The Call

"Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war
Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye"


This week...where to begin?

Let´s start with happyish things, I could use a dose of that.
I worked a ton on my Personal Progress which was good, and had some really interesting conversations with different people in the process of work on it.

My companion and I had lunch with some members this week who have to darling little girls who made us laugh a ton! It was great.

I don't know if I have said this before, but I LOVE rice pudding, I wish I could eat it everyday!

I made more no bake cookies and they were a million times better than the last ones. I also made spaghetti...real American style spaghetti, which was amazing!

I got a really cool mission ring, that even has my name on it. Well yeah
that's about it for happy stuff.

Last night my companion and I got a call from the zone leaders... my companion had transfers early this morning. Last night we went to tell our neighbor. who is basically our mom here, and I just couldn't hold it in, and I burst into tears. I freaking LOVE my last companion! I never wanted her to leave, but welcome to the mission, and welcome to life. The sister we where with came over and gave me a huge hug and kissed me on the cheek (Welcome to Mexico, they are a lot more afectionate here) and said. "Don't worry. You can do this. God wouldn't have sent you here if He didn't know that you could do this. And transfers are a good thing they give you an opportunity to grow." etc. It's weird to have transfers on P-day, and with only one day...more like a few hours notice. So My Companion Hermana S was up till two in the morning packing, and I just laid in my bed feeling like I was going to throw up.

My new comp is interesting, I have known her for a bit, I am slightly worried because she is really serious, and I´m kinda scared of her. I feel so overwhelmed right now, so inadequate like I know I can do this, but I feel like it will never be enough, I now have a ton of responsibility as my new comp does not know the area. She is senior comp, but I "know" haha the area. I am scared out of my whits, and sad to see my one of my very best friends go. I hope and pray that I can work well with my new comp and that we can be friends. Well I don't have much more to say. Sorry this post is a not like super uplifting right now, but welcome to the brutal truth of the life of a missionary, it can be so ridiculously hard sometimes, and all you want to do is go home and cry and hug your mom., but then at other times it's beautiful and amazing. Love y'all! Hermana Shingleton

By the Grace of God

HELLO!!!!!!!!

This week has probably been the strangest week of my entire mission experience. I'll start by saying that this week I got packages from family! THAT WAS AMAZING! I really needed a pick me up. One of the packages had jerky in it...REAL HONEST TO GOODNESS AMERICAN JERKY! Halleluiah! I needed that sooo much! They don't have jerky here and it's hard to find snacks that are high in protein so this was such a blessing!

Also, last Monday I got stung by a bee for the first time in my life. NOT happy Bob, NOT happy. I was taking down my clothes from the clothes line, grabbed a shirt, and then felt something a tiny bit painful. I flicked my hand thinking it was probably a thorn or something, then the pain increased and I saw something dark and tiny on my hand, so I flicked my hand a bunch thinking it must be a spider and danced around saying ouch trying real hard not to swear or anything. The pain kept getting worse, it burned like heck! I looked down at my hand and realized it was the stinger of a bee. I pulled it out, and asked my companion to run and get my essential oils. I have never been stung by a bee before, so I was not sure which one to use, so for the moment I used lavender. Then later I went down into our apartment and looked up in my little oil book what to use. It said chamomile.  Well I don´t have that, so I went and asked one of the members who we live with if she had any te de manzanilla. They didn't, but they got me some and made a sort of poultice, and that helped. The sad thing is a week later it still itches and is a bit swollen. Fun. LOL

​My companion and I in a moto-taxi FUN!

On Thursday, I did splits with another Hermana who is from Argentina. It was AWESOME! We were in my area and for the day I was senior comp! WAHOO! I did it, and I did it well. We got a few references...I can´t remember what the word is in English. One of our menos activa sisters gave me two cute little cacti and some other plants. I really love one of my cacti because it looks like a bunny.lol! Contacting with this Hermana was an adventure...ok I was a bit scared by her tactics. She would go up to someone who was walking, stick her hand out and really loud and say, "HOLA, WE ARE REPRESENTITIVES OF JESUS CHRIST!" I was all like whoa girl cool your jets! When I contact, I always act calm and say"Excuse me, we're missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....." So yeah what fun!

