13 +++

I know that God has no limit to His power; therefore as His children, I know that there is no limit to our power. However strong or deceiving the adversary may be, the Savior has overcome all adversities. If we would just apply the atonement in our lives, and remember the infinite sacrifice of the Savior! we are all sinners, therefore we have all come short of the glory of God. The ONLY hope we have of returning to our Father in Heaven is thru applying repentance and living as the Savior lived. 

ASK for help

and ACCEPT the help that comes. 

"The everlasting and Almighty God, the creator of this vast universe, will speak to those who approach Him with a sincere heart and real intent. He will speak to them in dreams, visions, thoughts, and feelings. He will speak in a way that is unmistakable and that  transcends human experience. He will give them divine direction and answers for their personal lives."

        -Dieter F. Uchtdorf, November 2014 general conference. 

All is well. do what is right and let the consequences follow. fear God before you fear man. (and even before you fear your wayward children cough cough)

A little girl in the branch found out my name. santa brought her turtles for christmas, and recently we found out she named one Jordy. oh goodness.

comparta la dadiva!!! the primary is on board!!

13++

This week was good! Christmas is everywhere! Our investigator Esmeralda was baptized! she loves the gospel and wants to keep learning and visit everyone with us and be a missionary! There are sooo many people to invite to come unto Christ and we have so much work to do! we are planning the baptism of Everardo´s wife Marta this saturday as well! keep on praying for us!

"Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you; the weight of your calling he perfectly knows."  hymn #266 

here we are with the Cabrera family at the branch xmas party. theyre the best! and theyre going to take us to their christmas eve family dinner with all the most famous 

Catholics in Zapata. Updates will come haha. Dont worry mom the people here take good care of us! we will be calling you about 6 p.m. on the 24th! love you all!

13 +

sooooo i have SO much to say today!!!!!!!!!!!! here goes

first of all, i dont know if i have really explained the cabrera family, BUT its the lawyer couple with 2 kids that have been together 14 years but never got married? yea them. so theyve been to church 7 TIMES and theyre not married, nor will they accept a baptismal date, so we're still taking things slower. and YESTERDAY!!!! we had district conference, where all these branches came from 1 or 2 hours away to listen to the mission president, and the mission presidents super awesome to he invtied one of his Friends to come speak, who just so happens to be a member of the 70, then also the Villahermosa temple president and his cute wife spoke, and sister morales, ALL THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE HELLO, and the cabrera family came and sat RIGHT in the middle of it all. p.s. missionaries, always save seats for your investigators so the president doesnt call you out from the pulpit (cough cough saturday night session oops my bad) SO YEA we saved seats and the whole place filled up. and of course EVERYTHING they said was just glorious and perfect for our investigators to hear. also a 17 year old girl esmeralda is getting baptized saturday and shes stoked and she shows up to everything!! SO like is was all focuzed on temples and the family and the imprtance of it all and how much your kids look up to you and watch your every move and KNOW all of your mistakes. so great. soooo perfect. THEN turns out they have Friends that are members from one of the branches that came from an hour away, another sidenote, they know EVERYONE. Camilo Cabrera is basically famous in zapata cuz a few years back his dad was president of zapata, so EVERYONE they know is asking them what they are doing with the mormons. but they are strong in the fact that they KNOW what they are learning is true and going to strengthen their family and even though they make me a Little crazy i absolutely adore them!! theyre like my family. so after Marissa (mom cabrera haha) was done talking to her Friends i was like how awesome! did you invite them to your baptism?? and shes like whos baptism?! and im like yours!!

sidenote:i cant believe the way i sound typing all this im a Little stressed these weeks, bear with me.

ANYWAYS they chatted with the 70 for awhile about how theyre not married and hes like no way!! and laughs. then they talked with the

mission presidents wife and theyre like yea we have been boyfriend/girlfriend for 14 years, its a work in progress, and marissa's job?? shes the judge for allll the civil weddings daily. ITS JUST A WHOLE DEAL. anyways, we are visiting them tomorrow and i think now theyre really ready (after 4 months of teaching them)

OTHER AWESOME STORY,.

