Great Gems and Miracles

Buenas tardes a todos! This week was full of memorable experiences. REALLY great gems. Among them, Hermana Lambert and I went to eat with La Hermana Natalia, a very sweet 94 year old woman. She lives across the street from us (she is the one whose 70ish year old son living with her died and I walked in and his body was still there on the bed). Being in her nineties, she can't see or walk very well but she was determined to do her part and feed the hermanas, for which we were very grateful! But going back to the not being able to see or walk very well part... we walked in for lunch and found her bent over the stove cooking some sort of very interesting concoction. We began to feel a little nervous. Hermana Lambert went to pull out her chair and found a very still looking kitten laying on the floor nearby. She then asked Hermana Natalia, "Hermana, su gato está bien?" (“Sister, is your cat okay?”) but she didn't hear and continued cooking and talking to us. Upon further inspection we discovered that the poor thing was dead and probably had been so for at least a couple of days. Hermana Lambert slowly slid into her chair and I had to leave the room for a sec because I was "coughing and sneezing" -- basically trying my best not to burst out laughing (I have been battling horrible seasonal allergies the last few weeks though so it wasn't totally fake). Soon, after seeing what we would be eating, we invited the hermana to sit on the couch with her back facing us so she could rest. We then began clanking our eating utensils on the bowls to make it sound like we were eating but instead put the food into a nearby Styrofoam cup and made futile attempts to feed it to the other still living cat. I know I sound like a terrible person saying all this! I am pretty adventuresome when it comes to eating a wide variety of things, in a wide variety of circumstances. However, Hermana Lambert and I were in agreement that we could not eat that food from those dishes. It truly would have caused great concern for our health. Thankfully, all this was done without the dear sweet hermana ever knowing. We then snuck out and informed her grandson's wife who lives nearby that we needed help taking care of a “little situation” in the house -- meaning collection and disposal of the dead cat. She told us to go distract Hermana Natalia while she cleaned it up. We walked back in, began singing hymns to her, and nervously watched as the other hermana silently entered with a broom and dustpan. As she "swept" the cat it left a trail of cat juices on the floor, and then to top it all off, it wouldn't fit into the dustpan! So, she gave it a good hardy shove with the broom into the dustpan...all this while we were singing “O Mi Padre” and “Now Let Us Rejoice”...without Hermana Natalia even knowing.

Well, I managed to knock Hermana Lambert over in basketball while playing with the young women during an activity to which we had invited a few of the girls from our English class. She took a fall which resulted in a scraped elbow and a hurting wrist. Some of the members thought she dislocated it so one of the big strong hermanos in the Ward began massaging it and seeing if he needed to reset it. Thankfully nothing was broken, but it was deeply bruised. I have been enjoying making fun of her huge purple hand; it looks like the hand of Baymax from Big Hero 6 except purple instead of white. Poor thing! I am officially a terrible companion!

We continue to work hard to bring the Gospel to Rio Frio. Went there this week and talked with a policeman working in the Delegación office if there was any community service we could do there in the town. He gave us the contact info we needed and then continued asking us more about what we do. He invited us to the next door tienda to buy us some Snickers and when we asked if there was anything we could do for him he said to tell us more about the Church. We then had a lesson with him and store owner right there and they loved talking to us! As missionaries we find ourselves in all sorts of situations, but in just about every single one we can talk about the Gospel. It is the best!

We were really blessed with a few miracles this week. For the first time since I have been in this area we had two investigators who we have been teaching come to Church. The whole Ward was delighted! Also, Hermano Hans -- the only Church member in Rio Frio who was baptized last year but has not been coming -- came to Church as well!!! We have been working really hard with him. He is from Germany and we love talking with him because his accent in both English and Spanish are really cool. He is so sweet. We also went to the Temple Visitor's Center with a less active woman and her daughter. They also finally came back to Church last week after many attempts on our part to visit them. We all loved that visit. It is amazing how just being on the Temple grounds brings the Spirit so powerfully into your life. Also, Hermana Lambert and I spoke in both of our Wards yesterday (I'll give details on what we spoke about next week) and I played the piano in Sacrament Meeting! I am so grateful that I bought the simplified hymn book for piano while at the Temple because it literally saved me. I think I was divinely guided on that purchase. Haha that was exciting :) Even more exciting is that two wonderful people we have been teaching are scheduled to be baptized on May 7. Keep them in your prayers!

Okay I need to go now but thank you for your prayers and your love :)

Love Hermana Jones

Parent Note:  By way of other news that occurred while the missionaries were sleeping, the volcano Popocatepetl erupted again in the early morning hours of Monday, April 18.  There is a time-lapse video of the eruption at various websites.