100th Email Home May 23, 2016

 HELLOS!(Yes, I spent hello with an "s" on purpose!) I really do agree, that the days are going by too fast! I think we need to have a family fast to longer our days, but if you can to longer mine! I really feel like the time is not on my side,  I want to baptize a lot of people and to help as much as I can before I go home, so I can feel like I have actually done something in Coita! Lol! I can't wait to see your project's, it will be a fun thing to see. Oh, I think I do remember her, is her husband the one that had the blue pickup? or am I wrong? I think I will remember when I see her face! But that is sad, but good for her, because now she is on a beautiful beach, enjoying a piña-colada! What a luck woman! Brother Herbert is still in the ward? I thought he would have been long gone, with having a family and all! Honestly, I think that if we grieve for 1 day it's okay, but you shouldn't carry on with those memories forever, I feel like it's like you don't believe in the eternal Plan of Salvation. For those who do grieve, like you said are going to be depressed and hurt for along time. Like seeing the people that can't let go of their dead son's clothes or they just leave their room the same forever, it's sad and it will eat at that person forever until they can change and let go. Save the good memories of loved ones and have pictures of them to remember that we were sealed and we will be together once again, that is the truth and the Love of our Heavenly Father! Good for you Mom, your faith in the Lord and his plan is wonderful to hear!

  Wow! That is great news! I would love to see more and hear more from him, interacting with the family. I hope he will feel apart of the family again, so we can watch him and his family grow! Sounds like a "Mad house", it must had been fun to have all of them! You guys still watch Mary Poppins??? Hmm. I have no idea why those kinds of movies bugged me when I was a kid, maybe it was because I liked more manly stuff like, explosions, cars, etc. I have really have been enjoying the music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it has helped me feel the Spirit a lot stronger and I actually love to listen to the music a lot! I want to sing professionally, maybe not has a career, but my hobby to entertain the fam., friends, and others! It's just a dream of mine! 

 That FHE sounded good! I hope one FHE we can all do a service project for a neighbor or a family member, it gets me feeling good! We could do "How to make mint brownies" and then go door to door giving them out and then come home and eat some with a nice glass of milk! MMM! 

  Thanks, Mom for all that you do and for your outstanding support! YOUR THE BEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD! 

 This is a picture from one of the houses of a member we were with, nothing impressive, but you know. 

A members birdy was getting wet! 

This is my wonderful bed! And yes, that's a tiger on the blankets!

 A selfie with my beloved companion Elder Fernandez!
Well, sorry again it's not much, but it's hard work and I will get more for the next week! Love you!

99th Email Home May 16, 2016

Well, it sounds like the family is doing great! We are happy to announce that we are going to start working again, I don't know if we are going to work all day, but after lunch, which is at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It's okay, because me and my companion work extra hard when we have the chance to work, so we will do our best to get up to par again! Also, get more baptisms! Right now, we have about 5 people that we can baptize, but only 1 came this Sunday and that was a bummer, but we will go and do the things the Lord commands! Honestly, hearing about that dream I hope that I don't appear that lazy! Lol! I want to come off the plane with the spirit of teaching and helping others, in missionary uniform! That's so great that there are people willing to sacrifice to serve others, going back and forth to help you complete the dining table, that's very awesome! I haven't seen Lynnea in such a long time! Where is she living theses day? Also, that is a lot of time being friends, I hope I can break that record with my friends! Lol!

  That's great to hear that Mandy is talking again, it would be awesome to have this family together and happy! That's comforting to hear that a lot are looking for a returned missionary that speaks Spanish! 

That's okay if Crystal is moving in and she is stealing my room.... I'm okay with what ever I can get! Lol! I am coming from a mission that is full of houses that are small and they don't have boiler to heat up the water and also the floors are either tile floors or just pure cement! They are nice! It's okay if you don't deposit right away into my account, the only thing is that I might want a few bucks to buy krispy creme in the capital of Mexico, I heard that there is a store there and I want my Krispy creme! Thanks Mom for the count down! Lol! I am sorry for the short message, but I am using a members PC and they need it so, I will write more the next time! LOVE YOU ALLL!!!¡!!¡!¡!¡

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My companion got a package and his parents sent me something too! 