SOO Everardo Magana is a Little over 80 years old. he was baptized in september. and he lives in basically the middle of nowhere, the ennnnddd of our área. his neighbors are lizards and iguanas and whatever lives in the river and laguna in front. and he lives in his house with his 58 yr old wife and 4 of their 6 kids. so we started teaching his 20 year old daughter maria, super stoked gona get baptized the 17th (HOPEFULLY cuz she just got hit by a drunk guy on a motorcycle!!!) really messed things up. poor thing. her mom Martha also is planned to be baptized the same day, but this sunday she was taking care of maria. ALSO everard has diabetes and his toe is kind of.. going away so hes super delicate and cant work and the mom Works doublé shifts and its stiull not enough cuz they have meds to pay and rent to worry about and travel fees and a daughter with special needs. AND NOW the guy that owns their house is gona kick them out. ANOTHER issue with the miracel thats tryuing to take place. so he gave them 20 days to get everything out. WHERE are tehy gona live?? well the neighbor gave em a piece of their land to build on so he says their gona buuild their house in 20 days and they recently started. so obvisouly we had to get the preisthood involved (they hardly go out there to visit) SO im like alright show me the lot and theyve got 4 POSTS IN THE GROUND. oh my so awful poor things its just too much. so we get the branch pres involved, and now everyone in the Ward is pitching in to buy at least one or two pieces of lamina (metal sheets) to buiild the house. thats normal for around here. and cement for the floor cuz hes sick and their all sick and they cant live like that!!! so the priesthood men are gona build his house!!!!!!!! ahhhh!!! and i want to help but Everardo is like no its not womens work, he wont let his wife or daughters help at all eiother. so funny. he doesnt have any teeth. and hes like way funny and Smart and actually has got almost all of it togehter in his brain. so awsesome. ANYWAY FIRST TIME IN 13 MONTHS THAT IVE BEEN FORMALLY ASKED TO PERFORM THE BAPTISM ORDINANCE FOR ONE OF MY INVESTIGATORS. darn that wouldve been awesomeMartha asked me to do it. and i was like wow what an honor thank you!! but i cant. so yea they are still stoked just have had a couple setbacks.

ALSO DID I MENTION THAT ALFONSO RECIEVED THE PRIESTHOOD?!?!!? he comes up to us to tell us and hes like next stop... the 70. hahah basically he was in aw of him, his new hero. AND DID I ALSO MENTION THAT MANUEL WAS CALLED TO SERVE AS 2ND COUNSELOR IN THE ELDERS QUORUM PRESIDENCY???? maybe i did, cant rememebr but its just so cool cuz he used to be soo addicted to alcohol and he has changed drastically!!!

ALSO we had an activity for He is the Gift and it was a hit. the relief society set up a choir and we set up a table of different pamphlets and stuff

i cant remember if i already told you this but whatever!

and 13 PEOPLE from our área showed up!! including the cabreras, of course. and there were xmas messages and everything with a lil tree and lights. and at the end we showed the video and it was all way powerful and at the end we gave everyone cookies and hot chocolate. the chapel filled up and it was so awsesome to see all the members get involved and invite all their Friends. we made invitations (us 8 misionaries) and did a musical number and yea. everyone in zapata is going to see this video, its our latest job. we have set it up in all stores selling computers so it keeps replaying, and we show it to poeple in the Street on this sweet lil DVD player. and everyone we see we ask them "hey have you seen the video?! and some say yes your Friends came to my house! or they say no and we ask them where they live and bring it to em! basically so much to do, partly thats why im typing in all caps. but its all soooo incredible and this work is just shooting forward and the Lord really knows how to get his point across to the world, if you havent noticed. its all HIS. and HE will do what he wants when he wants, and the best part is that it will always always be for our benefit. i know the Savior lives!!! i know he not only came to the Earth to complete the Fathers plan, but he came to organize HIS church the way that HE knows it needs to be! so everyone needs to read the bible and listen to the missionaries cuz they can help you and they wont lie to you, i promise. so anyone that reads this and wants their Friends to know, just TELL them. the video is magical!!! and they will feel the spirit whether they want to or not! be proud of you who are and what you believe and know to be true.

hopefully i didnt forget to say anything else! but i love you all!! and im so grateful to be here in zapata bringing people to Christ! the best gift that anyone could give to Him. so be good, be safe. read your scriptures. share the gift. dont be selfish. its too much to keep all to yourself. ITS AWESOME!!!! you can never over-use that word

loooooove

hermana zimmerman!!!! stoked!!!

wow. sorry. sounds like i just left the mtc. BUT IT REALLY IS TRUE.

The Aceves Family.  Just sealed after 2 years of conversion.

President Morales's daughter Becky 

My companion Hermana Rocha 

Luis, Luis and Nabor

13 months

times up!!! lots of stories to tell, but i couldnt get any of em to you! but next week okay?? love yaaaa so super much!!! all is well"!!! i hope you have all seen the video "He is the Gift!" cuz its the biggest thing thats happening to the church right now!!!! we are shoiwing it to literally everyone!!! and its going up in times square on the big screen all month and you can find it on youtube and it will change your life!! so discover the gift. accept the gift. and share the gift!!! 

christmas.mormon.org 

FIND IT. ACCEPT IT. 

