This week was pretty good..

This week was pretty good. We had another baptism this week. It was 
Guadalupe Alvarez Mejia. She's the older sister and daughter of my first 
two baptisms--so that was pretty fun. Her brother baptized and confirmed 
her, so that was pretty cool.  Other than that both our other ones fell 
through. One forget to get permission from her father--so we didn't baptize.  
The other kinda went haywire--and yeaaaah--that was pretty funny. 
The Assistants were with us when she said she didn't believe anything 
we had talked about. We asked if she had even read or prayed 

about it and she said 'no', so we just left it at that. Also, because she's 
obsessed with this random kid who she doesn't talk to--and that's kinda 
causing issues and stuff.

What else?  I'm getting into drawing at night--that's been pretty fun. More like Caricatures and stuff.  Am I good?
No. But I'm getting better. Last night I nailed it though. Drawing helps ease the frustration between me and
my comp. I'll draw while he is verificando, and after show him the work.  And for some reason he really likes
it and it kinda 

eases all stress. I'm also going out of my way to make
his life better. I cook him breakfast every morning
(or almost every morning). I then will iron his shirt for
him every day and set out his outfit so he doesn't have to.
 I'll also let him have all the clima (air conditioning)
even though its like straight up being a fetus again
at night--its so hot.  Other stuff like that, como carrying
his mochila if he is getting tired, going out of my way
to get him water, all types of water because agua means
every single type of liquid you drink. That helps because
whenever he is mad I'll just do an act of kindness or
ask if he needs anything and that usually calms him down. Its a lot like watching Penelope all over again,

but a little harder. 

Yesterday me and my comp were pretty much babysitting half the children in the ward during sacrament meeting 

just trying to keep them calm and silent. That was a little bit of fun and difficult at the same time. But that's okay--it 

was all good. Gets me excited for when I have my own kids. If I can handle ten little ward children I think I can
handle one or five children that won't be loaded up on sugar (and that I can understand).  It was pretty funny
though because one of the kids who had a talk (kinda my age I think) completely tore into everyone in the ward. 

He was calling them disrespectful and that there was no way they could actually feel the Spirit (and yada yada). 

Oh man--was I busting a gut. 

This week we have I believe 2 baptisms--they are both mas o menos already Mormons. The first is an 8 year old 

that everyone thought was Mormon but turns out she isn't. She has been attending the ward for like a couple of 

years and attends all the primary activities and ward activities. All we need is her dad's permission.  The only
problem is he's testigo... And sooo yeah--that'll be fun. And the second was baptized a couple of years ago
but the elders never filled out or turned in the baptismal forms, so technically she isn't a member.  So we just
gotta baptize her this Saturday.   That's a pretty sure one so that'll be fun. 

This is the last week of training so that's pretty awesome.  I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here in Reserva 

and he will be getting transferred--but that's all good. 

My Spanish is coming along pretty well--the funny joke in the ward is that my comp is the gringo and 

I'm the native speaker.  Its pretty funny with Hermana Yulma because he'll be talking and say something 

that isn't true, and she'll brush him off and call him a gringo and what not. So that doesn't sound funny--but 

it actually is pretty funny. 

That's all for this week have a great week and what not. Have fun decorating apartments, playing basketball, 

looking for houses, book clubbing, and what not. 

And congrats Adam on the call. 

Love you all.  Talk to you next week.

This Week..

This week was actually pretty good to be honest.  My companion and I had a baptism--so that's always good.  It was a ten year old boy named Isaias.  His Grandma is a member, but really nobody else in his family. So we are hoping that through this baptism we can spark the interest with the rest of the family, and they will want to be baptized. That's our hope. This week we have a possible three baptisms-one of them is a for sure. She is in her twenties and is the sister and daughter of my first two baptisms here. The other two are the mom of the member who had to go through multiple interviews due to [some issues]. The other is the father and dad of the first two baptisms I had. Other than that we have roughly eight to ten other dates lined up. So that's good.  :}

Story One:

My comp and I went on splits this week for like half a day with the Assistants to the President. We were both in our area but we went to different appointents. He was with the Assistant of the north and I was with the one of the South. His name was Elder Maya.   He too is from Pachuca. Anyways, we only had like an hour or so together before we had to go back to our house, so I decided to take him to an Antiguo investigator's house and try to commit her to go to church. When we showed up, her boyfriend was over.  So we thought, 'Ah, well he probably has a problem with ldc. Well we still taught both of them (I mainly taught the whole lesson), and after I invited both of them to church. And they agreed and showed up Sunday 'all by themselves', and commited to come this following Sunday. Well anyways, after the lesson the Assistant told me that he was surprised I had taught so well considering the language and the little time I've had on my missin. He also told me that I was teaching at the level of most gringos at the year mark. And after that he told me how he wouldnt be surprised if I was a trainer next transfer (in two weeks). And if not that, then I'll be at least mayor (Sr comp) or DL. 

After that the Assistants stayed the night, and it was actually pretty darn fun. They started off by Planchando my comp for a rule he had broken (he wrote a letter to a few girls in our ward which I ratted him out for) and some other stuff as well. But after that we just talked until it was time for bed. So yeah--it was a pretty good day.

Story two.

I had an interview with the President yesterday in the office.  That's why I couldnt write yesterday-- because I had no time because I was in the office ALL day. Anyways, we just talked about how the mission is going and other stuff like that. We were in the interview for like half an hour--so a pretty good chunk of time. At the end of it, he started telling me how I had perfect Spanish, and how he was extremely proud of what I was doing in the field. So that made me feel really good about myself.

After that, my comp had an interview with President as well. I'm not sure what all was said, but that's okay because I wasnt there and it was his interview. But my comp did tell me that the President was planning on putting me at at least mayor this next transfer in my area. So that was a lot of good news for one week--so that's good. 

