Hermana Medeiros Texas Houston Mission: Howdy y'all

Hey mommy!!! Here I am in good old Texas. I love the weather, especially in the morning and at night. We have gone on a few walks in the morning and it is not freezing cold like it is in Mexico and in Utah. Its warm and it feels soooo good. It gets pretty hot but i enjoy it...you know me :) I love the hot and hate the cold.

It is gorgeous here in the woodlands. It is basically what it is called. The woodlands is just like a big forest with a ton of trees. And yes there are houses that are HUGE. It is so pretty though. When Hermana Carbajal found out I was from Spanish fork she started freaking out saying that that is where her trainer was from and then I said well I know a girl in my stake just got home and she was here and then we pieced it together that she was the same person. It's pretty awesome :) I love hermana Carbajal she is so patient and supportive. She is 27 and she taught gymnastics, kindergarten, and preschool before she came out on the mission. She helps me so much. Her mom is from Honduras and I think her dad's family is from Spain. So she knows a lot of Spanish, she nicely corrects me when I say something wrong and she is always telling me how good I am doing when I speak in Spanish. I have a lot to learn. I am really struggling to learn the tenses and all the many different conjugations and irregular verbs but she told me the best way is just to talk and listen to how people speak.

The real missionary work is good. But it is crazy to think that these are real people and not the fake investigators from the CCM. These are real people with real lives and with real problems. We get up in the morning, exercise, get ready and then we have personal study, comp study, and then language study and then another companionship study. Then we have lunch and then go out to our appointments and contacting people. We have a few lessons every day and we have a dinner appointment every night. Most of the time they mainly talk to Hermana Carbajal and I just listen quietly trying to learn spanish but the other night we had a dinner appointment and she talked to me A LOT!! Also at stake conference during the adult session we were talking to a bunch of people afterwards and I think it was our bishop and his wife who started talking to me and then hermana Carbajal went and started talking to someone else. The bishop spoke some English to me but his wife kept talking to me in spanish and I was really only catching a few words but I was able to put the sentences together and gather up the Spanish I know and reply. The one thing that has taken a while to get used to is that fact that when you meet someone or see anyone you give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I am still trying to get used to it but I do it like a million times every day so I will get used to it soon. Our goal is to contact 25 people a day. Yesterday we kicked butt and stalked people in the parking lot because we needed to find people and we got about 25 in a half hour. Unreal. We live in an aparment complex. It is just the two of us. When we got to the apartment she had decorated my desk and put a paper banner up that she had made welcoming me to the apartment. She is really awesome we get a long really good and I am learning a lot. My real address (for letters) is 26325 northgate crossing blvd #1621 Spring, TX 77373 They said they would rather have letters sent to this address and other mail sent to the mission home. Yes I am pretty sure all my boxes made it. Thank you so much for the greenie package. I loved it :) very cute and I am sending your email address to my companions so that they can thank you as well. That was really sweet of you. I love you mommy :)

I'm sorry our talk was so short I had also been crying, well I was trying not to cry because I really wanted to talk to you but I didn't want to have to wander around trying to find a calling card and then not have any time. I was so thankful hermana Haslam and I found that couple to let us use their phone. As soon as I heard you I couldn't hold it back anymore and just started sobbing. There was so much I wanted to say but I couldn't think of anything I was just so happy that I got to call you. Just hearing your voice was really nice. I miss being able to talk to you every day. We ended up giving that couple a book of Mormon at the airport,. They wouldn't accept our pesos which we tried to give to them saying we had no need of them anymore and so we decided to give them a book of Mormon as a way to say thanks. I loved hearing Tate's little Hello that he does. He is such a sweet heart. I was sad I didn't get to talk to the to the other kids. We left late, got stuck in traffic and then getting everyone through checking in luggage and security took forever. And then we couldn't find our gate and then when we did, they changed where our gate was. But those five minutes where so special to me to be able to talk to you.

