Hna Yajaira (an investigator) and Hna. Damaris (a member of the ward who is literally the most beautiful person I have ever met, and who has a personality that matches her loveliness)

La Familia Uh Colli, a family that we have been trying to reactivate for months. We absolutely love them, despite the fact that they never smile in photos (I don't know if this is a Mexican thing, or an Uh Colli thing)

we made a fort out of a mosquito net while waiting for transfers. yep, this is what we do for fun.

Hna Carmen and Hno Alfonso Jr — we stopped by because I thought I would be getting transferred and we hadn't been able to visit Hno. Alfonso (their dad) in weeks. There are three more of them in their family, but only these two were home — oh how I love them!

our district. there are only four elders in our zone (the zone leaders and our district leader and his companion), so they call us the Relief Society.

 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

con la familia Vargas, a family we are trying to reactivate.

dog on a roof

this good gospel

dear family,

It is a nice and almost not-too-hot night here in the Yucatan. Sometimes I wish that you could all visit me for just one minute or one hour or one day so that you could all see the sky that looks like heaven and feel the sun that beams its light a little too close and a little too much. Beneath the heavens and the sun this week, a lot of good things happened. But before the good things happened, I started off t with a really bad haircut. Like super bad. I don't know if it was my lack of Spanish skills or just a really bad understanding, but it resulted in Hna Huerta having to re-cut my hair and console me with the fact that hair, like most things in life, will always grow back to normal. U'm, Im just hoping that it grows back really soon. 

Despite the haircut, this week was full of good lessons. On Thursday we taught Hno. Alberto, a sixty-something year old man who has listened to the missionaries once before. I loved him even before he opened his wooden door, and I knew that you would each love him to because his house is hidden under the branches of a grand tree that guards a home of hanging plants and wooden ladders and green doors that lead into rooms full of bookshelves with old books and old globes and old notes from his grandchildren. To make this all the more better, Hno Alberto is the picture of an old weathered sailor. We think he worked on a ship for years because he wears navy blue shirts with anchors and sail knots, and he has the hands and disposition of someone who has learned how to work hard. We taught him about God and His eternal happiness and how this great plan leads us to eternal life. He started crying because his wife passed away four years ago — four years and he still cries because he loved her and still loves her in an infinite and real way. I want to learn how to love like he does. 

We have also begun teaching an investigator that is progressing really, really well. We have been praying for a long time that God could lead us to the people that are truly prepared to receive the Restored Gospel, and God answered our prayers by leading us to Hno. Tony. He is a twenty year old without a religion, and for the first lesson we taught him about the Restoration outside his house under a starlit sky while his five year old brother accompanied us with his two newborn kittens. It was perfect and in that moment I knew that God gives me experiences like these to remind me why I am here and to remind me that there are always good people who are looking for good truth. Hno Tony is one of these good people; he is someone who has always believed in God but has never felt like any of the other religions have filled his expectations and beliefs in God and His principles. He came to church this Sunday to watch General Conference (which was probably slightly overwhelming for his first time at church, but hey, he came and he liked it and he wants to go back). I am always the happiest on the mission when people start feeling the good seed of the Gospel begin to grow in them, and when they start acting on these feelings. I like it when people promise to do things that will help them come unto Christ. I think it takes courage and bravery and faith to do that, and I like it when we find the courageous ones. 

The other happenings of the week included a missionary activity for our Stake, which included a mini Visitors Center that we created in the Stake Center, full of rooms depicting the life and miracles of Christ (shoutout to mom for sending me with things that other missionaries don't think they need, but that save the day when we have to create our own mini visitors center — you saved the day). We also got to watch Conference on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday I got to watch it in English with all the other Americans, and it felt so good knowing that my Father still speaks to me best in English. I have been able to feel the Spirit much more strongly lately — I feel him speak through me and touch my heart more than before. I felt the Spirit really strongly during the first Saturday session of Conference, testifying to me that every word from these called prophets were good and right and something joyful. The Gospel is perhaps the most good and joyful thing I have ever experienced. It is something familiar, and something that I want to have forever. 

So happy to hear that Coronado was just as good as it has always been. I thought about each of you more than usual this week, knowing that you were all together. Love you and miss you always. 

all my love,

Hermana Rhondeau