This week we also ran out of gas so we have been having to heat water with a livestock water heater in a bucket and shower with that. I actually kinda like it , except it takes FOREVER!

Also, last Monday I made "chocolate chip cookies" with a family. Well they would have been great except they don't sell brown sugar here. NICE! So we made the cookies but with only white sugar. They were something like sugar cookies... I did not like them much, but everyone else LOVED them. I am hopeing that today I can make No-Bake Cookies. YUM! The nice thing about no-bakes is that I know they sell all the ingredients here. Speaking of cooking, I am adding to my cookbook so if y'all have some really good, easy(not super time consuming) recipes that you wouldn´t mind sending to me that would be great!

Some really sad stuff happened this week. As of this moment, I don´t feel like talking details. For the first time in here in Mexico, excepting Mothers day, I cried, but the neat thing was I told myself I only had an hour to be sad and then I had to be happy. I decided this, and wow I got done crying and then kept myself to that personal promise and I have been pretty happy. Don't worry, what happeneded was nothing serious or anything to be worried about, it was just sad for me.

Anyways on the happy side, I have also been working on Personal Progress! It has been a REALLY neat experiance! I have been learning so much, it has made me really think about what kind of person I want to be, and how I can be the best mother to my future children. Sometimes I feel like I am cheating a bit because parts are SO easy as a missionary, like invite someone to church, etc. LOL. It's funny because our neighbor is a YW leader, and so we have her check our stuff off, and she is really strict about things and reads our Personal Progress journal to make sure we did all that we were supposed to. HA! Well mine is all in English so she has me translate, uggh! But hey, it's really good practice! I also learned the 13th Article of Faith in Spanish! NICE!

This is not totally up to date. I have done more since taking this picture! :)

Random fact of the day: I am addicted to yogurt! Before my mission I hated yogurt, and the thought of plain yogurt made me want to hurl, but now plain is my favorite and I eat it ALL THE TIME!

By the grace of God (there was no other way)
I picked myself back up (I knew I had to stay)
I put one foot in front of the other
And I looked in the mirror and decided to stay~Katy Perry

This is my life story. When things get tough I pray, and then tell myself I can do this, and keep going. This week this was me a ton! LOL.  I feel like I am constantly repeating myself, but I guess that is what God is trying to teach me, to trust in him and then do my part.

Well that's my week at a glance! Until next week! Love y'all Hermana Shingleton XOXOX

Chin Up

"No more bandaids on my heartaches

No more smoke when I burn the pancakes 

No more drowning in my sorrow

With my chin held up there's always better luck tomorrow" ~Mindy Gledhill

This last week I have been faced with a lot of things that could potentially make one very sad, and disheartened, but I decided to live the week with a song in my heart, and only worry about the people, and God. Like President Uchtdorf talked about in this last conference life is is SOOOO much better when you strive to have true gratitude. It also is good to look for the little things, the beautiful, hard to see, good things and moments. Without the little things life really would be no good. I mean what would keep you going on a rainy day in a super dirty city if it were not for the bright little flowers in someones garden, or a good friend who invites you in for hot cocoa? Sometimes its hard to keep positive when everything else in the world seems to be going wrong, and everything around you seems ugly, but we have the ability to choose to see the good, and glory those things. 

A good friend once told me to control the controllable, and this week thats what I determined to do, and I was happy through all the lame stuff that got thrown at me. I just told myself all that matters is what God asks/thinks of me and I strived to do those things he would want me to do, and life was better. We were able to resolve problems that needed addressed and help more people. God is good!  

Something I hate is how the devil knows our week spots, who knows how to push our buttons, he puts temptations in our way, brings up old scars, and does everything he can to bring us down. It hurts like heck, but we have to keep going and put it all aside, and remember our purpose. For me that's to put myself aside and serve the Lord as a full time missionary here in Mexico, but in the end it's for me to have an eternal family and then one day return to live with my Father in heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ. We can do it though, there are trips and hard decisions along the way way, but with Christ anything is possible. LOL, this all kinda reminds me of Charlotte's Web "Chin up, chin up, nobody likes a frowny face! LOL

This week we ended up teaching a family who is having a real hard time, but it was really neat as you could see understanding come to their minds and peace to their hearts. They are a part member family and I really hope to see the whole family come to church and be baptized, so that they can enjoy the same joy I enjoy with my family. 

