December 12, 2011

Hey mom!

To start off I didn't feel any earthquake mom ha ha. I didn't even hear about one here. So don't worry about me mom. Nothing happens here in Queretaro really. So I'm good. this last week was a little difficult. We are finding people but nobody can go to church on Sundays so it sucks, cause if they don't go to church they don't really progress. We found one family that was really cool. The dad told us that he has prayed the day before to learn more about God and we showed up the next day, but we are still trying to work with him. We taught him and his family and one of his friends. The friend told us, I'm gonna stay here cause I feel the spirit. So that was a cool little comment. He doesn't live in our area though so we will have to pass his reference. We gave them a Book of Mormon and that will have to be the tool that convinces them about the truth of the gospel cause that is the most powerful weapon we have, that and our testimonies. Now Hugo he is doing ok. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and accepted it well. We are just trying to work on getting a date of baptism with him. He says he doesn't want to change religion but he wants to keep going to church and having us over ha ha. So we will see what happens this week and if he doesn't accept baptism we will have to drop him. And I don't know why we didn't play much soccer in Cuautitlan. I guess the leaders didn't want to ha ha. But here we do. On Saturday we had a activity with the young men playing soccer. It was fun. I like playing here. They have little turf fields in a spot and its cool stuff.

Then today we went to the Centro and looked at some stuff and ate. It was good. We went with that family that took us last time to eat. They are sick. They always help us out. Today is Dia de La Virgin Guadalupe. So it should be a little interesting tonight. I think there will be a lotta crazy people outside. ha ha. Oh and we can use Skype so if you want to use that we can. Now the comp, eh he is ok. He doesn't like to live in a clean house so I always have to clean ha ha. It sucks but whatev. Someone has to do it or it won't get done.  I think I will be with him another change here. So I hope we will be fine. He has been out 18 months. So we both have a little bit of time. Ashton was like today man you come home in a couple months! I was like nope still have a little bit ash ha ha. That's sweet Sammy comes home tomorrow! Tell her hi for me. And Israel and her, well you can try if you want mom. It's your choice. I'm here and can't really do anything. She was the last family member I saw before I came to Mexico ha ha. And I don't want to go to a Mexican restaurant when I come home. I want Timbermine. And I don't think I will be able to send my memory card with one of them cause they are in the Estado and Hidalgo so I won't see them I think. So I'm sorry.

That's good to hear that dad likes shooting his guns. I'm glad he does something that is fun. I bet it helps him relieve the stress that he has during the week. That's always good to get rid of that. I'm gonna have some fun toys when I get home it sounds like! And mom ya just punish the little kids. That's the only way some of them learn which sucks but if there isn't any other way that's what has to be done. Ashton tells me he doesn't really like his job now cause the kids are really bad. I'm sorry bout that. At least he is gonna have a break for a while. That will be nice for him. Makelle finally wrote me this week too. Sounds like she is doing good. She wasn't going to school if I remember right. I hope she is doing good in her new house.

Now for the charity. That's something that is always tough for everyone of us. Sometimes its really tough to love someone that has done something to us, but if we can do it, we will become more like Christ cause He is the one that loved everyone of us (even the bad people) to die for us. He is the perfect example of how we need to strive to become like. Even when the people had crucified Him He asked the Father to forgive them. I don't know about you but if someone was killing me for no reason I wouldn't forgive them.  That's what is so great about life, we can change. We can always change thanks to the atonement of Christ. I think that is the most important thing that we can do, change for the better that is.

Now Christmas, sounds like its gonna be cool, what are you gonna get dad and what is dad gonna get you mom? Ashton, I think he will get another snake or something. I can't believe you let him get one of those ha ha. And oh ya I got one of your packages. The one with the shoe stuff. I don't know what that purple color is doing in there but thanks for the effort ha ha. The natural is really good. I don't want to open the beef jerky still cause my comp likes to scavenge. So I gotta keep that on the DL ha ha.   

Well here we are doing ok. We had interviews the other day. They went good with Pres. He is a good guy, really spiritual. I'm glad he is here as our president. And we also got microwaves finally! They are pretty good now I can eat my little pizzas ha ha. But right now we are struggling a little bit cause its tough to find right now cause a lot of people are leaving others have a bunch of plans but we just need to keep working and the Lord will put us in the path of the people or the people in our path. I have been studying in 2 Nephi, I really like all of Nephi just to see how obedient he is in all things and even when the things aren't going so well for him he sticks through it. It's a good example for all of us. When things aren't going our way just keep being obedient and hold on the the iron rod. I love you all and hope you all are doing well. and remembering the Savior in these days. Take care.

1 picture I think is us with Santa

2 is us in the Centro today

3 the fog that was outside our house one day in the morning,

December 5, 2011

Hey mom! I'm doing good here. It sounds like the storm was really crazy from what everyone has told me and the picture that you sent me, that's pretty crazy stuff. ha ha I hope everyone is safe and mom I hope you are feeling better from the sickness. And yes we gave a blessing to a lady last night, a less active. We went to visit her and she was sick and we gave her a blessing and she said she was feeling better right after that! It's amazing how the priesthood works in the lives of the people. We are lucky cause we can participate of those blessings in our lives and homes.

As for this last week went ok. We are finding people but all the people that we found last week are not divorced and living together! So that is a bummer cause the divorces take forever! It doesn't really help us right now. As for Hugo he couldn't go to church yesterday he had to work. He is doing ok. He says he doesn't want to change religion but he says he want to keep going to church and listening to us ha ha. So I don't know what is up with this guy. We will see though. Then today we played soccer. It was fun with the zone. We've got some pretty good athletes here in the zone. And we played some basketball. I tried but all the other white kids had played ball in high school and are a lot taller than me ha ha.  I'm learning a little bit how to play the piano. One elder is teaching me how to do it. It's tough stuff, but I can read the music alright now. Hopefully when I get back I can play a couple hymns.

For the visa, ya we stayed overnight in the offices cause I had to travel 2 hours to the offices from here and we had to leave early in the morning to go to the place to sign the visa. But yes sometimes we have to travel by ourselves when there is nobody else going down. My comp just stayed with the other elders that are here by our area. It was pretty cold that night and I don't like sleeping on those beds in the offices. They aren't comfy. ha ha. Now Smith ya he was in the MTC with me. And ya its crazy I have gained weight here. They just give us a bunch of food and I have to eat it all or they get offended. It's a good thing Ethan is not here. he would gain weight like a mad man with all the delicious food here ha ha. And hey I'm still littler than Ben and Israel so they don't have any room to talk ha ha. And Ben told me about Duke. I have been praying for that homie. I guess they had to take a bunch of things out of his stomach or something. I hope he gets better too. Hopefully he gets married soon too! No way I hope Ben doesn't take that long to get married ha ha or I will probably have like 2 kids by the time he gets married ha ha if he follows his brothers.

And make sure Mia doesn't touch Misti. I'll kill that little dog. Misti is still alive, I cant believe that one ha ha. I thought that she would have died by now, but maybe I will make it back to see her alive. We tried to watch the presentation last night but the church got the power knocked out by something so we could only see a little bit, like it was going but then we would lose power but it would come back and go again. It was like that the whole time. But we might see it again this Sunday. They are going to play it again for the stake. And no I haven't gotten the packages. I think maybe Thursday we are having interviews with president. So we will see how that goes. It's crazy we are almost at Christmas again! It is going by quick the time that's for sure. And I haven't really heard anything about Clark's homecoming. I'll write him and ask him. I would think he would be at Olsen's, but maybe you could ask him when he gets back if I can't find out anything.

Well this week we had a little struggles. I think that this week will go better for us. We taught a lesson earlier today. It went well. They are cool but they can't go to church for awhile cause they are going on vacation. Everybody is going to start going on vacation now. That is gonna be tough and that Christmas is Sunday and new years. hopefully we can do well those days. Thanks for the prayers and the love. I told Israel and Ben they could go over and talk on Christmas. If that's ok with you mom cause you are the boss of that ha ha. So you tell them if they can or not. But I love you and thanks for everything. I will have pictures next week hopefully to send you. Take care.

