LAST week BEST week

Hey y’all!!

This week was a GREAT week!! Looking back, I’ve realized how much I’ve actually enjoyed the MTC in so many ways. I’ve made so many great friends and been blessed with AMAZING teachers and leaders! So sad I have to say goodbye soon:(

As y’all know it’s my last week here in Mexico so my comp & I had to go out with a bang. On Tuesday we started a rumor at the CCM that Post Malone died and a lot of missionaries actually believed us hahaha. It spread around pretty fast until we felt bad and told everyone it was a joke. So now everyone in the CCM either thinks we’re funny or hates us lol so that’s fun :))

Last Thursday we had a Skype appointment with a member of the church named Ximena!! The point of this Skype call was to teach us and emphasize to us the importance of working with members to bring others unto Christ. This lady was the sweetest lady ever and I could feel the spirit even as we taught her a short and simple message in our broken Spanish. We read with her 3 Nephi 12:14-16 and shared with her how important it is to share our light with others. When we choose the right and stand up for our beliefs, others will see our good example and want to be like us! I challenge you all to find one way that you can share your light with others this week! May we all be more Christlike in our thoughts and outward actions!!

On Friday we had a workshop about how important it is to utilize members to find people. We listened to a talk by Elder Bednar where he talked about how it easy for members to be able tell when missionaries are obedient and effective in their missionary work and time whereas when they do not act like missionaries and are not focused on their purpose. When we are not focused on our purpose, we are wasting the Lord's time. This just really hit me hard because I realized that it is going to be up to me in the field to determine what kind of missionary I will be and what kind of missionary the members and people of Salta will think I am. I hope that I have what it takes to be an effective and focused missionary. It is my goal to always be obedient so that I can gain the confidence and the trust of members. I only have 18 months to be a missionary like I am now. This time will never come again so I really hope I do not take it for granted. I am on the Lord’s errand and I hope that I can be an effective and obedient missionary in the field so that I do not waste His time!!!

Saturday we got to talk with volunteers that came to the CCM and practice contacting them, like we did in our second week here. This has been my favorite thing overall in the CCM because I love meeting new people and the members here are the nicest! It is also good practice and makes me so excited for the field!!! Hermana Hughes and I got to meet a little boy who was the cutest!! Haha he was 8 and had just been baptized so his parents let him come with them as volunteers. He was crazy and reminded me of Mallory. Ahhh I miss kids!! We also met a girl who is 18 and said she is planning to go on a mission when she turns 19! This made me SO so happy because being a missionary is the BEST!! Even though missionaries have to make a lot of sacrifices, I am so grateful I made the decision to serve. I know we can all receive muchos bendiciones when choose to serve God’s children in whatever ways He may ask. We are all called to serve in one way or another!

Sunday was again the highlight of my week!! And this week was fast Sunday!! Here in Mexico and in many other Latin American countries, lunch is the biggest meal, so we started fasting after lunch on Saturday and then broke our fast before lunch on Sunday. Not gonna lie, it was a little hard going to sleep with my stomach growling, but so so worth it because the spirit was AMAZING in sacrament meeting the next day. My district had a group fast and we also challenged each other to bear our testimonies. I bore my testimony in Spanish and can testify that the gift of tongues is real!! It was real for all the missionaries who got up and were able to share a simple but true testimony in perfect Spanish. I know that this church is true and that we were all called to preach the gospel in the Spanish language for a reason. Reflecting on my Spanish progress overall I think I have learned more in these 6 weeks here than I did in the 3 years of Spanish I took in high school combined. I know this is because the Lord can bless us with gifts of the spirit, such as the gift of tongues when we intend to use these gifts to bless others and build up His kingdom on the earth.

Sundays are also my favorite day because they are so social!! We have a lot of meetings and devotionals most of the day but from 5-7 during dinner, they give us time to take pictures and socialize. During this time Hermana Hughes and I met a Latino elder who is from Argentina!! We told him our mission is in Argentina and he was so excited! Then he held up his pinky and said (in Spanish) “this is you now” and then held up his thumb and said “this will be you at the end of your mission after all the empanadas and Argentinian food”, which was basically telling me I am going to get fat lol. Everyone thought it was funny and now whenever he sees me he holds up his thumb and pinky and laughs. Even though I’m WAYY excited for the Argentinian food, I hope he’s wrong and I don’t get too fat haha.

Then yesterday we got our flight plans for next week!! SO SO STOKED!! I’m traveling with all the Salta, Buenos Aires North, and Buenos Aires South missionaries! We leave the CCM at 9 am Monday morning and our flight out of Mexico City leaves at 1pm. We get to Panama City at about 6pm and then have a layover there for a couple of hours. We leave Panama City at 10pm and then get to Buenos Aires at 7 am. Haha pray that I can sleep through the red eye flight. But the only problem is, we’re not too sure what we do once we get to Buenos Aires because Salta is about a 20 hours away by bus :))) I’m sure it’ll be a long day of travel but I’m way excited for the field! Also, I probably won’t have a pday for two weeks because of all the traveling :( but esta bien!

Last night we got to listen to a live broadcast from Elder Utchdorf at the Provo MTC! I LOVE Elder Utchdorf!! He spoke about how we should measure our success as missionaries once we get to the field. It should not be determined by the number of baptisms we get, but rather by the things we can CONTROL - our thoughts, feelings, and actions. He also said discipleship is not about doing things perfectly but doing things intentionally. I love this quote so much because even though we may not achieve perfection in this life, through daily repentance and striving to improve ourselves each day we can show God that we love Him and really want to become like Him.

I hope you all have a good week! Next time I email I will be in the Argentina ahhh!! Wish me luck :) Love and miss you all!

Love,

Hermana Tate

Took a pic with a fellow Texan