Dry, but Riding the Wave!

Hola Familia,

Lia's new companion, Hermana Oaxaco from Mexico City.

Meet my new companion!  She's pretty funky. We're working together really well. She is making ASTOUNDING progress and is really good at asking inspired questions.

For some reason, every time I train, the first week together is really dry-- searching and searching and contacting and contacting and teaching and teaching but not finding hardly anyone with the potential to progress. To me, it's not such a big deal because I know those things come in waves, but I've been really impressed with the gumption of Hermana Oaxaca to pick herself back up again instead of staying discouraged. 

My camera has problems. It turns on and off and I can look through old pictures but the screen is black and it only takes black pictures. So I have to ask my companions to send me all the fotos we take.

Did you guys make a Christmas card this year?

Mucho amor,

Hna Ludlam

(For those of you who have asked if Lia knew the Elder from Washington that passed away last week-- she was acquainted with him and said it has been a very difficult loss, particularly for their mission leaders. Our thoughts and prayers are with the McBride family.)

Baptism Gifts

Hola Familia Amada,

Lukas, the only likable dog in all of Mexico (Araujo's dog )

I just have time to send mostly fotos this week. We had transfers and...

Hermana Wilson and I are BOTH training!!! AND, they split our ward and we are staying in the same ward. HOORAY! We are all living in the same house until me and my companion can find a new house. It's like a party. Mi hija (her brand  new companion) is Hermana Oaxaca, mi primera bebe Mexicana (my first Mexican baby!). She is from the state of Mexico in Mexico. Pictures next week, sorry. 

Hooray! 

Suri A, Hermana Lia, Armando A, Dionisio A, Manuel (baptized them), Nayeli A, Hermana Wilson, Hermano Daniel (mission leader))

There is a book I REALLY want to read when I get back that I found in the house of one of the members (in ENGLISH)-- it's called Sacred Walls (temporarily out of stock) and it's about temple imagery. I opened up to one page and was stunned by the profundity. I wish could have sat there for a long time.... but missionaries are not for sitting on couches and reading.

Beautiful Ashley and her grandmother,  Sandra, returning to activity

Oh! And I bought the hamaqueros, and I bought hamaqueros for the sister in our ward that asked for them. I bought them in the market, so they were cheap. :-)

Wish I had time to write the events of this week, next week should be better.

Love,

Hermana Ludlam

(more pictures below!)

The notebooks we made for the Araujo Family and Ashley for their baptism gifts. We also gave them each a scripture marker.








We sleep in our huipiles. Mine is from Hermano Jesus a few months ago, and Hermana Wilson bought hers in Centro last week.

 When we came for our last appointment before the baptism, guess who had already started filling out his Mi Famila booklet and had an entire stack of ancient documents, ID cards, and letters that he was analyzing.

Dionisio, of course!

The Pech Pool Family.  A family that is very dear to my heart-- good, good people. Hermana Wilson, Hermana Lia, Graciella, Hugo, Jose, Adrian, Manuel.

I Love Eternal Families

Hola Familia,

They are going to split the Chuburna area so we are all very curious about what the transfers are going to be next week. Hermana Wilson's and my secret desire is that each of us goes to a different part of Chuburna so we can stay in the same ward. 

This picture was taken at our  Noche de Hogar (Family Night) with the Familia Araujo (baptism this Saturday) with the Familia Poot invitado. It was FABULOUS-- we talked about eternal marriage and family history work. And because the Primary (the Children's organizationin the church) asked me to play that day, I happened to have my violin with me. :) The Poot family was sealed eternally in the temple a few years ago, and they shared a moving testimony of temples. Seated  around the table: Graciela Poot, Jose Poot, Suri Araujo, Armando A, Nayeli A, Dionisio, Yanet (niece), Marta (hermana), Lia, and Adrian Poot.

Dionisio said (with his Dionisio grin) "We haven't made covenants yet, so we could still work on Sunday," to build the table in the foto. They didn't have a table big enough for all of us, so he used a big piece of material from work (it is made out of the white bumpy stuff they use to make fridges) and nailed it on sawhorses. Not really a true principle, but at least they realize the seriousness of their covenants. :) 

 

And, Nayeli invited her sister and niece to the Family Night.  This means 2 more investigadores! I LOVE ETERNAL FAMILIES!

The Araujo Family

We are SO excited about the baptisms this weekend. The WARD is excited too, I think they are also a little baptism-hungry. They have been so good to the Familia Araujo.

Before this week, we had about 15 people with baptismal dates. After the baptisms, I think we will have 0. We lost about 10 people this week.

It's okay, though, I think Heavenly Father is just sweeping out our schedule a bit so we will have time to teach all the people we're going to find this next week. :) 

Love, 

Hermana Ludlam

He loves me that way

Hola Familia!

Thanks for the conference newspaper, Mum. What is fantastic is that I feel the same thrill reading those talks that I felt listening to them for the first time 3 months ago. I love truth... It's funny because I'll read a talk and think, "Hey, I didn't hear that the first time," and then I'll look in my notes and my exact same thought was already written down and I just forgot it. We need to review conference. :-)  You can listen or read here!

Also, Mum, thank you for giving me your Jesus El Cristo. I started reading it during breakfast about a month ago and it has significantly deepened my love for Christ. I think one of my biggest barriers to loving Christ is just knowing Him, and Jesus El Cristo is like a read-between-the-lines re-write of the New Testament. I've realized new attributes of Christ by seeing him more as a real person. I feel so much more love for Him when He is real.

I've been thinking about Heavenly Father's love for us, too. Lots of times I hear "Heavenly Father loves us," but that just doesn't trigger an emotional reaction. I loved that quote Mum sent* about our whole lives being designed for us by Him-- His love for us is current and intense and 'metido' (I don't know how to say 'meter' in English).

*This is the quote: "The joy that consumes our soul when we discover that missions – and life – were designed by a loving Heavenly Father to create opportunities to touch other lives and by so doing we forever change our own and there is no other way to become like God in that capacity–there is no other way.--J. Ritchie

 
He wants us to learn what He's learned, and He wants to teach us, individually, all of those things. He wants to be constantly involved in every line and precept that we learn. There is such an intense joy in realizing that He loves me that way.

I love you all.
Write down your propositos (resolutions)!

Love,

Hna Lud-lamanita