November 28, 2011

Hey Mom! It's good to hear from you once again. Here in Queretaro we are doing ok. This last week went ok. We found a boxer dude and we are teaching him. He is a little weird but he is cool. His name is Hugo. We are gonna see if we can help him out with his problems. But that is a pretty crazy little story about Brent. I hope he is fine and good to go. Thanksgiving here was lame, we didn't do anything so it was a bummer. Here in the mission the American holidays just aren't the same. Especially if your not with another American. Did you guys buy anything for black Friday or what? Or just looked. I heard that some people were shooting at a Walmart or something like that. Who knows. It sounds like St. George was fun. It was cold here last night so it was the first cold night. I think now it's going to start getting more colder from now. And I'm disappointed you guys didn't do turkey. If we don't do turkey next year I will be an unhappy camper.

Well last night I had to go to the offices to sign my visa again. We went today to DF and I signed that bad boy. I don't like traveling and I had to go by myself. So it was a little uncomfortable, the ride from here to the offices. I don't like sleeping in the offices cause the beds aren't that good and the pillows suck worse ha ha. But we went today and I saw Elder Smith, the one from Morgan and he was in the MTC with me. He is doing good. We were talking about how fast the time was going. But oh ya important news!! I had to weigh myself last night and I weighed 70 kilos. I guess that it's like 150 pounds!! I can finally gain weight ha ha. It's only fat but hey that's better than before cause I couldn't gain a pound to save my life ha ha. So I'm stoked about that one. Then also today we ate at Carl's Jr! That was a little piece of heaven there. It's way expensive down here but man it was worth every peso.

Now this last week on work, I feel that we did a lot better. We only brought Hugo to the church but I felt that we were doing more to find people than before. Talking to a lot more people and giving the chance to the people to accept a visit from us. That's what I have seen lately. We just need to talk to the people and invite them to listen. If we do that we will fulfill our purpose cause they will be using their agency. So that is what we are focused on my comp and me. trying to just talk to more people by knocking contacting in the street or with the members to get them excited to talk to their friends.

I have had to take out some money cause my comp didn't have anything i had to go to the offices and i was running out too. So now we are running low again but we only have like 2 more days until the money gets here. My comp owes me a pretty penny ha ha. But I like Queretaro. It's so much cleaner and prettier than the Estado de Mexico. The work is a little harder but I like it better here. That's also good that dad and Ben and Israel did a good job on their talks. I bet they did good. As for my Spanish its good I think. I don't really have any problems with saying stuff. If I don't know the exact word I can describe it then the people or my comp understands me. I like Spanish. It's cool. Maybe when I get back I'll teach your kids a little Spanish mommy. ha ha But you need to learn first! Now the buses here, they are kinda like the UTA ones, but a lot more people use them here ha ha. Sometimes they are packed way tight. I bet Ben knows what I'm talking about. You can ask him about them.

Now I'm grateful since it was Thanksgiving last week, I am grateful for the gospel in my life. The truth I didn't really understand the importance of the church before the mission. But being here I realize how blessed I am cause I don't have addictions, I don't have a baby, I didn't get taught apostasia as they say here in the mission, as in wrong churches. ha ha Really the church keeps us out of trouble and helps us live a better life cause we are doing what Heavenly Father wants us to do. That's the most important part. And when we mess up we have the Atonement of Jesus Christ to help us change and get better. That's the most important thing on the earth. The opportunity to change and to get better. Well that's it for this one. I hope you are all good and I hope that you are getting questions ready for the phone call home! Take care and I love you all.

Picture: This is my comp and another comp from Uruguay. My comp is the browner one.

November 21, 2011

Hey Mom! Wow I can't believe Ashton cut his hair!! haha That is sweet stuff, I'm stoked to see that picture of him! That's sweet. Good job ash. You look like a stud man, for real though. Now this week for Thanksgiving I think we won't do anything again haha. I heard there is an American in the stake and he might do something for the American missionaries but who knows what will happen. Now here it's sweet. We have a bunch of things in my area. Everyone has money here so its crazy cause I'm usually in the poorer areas. But here, nope. Everyone has a car. Now elder Delgado is cool.  He has a little different accent but not much cause he has more time than me here in Mexico so his accent doesn't really sound bad. And no he doesn't really speak English. I'm teaching him some but we will see how it goes. That's sweet that Israels homecoming went well. And yes I bet he is way out going now. haha.  I think I'm a lot more out going as well. Not a ton but a little bit. And Ben already rockin the facial hair. what a scrub.

Wow that's crazy that Clayton is already going on his mission too. The time has gone by pretty quick I'm not gonna lie. And Elder Clark still doesn't know when his homecoming is going to be. I talked to him on Sunday. So I'll let you know when I know when his is going to be. And I do know elder Taylor. He is a cool kid.  Now for here in Queretaro. I'm in the other side of Queretaro. I'm in the other stake here. My area is big, there are some big hills too haha. And everyone has money well not everyone but a bunch of people do. Today a hermano took us to Costco. So I bought some stuff. I'm excited to eat some stuff, like peanut butter the Mrs fields cookies, the sour worms. Ya, it's sweet here in Queretaro, the members help us a lot here with everything. And Elder Logan is in my same ward he is just in the other area cause the ward area is huge.  We need 2 companionship's to be in it. But he is doing good to. His Spanish has gotten better. So that's a good thing. And no mom I don't have my tree. I would like another one. They are cool haha. Elder Logan is from pleasant grove mommy, same place as elder Clark. And I can get Liahonas, they are in the offices and I can get them free.

Well this last week went ok. We reactivated a family and we are trying to baptize their two kids. The only problem is that the kids are 15 and 18 so they are going to be a little more difficult. And all the people that we have in teaching need to get divorced and married!! haha It takes forever, that process so we hope it will go better this week and that we can find a couple people to get to church with us. Me and my comp get along well. Oh ya, last week we didn't have light for a couple days cause they didn't pay the light bill so I got there and we had to buy some candles haha. It sucked but now we have light again cause we went and payed it. Here the camiones or buses take a lot longer to pass by. That sucks, we wait sometime for like 45 mins for a bus to pass by. And it sucks cause when that happens the bus is way full!! But I like it for some reason when its way full its more exciting the ride haha. What more, the church is way far away from the house. That sucks too. Oh and a member took us to a steak house and man it was sweet stuff the meat was called arrachera. Man, it was bomb! I'll send you a pic at the place.

Now this week, I really like the studying time that we have as missionaries. The hour that we have of personal time goes by way quick. I have learned a lot of stuff and there is still soo much to learn. I'm in 1 Nefi right now and I just admire how Nefi is so obedient and never complains in what ever situation he is in. Like when he had to build a boat or when his brothers tied him to the boat and his hands were swollen when they untied him and he was happy still! I'm trying to learn from his example cause its tough sometimes here and I complain haha. So I am trying to do that even when things aren't going my way try to fight my way through and always give thanks to the Lord for what he has given me. I think it is something that we can all do better. I still can't believe ash cut his hair!! It's killing me.  But anyways the work here is getting better we just need to keep going forward and not back. Oh and one more quote for you guys by Pres. Monson, "Fill your heart with love fill your mind with truth and fill your live with service". I read it in a Liahona in Spanish so I think that's about the right translation. I know the is the Lord's church. The Book of Mormon is true. The work will continue to go forward. Love you all and take care!

first pic is me and the background of Queretaro

second is my comp and me with the family that took us to Costco and to eat arrachera.

November 14, 2011

Hey mom! Wow the letter this time is really long haha. That's cool stuff. Here I'm back in Queretaro! I'm in the other zone this time though. I'm with a Peru elder. His name is Elder Delgado. We will see how it goes here. He tells me that the members are more involved in the work here so I'm excited for that cause there was only a couple people that helped in my last ward.

Now that's sweet that Ben did well on his homecoming talk. What about Israel? Did he speak or what? lemme know here soccer is big. Everybody likes soccer mom you already know that haha. Here the only team that there is in the mission is Queretaro, but I like las Chivas in Guadalajara. haha They don't kill people here in Queretaro. It's chill here. Eric and Ian who? Eyre or what? But that's sweet. That's sweet that Arturo wants to go on a mission. That's what its all about. The mission makes men that's for sure haha.

