Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Ruins in Yagul right by where Autumn lives!!

Hermana Bigelow and Hermana Martinez from her  MTC District!!

2 MONTH MARK!!!!!!!! SHE IS SO STINKING CUTE!!!

3/24/14
Norma Y Erasto sittin in a tree......​.


K-I-S-S-I-N-G first comes CASARSE despues comes BAUTISARSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! heck yes you read that right!!!!! this past week has been a miracle!!!! we haven't been able to work really cause Hna. Vargas leg! (we had two full days confined to our apartment) but we have been praying fervently for Norma and Erasto all week!!! Norma and their baby Juanito have been really sick with a high fever so on last sunday they recieved a priestood blessing and it was gorgeous!!! absolutely gorgeous and in the moment Erasto completley changed his desires about the priesthood and wants it but had MANY doubts and just would not pray all week long cause he was tired or at the doctor with his baby!!! but they went to all three hours of church yesterday and erasto said he felt different!!!! so yesterday being confined to our apartment after church we watched the district (hehe dumb i know) but we just got a few ideas and we went out to work (at norma y erastos.) we got a member and asked her to be with us and share her conversion through prayer, we were going to talk about his feelings at church, talk about jospeh smith, sing hymn# 14 and have Erasto pray right then and there for a confirmation of 19 de abril with their wedding the 11 de abril (cause little did we know we found out last week they were not married!!!) so we did just as we had been prompted to do and praying for all week long and the spirit was AMAZINGLY strong!! i cant even describe! and as we finished the hymn i made him a promise as a representative of christ that he would recieve his answer THIS night and we all knelt in sincere silence and he began his prayer i thought i couldn't feel the spirit so strong until then! it was completely amazing! then after his sincere prayer we sat in silence til he was ready, praying so hard that Heavenly Father might answer his silent prayer or help and questions and when the moment felt right HNA Vargas asked the question and erasto said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
we have all the plans made and everything set for food, fiesta and ceremony of the wedding all they have to do is the handing over ceremony this week!!!! i am so happy the lord truley knows them and loves them!!!! 
also we had splits this week which was so hard my comp knew NO spanishhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but it was amazing! the area is straight up hills and so hard but i never felt so good just straight up working!!! i loved it!!!! also we went to the temple :) it was so hard to understand but it was amazing i was so nervous to go but i loved it!!! so peaceful i didnt want to leave lol the temple pres and his wife are from N america!!!! 
Also being really sick this week was not good my stomach swelled up (gross) and it was horrible pain all the time but i went to the doctor and found out i have an infection in my gastlites and colites lol idk what it means but i am doing better!!!! i also completed 2 months whooooo hoooo what a blessing! Mom it sounds like everyone is doing amazing i love that video as well!!! You are all in my prayers and thoughts and heart... i love you alll sooooooo much!!!!! 
mom my plaque scripture is Alma 26:35-36 but not all of 36 end at everlasting wo!!!! 
Hasta Luego!!!! 
I love you all dearly!!!!!
Hermana Bigelow

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Learning at zone conference!!

Zone Conference Game?

Ya... I think he is falling!

Hermana Mitchell

Autumn teaching... in Spanish!!!

Having those we serve with native companions stand and promise to help them learn English!  

Hermana Bigelow and Hermana Vargas with President Leyva!!

