all and hope all is well at home :))

con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki 

FOTOS:

1- Marilin after her wedding

2- Morsilla. It was actually realllllllly good.

3- Monica, Karla, and Jessica at their baptism

 

 

This week was a hot one, to say the least.

Last monday my companion and I wanted to go to centro to look around at the shops, but it was the only day we can CHOOSE whether or not we want to be in the sun, so we decided to go home and rest. But it was so hot that we couldn´t even take a nap! we tried and it was a big failure.

My companion decided to take a shower, thinking that would help, but there´s only one setting on the water, in the summer it´s hot, and in the winter it´s cold. She took a hot shower and felt even worse, but the yucatecos loved it. I contacted a lady on the bus that same day who told me that what she loved most about yucatan was that you can take 5 showers a day here! That same night (monday) neither one of us could sleep. After about an hour my companion whipped out our little camping burner and heated up our awesome mexican soy milk and we fell right asleep. Not a boring day goes by in the mission, ever.

Last night I got up at 3 am to put an ice pack on my neck so that I could fall back asleep! I think the next time I see snow, tears will probably be shed.

This week we were teaching cristian, a little 9 year old girl who is preparing to be baptized. She´s the only one in her family that isn´t a member, they´ve been inactive for quite a while. We watched this video with her, https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-03-0040-video-presentation-walk-in-his-light?lang=eng

 

and we taught her about her divine worth! We taught the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, that if she keeps her body clean and pure, she can one day enter the temple, be sealed for time and all eternity, and have her very one eternal family. I almost cried during the video as I thought about her future. Years down the road she will be able to look back and remember that she kept the commandments from a young age and see the blessings that were received as a result of doing so. She ran up to us at church yesterday and gave us a big hug in her new sunday dress, it was so cute.

The work continues to go forth! There´s no resting in Madero, I know have 7 months in this area and hope that President lets me stay, we shall see. We´ve got another busy week ahead, so I must go.

Know that I love you all and pray that you will seek missionary opportunities everyday :)

con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki

Being happy with what we have! :)

I enjoyed eating with la familia filidor this week, they´re a cute couple in our ward with two young daughters. About two years ago, they started taking the self-reliance courses from the church (something that the church is stressing a lot right now in Mexico) to learn how to open a business, how to save money, etc.

Hermano Filidor quit his job working at Costco (12hrs a day) and they opened their empanada business from 7 am - 12. After that, they close, and they´re all 4 home together for the afternoon. They aren´t rolling in it, that´s for sure, but they have sufficient money to cover their needs. His wife shared with us that they turned off internet and cable when they really sat down and saw how expensive it was, and how much time it was taking away from their family. She also said that she was frustrated because they never developed the habit of family scripture study because her husband would get home at 8 pm everynight when the girls were going to bed. It was something that stressed her out alot, something that she knew they needed to do that they weren´t.

I enjoyed hearing their testimony of how simplifying their lives has helped their family. Each day, they eat lunch together as a family and read the sciptures for an hour together, sitting around the table. She said that her girls get so excited when it´s time to read! that they start and end with a prayer and pause at the important parts to explain them. I could feel the spirit in their home, and I testified to them that any one who enters there can and will feel it, because they are putting the principles of the gospel into practice, day after day after day..and their family is being blessed. Sometimes the most basic simple principles are the hardest ones for us to live! why is it that way?

Through small sacrifices and a lot of faith, their family now has MUCH more time together, and is living with less material things, but with many more blessings.

I was pondering all afternoon what they shared with us. Technology is great, it is such a wonderful tool in sharing the gospel, we just have to be careful and only use it for the right reasons. It´s easy to become addicted or too reliant on the cell phone or the ipad. It´s not necesarily bad to have one, as long as it fits into our budget, but I think that some of the most fulfilling moments we can have are when we set it aside for a little while and go do something as a family, or when we go and serve someone else. AND...because I´m a missionary, I´m used to leaving invitations! sooo..that´s the invitation this week..

Set the technology aside for a few hours, have a conversation face to face with someone, and find one way to show your love or serve someone in need!  Matthew 25:40 sayd "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren , ye have done it unto me. " Really you´re serving the Lord! 

Find ways to simplify your life and go without things that may be distracting or keeping you from progressing spiritually and I promise the Lord will help you on the journey, 

I love and pray for each of you and hope all is well :)

Con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki

Another amazing week flies by! Each day here is so full. full of work, and full of smiles. we have been receiving lots of referalls in the last two weeks. we have been trying to contact all of them but sometimes just can`t find the time when we`re running (sometimes literally running) from one appointment to another. We have 23 received referalls that we have yet to contact that could potentially turn into investigators, talk about work! Lemme tell ya, we are busy and that is how I like it!  I don`t think I`ve ever slept so soundly in my whole life.