As for our week last week it went well. We brought Angel to church and he should be getting baptized next Sunday. He was sad that I was leaving but that's how it goes. I don't like saying bye to the members and converts cause they are people that I love. So it's difficult but something that we have to do here. As for Olsen and Clark Olsen's homecoming is the 1st. Clark still doesn't know. They are coming home the e19th. So I am gonna send some stuff home with one of them I hope. And of course mom you can send another book of Mormon if you would like to. My shoes are fine mom! I trade em out everyday so they don't get so beat up like everybody's shoes. I like to keep em nice haha. And for shirts and all that I just want some more ties. I don't have that many cause I gave some to some people in the last ward.  The dogs, I haven't had a problem with any dog. I haven't got bitten. Only one time a little doggy bit my pants but I kicked em and he went away. So we are good here haha. And the helmet was in a house of a menos active that I went to visit. He works in the red cross here. A chilange is somebody born in the DF or the estado de Mexico, they talk funny haha.

Now the temple was really good. We went as a zone but we went in combi!! It sucks in combi but luckily here in Queretaro they are all buses so its a lot better. That's sick about the 49ers. They are finally good!! haha Hopefully they are good next year, too.

Now for here I'm excited to be back in Queretaro. I guess the Lord needs me back here for a reason. Maybe I didn't do it right the first time haha. But I'm ready to work the ward sounds good and we have a couple people in teaching. Elder Logan is also in the ward with us, but in another area. So I will see him a little bit too. I'm excited for that. I also agree with Ben, we all need to share the gospel even though sometimes it is hard cause we don't know how to do it. But if we open our mouths Heavenly Father will give us the words to say so that we can speak with power and the spirit. I have seen it in action here in the mission and it is the same when we want to share it with our friends so they can also enjoy of the blessings. I know that this is the true church. We have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Gospel I know its true. Keep doing what is right and we will receive more blessings from Heavenly Father. Now here is a pic with my buddy Ricardo. He is sick. He always helped us out in our area. I don't like good byes haha. They are tough. Blanca and Roberto were pretty bummed too. But they will keep strong in the gospel and the church. That is the most important thing. Well gotta go. I will have more stuff this next week. I'll let you know how it goes. Love you all!

Elder Malan

November 7, 2011

Hey mom! It's good to hear from you once again.  That's a bummer about the internet haha. Comcast is crappy you should have stuck with Directtv. And your friend hasn't been working, man, that's a bummer mom. All the electronics are failing on you.

 Now about Ben and Israel, that's sweet that they got home! It's crazy that it has already been two years since those homies left on their missions. It was a little tough last week cause I was thinking bout them getting home!! haha Now I know how they felt when we were still in the house and they were in the MTC and their missions. There is too much stuff going on to think about them and home. But that's sweet that they were able to come over and visit you and also Hunter. It's about time he visited you guys. haha  But that's sweet, I'm glad that they helped you out mom. And I heard dad is already getting them to talk in wards with him haha. He is gonna have me go like every week with him i bet. But its ok. I have only spoken one time here on the mission so it will make up for it. And that is really good to hear that they have both grown a lot I'm guessing in the sense of the Gospel. The mission makes a man out of a boy that is for sure. There are a lot of tough roads and a some beautiful ones, but the beautiful ones I remember a lot more than the other ones. And mom about the accent, I can't really tell if I have an accent or not, you will have to tell me on the phone when we talk on Christmas haha. Then you can judge if I  have one or not. I'm probably talking like a Chilango. but it's fine. haha

Now for this last week we survived Dia de Muerto. On the first it's the kid day and they go out and ask for candy. It was amazing how many kids were out there asking for candy. Lots of people dont open their doors cause once the kids see that one house has candy they all go there haha. It's pretty crazy, but it went ok, nobody wanted to open doors for us. The members and everybody else cause they thought we were trick or treaters haha. But yes we had the baptism. It went well. The cousin of Roberto came and baptized them so it was good. But the church still didn't buy gas!! So it was pretty cold water again. And we didn't want it to be cold water so we stuck an iron and some resistencias in the water to try to heat it up a little bit but it didn't work. It was too much water, but it was ok. They did it like champions. And yes we are out until 9 every night. And gicama is a root or something. I'm not completely sure what it is. But its not too bad, but she just gave me way too much haha. And gabby emailed me it was cool. I got a letter from Juana cause she gave a letter to the elder that is in my area and we had a zone conference last week and he gave me her letter. They are both strong in the church so it was really cool that.  I heard that one of the families that I left there in Prados got baptized and then their niece and the niece wants to go on a mission! She has like 20 years I think so it was cool. But as for here in this area, now we don't really have anyone is teaching. So now we have to find people which has been like the hardest part for me the whole mission haha. But I think we can do it. And president said in the zone conference that we will now be staying in our areas for 6 months. So me and my comp might be together for another change! 3 and a half changes together if they leave us both here. Now as for Gabby's son, he has like 18 or 19 years I think. So he can leave when he has like 1 year of a member. But Olsen and Clark are coming home that day cause if they were to wait for the change to be over they would miss 3 Christmas in a row! So they are letting them go home a week early.

Now for the Christmas card you can put whatever picture you want on there mom. Whatever one you like you can put on there. Here mom there is nothing cool to see. Really there is nothing that cool in our misson. Only in hildago there are some stuff but here nothing. So you choose.

For this last week it was a little tough but we had the baptisms so it was nice for that reason. Now we just gotta find people this week. We are going to the temple of Friday!! So we are excited for that too. we will see how it goes. I finished the BOM again. It's sweet stuff,  I love reading it cause I learn so much things. And I'm gonna finish the New Testament soon too. There is sooo much stuff in the bible its pretty sweet too. But I'm glad that we have the scriptures in our lives to guide us. I know that reading them will help us always and we will learn things and discover things we had never seen before every time we read them. The church is true. There is no doubt about it. Thanks for the support and keep strong! Love you all.

Elder Malan

first a pic with the Mexican red cross helmet and then the baptism pic!

October 31, 2011

                                          Baptism of Rosa!

Hey mom! and yes Feliz Halloween works haha. We are doing well here. We did have the baptism! It was struggle to get it all ready. To warm up the water we need gas. The gas ran out on Friday night cause the ward had their activity and used the stove, so we didn't have any gas to heat the water.  We had to do it in cold water! haha it sucked. I felt bad for Rosa, but she is a champ and did it anyways. And our ward doesn't have baptism clothes for smaller people. So we had to go to the market to buy some white clothes that would fit her! It was a crazy morning to say the least. haha But Ricardo helped us with the driver so we got everything good but the water. But oh well, it was good. Now for the investigators it's Roberto and Blanca, mommy. Dulce is their daughter, but Roberto and Blanca are gonna get baptized this Sunday so we are excited for that. It's going to be cool. And yes they went to the temple to the visitor center. So they are sweet.  Some day you can go to the temple here.

 Ya it's crazy that tomorrow is November huh! Ben gets home tomorrow then Israel on Thursday. that's sweet stuff. Here on Saturday night we went back one hour so it was nice to get a little bit of sleep haha. And no mom we don't have to stay inside for those nights. We work the normal. It gets way dark here around like 630 now that we went back one hour. So it sucks, I don't like it like that cause if we don't really have appointments we cant visit too many people cause its dark. But oh well. And yes the kids dress up and some do trick or treating in the nicer areas they do at least. And the ward activity was Friday. It was crazy they start sooo late. It was suppose to start at 7, but it started at like 830 or 9! haha They are worse than we are. And in Queretaro I just got food poisoning I think. But it sucked, I was throwing up and all that for one day. Oh and as for speaking of throwing up, I threw up again on Tuesday! haha I was eating all good then the lady gave us gicama. It's like a root thing here and it doesn't taste bad so I was like ok, but she gave us a bunch!! And I almost ate it all and I was like man, I'm gonna throw up. So my comp ate the other little bit in the bowl and I was like ok hermana we gotta go. So we went out then I turned the corner found a nice little spot to do my business and let it go haha. It was funny. Now I know why Ethan throws up a lot. You feel a lot better than before haha.