 Goodies! Thanks to Elder Fernandez's Mom! 

I have lost my camera taking skills, so I will get back on it soon! Love you Mum!

98th Email Home May 2, 2016

Hello! We have had a great week! First, me and my companion had the chance to go up in fast and testimony meeting and give our testimonies, the best part of it was when my companion mentioned,"Are you going to give your testimony?"and I thought that he was joking, but then he asked like 8 or 9 more times and so I responded to him saying,"Are you going to go up?" and he said," I´ll do what you do. But you go first." so I went up with a smile and I felt so great, I couldn't stop smiling until I started speaking in front of everyone, giving my testimony about prayer, the Book of Mormon and the priesthood. I feel grateful to give my testimony every time! 

  That is so crazy to hear that there are a lot of trees that are falling down, around the neighborhood! Keep inside! I have heard of a lot of testimonies at home and I think that a lot of them have been about 2 to 4 minutes long, but coming to Chiapas it's a different experience, because we have received counsel from the area seventies and they tell us that we should give a short and powerful testimony, talking about something like," I know that the church is true!" and then maybe tell a brief story, about how you received your testimony, but people don't receive that information or they feel like they can take all the time they want. It´s okay, but there are still a lot of people that want to give their testimonies. I love the times when no one goes up and then I feel that feeling that God is calling me to go up! Lol! That is a funny teaching from Brother Burton about the talk of King Benjamin. I always made that same comment in every time I taught about that story, but I didn't know about the Ensign, I knew that they had to write about the talk of King Benjamin, but that is a very creative way to think about the scripture! Lol! That is such a great teaching, requiring us to always to make visits, although the members that you visited are no longer on your list of people to visit, you should at least pass by and drop off a gift or talk with them. It's very sad, because a lot of people don't receive this type of attention and they feel useless in the church.

  The biggest fear is that, I might not be able to speak in English all the way. Some times I have a hard time speaking English, I start speaking and then a Spanish word pops up in my mind. I WILL give my talk in English and if it isn't correct the way I talk, I ask for forgiveness right now.. It sounds like the bishop is a very funny person and I can't wait to talk with him too! I would love to hear of his experiences! 

  HMMM... What kind of jobs are you thinking about doing? 2 cars are you guys going to give me one? Lol!  After hearing good and sad information, I want to try bringing the family close together, I might not have a strong voice, but I will help them, through prayer and talking with them through e-mail or Facebook once I get back. I would love to have a family reunion with all the family members. I want to live with you guys for about a year and then live with Brayden later, unless I have other changes in my plans.. I hope that Brandon is doing good. 

  OH! How could I forget! We have 2 baptismal dates, the both are named Luis and Luis Alonso and no, they aren't brothers. Also, we have 2 others that haven't come to church, but we will get them back in and they are ready to be baptized! So, thank you family for your prayers! You are all the bestest! 

 My first time grinding pepper, salt and garlic, with a rock! Lovin Chiapas! 

97th Email Home April 25, 2016

Hey, Family and Friends! I am sorry to say that we haven't had the chance to teach a whole lot this past week, my companion feels pain in his hip still and the mission president said that he needs to stay in the house for the week and I need to go with one of the young men to go teach and find new people, then after this week, me and my companion can leave and work together again, but we can't walk too much, because his hip gets swollen, when we walk about 17 miles a day and we need to take care of his hip. The members are very happy to have missionaries here, because we are having activities and are trying our best to help them in all that we are able to help. 