HERMANA ZZZZZZZ (13 months young)

1 year+++

soooo after almost 5 months in zapata....... 

IM STAYING. THEYRE TAKING AWAY HNA CABRERA. AND IM TRAINING A NEWBIE. AGAIN.

i just finished her 12 week of training on friday. and here i am in villahermosa again to recieve another new one!!! just 5 of us!!! and hermana romero is gona train again as well!! i was positive id be leaving, saying goodbye to people and what not. but surprise!!!

AND ive been in deportiva all day, we got to eat lunch with the balboas, one of my favorite families, and tonight we are going to the ward family home evening activity. STOKED. 

ALSO OMG MOM. remember dulce, our investigator that didnt want to get baptized till her 80th birthday? well her 88 year old husband all of a sudden decided to go to church with them after 88 years of being heavily catholic. AND CAME OUT AND SAID HE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED. and it was just this saturday!!!!!! AHHH 

also, my convert Pamela?? my first??? shes working on her mission papers and doing everything possible so that i can stil be here when she gets endowed in the end of april!!!! AHHHH

ALSO her little sister has always had lots of problems with her stepmom and they dont treat her all that great, and they moved to deportiva and she got baptized last MONTH!!!!! AHHHH just her dad and brother are left!!!!! and he went to church on sunday and listened to her talk!!!! and he says he basically knows everything cuz its all that she talks about all day long!!

ALSO, another investigator from deportiva, Fernando, his family is the greatest and he wants to be a missionary, but he wasnt ready to be baptzied, but thank goodness the missionaries kept working on him cuz NOW HES BAPTIZED AND PASSING THE SACRAMENT IN CHURCH. just dying here. im so happy. and blessed. and i feel really old. thank you for everything you all do!!! be good!!!

AHHHH PRAY FOR ME THAT I WILL HAVE PATIENCE. 

looooooove hermana zimmerman #dying

1 year ++

the way you live now will be a reflection of your eternal life to come. 

if you live the gospel now, you`ll live forever. 

make sure youre living a celestial life now, its the best preparation to be able to be ushered into the presence of our Heavenly Father. 

by the way, our ex-alcoholic investigator Manuel, now completely clean and strong, has been called to serve as the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorom Presidency. and he gave a killer talk in church yesterday about the Jaredites in Ether. READ IT. 

always study the words of the prophets. no matter your position in this life, you are never safe from the temptations of the adversary. 

i love you all, and i worry and pray for you always. keep doing whats right. 

"fear not and be just, for the Kingdom is ours. The hour of redemption is near."

hermana zimmerman

1 Year +

lots of sun this week. we are getting more support from the members n our lessons even though there is still so few of them in our area! it feels much better teaching with a member. i wish they could be in every single lesson! and i pray for people at home hoping that they help the missionaries and go on as many visits as they can with them. its a huge and probably the most important part that brings the most success.i cant ever stress it enough.

ALSO ive learned how important it is to fulfill your calling. no matter what it may be, you better do it the the fulness of your abilities because our Heavenly Father is the ONLY person that you need to impress. and there wont be room for the blessings if we do what he has asked and even more.

still in Zapata with Hermana Cabrera! shes getting the hang of things real quick. i had to basically teach her and the slang and mexican terms. fun fact, theres no such thing as tortillas in Peru! and shes trying to gain weight haha. but her excitement level is through the roof. and it reflects a lot. basically its a lot easier to be positive if youre with a positive person,. and it the person isnt positive, then its YOUR job!!!! 

another fun fact. theres a newbie elder in our zone, elder taylor. no big deal, hes just a DIRECT descendant of John Taylor, 3rd president of the church. hes even from kirtland. like how cool can you be?! #mormoncelebrity

ALSO please do family history work, i regret not doing more of it before i left. and send me a copy of my fan chart thing on family search so i can show people here! i have one but not complete. do all you can to receive blessings you need. 

the only white girls south of the whole mission!! #mayanruins

1 Year!

WELL we are crazy busy all the time. 

also if you havent realized we are the strictest mission in the world with the least time to do anything. i dont know how all my friends write crazy long letters with tons of pictures. i cant even think straight in these dinky internet cafes! 

BUT rules are necesary if you plan to do things the Lords way. 

we had 7 investigators in sacrament meeting yesterday. some cant be baptized cuz theyre not married

found the perfect family that actually understood the restoration. and turns out the dad was baptized when he was like 8 when elders just baptized everyone they could find. his 3 kids are scheduled to be baptized the 29th!

a single mom and her 20 yr old daughter. understand and love the spirit. scheduled for the 15th!!

the cabrera family. the parents dont like eachother very much and have no religious background but the 2 kids can be baptized! the dad is so ready but not willing to really step up and help his wife fall in love with him again (14 years together) and theyre both lawyers. stress! but they always come to church! so their kids are scheduled for the 15th!! and we recently have recieved like 10 references from the members, actives and inactives. BUT the branch has got to get more involved. my comp is progressing like crazy and about to finish her training. lots of blessings when we keep the commandments and allow ourselves to be changed through the atonement. SO CHANGE AND BE CHANGED. 

