Noche de Hispanidad

Hola!

Hermana Tapia here and I just completed my first week on the field!!! I am in love with this place, the people and sharing the gospel brings me so much joy! I am so excited to share everything with you guys today!

The missionary table AKA the second best table at the fiesta (1st is Mexico, sorry).

So, my first area is called Old Town, the architecture is just beautiful, there is so much amazing history to see and it is so green! In Utah I always knew where I was when I could see the mountains, but here there are no mountains and I don’t think I will ever be able to know my way around. (Your girl wants a GPS for Christmas *wink* Hahaha I’m kidding) Old Town was actually closed so my mission president (and the Lord ) trust my trainer and I to open it up again, this is A LOT of work. We have soooo many investigators and inactive members in this area since it was closed and there is work to be done. Every night my compañera and I collapse on our beds and barely get home on time because our schedules are jam packed. Even though it’s hectic and crazy…. I LOVE IT. I’m seriously having the best time and I am working so hard. I told the Lord I was ready to work and do what I was asked to do and He did not hold back… haha! It’s so humbling that my compañera and I are trusted to build up this new area and invite these people to come to Christ and to receive the blessings of the gospel. I am so happy, I love putting this tag on every day that says I am a representative of Christ, it motivates me to do and be better. Although it is absolutely not easy, trust me. But 1 Nephi 3:7 teaches that Heavenly Father doesn’t ask us to do anything we cannot do and I believe that wholeheartedly. I am getting to work!

My trainer Hermana McCracken is INCREDIBLE. She is so obedient, hardworking, sweet and courageous; she’s not scared to talk to anyone! Also her Spanish is so great. She is so humble that she tells everyone she feels like I am the one training her! Hahaha! One night we talked about personal trials and life experiences we have gone through that helped us come to the conclusion that we were going to serve missions and I would have never guessed she had gone through so much. She is a spiritual powerhouse, she is so strong and is not afraid to follow the Lord. She is the best example to me and I love the trust and unity we have established with one another! She truly is an answer to my prayers and I love her!

Hermanita McCracken and I enjoying the performances and meeting people. I love her so much!

The members in our ward are so awesome and we visited them a lot this week and tried to establish trust and friendships with them. They’re all so nice and treat me like a princess and feed me every 5 minutes. (Don’t be surprised if I put on a few pounds) I love that about Hispanic culture, they just give all they have and are so humble and friendly. (Except for the cute old man that growled at us and slammed his door in our faces Thursday afternoon. Yikes!) Saturday night we had Noche de Hispanidad! This is where members in the ward set up tables to represent the Country they’re from. The tables had food, decorations, costumes, drinks, candy, etc. And there were also performances with traditional dances and singing. And it was SO AMAZING. I came just in time for the fiesta! I was asked to say the opening prayer and I took that as an opportunity to share my testimony of prayer before doing so, the spirit was able to testify of the power of prayer. After that we got started and I fit right in! All the members were so excited to meet me; they hugged, kissed and welcomed me and I felt so at home! We encouraged members this last week to invite all of their friends and families and introduce us to the nonmembers. We got a TON of numbers from people interested in lessons and met potential investigators. Member missionary work is the best, we need you guys!! I will add lots of pictures of the event here and I’m excited for you all to see our missionary table with the Elder’s. Also my compañera and I got to borrow beautiful dresses from an hermana that we loved! I love my culture so much and I am so proud to be Latina! Viva Mexico!

One of my favorite members who is from Chile! (Shout out to my favorite missionary in Chile and in the whole word... Elder Inouye!!!) She preformed a traditional Chilean dance with her hubby. It was a dance about love and unity, I only cried 2 times during the dance I promise... haha!

Hermana McCracken and I with the Bolivian dance group that did AMAZING. 

I am already seeing miracles on my mission… It’s so crazy. I have been here just one week and I am already blown away at the work of the Lord and all He does for His children. I have seen wayyyyyy too many coincidences and miracles in these last few days to think that this is anything less than the work of the Lord. There have been numerous occasions where we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Or when the spirit impressed me to say or ask something that lead to something that was exactly what that person needed. From reading the bible with random elderly women to getting a group of 14-16 year olds to stop and talk about God with us to accidentally going to the wrong home at a time when that sister needed to hear my and my companion’s testimonies… the list goes on and on. But I will never forget the night I met J. She is 14 years old and was baptized last month, but was struggling to stay active because she didn’t have support from her family being the only member. Guess who else was baptized when she was 14 and is the only member in her family??? Me! Hahaha! I was able to relate to her in a unique way and the Spirit was able to testify through my personal experience, little had I known she had been praying for someone to understand and help her. She is like my little sister and I love her so much! I love being the Lord’s missionary, tears come to my eyes as I type that because it’s seriously so amazing. We can all be missionaries by simply serving others and being kind! My challenge this week: think about what you can do to serve and love those around you more, but start with the people you live with, your family!

I gotta go, we are currently at an auto shop because our car has a coolant leak… Ill talk about that next week! Haha! Thank you so much for your emails and letters! I promise I will respond to you! Don’t feel ignored! Love you all! Stay safe and read your scriptures!

Love,

Your favorite Hermana Tapia

Where Hermana McCracken and I go to plan our day and email... yeah... I'm only a little spoiled here...