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