Wake me UP!

Feeling my way through the darkness

Guided by a beating heart

I can't tell where the journey will end

But I know where to start

They tell me I'm too young to understand

They say I'm caught up in a dream

Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes

Well that's fine by me

So wake me up when it's all over

When I'm wiser and I'm older

All this time I was finding myself

And I didn't know I was lost

I tried carrying the weight of the world

But I only have two hands

Hope I get the chance to travel the world

But I don't have any plans

Wish that I could stay forever this young

Not afraid to close my eyes

Life's a game made for everyone

And love is the prize

Well this week started of with a zone conference with a member of the 70 Elder Piper. It was interesting. I ended up being chosen for an interveiw with him. Cool I guess.

I keep getting these awful headaches so we ended going to the doctor this week twice, fun and so helpful. I think I have pretty much given up on medical care here. At least I now know the metro here pretty darn well. 

So the other day I had to wear a different pair of shoes that were open on top so you could see my sad tan-lines. The elders in my district made fun of me. They were all like, "Get a spray tan." Thanks, dudes! My tan-lines ARE crazy.

My comp and I got ornaments for our tree and lights so now we have a complete Christmas tree! It's so pretty! I love it so much! It makes things a bit more homey.

I'm almost 20, can you believe it!?! I'm not ready to be twenty, and especially not here in on my mission. It's kind of a bummer, but what ever. 

So when I was a kid, my mom would always sing a song like this "AY AYAY in China they never eat chile!" I now know that this song is actually called Cielito Lindo and it's a very important song to Mexicans, but it has different words. Ayayay canta no lloreis! lol look it up it's fun.

I WANT LONG HAIR! Random. Sorry.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! I am going to miss it sooo bad!

So, I am probably getting new glasses. Fun stuff.

We have quite a few investigators right now that are AMAZING! The only thing is all of them have weird things that we have to work past, like one needs to get married to be baptized, but his wife doesn't want to get married. Bummer. So please pray for that. Well, love ya'll!

Stars

Growing old is getting old

I often find myself here thinking

About the birds, the boats, and past loves that flew away or started sinking

And it's crazy here without you Stars

This week...I GOT AN AWESOME NEW COMPANION! YAY! She rocks! She is nerdy like me, it's funny lots o people in the mission call her Velma like Scooby-Doo teehee! 

On the rough side this week was SOOO stressful! No one was in their house, I felt like crap, I wanted to cry, but couldn't.

My companion bought us tacos this week. Have I mentioned that I love tacos? Then we had a mini party with the other sister missionaries in our branch and we ate hot dogs, yum! The normal stuff but with avacado and tomatoes! 

I was part of a choir for stake conference it was a bummer. Then I had to sing a solo, but the elder who played the piano played a weird version of the song and I got lost and the sound system freaked out so it was a mess. 

This week my comp and I went and bought a Christmas tree! WAHOO! Now we just need to buy decorations! FUN FUN FUN!

It was also fun because in Stake conference Elder Andersen of the twelve spoke via satilite transmision and he spoke in Spanish, but boy does he have a french accent. Teehee it made me think of my dad.

My mission aunt got sealed to her family this last week, she is awesome! I am so happy for her. It was partly mine and Hna.Turcios' fault that they got sealed- Fun, fun! Thought y'all would like to see this pic... 

Well here's to a better week this week! Love yall! Hermana Shingleton

I am a Princess on the way to my Throne...

I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment 

I am a wunderkind oh 

I am a Joan of Arc and smart enough to believe this 

I am a princess on the way to my throne 

destined to serve, destined to roam

Wunderkind

This week...I learned a lot. 

We had a meeting for all the sisters in the mission with the presidents wife. It was cool, we got to chat see friends and discuss important things. I ended up singing 'I Know that my Redeemer Lives' in Spanish for everyone while Hna. Luque played piano. FUN!

After the sisters meeting, we had interviews with the prez. That was a really neat experience. I learned a lot about myself, and the atonement. Wow. 

After that since we were in the neighborhood, my companion and I went and ate lunch with Hna.Cristina. It was almost like old times. teehee.

This week was really slow in the way of work; hardly anyone was home. SAD! But we just kept on trekin'. 

It's funny all the sisters are always wanting me to teach them how to use makeup. It's like no one knows how to keep it cool so they just don't use makeup, yuck! Well this week I helped Hna.Monarrez learn how to do her makeup a bit. I miss using my makeup skills to their full extent and have fun with it. I really miss GLITTER!

This week a Hermana invited us to go to her pozole stand and eat, well, pozole. Pozole is soup with puffed up corn, lettuce, oregano, cheese, lime, meat, etc. Its so good! It's my fave when it's cold out. YUM!

In church this week I sang 'Nearer my God to Thee' and my comp played the piano. FUN! Everyone said it was amazing. The stake prez was there and later he ended up asking me to sing in stake conference! AAAA!