HZ

11 +++

well i really dont know where to begin. but ill start with the cabrera family

found camilo cabrera about a month ago. hes a lawyer and hes a bit sad. he lives with his "girlfriend" (of 14 years) and their 2 perfect children. but we found him one day and he let us come back to visit him. he was home alone that day so we left him with a restoration pamphlet and an invite to church the next day.

and he showed up by himself and stayed the full 3 hours and he loved it!!!

AND he knows tons of the members and he wants his family to be involved. his wife isnt all that excited about it but after we taught them about the importance of the whole family together and what it means to our heavenly father, all four showed up to church and stayed the full 3 hours!! and their kids as well have friends in the primary!!

long story (but awesome story) short, camilo has been Reading the book of mormon and he is so ready for baptism, but he has to get MARRIED and she doesnt want to!! their scared about what will happen cuz all the future generations of their families ended in divorce. but hes like "i promise ill get married after my baptisms!" um no it doesnt work like that haha. but hes ready and they just gotta get things together!!

and Beti and Edith are sisters and just got baptized and theyre so happy and i have so many funny experiences with them but ill tell you all about it in a few months!!! we are just trying to do our best down here and fulfill our commitment to the mission pres to baptize every week!!! and its stressful but i testify that its possible and if you just look and listen to the spirit you will be able to find the people that are ready to have their lives changed through you!! invite everyone to listen to the missionaries! they dont know if theyre ready or not unless they listen to them, DUH!! AND if you want to know what im doing, just let whatever mormons that come across you enter your house and share an incredible message with you that will change your life forever

LOVE YOU ALL

hermana zimmerman

ALSO dont let yourselves fall into a terrible pattern of belief and disbelief like laman and Lemuel. 1 nephi 7 and deuteronomy 4:9 DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT!!

11 +

not alot of time. I  will convey my feelings in scriptures. search them!!

mosiah 1:6

Book of Mormon

"Oh my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true.  And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes."

dc 17:6

Doctrine & Covenants

"And he has translated the book, even that part which I have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true."

ether 12:4

Book of Mormon

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

BE GOOD I LOVE YOU ALL

share the gospel and study the scriptures if you dont feel worthy to share it!

thank you all for praying for me! i feel it daily!!

SO MUCH LOVE

11 Months

SO lots to tell. 

last weekend our branch had 6 baptisms. 2 from each pair of sister missionaries. and they all got baptized in the same baptismal service. 

first of all, irma and iliana. irma was so ready to go, she said she just wanted to follow right behind Jesus so that he would take care of her and show her the path to go. thats what she wanted. her sister was a bit more difficult. even after we realized that some of her main concerns were that she thought she couldnt wear makeup or paint her nails or dance and stuff like that. sorry that the sister missionaries are bad examples of beauty and all things normal haha. but we cleared that up. but still she said she wasnt ready. but we took her and her sister to the interview anyway (didnt tell iliana that it was an interview) hna cabrera told her it was just so the elder could see how well we are teaching. i told elder jimenez that she doesnt feel ready but just to talk to her and help clear up whatever other doubts he could. to our surprise, well an answer to our prayers and faith, they came out like an hour later and he said okay shes going be baptized on saturday at 4 and she doesnt want anyone else from the ward there. WHAT miracles. after going to teach her before school and help her and find every last doubt. shes super shy but it all went well!!! 

other awesomeness. so alfonso and imelda. i dont know if i got to tell you but basically imelda is now the gospel principles teacher after the branch president has thrown it on her plate the last few weeks. but she did great!!! and she reads the book of mormon out loud to her 4 month old baby all the time!!! and alfonso has a lot of work now which is a blessing but hes all stoked cuz he recently downloaded every app from the church and is a part of all these facebook groups and hes been talking to people on the page about the church!! people that are interested and ask questions!!! what?!?!

