❤️❤️❤️

familia gaboa

pizza dinner with our zone leaders — one of our church meetings got canceled, so a member took us out to eat (it's called super pizza, and it happens to be super, super good)

hola familia,

The days are passing even faster here in the Yucatan, and I can hardly believe that half of my small time here has been spent in the same little town in this corner of the world. We have cambios again the following Sunday, except this time instead of hoping for another city and new people, I find myself hoping for one more round of six weeks here in Mulsay. I like how familiar the bus route has become that passes right outside of our four-room house; my ears have grown so accustomed to the sound of an oncoming bus that I can now successfully gauge the exact time we need to leave our house in order to catch the first route in the early light. I like how familiar the streets have become, how I have memorized the numbers and houses and colors of each one. I like how familiar the people have become to me here — the worker in Crunch that gives us bread every time we pass by; the seventy year old man that always rides his bike with his broken sandals and white plastic bag hanging from the handles. I think my heart will miss it — I think I will miss it a lot —  because I  am already beginning to hide away all of these streets and conversations within the corners of my heart.

Not much has happened within the past seven days. We had training meeting with four zones every single morning for four hours the past week, and it was just as enriching as it was tiring. I had to teach one of the principles along with a demonstration, which might have included blind folds and baby food — one of the elders that volunteered to participate now refuses to talk to me. How was I supposed to know that he doesn't like vegetable flavored baby food? Along with the excitement of our meetings, Hna  Guerra and I have become pros at killing cockroaches and tarantulas. We don't know why our home has become the gathering places of all the worst types of insects, but have quickly learned that insect spray, a broom, and a brick are all the essentials we need. We have also learned that it is a lot easier to kill the insects than it is to stop feeling guilty about their deaths after.

We have had really good lessons lately with the Familia Gaboa. Have I ever told you about them before? The four people that have changed my life and expanded my heart and added to my eternal happiness? We passed by their house four weeks ago after eating lunch with a member. The member had given us a reference of her friend, Ana, about three months ago but for some reason we had never been able to find the time or feel the need to contact her. Then one Wednesday while walking in a street where we had always walked, we felt that we should stop by and contact this reference named Ana. Her husband answered the door and we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and setting an appointment for the following Sunday when he and his family would be all together. He had a lot of questions. We could tell he was a good person, and for some reason we felt an instant happiness in knowing that in four short days we would be able to teach his family the glorious truths of the Gospel. And well, ever since those five minutes standing outside of their black gate talking about the Book of Mormon and the importance of families and the joy of the Gospel, Ana and Moises and Alejandro and Allison have listened and questioned and accepted every single thing we have taught them. We taught them the Plan of Salvation first and they listened as if they already knew that it was true, as if we were simply reminding them of what they had already known and experienced. They pray every day as a family: morning, afternoon, night. They read the Book of Mormon together and they know that it is true. I don't think there is anything more happy or glorious on a mission than seeing God's children starting to live His Gospel and hearing that they know what you know is true. I love them — would it be horrible to say that they are my favorites? They are so good and to be in their home is literally like living in light. The thing that I love most about them is that they were happy before we ever met them and talked to them. They try to do the right thing and think the family is the most important. They want to teach their children to do good things. It made me realize that the Gospel of Christ really is for everyone, not only the ones that are broken or sad or lost. The Gospel is for those who are happy and whole, too, because their joy and fullness that they had as a family has only been added upon as they began build their home more on God. And that's what God does, I think; He adds to what is already there or fills what has been missing. He makes good things better and lighter things brighter. I love that I believe in a God who likes to feel and be happy and give of His light and mercy and love. 

Wishing you a week of light — miss you and love you more.

love love,

Hermana Rhondeau

walking through Centro with the Familia Gamboa. It started pouring pouring rain and we had no umbrella. But because Hna Ana is the best, she bought us trash bags and we ripped a hole in it and walked around town looking like some form of monks or death eaters. 

Familia Gamboa (minus her husband, who was working) outside of the temple. Their children are the cutest (Alejandro y Allison)

taken minutes before Hna Guerra killed a tarantula (is that how you spell it?) with a brick. It was huge and we were scared and also we felt so sad after we killed it

dearest family,

The heavens here continue to rain and rain and rain. It makes me happy when the skies are cloudy and when everything takes on a gray color with the hidden sun and dark sky. Because of the rainy season our home has become somewhat of a sanctuary to some new friends — the most recent being Gadianton, a black lizard the size of my finger that literally has no fear of humans and thinks he can study with us by our desks and scavenge whatever we don't eat (and yes, we named him Gadianton after the Gadianton robbers in the Book of Mormon...and yes, maybe this means that I have too much time on the mission). We have grown accustomed to our new pet and were a little concerned when he didn't return one day and then I started to worry that I had accidentally killed him like I have done with all of the other lizards that had tried to created a house within our home, too. But then he came back the next day and we were secretly happy.

With the welcoming of a new pet, there weren't too many things this week that compared in excitement except for: being caught in a bus race and the ward primary talent show. The bus race happened twice, and both were a new experience for me. You would think after nine months here I would have known what a bus race even was, but Wednesday morning we got on the bus like we do every day, only this time the bus driver was ushering us in like our lives depended on it and then went racing to pick up the next group of people waiting. Apparently the bus drivers here always want to outrun the other so that they can get the most people on their bus (i.e. the most money). It was actually hilarious to be standing in a bus crowded with people who were struggling to stay standing as we raced through neighborhoods and cities in order to outrun another oncoming bus. Our bus driver ended up winning. Both times. 

The stake primary talent show was also pretty spectacular — as in, no one usually comes to activities but this time the cultural hall was absolutely packed. My favorite acts included a glow in the dark robot dance and a finale solo to a Mexican country song (yes, the eight year old was dressed up as a cowboy and yes, it was a love ballad and I loved it). It was kind of like America's Got Talent. As we were sitting there with a few of our investigators, I started thinking about how much everyone just wants to be known — for their name, for their talents, for their works or for their brilliance. The other Sunday, the youngest son of the Familia Cano wrote ´´Jonathan estuvo aqui´´ on the abandoned white board, and I laughed because it is the same in every single country and every single city and every single classroom — people always write their names on things that will eventually not be there, but for some reason they want to leave behind a sign or a part of them that can be seen and remembered by at least a few passing people. It made me think about one of the most glorious truths of the Gospel: that we are known and loved and seen by those eternal eyes of our Eternal Father; that He knows us more for who we are than for what we have done and that He knows us more for what we have said in love and patience than for what others have seen us do. I think that Christ is the greatest example of being rather than doing, in the way that I don't think those people who had real faith followed Him because of his miracles but rather because of how he made them feel and the type of person he was. He knew the things that really matter and that are really measured — the things that may not count to others, but that God notices and measures and admires. How grateful I am to believe in a God that loves me most for who I am and what I am becoming more than what I have done or am doing.

Okay, sorry for the random order of this email and for thoughts that I hope have at least made some sense. I miss you dearly and love you even more!

love always,

Hermana Rhondeau

HALFWAY!