Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Soulsbyville or BUST!

From 13 December 2016

Dearest Everyone,

Tomorrow is my last day or proselyting as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  After almost a year-and-a-half, that´s a pretty weird thing.  So here are a few things I´ve learned this week:

1) Mission companions are THE BEST.  Seriously, my mission companions have become amazing and eternal Friends, and I treasure the opportunity I´ve had to work alongside each and every one of them!
2) Work during the day, because when the night comes, there´s no time to do it! (aka the end of the mission--see Alma 34:35... I think)
3) Heavenly Father loves us.
4) Jesus Christ lives.
5) The Holy Ghost is the greatest teacher and friend here on Earth today.
6) "Dying" (aka finishing the mission) is not a particularly fun process.
7) "You can sleep when you´re dead!"

I love you all, and I will be with you soon!

Happy Christmas!
Love,
Hermana Houghton

Home. . .<3 <3 <3

HELLO EVERYONE!

From 6 December 2016

I´m sorry that I have been an unfaithful emailer.  But, I am pleased to inform you that I have been busy preaching the gospel, solving problems, loving people, and doing some last-minute sight-seeing before I head back to the U.S. of A. 

Quick update from the past few weeks:
Week 1 in Pradera: we spoke in sacrament meeting, went BACK to our old area to help with a choir, moved in with the Heramanas of the Visitor´s Center, and did a lot of wandering around our giant area looking for addresses on very disorganized streets.  
Week 2 in Pradera: We got to know the area a little bit better, went to the temple, and got to work a little more with the members in our area.  We also sang in the anual lighting of Temple Square (in Mexico City, obviously).
Week 3 in Pradera: We had a BUNCH of meetings and did some major problem-solving, while also working with investigators and contacting just a couple of drunk men in the street.  All is well.  We also had stake conference, interviews with President, etc. On pday we went to the "Mercado Ciudadela" which is a SUPER touristy artisan market where they sell expensive souvenirs and other trinkets.
Week 4 in Pradera: We are working to get some investigators ready for baptism, and we have several meetings this week, so we will be busy!  We also went out with some other hermanas (Hermanas Saylor, Ruiz, Woodard, and Marispini) today to eat, we bought shoes in the tiangies, and we even cleaned the house (apartment)!

Weird news: Next week is my last pday.  Weird.  I didn´t think this day would ever arrive... Now that it has, it is very strange.  I feel like I could keep going a few more months still!  But they tell me I have to get on a plane soon, so I´m mentally preparing myself for all of the white people and the lack of tacos and spicy food... 

Spiritual thought: So I was reading Ether 12 this week, and I realized that it is an AMAZING chapter.  It is seriously SO GOOD.  I love a part at the end of the chapter when Moroni is explaining that Jesus Christ Himself spoke to him and taught him, and he did it with love and, curiously, humility.  I knew that Jesus Christ was a humble person, but I had never considered the fact that He, our Savior and King, might speak to us with HUMILITY.  It was an important reminder to me that I have a LONG way to go before I learn how to really be more like Him.  One way I´m working on that humility is the Light the World initiative.  So once more, I invite you all to get involved in it!  Share the videos. DO the challenges.  Let´s prepare ourselves for a REAL Christmas.  

Lots of love,
Hermana Houghton

HRLLO EVERYONE!



From 29 November 2016

It turns out that once again, I have no time to write... sorry about that... we are busy bees here in Pradera, and this weekend we sang (yes, I played the violin Dad) for the Temple Lighting, and we are now in FULL-PRODUCTION with the new church initiative: "Light up the World" (aka "Ilumina el Mundo") It´s AMAZING.  I invite you all to look into it and start doing the daily activities that it invites us to do each day of December!!!  


Life is crazy!  I apologize for not responding to your individual emails this week, I promise to be better next week!

Lots of love,
Hermana Houghton

HELLO!

From 22 November 2016



So.  Today we went to the temple (which is LITERALLY next door) and then we cleaned our house, did laundry, etc.  Nooowww... we´re about to start another crazy week!  Time flies by, and nobody celebrates Thanksgiving in Mexico, so it´s hard for me to believe it´s actually the end of November and time to eat pie now, but that´s okay! We are getting our feet under us in the new area, which is significantly bigger than Hidalgo, and we´re meeting a lot of new people and doing lots of new things.  Okay..

I don´t have hardly any time, so I will just leave you two lovely scriptures to look up on Thursday:
D&C 59:7 and Alma 34:38.  ENJOY!

Lots of love,
Hermana Houghton

P.S. someday I will send you pictures.. but for now, this computer thinks my pictures are Microsoft word files sooooo...