There hasn't been any other exciting news this week besides the fact that I finally got the package that you guys sent the the CCM yesterday!!   I love all the stuff that was sent in it--thank you very much for everything. 

That's all for this week.  Have a great week everyone. Love you all.

A Little Mission Drama...

Oh a little mission drama that is actually so incredibly funny. It's from like two weeks ago, but I had totally forgotten about it until now. So the generation (group) that just left got in a bunch of trouble for something that had been going on for their entire mission. The whole generation of sisters and elders had paired up and had all had a thing with the other person. So anyways, a bunch of them actually got engaged while on the mission (with the ring and everything). Haha  They weren't breaking like any rules (like kissing or even hugging them) but you know they all had feelings for each other. Anyways, it came out that one of the missionaries that had been participating in this spilled the beans while he was in his final interview. He had been interviewed two weeks before everyone else because of some visa issues. so the President was pretty darn mad at him and told him that he and the sister (when he returned) couldnt get married in the temple, but would have to wait a year after the were married. So the elder comes back to our reunion crying (cuz you know its sad) and President comes back to talk to him again.  The elder says he doesnt know why he is the only one getting in trouble for this. The President then asked him what he meant 'the only one'?  He tells the President all the elders that had been doing the same things and the sisters they were doing it with. Oh boy!  Was that an interesting final two weeks for all of those elders.  One of them was my zone leader.

Also this week me and my comp had a crazy city. We had the marines all up in our city, and then after that we had the police in our city in full riot gear with shields and everything.  haha  That was pretty awesome. In just our block we had a full autobus of police plus ten police trucks. haha  After that we had the fuerza civil (whatever that is) in our city and they are still here just patroling the area. 

All I can say for the crowd is to keep on praying and keep on doing what your suppose to be doing. If you aren't doing the right things--today is a different day. So you can change right now. Life is short--so don't waste it doing stupid things like drinking, smoking, etc. Always keep in the front of your mind 'If my kids or my grandkids knew about this, what would they think? Would they still be proud of me?'  Make decisions that will make you and your future kids proud. That doesnt mean you have to be responsible or mature--just have to be a little smart. Another thing to think about is if you aren't married, then what would I want my future spouse to do in this situation?  If it is contrary to what you are about to do then don't do it.

The Spirit is always going to tell you not to do something bad before you do it. And the Spirit is always going to encourage you to do something good. There's really not a lot else to say besides the fact that the Book is Blue--Church is True.   And--The Church is true--go be awesome! (trademark of Sister Anne Bagley)

This Week...

This week was pretty good. Not a lot happened but that's okay.  My Spanish is getting better.

Story 1:

We went on splits on Tuesday and it was a blast. I was in my area and he was in Uribe. So I decided that 

all day we were just going to contact and put up some baptismal dates, as well as visit a few less actives. 

So we first went and visited some less actives until comida. The first lesson I asked the lady straight up why 

she doesn't go to church, and why she stopped going  (wasn't going to try to tip toe the problem). She talked about how she didn't think the Book of Mormon was true. I then asked her if she had read the Book of Mormon all the way through and where she stopped reading it. She told me she stopped halfway through first Nephi and had never finished. I asked her why she had stopped reading and she told me it was because she finds it really hard to understand. Me and Elder Rodriguez then bore our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and the truth of it. and how it is difficult to understand at times but every time we will feel the Spirit.

The second visit was out on a limb and it was to a member that wasn't really less active--i just got the impression to go there. We got to talking and he talked about how he didn't want to go to church anymore (for a few different reasons--big one was because of work).  So we then taught him about the Sabbath Day and the blessings that come from it. We then promised him that if he observed it then he wouldn't just do fine but he would do better off then if he did work on Sunday.

We visited a lot more, but they weren't as cool as those two.

We then spent the rest of the day contacting a bunch of people. We contacted more then fifty people that day and made twenty new investigators as well as put three dates on the board. I then get a call from my comp and he is asking how I'm doing and making sure I'm okay.  I told him all we had accomplished, and he starts getting extremely mad at me for some reason. It turns into him yelling at me over the phone (me not understanding cuz the phones are bad as well as my Spanish).  So it just ended up with him saying to just get another baptismal date. So we contacted some more and put another two on the board. 

The next day me and Elder Angeles had to go and visit some of the new investigators and we put another three baptismal dates on the board the next day. The two that are the most serious are Melanie and her dad Simon. Its hard because they are searching for a church and talking with the JWs. So that is a big challenge as of right now with those two.  We just need them to attend church. The day after me and Elder Angeles went and continued to teach the New Investigators and put another two dates on the board. So all and all we had a pretty great week when it comes to doing all of that stuff.

Experience 2

Me and Elder Angeles have actually been getting along a lot more this week. We decided to change it up and I was the trainer this week and he was the Gringo. So I taught all the doce semanas and all the other stuff as well. It was actually really fun and I learned a lot more being the teacher than I do when I'm the student.  Then today we went to the mission office to exchange our broken phone and some other stuff as well. Elder Angeles was talking to one of the Assistants and he gave me a huge compliment.  He told the Assistant that I had been and would be an amazing trainer. And that this week he has learned a lot more than he has in previous weeks when I was teaching him. So that made me feel really, really good about myself. 

That is really all for this week. The members have been treating me a lot better--so that's good. And there hasn't been any really dangerous situations here--so that's boring. The one cool thing though is there are three rogue marines fully armed loose near me. This has led to so many marines and police to set up check points all over my area and helicopters constantly flying over head.  So that's kinda exciting.

Love you all.  Hope all is well.  Keep being awesome.

E. Hall