When we were at the airport and when we had all of our luggage we were walking towards the door and we saw the president and his wife standing just outside of it. Some girls started crying but we all ran to the door with our trolleys of luggage. Before we got to their house (mission president's) on wednesday night we stopped at a church and had some snacks and then learned about somethings. Then they told us that there were pillows in the chappel and that we could all go and take a 30 minute power nap. So we all laid on the pews and fell asleep for a little while. It was really nice to be able to fall asleep. That morning and been so stressful and I was so tired. After that we went to the president's house and had dinner and talked about the mission and had interviews with the president. I love them, they are really nice. At the hotel there were two of us to a room, I went with hermana Provost. On thursday we had breakfast at the presidents house, finished interviews and took pictures of the group, and single pictures, and pictures with the president. Then we got into the van and drove to the church where all the trainers were meeting us. We were all so timid getting out of the car and walking towards them. We had a big devotional and then us newbies went into the other room to learn about some of the things that we were going to be doing while on a mission and the trainers got a training session. Then we met back together and the trainers would come up and introduce themselves and then president would say who they would be training. The girls all hugged each other when meeting their new companion and the boys did a dramatic hug and it was so funny. Hermana Carbajal has an amazaing voice. She studied opera for a few years a while ago. She says she can't do it now but she used to be able to. Hermana Woodard is serving in my stake. I saw her at stake conference and she ran up and hugged me. Her companion hardly knows any english and so she was really happy to see me. We talked for a while before and after and then again on Sunday. I don't remember where hermana haslam is but I think it is kind of far away.

We use the computers in the library because the computers at the apartment complex office don't work all the time. It was a pain trying to find a spot to park. But we found one and here I am :) We are going to go to the post office so I can mail the package that I have for you guys. I wanted to buy you this chocolate candy bar called bueno bars that are so good but they would have melted the first ten minutes. But there is other candy for you guys and a few other things. I wrote about them in the letter I put in the package. Then we will go grocery shopping to get more food and then we are going to explore and walk around the mall or something apparently nordstrom just opened and so she wants to go check it out. We are going to hang out with some other sister missionaries as well. It's so different compared to other p days at the CCM. Then after 6 we will be contacting and teaching a few lessons and having another dinner appointment. So far I haven't had anything bizarre or too spicy. A few things are pretty spicy but I have been able to handle it pretty well.

I am so glad that you were able to go to the temple. I really miss the temple. The one here is closed all of September and so I will have to wait till next transfer to be able to go. I miss it!!! Keep going to the temple I know that it will bless you :) :)

So on Friday hermana Carbajal was really tired and so we went home and she took a small nap. We then went over the apartment complex called imperial chase and we were going to go visit someone who lived there. He wasn't home so we walked over to the next door and we met this 15 year old. We talked with him and he said his parents are catholic and if they had opened the door they would not want to listen but he is wanting to know more about everything and so we stood on his porch and hermana Carbajal talked about the restoration and we ended up giving him a book of Mormon! I could tell that he felt something and I really hope he reads it. But he is leaving for Mexico on Wednesday and doesn't know when he will be back so I don't know when or if we will ever see him again but we planted the seed!! He gave us a hug when we were leaving it was kind of weird but we didn't want to offend him so we let him. He was so awesome. Then we left his house and we were walking through the apartment complex and this little girl came up to us and asked if we were Jehovah witnesses. We said no and she said her mom wanted to talk to us so she went and got her and we talked with the mom for a few minutes and we got down her information so that we can go and visit her sometime. We then walked over by some stores and we met this lady named Yolanda. Oh my gosh she is so amazing. She says she already has Christ in her life. She is a praising dancer and a gospel singer but we talked to her for a long time and she shared with us her struggles but she has so much faith in Christ. She is so strong and she has been through so many things we don't know how she does it. But she trust in God and has such great faith that everything is for good and that God is leading her to something better. She sang to us one of her gospel songs..which was really interesting to be sung to outside but man if she would just be willing to listen to the lessons and feel the spirit and know that it is true she would make a fantastic member of the church. She would be able to do so much good with the faith that she has.

If we hadn't had gone home and rested then we would not have met any of these people. It was a great experience.

So far while being here everyone we talk to is really nice haven't been harshly rejected by anyone.

I love this gospel with all my heart and I know that it is true. I am so thankful for the things I have been able to learn and for the ability to learn Spanish. I know that God will help me as long as I put my faith in him and trust in him and work as hard as I can. I know that this gospel is true and that Christ lives. I am so grateful for the small and tender mercies that I have noticed in my life and in the lives of others. I am so grateful to be here serving a mission. Something I never thought I would do. But I am so grateful to be here and to be able to help be an influence in the lives of others. I love it here and I love the people and I know that this is where I am meant to be. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.