I have really been enjoying my personal studies this week in Mosiah. I was reading Mosiah 10:10-11 on Friday...

"And it came to pass that we did go up to battle against the Lamanites; and I, even I, in my old age, did go up to battle against the Lamanites. And it came to pass that we did go up in the strength of the Lord to battle. Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the strength of men." 

I immediately then wrote this question in my study journal, "How can I work as a missionary in the strength of the Lord and not depend upon my own strength?" I immediately thought of a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that reads, 

"And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good —yea, to do justly , to walk humbly , to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit."

Instead of trusting in ourselves, we must trust in the spirit, because if we do, the promise is fulfilled that, ".. it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say." (D&C 100:6)

I never have really elegant words or special things to tell the people I teach, but what they need to hear is given to me when I pray for the Spirit and follow the promptings it gives. I`m so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and grateful to be led and guided by him, whether we`re in a lesson or out in the street.

We were teaching a recent convert family who are having family problems, they have three kids, 11, 8, and 7.. but before they were baptized they had a tough life and basically grew up in the streets. The two youngest girls do nothing but fight, and the 8 year old is very rude and continues to swear in front of her parents. We sat down with the whole family and as we began to teach the 3rd lesson, the gospel of Jesus Christ, both my companion and I felt impressed to steer off track for a minute and try something new. We went around the circle and had each child say something that they liked about each of their siblings and their parents, and the parents did the same, they all shared one thing that they liked about each family member. Immediately, smiles came to their faces and the youngest girls gave each other a hug, something that they NEVER do. It was amazing to see the smile on their mom`s face as she saw her kids calm down and show each other a little bit of love, and it brought tears to my eyes as she shared what she loves about each of her children because she was not a very nice momma before she got baptized.

It was a neat experience for me and I invite each of you to do the same during your Family Home Evening tonight! Give each one of your family members a compliment, and watch how everyone immediately feels a calm spirit of peace in the home and an increased love toward your family. I know that the family is ordained of God and that now more than ever we must do all that we can to protect it :))

con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki

Singing in the rain

Wow, what a week we had! The zone leaders called last night with our transfers and said that Hermana Martinez and I are staying in Madero! I have 6 months in this ward and looks like I´m going to spend my last 3 here as well, and I couldn´t be more excited. The members here truly are the greatest.

I forgot to take pictures, but Thursday afternoon we were leaving an appointment in the afternoon when it started to POUR. I think I probably wrote a little last summer about how it rains here, it doesn´t rain down, it rains SIDEWAYS. With an umbrella, my whole body got wet except for my face practically. We were both so soaking wet, and we walked 30 minutes through the storm to Memo´s house. Everytime we walked through a street corner it was like taking a step into the dark because the water was midcalf and who knows what was down there in the water. We just walked, and laughed, and sang hymns, and yelled "gracias" to all of the nice bus drivers who drived by splashing water on us :) When we were leaving the appointment and it started to rain, the members told us to stay there and wait it out, that we would get wet and then get sick if we walked through the rain, but we told them that we had another appointent and that the Lord would protect us, we´re HIS missionaries! When we got to Memo´s house (a future missionary) who has been working with us. Him and his sister took us to the appointment in their car even though it was 3 blocks away. Yucatecos do NOT like the rain. We taught Christian, a little girl who´s 9 that is getting baptized this month. We taught her about the plan of salvation and what things we need to do to be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. We were pretty wet and cold when we got home that night, but it truly was a fun day.

While I was on exchanges this week in Almendros with Hermana Caseco, we went to see an investigator named Jackie, who is going through a divorce. She has a big huge house and is all alone. When we got there at 12:30 she was still in her pajamas and hadn´t eaten, so she got on her phone and ordered lunch. "Can you guys stay and eat with me, please?" 

"no," we responded. "After we finish her we´re going to eat! Don´t worry about us!" 

so she puts her phone up to her ear and orders us lunch and sodas. It was hilarious. "Okay," she said, "let´s talk while the food´s on it´s way. you don´t have an option. You´re eating with me." So we taught her the restoration, she had a ton of great questions, and then we ate. The best part? When we showed up, she said "Sisters, it would be better if you come next week! I´m so behind today and I have so much to do!" So we asked her if we could at least sing a hymn and say a prayer and she goes, "yeah of course!" and it was after that when she invited us to eat. I´ve learned that when the people here say they don´t have time, it´s usually not true. "I don´t have time to listen right now, but stay and eat with us, will ya?" i´m lerarning how they work and how to get their attention and get them to listen. 

I´m grateful for the mission. It´s the greatest! Being a missionary has brought me so much joy and happiness. I know this church is true and is led by a prophet, under the direction of Jesus Christ.