  We had a crazy experience on Saturday, the sister missionaries have a little boy that just turned 8 and so the sisters talked with the mother and the little boy and the mom wanted her son to be baptized and so the sister missionaries told us to pass by the house of this little boy, so we came by to see who was going to baptize him and this little boy came in and we asked him," Who do you want to baptize you?" and he said," I want the gringo!" I was thinking," I knew it!" Lol! I was okay with his decision. We waited until that day came for the baptism and the baptism was planned to happen about 4:30 p.m. and we showed up a half an hour early and when we entered no one was there and we called the sisters and we said," Where are you? There's no one here and the baptismal font is empty." and the sisters were shocked, because they told a brother to fill it up, but we didn't see the brother until he walked in behind us and he told us that he was trying to fill the baptismal font, but the water was draining out, so we went outside and we sealed the drain and filled the font, but it was late and people started coming about 4:50 to 5:10 and the water was pretty low, but we went on with the baptism and this little boy told us," I am a little nervous." I was thought he was nervous, because of the people that were there, so I got in the water first and then he got down and he was shivering and I thought it was, because of the cold water, but it wasn't that bad, so I asked for his full name and he didn't respond and so I had his name memorized and I repeated it to the 2 witnesses and they said,"Yeah, that is it." so I went on with the ordinance and after the prayer, he plugged his nose and I laid him back and then he took his hand off of his nose and started breathing in water and so I picked him up and set him on the stairs, then the mom,uncle, branch president, my companion and his grandma came over to give him strength to get baptized, but the mom didn't tell us that he was scared of the water, so he didn't get baptized, they are going to wait a few more years... 

  I didn't know that every 4th Sunday, the family has family home evening! Luckies! That is cool that some of the family could make it! It must have been a great experience to learn more about the Sabbath day. How was the family? Were they happy to be there? Did they enjoy the pizza and cookies?

 Wow! June is going to be a very busy month for me, I have a lot of appointments. I can't wait to go to the temple! My speaking skills aren't the best, but I will give what I got. I was going to talk this past Sunday, but the Stake president came over and robbed my time to speak! I don't have a lot of experience speaking in the church, I have only talked about 7 times in the sacrament meeting and most of the time I just read... Lol!  I am trying to learn to just talk more without using a paper, but I couldn't do it, because of the Stake President. It's okay. 

  Molly is escaping again? What are you going to do to keep her in? Finally, Dad will have a trailer! His dreams are being completed! Lol! Dad you are soo funny! But a very awesome Pops! I gtg, but I will be back! (Next week!)
  

Me drinking Strawberry lemonade in Chili's!

 I ate a Southwest Ribeye with a double side of fries!

My companion ate the Famous ribs and he fell in love with the corn!

 Our view at the front of the house

  Our family room with the kitchen.

My companion put hydrogen peroxide in my ear to clean it up.

  CARPET! is the best! We were in the church and some have carpet and others don't.

 I found another puppy that looks like Molly bears! Her name is Fifi

 Fifi is crazy!

My companion cooking jamaica with cinnamon. (It's a drink out here if you haven't heard of it, its pretty good.)

 Outside of the church.

More of the property of the church.

Our activity with the sandwiches.

My companion is using the costume for the activity. 

Me with my companion and the SANDWICH! 

Group picture of the branch activity! 

Missionary picture! With sister Molina in the middle and Sister Cotacachi at the end.

  We took a picture with the branch president at is house, for family home evening. He has 15 years since he dropped drinking alcohol! 

Group picture of his grand kids.

96th Email Home April 18, 2016

Hey Y'all! I have good news and bad news again. The good news is that we are gaining the confidence of this branch here in Coita and the people seem nice and happy to have the missionaries again in Coita, but the bad news ( Which we all don't like to hear) is that my companion has been having problems with his toe nails and they were ingrown toe nails, so for about three days of this past week, we were hunkered down inside the house again.... Everything is alright and we are going to do our best to make up what we didn't do in this past week, we are going to have a "Sandwich night", my companion had this idea to do this and the catch is that the ticket to enter is that everyone needs to bring their favorite sandwich that they really love and we are going to put all of them on a table and we are going to watch a movie " Johnny Lingo" and while the people are watching we are going to give everyone a sandwich that isn't theirs, so we are excited to see how it turns out! 

 I would love to do baptisms for the dead, I think it would be perfect! It sounds like a great plan to go to the temple! I want to go to the temple often when I get back,but honestly I don't like going alone. It is soo crazy, that the whole family is growing so fast, I have only been gone for about 2 years and everyone is changed, it's crazy! Lol!

  Yesterday, we also had our stake conference, but we didn't go to the stake center, we had the chance to see the conference through,"Live video" it was pretty cool, but the sound was bad on the Sunday session, also the camera was pretty low , so people were walking in front of the camera and some were talking with others, so it was interesting. Our Mission President and his wife talked about missionary work, it was also very funny when our mission president mentioned a scripture saying something like this," How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the Gospel...." The Mission President said," I don't know why they talk about the feet of those who preach, there are a lot of blisters and ingrown toe nails." I got a good laugh out of that one. Also the Temple president talked about the temples, also how the scriptures mention a lot about them, the Book of Mormon has a lot of references about temples, we just need to understand what they are saying.