ALSO the only person imelda knows is a kid that is paralyzed from the waist down cuz he recently fell off a balcony at work. imelda sent hna pasley and moser, 2 americans,  over there to bring up his spirits. turns out he was more than ready and he wanted to be baptized and HE also was baptized that saturday. ON A GIRNEY. hna cabrerea and i had to go to red cross to order an ambulance. first time in my life haha to bring him to the church!! then 4 guys with the priesthood went into the font with him wrapped in white sheets to help push the whole thing under the water!! hes got screws in his back and he cant stay sitting for a long time so he had to be horizontal!! AND IT WORKED after 4 tries but it worked. SO COOL and so spiritual.

so we were a little concerned about manuel cuz he couldnt get baptized with his daughters bc he couldnt stop drinking. but we had a powerful lesson last wednesday and he hasnt done anything to break the word of wisdom since then!! we went over to teach him saturday but they said he wasnt there. they said he came home, got all spiffy, read his book of mormon for a bit then took off. TURNS OUT he went to the priesthood session all by himself!!!! what!??! and his baptism is scheduled for saturday!!! 

i can tell you one thing about conference, every missionary let out a sigh of relief when bednar said he wanted to direct his talk to nonmembers cuz we had 5 investigators show up!!! i loved christofferson and all of them really. 

AND that the most simple things to do to be strengthened are prayers scripture study the and temple work!! so do it all!! and go see meet the mormons!!!!!!

ALL MY LOVE AS I REACH 11 MONTHS OF SERVICE. 

hermana zimmerman

Conference Fall 2014

Irma and Iliana Baptism!

Mom that got baptised and her triplets

10+++

this week we traveled *walked, to a decent internet cafe so that we could

send pictures and actually write. but hello to everyone! its a great day to

repent!!

haha had to. i made myself laugh. but really. thats all you have to do to

live for eternity with your family and our Heavenly Father. AND everyday we

mess up, hence the necessity to ask for forgiveness everyday. so do it! and

youll feel better and youll want to do better.

now a little bit of good news and bad news.

manuel is not progressing. he always reads his book of mormon when we give

him parts to read, and contrary to the rest of the world, he answers all

the questions at the back of the lesson pamphlets! BUT last week when we

passed by to wake them up for church, he was IN THE MOMENT lighting up a

cigarette. that sure makes us feel good. i yelled out DONT DO IT. and you

can imagine his face. and he showed up to church half an hour later. good

news is that we found out why his 15 yr old Iliana is hesitant about her

baptism. because she thought it meant she couldnt ever dance again or

listen to her music. IMAGINE if we dont listen to the spirit to help our

investigators. we told her of course not and now shes happy. my goodness.

also, we found a new family to teach that has cousins in the church that

are inactive. but we taught them how to pray and to do it sincerely and the

12 year old Beti said the next day that she did it and had a dream that she

was dressed all in white and being baptized!! just like the picture that we

showed her of a little girl at her baptism. how AWESOME the way God helps

people. i am so blessed to be a part of all of these wonderful things!!

more stories, but theyre all in my head.

ALSO IM SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE. you have no idea. its better than

christmas and your birthday on the mission. listen well!!!

love you!!

hz

irma and iliana got baptized!! 6 baptisms from our branch this

saturday!!! love you!

10++

The branch president is a dentist so he is free.  This is on his front porch. 

Sisters in my zone

Manuel and his daughters Irma and Iliana

Reunion with Sister Romero (first companion)

       

10+

Monday September 15, 2014

since im out of time all the time, ill tell you about one awesome

family we are teaching

manuel and his two daughters irma and iliana. manuel has a serious

drinking problem. hes just a scrawny dude and his wife passed away

awhile ago, but in his job everyone is always drinking and he says its

impossible. but he wants to change. his daughters always come with us

to the activities and they come to church with their dad on sunday.

and they really want him to change. im not sure if hes ever even

completely sober, and its hard for him to accept that he really can do

Manuel with Irma and Iliana

it. the branch president and his wife came with us to visit him and he

gave him a blessing to help him have the strength, and to finish

manuel said the prayer asking for help and thanking God for all the

love and support that was sent to him through us and the members. The

second counselor to the president came with us a different day, and

hes barely been a member 3 years and was exactly the same as manuel

with a serious addiction that almost tore apart his family. they all

three accepted a baptismal date and they have a lot of faith that they

can all change together. but manuel needs to have faith in himself!!

its frustrating because we do so much to help people feel the spirit

and then they turn around and immediately deny it. and my problem is

that i dont like dropping people because i know that everyone can

change and accept this in their life, because it was made for them,

but we cant waste any time trying to force people to change. we are

here to baptize. the spirit does the converting. we have 7 dates this

month and we prayyyyy and fasstt that they will all pull through.

another is a couple, paty and jose. they have a little 2 yr old girl.