3/17/2014
are you kidding me?!?!?! i cant even believe he got his call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPANISH SPEAKING HECK FREAKING YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! time is going by sooooooo crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hunter let me tell you its sooooooo hard, hardest thing ever but i promise you that i'ts the best feeling in the world to be on a mission and learning a new language and culture. what a blessing it is that God is allowing us to serve people that live completely different than us and that we get to cherish this time and love the amazing people! Hunter i could not be anymore proud of you and you're service. you amaze me and your example is the best!!! I love you!!!!
my companion is sister vargas. i love her she has been in and out of therapy everyday so she cant work much sooo its really hard for me to not be working but we have been doing better this week! i haven't gotten sick which is great!!!! we have lunch appointments around 3 everyday mostly with inactive members which is weird then we eat a little something for dinner if we are hungry around 10!! we have around 80 members in church each week and yeah we have too many investagators to count!!! but they are all kinda stuck in the praying phase its crazy!!! i have 50 pesos left til the first of april lol its crazy!!! its sooo hot here and my hair is soooooo long haha but i am not cutting it off!! i got sandals from an inactive man in our ward he makes and sells them!!!! i will try to do that when i have money to use a phone..... 
Anyways!! i can't believe how much everyone is growing. that's so crazy! time is flying by i have almost been out 2 months haha 16 more to go!! my return date is July 20 2015! weird hahaha i feel like the days are soooo long well all except p-day and the weeks are so short. it really is intense!!!! this is probably already the hardest thing ever but i love it! Norma and Erasto missed church so they cant get baptized til april 22. we put one boy aaron on date this week but then we got a text from his parents saying to never come back so that was heart breaking! then we put new investegators, edgar y elisama on date for april 12 but they didn't go to church so we have to push the date back one more week and pray that they go this week!!! gosh life is so crazy here haha and by now i'm pretty much used to the fact i am ALWAYS sweaty!! lol its gross but ya know!!!!!! oh! we had a great week one of patience and love!!!! we had new missionary training in oaxaca then had interviews with president leyva he had me speak all in english and pray in english! you guys its only been 9 weeks but honestly i have been saying all my prayers in spanish since my first full day in the MTC and i completely froze up! i had no idea haha i had to finish in spanish bahahahahhaha then the next day was multi-zone training which was absolutely amazing i had to teach haha in spanish crazy eh??? everyone said i was one of the fastest growing in spanish this year which is good cause i am having a hard time feeling like i am good or progressing in spanish! but we watched a video called "the atonement and missionary work" PLEASE LOOK IT UP AND WATCH IT those of you preparing or on missions its absolutely amazing i could watch it a million times and learn something new everytime.... be prepared to bawl your eyes out but oh my gosh!!!!! and also read luke 1:37 and luke 18:27 those are my scriptures for the week lol
oh one last thing last night we were waiting in the middle of nowhere in the dark for 30 minutes for a taxi or a bus preferably a bus cause its cheap and i have no money! and a man finally pulled over in his taxi going to yagul but it was only him and he said he was in our ward... which he is but he was alone and that's against rules, grrr... it was so tempting we were tired late and it was about to rain but we denied him and hermana vargas turned to me and said after the trial comes the blessing then we turned around and not even 5 minutes later a bus to yagul pulled up! it was AMAZING the Lord really does hear our prayers and really does see, just like Abraham, if we fear God more than man and are willing to sacrifice... i love it!!!! this week has been one of my biggest trials but i know that through my prayers and the prayers of you all i have been able to keep on truckin and serve these AMAZING people of Tlacolula!!! I love it!!!! I love you all and miss you terrible!!!! until next week!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)
Your one and Only, 
Hermana Bigelow

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Autumn's 1st Apartment!

Apartment and her companion!!

First Area Bathroom

Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite... like seriously!! First apartment!!

First apartment!!

Her first area... Yagul!!

Cutest little chapel EVER!!!

Goats??

Room Mate.... that gives me the creeps!!

Doing Dishes!! Not sure where because they don't have a kitchen at their home!

Doing laundry!! 

Her area... beautiful sky and trees!!!

Oaxaca Temple!!

OK... I just love her and miss that face!!!!!!!!!!!

