Burn

When the light started out they don’t know what they heard

Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world

We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky

'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire

Yeah we got the fire, fire, fire

And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn

I'M A YEAR OLD!!! WAHOO! I never thought this day would come! 6months left! Here at least the sisters don't do anything neat when you turn a year old. Bummer, but what ev. 

This week I had my first my first baptism in a long time, it was sweet. We were freaking out becuase our investigator wasn't home when we went to go get him. Then we got to the church and tried to call...nothing. AAAAH DONDE ESTA??? Finally we got ahold of him, and he said he was on his way. He was thirty minutes late to his own baptism! But, hey, at least he showed up! I have to say I was praying like crazy that he would come. It was neat and you could tell he could really feel the spirit. He even brought his son. 

My mission is in a crisis- WE NEED MORE INVESTIGATORS! Something y'all can help pray for. It's rough, and sometimes I get super stressed and discouraged about it all. 

Well I have combios this next week, I am pretty sure they are closing my area to hermanas. Bummer, I liked this area it's neat, well at least when it has people to teach. 

This week was crappy in the way of sleep. I could not sleep well at all. When it wasn't a headache, it was nightmares or both. UGH! 

So the other day we went to eat breakfast with an hermana and I was sitting there and my companion was up walking around, and all of a sudden the hermana started laughing and called me over to where she was. Through giggles she said ya ves? puedes ver TODO!!! My companions skirt was seethrou. OOPS! Poor thing. Then the sister of this hermana who is old enough to be my grandma started telling me about differnt exercises that I can do and got down and started doing them. I was all like DANG I can't even do that and she is like my grandmas age wow! Then she told me that I am pretty enough that if I do more exercises I could look like Barbie! HA! Sweet. lol.

So this week we ended up teaching a lesson to the family of a less active hermana it was really neat and you could really feel the spirit...too bad they aren't from my area. Then we ate whole wheat honey and coconut cake. YUM!

So this week really felt like I was playing Animal Crossing but in real life. We did a service project as a branch in the local zoo. FUN STUFF! Some of the members got to work with the animals, sadly I got stuck pulling a million gazillion weeds. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE picking weeds? Luckily, it was easy as their roots weren't really deep, but yeah I felt like I was playing animal crossing with so many weeds to pull. And talking to people. Fun stuff when your favorite childhood video game becomes reality haha! While we were at the zoo, we decided to go to the area where all the farm animals are at. I was looking at some goats, and when I turned around my companion was looking at a horse with a look of awe and horror. I went over to her and asked what was up. She just kept looking at the horse and said IT'S HUGE! I asked her if she wanted to touch it. She said no. Then my old comp Hna. Vally came over and tried to touch the horse then it whinnied and she screamed and came over and hid behind me. I then went up and started petting the horse and messing with it's ears, while the other sisters were freaked out. It was so funny how terrified they were. I learned that day that there are a lot of things that for me are just common sense that for a bunch of city girls are strange mysteries. They began to ask me lots of like duh questions and I couldn't help but laugh. I'm terrible, I know.

Anyway that's pretty much my week. Well love y'all! Hna. Shingleton xoxox

Keep Your Mind wide Open

Well this week was full of stuff and weird cuz it was super slow and fast at the same time.

Monday we went to my old area to go to a super fresa pharmacy. The hermanas from my old area had told me that it was the birthday of a little old lady whom I love, and she just happens to live in front of the pharmacy so we went over to her house to wish her a happy birthday and as a gift sing her favorite hymn How great Thou Art to her. She was so happy that I remembered about her that she cried. SO awesome! I love old people! She was turning 94! SO Cool!

Then we had interveiws with Prez. Meh, nothing interesting here to report on. I just think that Prez probably thinks that I'm an emotional weirdo. Anyway...

The other night I got the evil idea to torture my poor companion in the dark. So when she got up to go to the bathroom I got unde her bed. Yeah awesome! I ended up laughing like a whitch. Pobre-cita. I pormise I won't freak her out like that ever again. But it was fun for two seconds. MWAHAHAHA!

So I have been recording and sending music and songs to my fam. SO FUN! I think I might have an album when I get home hahaha. But my poor companion has to hear the same songs over and over again. "You are my sunchine, my only sunshine..." AAAA!Teehee!

Can I just say being poor really sucks! I miss having a paying job.

So I bought a jar of Nutella a while back and that stuff is an evil drug, I can't stop eating that stuff! NO GOOD! I want to reach my goal of loosing 25 pounds this year!