jose is less active along with his entire family of 7, they were

baptized almost 6 years ago, but all stopped going to church because

of someone said something and someone was offended. makes me crazy. ya

cant let other people rob you of your salvation. we have to be so

strong in our testimonies of this gospel so that nothing can take it

away from us. and that family was awesome, they named their dogs and

their kids after the elders. and they have a huge portrait in their

house of one elder and his entire family. CRAZY! pretty special

though. anyways, paty isnt a member and she doesnt feel included with

their family cuz shes catholic and they want her to change.

missionaries have been teaching her forever but shes not ever really

into it. however, we had her read 3 Nephi 11, and it talks about

little children being perfect and deserving everything, and when we

came back the next day to check on her she broke down crying. she says

that people say things about her little girl because her skin is super

dark. WHAT CENTURY IS THIS. and it makes her feel awful and feel like

shes not wanted. but she said that when she read the end of that

chapter it helped her feel completely calm and at peace, something

shes been looking for for a long time. and she accepted to be

baptized. BUT they have to get MARRIED and thats another thing.

everyone here lives together but arent married!! i cant even tell you

how many stories we have talked about in this branch where the

missionaries have to do tons of páperwork and help some péople get

divi}orced then get married. ah we are just kids. its crazy. but the

Lord knows what He does and how it needs to be done!!!!

so we need all the faith and hope and progress we can achieve!! WAY

more stories but ill tell you next week.

today is mexico independance day and literally i am completely dressed

in every screaming color of the American flag. oops. didnt mean to do

that.

OH YEA my poor companion (hija) got taken by immigration last

week!!!!! long story hahaha I had my green card, shes still new

though. she said they threw her and another missionary she got taken

with into a cell. literally.president had to drive over 4 hours to go

release them.

AND i know what its like to be a mother because my comp asks sooo many

questions!!!!!!!!! and shes full of energy!!!!! ahhhh!!! im learning a

lot of patience that i thought i had but dont haha. love you!!!

love, hermana zimmerman

10 months

Monday September 8, 2014

mom! im so sorry im out of time! im in the worst internet place on EARTH!!!!!!!!!! 

BUT all is well! my new companion is Hermana Cabrera! shes from Peru! and i am her first companion in the mission, aka her trainer. basically means we take an extra hour of studies everyday so i can help her understand everything there is to know about anything. and i am teaching her about mexico its so funny! teaching her how to use her money, how to find addresses, different names of things that are different in Peru. Super crazy experience. i felt and still feel so inadequate, but shes awesome! and so funny. more on that subject next week when i (maybe wont) have time. 

alfonso and imelda are GOLDEN!! last week she was asked to give a TALK on sacrifice. and it was incredible. she talked about how we dont sacrifice just material things in order to follow Christ, but we have to sacrifice our pride. NEVER thought bout that, obviously cuz im prideful, but she definitely got everyone with that. she has progressed so incredibly, and her husband found work literally the DAY after he was confirmed. we got them their own quad and he took it with him to work (he has to be gone from monday til friday in a different city) and he said he had it out on his bedside table and a guy asked if he could borrow the bathroom in his room cuyz the other one was busy. then alfonso saw him looking at his scriptures, just staring at it. and alfonso was waiting for him to just start in about mormons and the whole deal, but then the guy says "hey, im mormon too" WHAT thta doesnt happen in mexico, miracle. and they started talknig all about it and about the different magazines from the church that he can read too and alfonso has downloaded literally every single church app on his phone and hes all stoked about it haha its awesome. i got emotional yesterday after imelda bore her testimony and i was thinking about how their little 3 month old girl, who also had her baby blessing yesterday, wont ever have to question where to find answers or find herself in the world, because a childhood in the gospel is the best thing they could give her. I LOVE THE CHURCH its SO clearly true. when people want to fight about it we literally just let em get it out and walk away. so many people are ready to change their lives and be blessed.its incredible. 

be examples of the believers. help people so that they can be with their families for eternity. love you all so much. SO MUCH.

hermana zimmerman

9+++

another long week that ended up feeling really short. all is well here in Zapata. still blaaaazing hot all the time but believe it or not im pretty used to it. itll be so weird to come home to a different climate and not be sweating all the time. 

so quick update. im still here with hermana espinoza. everyone thinks we are sisters or twins, and the other day someone legitimately thought we were from guatemala. apparently theres a part of guatemala with people that look like us. but we are the only blonde blue eyed people in this place. they call us the rubio hermanas. 

