86th Email Home February 8, 2016

Well, where do I begin... First off we past through the bus stop of Huixtla, which I could get off at, because all the missionaries need to be in Tapachula in a especific bus stop, so I passed through my area and then I returned back through the same trail with companion and that took about an hour to get there, then we got into the house and I saw that the house was sooo messy, like no one has cleaned the place in a long time, then passing through the other rooms of dirtyness I found our room and there I found the greatest gift that I have ever received I all of my mission houses, AIR CONDITIONING! Then, my companion explained that we can use as much as we want, because the landlords are really rich and very nice, but they don't want to join our church, but they let us have the keys to enter into their house which is bigger and awesome than ours, they let us use their laundry machine and ALSO their cars, they have about 5 cars and they said," If you need to use a car you can take the keys, just fill it up when you are done!" we are not authorized to use a car in the mission, but it's cool to hear that we have loving neighbors! 

  My companion is Elder Fernandez and he lives in Utah, also some times in Veracruz. His dad has 1 hotel and 2 restaurants, so thats why they live in different parts of the world, my companion very charitable and shares his stuff with me! The other thing I wanted to say is that, my companion can't work for about 2 weeks and so for the past 3 days we haven't been working. He had a problem with his nose, he was playing soccer with one of his companions and something hit him in the nose, so he couldn't breath through his right naustral and also he wanted to change the shape of his nose, because he was going through surgery, so why not. We are now waiting for the time to pass! 

   In our area we managed to invite 2 people to baptism and one them will be getting baptized this week on the 13th her name is Angi she is 9 years old and the other is Angel for the 20th, I don't know him all that well, but they are ready and I am getting excited for more baptisms! 

  The mission home is pretty far away, about 6 hours again. I only had the privilege to meet an ex branch president.Starbucks doesn't exist in Huixtla, sadly. Well this was my experience of the week! I love you all! I think I will try to send more pictures the next week, because this computer is slow! 1.My journey to Tapachula.  (Sorry... the picture wouldn't upload on Chad's blog)

85th Email Home February 1,2016

Helloooo everyone! I have been doing really great this week! Our investigators didn't show up at church this week, but we are not sad, we are just worried for them, because it's the only way that they can get closer to God's love, to know of his plan and get baptized. We were close to get Brother Mariano into church, because he was telling us that his boss told him that they weren't going to work, because in the morning gets cold and they were planning on just waiting until the noon, but the day started off hot and we were waiting in the Chapel and he didn't show up, so we thought he slept in, but later in the day I finally checked the phone and he sent a message saying that he was working! He was very sad, because he loves the church, but we told him that it was okay. We also received a message from the bishop on Thursday, saying," Hey Elders! I'm not going to be in church this Sunday, also can you both give a talk about missionary work?" and I was like," Well, okay..." and so, we didn't have time to prepare anything Thursday or Friday, because I went to another area for a day, so I was worried, because I was running out of time and once the transfers ended, I asked my companion if he prepared his talk and he was like,"Aaa! I forgot!" and I started to laugh, when I got back it was a Saturday and did have time to study in the morning and so all that was left was Sunday in the morning! We woke up and got ready and started to study and I finished my talk in about an hour and I was thinking that it wasn't going to take along time to share my talk, but it lasted about 16 mins and my companion was next and he said that I didn't leave him a lot of time to talk, in a way I felt happy and filled with the spirit, because when I shared my talk I first felt a bit nervous, but then I felt calm afterwards and could, express myself a little more! 

 

  I am glad that the Gospel is interesting concept, I feel like we can suffer to hear the Gospel, because we haven't humbled ourselves enough, but when we enjoy the discussion, we have the desire to ask questions and think about the things we do in the church, then our hungry will be satisfied and we can apply these covenants or prinicipals in our lifes and share with others! For me I love the Book of Mormon, it is soo hard for the to put down when I study, because when we study, we can only study 20 mins the Book of Mormon and then 20 mins Preach My Gospel, and then other gospel library books, when I study the Book of Mormon, I feel the desire to know more, in Spanish it has a different explanation of what is happening in the story and I have learned a lot more from my studies. Oh, and did you and dad throw away the animated Book of Mormon videos?

