My Beloved Hammock turned on me

Buenas!  So my body hated me this week.  My legs and back and neck have been legit killing me.  My right calf and my left knee have been giving me problems.  And then my back and neck have been hurting because of my hammock.  My beloved hammock turned on me!  In a hammock you can’t lay flat and after months of never lying flat, I’m starting to feel the effects.  But I raised my hammock so that it’s more flat now.  It’s actually pretty high.  When I sit on it my feet don’t touch the ground ( but I guess that not really impressive because my feet don’t touch the ground in most chairs.)  Let’s hope I don’t fall off in the middle of the night!

But this week was good.  It’s going by a lot faster now!  This Friday I complete 6 months in the mission!  Wow!  I can’t believe that I’m already 1/3 of the way done!  I still don’t speak Spanish as well as I thought I was going to at this point.  If there’s anything  I’ve learned here: it’s patience!

So I’ve come to a certain conclusion.  You know the concept of a dopleganger?  Someone that looks exactly like you?  Well, I’m pretty convinced that there’s a Mexican version of everyone I know.  It’s way funny actually.  There have been lots of people that I’ve seen and thought “wow, they look really familiar.. but I’m positive I don’t know her...”  Then it hits me, it’s the Mexican version of the girl I sat next to in Pre-Calc Sophomore year.

So people have asked a bit about the people.  It’s really hard to describe the people, so I’ll give a few examples of some people we visit frequently and are just awesome.

1. Bishop Pech - Bishop is the best!  He’s way dedicated to the ward and is ALWAYS willing to help us.  He’s learning English so I always speak to him in English.  Sometimes he calls me teacher haha!  And he’s awesome because he always laughs at my jokes.
2. Hermana Jazim:  When we lived in our other house we called her for legit everything.  And when we go over to her house she makes us food.  She has a daughter in the mission so she sympathizes with us :)  Now we live far from her so we don’t see her as often.  But we still find our way over there every once in a while.
3. Hermana Gongora:  She’s 76 or something like that and her husband has Parkinsons, I think.  She’s TINY and is always happy.  We always visit her and start to help her clean or something, but she always gets “mad’ at us and tells us to sit down but we never do.   Usually she just accepts it and lets us help her.  She’s way cute and loves to sing hymns with us.
4. Miguel:  Miguel is a viejito that lives alone in a one room cinderblock and aluminum house (it’s really more like a fort than a house - it reminds me of pueblo). He can’t really walk.  Whenever we go to visit him he pretends (well I think he’s pretending) that he’s still ticked there are sisters in the area instead of elders and that he doesn’t want to talk to us.  In writing, he sounds mean haha!  But the way he says everything is so funny and his laugh kills me haha!


There are lots more awesome people I know but these are a few of my favorites :)  It’s so fun to be friends with the members!  All of you : Be nice to the Missionaries!  Give them cold water and ask them about their families!  It’ll make them feel like you care!


So I’m going to leave you with a spiritual thought.  One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon is Mosiah 24: 14-15.  But I like it in Spanish.  “Yo, el Senor Dios, visito a mi pueblo en sus afflicciones”  Which means, “I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions”.  But in Spanish it says, “pueblo” instead of “people”.  I like this a lot because pueblo has a different meaning for me now.  Everyone that’s from a pueblo claims their pueblo.  People say “My Pueblo”  when referring to where they’re from.  The pueblo where people are from is a way big part of their lives.  It’s super important.  And really is part of their identity.


I like to think that I’m a part of Heavenly Father’s pueblo!  It’s something special!  Something personal.  And something from the heart.  All of us - as children of God - are born in His pueblo.  It’s our choice if we’re going to cherish our roots or not.  It’s our choice if we’re going to own it - that we’re from His pueblo - or if we are going to hide it.


I love you all!  Que tengan una semana bonita!


Love,
Hermana Keeler 


Two more of her favorites!




Trying to get their gel nail polish off with band aids because they didn't have cotton balls!  The struggles of mission life!