 And now as for the world being wicked, yes its really bad. For example today we were waiting for our pizzas and two old people came in. And the lady was like sitting on the old dude and making out!! It was disgusting. I was like that's why all the little kids do that cause the old people do it too! they just learn from their example and follow them. its pretty bad here. Everywhere you look somebody is kissing or something like that and they are like 12 years old.

Now for being examples yes, it's something really important. People are always watching the members of the church to judge them once they make a mistake they attack it. So we just need to be the good examples of the church and help others realize the blessing they can receive by living the commandments and the principals of the church. and one of my converts wrote me today!! It was really cool. I don't know if you remember Gaby? In prados her son wants to go on a mission! It was really cool. I am really happy for her. She is going to institute (seminary) I don't know how to spell it like 3 times a week! It was way cool to hear from her and that she is doing good in the church.

Now Clark and Olsen come home the 19th of December I think. So I will talk to them and see what's up to see when their homecomings are. I'll let you now.

Well that's about it for this letter. I'm glad that you are all well and doing what you should. Here we are doing good. There are changes in 2 weeks. so we will see what happens. I hope all is well and say hi to Israel and Ben for me. Love you all!!

October 17, 2011

Hey mom,
It's good to hear from you once again! Here we are doing ok. Me and my comp are getting along better. I guess here in the mission a lot of companionships are having tough times together. So we aren"t the only ones haha. President must want us to learn something from it. Church went ok. Magdalena came again. She still doesn't want to commit to baptism. So it's frustrating, but she said she liked church more this Sunday. So its a positive step. Church was good. A lady that we reactivated spoke yesterday in sacrament so it was cool.

Sounds like Ashton has a good time at work. I bet it's funny stopping the fights. little kids are crazy. so young and they are already fighting, but it's good for Ashton.

Oh and I got the package. It's sweet! Only one thing... I don't have those little pieces to shine the shoes. The little things that I put in the shoe shine stuff and then on to the shoes. And that I need mid tan and not brown. But I'll see if it works and if not oh well.  I took a little money out this last week. It works like a charm. So thanks mom. I'm stoked to eat the Skittles, Reeses, jerky and all that. Thanks. And the jerky you sent this time is better. The last time you sent like some cylindrical ones or something. They aren't so good. haha. And we put up the ghosts. So you can see some pics of that.

Now for football that's a bummer we still cant beat freaking Morgan. One day we will get em. Hopefully they can beat Grantsville. It's cool I saw the paper cut out. 4 straight Iron Horse games won. That's awesome. Then hopefully the girls can beat Park City.. I don't like them much either haha.

Now the temple I think it's in the Mexico City East mission. And no we don't get to go often  cause its outside of the mission. And we have to do missionary work and not temple work. Those are the main reasons why.

Now for investigators, it was another tough week, but we should have a baptism this Saturday. Rosa so we are excited for that one. Then yesterday we were knocking doors and we got into a house. It was a grandma her two kids then 2 grand kids. So we were like sweet!!  So we taught and they accepted everything really well. Even the 21 and 17 year old boys. So it was sweet. Then at the end of the lesson the grandma told us I wasn't going to open the door for you guys. I saw you two and I said to myself that no, but for some reason I opened the door, I don't know why. And we were like thank you Heavenly Father haha. It's sweet how the Lord touches peoples hearts. Now I just hope that they can keep progressing cause it would suck if they just said nope. But I know they felt the spirit so we will see how it goes. We started out this week a lot better than the other weeks. Now as for victor and Carla, they didn't go. They aren't very good investigators, but we don't really ever do service. That was like my third time in my mission. Everyone here is scared cause people rob them so they are scared or they just don't want to let us help them.

What kind of phone did you get mom? Is it sweet or what. Sounds like it, but you should of got the i phone!! haha Here it doesn't rain really now. We are out of the rainy season. And mom we aren't in Mexico City. We are in the estado De Mexico, not in el disrito federal. It rains more there than here. As for clothes we are doing good. Just see if you can get those little things for shining my shoes.

Hunter wrote me. He says he might come over to the house sometime. He asked me if Misti was dead. Nope she is alive and kicking it sounds like haha. Just keep Makelle's dog away from her and she will be fine. Well I'm doing ok. Today we played bowling again. It was fun. I like bowling. It was weird cause there was Jews there haha and they are way whiter than me. Well that's it for this one. I hope you are doing good. Here are some pictures. First one is me and my comp and Ricardo, he is the secretary of the ward. He is cool and always helps us out. Then the next one is the some ghosts in the window. How scary! haha Love you mom and you are the best mom.  Love you, bye!!

October 3, 2011

Hey mom! This last week went a lot better than the last couple of weeks had gone. We brought 5 people to the conference on Sunday then one to the conference on Saturday. So it went a lot better for us. It was a good relief that we finally got some people to church. It was a little easier though because it started at 11 here. But that's fine, we will see how this week goes for us going back to the 8 oclock schedule. As for my talks, I liked one that talked about time, it was a 70 on Saturday in the afternoon. It talked about how we are really quick to respond a text message or a email, but how fast are we to kneel and pray to Heavenly Father? It was a good talk. Then Pres. Monsons talk too was really good. He is way cool, and we got to watch it in English. So it was good for that reason too. its so much better in English.
As for the ZLs and the DL yes they are a lot better. They all are cool now. I have Elder Gray as one of my Zls, so he is cool. He was my dl in Prados for a change. So I like him. And yes mom we study for an hour by ourselves then an hour as comps. So it's good. I really like to read the scriptures even though sometimes I don't exactly understand what it wants to say to me. And for the priesthood session, we got there late cause we were teaching a lesson. But we watched the half of it. Now for the shoe shine boys, there aren't any. There are a couple little stands that some old guys have to shine shoes, but that is it. And like my brown shoes are a different brown so I didn't want them to screw em up.  At night we plan for the next day I write in my journal then I shower and go to bed. It's starting to get cold here during the night. These houses aren't the best for keeping heat out or cold air. They are hot or cold, depending on the weather.  I am still with my comp. so we will be together for another 6 weeks. 
Now for the people that we are teaching right now, the mom and the daughter, the daughter lives with her grandparents far away so we aren't really teaching her. But the mom is Isela. She is cool, she didn't go to the conference though so we were bummed. Then a guy named Antonio. He was a reference and man, he has a bunch of problems. His wife kicked him out of his house so he is really bummed right now and mad. So we are helping him, he went to conference and he liked it. Then we have a mom and a daughter named Mercedes and Irene. We contacted Mercedes in the street and we passed by last week, she went to conference in the afternoon session on sunday and didn't like it! She didnt understand I think thats why. She said she almost fell asleep. So we have to go get her excited about church. Then we have a lady named Magdalena. She is cool, she really liked conference and is now more interested in the church. She like the talk by Sister Dalton. Then we found out that the mom of Abril, the girl that we baptized a couple weeks ago isn't a member! She was baptized, but she never got her name and stuff taken down and in the files of the church. So we can baptize her again. We got lucky there.  Those are all the people that went to church and that we are teaching right now. Hopefully this week we can find more people.
As for Ashton, I'm glad he likes his job and that he is beatin up the little kids. That's good to hear. I only had one little fight in Shadow Valley. It was easy. I heard that dad is living more peacefully in work too. I hope it is going well for you too mom. I hoped you all enjoyed conference too and learned a lot from it. There is always so much we can learn from the talks and that's why I'm excited to read the Liahona to get all the talks and check em out. There is so much cool stuff in there.
Now here we will see how it goes these next couple weeks. I've almost got a year here in mexico! Pretty crazy where the time goes.  But isn't Spencers b day soon? Lemme know. I'm thankful for the time and effort that you give me and the support. Really its awesome having a family that is strong in the Gospel. We are receiving so many blessings for it. Keep working hard and being examples for everyone. Love you all. Take care!

October 10, 2011

Hey mom! This week was pretty tough, but we managed to get some people to church. So it was worth it. Sounds like your week was a little crazy haha. How did St George go for you? Nice and warm? I hope that you had a good time down there, and all the ward bailed on you guys? What a bummer. But at least you had a good time and enjoyed the temple. We found out that we will be going to the temple here in November. So I'm excited for that one. The temple is way cool here. How did you guys pass the time with Brent and Vicki? How are those two doing?  Hopefully good. Now for Spencer I'm gunna write him and tell him happy b day. He is getting old! 21.