Also the mission just figured out I can sing. While we were waiting for interveiws, my comp, and all the elders in my district had me sing a ton. It was funny to see their reactions, mouths dropped open etc. FUN! I am starting to become a bit famous. lol.

I bought a new shirt in the tiangues this week, it's a stormtrooper shirt, I am a nork and must be my fathers daughter. mwahaha!

Tomorrow I am getting a new companion wish me luck!

Love yall! Hermana Shingleton

Adventure is out There!

Well, hello there! This week was as always an adventure, but this time more than others. 

First of all Nov.1st is Dia de Muertos. FUN! As missionaries we couldn't do much, but I got to see some pretty cool stuff. If you want to know a bit what it's like look up´Dia de Muertos Zocolo Mexico 2014

For this holiday they make this bread called pan de muertos and can I just say it is so yummy! It's coated in suger and cinnomon. I really wanted to do something to celebrate so I bought some facepaint in the market and painted my face and then my companion painted hers. FUN!

I ended up doing divisions with my friend Hna. Luque it was fun and we made a record of 46 contacts in a day. WAHOO!

I had to get bigger foot surgery this week, yuck! Again without numbing stuff. The Doctor had to cut out a HUGE chunk of nail and then skin, let's just say I had a river of blood running down my foot. NOT FUN BOB! It hurt so bad. But as Hna. Abril always says ser valiente muy valiente! (be brave, very brave"

It was SUPER cold so I had to take some of the money I was saveing for skirts and buy a jacket, bummer. At least my new jacket is really cute. 

Random fact: sometimes I just want a good ol' fashioned American breakfast, like bacon, eggs, pancakes or waffles, donuts, things like that.

The highlight of this week was that I got to go to El Centro, the center of Mexico city! It was awesome and we got to see a lot of cool stuff, and I finally got to take a picture of la angel de independencia (basicaly lady liberty of Mexico) I got to go up into this huge tower thing and take a bunch of cool pictures. We went to the catholic cathidrel which is gorgeous, and I got to see some new pyramids that they just discovered under El Zocolo (basicaly Mexican time square) It was awesome!

Well thats it love yall! Hna. Shingleton

The Prayer

¨Home is behind you, the world is ahead...¨ J.R.R.Tolkein

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

Let this be our prayer

As we go our way

This week...hmmm...well I can't think of a word to describe it. It went slow and fast at the same time, I can't believe it's almost transfer time again. The week was a lot better than the last month has been. We found people to teach which is so good and it saves my feet. 

I went to the foot doctor the other day because I had some yucky ingrown toenails, he told me it's due to having my feet closed up in shoes all day and walking like crazy. At home I almost NEVER wear shoes, so my feet are punishing me for not letting them be free. The doctor had to cut a huge chunk of nail out on both sides...without pain med stuff. Not happy, Bob, but it had to be done. They still hurt quite a bit, I told him I have been putting tea tree oil on and he was like, "Whoa ,you have that? That is perfect, keep doing that." So yeah tea tree oil is a SUPER good thing to have on a mission, I use it for all kinds of stuff. 

Wednesday we went to the hospital for a thing about my companion, it's about an hour away and that's traveling by metro which is the fastest way to go. Well we took all that time and spent all that money and the darn doctor wasn't even there! My comp was SO mad. So now we have to go tomorrow to a hospital two  and a half hours away to go see a different doctor. Fun, so I won't get to enjoy my P-day, but whatever. 

Thursday and Friday we did divisions (splits)...AAAH! My current comp, Hermana. Monarrez, went with Hna. Turcios, my old comp and the old comp of Hna. Monarez...the new comp of Turcios came with me. That was a good thing because she knows my area better than I do. We got new investigators, and I was feeling pretty good about the day. Then we had to leave to go pick up Hna. Monarrez and drop off Turcios' comp in my old area. 

The whole ride to my old area I was praying that I could see some of my people, or I as I like to call them my Mexican family. When we got there I gave Hna. Turcios a HUGE hug while yelling TE AMO TE AMO TE AMO! She is my very best friend here. Then I saw Sandy, Hna. Cristina´s daughter, and I gave her a hug too- we talked for quite a bit. My old zone was having a FHE and since we didn't have anymore lessons to teach back in my current area my comp said we could stay for it! YAY! Hna. Santos conducted the meeting and asked me if I could lead the music, and Hna. Luque played piano. I felt home. When I sat down, my comp asked for the numbers of the day. They weren't the best , but they weren't awful, but she flipped out at me. I then spent the rest of the meeting pretty bumed and questioning if I am actually a good missionary or not. It really hurt. After the talks, etc. my comp said it was time to go.