so the membership here has quite a history of people getting offended by other people at the smallest things, then they decide to never come to church again. and it is SO SAD. theres only so much we can do as a companionship in this huge area. its probably something like the boundaries of the redhill ward, on foot. lots of people to visit and space to cover! but there are so many incredible people to teach. everyone is willing to listen us; thats the good/difficult part about mexico, at least in this part. so the way to really find people that are ready to change and accept this into their lives is to ask them to be baptized in the first visit we have with them. and almost all of them say yes. the hard part is helping them get to church. TIP for all the member missionaries  (thats all of you) i want you to walk right up to the missionaries in your ward, or call them up, and ask them when you can go with them to visit their investigators. because that is what everyone needs. someone to help them along and help them feel included. or at least so they can see that there are also normal people in the world, not just a couple of kids that they think study the bible all day. so help the missionaries in whatever way you can. I CAN TELL YOU NOW. the most important thing that anyone can do in this life, is help others come unto Christ and realize the important role that they play on the earth. nothing is more important. 

i love you all very much. even though my mom is the only person that really writes me continuously. okay dads getting better about it. but thats okay haha. ill just have to re-meet you all over again when i come home. be safe. listen to the Holy Ghost. help everyone you can in anyway that you can. 

mom! show max the video called "The Power of God" from mormonmessages on youtube. its incredible! the power and authority of God is still on the earth today, and how incredible that we are directed by a Prophet called of God to lead us through every difficult thing on earth today. the ability our Heavenly Father has to talk with his children is not ancient, it is restored. President Monson has the same power as Moses and Noah and Abraham. He could part the red sea if it was necessary. Obviously its not, but he has the same abilities as those men from the bible. so listen and follow his counsel. love you all. write me sometime!

hermana zimmerman

9 Months

supér long stressful week again! but all is well! i had to play the piano for the young womens choir in sacrament yesterday, basically the scariest thing of my life still to have to play in sacrament every week. especially when the branch president changes up the songs minutes before the meeting starts! just one example of my many trials of faith. 

but im happy and our area is full of work! tons of people to help and lots of relying on the Lord to be done! Alfonso and Imelda were baptized on the 9th, but they got into an unfinished argument that night and alfonso didnt show up the next day to be confirmed!!! basically the WORST feeling i have ever felt my whole mission, he was so happy and excited the day of the baptism and we were freaking out! but we kept visitng him to help him feel more comfortable and really understand the important difference he is making in his life and the life of his family, and luckily he came yesterday ready to go, and our mission president was visitng and got to confirm him. and now theyre happy and progressing and the members are helping them with all they do! 

miracles are constantly happening, and we meet people every week that are ready to change and be changed by the spirit. even if they dont understand our broken explanations, i have an extremely strong testimony of going to church on sundays and the ability people will gain to understand their purpose and receive answers to their prayers. love you all!! stay strong!!

hermana zimmmerman

8+++

i loooove life and i looove the Gospel. so much is happening all around us, and we are constantly find people that want to learn more about who we are and what we do and why we are happy doing it. 

okay i have to tell you about the most golden investigators, Alfonso and Imelda. they are married and have a month old baby and he has always watched different mormon friends of his and the way they act and he has been dying to learn more. he told us from the beginning that he wants to be baptized, but his wife was a bit apprehensive. but they are SO nice and she has always been catholic, but she always is reading the book of mormon and it fascinates her and she always can apply it to our life today. they came to church and they said they loved feeling like a part of a huge family and they want to bless their baby girl this coming sunday! their baptism is august 16. we arent allowed to hold babies as missionaries, but he always is trying to get us to hold her! and obviously he wants to. hes always playing with her tiny face and the other day as we were leaving he fakingly trips and basically throw the baby into hermana espinoza saying "oh no i tripped! grab her quick" hahaha i died laughing hes sooo funny and he has questions about every detail. he was super worried cuz in the 3rd hour on sunday the priesthood was talking about the holy ghost and how it can come to us and testify to us, but soon it leaves. and he was saying how he doesnt want that to happen, asking us what he could do so that it would never leave. baptism of course! and the next day we went with an incredible couple from the ward to talk about the holy ghost, repentance, and baptism, and when we were explaining the role of the holy ghost Imelda{s eyes welled up with tears and she said well its beautiful and ive never heard it explained like that before. and when we newly invited them to be baptized she said "yo si!" before we could even finish the question. every time we explain anything she always says wow that makes so much sense. 

sorry i just love them, they come to church and have the greatest questions and come to everything we invite them to. 

then last week we found 5 people that want us to come back and help them. one lady that was just standing in front of her house and we said hi and kept walking but i immediately repented and reversed my steps and started a conversation and she opened up her gate and let us in and we talked a bit and her husband is from spain, coolest guy with the coolest accent and coolest moustache and then she let us in and fed us dinner and we taught them about the restoration and we are going back this week to help them out. 

and honestly so many more people and so many stories. also, invite any and all of your friends to church that might be interested. its not up to us to decide if someone is ready to make a change in their life or be happy. we are just the servants here. 

well im happy! and we survived our first week as just americanas and we are doin good. sometimes its tough cuz i really dont like making all the decisions haha but yea God knows better. 

love you!

hermana zimmerman

8++

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S3TI4bYerU

first, watch this incredible video. i love it SO much and i could watch it over and over.