So this week we also had the opportunity to go to the temple with our investigator. I ended up talking to him about how the point of all this isn't just to get baptized but that it goes further into eternity, we have to endure to the end, the importance of the family etc. When we got there we watched a bunch of videos about Christ and the family and he just fell apart, and was like I get it now. He was sobing like a baby. I love seeing peoples hearts be touched by the spirit. AWESOME! It's moments like these that I feel like a real missionary. He should be getting baptized this week. Pray that everything works out.

This week was also stake conference....again. This stake has conferences every two minutes. It's strange. I was sick and hurt so that it was no fun to sit through. In the end I ended up talking to my mission president's wife and daughter for a while.  That was cool. 

I have been struggling a lot lately, but the other day I started reading this month's issue of the Liahona ,and it was like it was written just for me. God is so good to us, and really does care for us and answers our prayers.

Yet another pic of my sad feet. Hahaha!

Well, that's pretty much it. Love yall! Hermana Shingleton xoxox

Have you ever seen the sky

So beautiful, colorful, wide and wonderful?

Have you ever felt the sun shine

So brilliantly, raining down, over you and me?

Have you ever wanted more? Wanted more

You've got to keep your mind wide open

All the possibilities

You've got to live with your eyes open

Believe in what you see

Think of all the days you've wasted

Worrying, wondering, hopelessly hoping

Think of all the time ahead

Don't hesitate, contemplate, no it's not too late

Have you ever wanted more?

Don't you know there's so much more

You've got to keep your mind wide open

All the possibilities

You've got to live with your eyes open

Believe in what you see

Tomorrow's horizons

Full of surprises

Don't let them take your dreams away

We Are Giants!

Do you feel like you're second-hand?
Do you feel you're afraid to stand alone?
Cut away every safety net
Live your life so you won't regret the road

Feels like you, just standing there so small
Just the space between the stars
Don't be afraid to risk it all
Cause we are we are

We are giants

Raise your flag; Let your voice be heard
Put your heart into every word you say
All your failures' a cornerstone
Build a house with the things you've thrown away

Feels like you, just standing there so small
Just the space between the stars
Don't be afraid to risk it all
Cause we are we are Lindsey Stirling and Dia Frampton

This week...
Well it was interesting and slow.

The 6th was Dia de Reyes (day of the Three Wise Men). All the little kids get super excited because Los Reyes bring gifts- think Santa Clause- it's cuz Santa doesn't come here much, only to some people, but Los Reyes come to everyone. Also, on this day everyone buys "rosca de reyes" which is a bread with fruit etc. inside and a little Niño Dios... or a million Niño Dios. My companion and I bought a big one, and I thought to myself, there are only two of us and this thing is huge, it will take for ever to find lil Jesus. Well, I cut it and gave part to my comp and one for me. Yup, that's right, my first piece had a baby inside...and my second piece...and so on up to today I have four niños and my companion zero. HAHAHA nice. The person who finds the doll has to buy tamales in Feb. but seeing as I don't really love tamales we will be buying tacos, teehee. Hna. Abril says maybe the fact that I found Jesus so many times means I'll have lot's of kids. LOL Who knows? ;)

I have struggled a lot this week. I am trying so hard to stay happy and everything but, agh, it's so rough sometimes, but I can do this. It's just hard to be patient, etc. I just have to say that I am so thankful for prayer. Anyway...

The other day I got real foot surgery. They had to take out a huge chunk of my toenail and cut and kill the root. SO MUCH FUN! At least this time it was with anesthesia,but hey the shot for that hurts a ton! YUCK! And I don't do shots so that was fun. Everyone always gets worried when I get shots cuz I tend to almost pass out. I was also sickish that day. Not fun. I think I have also come to the conclusion that anesthesia and I are not friends. I think it might make me sick.

I got a new backpack that is super cute! YAY! Oh and to all you haters out there I just want to say that I LOVE the movie Frozen. So I got a Frozen shirt. teehee.

We had divisions this week, too. UGH! It went alright, and I got to know Hna. Cardenas, the other STL. She is cool and speaks quite a bit of English. Fun stuff.

We ended up talking about how everyone has speech mannerisms, like I tend to say "Ok" and sing gracias and I say don't worry in Spanish a lot etc. Then tried to imitate different hermanas which was super funny.

We have a baptisim date for the 24th please pray that everything goes well. It stinks though because we NEED more investigators.

I also am getting my YW medallion for the second time on the 30th! YAY! They even put pretty stickers in my book. Super cool! I always read about them, but I thought they must not be real because the wards I have been in in the states never used them! It's a bummer though because the other hermanas who are getting theirs are inviting their mission moms and I can't because mine left and GOT MARRIED! YAY! Hna. Cristina finally got married! I am so happy for her!

Well love yall! Hna. Shingleton  xoxox

HAPPY 2015!

