3-27-17

This week we had a lot of success! We stopped focusing on the investigators and worked with the members, and this week had 87 people in our sacrament meeting!!! From 30 to 87 in one week, with 12 inactives and many less actives. We finally feel like we are having success here! 

This week was also transfers, but I and my trainer are staying together for another 6 weeks! Apparently its super rare to stay with your trainer after your first 12 weeks, and its also rare to have a companion for more than 2 transfers for this mission, but here we are! We are going to enjoy these next 6 weeks a lot! 

As the subject line says, Mariachi Bands are real! Our neighbor yesterday randomly had a Mariachi show up and the entire family came out and partied! They played the traditional classic mexican songs that everyone in the USA knows, so I enjoyed it a ton!!! It was super awesome! 

I also had companion exchanges with our Zone Leaders this week, and I went to Iztacalco (its a dangerous area, woo!). It was so awesome! The members there are so cool! We had a ton of success and I made so many friends! We even had a girl tell us she wanted to be baptized, and that the missionaries last year never visited her again so she lost contact with the church. A baptism fell into our hands! Then a member who works at a super fancy sandwich shop gave us sandwiches for free, mine was a steak breaded in Cheetos! together the sandwiches were 130 pesos each, which is ridiculously expensive here, but they insisted so we enjoyed some awesome tortas (sandwiches)! We also helped a family wrap 20 trays of donuts, bread, muffins, and other sweets! Im officially a baker haha! 

We also had a dear friend of ours pass away this week. His name was Popeye. He was a drunk who lived in the street, and smelled absolutely terrible, but always greeted us by yelling "WUERRO!" (white guy!). We always kindly talked with him while we plugged our noses. But this week he was in the park with his drunk crew, and I guess he fell asleep on a park bench and never woke up! He will be missed, Rip. 

My spiritual thought for this week is 2 things. 

1. "It was duty before pleasure, [It was duty] before wealth, and with this prompting we rolled out." -James S. Brown, Mormon Pioneer, 1960.

2. "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore, they speak the words of Christ, wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ, for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things that ye should do." This coming week is General Conference! And I can tell you right now that the Angels that speak of Christ are our beloved Prophet and his Apostoles! (I forgot how to spell Apostle in English haha). The men and women who will give us talks this week are inspired by the Holy Ghost, and can tell us all the things that we should do. And the speak the words of Christ himself, upon which we should FEAST! Watch General Conference, and have a good week! 

Photos:

1- Me in the store of a less active member who is basically my Mission Mom (but my real mom is better, dont worry Mom!)

3-20-17

This week was really calm. It felt like forever, but thats okay haha. We had a lot of success with the less active families in the ward the past few days, and well, we stopped focusing on the investigators and decided to start strengthening the ward itself. This week we only had 30 people at church, and 8 of them were less active people that we brought! So we are struggling a little bit there, but we are working on it. 

This week something super sad happened. We received a call from Tayrees, a member of our ward. This week he went through the Temple with his wife and was sealed. We thought maybe he was going to invite us! But it turns out he called us to see if we could invite a missionary that was here the transfer before I was, and not us. A little rude and a bit disappointing, but its okay. We just have our feelings hurt. haha

We had a ton of success with Carlos this week! We watched the Gospel movie about the Restoration, and after it ended, he said "Im going to be baptized. I want to be baptized." So he is going to bump up his marraige date and hopefully we can baptize him! We also had success with Carlos Jugos, and Nami, our 9 year old investigator. We saw her at her school and she was so excited to see us. It was so cool. We felt wanted, and thats something we rarely feel here. 

This week it rained. Hard. I havent experienced a downpour like that before, and I was caught out in the streets without an umbrella. We were SOAKED. And the rain is filled with dirt because all the pollution from the sky comes with it, so your white shirts arent that white, and the sewer systems overflow so when you step in puddles, its poop water. Literally. But the cool part is that since Mexico City is completely flat, rolling thunder is loud, long, and very cool to hear. It echos and sounds super ominous.

On Thursday I had interchanges again with Del Valle, except this time I went to their area. Their area is amazingly rich! Everyone drives Mercedes or BMW, and the shops there are Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and all the other super expensive brands you can find in Las Vegas and huge shopping malls. I ate lunch with a member in a Penthouse, and I think it was the nicest house Ive ever stepped foot in. Her TV was bigger than me, and Im more than 6 feet tall. Her penthouse doesnt have a door, she has a private elevator to the top of the apartment building. I want to live in a Penthouse when I grow up. Its a different world from Utah, and from my area, Nativitas. But it was cool to see that even though its a different place, we still had success in that area. 

