Semana 79 - Last Letter of My Mission - Recap of the last 18 months

Hi everyone! (Soon I’ll be saying it in person. . . )

This is my last letter.  So I’ll start by thanking everyone who has read my letters and kept up with my mission-you guys are awesome!  I have felt your love and your prayers.

Simply put, my mission has changed my life.  I feel that I’ve become a better version of myself because I now understand what’s really important, what I believe, why I’m here, what God expects of me. . . (though what to major in college is still unknown).:o)  I have felt more joy than in any other time of my life even though I also had more hardships than any other time in my life.  I’ve been able to experience and put into practice what I’ve preached for the past year and a half in Chiapas, Mexico:  Jesus Christ is my Savior and He atoned for my sins so that I could repent and return to his presence.  The Book of Mormon is a true book written by ancient prophets who testified of Jesus Christ, and reading it gives me peace.  The Gospel was restored and in these latter days God has put a prophet on the earth to guide us and help us keep the commandments.  In the Holy Temple families can be sealed together for all eternity.  God let me serve a mission so that I could know him and His Son, Jesus Christ.  He let me get a glimpse of His mercy and His plan.  I testify that miracles still happen and that His hand has guided me and guides all of his faithful missionaries all around the world.  I have learned so many things, I can’t imagine how my life would have been if I had never served a mission – I am grateful for the opportunity that I’ve had and for the many, many blessings that my family has received in my absence. 

If you’d like to read a recap of my mission or know what I’ve been doing these last 18 months, here it is – 13 transfers, 9 companions, and 2 mission presidents later:

I left my home in California on Wednesday, March 23, 2016.  I remember crying as I said goodbye to everyone and thinking “What have I gotten myself into?!”  I arrived in Mexico City that same day and started my 18 month journey.

1^st Transfer  - 3/23/16-5/1/16 – MTC. Companion – Hermana Nelson (American). I was overwhelmed by all the classes, studying,  waking up early and suddenly being expected to understand Spanish.  I thought it was pretty tough (I now know that the MTC is like daycare, haha).  I got to go to the temple in Mexico City two times, which was awesome.

2^nd Transfer – 5/2/16-6/12/16  Tonala 1 – Hermana Juarez (Michoacan, Mexico).  In Tonala I thought I was going to die of heat stroke in basically every moment.  It was SO hot and humid and I felt like everyone talked really fast.  This was my hardest transfer in the mission  . . . I understood little Spanish and I was sick a lot as my body tried to adapt to the different environment and I was covered with mosquito bites!  It was not a very fun transfer, but I learned a lot!  Humility, patience, and faith.  We taught Susi and Gildardo, who were both baptized that transfer.  With my first converts I learned about the joy that comes from inviting others to Christ and fulfilling my missionary purpose.  I also got Chinkanguya and was sick. This was caused from all of the mosquitoes biting me.  Luckily my companion and the members took care of me.

3^rd Transfer  Tonala 1 - Hermana Limon (Puebla, Mexico).  In this part of my mission I learned how to talk to everyone!  I also turned 20 years old. Tonala started growing on me and I started loving the place despite the heat and we worked with the members everyday.

4^th Transfer  - Mapastepec – Hermana Arellano (Ecuador).  This area was super huge!  We traveled a lot ,visiting places like Bonanza, Sesecapa, Jubileo, and La Vainilla.  I learned how to teach a class on Gospel Principles.  I learned how to teach on the fly, many times we were asked to give lessons or talks in church in the moment.  Lulu was baptized and that was cool because the branch was super small, usually like 15 -20 people came each week. It rained a lot and it was always really hot outside.

5^th Transfer  - Mapastepec - Hermana Arellano (Ecuador).  Some things that I appreciate about Mapa is that the members didn’t have much but they gave us what they could.  There were very few of them so I really got to know them.  They always gave us weird new fruits to try.  We started working really hard together and saw many miracles. 

6^th Transfer  - Mapastepec – Hermana Renteria (Mexico City).  I trained! I was very scared to take charge, to call all the shots and train someone else.  I had been out only like 7 months and I felt beyond inadequate, but I learned a lot! Training someone else prepared me for the rest of my mission.  We worked with a lot of people who never got baptized, and as the senior companion I felt very responsible for the actions of our investigators –something I’ve since learned that I can’t control.  Also, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) was super cool.