Now for this week, we dropped two of the investigators. She didn't want to change so we had to let her go. It was a bummer cause the first time we visited with her she looked like she was going to progress but then she didn't. So it was a bummer, and you are right mom Satan never sleeps. He is always working on the people so they don't get baptized. That just means we have to work better and follow the spirit. Then we brought a lady named Magdalena again. She is pretty cool but she doesn't want to accept a baptismal date yet. She wants to learn more first then do it. So we will see what we can do with here. She is gunna be a sweet member if she gets baptized. Then we brought 2 more named Carla and Victor. we found these two people doing service on Saturday. So that day had gone bad, Saturday a couple of our appointments fell and we didn't really know what to do so we saw a lady there cutting her weeds. I would say grass, but it was just weeds really haha. There really isn't grass here. So we started helping her and we cut it all and Victor showed up. They are kinda dating and we started talking and then we saw Carla starting to drink some brews. haha So we talked with them for a little bit and invited them to church. They said they would come but we didn't really think that they would, but them we saw them show up on Sunday! It was cool Victor was pretty happý there. Carla was a little confused cause she had never really gone to church before, but Victor looks to be good. So we will see what happens with them.  We should have the baptism of Rosa not this Saturday but the next. So we are looking forward to that too.

Any new elders? There is one that I kinda met today. Elder Smith from Kaysville, but other than that nope. How is the snow treating you? I kinda miss the snow to be honest. Here its usually just hot and muggy. Then it rains and it gets cold. So the two just kinda suck. There really isn't an inbetween.  I dont really need a coat or jacket. It doesnt get cold during the day only during the night, but I'm fine I have clothes and blankets mom. And no I haven't used my debit card. Maybe this week I will check it out. there hasnt been anything cool to buy lately. I don't really know Johnny I think he has glasses and blonde hair, no? He will probably get here to Mexico when I'm getting ready to go home I think. So we might see eachother. We will see what happens though.

Then today we went ice skating and played bowling. I like to bowl, but here it is expensive. I don't lpaying that much for it haha. at Weber its a lot cheaper. And one elder in the district made some lasagna it was good too, not like your lasagna mom. Nothing really compares to that, but it was good. haha  It's starting to get a little colder here in the nights and mornings I like it cause its a little cooler in the day, but not much. Oh, I bought a Butterfinger and Reeses today I'm stoked for that. And, I'm jealous that Ethan has a car. That's a joke! haha Lucky him but oh well. At least my shoes are still doing good. But that's really what's going on here. We are doing better and we hope to keep improving. We can't go back down to where we once where or we didn't learn anything. I hope everyone is good and doing well. Thanks for the prayers and the letters. They really help me out a ton. Love you all. Elder Malan

September 26, 2011

Hey mom! This week went better than the last couple of weeks. Sunday we brought a mom and a daughter to church. They liked it so it went good. They don't really like going to church but we will see if they can progress or what. I hope they can. The mom is pretty cool. Her name is Isela. So we will see what happens with her. Then on Friday we found a mom her daughter and her dad. We taught lesson1 and did a good job and we said we were gunna come back saturday to teach them more and they said ok and they understood like everything! So we were really excited for them. Then we came back saturday and one of the kids answered the door and said my mom wants to give this back to you. It was the Book of Mormon with a little note, and it said we are catholics we aren't going to change religion, we worship the virgin. Man it sucked really bad! I was really bummed. I don't like it when people feel the spirit, understand the message then they reject it! It's always such a bummer for me. So that was the bad or sad part of the week.

Then changes are this next monday. So we will se what happens.  Then as for conference this week, we will be able to watch it. I don't think that we will be able to watch it in english this time though. That's how we did it the last time in Prados. They had a room for us and it was in english. But I can just wait for the Liahona and I will have all the time to read them and study them. And for Pres Call, he is cool. He is a really spiritual guy. He's a lot different than Pres. Nancollas but they are two different people and good at what they do. And we are pretty close to the offices, like 15 minutes away in taxi. 35 minutes in the combi. And as for washing yes we wash clothes with a hermana. She lets us use her washer then we just hang up the clothes to dry for a couple of hours. That's how we do it. Some of those socks are mine. The other ones are my comps.  Really nobody here has a dryer, only the washer cause they hang up their clothes.

Now last weekend sounds exicting! Going to concerts and gunshows and all that stuff. Dad said you were rocking out a little too much mom, but thats fine, cause you were with dad and not me haha. I'm glad you like the womens conference. I'm really excited for conference this week end. Last year we were in the MTC for this conference. I almost have a year in Mexico! Crazy stuff huh.

Now the centro is like the center part of the city. And DF or Mexico City is like 40 minutes away. Here there are a lot of different ways for transport, they have trains buses cars a lot of things. It's crazy cause sometimes in the buses they are like all packed in and sticked out the opening doors. It's cool. I like it. And thats crazy that Ben and Israel are already going home! It seems like yesterday I was at their house saying bye. That's cool though I'm excited for them. I told Israel he could come over and talk to me on Christmas if that's cool with you mom. Now the mosquitos, they are somtimes there sometimes not. It depends. When it's cold no, and when its really hot no. But when its like right now they are there sometimes. And they always go for my ears! But I kill em haha sometimes.  I'm glad that your class is going good mom. You will have a break for this week so enjoy it. What more, have you got the shoe stuff? I need it my brown shoes arent lookin to hot. Then thats about it for me. I'm doing better hopefully this week will just keep getting better for us cause thats what we need. Oh one more story for you, so we found a lady that we contacted in the street we went to her house and she said her husband cheats on her and she knows it and doesn't do anything!! I feel bad cause there are a lot of people like that down here. I'm glad that I have parents that are good examples and brother and sister too. I could never imagine living like that. Well I hope you are all good love you all. Til next week!

September 12, 2011

Baptism of Abril

Hey mom! and family. I'm doing well. Thats a bummer that dad was sick on his birthday. Thats a bad birthday present mom! haha But oh well. Must be nice having a bbq. I'm gunna make a list for the food I want to eat when I get home. And I'll let you know what it is later. Thats sweet that Ashton went with the missionaries. Now the days go by really quickly. They aren't long. The first couple of days in the MTC they were way long! And in the field. At least he is getting a feel of what I do everyday haha. Thats a bummer he didn't get to teach though. Hopefully next time he can do it.  Makelle didn't tell me about that story. Only that Annie Johnson works at the Timbermine now. Thats cool she talked to him about it. Hopefully she can keep bringin up the gospel with many people!  Thats cool they spoke in church. I think they have spoken in church more times than I have in my mission haha I think they have two times. I only have one. And as for marraige counsiel, just tell them to marry within the church or they are never gunna get married in the temple. We see that in many cases here. They get married and the one that isn't member never gets baptized and never wants anything with the church. Thats the only advice I have. And to say prays everyday together and read the Book of Mormon, go to the temple, those things are the things that will help every couple. I'm glad your class went good mom. It sounds like you did a good job! And the dang girls never want to go to class... they never want to go even when i was there. haha Who is in your class mom? And I know Leo. He is a cool kid. He was a freshman or sophmore when I was a senior. He is a cool kat. Hopefully he keeps going to church. That would be cool.  And thats crazy that Sammy comes home this year!! Time goes by quick haha. Soon enough Spencer and Jeffy will be home. Thats good to hear that Ogden won the Iron Horse again. 4 years straight. Thats what I'm talking about. I think Makelle only won it her freshman year. That sucks. But oh well. At least they are doing a lot better now. And Max, man I haven't seen that kid for a while. Hopefully he is doing good.  If you want to get me an o zone shirt you can send me one if you want momma. haha As for the debit card, I'm not sure if it is working. I haven't tried it out yet. I'll check it out sometime soon. Then yes our baptism went through! It was another little adventure to get into the font. They locked all the doors and nobody has keys to get into the font! So luckily the church has windows that aren't all one piece and we were able to take out a window then I crawled in there and opened the doors and we were able to start the font up. It went really well after that. The water was nice and warm we made little programs so it went really well. I was really happy for that baptism cause we had it all good. And Abril is 11 years old. We are reactivating her and hopefully now she will go every weekIi think with her daughter being baptized will help her out a lot.  The tacos are completly different momma! Here they are real.Tthere they are just beef and chicken. Here they are tripa, suadero, cabeza, longaniza, al pastor, bisteck. They are good. I dont like tripa. thats stomach. But I love the pastor and bisteck and suadero. They are good.  And no I haven't had the pansita again for a while. So Iim doing good. haha I'm doing good health wise. I havent had really any problems and the leaders are a lot better. They don't just care about numbers. This last week was another struggle. We didnt get anyone to the church for the first timeagian. SoIi was bummed. this week we hope for different results so we can baptize a good amount of people on the conference. So I think we will be able to do it.   And I i wrote Ash some tips and a story that happened this week. Hopefully he likes it. Then makelle finally wrote me! That was nice. Then something happened last week, so I let my comp borrow my memory card to send some pictures to his fam. Then he gave it back to me and I had a virus!! So all of my photos on my memory are erased. ButIi have the flash drive so I will be sending that to you so hopefully it gets there good. I haven't sent it yet. But it will be on its way in a week or two.Well thats about it for this week I hope you are all good. I'm glad dad had a good b day except for being sick. I hope Ash does well in his job. And mom keep doing work with the little kids. Love you all. Take care.