My funny Spanish story of the week is "Haber". Literally translated, it means "have" or "had". Not like, "I have a white shirt", like "I have gone to the store 3 times this week". But people dont use it like that here. They say "Haber" for everything. To grab things, to put things down, to start conversations, to say hi, to buy things, and it doesnt make sense in my mind cause they are saying "Have". "Have", says Elder Rosales as he picks up his Daily Agenda. I still dont understand and I dont think I ever will. 

Spiritual thought: 

This week we visited Sister Veronica, she was in the hospital with Pneumonia for 3 weeks, and in serious condition. With the climate the way it is, and the pollution, her lungs filled up with contaminated air and began to destroy her lungs, while there was water in them also. She was released this week on Wednesday. We went to visit her, thinking she had returned on Tuesday, but it turns out that we were an answer to her prayer. She got home on Wednesday, and said a prayer that the Missionaries would come and visit her, and that she could receive a priesthood blessing. We showed up less than 5 minutes later. 

We didnt know she had asked for us, we didnt know she got home 5 minutes before we arrived, and we didnt feel a specific prompting to visit her. The Lord puts us in the right place, at the right time, when we are needed most. It was a really spiritual experience, and she called us Angels. These moments are what make the mission worth it.

Read Genesis 24, and try making a specific prayer this week. Youd be surprised what might happen.

Other cool things this week:

1. I found a sidewalk shop that sells corn on a stick, like in Nacho Libre

2. We had a great zone conference this week about the Atonement}

Photos

 Carlos, Karla, their baby, and me eating pizza (I love pizza)

Me, in my favorite tienda

Me with the only friends I have in the Mission

 My view, My vista, Mexico City

March 13, 2017

This week was a quickly long week. My good friend Craig Cotrell (haha) said that "The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days". Well I can successfully say that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like months. But im not too worried about it cause everyone says it will get faster, I just need to keep learning. 

This week I became addicted to 4 things. 

1. Cheap pizza

2. The ice cream here is heavenly

3. Potato chips from sidewalk stands

4. Smoothies from smoothy stands

The potato chips are made right there in the street and boy oh boy, when you havent had lays potato chips for 4 months, are those sidewalk chips good. And, our investigator always gives us free smoothies from his smoothie stand. Banana Mango Pineapple Strawberry is super good. I have one every day cause its so insanely delicious. Thankfully everything here is super cheap and I can afford to buy potato chips every day from my monthly funds. 

I went on interchanges again with an Elder from Del Valle, and during the day an investigator asked who the current and living Prophet was. He said "Spencer W. Hinckley" :/. We have some work to do because that sounds nothing like Thomas S. Monson. 

I dropped my 15 pounds cause I got diarrhea again this week. Its kinda cool that I can just eat and eat and then boom, its all gone cause I get sick so often. 

This week we met Nami, another 9 year old girl who wants to be Baptized. She is going to be baptized April 8th. Im so excited to have another baptism, and Nami is super awesome and were already great friends! :)

The Metro in Mexico City is my favorite part of the entire city so far. It cracks me up everytime I get on. First, when its super crowded, people literally run and jump and shove themselves into everyone else to get on before the doors close. Its super super packed and idk its just funny. Second, the PDA on the Metro is unlike anything Ive ever experienced. There are couples making out so hard on the Metro and everyone is totally fine with it. There are couples pinning each other to the walls of the train and no one blinks an eye. I dont enjoy seeing that but it cracks me up knowing that literally nobody cares. Third, there are people who sell things on the Metro train while its moving, called Metro Vendors. Technically its illegal but they have a network set up so that they can alert each other before Police catch them. They sell journals, headphones, gum, and Marijuana. Yes. Marijuana. And people buy it. No shame. Fourth, because people bring the wierdest things I have even seen on the Metro. Ive seen huge bags of raw meat, tires, bags of trash, microwaves, and more. Its a great place. 

My spiritual thought this week is about women. This week in Priesthood, our teacher said something that flipped my knowledge upside down. He said "theres something super special about women. I cant tell you what it is cause I still dont know. But the biggest example I have is that they get into Heaven for free. Guys need the priesthood to enter, but girls dont." The Priesthood isnt given to guys because theyre better, the Priesthood is given to guys because God knows how stupid we are and that we need something more in our lives to help us get back to him. Remember that Adam was created first, and then Eve was created. Not because man is better, but because God knew Man would go extinct if it werent for women. Im absolutely certain that if Eve was created first, there would have been no need for Man to be created, because women dont need help. My example is my mom. Shes so unbelievably strong in the Gospel, she somehow does everything around the house, and more, and she takes care of 3 kids and a missionary. Need I say more? The evidence is clear, women are sacred and we should try to treat all of them with respect. My invitation is that you tell the women in your life how greatful you are for them, cause without them, we are nothing. 

