August 5, 2013

 

Me in Mante

This is my church building which is relatively new...one of the nicest spots in Mante ha! And pretty small...a little different than ours back in the states 

Using my brand new concrete weight set and our ironing table for my bench haha!

 

 

August 5, 2013

This week has  been a good one. It started out with getting rear ended in our taxi right after writing my emails! Luckily it wasn’t too bad. My comp accidently punched me in the back of the head and he got a bit of whip lash but for all the better the ride was free! ha!

 

Also this week we had two lessons that were kind of a bible bash which was interesting... however it’s funny that people are willing to tell us how Joseph Smith is of the devil and that only the bible is true and all that jazz when in reality none of them have ever investigated the church nor read in full the bible or even know it well. Because of these experiences I want to share a little this week on the power of a testimony.
In the event of someone wanting to bible bash we are supposed to hold questions for the end of the lesson. First we teach, bear testimony and hope they feel the spirit. Well, more or less this is what we did. We taught and bore testimony. It is cool to see the power and the silence a testimony can bring into a lesson. Because of this I invite you to focus on your testimony and try to find one event this week where you can share it with someone else!

 

First, however, to have a strong testimony we need to have strong faith. With faith we can accomplish nearly anything necessary. I have seen the power and miracle of my faith in the mission and can testify that with faith and if we can truly tell the Lord in prayer that ¨thy will be done¨ and give up our whole hearts unto him, we will NOT find more happiness.  An example- I fasted this week for several things one of which was for my Spanish. After my fast I almost immediately saw and reaped the blessings from this. On that day and consistently throughout the week I was picking up and saying words that I didn’t know the context... hadn’t learned.. and the organization of my sentences. What a blessing this was that I was able to bless more the lives of my investigators through Spanish. They could better understand and it was  all because of faith the sustaining  from food for a bit.

 

Because of this I want to testify to you that through our simple acts we can truly reap those blessing that the Lord has in store for us. It is a bit like a candy machine.... there is candy there waiting for us but first we have to pay... whether that pay is though a sacrifice or prayer or whatever it may be we can receive that candy. So put forth the effort... give your all and I promise with a little time you will be able to see the ease and joy we can find in life through Christ. This is what I want share with you all in the name of Jesus Christ amen..

tengan un buenisiomo semana!

 

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!