Mexico is hereeee!!! haha :D 8/27/14

Good day to all!! & almost happy birthday to my mami this saturday! :D Woooohoooo!!

My life here at Temple Square is just ohhh soo interesting. I love it! Iove everything about being here. Though at times, it totally gets frustrating, I'm so glad to have this experience and wouldn't give it up for the world. You know.. last Thursday we had Zone Conference (where half of our mission gets together for training for like 8 WHOLE hours) but it was SUPER inspiring and helped me and Sister Diaz figure out the things we needed to repent of. Like, we're always told people won't remember that there are 11,623 pipes in the tabernacle organ, but they WILL remember the spirit they feel as we bear our testimony on how General Conference has blessed our life. I'm toward the end of my mission and I just am NOW coming to profoundly understanding that. Our tours have completely changed and we feel so edified every time we take people around. Nothing compares.

I would like to mention two of the tours I've given this week and the experience we had with both of them. So, this morning we got out of the Temple (GREAT way to start our day) and we were hungry but there was a 9999 tour... which means that they've been waiting for more than 5 minutes.. so we had to just suck in our hunger and take the tour. There were 13 people there (in their 20s I'd say) and from England. (usually European tours are the least desirable bc no one cares) But we took the tour and started doing the whole teaching and testifying galoreeee and promising blessings and we somehow broke the ice with them (bc they wouldn't talk), got them laughing, and they all became our friends by the end and 6 of them took Book of Mormons & want to learn more from us!!!!!! We were beyond excited & completely amazed at the change that took place in them from the beginning. When did that ever happen outbound?! Never!!! I just am amazed.

The other day I was on exchanges with a sister from my district and there is this convention going on in Salt Lake and we had TONS of Mexicans on the square. Like everywhere I went I was being stopped and was teaching some sort of principle - talk about exhausting!! - I had just finished going to the bathroom and I'm washing my hands and hear these two mexican ladies speaking spanish so i started to talk to them and their like "Usted podria darnos un tour?" or "Would you be able to give us a tour?" & I had just finished one right before then but said Sure!! Hahaha. so, they're like alright, well we told these english sister missionaries to wait at the flagpole for us to use the restroom before they start but we would prefer it in spanish so can we just go tell them that? So as we were heading to the flagpole a group of 6 other mexican men see me speaking spanish with them and as i started the tour with the ladies they all started approaching and asked to join in.. so then I added them to the tour and 5 minutes in this other peruvian family of 4 just dropped in and wanted to join as well.. so I went from taking 2 ladies to taking a group of 12! Haha, well, it ended up also being incredible (despite my companion at the time didn't speak spanish) and many wanted to receive local missionaries! So that was a huge miracle as well. I honestly feel like Samuel the Lamanite (from the Book of Mormon) preaching repentance and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all ends of the earth. It is such a wonderful feeling being a missionary!!

Since last April Sister Diaz has been teaching an investigator named Carmen. She has had 3 other baptism dates but kept falling through on all of them. Good news is she was FINALLY baptized this Saturday!!!! yayayyyy!  Sister Diaz and I have been teaching her so much and she at last felt completely prepared to make that promise with God. I am so grateful to have played a part in her conversion! She is so sweet!!! ♥

I was able to talk to Gene and Lindsey and Alin from Louisiana the other day!! Alin is working in Oregon right now but is planning on moving to CHICAGO!! yayyy!!! hahah! He's doing well, but his work is stressing him out so he's trying to find another job. But he's doing soooo goood and is still keeping strong to his baptism covenant!

Gene and I were talking and we were talking about WHY you join a church (too often I find it to be much more social than doctrinal) and its hard to help people understand that you join a church because it is TRUE.. not because it is pleasant or people are nice. But one thing I had to write down that Gene said was "I was able to sense that you knew it was real. Everything you knew, was just so real. Everything I heard about the Mormon church I've put aside, I don't put man at the center, I put doctrine at the center & see principles that are taught. That's what matters most, you know? I mean, even Moses sinned. The perfect people don't need fixin', you know?" ♥♥♥

Anyways -- that's all I've got for today. I made some Enchiladas for Sister Diaz & one of the new Mexico sisters. :) & Then Sister Diaz made me ñoquis & more empanadas. I can't wait to cook these things for you family!!!! :D :D

Love you all so so soooooooo much!!!

Love,
Sister Corina Selene Cuevas