When the world is breaking down around you

Taking everything that you know

What you didn't know

Is that we can go forever if we want to

We can live inside of a moment

The one that we own

You and me we got this

You and me we're beautiful, beautiful

We all, we all, we're gonna be alright

We got, we got, we always got the fight in us

We all, we all, we're gonna live tonight

Like there's no tomorrow 'cause we're the afterlife

Living like you're dying isn't living at all

Give me your cold hands put them on my heart

Raise a glass to everyone who thinks

They'll never make it through this life

To live a brand-new start

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wow how is it alreay 2015! I can't believe it! 

We spent New Years in our house as everyone outside were drunk. 

Here are some traditionas here:

Eat 12 grapes one for every month of the year and a wish with each one

Run around the block with a suitcase who goes the farthest will travel the farthest this year

put a paper bill in your shoe to never fault money

As of New Years Day I only have 200 days left! AAAAH!

So this week all my investigators left on vacations, THANK YOU! So yeah, I need new investigators. UGH! It's so stressful! 

Anyway, I am currently reading the New Testament as I have a goal to finish all the standard works by the time I go home. Can I just say there are things that make me crack up in there? Just the way things are put, etc. I love Paul, he is so direct like, "It's better to marry than to burn." Nice. 

So I was writing my goals for the year, and it was interesting because I realized I will be spending half of 2015 in the mission and half normal. NICE! So my goals are half and half. :) 

Something I miss- JUST DANCE! I want to loose weight and exercise better but it's so boring here! I want to dance... sob.

It was weird cuz back home it's tradition with my friends to buy a taco pizza and drink soda, and I couldn't do that this year and probably won't ever again we all live in weird places with different situations. It's strange. 

Random. I miss eggnog.

So my old comp sang me a song the other day called Calle de las Sirenas. It's basically the world inside of my head, well a little bit more childish, but it's awesome. 

Well love ya'll!

Christmas Dinner Mission Style!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año!

I hope ya'll are enjoying the holidays! 

For me, Noche Buena(christmas eve) was pretty chill but SUPER cold, and it rained ALL day! We worked and then ate dinner at a members house. Christmas day was good cuz I got to talk to my family! WOW! Everyone has really changed/grown! Also we ate Christmas dinner at home, it was Christmas dinner mission style! Ham, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, jello salad, and chocolate pie! YUM! American food! It was fun too to open gifts from some of my friends here in the mission. 

Can I just say I really miss real heaters in houses? We have a tiny little space heater and there are nights that it just isn't  enough. I also miss vacuums. I haven't used one of those in almost a year, and a house with carpet and no vacuum is a sin. 

So there is a Christmas song here in Mexico that goes like this "mira como beben los peses en el rio, les beben, y beben, y velven a beber por ver Dios nacido,..."

Basically, it says that the fish are drinking cuz Jesus is born. WEIRD! So I asked my comp about the song and she told me the fish are drunk...nice... hahaha

Anyway, something I missed this Christmas was watching Norah's Christmas Gift. It's a movie by the Church and I love it! It always makes me think of my lil sis, Marie. "MOM! I want to watch Hallelujah!" haha! Good times! 

Funny story- So one of the sisters from the other companionship in the branch fell or something and bruised her hips really badly, so my last comp remembered that she had a bottle of oregano essential oil that another sister had given to her, and told her that it was for "warming" tired muscles. Uh, I don't think so! Oregano for those of you who don't know is a VERY strong oil, that can actually burn your skin. Well, my old comp used it on her comp and it did just that... it burned her comps skin. So I get a call from Valdivia saying, "Hna. Shingleton HELP! I don't know what to do!" I could hear her comp crying in the background. I couldn't help but laugh because I had told Valdivia to NEVER use oregano like that. Well, I ended up playing doctor. DOCTOR SHINGLETON TO THE RESCUE. Nice. lol. Poor Hna. Del Barrio.

Well love yall! Hna.Shingletonxoxox

Be of good cheer...

I’m Tired I’m worn

My heart is heavy

From the work it takes

To keep on breathing

I’ve made mistakes

I’ve let my hope fail

My soul feels crushed

By the weight of this world

And I know that you can give me rest

So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win

Let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart

That’s frail and torn

I wanna know a song can rise

From the ashes of a broken life

And all that’s dead inside can be reborn

Cause I’m worn

I know I need to lift my eyes up

But I'm too weak

Life just won’t let up

And I know that you can give me rest

So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win

Let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart

That’s frail and torn

I wanna know a song can rise

From the ashes of a broken life

And all that’s dead inside can be reborn

Cause I’m worn

My prayers are wearing thin

Yeah, I’m worn

Even before the day begins

Yeah, I’m worn

I’ve lost my will to fight

I’m worn

So, heaven come and flood my eyes

Let me see redemption win

Let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart

That’s frail and torn

I wanna know a song can rise

From the ashes of a broken life

And all that’s dead inside can be reborn

Cause all that’s dead inside will be reborn

Though I’m worn

Yeah I’m worn~Tenth avenue north

This week...ugh! We had combios yuck. President called my name I stood up he anounced who my new companion was going to be I was in shock, then he named me senior companion NOOOOO! I am not happy Bob, not happy! To make matters worse, I feel like a mother who is constantly like, "Where is my baby? Where did she go?" Sometimes my companion just takes off without a word to me and it's really stressful and annoying to me. It's a bit like herding cats. JOY!(sarcastic smile added)

