hermana rhondeau

 Hna. Eloisa, a woman I began teaching with Hna. Martinez and who lives in Hna. Martinezs are, got baptized this week (!). It was lovely and she looked so lovely in her white dress

buenas tardes familia mia, 

This will be a quick overview of the week because most of the pictures I sent speak louder than the words I can write about this life over here in the Yucatan:

+  we got transfer calls last night aaaaaaand ... I am staying in Mulsay for another transfer! With Hna Huerta! I think I will have about seven months in total in the same area, which is great because everyone says Hna Huerta and I started the mission in paradise — which is perhaps true because we have a great ward and a Costco-type store real close and a house that is first class. We are re-opening a part of our area (kind of, sort of), because they closed the area of Hna Martinez, and so Mulsay 2 will go back to its original form. 

+  we had the worst first lesson ever on Thursday. It was a reference from the offices and we went to teach him with a member. I think our conversation included just about every single principle and commandment that we have in the Restored Gospel. As in, the Word of Wisdom, Doctrine and Covenants, baptism, the preisthood, and a whole other bunch of doctrine that really shouldn't be included in a first meeting. However (miracle of miracles) he accepted another visit and we are just believing that he will really be there when we go back. 

+  a member informed us that a lot of the Chinese restaurants in Centro were shut down because they were selling dog meat and saying it was chicken. It just so happens that Hna Huerta and I ate Chinese food in Centro. Two times.

These past couple weeks I have been reading a lot about the life of Christ in the New Testament, learning about his ministry and his example and his divine goodness. A feeling of gratitude and a type of eternal love for our Savior has grown within me even more as I have begun to see other people coming to a knowledge of their Savior. Hno Tony (our fave investigator — can we have favorites? I don't know) didn't really have a solid foundation of faith in God and in Christ, and it's perhaps for this reason that his conversion process has been my favorite. Because now through the scriptures and through true doctrine, he is coming to know his Savior and Redeemer and is beginning to believe in his divinity and his power to rescue us and to heal us and to be our friend. I thought a lot about how we can come to know Christ in a real and solid way, and not just as a divine but distant person that gave his life for those of the past, present and future. I found a little bit of insight and greater light in a quote from Charles Edward Jefferson, who explains:

"To be a Christian is to admire Jesus so sincerely and so fervently that the whole life goes out to him in an aspiration to be like him. We may come to know him through the words he spoke, through the deeds he did, and also through his silences."

Through his silences. I like that we believe in a Savior that was not prideful and one who did not seek attention, but rather one who taught us more through his humility and his silences.

Aaaaaand, due to lack of time: wishing you a week of joy and silences, in which you can find and know your Savior a little bit more. 

love love, 

Hermana Rhondeau