7^th Transfer – Mapastepec – Hermana Renteria (Mexico City). I finished Hermana Renteria’s training and we worked really hard but with very few fruits.  We finally had a baptism though, Rubi.  I also learned a lot about how important members are in missionary work.  We had very few members that could help us but they did what they could.  We were also able to activate a less active sister, Gladys, after 6 months of visiting her almost every week.  Mapa was a hard area – few members and little progress but with a lot of effort put in on our part.  Also, Christmas!  My first and only mission Christmas.

8^th Transfer  - Terrazas (Tuxtla,  Gutierrez) – Hermana Arellano (Ecuador).  I was with my old companion again!  We went to a lot of therapies and doctors for her back problems and we walked pretty slowly but we had a lot of success!  It was a huge adjustment though.  The weather was a lot nicer, less humid.  I had to get used to a lot of things. I wrote in my journal, “It’s SO DIFFERENT here, there are cars, TV’s, people wear normal clothes, and there aren’t any tricycles (mode of transportation where someone on a bike pushes you) or barefoot people . .  . I’ll never adjust.”  I ended up loving Tuxtla.  I was a Sister Training Leader and we had 4 companionships of sisters in our zone that we did exchanges with and looked out for.  We had a lot of responsibilities, but thanks to that I learned how to teach groups of people and not be afraid.  Our miracle of the transfer –- that Marisol, Pedro, and Janeth were baptized.  They were super awesome and it was amazing to teach them, see them grow and then see them baptized!  It was one of the best moments on my mission. 

9^th Transfer  - Terrazas (Tuxtla, Gutierrez) – Hermana Arellano (Ecuador). This transfer Marisol, Pedro, and Janeth entered the temple and that was an amazing experience as well.  We started teaching Fabian a lot, a youth who had a ton of recent convert friends.  I hit my one year mark in the mission and I truly felt very happy in the mission.  I was loving the work, the members, Tuxtla, my companion, being a Sister Training Leader—I was feeling good. Then Abril was baptized, she had been baptized as a child but was inactive for most of her life and her records were lost.  We were able to see changes in her and we taught her all the lessons. Then she was able to help her less active family start coming back to church. 

10^th Transfer – Terrazas, (Tuxtla, Gutierrez) – Hermana Arellano (Ecuador). I was with Hermana Arellano for 5 transfers, on the mission that’s like an eternity but I learned a lot from her and she helped me be a better missionary.  We taught Julisa a lot and she progressed, though never was baptized.  We worked a lot with the members though and thanks to that, we were able to see two miracles – Fabian and Marcos were baptized.  They had friends and brothers who were members –within like 6 months the ward went from having two deacons to having ten, it was super awesome!  In this time in my mission I feel like we were always preparing lessons and trainings and things to teach to other missionaries.  I also got to do companion exchanges with my MTC Companion. 

11^th Transfer  - Terrazas (Tuxtla, Gutierrez) – Hermana Valencia (Baja California).  This transfer we worked with a ton of referrals and with that were able to see a lot of miracles.  We worked with Andrea, Nora, Fernando, and Gretel but they all had some things holding them back.  Also I turned 21! By this point I had grown to really love and appreciate the members and the ward there.  My last Sunday was the best.  I sat there during sacrament and felt an immense love.  I saw 3 of my converts passing the sacrament and then another gave a talk on repentance.  I had flashbacks to when Hermana Arellano and I taught her about repentance before her baptism and now she was teaching an entire congregation about it.  It was a special moment. 

12^th Transfer – Comitan 2 – Hermana Diaz (Guatemala).  I finished Hermana Diaz’s training and we both learned a lot.  I started playing the piano in sacrament meeting and we walked a LOT always BUT the weather was a lot nicer and the scenery was beautiful.  Also it was President Doman’s first transfer and we met him.  We read the whole Book of Mormon in a month and our miracle was Jose Luis, who talked to us in the street and was baptized 4 weeks later. We sang in a multi-religious choir.  We worked a lot with Jorge and Enrique and they both progressed a lot but still had a few challenges.  Andres, was our best friend because he always went out with us to visit people and would always buy us Coke and food.

13^th Transfer (last)  - Laureles (Tapachula) Hermana Maldonado (Bolivia). Last transfer, last area.  I returned to the heat, to the coast. The ward started working and we were able to reactivate some less actives and also baptize Juan and Oliver.  Also I was able to go to the temple and see lots of miracles.  We worked a lot with less actives and my testimony of how important it is to be strong in the gospel grew.  I finish my mission with a lot of love and appreciation in my heart for each one of my areas, companions, converts, and God.