  I love Coita! For me the streets are clean and the people in the streets are nice so far. It gets cold here some times, so I might be able to get my body temperature,back to Utah temperature! There aren't any super markets, just small stores, but I think it good enough. Oh, this is my first house that we get to have a gas burner, so it's pretty cool. I feel like we are going to have a lot of success here! The thing that is different from my other areas is that there are a lot of members in the church and the leaders are getting excited to work more with the missionaries. Thank you for your prayers and we will be in touch the next week! I might have to send all the pictures next week,because the computer isn't working.. but I love you all!  

95th Email Home April 11, 2016

 Hi! Beautiful family! The last time that I wrote to you all, I mentioned all the investigators that were going to get baptized and now I have good, but bad news and the bad news isn't about the investigators. The Mission President felt inspired to send me and my companion to another area and so we have to follow his words, so we felt bad leaving Huixtla, but about a day later we showed up in our new area and it is called Coita, Ocozucautla. If you can pronounce the name of the place you are amazing! About the family that we were about to baptize, it was so bad, because we wasted about 3 to 4 hours filling out papers and then on another day our zone leaders showed up and interviewed them and then we finally found out that they had their membership papers, it was sure an adventure! We knew that they were members, but their membership numbers weren't showing up... I don't remember if they mentioned how long they had being less actives. And Yes, they are excited to go back to church! It would be great if you could still put the investigators names on the roll still, I am sure they need help.

  I haven't heard about the 6 week plan still, but when I have the chance to ask I will. I would love to have guidance after my mission, so I can find a good job and be super active in the church. Jack is almost 8???? What! That is soo crazy! If Crystal and Ben need me to baptize him I would be happy to do it. I sure Ben is going to baptize him, but if something happens and he can't, I am here! I really love my Mission President, I feel comfortable with him, I feel like I can be open with him when I need to be. I hope everyone in the family can be together before I get home, so we can enjoy experiences together while we are together! I did receive the picture of the quote and I love this. It makes me feel the spirit strong. I really love the talks from Elder Holland. I need to go, but I just want you all to know that I love you all! 

 I took a picture with a different zone, because we were leaving our zone. 

I wanted to take a picture with my first companion.

Our First trip in Coita with My companion and 2 sister missionaries 

 We took our last picture as a District.... 

When we were leaving Huixtla.

94th Email Home April 4, 2016

 Hello! For this past we had only 1 baptism! The family that we wanted to baptize were already members, we were looking for their names in the computer and we finally found them and so the baptism was called off for them. We had to change their names in the computer, because a lot of their names were spelt wrong, so by the permission if the President of the mission, he said that we can count these changes as baptisms, so we had about 7 baptisms, also we are going to have more baptisms on the 25 or 26th of April. Their names are Faridy, Alejandra and Jackilyn! It's awesome! The people are flocking to us! 

  That is soo nice of John and Rosita, I will try to find some thing! The conference was very interesting, first because it is my last conference in the mission and I don't know about you all, but the choir sounded even better this conference. I loved the talk about the "Pride and being humble" by the new apostle, I can't remember his name. It was in the first session almost at the middle of the 1st session, it was pretty powerful. I was also waiting for the talk of Elder Holland, but he didn't show up, but then at the end they called him! I was soo excited to hear what he had to say! He is soo funny. 

  I haven't heard of anything about the six week plan, I don't know if we have this down here yet, but we will see when I have 6 weeks left. Thanks for putting a lot of concern for our investigators, I am sure that is why we are baptizing so much in this transfer. It means a lot to me, that you are praying and fasting for these investigators, they really need it. We are going to work harder to assure that they get baptized! 

This is the Dad of the family Balbuena, diggin a well. 

 Spaghetti with tomato sauce using tuna instead of ground beef... We're poor.

 Birdy! 

The brother of the sister that is got baptized! I don't have the picture of the baptism! WE forgot to take one!