Hills & Valleys

 Hello family and friends! 

I hope you are all having a fantastic week! This week was pretty good so I'll tell you guys about it! :D 

This week we celebrated the Independence Day of mexico which was super cool! We watched fireworks from our house and watched the president of Mexico's speech and got to scream "VIVA" a bunch of times as part of the ceremony thing so that was a blast! This week we also had some bomb food which some hard days is honestly what keeps me going haha so its great! This week we did hours and hours of walking, looking for a house to live in with not much luck (were technically homeless right now living in a different area with some other sisters so its great) but it was honestly super fun to get some sun (I got a little sunburn haha) and see a ton of the city and stretch my legs. It was great! I can't wait to be able yo get out and walk and talk to people hopefully at the end of this transfer (oh also for those of you who don't know were not allowed to do much in person stuff right now so getting out feels great! Store runs, going to the church, and looking for houses is nice)

 This week we got to teach/call a couple new people who don't seem super interested sadly but that's ok because we have 2 people that were teaching who are progressing a lot! We found Carlos as a referral from the system and Diego as a referral from a ward member! I hope if you guys know someone who would benefit from hearing the gospel you refer them to the missionaries! Anyways we have Diego a BoM and had a lesson at his house which was honestly a highlight of the week- he had a "hachi" puppy that I got to play with, he got us pan de muertos and smoothies, him and the ward member that referred him- his "friend" I think if you know what I mean ;)- were both super nice and fun to talk to, and his view was this beautiful greenery and a lake, AND he was asking awesome questions and accepted the BoM... so yes a highlight for sure! 

Another highlight this week was CARLOS CAME TO CHURCH!! He works alllll the time so it was hard to get him there, but he came and I was so happy. Right before the sacrament I got to tell him a little bit about what the sacrament is and it was a good reminder for myself. I definitely take the sacrament for granted sometimes, but having the opportunity to renew our covenants and repent each week is such a blessing! During the sacrament I looked over and Carlos was balling and had to take off his mask to wipe his tears- I know the holy ghost was testifying to his the truth of this gospel it was a cool experience! He also cried when we introduced him to the bishop and the bishop bore his testimony to him. It was really cool and I hope he keeps progressing towards baptism! I couldn't stop smiling the while time I was at church!

There were a lot of ups this week and a lot of downs but that's just how life is! I had a really good couple of days this week and then right when I thought everything was good I had a couple "less than ideal" days :). Yesterday I had a breakdown in the middle of the day out of nowhere haha but after my little breakdown of missing my family and being stressed I actually felt grateful and my heart was full- it was a weird experience. One second I was crying over not feeling good enough and missing my family and then a feeling of love washed over me. I miss my family and friends because I've been blessed with the best family ever and such amazing people in my life! I'm so grateful for that! I also realized from the bad days that I have had good days this week and so many good happy little moments this week and having a bad day helped me see how good the other days were. There really must be opposition in all things, and I think the more we look to the lord and thank him for our opposition, the happier we will become and the more we will realize how much God blesses us! He's the God of the hills AND valleys- he's there for us helping us through our valleys and he is the reason we get to the top of the hills with beautiful views! 

I hope you all have the best day and week and if any of you want to email me (or Facebook message me a voice recording or message) I'd love to hear from you!  sstone@missionary.org 

Love you all

-hermana Stone