Leaving – Leaving Chiapas is harder than leaving California 18 months ago.  I have grown to love the people, the culture, and serving my fellowman and God.  Well my time is up, and I’ll see you all soon! 

Con much amor, 

Hermana Dangl 

 Photo taken before Hermana Dangl left to Mexico with the Mexican Flag.  During these past 18 months she has loved her time spent among the people of Mexico. 

                  Missionary Countdown Chain until Hermana Dangl comes home by Dexter, her cousin. 

                                                                    Sept. 27th is almost here! 

Come and hear Hermana Dangl speak in church about her mission 

Sunday, October 15, 2017 

11am 

801 Dover Dr. NB

Lunch afterwards at 2:30 pm at the Kettley Home

On Monday Jeff and I are going to fly to Mexico to be with Katelynne as she finishes her mission. We will be traveling around to the different areas that she served in, so we can meet the people that she has loved for the last year and half of her life. 

I have really enjoyed doing this blog for Hermana Dangl every Monday 79 times.  Thank you for diligently reading her letters every week and for your prayers and support.  This week's letter is early because she sent it last week and we are leaving tonight. 

Sherrilynne, Missionary Momma

Semana 78 - Earthquake, FHE, & Singing in church

Hi everyone!

This week was a bit crazy but also laid back at the same time.  I’ll start with the crazy . . .

• EARTHQUAKE!  This week was an 8.2 earthquake hit Chiapas.  It lasted for 23 seconds and affected a few other states as well, but mostly in Chiapas.  It’s epicenter was pretty close to us and in Tonala there are houses that were damaged, I ‘ve been told, but here in Tapachula all is well!  We felt it pretty strongly but it could have been a lot worse.  After it hit, President Doman sent us a message telling us to get to the nearest chapel before the aftershock hit.  So we ended up sleeping in the church (there’s a first time for everything, it seems) on chairs.  It kinda of sucked because this was all happening at like 1 o’clock in the morning.  The good thing from all of this was that it made a lot of people reflect on their lives and what they would have done if it had been “the end.”  I felt pretty calm though during it all because there are earthquakes in California, but my companion was kind of freaked out. 

• We did a Family Home Evening with less actives, non members and members present and it went super well!  I totally believe in the power of Family Home Evenings now, it was total revelation when the church started encouraging families to set aside one night every week to be together and learn together.

• We sang “Where Can I Turn for Peace?”  in church with 3 other members and it went well.

• This was a week of listening and I found out that there are a lot of faithful sisters in the church who are really strong, even though they have some tough challenges (or maybe they’re strong because of their challenges) and it made me think of Emma Smith.  There’s a 5 minute video on youtube called, “An Elect Lady,” that I really like because it shows that when we trust in God, we can get through anything! 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR7u50O2kQU

• Today I am starting my LAST week of the mission . . . it doesn’t feel real, I don’t think I’ve accepted it yet, but I’m going to do my best to keep working, loving, and enjoying. 

Con mucho amor, Hermana Dangl

 Tapachula in the morning.

 Their "beds" in the chapel after the earthquake.

Semana 77 - Temple, new place to live, & baptisms

Hello! 

• There’s a part in the Incredibles Movie when a little kid on a trike sees Mr. Incredible pick up his car or something like that and he shouts, ”That was totally wicked!”  I think that just about sums up the week!  It was a busy one but also a miracle filled one.

• First, we moved!  Our zone and district leaders and even the sister training leaders helped us move, and we really like our new place.

• We are trying to find ALLLLLL the less actives, but it’s hard because sometimes they move away and don’t tell anyone so we end up searching for them for a long time until finally a neighbor remembers that the less active moved to Monterrey.  So we end up walking a lot and talking to a lot of people, which basically sums up the mission.  Haha! :o)

• We traveled to Tuxtla!  I was able to go to the temple with the other missionaries in my generation and it turned out to be a super amazing and spiritual experience.  I enjoyed it a lot! 

• The temple is the BEST because it’s the place closest to heaven on this earth.  After, we ate at the mission home and President Doman talked about how we need to give our ALL these last 2 weeks (!!!) and not slack off. 

• We left the bus station the next morning at 6 am to start our 6 hour bus ride back to Tapachula.  We had to get back to get everything sorted out for Juan & Oliver’s baptism!  Whoo for baptisms!  A lot of members showed up to the baptism and it turned out well.  While Juan and Oliver were changing, we played Scripture Jeopardy but we finished early, so I asked if someone could share something from their personal scripture study that day. No one said anything so I asked if anyone had studied the scriptures that day and no one had!  I can’t blame them too much because before my mission it was hard for me as well, but now I know how important it is . . . Like Nephi says in 2 Nephi 32:3, we must feast upon the words of Christ daily!  We read the scripture together and I told them all to read.