My new comp is interesting, I am still trying to decide how I feel about her, I WANT MY OLD COMPANION BACK!!! To bad life is slightly cruel and that won't happen. At least I am pretty sure Hna. Bravo(my current comp) will only be my companion for six weeks more. HALLELUJAH! The only downside to that is I have the yucky feeling I may end up training...that scares me spitless. 

This week we had our branch Christmas party, I ended up accompanying the RS choir with my guitar and then singing two solos a cappella. Scary, but fun.

Here in Mexico piñatas are for Christmas parties, so of course there were piñatas at this party. It was cool because they were full of candy, clementines, sugarcane, and who knows what other weird fruits. FUN! Sadly, as missionaries we only got to watch. teehee

Right now the church has a video out called "El es la dádiva" I think in English it's "He is the Gift"...not 100% sure. Anyway, the stake president decided to cancel all other activities from Friday to Sunday so that we could have an el es la dádiva missionary activity. Basically the missionaries go to the stake center, give tours to show the video, the members bring food and friends, and the primary sings, etc etc etc. Awesome idea, right? Well it was REALLY, and I mean really, poorly planed and no one showed up, so we missionaries stood out in the cold scary dark street contacting people, asking if they would like to pass and watch the video, and see inside a mormon church. Well, needless to say the people manda nos a la goma...they blew us off. FUN! Then the elders started to sing...it was so funny. They were all over the place lol, at least that was fun. haha. I have to say though, this activity was an EPIC FAIL! lol. 

Oh hey I got super awesome earings in the tiangies(street market) this week, they are unicorns! Yup, ya heard me, unicorns. They are so spiffy. Teehee!

I got super sick this week and super depressed, I still don't feel so hot. When my ex ex companion, Hna. Monarrez, the sister training leader called the other day, I just had a meltdown. She was all like, "On a scale from 1 to 10, how are you?" I was like, "4.5" Yup, that good. I don't like feeling like crap. I want to be happy again!

Two months ago Hna. Monarrez and I contacted a chick and she kinda blew us off. The other day we went to eat at a restaurant thing that a member owns and the girl was there, and she was like, "Hey, what do you have to do to serve a mission? I want to be a missionary and get baptized." I about died. I was all like, "Say what?!" Anyway we are now teaching her, and she has a baptism date, it's cool cuz she really gets things, just pray that she will come to church this week. 

Pues...Feliz Navidad prospero año y felicidad! Les quiero mucho! hna. Shingleton xoxoxox

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

Random thought: I really miss snow at Christmas time. :( It's a bummer really.

Well this week has been interesting. Monday, I went shopping with my mission aunt ,Hna. Abril, but there was a TON of traffic and so we only had time to buy earings, the nice thing is that they are real silver and were cheap. They also have the ball back so I can sleep in them YAY!

Later we had the mission Christmas party. It was all right. My zone made a choir and we sang 'The First Noel'. I sang the first part alone, and then everyone together, and then at the end I had to hit some HIGH opera like notes alone. Everyones jaws dropped at that. ROCK ON! Then later I sang Mi ancla or Anchor by Mindy Gledhil in Spanish and English while an elder played the piano for me, but he kinda messed up lol. It worked out nice, though. Yeah, I'm famous in the mission now. lol. But I know without God I could never sing like I do. 

Then on the 11th it was like a scene from the book Fablehaven, when it's midsummer night and no one can leave the house because the fairies are have a riotous party outside, yeah that's pretty much the 11th and 12th of Dec here. It's el dia de la virgincita de Guadelupe. So yeah HUGE PARTY for two days super dangeours for missionaries. We didn't work all day the 12th, so we cleaned the house and chilled out. 

Sunday was weird. When sacrament meeting started there where only 18 people present. Not cool. 

Also we got the call that my comp has combios! WHAT?!?! NO! We only had five weeks together! WEIRD! Pray for me my options for new comp are not very promising. 

Now all my plans for Christmas are messed up. At least I get to talk to the fam in 10 days! YAY! 

Well love yall! 

Hna.Shingleton xoxox