Con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki

Foto 1)- Hermana Martinez and I at zone conference

Foto 2) What´s huckleberry jam doing in yucatan? Thank you Rachel Camp for the awesome package! 

What really counts?

I learned something new this week from a conference talk by Elder Uchtdorf...

"Many of the things you can count, don´t really count. Many of the things you cannot count, really do count." As a missionary, you can count baptisms, lessons taught during the week, referrals contacted, and so on. But for Heavenly Father do those things REALLY count? What are some things that maybe we can´t count in the mission with numbers? 

--giving to the poor and needy (I see them everyday walking up and door the littered streets of Mexico)

--giving the relief society president a big hug and telling her that everything is going to be alright

--staying up 10 minutes late to give comfort to an upset companion or missionary who is struggling...

the list goes on...and on...and on....

We had an experience last night that goes on the list of things that we can´t really "count" in the key indicators. 

After our lunch appointment yesterday afternoon, Sister Bailey and I really wanted to go visit Hermana Lupita, an active member in our ward who lives alone. She is a grown lady, probably in her 60´s whose 2 hijos have abandonded her. It´s hard for old people here to get jobs, so she walks up and down the streets collecting plastic bottles to recycle. It´s a common thing here for people to set their garbage out on the street outside their gate and then to have it rummaged through by people like her who collect them. Then they tie the bag right back up and leave it all nice their on the sidewalk. So, she usually can get a big garbage bag full by the end of everyday, and then she takes it to the supermarket and they give her 20 pesos. (less than $1.50)..The sisters in the ward make lunch for her everyday. Just like us, she has a food calendar and goes to eat with them. One of the sisters in the ward who is older and widowed lets her live in the apartment part of her house for free. She invited us in yesterday and showed us her little kitchen (which consists of a faucet and sink) her bedroom, with her bed that she doesn´t sleep in because it´s too hot, her hammock, a small tv, and her bathroom. That´s it!! 

We read with her in the Book of Mormon about the tree of life. She´s so smart! She was explaining the symbolism and how we can apply 1 Nefi 8 to our own lives. She told us a little about her past. She is a convert of 10 years. We felt happy to be there with her. As we finished the lesson, my companion asked her, "Lupita, is there anything we can do for you before leaving?" "No," she responded...

"Are you sure?" we asked...

She looked at us and sadly said, "Just a few things I need here in my house." And I immediately began thinking maybe a curtain for the window, or that she needed something repaired. with a sad look on her face she said, "even just some cookies and a glass of milk?" 

"Lupita," I asked, "do you have something to eat for dinner?"

"No, hermana. No I don´t." she said.

"We´ll be right back! Stay right here!" I said before even thinking of what we were gong to do. We gave her a hug and set out on an adventure.

 

I remembered that at home we had hardly any milk (I don´t drink milk and my companion is almost out) but that a less active gave us some nutella the other day, so we could go make her a nutella sandwich and ask our neighbors who are members for some milk. We went over and asked them..They gave us a whole carton of milk, 4 pieces of bread with ham, cheese, and mayo, and a big stack of cookies. We thanked them and made it back over to Lupita´s house. 

As we left, I felt many different emotions. I felt that in that moment, maybe helping Hermana Lupita was more important than trying to get a bunch of lessons in for the day so that we could finish the week with high numbers. I began thinking about where we live in the US, with Iphones, cars, good education, pantrys and fridges full of food, and my heart felt grateful. I feel grateful for what we have, but I also feel sadness at times seeing people here suffer and live off of so little. Not all of them live that way, but many definitely do. I know that the Lord has sent me here to help me be more humble and try to help whoever I can. I love Him and and am grateful to be here during this time serving HIS children in need.

Do I tell this story to receive recognition or a "Good job Hermana Maki"?

Nope. 

However, it was an experience that will always be with me. There´s no key indicator in our sunday night call in for service or reaching out to someone in need. Instead of counting those moments, we just remember them forever and more importantly remember how we feel.

I also loved this part from the conference talk..

".. If Jesus Christ were to sit down with us and ask for an accounting of our stewardship, I am not sure He would focus much on programs and statistics. What the Savior would want to know is the condition of our heart. He would want to know how we love and minister to those in our care, how we show our love to our spouse and family, and how we lighten their daily load. And the Savior would want to know how you and I grow closer to Him and to our Heavenly Father."

Let us each remember this week to do the things that can´t be counted but that really count for our Father in Heaven. Go do something that really counts! Serve someone. Bake cookies for the missionaries who are far from home and take them to them. Serve your neighbor who needs some help with their yard. Do something, ANYTHING, for someone. It will brighten their day, but it will brighten yours even more!! 

Con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki.