• We had an awesome Sunday.  We were able to see a ton of people, find many less actives and talk with many people on the streets.  Like I said in the beginning of my letter, missionary work is a lot of walking and talking.  It’s worth it though!  Especially when God lets us see the fruits of our labors and people get baptized.  It was amazing that we were only able to actually work in our area like 3 days this week, because of the move and going to Tuxtla, but somehow we had a good, successful week.  Hurrah for Israel! 

Con mucho amor, Hermana Dangl 

Mark your calendars:  

Hermana Dangl is flying into the John Wayne Airport at 4:54 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 27th.

She will be speaking in the Newport Beach 2nd Ward and giving her Homecoming Report on Sunday, October 15th at 11 am at 801 Dover Dr. Newport Beach.  

Herbie in Tuxtla!

Picture on the drive to Tuxtla 

 Our generation (missionaries leaving in 2 weeks) and the Mission President and his wife in front of the Tuxtla Gutierrez Temple. 

 Las Hermanas and the Pres. and Srs. Doman

 Hermana Dangl using her artistic skills at the baptism on the whiteboard.

 Juan and Oliver ready to be baptized.

 Hermana Maldonado, Juan, Oliver, and Hermana Dangl 

Semana 76 - More rain, new house, & talk on personal apostasy

Hi Everyone,

• What a week . . .I feel like the time is speeding by but at the same time, last week feels like it was forever ago.  I’m sorry my letter got sent out late, we didn’t have internet in the whole state of Chiapas!  I’m not sure how things like that happen but apparently they do.

• This week . . . it rained a lot.  Like torrential downpour end of the world type rain.  It makes it cooler outside so it’s actually kind of nice.  It’s rough because everyone goes inside and there’s no one in the streets for us to talk to.

• Zone Conference!  We learned lots of good stuff, but I liked when we talked about consecration—The Lord asks for everything, not just a little bit, but every bit.  When we hand it all over to Him (ourselves included) we start to enjoy the blessings that come from consecration and understand our purpose on the earth.

• I turned 17 meses (months) in the mission!  It doesn’t seem real, I am trying to enjoy every moment.

• Also, we’re moving! We have been trying to find a house but with no luck . . . until we said a prayer and that same day we found the house.

• We are still visiting the less actives and if I’ve learned something, it’s that Gordon B. Hinckley hit it right on the nose when he said that every new member needs an assignment, a friend, and to be nourished by the word of God.  I think it applies to all members.

• Hermana Maldonado got sick this week, so we helped a member make empanadas! 

• We taught someone whose daughter has some really hard health problems and she’s had to stay at home with her and take care of her for more than 20 years.  So she asked us . . . “Why do I have to suffer?”  There are many reasons.  In the Book of Mormon it talks about how Alma and Amulek had to watch scriptures and people be burned for their beliefs, but God didn’t let them intervene because the wicked needed to be punished.  It also says in the Bible that when we suffer with patience, our sufferings will not even compare to the eternal weight of glory that we will receive.  I think suffering is just part of the human existence, and is part of our time of probation.

• I gave a talk on Sunday about personal apostasy and how it happens.  Apostasy is when we turn away from the truth and from the teachings of the prophets.  Like the great apostasy after the death of Jesus Christ.  We too fall into a state of apostasy when we stop reading the scriptures, going to church and praying. 

Have a great week and always choose the right!

Con mucho amor, Hermana Dangl

 Hermana's last planner! 

 What they do when there isn't any water in the house! 

They live out of buckets. 

 Last week Hermana Dangl visited the original Izapa Stela 5 on her P-day.   Above is a picture of a mosaic that was built in the mid 1970's at our church building on Dover in Newport Beach on the back patio.  Sadly it was taken down a number of years ago, but here is a beautiful picture of it.  

The front page of our Stake newspaper.

 The key of what everything stands for.

Semana 75 - English Classes, Izapa, More Miracles, & FHE

I apologize that Hermana Dangl’s letter is late, there was no internet in all of Chiapas yesterday so she couldn’t email us until today, Tuesday.  

Mama Dangl - The Blogger of Hermana Dangl Mexico Blog

Hola, hola!  Happy Monday!  This week was a bit loco (crazy), we had lots of things going on! 