September 5, 2011

Hey Mom!
It's good to hear from you. Here we are doing ok. We had a rough week last week. We didn't get anyone to the church for the first time. So it was a bummer because when we don't take anyone to church for the first time, we can't baptize in 3 weeks, and basically we lost the whole week of work. So it was a bummer. But we have a new week this week and we are determined not to let it happen again. But as for the little Tigers, thats sweet they won, they are representin haha. That's sweet stuff. As for the high school team, I hope they win the horse, if they do that will be like 4 years in a row, no? That would be way tight. I hope they can do the work. I still can't believe we won our game my senior year. That was crazy. I hope that Ogden can keep progressing and get better coaches like Jantz.
Now as for Alicia, she didnt get baptized. We went last week to her house and she hid from us. We felt pretty bad. I hate it when that happens. It happens a lot here. People get the answer that they are looking for but then they get scared and Satan gets 'em. But that's why our job is so important, we need to help them make the best decision they can. But sometimes it still doesn't work. Then for my comp we are doing a little better. He is starting to understand somethings so it's getting better. I just need to keep setting the example and be patient with him. My favorite comp, I don't know, that is a tough question. Everyone has their pros and cons. But I really liked being with Elder Baez. He is a cool kid and we got along really well I think and we had fun. But almost all my comps are relaly cool. Everyone has something different from them. So I learn a lot. And no mom, I don't see rats very often, but it rained even harder on Friday!! It was up to our knees in one spot but I couldn't take a picture cause I didn't have my camera!! I was bummed because it was crazy how hard it was raining, but you guys will just have to imagine.
Now I got the card and I got the package. The jerky is fantastic. I love it and the poptarts! They are sweet stuff. We don't get that much money really. We get like 1800 pesos each month but man it goes quick because we have to take the combis a lot sometimes. But oh well. And you will have to wait for the picture of the Brasil jersey for one more week ahah. And I still haven't sent the flash drive. I think I will send it within a week or two. And shoe polish, yes it's the mid tan color and black.  I don't know where you bought that last one. You will have to ask dad.  That's cool to hear Taylor is getting married.  And that's cool about Morgan. I think you told me last week that she will be gone for 5 months? Not sure but if that's right we will get home right about the same time! Crazy to think about haha. And mom don't worry here there aren't any zoos that I know about so I won't get attacked by a lion. And I don't do that many stupid thing anyways so dont worry mom I'm a good kid haha.
Then sometimes they have things that say the US is in a big crisis here on the papers. So thats why I asked. I don't know really any details about it. That's why I asked.  Don't worry mom when I get home that year we will vote for president again I think and he won't be pres. haha That's awesome that Ash got his first job!! I'm excited for him. I'll try to give him some tips, something I learned the hard way and the easy way. Hopefully he does well and kicks some butt.

Here this last week was tough. Today we played soccer and I am tired haha. My team lost both times! It sucked but its just for fun, but I don't like losing haha. Then more about this last week, we ate tacos a bunch.  A couple of members took us out for them. I'm tired of tacos now. I don't really have any stories about this last week. We didn't do that well. We should have one baptism this week. Her name is Abril. Her mom was inactive and we are reactivating her and we are going to baptize her daughter Abril. So it should be good. This week we hope to change our outcome from last week and turn it into a bunch of people so we can make up for this last week. I hope you are all good and I love you all. Thanks for your letters and everything. I have the best family in the world. Oh and DAD Happy Birthday! ¡Feliz Cumpliaños Papá! The big ol 48! I hope you are happy dad. Have a good one the 10th. Well gotta go. Love you all.

August 29, 2011

Hey mom!
How are you doing? Sounds like it is nice and hot up there in Utah, that's good to hear haha. And wow mom that is weird that you are starting to get into political stuff. I would have never imagined that. But that's cool. Ethan wrote me and told me its hard to read my letters cause I don't put spaces in them. I don't know if that's true but I'll put some spaces in this one just for him. haha and its good to hear that your class is going good too, mom. Just keep doing what you have been and you will be fine. And tell hi to your class for me.  I hope they are being good kids or when I get back I'll deal with them. haha. And yes mom you should probably get some different ones, I'll try to send you some right now if I can get them on, the comps in this internet where we are at are kinda crappy. So whatever.
But today we went to one of the churches and we had french toast, it wasn't the best french toast but its better than nothing. Then we played some basketball for a little bit. It kinda sucked because we only have 3 companionships in our district and one of the companionships is a trio of hermanas. The other two elders aren't good at basketball but whatever haha it was still fun. Then this last week was pretty crappy during the week, we couldn't find anybody that was good but then on Friday we decided to check out a less active family and we found out that one of the children hasn't been baptized! So we were excited to reactivate them and baptize their kid. Their kid is actually pretty smart. She understood a lot better than some adults haha. She and her mom went to church yesterday so it was cool. Then we had our baptism! It was crazy though. So our church starts at 8 in the morning so we got up went for our people and got to the church but when we got there I checked the font and it was all dirty with about a foot and a half of water! And a bunch of dead insects in there. But the problem was is that we couldn't drain the water because the system here in Mexico with the water is they save the water from the font and use it to water the grass. So the system was full of water and we couldn't drain it. So I decided to get in and try to clean it out a little bit. I was in there for like a half hour and I decided that I was wasting my time because it wasn't getting really cleaner. So we decided that we were going to have it in another church. So we went to the other church and filled up the font and had the baptism in the end. Satan always puts problems in our ways so that we can't do our job! haha But it went good in the end.
Now about your calling mom, I'm sure you are doing a great job and that is why they keep you there because they can't find anyone else that can do better! I don't know why you are trippin mom. Don't worry about that you are doing a good job. Keep doing it like the way you are doing. Dad is there to help you too. So you will be fine. Just keep praying and studying for your lessons. And about the peeps that are getting married, that's fine everyone has their time. My time will be in like while anyways haha. And man I want to see the best 2 years that movie is funny.
Now to answer your questions, we haven't had any problems where we live about not having power. We are fine with that. I heard that one part got struck by lightning so they don't have power in the zone of Valle Dorado. I think, not sure though. And me and my comp are doing good. We don't argue too much. Oh then before our baptism of Susana we had a miracle! So we went to the other church and some guy had shown up to that church solo. So come to find out he lives in our area and he wants to get baptized! We are excited for that. We are going to visit him tonight to get to know him a little better and to prepare for baptism. His name is Alejandro. But during the week it wasn't that good. We had a hard time finding people but in the end we have some good people that can progress and be baptized in this month of September. So we are excited for that. Then during church we showed a cool little movie that the mission gave us in priesthood meeting. My comp just talked about how the holders of the priesthood needed to do better in the ward. It was good and funny cause my comp just shredded em haha. Then as you can see in the pictures that I sent you it rained really good on Monday. It was cool, we got home and it started to downpour! So we changed and went out and took some pictures. And I had some friends in one of the pictures. We will see if you can see them haha. I think my pictures will answer your questions about the rain. Sometimes it rains hard and sometimes it doesn't really rain at all. But I don't have rain boots. I only have my shoes. And I need some new shoe polish, black and the mid tan. I left my little packet of shoe shine stuff in my last area. I'm mad about that so i was wondering if you could send me one again cause it is nice.
Then that is cool that you had stake conference, it sounds like it went good. Elder rasband is cool. I wish he could come here haha but we don't get those privileges that often. I hope that the people can really take into heart what they heard and have better relationships with their spouses because that is the person they are gunna live with forever haha. If they aren't happy or cant fix their problems here, I feel bad for them.
But that's about it for this letter. I hope you are all doing good. Here its cool and I'm liking it. Tomorrow we are having a meeting with Pres. Call. So I'm looking forward to that. But I heard that it is going to go forever. So I'm not looking forward to the time that we are going to be there in the seats. But I'm sure we will learn a lot of stuff. I love you mom and I hope you are doing well with dad and ash. Keep strong in the faith. Love you all and I hope you enjoy the pictures. Love you.
Elder Malan

Mason in the rain!

