7 ++++

On Monday, June 30, 2014

hi mom. im so tired. ridiculously tired. i need a break haha but i dont deserve one. we had to move and we have been living in my old house in deportiva sleeping on mattresses on the floor for 2 weeks. and we havent found a houes bc rght now there are 5 missionaries in espejo. me and magana, knowles and reidelbach and suazo. and we havent found the right house and we are basically at teh point of giving up on that one. but deportiva is like 10 or 15 minutes from our area so we take so many taxis and use up a lot of money. im also running a bit low on enthusiasm lately bc my companion has been in this same area for 7 and a half months, and she has had 6 baptisms, so i think shes pretty much out of energy and ready for a change ya know. but its sucky cuz shes the senior companion and i try to be like no lets do this or lets do that but it always comes off super bossy. then i feel bad cuz i say things out of my exhaustion and my lack of enthusiasm. there are a lot of good people that we can teach and baptize, but its difficult rght now. and the ward still doesnt support us all that much but expect us to be visiting families so theyre like oh good you visited that less active family this week? perfect that means we dont have to. they dont say that, but its basically what they mean. but i feel bad cuz we arent baptizing like we hsould be. but im still happy! im living with hermana weaver! and we see manuel a lot and hes always way excited to see me and hna weaver and her companion are all jealous that he likes me better than them haha its super funny. but im just like whatever get me out of here i dont wana be in that house or in that area! its in the past ya know? its like hey thats not my area, so lets focuz on my area better. i was studying conference talks in the ensign and i want to share parts that i thought our family could hear. or at least my parents:

"scripture study, family preayer, and FHE are the very practices that help take away stress, give direction to our lives, and add protection to our homes. then, if challenges strike, we can petition the lord for help and expect great guidance from the spirit, knowing that we have done what our Father has asked us to do..we can all begin now. If our children are older and refuse to join us, we can start with ourselves. As we do, the influence of the spirit will begin to fill our homes and our lives and, over time, children may respond"

(the talk about a christ centered home and pornography, by a lady from yw´s presidency)

so dont worry if my sisters are angered by the simple things, or arent doing things as perfectly as they could. they dont understand nor do they have the tesimonies that you and dad have. i was the same. i listened and read, but i didnt understand. i understand now. its like a completely new religion. i would be beating myself up so bad right now if i didnt serve a mission. im going to come back with a tesimony double as strong but most of the people are us are going to be the same. and its hard for me to see people suffer that are allowing themselves to suffer. and i cant force anyone to do anything. but the spirit can compell people to do everything. im always happy, dont worry about me. just stressed and upset about the things i wish i could do but cant. faith is neverending. if we really want something or want something to happen, we will pray for it with a predetermined knowledge that we may not receive it for a while, and maybe not even in this life. but we know we will receive it if we are obedient. because God keeps his promises, but ONLY if we keep ours. so keep striving always with a perfect brightness of hope. 

build more firmly

treasure more completely

follow more diligently

embrace more deeply

i love you with all my heart, and my family is the most important thing to me in the entire world. i will forever be asking forgiveness to my family and to my Father in Heaven for all the time i wasted and all the times i acted out against you or my family in times of momentary anger. unreasonable anger that was a very clear sign of my lack of a testimony and my lack of self discipline, as well as my lack of understanding of the atonement of our savior Jesus Christ. but i know now. and ill never stop doing all i can to understand it better and explain it in full detail to those that need to hear it. so dont let yourself be stressed about the little things. your children will come around. they can only be changed through examples and through their own efforts and desires. your prayer and your obedience brings about the blessings of God into your own home. like Alma the younger. when the angel appeared to him, he said that he was only coming to Alma to make him realize his faults and his mistakes because of the prayers and the faith of his family and his people, not for his own sake. then it was of course up to him to regain confidence in himself and in the entire city. but his testimony was strengthened and his eyes were opened.

dont doubt that i am able to see countless miracles every single day, and my prayers are more fervent than ever. im ridiculously tired, but it doesnt matter. now is my only time to be a true witness of the many miracles and grace of the Lord. i want more than anything for all of my siblings to serve missions. i thought i was so great and knew everything, but im almost ashamed of the person i was before. and still see things in myself now that i have always possessed that i wish to change. but im the only one that can change them. my main worry is that my family may not be receiving all of the many blessings that they deserve, which are just at their fingertips. so do all you can to be exactly obedient to the commandments of God. and if you read the book of mormon, it will help you to change and refine your thoughts and tesimony concerning each and every commandment and its importance. there isnt a single one that is more important that another. stay safe, and always pray for and be worthy of the companionship of the holy ghost. fill your life so fully with the gospel and all things concerning it so that satan will never even have a chance to step in and control you. 

i love you and miss you so much

and im really really sad that im missing fourth of july. more than any other holiday including my birthday. really sad. meh. stay safe PLEASE. tell my family i say hello. im cc'ing this to my dad. thank you for everything you have ever said to me or ever done for me. 

love always,

Jordy

7+

well mexico is pretty dangerous these days! im not going to even tell you some of the things that go on in our neighborhood, i promise when i come home ill tell you all of it. but just know that i havent learned enough or perfected myself enough for God to take me from the Earth at this time. so i wont be dying anytime soon. and if i die then you can be proud of me cuz it just means Heavenly Father has greater plans in store! but the missionaries are always safe. nothing bad ever happens nor will ever happen. 