Add caption

Ya she is really there!!!!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Autumn is by Tlacolula in Yagul!!! By the Ruins :)

Yagul

Holy cow has this week been an adventure i can not even tell you how crazy its been!!! so last monday waiting in Houston for our flight it kept getting delayed and delayed for hours haha pero esta bien! porque it gave me time to practice my spanish with a woman from Oaxaca she was so sweet and so willing to help me! finally after 2 hours we got on our TINY little plane to oaxaca at that point i had been awake for 18 hours and i was ready for bed! i slept the majority of the flight but was sooo anxious to be here! we finally landed but had to go through customs for an hour! and there they were President and Sister Leyva waiting BIENVENITA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cried i never wanted a bed so bad in my life hahahahaha it was amazing as soon as i saw them i recieved that comfermation that Oaxaca is my place to be!!!! then we went to go have mexican hamburgers hahahahaha weird eh? pero they were FANTASTIC i loved them!!!! haha maybe i was hungry then we went to the mision offiice grabbed stuff to shower and clothes for the next day and we headed to a hotel us american sisters! it was crazy we were up 25 hrs and got 4 hours of sleep! that next day we had training and went over money and rules then we went and got money from a bank! and our green card photos! then we got told our areas and our companions!!!
I am in Tlacolula which is 30 minutes from oaxaca well like 15 if you are riding in a taxi haha its HORRIBLY scary! we set out and we went to teach lessons! its been fantastic my first day all i had were beans, huevos (eggs) and chicos haha (hot dogs) haha its so nasty but whatever. we have other really GREAT food here haha i actually like it and i ate street fruit with salsa and chile haha i love it!!!
we have norma and Erasto they are a SUPER cute little family they just had a little baby boy and i absolutely love them! I put them on date for baptism on 12 de Abril!!! i cant wait! ohhh my comp hardly speaks english by the way which is scary hahaha but i love it! norma and erasto came to church yesterday and loved it! we are also teaching brizia and she has been listening to the missionaries now for 2 years but she is not married her esposo will not marry her which is really sad cause her and her two girls really want to be baptized!!! she truely has an amazing spirit she made me cry its so hard i pray that her esposos heart will soften!!! and tere.... she is an old lady with alzhiemers! its so hard but she is trying and finally after a month apparently she excepted jesus as jehova not God and she is making progress!!! she prayed and i was soooooo humbled all she kept saying was "Dios ayudame ayudame intinendo y intiendo esta palabras" which means help me help me understand and be able to understand the letters cause she can not read! it was the most humbling experience i have ever had she was just pleading and pleading with the Lord. it was incredible! the people here are the nicest i've ever seen in my entire life! nicer than people in alaska which is really hard to beat haha but they are! they have absolutely nothing, live in dump houses that are infested with bugs and have no kitchen and one room and a bathroom and they are perfectly happy! i've never had sooo much love for people in my life seriously!!! also we have this family.... >OH MY GOSH THIS FAMILY!!!!!!! i love them with ALL my heart!!! i've never wanted something so bad for someone else in my life!!!! cansecos family.... the PARENTS ARE INACTIVE MEMBERS FOR 20 YEARS AND THEY HAVE ONE SON THATS 21 (sorry) christian a daughter 15 azuri 13 elizabeth and 4 sejurri! oh my gosh i love them! i can just see them in the temple. we are with them in town every night teaching the gospel and they absolutely want it! i put the daughters on date for bautismo on 12 de abril! i am sooo excited!!!!!!! and as for my spanish! i am doing great, i guess! it is coming along great and i understand a lot, as long as people are talking slow!!!
 i absolutely love this place. i love my mission pres and his wife and my comp. the people here are amazing and i cannot wait to go to the ruins next week!! haha sorry for the spanish i just type what i think at the moment haha!
the scripture for the week is mosiah 24:14-15. the Lord wants to help us with our burdens so we can stand as a witness for Him and that is EXACTLY what He is doing for me now so i can be His witness and so can everyone else! i love this work and i feel Gods love for these people whose ansesters he vistied so long ago!!!! i am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and it is because of Him we have everything! i love this gospel and i love contacting its sooooooo fun haha!! i love everything about Tlacolula and Oaxaca and i couldn't be anywhere else that would make me happier! thank you guys for all your prayers and love!!!
my address: huerto de los ciruelos #101 Fraccionamiento trinidad de las huertas 68120 oaxaca, oaxaca mexico (SEE ADDRESS IN BLOG IT IS HOW IT HAS TO READ)
gosh haha i love you guys remember you have to use international stamps!!!!! miss you tons!!!!
Hermana >Bigelow

Friday, March 7, 2014

Welcome!!! At the Airport!!
Leaving the airport!!
Cutest Missionaries ever :)
She might be happy to be there!!!