Other cool things

1. LEGO BATMAN WAS AT THE CHEVY DEALERSHIP THE OTHER DAY

2. My Comps Dentist brang her dog to work the other day, just a dog in a sterile environment, no big deal #Mexico

3. I learned how to use a Machete this week. hehe. 

4. It was McCalls birthday on Sunday, Happy Birthday!!!!

5. I found 50 pesos on the ground this week, and this time I didnt drop it in the sewer!

Photos:

1. ME AND MY HERO

3-6-2017

I have good news! Kate Bustos, 9, chose to be baptized this week, and not only did she choose to be baptized, she chose me to baptize her! It was a small, quiet service and she was so so happy! In fact, after the baptism we found out that she had been wanting to be baptized since she was 6! I was so honored to baptize her and it was a super special experience for me! We gave the musical number, "Teach me to Walk in the Light" with a guitar that Elder Rosales was given. Rosales was terrified haha! Im so glad that Kate chose to be baptized, its another addition to my evergrowing testimony. Shes so sweet and I cant wait for her Dad to be baptized, so that I can go to the Temple with them and see them sealed together for eternity. 

We also received many many blessings this week! A less active sister in our ward took us to a buffet 2 days in a row! The buffet wasnt really a buffet, just endless rice and beans, but we were still more than grateful for her because we didnt have lunch either of those days! Then, another less active couple took us to Vips (basically fancy Mexico Ihop) and let us buy whatever we wanted! The bill wasnt cheap, but they insisted upon letting us eat. It was a huge blessing to us, because it means that they actually care about us, which is something that we have been greatly missing in this ward. This week we also recieved 200 pesos from a sister in our ward, just because! I got to eat pizza again! Pizza is my favorite food. I love pizza. Speaking of pizza, my pizza ceiling is growing, and its almost half of the entire ceiling now.

We had intercambios (interchanges?) this week with our Zone Leaders, and other Missionaries from our District. I did a ton of service, contacting, and I learned a ton from them. It was a good time and it prepared me for the next 21 months of my mission.

INVESTIGATOR UPDATE: 

-Adrian: He is the dad of Kate. His wife-girlfriend is already married to another guy, but doesnt want to be, so we only need to divorce her and have them get married and he will be baptized, and after that, its to the Temple!

-Delia: Delia went to Kates Baptism and is super excited for her own. She just needs to finish this semester of College so that she can attend church with us and be baptized!

-Carlos Jugos: Carlos isnt drunk in the street anymore! He returned to his Juice stand and we have continued to teach him. We hope we can help him with his struggles and baptize him!

-Carlos: Carlos is progressing! He has gone 2 weeks without coffee and all we need is to convinve him to get married sooner, cause he has it planned for September.

-Alex: This week we met Alex, an old investigator. We quickly understood why because he believes in numerology, and that we are in a neverending cycle of possessing bodies and that he knows without a doubt, because of the numbers, that Jesus Christ is just an example, and if we dont want to follow him thats okay. We have work to do with him. 

-Nami: Nami is 9, her mom is inactive. But this week she ran into us and said she wanted her daughter to be baptized! So, in a way, a baptism literally just fell into our hands. We are so excited to baptize her and reactivate the entire family!

We have more investigators but they arent progressing so I dont need to tell you about them. We are working with a lot of people, but these are the people with the most promise. There are many people we teach, especially including less actives. Right now, we are focusing almost completely on the ward, because we know that its really hard to keep converts active without a strong ward. And thats our situation for these past few weeks. 

My spiritual thought for today is that when we teach our kids to "walk in the light", we are preparing them forever. We have so many less active families with rowdy children, irresponsible teens, and drugged up single adults who live with their families. And their all less active. That isnt a coincidence. Teaching our posterity to walk in the light of Jesus, and His Gospel, we are teaching them how to have a successful life, marriage, and eternity. Remember that nothing is more powerful than the Book of Mormon, and that Joseph Smith said we will draw closer to God through the BoM more than any other book, and that the BoM is our keystone. Dont forget to read every day, because I guarantee the blessings you receive from reading it, are necessary if you want to have eternal life. Its that simple! 

I love you all, thank you for your prayers, and have a good week!

Other cool or random things

1. Elder Rosales drinks louder than is humanly possible

2. I bought a watch for the equivalence of 3 dollars

3. I fixed our washing machine this week

4. I accidently knocked Clorox in the washing machine with Rosales clothes. Oops.

5. Yesterday I got 2 tortas for free