Mason and his "friends"! (they are the rats on the cover!)

Baptism of Susana!

August 22, 2011

Hey Mom!

Your Spanish is improving a lot!  That's good to hear.  haha  The cabin sounds like it went really good and I'm sorry about your neighbor that ran a lot.  My week went good during the week then it went bad on Sunday.  So it was a bummer because Sunday is the day that counts.  The interview went good.  I felt better after having the interview.  We had changes today but me and my comp stayed here in the area.  So it's fine.  We weren't expecting any changes here.  We heard that Pres. Call wants to start leaving missionaries in one area for at least 6 months!  That's something that Pres. Nancollas hardly ever did.  So that is going to be a big change.  That means I might be in my second to last area!  Crazy to think about that if it is true.  The only change that affected us is that we are changing districts because we have another companionship coming in so we are going to be in another district.  But that's it.  Our district leader changed and my comp isn't happy about that because he was his comp before and he says he is really prideful.  So we will see how it goes.  Yesterday, Sunday, we only had one new person in church and 2 in total.  So three of our people didn't go the second time so we are really bummed about that.  But hopefully they can keep listening to us and progressing and get baptized.  The zl that was here left and we get Elder Gray as our zl.  He is cool, he was my dl in Prados so I'm excited for that one.  Hopefully Ash can get a job here soon.  What's this I hear about him getting a sick new computer?? Must be nice.  haha  But it will be mine in a little less than a year.  So I'm excited for a new computer for me, too.  It's good to hear that he is happy as a clam right now.  Are you going to come to Mexico?  Or what do you want to do?  Here it's not pretty.  So we will have to talk about that more closer to when I am going to be home.  But I would like to go to New York and see grandma and grandpa.  That would be really cool  It's also good to hear that we have 7 missionaries out.  That's good stuff.  It's good to hear that you got a comp to help you teach that class.  Is anyone getting married yet in that class?  Besides Chase.  That's crazy that fool is already married!!  I got his announcement and by the time I got it he was already married!  haha  I'm going to send the flash drive home.  I copied all the pictures on that bad boy so it should be better like that because then I won't lose the memory card or the pictures.  Then those pictures with the worms are nice.  I ate the worm.  She didn't have the crickets.  So ya, I have never eaten those things since, so I don't think that is a really a meal here.  And yes, I have some more pictures than I send you.  A little photo album wouldn't be bad.  I would like another one. Maybe for Christmas.  That would be cool  And no word on the debit card.  I think it will get here next week about so we should be fine.  I'll call the secretary in the offices and tell him to watch for a letter for me.  No, it's hard to believe that school already starts again for you guys!  It's crazy how the time is going right now.  We are almost in September!  Crazy stuff.  But I think this year will go by fast for you again, mom.  Because everyone is going to start getting home from the missions.  The cell phone is broke?  What did I tell you about the Samsung phones??!  haha  Use my blackberry, mom.  It's a good phone.  It's a little old but it's good.  And yes a lot of people have cell phones here.  Some of them are nice and some of them are really crappy.  Nobody really has an iphone though.  They are really expensive here.  All the electronics that are new and not stolen are a bunch of money here.  Well this week we hope to have a baptism of a 14 year old girl names Suzanna.  She is cool.  She is from Hidalgo.  So we are excited for that.  We should have had a couple more this week but the 3 people didn't go to church!  So it was a bummer, but we will work with them and help them out.  This last week was good, until Sunday, then it sucked.  But I think that this week will get better.  I sent you a letter last week so we will see how long it takes to get there.haha  Right now they aren't taking too long to get here, like 2 weeks, sometimes less.  They always take forever to get there.  Oh well.  I'm feeling better and I am liking the mission.  I think it will get better because now I have a different dl and zl.  So I am excited, I like the changes sometimes.  I also bought a cool Brazil jersey.  Israel would be proud of that baby.  The next one is going to be a black Mexico one, it is sick.  Here for p-day, I don't think we will do anything.  There isn't much to do and it's changes today so all the other missionaries are doing that.  We will probably just relax and get all rested up for this week.  Thanks for the love mom and dad.  You are the best, really, always here for me.  Even though we are far away.  I hope all is going well.  I heard that there is a crisis in the US right now.  So I hope that isn't affecting much of you guys.  Ummm, what more happened this week. nothing really exciting happened.  Oh wait, I got a story for you.  So Tuesday, we were looking for a contact that we had and we couldn't find it so we started to knock doors.  Then we found a lady that had been to church in someplace, but had never gotten baptized!  So we taught her and she accepted everything and she is progressing and doing well.  We are excited for her, too.  Her name is Alicia.  She has her baptismal date for the 4th of September.  But I love you and thanks for everything, mom! 

Elder Malan

The worms we ate with the Nancollas'

August 15, 2011

Baptism of Mauricio and Emiliano

Hey mom!

Well, this last week was pretty crazy, too. Lots of things happened. It was a up and down week and luckily, at the end of the week we had a good week. So we had two baptisms of Mauricio, the dad, and his kid, Emiliano. His other two kids didn't want to do it. The other Mauricio was going to do it but his brother, Christopher, talked him out of it! So it was a real bummer. He knows it's true. But oh well. But we will start out at the start of the week. So we had really nothing at the start of the week and the leaders were not happy with us. They came over and told us that on Thursday. I'm just going to keep doing what I know I should do and we will have results like we have been. We ended up bringing 4 new people to the church so it went really well for us. I think all four have a really good chance of getting baptized, so I'm really excited too for them. Two of them are a mom and daughter. Their names are Rebecca and Sariat. They are cool. We found them doing a street contact. They are doing really well and completing with reading the Book of Mormon and they went to Stake conference with us yesterday! So we are excited for them. Then another one is a lady named Laura. We found her knocking doors and she has a lot of questions, but we are answering them and she went to church with us, too yesterday. I think the speakers did really well with their talks and I think they helped her a lot. The last one is a reference from a lady. Her name is Suzanna. She had to come here from Hildago to get an education. She is ok. She is home sick because she lived there and she can't see her parents. But I think she could progress if we work with her. Those are the four people that we brought to church and I think they are all good. I think this week will be good, too. Today I have an interview with Pres. Call. I'm excited for that, too. He spoke in the stake conference here yesterday and it was really good. He is a good guy, really spiritual, too. That's sweet that you guys went to dinner with Pres. Nancollas and the hermana. They are cool, huh? Then we even have the same dog name, that's pretty crazy. haha How was the food? You should have gone to a steak house, but oh well. We will just have to go when I get back. Then I hope, mom, you got all your questions answered. Then about the worms, I ate a worm. It just tasted like dirt. I didn't like it very much. I wouldn't want to eat it again. I haven't seen Elder Olsen for a long time. But we have changes this next week so we will see what happens with everybody. Where everyone goes and where everyone stays. As for writing Ash, I don't have that many cool stories, really. There is just a couple of things. haha But I'll try to have some more scary stories now mom, that I have your approval. That's cool that we are having more missionaries from our ward go on missions. How many missionaries do we have out right now as a ward? Like 7 or something like that I think. Not sure. Mom, are you still the teacher of young single adults? Or what. You have had that calling for awhile now, no? Like almost 2 years or something, right around there I think. That's crazy, mom! And yes, you need to get on inviting people to hear the missionaries! Help them out if they are good. If not, don't give them anything. I just copied my photos on my flash drive so I will send the flash drive so I will send my flash drive home soon. The next package you send, send a yellow envelope that has the little cooshing inside so I can send it to you. So you can see everything. Well, I'm getting close to 13 months, Ethan reminded me and that's crazy how time flies. I remember thinking before the mission, when Ben and Israel are home I will have 15 months. Man, that time is coming quick! I know the church is true and that we always need to keep striving to keep the commandments and endure to the end and help everyone out so that we can accomplish that as a family, like you say mom. That's the important part, that we can be a family in the temple one day. That would be awesome. I know that we can be together forever if we keep the commandments and complete and honor the covenants we have made. I love you all and thanks for all you do for me.