but the world cup is a huge deal! and when mexico plays, NOBODY is outside. and when they score a goal we can hear every house on the street screaming and people in their cars all honk their horns. if youre not watching it, youre listening to it. and if youre a missionary and cant do either of those things, you hear it on tv at every house you walk by. i really want to watch it so thats sad but next year haha. we are incredibly busy, all the time. not much time to explain to you all of it but know that im having incredible experiences all the time and my testimony grows daily. also you should know that an hour of emailing is the fastest time of my entire week. 

love you all!

hermana zimmerman

7 +

extra grateful this week

grateful for my Heavenly Father and for my Earthly Father, and all that they have taught me and allowed me to experience in this life. im beyond blessed.

parents are extremely important. whether people have good parents now, or plan to become better parents than theirs were. learning from each decision, both good and bad. our future is not determined on what our parents do. its determined on what WE do with all the things that they have showed us. 

our Heavenly Father taught us everything before we even came to the earth, and we chose to be here and we have the opportunity to learn everything again for ourselves. if my dad hadnt been influenced by good members of the church, he wouldnt have joined. if he hadnt decided to be baptized, i wouldnt have been raised by parents that were striving to keep commandments and do what God asked of them, so that I could receive the blessings. if i hadnt had rules in my house, maybe i wouldnt have always gone to the many activities and meetings of the church, thereby missing opportunities to be influenced by the spirit so that i could make my own decisions for my future. and if i hadnt been in places where the spirit could speak to me and testify to me of things that are true, i wouldnt have felt the desire to serve a mission. and if i hadnt served a mission, i wouldnt have been fulfilling every covenant i have made to use all that i have and give all that i have to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

SO here i am trying to do the best i can through every weakness i was born with, striving to develop talents that are necessary for the wellbeing of other people. every day focusing on others and what they need to hear and what way they need to understand things. right now we are teaching FOUR couples that are living together and arent married. FOUR. and some are really changing and keeping commitments and others we can only get them started. we can only do so much until people decide to actually try to learn and understand things for themselves. 

President Henry B. Eyring said

"Every day, every hour, you can choose to make or keep covenants with God."

SO TAKE EVERY CHANCE YOU GET ya knuckleheads. 

and be good. and dont doubt promptings. and keep praying because without we are nothing, we have no guide to help us in each day. 

love you,

hermana zimmerman  

also, i may or may not have been sick all week because i pet all the dogs here. not allll of them, but yeah. cant help it. oops! my companion got a bit mad at me hahaha. this ones name is Ron. most of them have american human names.

This is our house.  We live on the bottom floor and a family lives above

7 months

Well this week is another great one. Too many miracles and blessings everyday to type them all. im just glad that i have all of it in my head! thats the best thing about trials and afflictions in life. we have them to not only make us stronger and help us learn, but we can use our experiences to lift others. i constantly am in lessons when the spirit brings to my memory something that happened long ago that i clearly would only need for a specific moment or specific person that needed to hear that there is someone else that knows how they feel. THAT is why we need to read the scriptures everyday. the holy ghost cant put things into our minds, he can only call them to our memory. and that is how we bless others, and that is how we help the Lord to find His children that are in need of His help. we arent doing much, we are just the current that our Heavenly Father needs to help His children remember that there is a plan and a point to EVERY part of our lives. so always do your part, so God can do his. face your trials with strength, knowing that God has your potential in His hands, and only He knows what you can accomplish. AND He knows that we cant do it alone, so we pray for his help to complete things that are to come. 

President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

"The best antidote I know for worry, is work. The best medicine for despair, is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired."

so just do it, dont think twice. 

President Thomas S. Monson said:

"We Watch. We Wait. We listen for that still, small voice. When it speaks, wise men and women obey. We do NOT postpone following the promptings of the Spirit."

love you. be good. think about your eternal happiness before you risk it for momentary happiness. 

hermana zimmerman

7 months

Monday June 2, 2014

okay sorry i keep telling you things to scare you. its not as bad as it sounds. it keeps us alive. but yes in most situations we could be a little bit smarter but until now its all good! always listening to the spirit and making sure we are where we are meant to be at the right time. 

im super tired. i just fall into bed at night. everyday this week we have had our plans changed or pushed back for different nurse responsibilities. but its okay i dont mind it, just means we have chances to teach the same doctors we keep running into. and all of our investigators right now have some major trials to work through. but the thing is, if they would try out the invites and commitments we extend to them, they would realize the hope it brings. like Yajaira. shes 19 and has a 2 yr old and is having major issues with her 20 yr old bf. like major. involving therapy and everything. theyre just at the point of killing each other and their therapist said they need to find God and have him help them. then we showed up at their house looking for a neighbor and their little 2 yr old ran out and we set up do meet with her another day. i dont remember if i told you all this last week. also turns out her bf 'spouse' is someone we contacted a long time ago and was interested but we never found him again. and so we see just another small example that there are no coincidences in this world. shes reading the book of mormon and theyre praying together and hes a bit more stubborn than she is and wont let her go to church alone so we are workin on it. but oh my goodness things are always happening and hearts are softened everyday. we talk to people and theyre rude and try to fight us but we actaully get to watch the Lord soften their hearts and help us teach them things they deserve and need to know. im out of time. but its okay, theres never going to be time for everything we want let alone everything we NEED to do. keep reading the scriptures. pray everyday. listen to the prophet and you will never have to question your choices. and please be nice to each other and to my mom. 

love, hermana zimmerman

OH and heres my address for all who keep asking and all who dont write me! you know who you are! 

Mexico Villahermosa Mission

Av. Circuito CD Deportiva No. 206

Colonia Atasta

CP 86100 Villahermosa. Tabasco

Just a little rain to try and stop us from getting to the Temple

Organizing half of the medicine at the mission office