 That is great that everything is going well with the nails business, I hope you are learning how to take out ingrown toe nails, because I might have some when I get back, I am trying to fight them, but my nails grow fast! It would be awesome to have a family get together every month, maybe watch a movie or play UNO or something, it would be fun!

Me and my companion are leaving to different areas tomorrow, I will be going to Huixtla and my companion will be going to Arriaga! I will most likely be ending my mission in Huixtla, being District leader! We are sad, but excited! Love you all soo very much!     

 My first pair of shoes!

                                                 My shoes that don't work anymore!

   I drank a lot of milk!

Saying good-bye to the Lopez Family

 Also, good-bye to Sister Blanca!

Good-bye to another Lopez family( not related to other Lopez)

Cabellero Family

Zone Picture! 

 We bought Cheese cake and we ate it all!

 District picture! 

I was getting drunk off of milk!

 We drank a lot of milk!

SUSHI! with the buds! 

California special! 

84th Email Home January 25,2016

 Hola! Family! This weeks report is about the investigators that we have and that are progressing, first off we have Sister Adriana, she is a mom of a daughter that will be leaving on her mission in a few months and we are talking a little more with her every once in a while, but she is a good person, she went to the church one Sunday and said that it was beautiful, but she only went to the sacrament meeting, but it's okay. We are still working on a way to get her married with her boyfriend, but I don't know when we could do that, maybe with a lot of prayers! The other person is a brother called Jorge, he went this Sunday and he said that he loved it, only we need to plan with him a little more, because we showed up late to church and so we didn't get the full experience, maybe next week! Then, there is a sister called Karla, she only is 10 years old, but she loves the church, we invited her to baptism and she said," YES!" her parents are Catholic, but her mom was, baptized in the Mormon church! We, will see if we can help open the eyes of the parents this week and sister Karla can get baptized! 

   That is soo cool to hear that Elder Whitehead has to shower with a bucket and a cup, that what I do some times too, because the water right now is super freezing, according to the weather system, it is about 82 degrees right now, but last night it was about 59 degrees and I was a little warmer this night, because I used a blanket, but these for these past few days, my toes were frozen! We don't have the privilege to drink sugar water often, but we do drink a lot of things that you can't find in the United States and I wouldn't recommend any of these drinks to anyone, like Pozol(Natural chocolate, mixed with other mysteries), tazcalate( Some of the people here call this,"Brick water", because it looks like bricks grinded into powder) avena( It's like oat meal, but with more water and sugar and you put it into a cup.). It is funny to hear from other members say,"Do you know what's happening at your house?" and I answer," No, because I can't look other websites." They tell me that right now United States is a lot colder right now, there are blizzards, in Utah, then I was thinking, should I tell him that,that always happens, but I didn't want to be a jerk. I am glad that the missionaries in these tough times can still, continue on, there are a lot of distractions and things that get us carried away from missionary work and then, the missionaries just choose not to obey. I feel like all the time I have been out here, I have no regrets, the only regret is learning Spanish to the max, but that doesn't matter, I still have the opportunity to learn at home and I still have 5 months or so left, so I am going to try getting it down quickly! 

    I am still thinking of the things I can buy to bring back to the family, although I have a lot of time left I want to make plans on what I am going to get you all! I still need the measurements of the family, like small, medium, large, extra large. If we can get the names of the people with the size together, it would be a lot easier. Example: Jared - Large, Garrett-Large, Etc. Por Fiz! Gracias! This is my small message, I am sorry, but I will do better next time! 

  Missionary activity, We watched, " Meet the Mormons"! 

My loving companion 

 We were trying to teach a young man about the gospel, but he took pictures instead

83rd Email Home January 18,2016

Hello?!!?!?! Hello, Family! As another week goes by fast, I still try to keep on working as much as a can and the weeks for me are a blur, so I am now taking note that the last part of the mission does go by fast and I want to talk pictures and buy things, but I need to have the measurements of all my brothers and sisters, so that I can find shirts for you all, because this experience I can just keep it to myself, also I can't take pictures in the street, because the people are watching us and it's against the rules to take pictures in front of people.... 

  To tell you all what we are doing this past week and what we always try to do, is invite everyone to come to church and a lot of people promised that they were going to come to church, but only 2 came this Sunday and the other investigator we don't even know, because she lives in another city, but she only has about 11 or 12 year of age and she loves coming to church, and the other sister that came to church, only stayed for the first hour, because she had to do other things, but she said that she liked the church and what she heard that day, then said that she will come back the next Sunday, but with more time to spare, so we are excited to finally have an investigator with us and that will turn into a baptism, all we need to do is marry sister Adriana with her boyfriend and then baptize the two! 

   We have set up a plan for the ward and the name for it is called the work of Salvation and it is to help not only the investigators progress, but also the less actives and even the members to be more strengthened, so yesterday we completed the plan, now we are putting it into the computer, to make it look nice!  We also have the privelege to hear from an Elder Torres, have never heard of him, but I hope that what he needs to say will change the desires of every missionary hear to work super hard in the mission field! 1. My first breakfast burrito that I made in México!2. I was a beast at painting those walls! 3. We were just helping a sister paint her room and it took a long time...! 

82nd Email Home January 11,2016

Well, to tell you all what has been happening this past week, me and my companion have been inviting a lot of people to come to church and they are saying,"Yes!", but when Sunday comes, all I saw was a few people that we didn't invite except, this one sister Itzel! Itzel is soo cool, she is about 12 years old and she has been attending church all the times that she can, but the sad news is that she is moving this week to VillaFlores! I respect her decision, because VillaFlores is an awesome place! I can't accept the fact that other missionaries are going to baptize her over there! I feel like we have an area filled with people that are ready to get baptized, but they are moving to different areas! All I want is one baptism in this area, if we can receive more, more the better and I would be happy to baptize them all! Lol! 

  As the Juarez ward, we are planning with the members to be more available to help us, help the investigators, so that the people that we bring in aren't so nervous, because they will have a friend to guide them and talk with them and really if the members apply this and we work with them, we are going to have a big ward here and more baptisms, so this is our goal and we will make our goal! 

   I would like you to say,Hola! Feliz año nuevo! , then you can say, that Chiapas is the best mission! and that Obedience is a hard task, but I try not to think in the hardness of the task, but I try to see what I can do to change my abilities, when there is something hard to do, I give it a shot and if I didn't do so well, I practice, read and pray and receive my answer and I complete the things that are preventing me to reach exaltation, I love the example of the prophets and all that they have done to help us in these days, through the Book of Mormon we can find that temptation is everywhere and that it is hard to obey the words of a small voice, because it's more attractive to see all the things in the world than to read the scriptures or pray. This is what I have felt to write for the members, I don't know the members, but I am sure they are very happy and obedient! 

 I don't get to see the mission President often, maybe every month or 2 and so, it is fun to be with them when we have the chance, just about 5 days ago, we were in the house of the President for our interviews and we had to wait for about 5 hours in the Mission home, because other missionaries were there and were talking with him a little more, but I got to see all of his pictures of his family, he has a ton of family like 100 family members! We are about 30 minutes from the mission home, so it's pretty close! Well, I love you all thanks for all your love and prayers!

 A picture of a restaurant of a member!

 A picture of the streets with a Dominio's motorcycle and a bus (public transport) 

 More transport, this is how people get around here if you don't have a car!

more of the same 

the picture is a little clearer! 

Group picture! 

More public transport!

the pigeons were going crazy for corn!

81st Email Home January 4,2016

 Hi,everyone! This week for me was a complete booster for me, because as me and my companion were walking around, we have found new people during the week and they are pretty excited to know more about the church and some of them even accepted our invitation to baptism, but we have to wait until the 13th of February, but it's okay we can wait, because then they will be members that know the Gospel!     The weather here is still pretty cold, about 2 days ago I was dying of the cold here and I like the cold air, but without a jacket or a sweater it's pretty bad, unless you are by the coast. 

  I don't really have advice for a missionary that is going to come out here, only that to be prepared for the hot weather and to bring a light rain coat, although if you are in Tapachula, you are going to get soaked no matter what, also to prepare not to have hot water to shower with and also to protect your technology from being exposed to humid areas (Places by the coast), but other than that, you just have to get adjusted to the problems in the state. My clothes that I have are still in good condition, the only thing is my socks and my old shoes, but other than that I have enjoyed my clothes, but I probably wouldn't buy the same clothes, because they were too expensive, but I had money to spend soo, why not. 

  I feel like the best part of my mission is the change in the person, also the opportunity to learn a new language (which I never thought that I could learn), it is a blessing to be here and I will NEVER change my mind, there are always moments that are hard, but we learn and we move onward and learn from our mistakes, also we learn to believe more in the power of prayer. Yesterday, at the end of our day we pretty much had 7 minutes left until we had to return home and so, I suggested to my companion," Should we pray to find someone else?" and he said," Yes." so we said a 15 second prayer in the street and then we ended and then I started running to the next street and there were about 2 some what drunk guys sitting by the side walk and we talked with them and they were interested in the message, but they lived far away, but I think it is in our area, if not in the area of our District leader... 

  When I heard some thing about Molly and that was frozen for awhile, I was like," No!! Molly can't die now!!!" Then I read the rest of the story, now I am okay. I just want to thank you all for your dedication to help me and Brandon, I hope that everything goes well and that everyone can complete with their goals for this year! WOOOT 2016!8.Eating a Turkey leg! It was soo good! this was for new years!

 Puppies! 

 More picture of the pups! 

 George and Arely ( Arely is member) 

I found some cool cups! 

 Mmmm ( I wasn't really drinking anything)

Poor piggy ; ( 

Me taking a picture of the food with my companion! 

Eating a Turkey leg! It was soo good! this was for new years!

80th Email Home December 28,2015

Hola,  Hey, Family and friends!  I would just like to thank all that has prayed for me and for our investigators, I know that one day that our investigators are going to change and accept more of the Gospel in their lives, we are trying our best to help these people change their ways of life and it is not easy, first to accept and second, to make the change. We are still trying to look for ways to help the people that are ready right now for baptism, but maybe what we need is the help from some members, so we are going to find a friend for every investigator that we have, so that on Sunday we can see everyone HAPPY! 

  It was soo, great to see the family together on the Skype call! Although (for me) I thought it was a bit weird at first, because I didn't know what to say and the family was running out of questions to ask, until we pointed out Brandon, I do not recall what I was saying exactly and the experience has left an impact in my soul, I think about this experience and I feel like it was about a minute ago, the spirit fills me with the knowledge and power to talk and I have learned something from this experience, first for the past few weeks I have been asking God to help me have a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon, because in past conference with our leaders they mentioned that we need to have a testimony every day, by praying to God for help to understand the scriptures in a different way, after this experience that I had with Brandon, I was testifying of the things that are true and real and for this experience, I know the Book of Mormon is true and I have been touched that nothing or nobody can take away my testimony.

  I can't wait to have a family reunion! It will be soo awesome! I have to think of some goals that I can make to have a change in my life and for the lives of others, so I will try to remember to think about them! I thought before my mission, it is pointless to set goals, because my mind was sent on just go out and do it, its was a good plan for a while, but when you are out in the world, it doesn't work too well, we have to make plans to complete, so that we can accomplish them and then move on to the next goal! It is sometimes hard to make goals or keep on track with them, but we can always ask our Heavenly Father for help! I Love you all and I hope everyone enjoys New years! 

    

Me drinking chocolate milk! 

More Chocolate MILK!

 The high-way in Tuxtla!

 Me with my comp. with Fam. Sanchez!

Temple in Tuxtla!

 Bananas!

Squirrel!