We also had a surprise on Sunday when some of our investigators who we believed to be out of town came to church on their own. And it's really neat because we have only met with them twice, but they already have such strong testimonies especially of The Book of Mormon. I can't wait till they can become full members.

 A mission and life in general is hard, but just keep smiling, praying, dancing, and singing, and in the end everything will turn out right! Trust in the Lord to provide miracles and amazing things will happen, often small, but good will come! 

 ""I've got a head full of songs, a heart with wings

You couldn't tie me down to anything and that's enough for me

I've got a pocketful of poetry" ~ Mindy Gledhill

Well Love y'all! Hermana Shingleton

P.S. Yesterday I got to talk to my family and that was amazing! It was SO good and needed to see their faces and hear their voices. It's crazy because I have only been gone like what four months and they are all changed! It was funny because at the start I forgot my family speaks English and I started talking to my mom in Spanish! HA! Then my companion asked me why I was speaking Spanish to my family, and I was like oh crud, yeah, English. WOAH! It ended up being the longest conversation I have had in pure English since I left. Love ya family! 

Life´s an Hourglass

"Little boy, when you speak

I can’t help but kiss your cheeks

I love the way you grab my hands

And tell me all about your plans 

Rocket high, comets fly

You and I could take a ride

And fly away to Neverland

And give our best to Peter Pan 

When you reach for the stars

Don’t forget who you are

And please don’t turn around and grow up way too fast

See the sand in my grasp

From the first to the last

Every grain becomes a memory of the past

Oh, life’s an hourglass

Life’s an hourglass 

Story’s read, prayer is said

Close your eyes sleepyhead

While angels linger in your dreams

And hold you in their feathered wings

Just like you, I was small

Not that long ago at all

I wish you all the happiness

That God gives freely if you ask" ~Mindy Gledhill Hourglass

This week was the star of May! WOOHOOH! The first day of May was Dia Del Niño, it was pretty cool. All the kids get a gift and there are sales and discounts for kids everywhere - TONS of candy, and a super fun activity for Primary. They swam in kiddie pools, and sprayed eachother with washable paint, I am pretty sure they had a piñata etc. I want to celabrate this with my kids someday lol. Mexico has some bien chito holidays, and there is a holiday for EVERYTHING! lol. 

So this week I had quite a few people tell me I live my life like a disney princess, I think its how I am always amazed and excited about everything, and I go around singing. Nice lol. I also have an out fit that makes me look like Anastasia mwahaha!

Funny story of the week: Ice cream here is a bit of a let down but they have these things called frappes which in the states means coffee, but here its just a shake, and they are super popular! Well I went to go get one the other day from a place we have not been to before... Well, I ordered an Oreo one. The lady brought it out and I took a sip, and was all like, "Huh??? This does not taste like Oreo." So, I took another sip...  "Uh oh, I think that this might be coffee," I took another sip... "Yeah, coffee." Then I had my companion take a sip to make sure I wasn't crazy. Sure enough, coffee. What happened was that the lady got my order mixed up. NICE! 

So then I went home and figured out how to make them for myself and my companion says mine are better than the ones you can buy...the secret LOTS of chocolate. Here is my recsipe:

Serves 2

Ice two habdfuls 

Hersheys syrup TONS 

Lechera to taste...if you cant find lechera brand its just sweetened condenced milk

6-10 oreos

two cups milk

Blend YUMMY!!!!!

This week has been rough, but at the same time we have had tons of success. We had an activity in the chapel where we watched a SUPER ANTIGUO video from the church and invited all of our investigators and it was open to the whole community. It was great and our investigators were crying because they felt the Spirit so strong. 

Then we also got TONS of referals from street contacts, and have a lot of new promising investigators. Always remember friends, sucess is defined by God, not the world and people around you. 

