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!!!

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