Our mission president promised us, as a mission, that if we focus on retention and reactivation of the recent converts and less actives, that the Lord will bless us with more investigators. It  makes sense, doesn´t it? If we take care of the Lord´s children that He has already given us, but who are new and confused or maybe older but have fallen away, he will see our righteous efforts and bless us with more people to teach! So, that´s what we´re doing. We always need more people to teach and are willing to do whatever HE asks. 

This week we worked a lot with Hermana Betty, a less active who at one point in her life was very active in the church. Her husband was the bishop of the ward in Centro and she was the primary president and later the relief society president. She knows a TON of doctrine and usually teaches us more than we teach her! Because of personal and family problems, pride, and wordly things getting in the way, she has been inactive for a long time. When we first started visiting her a few months ago, she wouldn´t let us in. I remember one Sunday we went over to pick up her daughter, Arely (23) because she always comes to lessons with us. Betty was sitting outside having a BBQ with her family and introduces us to her family as "the hermanas from Arely´s church" and now, just a few months later, she has opened up and is humbling herself before the Lord little by little. poco a poquito. when we got there on Wednesday afternoon we yelled through the gate "Buenas tardes!" (because in Mexico we don´t knock on doors and couldn´t if we tried because everyone has fences outside their houses) so you just stand outside and yell until they hear you and come out.

Anyway, she heard us and came running to the door and then goes, "Amigas! I´m so glad you came!" she´s hilarious. She always calls us her amigas 

anyway, we got her one of the triple combinations that are really big for people who can´t see well, because she wants to read the scriputres but can´t see too great, so we surprised her with one and have been reading the Book of Mormon together. We were going to invite her to church with us on Sunday and before we even could, she tells us, "Sisters, it´s going to be a long, hard process getting myself active in the church again. I may not ever be 100% like I was before, but I want to try. I think I need to fast and pray a lot." We told her that we would fast with her and she agreed and then told us that we would finish the fast on Sunday in the chapel, before we could even say aything! So, on Saturday when we went to her house to start the fast, she got a huge plate of pan dulce out and made us eat chocolate donuts and churros with  nutella. It was hilarious and lemme tell ya we weren´t hungry the whole time....but we did have bad stomach aches for a solid 24 hours. It was so much sugar and there was no saying no to her. Hilarious. But she showed up to church and looked great. I hope that she will reactivate and get a temple reccomend because two of her kids are getting sealed in the temple between now and January. Wouldn´t that be great to be able to be there!

 sometimes working with less actives can be hard, but actually, it´s really great. A lot of times they just need someone to listen to them, sometime to give them a hug and tell em that everything is going to be alright. they need love! That´s what we have given Hermana Betty, LOVE. We truly love her. I think that LOVE is the answer to just about everything.

The members helped us a lot this week. Hermana Evelyn who was just released as the Relief Society president, came with us to visit Maria and really reached out to her a lot. They switched phone numbers and have been in contact all week. It helped Maria have a friend at church and feel like someone really cares for her. There´s success in missionary work when members and missionaries work together. 

I saw the hand of the Lord many times throughout the week. I testify that He loves and watches over His missionaries. I know that if we are humble and submit ourselves to do His will, he will lead and guide us, and more importantly, bless us and our families. Satan is attacking the family, I´m seeing it everyday.  I have seen many families who are suffering, who are sad, who are being torn apart and have left or are leaving the church. I was touched by a conference talk that I studied this week titled "Defenders of the Family Proclamation"

    "All of us—women, men, youth, and children, single or married—can work at being homemakers. We should “make our homes” places of order, refuge, holiness, and safety. Our homes should be places where the Spirit of the Lord is felt in rich abundance and where the scriptures and the gospel are studied, taught, and lived. What a difference it would make in the world if all people would see themselves as makers of righteous homes. Let us defend the home as a place which is second only to the temple in holiness. Sisters, I am grateful to be a woman in these latter days. We have opportunities and possibilities which no other generation of women has had in the world. Let us help build the kingdom of God by standing up boldly and being defenders of marriage, parenthood, and the home. The Lord needs us to be brave, steadfast, and immovable warriors who will defend His plan and teach the upcoming generations His truths." 

      I think that whether we are mom´s yet or not, we can defend the family and should strive to do all we can to make our homes a small piece of heaven for all who enter. One of the greatest blessings that Lord has given me is my family, a mom who is faithful to her covenants and loves her children, a dad who who has taught us the importance of serving others first, two sisters who each have their own unique personalities and beautiful smiles, and two brothers who have helped me toughen up and learn how to stand up for myself. I LOVE my family! and I love the Lord because he has given them to me. 

That´s it for now, 

con amor,

Hermana Melody Maki (:

Photo- Hermana Bailey and I headed out to church yesterday (we were excited that it rained again because we could wear sweaters!)