• Hermana Maldonado got back from Tuxtla on Monday night so I spent the day with the Sister Training Leaders.  It was basically like a sleepover, honestly, haha!

• English Classes have started up in Tapachula!  I’ve gotten to teach English throughout my whole mission, and Tapachula is no exception.

• Zone Conference and interviews with President Doman!  Hermana Doman talked to us as well and she told us about 3 attitudes we can have (it comes from an awesome talk by John Bytheway).  1.  How bad can I be?  2. How good do I have to be? and 3. What is the best that I can be?  Our attitude determines everything.  I love the Mormonad that shows a teenager tipping his chair watching TV on the edge of a cliff . . . out attitude determines how we live and we should never even think about approaching the line or the edge of the cliff because it’s so easy to fall off.

• Multi-zone Activity!  We went to Izapa and saw the tree of life!  It’s a stone that indigenous people here found a long time ago and preserved, and it has a carving of the tree of life.  The elements have worn it away a bit (a lot) but it was cool to see!  If you’d like to know about the tree of life you can read 1 Nephi Chapter 8 in the Book of Mormon.  We got to see some ruins as well!

• We have a new investigator who is atheist and it’s proving to be a challenge.  Like Alma, I as well feel that “all things denote there is a God; yea even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and it’s motion, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a “supreme creator.”   Alma 30:44

• Small miracle – we set out to search for less actives with very few directions and found them!  Then even better, we found their non-member families and one of them (the grandson of a less active) came to church on Sunday and wants to be baptized. :o)

• We had an FHE (Family Home Evening) with less actives, actives, and investigators and it was awesome!  I feel bad for always fighting my parents on participating in Family Home Evening because now I realize that it’s fundamental.  I think the mission has made me realize that my parents and leaders were right about a lot of things basically my whole life. 

• We had a night this week where the fire alarm went off basically all night every 1-2 hours and it was the worst night ever.

• Miracle on Sunday!  We were planning for the day and had no clue who to teach or visit. . . but we finally decided to look for a referral we had received.  In that moment a member pulled up and we asked for a ride.  We told them who we were looking for but that we didn’t have the direction, just the neighborhood.  They happened to know him and while we were with them, they saw the referral walking in the street and we were able to contact him! We never would have found him nor his house but the Lord provided a way, just like always! 

That’s all for this week!

Con mucho amor, Hermana Dangl 

 Jumping at the ruins! 

 Hermana Maldonado & Hermana Dangl 

(stone) Piedra de Izapa Stela 5 - Tree of Life 

Book of Mormon, Missionary Nametag, & Izapa Stela 5 Stone

Mission President Doman is on the far right.

 Below:  Our zone on Pday at the ruins! 

Semana 74 - Humidity, no water in the house, new companion/area & amazing FHE

Hi Everyone,

• This week my life was turned upside down!  Tapachula is like the opposite of Comitan. 

• It’s SUPER humid and gross out even though were not in the hot season and it rains a lot.  I’m jumping ahead, before getting to Tapachula, I had to leave Comitan and that was a complicated task.  We left at 8:30 am on Tuesday and 10 minutes later came back because the 3 highways to leave Comitan were all blocked by farmers and field laborers because they were boycotting something.  They told us we could leave at 6:30 pm but the time came and went.  It started to rain though so the farmers dispersed and we got out of there at 7:30 pm.  We traveled to Tuxtla and got there around 10:30 pm.  We stayed in Tuxtla for the night with the Sister Training Leaders in Terrazas. . . I slept in my old house! It was weird.

• We left for Tapachula at noon and passed the bus stations in Tonala and Mapastepec . . . memories!  We got to Tapachula around 6:30 pm with lots of traveling.  When we got to the house, it turned out that we didn’t have any water. NO! It was the worst!  Water is literally life—you can’t do anything without water!  I learned that the hard way.  On Thursday we ended up calling for help and the zone leaders kind of fixed the problem . . . basically they carried up the stairs like 6 buckets of water into our house to use until we could find a real solution.  We had some interesting days and experiences living by bucket water. 

• It rains A LOT here and when it rains, it pours!  The lightning and thunder was so strong that the lights went out like 3 times.

• My companion, Hermana Maldonado, is from Bolivia!  She’s 19 and is in her 3^rd transfer in the mission.  She’s great though, super obedient and is willing to work.  We are hoping to see lots of miracles here!  We are talking with everyone! 