Well, I am happy because everyone says that my Spanish is a milliion times better, and even the sister in my ward who is really weird about the gringos getting their Spanish right said my Spanish is good! YAY! SUPER FELIZ! What a blessing. 

I also went on a two hour division with another gringa last Sunday. We had to go to a place I'd never been to before in order to go to a baptism. This other hermana has almost two months more in the mission than me, but guess who ended up asking directions and getting us there? That right me. The crazy thing is that this Hermana has to go to this place at least two times a week so how she didnt know how to get there I could not tell you. We got lost for a min, but I prayed, and things worked out. In the end my confidence was super BOOSTED! YAY!

It's crazy, because I'm ALWAYS with people who only speak Spanish.  I find myself asking myself, "Now how would I say that in English,  I cant remember?" 

Nice lol.

I also teach English once a week and this week it was funny because this one lady tried to tell me I was wrong that when people come home from vacations you say "Happy come back to ...." and not Welcome Back. HAHAHA! Last time I checked I was American and have been speaking English all my life! She also told me that there has to be another word for curlingiron because most curlingirons are mad of plastic lol. Nice. 

This week has definitly been a rollercoaster. the song above I used to hate , my dad always loved it and said we (my sister and I) would understand it when we had kids. But I get it now life goes CRAZY FAST, and I kinda dont like it, but the things that matter are God, and family. I have really missed my family this week, but the good thing is I get to call home this week! YAY! 

Well love yall! Hermana Shingleton

I Believe in Miracles!

"I can almost see it.

That dream I'm dreaming, but

There's a voice inside my head saying

You'll never reach it

Every step I'm takin'

Every move I make

Feels lost with no direction,

My faith is shakin'

But I, I gotta keep tryin'

Gotta keep my head held high

The struggles I'm facing

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes might knock me down, but

No I'm not breaking

I may not know it, but

These are the moments that

I'm gonna remember most, yeah

Just gotta keep goin',

And I, I gotta be strong

Just keep pushing on, 'cause

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side

It's the climb"

"I'm just a little bit caught in the middle life is a maze..."

This week has been interesting, good, but interesting. I have thought a lot about my life before my mission, and what the heck its going to be like when I get home. Its weird. I realized yesterday that when I go "home" my home will be gone, blown away by the sands of time. My friends will all be gone, the land I loved won't be mine, I will have to learn a new life style and make crazy decisions.

WOW! How did I grow up? How did I come to be where I am now. I honestly don't know.  I just know it has been a miracle. 

This week my comp and I taught a man who said he didn't believe in miracles and he is a member!  I just sat there thinking how sad. Then I realized that I think a ton of times I take miracles for granted or don't trust in the Lord to give them to me, this brings me to the subject of gratitude. Here is a little list of miracles I am grateful for: 

Life: Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with one of the members who lives in the same house as me and my companion.  She is a YW leader and really neat. Lots of people have had hard lives here, their families are broken and people around them make bad choices. We ended up talking about birth, controversial matters, broken families, adoption, and the gift of a strong family in the Gospel, etc. My thoughts couldn't help but go to my dear little sister, Abbi, who is adopted. I love that little chica, and what if my family didn't have the Gospel and couldn't be with her always? What if her life had been ended before it even truly started, and I never had gotten the opportunity to be her sister? Then my thoughts went to my loving parents, and the good example of a strong, faithful, loving marriage that they have set for me. They have had hard times, but in the end they are in true love, and I am truly grateful for that. I am truly grateful that I have never had to choose between my parents, live separated from any of my siblings or have to wonder if I was part of some sort of problem, etc. I am SUPER grateful for the miracle of being born into a gospel family. 

The Gift of Toungues: I relized this week that my thoughts are now in Spanglish, and its super hard to think in perfect English. Entounces, soy agradecio por la milagro de el don de linguas. How crazy is it that I can speak as well as I do in only three months when it takes a child years to learn their native tongue, and a regular adult years to learn a second. 

My Heritage: I am grateful for my heritage, in particular the legacies of faith my ancestors have set for me. Its kind of hard to be a foreigner here when everyone around me is so VERY Mexican, but I can draw strength from my Heritage. I am in love with my Scottish heritage and I find the motos of my families to be quite fortifying at times. I am stubborn because of my German Scottish blood, and I won't go down without a fight. I am grateful for the miracle that my ancestors are mine, and I am who I am.