It looks like they took them right to dinner... So Sweet!! It said hamburgers with a little Oaxaca twist??
Is that Horcheta????
First morning at the mission home!!!!!

Breakfast!!! They feed them well!!!

Looks like a little study or devotional!! Do you see the missionary board in the back??

Feasting on the word??




Who is taking this picture??


President Leyva and Sister Leyva

The mission home!!!!

3/3/2014
We talked to Autumn today... twice!!! Once at the airport in SLC for just a few minutes and then again as she was in Houston Texas for a layover!! To say she sounded great would be a big understatement!!  She was fabulous!!!  It was so amazing to hear her sweet big voice (I would say little but if you know Autumn you know it is not little!!).  She was on the last leg of her three flight journey to Oaxaca.  She traveled with 4 other missionaries from the MTC and then they met up with a sister in Houston that had been waiting for her visa to head on down to Oaxaca!!  So 6 missionaries... 1 elder, 5 sisters!!!
All of us had the chance to talk with her!  Heath came home from work and Hunter and Kade came home from school!! It was a big deal :) I am amazed at the love and concern for each other my kids have and I am grateful for it!! I can't tell you how great it was and I can't tell you how hard it was to hang up.... I know I will talk to her again at mother's day but wow... IT WAS HARD TO SAY GOODBYE!!
So later that night ... much later we were able to see Autumn's safe arrival at the Oaxaca airport via her Mission Facebook Page... Can I tell you I have never ever ever ever been more grateful for facebook!!!! Then Tuesday we were able to see several more pictures that her mission mom posted of their first day!! I love that woman, Sister Nelly Leyva and her mission president, President Leyva!! We also received this short little email....
"""I am here!!! I just got my area and my comp and we have a lesson tonight! holy cow oaxaca is absolutely AMAZING and i know for a fact it is where the Lord needs me! pday is monday!!! til Lunes! Hasta Luego!!!""""

Needless to say we CANNOT WAIT for MONDAY!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Mexico here they come!!

Saying Goodbye!

Bye!

Bye!
My favorite Elder's ever!!

Bye!!

Study Time!!
Beautiful Sisters!!

2/27/2014
Bahaha "Que en el mundo" is just a direct translation of what in the world and it is horribly incorrect but it is way fun to say! lol Well this week was a little slower but it was fun! One of our teachers Hermano Frey (BYU football player) left us!:( He quit cause his schedule was way too busy but he was LEGIT! that was really sad not gunna lie i cried!!! its so sad we have all gotten attached to eachother! But i cna not wait to leave. I am not too fond of my district and i know i am not reall supposed to say that but i get the short end of the stick and its been the hardest week since ive been out here! your letters have all been my saving grace this week a pick me up! I am grateful for it! monday we had a skype session with a woman from Ciudad de Mexico it was so fun! Her name is Laura and she was mega cute when we said bye she had a finger puppet on and was waving she was the cutest!! We have a new teacher he is legit! He is friends with Tim and Dave Gray!! (My friends i hung out with our first summer) so he like text him a pic of me and him haha hilarious!!! man it was weird being away from home on dawsons first birthday! I missed it!!! its crazy weird! Not too much has happened this week! Just my travel plans and trying to get ready for that!!!
We did have a really good devotional about members importance on missionary work and it is so true we had a member present lesson which was awesome! But you guys i challenge you to practice it at home with eachother just simply inviting someone over for dnner with missionaries! its fasil!! easy lol and fun! dad i challenge you to just invite wayne over for dinner with the missionaries it would not hurt anything he would appreciate it more than anything!! ill pray for you! BE A LITTLE BOLDER! im sure y'all will each find/ know someone who you can help if you sincerely pray!!!
I can not wait to call you in 3 days!!! I love you guys tons!!!!
Hermana Bigelow!!