Elder Malan

August 8, 2011

Mas by the Catholic Cathedral

Mas by the Catholic Cathedral

Hey Mom!

Wow your summer is already over?! That's crazy it's already been that long of a time since school got out. That's cool you went to Park City. I think you guys should change your location of doing that thing to somewhere cool. It's not that cool there. This last week was pretty crazy. So Tuesday night, I called our district leader and he told me that Elder Logan had changes! So he had to be at the offices at 3 on Wednesday. So we were like wow let's go visit the people that you want to visit. So we went and visited everybody. A lot of people liked him here so they were all kind of bummed. But that's how it is. Then I got another Mexican comp named Elder Navarro. He is from Sinaloa. He has 8 months in the mish and we get along alright so far. So we will see how it goes. Then Mauricio is part of the family. They are doing well. I think they will get baptized here soon. Or at least I hope and pray that they will. This last week we didn't really find that many people so it was tough. We are trying to get the members more involved. We are working with them to get it all good to go. So we hope they go well. Then the mall here is like the mall in the U.S. It's big, has stores, but nothing like American Eagle or anything like that. Then as for the jerseys, I couldn't get them on Saturday. We weren't close to the place where I was going to buy them so I think this week I will get them. Then for the DVD players, all the missionaries got them. The First Presidency wants all the missionaries in the world to have them. And no mom, there aren't Red Boxes here. It's a lot cheaper to buy movies because they pirate them all and sell them. haha So if you want movies or music here it's legal to pirate it. haha That's sweet that Ogden got Jantz. He seems like a good coach. They need some good coaches. Are they going back down to 3A? I thought I heard that. But that's sweet this Friday you will be eating with them (Pres. Nancollas)! That will be a really cool experience for the four of you, I'm sure. You can tell them hi from me. haha I don't know, you can just say that. Then for the card, I think that would be good. Then we don't run the risk of having someone take it and go spend all the money with it. So I'm fine with that, mom. I can take a little bit of money if I need it, too. I don't think it will be that big of a problem. Then the conference went good. Pres. Call taught us about how we can help more the investigatores have more faith in Jesus Christ. So it was cool. I learned a lot and I'm trying to put it more into the teaching and planning. Who is Anderson?? But no, Clark isn't in my zone. haha The zone leaders are Elder Montes and Elder Lawrence. The district leader is Elder Barreda. Then for Elder Nowack, actually he is in my zone so I see him once in awhile. He is doing good. I think I could send my card home with Elder Clark, I bet. I don't see any problems with that. Right now I don't take too many pictures. We are in an area where it's not that good so I don't take my camera with me a lot. So here I don't have many pictures and really there isn't anything cool here to take pictures of. haha So that's another reason why. Then yesterday we were teaching an old investigator and she has heard the missionaries for like three years and we were teaching her and we just felt the spirit strong. It was cool. She said she would pray about baptism and all that. So we are hoping she decides to get baptized. But then right as we left, we saw some people making out all nasty and I felt the spirit go away like that! It sucked. It just goes to show how Satan doesn't want us to work by the spirit and always puts things like that in our way to distract us. But we just need to keep thinking good and then the spirit will be with us. That's what I try to do. That's a bummer about Ash. Hopefully he can get a job. I was thinking something in food, a waiter or something. That would be good for him. Well, that's about it for me. Pres. Call asked that we write our comps parents so here is what Elder Navarro wrote for you. Dad can translate it for you. Love you all and thanks for your support.

Elder Malan

August 1, 2011

Baptism of Leticia

One year mark with pizza!

Hey Mom!

Your Spanish is getting better already. So that's a good start. Now, as for people getting married... that's crazy and pretty cool. I bet almost everyone I know will be married by the time I get home if people keep getting married at this rate! They must be listening to the prophet. haha Mak and Mic got a doggie? That's cool, too. I hope that they can put up with her for as long as dad has with Misti. haha But at least now Misti has a friend. Well, hopefully they can be friends. Now for Pres and Hermana Nancollas. That's sweet you are going to go eat with them. That will be a cool experience, I'm sure. They are cool. Pres. Nancollas and Pres. Call are both really cool. Different in many ways, but they are both good people. You go ahead and talk to them about what you want to. haha I don't care. Then as for panista, it's the stomach of a cow. It's not good at all. It smells bad and tastes bad, too. I don't want to eat it ever again. Last week we didn't eat with her because we had a zone conference so we went to that. It went good and they gave us a dvd portable player! We can watch some missionary videos called "The District". We can see what they do good and what they do bad. So it's cool. We can watch the church movies so me and Elder Logan watched The Testaments one night. It was cool. Back to gross things and getting sick. I don't really get sick. So I don't have to take pills. So it's fine. My comp gets sick once in awhile. I'm going to try to send my flash drive home soon. My comp got a virus on his memory card and I don't want that to happen to mine. haha I would just copy them on to the flash drive so they could be on both and send home the flash drive then you could send it back. Oh, my debit card it going to expire this next month. So I will need another debit card if you could do that for me. That is way crazy about Israel and Ben coming home right around the same time. The time goes fast. I was thinking about it and Sammy will be home in December, too! It goes by pretty quick that's for sure. As for this last week for us, we had a baptism! It was good. We baptized Leticia. She is cool, a little crazy, but she is cool. haha We baptized her kid, Norman, but he is 8 years old so he doesn't count for us. But oh well, it still went good. Then this week we brought a family of four to the church. We brought Mauricio, he is cool. He is a cop and like the head cop, I guess. Yesterday in church at the end he was like, "Can I pay tithing?" We hadn't even talked about tithing so we were like, "Yes, you can if you want." haha We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he was like, "Ok, we won't drink coffee any more and I won't smoke." He is really cool. I'm excited for him and his fam. I think they will get baptized within these next two weeks. Other than that the week didn't go so good. We had a hard time finding new people to teach, so I hope this next week we can find more people to teach. That's what we need right now. Then the hardest thing that happened, for the baptism I'm guessing. At first the hot water wasn't even working so we had to fill it up with cold water fast and then the hot water was working and we just turned it to really hot. At the end of the day we got it decently hot. If we don't have hot water sometimes people get sick of the water because they aren't used to cold water! haha It's funny. Here everyone complains that it is hot or cold. They are never happy or feel good, temperature wise. I laugh at it. But ya, this last week was boring. Then today we went to a mall here. It was ok. We ate Chinese food and it was weird because the lady could speak Spanish and Chinese. I'm not used to seeing that everyday. haha Then this Saturday I'm going to buy some sick jerseys that we found. They are cheap and real. So we are excited for that, too. I hope I answered most of your questions. Here, I like it. It's a lot more organized than my last ward. So I am stoked to see what we can do here. Oh ya, Pres. Call wants to get microwaves for everyone! So we are excited for that, too, and maybe even blenders. So we are hoping for those two things so we can eat better. haha But this last week I was able to think and learn more about the atonement of Christ. It's hard to understand, but once we understand it we won't want to sin anymore. That's the truth and we will want everyone to understand it as well. I know this is the true church. Love you all and please check into the debit card. If you are going to send a package, poptarts would be nice, too. Thanks fam. Love you and take care!