I could go on and on, but let me talk a bit more about my week, and with some luck you will find more miracles. 

I am starting to feel like my dad... My father is a very punctual person, and if he is late he freaks! Well my companion is late to EVERYTHING, and it drives me crazy! The worst part is she gets kinda of bugged when I point it out to her. I also hate that she forgets to call people when we can't make appointments. I really don't want people to hate us, so I wish she would be on time. I woke up a few days ago and realized that this was my father coming out in me. This is actually the only problem I have with my companion, hallelujah!

Before my mission, I am shamed to admit I never read the Book of Mormon all the way through for myself. I have heard my parents read it a thousand times over but never read it for myself. Anyone who knows me will probablly be suprised by this confession. Before I left for my mission my bishop asked that I read it all the way through, and my branch prez in the MTC asked the same. I have been reading it a ton latley and am loving it! It brings sooo much peace into my daily life, and I find myself drawing upon what I read in my lessons a ton. 

If you have not read the Book of Mormon you should, I would like to invite my whole family to read it with me, and even my non-member family. Even if you don't think its scripture or anything the stories themselves are just plain amazing, and you can learn so much from them. I actually owe part of my high reading level to the Book of Mormon. So please READ IT! 

Its funny, everyone always talks about having dreams in their mission language, and you would think that since I practically only ever hear Spanish that I should have dreams in Spanish right? Well I have only had dreams in Spanish twice! CRAZY! But I find that its ok because I have tons of dreams about my family, its kind of like visiting them at night. I think it might be a tender mercy of the Lord. 

Also on the subject of dreams, I dream very crazy, vivid, dreams, and I find myself having deja vu TONS here. Yesterday I had a really strong moment of deja vu and could even remember which dream it was from. I remember at the time when I had this dream thinking it was weird that everyone in my dream was Latino...I guess I know why now. lol. 

Its funny I find myself questioning a ton how I would say certain things in English. Yesterday one of the members that I live with was asking me what "holy cow" means and how to use it. And then I had to explain some other phrases. I say "holy mac & cheese" a lot, and so she wanted to learn that.   I taught her how to say it and then someone rang the doorbell. She walked over to the door  opened it and said "WOW! holy mac & cheese!" to the boy at the door with a thick Mexican accent. He just chuckled waved and said "Buenos dias, Hermana" I laughed pretty hard at that.

I just keep thinking about how these people need to be like family, like my ward back home. When I think like this, that these people are my brothers and sisters, it makes it a ton easier to have charity and serve. I think we need to be thinking like this always and with everyone we come in contact with, its then that we will find true happiness and true love. 

I also want to give a shout out to my little bro, James, who just had his 12th b-day and received the priesthood. I am so grateful to be a part of a family where all the men of age are worthy priesthood holders. The Priesthood is such a miracle in our lives. 

I think that the key to miracles is to trust that the Lord will send them, and to have gratitude for them.  

Sorry this post is a little all over the place, thats just my brain this week! Love yall! 

Hermana Shingleton XOXOX

Mushaboom

"Helping the kids out of their coats, but wait the babies haven't been born. I'm unpacking the bags and setting up, I´m planting lilacs and buttercups, but in the meantime I've got it hard second-floor living without a yard." -Feist

Hola lovely blog readers! This week has been a SUPER LOCO one! 

Its bad but this week I have really missed grass...and spring flowers. I live on the second floor of our house/apartment thing and we don't have a yard.