SECOND, some big news in the mexico villahermosa mission

hermana espinoza and i are the first pair of American sisters in the mission. and im the senior companion. and its going to be a HUGE change. usually we have a native speaker with us so that if theres a language issue, we are good to go. but now, the President and Heavenly Father trust me a lot to be the dependable one. hna E. has almost 4 months in mexico, i have almost 8. and shes incredible and we just had 2 baptisms this saturday that were crazy spiritual.

javier. hes 22 and his whole family was baptized a little over a year ago, except him. he didnt believe in God and he didnt even listen to the missionaries. every elder has tried to teach him, but they have no pátience for his questions or his attitude. but hermana garcia and her companion 6 months ago got him listening. and he had an incredible experience and decided he wants to be baptized AND serve a mission. and he didnt want ANYONE to know about his baptism, because he didnt want everyone in the ward to be like oh yea i knew that would happen or oh im glad i told him this or that. he just had us invite his mom dad and little brother, but he only let us tell them that it was a special baptism. so just the few of us were there in the room with the font, then we passed out the program with his name on it. and his mom was speechless. they are all sealed in the temple except for Javier. AND IT HAPPENED. he wouldnt even let anyone in the ward baptize him, he asked one of the elders to do it. but im so happy for him, and he knows sooo much about the gospel its a miracle.

abigail. shes 23 and was here visiting her aunt from chiapas for a little over a month and she wanted to be baptized, but we only had a week and a half to teach her EVERYTHING and president morales said it was okay, cuz its better that she goes back with the spirit than to go back and not know if she has a chance to get in touch with the elders quickly. so we visited her everyday and she read pamphlets and the book of mormon and we had to visit her twice one of the days. long story short, she was so happy, and it really made things a whole lot easier to have her aunt helping her understand things along the way. and shes so strong and understands so much already. 

NO TIME, we were traveling with hermana garcia and elders all day to get her super far away to her new area!! but its good. changes must happen if we are to progress in this world continually.

love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hermana zimmerman

8 +

What city are you in now?

-I am in the Zapata branch in Zapata! there are 9 missionaries in the branch, and one of the companionships is elders and they arent at church on sunday bc their area is far away and they started another little building where people can take the sacrament and get learning about the church a bit more. so, its called EMILIANO ZAPATA. thats where i am

How did you travel there?

-We traveled by bus!! and it was freezing the whole time!! and they played the new star trek the whole time with chris pine and hes super attractive so it was a bit distracting ya know, but seriously, the coldest ive been in 8 months!!! 2 and a half hour bus ride from villahermosa

Do you still have the same mailing address?

-Yes, the mailing address will always be the same. all letters and packages get sent to the mission office in villahermosa, and from there they send them to us monthly.

If they closed your mission, then what mission are you in now?

-They did not close my mission, just my area. its like our ward at home. theres 4 missionaries in the redhill ward, each companionship has an area. its like if the area (boundaries of the ward) were dangerous so they took the missionaries and sent them to a ward in anaheim or placentia. different stake, different spot, same mission. my mission covers all of this state, its just called villahermosa cuz thats the center of everything. the biggest city in this state. so its kinda all new to be here bc my whole mission ive been in the city area, and now im in the country.

Mayan Ruins!!

Happy Birthday to me!

This is the view of my backyard.

8 months

MOM!!!!!!!!!! so i got your packages!!! thank goodness they got here on friday because that same day the president had to close our area because its too dang dangerous , so he had to shut it down. took out all the missionaries and sent us off in different places. now im 2 and a half hours away in the zapata branch!!! its too new and small to be a ward yet. and its basically the lapoint utah of mexico. i feel like im in utah. its just land and land and more land. and now im in a trio with hna ezpinoza (amercian) and hna garcia (from tijuana). and me and the other hermanas in our huose were all sad cuz i was living with hna weaver and we wanted to all celebrate together, so we just decided to do it all wuick and they threw up the streamers and hna moser made the cake in mugs in the microwave and hna ayala lit the candles and i love all the things you sent me theyre perfect and it was just really perfect that it came in at the right time!!!! i love you so much!!! sister alvarado sent me a cute awesome package as well! love her!!

                                my companions!!! hna espinoza is white and hna garcia is mexican

hna espinoza reminds me of aspen. the way she walks and talks and her facial expresions. and her hair. its so crazy i cant get over it. pleasse somehow tell aspen i love her and miss her. i have been thinking about her ever since i got here!!!! tell her happy bday for me!!!