I stood up and saw one of the families I baptized I waved as I started to leave then I looked over at the corner and saw Hna. Cristina, I'll just let y'all know I practically ran over to that woman. She gave me a huge hug and kissed me on the cheek. Then she told me, "Hna. Shingleton, the new hermana is nice and all, but I like you better."  She started to choke up and said, "Hermana, out of all the missionaries I have met, I love you best. You're like a daughter to me." My eyes started to fill with tears. She then gave me a big hug and said, "We all miss you a ton here." Then she kissed my cheek twice. Then my comp said, "We have to go." I hugged Hna. Cristina one last time, and she kissed my cheek again and told me to be safe and I left blowing kisses to my other people as I went. 

This whole week I have felt pretty down and like I´ll never messure up, but that experiance made me remember my mom back home. Whenever I had to leave the house she ALWAYS gave me a kiss and told me to be safe. The whole ride in the combie back to my area I wanted to cry because I was so so happy and sad at the same time. It was so bittersweet. I then said a little prayer of gratitude because God is good and yes he definitly answers our prayers. 

I also received a letter from one of my old investigators, Letty and her daughter Lani, and that was really neat. 

Then today came...the time changed so we got up on time but we had to call Hna. Turcios to see if the time was right hahaha! And to wish her happy cumple meses. It's almost time for her to go home. CRAZY!  When we first became companions she was just turning a year old in the mission. Time has really flown.

Then we had to walk to church because the members we normally go with had left early, and we didn't have money for a combie. Yuck, it's far. 

Then we were sitting contently in sacrament meeting and one of the councilors in the branch came over mid-meeting and asked me to speak! AAAAAH! I have never given a talk in Spanish before and it had to last at least ten min. Well the theme of the meeting was attributes of Christ, so I got up and shared a talk about charity with only five min. or less of preparation. Fun. Let's just say I was praying like mad, but everything turned out great, and I even saw one hermana crying. Again God answered my prayers in helping me speak well and having everything run smoothly. 

Then we had to walk to the stake center and back which is SUPER far. I am so dead now. I think I am going to fall down dead later. 

This week has just been a week of testimonies to me that yes God is there and he hears and answers our prayers. 

Well I love yall! Hermana Shingleton

I'm on my way...

I'm on my way from misery to happiness today 

I'm on my way from misery to happiness today 

I'm on my way to what I want from this world 

And years from now you'll make it to the next world 

And everything that you receive up yonder 

Is what you gave to me the day I wandered 

I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday 

I took a right, I took a right turning yesterday 

I took the road that brought me to your home town 

I took the bus to streets that I could walk down 

I walked the streets to find the one I'd looked for 

I climbed the stair that led me to your front door 

I'll do my best, I'll do my best to do the best I can 

I'll do my best, I'll do my best to do the best I can 

To keep my feet from jumping from the ground dear 

To keep my heart from jumping through my mouth dear 

To keep the past, the past and not the present 

To try and learn when you teach me a lesson  The Proclaimers

Well this week was what ever. We ended up going to the doctors at the temple for my companion who has been having some weird problems, and know what?! I know how to get there and back all on my own now! YAY! Thanks Hna. Turcios for teaching me how!

It's been REALLY cold in the mornings and at night lately, helps me remember that it's fall, I prefer cold to heat though. 

I think my feet may fall off if we don't get any new investigators to teach, I am so tired of walking. 

Last week a super good friend sent me a talk to read, so I printed it off and read it, and boy did I need it! It's called " In the Strength of the Lord" By Elder Bednar It's beautiful and it talks about the enabling power of the atonement. The members in this ward give us a TON to eat at lunch here and I just can't eat it all, but I have to or my comp gets mad. Part of this talk talked about an experience of a handcart rescue team, and how they prayed for the strength to be able to eat the little, crappy food that they had. So I started doing that, praying for the strength to eat the food they give me and boy is God good. It's getting better. Thanks for the talk!  :P

So my companion walks SO fast, and the other day she asked why do you always walk behind, and I was like because you walk really fast. Then she said well maybe you  need to learn to walk faster, and I was (in my head) all like maybe you need to learn to walk slower. UGH! That was rough.

Another interesting thing that happened was my companions health issue got worse so we ended up going to the hospital, where they told us we would probably have to stay over night. NOOO! So then they gave her an IV and took a TON of blood and the nurse had me help say what?!? Weird. In the end we were only there four hours, thank goodness. On the way we ended up in my old area so that we could catch the next bus, it was fun to see familiar sights. We also bought donuts and hot cocoa YUM!

Well I have 9 months in the mission today! YAY! Halfway through! SWEET! 

Oh note to y'all, I love getting emails, but I miss and could really use real letters. I can't send any right now, but could y'all send some to me? They help me stay happy and motivated. So if you can please, please, PLEASE send me cartas!

Well love yall! Hna. Shingleton xoxox

Random I miss cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies.