July 29, 2013

2 week old pup! These are everywhere because of all the stray dogs. Maybe I'll sneak one home in 2 years

                   El Centro in Mante...where all the shops and literally the center of town is

 

Playing handyman on P-day on the ac...the most important part of our house ha! Anyone have a GE sylinoid for an ac model cause that's what it needs!:(

 July 29,2013
Well not much time this week but here it is....

This week was a good one! Had training in Tampico with the president (which meant I get a 3 hour nap there and back) learned a lot and it was good to see all the buddies from the MTC were still doing well!
Slow week other than that.... we walked and walked and walked and didn’t have a whole ton of success... but we tried!

Had one interesting experience with one of our less active members .We went looking for him when he didn’t show for church yesterday and found him with his beer at a buddies. He has some physical capabilities and has had some struggles.... well anyways he wasn’t finding much more purpose for his life... but luckily in came the missionaries! How great it is that we have scriptures and a plan of salvation so that we can bring comfort to those who need it! D&C 121:1-7 is sufficient to help anyone in need of help, so read it when your down and find strength in the Lord! Secondly what a gift it is that I can sit with someone and give hope that in the life after this and the resurrection they will have no in-capabilities. All we have to do is preseverar hasta el fin! So take pride in this life and this wonderful blessing of the gospel that we have. The root to the word gospel is ¨good news¨and what good new it is!

Love you all have thanks for the support!

My pictures July 22,2013

My Companion after a long hard day

Our Zone when the Mission President came to visit

July 22, 2013

Another week in the books! And it was a good one!

First off to answer some questions,

My house is nice....for Mexico but ya it serves its purpose haha

There is no government assistance here so poor is poor.... if you have no job or are too old to work you hope to have children that can help provide for you.

 The tech. is limited here. Few homes have a computer and internet but smart phones are fairly common. I write my weekly letters in what is called a ciber. A little business with a few computers that have internet and what not. You pay hourly 8 pesos which is less than a dollar ha. There is a ciber within 15 min walking distance of anywhere.

That’s another thing. There are little ´´corner´´ stores everywhere here. Every block or so there is a little store kind of like a super ghetto maverick and is someones living room ha. You can get tortillas and snacks here there. Pretty cool.

We eat every day with a member but at 2 for lunch since the culture here eats dinner around eight or nine. So we have a small breakfast, huge lunch and tiny snack for dinner... it works out pretty well.
 

The Zone meets weekly for planning and learning and sometimes more. Esta llamando la junta de zóna. The first picture is at one of these meetings where the mission president was also present for the meeting.
Anyways it was a really good week, we met some of our goals and surpassed nearly all of our previous weeks numbers! We have about 8 new investigators and 3 or so that are promising. It was pretty funny we had an investigator named Jose and during our lesson we taught him about baptism, in which he said he was baptized. We that began to ask about it (as many are baptized into the catholic church as infants).... well it wasn´t that catholic church or the Baptist.... he said it was the Mormon church! So we were teaching a less active the investigator lessons because he forgot more or less that he was Mormon ha. Goes only more to prove that really it’s like Utah here the only difference is that half or more forgot they were members haha!

One of my favorite parts in teaching the discussions is the first vision. Vi una columna de luz mas brillante que el sol. directament arriba de mi cabeza este luz gradualmente decendio hasta descansar sobre mi. al reposar este luz sobre mi. vi en el airre dos personages cuyo fulgor y gloria no admitten description. una de ellos me hablo y llamando mi por mi nombre y dije, señalando la otro. esta es mi hijo amado. eschuchalo!.......without fail every time I share this in a lesson silence follows and the spirit enters. it only goes to prove that the Lord will confirm truth and when we repeat whole or sacred words he is listening and is willing to acknowledge that based off our faith. This week take a little time to study the JST history to gain an even greater appreciation for the man who provided us this wonderful gospel!

I’m nearly out of time so that’s all I have for this week but all is well here in Mante! I just got my ariats shined for the week and am off to buy food and the sonaria for the week so life is good ha!

Love you all and wish you the best in your comfortable lives back in the states haha!

 

My Pictures July 15, 2013

 

July 15, 2013

This will be a picture week since I haven't posted any since in Mexico

Tampico temple my 1st day in the field

A cool picture of the city, Mante

This is right across from the temple-wow what a difference

our house from the front entrance

bedroom and study room.. because it has AC! ha

our house from the front

It was a warm one... we have 4 missionaries for the ward & this is us

 

Mexican "semi" ha

Service mowing lawn Mante style with machetes

A bit of what my area looks like. Almost all dirt reads and broken down, beat up houses. I have seen houses that people live in that back home wouldn't hardly be suitable for a horse...very humbling

I can call this place home. I found the Honda shop!

Coolest mt. Some speculate that this is where the final battle took place as it is a solo mountain amongst the plains near many bodies of water... even if it's not its pretty cool

July 8,2013

July 8, 2013

 Well it’s another week down!

 This week was a rough one as far as numbers and lessons go.... we were down to one day where we only taught one lesson and it was to a convert haha. Mante I think is a difficult área. It’s common throughout this whole zone to struggle in getting people to progress. They know what we say is true and like our beliefs but when it comes down to putting forth the effort.... nada. We have three investigators with baptismal dates however one of our mission rules is that any investigator has to attend church 4 Sundays in a row in order to receive baptism... this is a great rule since so there are so many less actives here but at the same time really stinks because it is so hard to get someone to attend church 4 times in a row... however it is good that  I can still find happiness when I say my nightly prays and no matter the success I can say that I did all I could. That is good enough for me!

 The language is coming! It’s still hard but in church this Sunday I actually could tell you what the lessons and testimonies were about! With this as well I have been able to speak better and contribute much more to the lessons. I have always been able to let the spirit control my words but here it is hard in the fact that inspired questions and ´´speaking by the spirit´´ comes in the form of English and then I have to translate haha!

 

One of my best lessons this week is when we were teaching a less active family and I felt to talk in third Nephi in chapters 11 and 12... this is when Jesús descends to minister unto the Nephites. In 3nefi 11 vs 1-7 talks on the gente hearing the voice of the lord. We can relate this to ourselves. It took the Nephites three times to recognize the voice of the Lord. How many times does it take us? How familiar are we with the voice of the Lord and the Spirit? Do we hearken the first time or the fifth? I know that when we hearken the first time that the Lord will bless us for this and also when we listen and respond the first time our Savior will gain more trust in us and will rely on us more often. This has been something that I have been working on for some time and a mission has only helped! Let’s put a Little more focus into all of our lives so that we can progress and help other through the Holy Ghost!

 I was able to teach this similar principal to the less actively family and I took a good half hour of the 45 min lesson! Every week every day my Spanish progresses and a lot of that help is divine in nature.

 The temperature this week was great! We had a lot of clouds and although the humidity was bad it was 100 at time instead of 120 at times! haha I found my alarm clock has a temperature gauge and so I glance at the temperature in our room from time to time..... our room with the ac on is on average 90 ha... when you walk into this room it feels like an Ice box haha... I´m afraid i will come home and freeze because I’ve barely been here and 90 already feels nice ha!

 To answer some questions  

Mexico is crazy and better than I had hoped.. .I love it here already but I do miss the good old US. Here is crazy poor and dirt all the time... its just a different culture. The people are so nice and very giving though! Also for the most part trustworthy. I have talked to many elders and well very very rarely to we worry about getting mugged or chased or anything like that... the biggest concern is dogs... they are everywhere and love to bark... so far only one close encounter but you´ve always got to be on your toes! This is because we dont have any bike or any cars in the whole mission. Not even the APs have cars because of the liability in driving here the people are crazy!

 I am running out of time so since I am now a missionary and not really allowed to share my testimony in sacrament anymore I will share it with you now!

 I know with every fiber of my being that this gospel is true. Over these several weeks I have been privileged to see but only a sliver our Father has for us. As we learn more our desire to share this góspel increases in part because our love for others increases. I feel there is no more important thing to do throughout our live that these three simple things-  Read our scriptures, when we read we receive power for on high. Though this divine book we can learn more about ourselves that in any other book. In the book of mormon we can find strength DAILY even if its within one verse. Second is to pray, when we pray we have the opportunity to converse with our maker. To give thanks for all that we have been given, ask for forgiveness in our short comings and ask for things that are needed. And lastly to attend church. A mere 3 hours a week to learn more about our Heavenly Father and his son is such a simple task for so many blessings! With these three things we will receive power and strength enough our rock will not be shaken.

I am out of time so I close this in The Name of Jesús Christ amen.

 

 

My pictures july 1,2013

                                                                           Mexico

                                                                       Tampico Temple

Too many missionaries in one van!

July 1,2013

July 1, 2013

 

Well, I´m here and the work has definately started!

I don´t even know where to begin! How about the heat since that is the biggest constant.... I thought Hawaii was humid.. ha the weather says it 86 in tampico but in reality it feels like 120 easy.. you are in a constant sweat here and no one has climas (ac). i have prob sweat more here in one week than all my life (excluding wrestling season ha) but ya... its miserable but i´m slowly adjusting and there is nothing you can do about it anyways.

Well, I arrived in Tampico and the first thing I see is military guys with loaded m-15´s ha they're everywhere. They drive the streets with truck mounted guns ect. its a little un-nerving but oh well haha thats just how it is here.

We got set up at the presidents house and had a meal and some talks and then packed all 10 of us into the assistances house since we were staying over night.... holy hot the house was like a furnace... you sweat so bad that it is litteraly like you stood in a sauna for a few min...soaked! The cool thing however was that we were right accross from the Tampico temple! t\The next day we had meetings and interviews in the morning and from there ate and were assigned areas and companions!

I am in the Mante area serving in the Boulavad ward! With Elder Tadeo who is a native to Mexico! And I have been learning very fast because he knows only the english that other comps have taught him haha! I love Mante! Its a little less humid but still averages 115 or so every day. We are on the outskirts of town so do a lot of walking and have some very poor parts of Mante. Majority of the houses that are in our area are no bigger than our living room and kitchen. I think I have some pictures... but every house is tiny and made out of concrete and sticks... but the people are wonderful! They are so willing to listen to us and give us water... which is amazing... but they are all very genuine, reminds me a bit of the culture in Hawaii.

Our house is one of the nicesest in the area and we have an ac where we sleep!! whooooo. Everything is very run down old and poor but people still have their tv´s and radios as well as i-phones ect. its just a very different life style for sure!

We have been teaching a little but they just split our area to accommodate for more missionaries so with that went a lot of our contacts and investigators.. so in a way we are starting from the ground up. We have already visited our area book and exuaghsted members. Its hard also because we aren´t allowed to tract at all so everyone we teach has to be a referral or street contact. We visit a lot of people that belive in the church and read and pray and all that good stuff but we just cant commit them to chuch. I would say more than 50% of the members in the ward are inactive and just wont come.

The spanish.... haha well, out of all the lessons we have taught this week ...13 or so I think I contributed to 4 and understood the direction of the lesson and what was said for about 2 ha. Its really hard to feel the spirit and really connect with the people when you dont know what is going on...I just need more time but until then im getting really good at nodding and smiling haha!

haha the other thing in mexico is you cant be a germ-aphobe! Although all the water has to be filtered the cups are dirty and prob rarely washed ha for example the water at the church building is in those 5 gallon culligan water things but there are 4 cups.... for the ward the same 4 cups for everyone every week haha.. but water is worth it! The food is amazing... not as spicy as I had hoped but still good! A lot of rice beans and tortillas... its essentially the same food every meal but for now I´m loving it! And even better yet no travelers Diariah yet! (knock on wood)... haha however I dont dare fart anymore haha!

One of the coolest things here are the taxis! Everyone uses taxis a ton here since so few have cars. the taxis are rediculous though! you feel like your in a demolition derby! Except instead of hitting other cars its see how close you can get to things ha. for less than a dollar you can go just about anywhere you want in town its so cool! think of a bunch of ants and thats the taxis in the street. They pay a fee so if you're a taxi you are pardoned by most street laws... haha so taxis can run red lights, drive into oncoming traffic ect haha! I\Its an experience for sure!

I am running out of time and sorry i didnt really have any cool spiritual experiance that i shared but next week!

hasta!