Week 59

Well, I finished up another 6-week transfer on the mission!!! I think I only have 8 or 9 left :). The time is flying by, but it's still quite a lot of time left so there`s plenty of time to learn and grow! This week has been crazy to be honest! Last Monday after I wrote, I had to return back to Doctors Hospital, but luckily this time just to retrieve my USB drive I forgot last time I went :P. Also we were given permission to go to this super huge, super cool, super modern mall called "Plaza Galerias". Wow it had everything! It`s funny how different it is entering a mall as a missionary and how I tend to enter stores looking for ties and other dress clothing. I ended up buying a super cool tie which was in a super fancy shop. We'll see if I can send a picture of it soon.

I had my second Mission Leadership Council for the month of April and this time felt more comfortable since the nerves of being a Zone Leader have calmed down. We talked about what we improved on last month and how we fell short and placed new mission goals. My favorite part though was afterwards when they serve us a home-cooked style lunch! Especially since we always fast before. Next month will be a lot different because they changed out a lot of Zone Leaders and an assistant too.

Yesterday, Elder Azuara and I worked with fresh new missionaries for a day and it was super cool to be on the other end of the situation. I still remember my first day in the mission field, with Elder Madrigal, and what a crazy experience that was! I worked with Elder Hernandez who lives two blocks from the MTC in Mexico City, must have been weird to be so close to his house as a missionary in training!! He`s a pretty cool guy, he`s been a member all his life and is super prepared for the mission. We had an awesome lesson with Alexis and Brian on the first vision and Book of Mormon. Elder Hernandez told the first vision by memory, which impressed Alexis. She was like "Woah, you memorized the whole paragraph!" haha. It was a great lesson. Actually this family is super cool. The only problem is Brian works on Sundays, but they really want to go as a family to church to know if it`s true, so he`s going to do all he can to get it off :).

I've been struggling with controlling my stress and enjoying the mission more, but luckily my companion noticed and wrote about it to President Bird, who decided to meet with me and, based on that meeting, called a specialist named Elder Packard, who is a psychologist serving a mission helping missionaries all over the world. I talked with Elder Packard yesterday morning and he sent me several talks and instruction, which I am to study and review every day for a while. Based on what Elder Packard said, and what I've studied so far, turns out I`m a perfectionist in some aspects. It sounds weird to me and I know I like to be competitive and work hard, but I've never considered it to be a mental or emotional problem. It`s nothing serious or anything, and I`m super grateful to have this help because I do want to be able to enjoy my mission more and stop criticizing and comparing myself to others. Everyone has their weaknesses and turns out being a perfectionist is one of mine, but I have faith that the Lord can help me, like it explains in Ether 12:27

27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

To respond to my Mom`s email, I hope I can meet Ryan, soon to be my brother-in-law, on Mother`s Day, that would be great! I`m going to look for a camera today if I have time, so hopefully I'll have pictures to send next week. My stomach has improved, but it still always bothering me a little. Hopefully, when I meet with the doctor in a couple of weeks I`ll find out more, I have started to think that stress might have something to do with why it hasn't been able to heal completely, so my meeting with Elder Packard should help if that`s the case:) When`s the Musical again? Coming up right?! Hey don`t stress about the wedding or reception, enjoy the process of preparation as much as the actual event, it`s all about the climb Mom:D

Anyways I`m excited to meet the new members of my Zone tomorrow and start out this transfer strong! I love the mission, hope it never ends!!!