Anyways/entonces, first of all on Friday I experienced my first earthquake! OH JOY! I was sitting eating breakfast when all of the sudden my companion says "ES TEMBLANDO!" and I sat thinking what holiday is that?! Because the way she said it sounded like how you would say "Oh, its Christmas, and I totally forgot!" So then she heads for the door and says, "VEN HERMANA VEN" So I'm thinking "Oh, there's something in the street she wants to go see", so I get up and start walking then I loose my balance and feel really dizzy, and my companion says "ESTO HERMANA ESTO!", and I'm thinking "How does she know I feel sick?", and this sickness is really weird because my stomach feels fine but my head is not happy. Then one of the hermanas we live with says, "VENGAN HERMANAS VENGAN!", and I continue to think, "Oh, there must be something in the street", but that is when I saw the rest of the family in the doorway and one of the little girls crying.  Then the house swayed HUGE and I was like, "OOOOOH! Earthquake." The members here keep laughing at me when my companion tells them the story. I have to admit it is pretty funny. The thing was because I was  totally ignorant to the situation at first, I was calm and not scared. BLESSING! It was actually kind of fun. I hate to admit it, but it was a bit like a ride at an amusment park, just a high stakes ride. LOL. So, now my companion and I have a joke its called ¡FELIZ TEMBLANDO!, which means Happy trembling! I guess every year around Easter there is an earthquake.  Some of the members think it has something to do with the earth remembering Christ. Who knows.  LOL. But in 1985 they had a really bad one!  Here is a link to the wiki page...I hope it shows up in English for y'all:   http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terremoto_de_M%C3%A9xico_de_1985  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake)

Second, it rained buckets this week!  FUN!  But for two days I was completely soaked! I have also eaten crepes EVERY night this week except Tuesday. I love crepes with nutella! There are some members here who have a crepe shop and they let us missionaries eat for free, we also drink milshakes and I always get Oreo NOM NOM NOM DELICIOSO! Funny thing, here in México Dora teaches English. Nice.

On Saterday I spent ALL DAY painting a house, it sucked because the walls of the house were rough and gravely and it took FOREVER to paint. I also got to paint part of the roof that was fun and scary!  

Sunday was a bit sad because here in Mexico City, they don't celebrate Pascua or in English, Easter. So I was really bummed, and really missed mini and normal Cadbury eggs. Next year someone awesome please send me Easter candy! 

This week was really special, too, because well....I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM! YAY! FIESTA! It was yesterday, it was put together in about an hour but it was great and you could really feel the Spirit. Missionary work is amazing, and I love watching the Gospel touch peoples hearts, and changes them. 

Well I hope y'all are doing well love ya tons! Hermana Shingleton

Oh, and P.S. FELIZ TEMBLANDO! 

Roll With The Punches And Everything's OK

Well as always life is not ever normal as a missionary. I have been trying to learn to roll with the punches. There is a song By Lenka called roll with the punches that I love its basically my life. A very smart lady I once knew once talked about how as humans we cant be stiff like oaks we need to be like willows, firm but willing to bend when the wind blows so that we dont break. 

Another song by Lenka that I'm living by is Everything's OK. Christ gives me hope everyday, life is tough and sometimes Ill be honest all I want is to go home, but I pray everyday and I receive the strength I need. 

This last week we had interveiws with the President and he had me go to the doctor because I have been sick a ton off and on. So we went to the temple where the doctor that speaks English is! Sad thing, she said I had an infection in my stomach, but I don't know if I believe that, but for three days I could not eat chocolate, dairy, and pop. OK.. so what was I supposed to eat? I have no clue. 

We then got to frolick about the AMAZING visitors center for a while. SO MUCH FUN SO COOL! Then we went to the distribution center, and got some stuff yay! 

Well, also this week, our shower broke and we couldn't use it. To fix it they had to cut/dig a huge hole in it. Nice... There was dirt and dust everywhere it took forever to clean. 

Its funny people here have a hard time saying Shingleton. So one of my investigators call me Hermana Jinggumbells and the elders in my district call me Shingwungwongchung. HAHAHA! Its crazy.

This is mostly for my sister "I like tortillas, I like tortillas, I like em more, I like em more, tortillas are my entire world! Yes I ADORE torillas here!

I have had to sing play guitar for a few people this week, aaa scary! But it feels good to sing again. One sister was all like Oh you sing with the voice of an angel! WOW, thanks. Its funny I have been helping teach an English class and this week they learned the song Rolling in the deep by Adele for pronunciation practice. HAHA Sweet! 

One thing that seems to be a huge theme in my head latley is that Family is AMAZING and such a gift! I thank my Father in Heavan for my awesome family. Well Love yall! Hermana Shingleton