If you want to know what craziness is... go to Mexico during the World Cup

Well family, I'd be lying if I told you we didn't dominate this week, because we did.  We missionaried so hard.  The life of the mission is awesome.  I am so happy to be here in the Mission Mexico Xalapa!  This week we raised the bar and we found a ton of new people to teach!  It is awesome!  We have been working really hard to find new people to prove to all the doubters that 2 gringas together in Mexico can do work! We can!  It really is so much fun to be with Hermana Menlove, she is great.  We have a blast and our district is super fun too.

This week we made an interesting discovery. There are these flowers here called florryfundios, and they are super cool flowers that hang from trees and are all sorts of different colors.  They smell SO good.  Like magic, in a flower. La verdad. And every time we passed by one of these trees we would pluck a flower and take it with us, joyfully sniffing along the way.  Well lo and behold, we went to eat with one of the members in the ward and she told us that the flowers are toxic. These flowers are intoxicating! They make you high! So we had been marching around Xalapa getting high off of flowers. I thought it was a spiritual high but apparently not. We learned our lesson.  Now we are a little less crazily happy going from lesson to lesson. 

That is only one of the great things that have gone down here in Xalapa.  This place is really cool, there is definitely a spirit of unity during the World Cup.  I think everyone and their dog, and their dog's dog, are wearing their Mexico jersey today!  Mexico, during the World Cup is the coolest thing ever.  For real. I don't even like futbol pero tengo ganas a verlo.  It is so funny seeing everyone going crazy.  It makes missionary work hard because no one wants to open the door.  (knock knock) "ESTAMOS OCUPADOS!!"  Okay.. geez.  

Also, this week, I had something happen to me that has never happened in my life.  I was serenaded in the street.  Yes. It is true.  This old man came and chatted with us for a bit.  He seemed really concerned that two gringas were roaming around Mexico.  So he starts singing this song that some man wrote about his Norte Americana.  It was great.  And then to top it off he gave us both pocket bibles, white pocket bibles. If we didn't look like testigos de jehova (Jehovah's Witnesses) we sure do now! People always think that we are Testigos de Jehova.... I think it is the umbrellas.  Speaking of Jehovah's Witness, we made a friend that is a JW, we chatted for a while and then he told us that if any one ever tried to mess with us he would mess them up.  That's right.  We are making all sorts of friends of faith.  It is so funny.  He is a great guy.  He would be such a good Mormon. He just needs to see that.  We have a couple of investigators like that.  They would seriously be such good Mormons... but they are Catholic... Always.  But whatever I guess.  

I just want to say I just think you are all swell and that you should all invite someone over to listen to the missionaries.  Missionaries are kind of cool sometimes. I love you all and I hope this week is so awesome. Tambien escritura de la semana.  Moroni 8:3 (read it) 

Hermana Chandler 

P.S. I TOTALLY HIT A MILESTONE. I FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON IN SPANISH!!!! WOOHOOOO  ALSO I STARTED AGAIN.  THIS BOOK IS EPIC AND SO TRUE.  READ IT! 

i'll send pictures next week.. this computer is weird. 

Vendid a Christopher

So life in the mission just keeps going.  We are working away and just partying it up here in Xalapa.  This week was really hot.  I don't have a whole lot of new stuff going on but I do have a funny story that I believe Christopher would appreciate.  So we were sitting in Sacrament meeting and we were next to one of the members who brought her two year old named Christopher to church.  We started the sacrament song and we sang ''Venid a Cristo." When we were in the chorus singing, ''Venid a Cristo...FER''  her little boy was singing along with all his might singing VENID A CRISTOPHER! It was the best thing ever.  He sang with all his confidence. It was the cutest, funniest thing I have ever seen.  Life is great!  I really like my compañera, we get along really great and we have a lot of fun!  Don't have a ton of time!  I love you all be good! 

​Translation....​

​Venid a Cristo - Come Unto Christ​                Venid a Cristopher​ Coming Christopher

Hermana Chandler

Raindrops keep falling on my head.. and in my shoes... and in my window... and in EVERYWHERE

Okay.  First of all I would like to apologize for the lack of information in my last letter, may have left a little something to be desired. (Note from Emily's sister: Her last letter was only 3 sentences long, not even blog worthy!) Well here I am in little ol Xalapa. And Xalapa has got a few things to offer that Martinez doesn't have, rain, lots of food (that is kind of gross.. aka fish), hills, and crazy people.  

Well, lots of crazy people.  We found some guy who supposedly is a member but he said he doesn't remember how long ago or what day he was baptized because to him time doesn't exist.  Only God exists.  So we started questioning him, who it was that baptized him, if he could remember the elder's name.  And he said God himself came down from the heavens and baptized him.. okay.  Byee!  That guy was crazy.  Then we found these two young men who we are teaching with their mom and their mom is trying to marry us off saying that they can and will only marry gringas. Then when we tried to give them away to our district leader our district leader said, "Eh its okay, just keep teaching them." So we are teaching who we so lovingly call ''the gringa hunters," awesome. Then we met Jaime.  Mohawk pony tail, wooden gages, no teeth.  He is awesome.  You can barely understand him but we are going to baptize him.  The people here are super funny but not very sociable.  

Another thing that Xalapa has to offer that no other place has to offer are surprise visits from President Lopez!!  He came to our ward this last sunday and I just think that was the best thing ever.  It was the first time I had seen him since he got released and I miss him to death. You can tell he is really sad that he is not with us.  I just love him and Hermana Lopez.  No one can ever replace him! But in about 20 days we are going to get our new president!! Woop!  President Greer from Arizona!  I am really excited for him to get here.  They are going to be great! 

Also, I made a discovery, I would be super fisherman.  We were walking when I heard Hermana Menlove scream, "OH NO!  HERMANA!" And I looked over and she had dropped her badge down a rain gutter.  And it was super far away so we took the other half of her magnet badge and tied to to string and went fishing.  Haha I just love my new companion.  It is so much to fun to have another gringa.  But yeah I believe that is about it.  My district is great.  I have a nice ward and area but my house is really really small.  I guess that is okay except for the bathroom.  It is a closet.  Por ejemplo, it is so small that you have to sit side saddle on the toilet... mission life.  Wow.  Okay well I hope this letter was better than last week.  I love you all!! Be good!

Hermana Chandler!