• On Sunday after church Hermana Maldonado had to leave for Tuxtla to fix some stuff with her green card, so I am staying with the Sister Training Leaders.  It was actually pretty fun and we had an awesome Family Home Evening!  We were thinking about what we wanted to teach and I remembered an object lesson that my mom did for a baptism one time.  We had a jar and put a peso in and shook it around and it was pretty loud – and it represented the Holy Ghost when we’re worthy of His presence.  Then we started piling some dirt in . . . representing our sins, doubts, fears, worldly ideas . . . until we could no longer hear the still small voice of the spirit, or in this case, the peso.  So we started removing the dirt little by little – repenting, praying, reading the scriptures, going to church, keeping the commandments  . . . but we still couldn’t get all of the dirt completely out.  We had to wash it with water!  Repentance is not complete until we are baptized by immersion for the remission of sins.  The lesson went really well and there were a lot of tears and the spirit was super strong.  Thanks for the idea Mom!  I hope you all have a great week!

Con mucho amor, Hermana Dangl

 Welcome sign to Hermana Dangl's new area - Tapachula!

 Family Home Evening with the Bishop's family my last night in COMITAN

Semana 73 - Transfer to Tapachula, Sick, Baptism, & Nametags

Hello friends, and family!

This week . . . was a hard one, really hard!  I felt very tried and tested, but everything turned out well in the end.  Yes . . . transfers are in!  President Doman has switched some things up.

• First off, I got sick this week.  We spent Monday night to Thursday afternoon at the house because I had a super bad stomach infection.  Fun, right?  I got a lot of reading in and we told the sisters of the ward that I was sick and had some dietary restrictions so every single day this week I ate vegetable soup.

• Zone Conference!  I really liked the part where we took off our nametags and reflected on the first time we put it on.  I remember taking it out of my envelope and thinking, “This is so weird!”  It was a surreal moment . . .and maybe that little piece of plastic bearing Christ’s name won’t be on my chest forever, but the conversion I’ve gone through means that it’ll always be on my heart.

• Our investigator Jose Luis passed his baptismal interview so on Saturday we were at the church all day filling the font.  We had to heat the water in buckets with a metal rod thing and then dump it into the font.  The hour came . . and only one person was there. . . . and it wasn’t Jose Luis.  Ahh!  He couldn’t get out of his work . . but it’s a terrible feeling when someone doesn’t show up to their baptism.  Hermana Diaz and I were crying and it was really stressful because we had worked SO hard for that moment.  To be baptized we spend hours teaching people and helping them keep commitments and come to church. . . it’s a process in which the person has to change who they are so that they can be someone better.  It’s devastating when it’s all thrown away.  We went home and started a fast to find 5 people to baptize in the coming transfer. . .that night we found a family of 5.  I’ve said it before, the lows are low but the highs are high.

• On Sunday we held the baptismal service at 10 am and then at 11 we started church and Jose Luis was confirmed.  Happy ending!  He even bore his testimony. It was a very special moment.  So why did everything have to turn out that way?  I don’t know, but I do know that if we don’t know what bitter is, we can never know what sweet is either.  I know that while Joseph Smith was imprisoned in Liberty Jail, the Lord told him, “If the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.”  D & C 122:7.  I know that the Lord told Israel “for behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” 1 Nephi 20:10.  Sometimes the Lord needs to HUMBLE US and make us trust Him and in His plan. 

• Okay and now onto transfers!  Hermana Diaz is staying in Comitan and I am going to Tapachula!!  It ‘s the only place I haven’t been in and I’m going to Tapachula (Izapa-Laureles = zone-district).  My companion will be with Hermana Maldonado.  She’s fresh out of her training and Tapachula is HOT!  I’m going back to the heat and back to the coast.  Ahh!  I will have 5 areas and 9 companions at the end of it all.  Craziness! 

• The truth is that today is the first day of my LAST transfer in the mission.  I’ll only be in Tapachula for 6 weeks and then I’ll be homeward bound.  I’m saying it now so that we can all be in a mutual agreement to not discuss it. :o)  I have plans to focus on Tapachula and the miracles that I’m going to see there, and not be reminded in every single moment that it’s all coming to an end.  It’s bitter sweet – I love the mission and the people here but I’m also very excited to see my family and friends.  So I’m going to take advantage of this time that I have left to work, love, and enjoy!

 Con amor, Hermana Dangl 

 La Iglesia de Santo Domingo

 Baptism of Jose Luis

 Sister Missionaries