Walking With Angels

My week started out CRAAAZZZY. The mission prez called in the middle of my first P day and I got emergency transferred to a different area, with a different companion and all because another hermana was sick and needed to be in an area closer to the hospital. 

Wow it was HARD. It was like doing the first week of your mission two times in a row. It was a doozy...but on the bright siiideee my new mission area, Etla, is where Nacho libre was filmed. BOOYA. I can definitely see the chapel where it was filmed when we walk around in the hills. Aaaand I got to go there and snap a few shots. I was freaking out. No one else was half as excited as I was! Ahhhh I am such a crazy white girl the people have no idea what to even do with me!

My new house is GHETTO FAB. The walls inside are BRIGHT orange and I talked to some other missionaries and apparently the house is famous for the bugs. Haha cool. The rumors unfortunately are correct...there are tons of bugs. Mostly these mongaloid cockroaches and fat ants. But apparently an Elder told me when he was there a scorpion crawled up his leg during study time. JOY. And my comp showed me a picture of a spider they found in there once and it is def bigger than my hand. When I first got to the house I noticed that there was a ton of footprints all over the walls and I remember wondering why and thinking it was really strange because there were so many footprints all over the walls in every room. I have come to realize there are so many footprints because so many people have had to smash so many bugs. 

Our street is super ghetto as well, and there are so many dogs who live on our street you wouldn't even believe it! They love to slobber on me and wake me up in the middle of the night with loud barking. My sweet companion loves them. I hate them. BUT the house has a toilet that flushes!! Luxury living my friends.

My new comp is SO sweet. She is from Tiuhauna (did I even come close to spelling that right?) and she doesn't speak English! Hahah oh gosh, if you could only hear us try and communicate sometimes. She knows a little English here and there but her knowledge is pretty basic. She is very quiet, awkward, and shy. Basically the opposite of me right? Its super funny because during lessons and out on the street I'm the one who does most of the talking and I don't even know the language! But she really is super loving and when she testifies the spirit rushes right into the room. I love her and I am so grateful for her. And she is SO patient with me.

My new area is HUGE. Its famous in the mission for being so big and we walk A TON. Im getting a fabulous shoe tan.

The other day as we were walking through the sketchtastic streets of Mexico in the dark, it struck me how safe I felt. In the MTC we learned a song called The Sisters of Zion (go look it up right now) and one of the lines says "The Angels of Heaven are walking beside us."

It sounds a bit cheese ball and even a bit crazy but every day, every moment, I can feel them. I just know we're not alone. When we pass sketchy people, when we walk sketchy streets, when it's dark out, they're there.  I just know it. Heavenly father is looking out for us. The angels of heaven, they're with me every step of the way and boy am I grateful.

These first two weeks of my mission have been crazy. And hard. I really don't know whats going on most of the time. But I continue to be my chatty self! I cant help but talk.

I have never laughed, cried, or tried SO hard in my life. I'm loving it here. I feel the prayers. I feel the love. I feel those angels walking right next to us every step of the way.

LOVE,

Hermana Matesen

THE FUNNIES:

-Ate my first bug this week (I ate three). Wasn't even that gross. HOORAY for Ruby.

-Killed my first cockroach. It was a fat one too! Getting braver everyday.

-Meant to tell my investigator I have crazy hair and told them I have a crazy horse. Close enough.

-My district leader asked to talk to me the other day and all he had to say was "What do you eat to be so happy?"

-Almost got attacked by a giant angry turkey. Had to run and throw rocks. Boom. My life right now.

-Had my first stomach issues because I downed a super spicy soup. (Diareahs since easters)

Me eating my very first bug and me in the mission prez and my old comp at the NACHO CHAPEL.

Me and the first cockroach I ever killed! I smashed it repeatedly with the broom. It looks tiny in the picture but in reality its about as long as my pointer finger. NASTY.

The other photo is me and my new COMP Hermana Monterrosas. I'm wearing our investigators indiana jones hat!