March 26, 2012

Hey mom! Good to hear from you. Here the earthquake did a bunch of damage. We have been helping people clean up their things. ha ha just kidding Here we are good and fine and nothing fell down here close by us. We were on an apartment knocking a door and all of a sudden I felt really dizzy and my head hurt. and I didn't really realize what was going on. Then me and my comp heard a bunch of people screaming temblor temblor!! Or earthquake and they ran down the stairs. And then as they ran down the stairs we finally realized what had happened. ha ha Then we walked down the stairs and ya, it was weird cause I saw the building shaking it was cool.

Now to answer the questions about the comp and everything. He is dead.  I got here to my area and we didn't have anybody in teaching. So it was a little rough last week cause my comp walks really slow and doesn't contact really anyone. So it is a little difficult to be here with him, cause I want to keep working and he doesn't really want to do anything. So that is how the situation is right now. But we took one guy to church yesterday so that was the good thing. His name is Juan Manuel. He is cool. He liked the church a lot. He said he felt really good. So we will see how it goes with him. And we just have to keep working here in the area and with the comp haha.But I like the new area. It's chill. Our apartment is ok. And I don't really have any pictures yet. Here is ugly. Nothing really cool. Then today for p day we went and played soccer. It was fun. And we played some racquet ball I think with some tiny paddles and a little ball. It was fun. And don't worry about the little iron rod. It's fine. I'm not to worried about it. I just wanted it cause it was gonna be like my old one that I had. And about the old area. The lady that doesn't live with her kids is going to get baptized this Sunday in conference. So I'm excited for her. and I bummed cause I cant be there. And the testigo doesn't want anything. We went one time with him but he just wanted to argue. That's how usually all of them are. And I don't like to argue, but sometimes I have to so I had to help him realize his errors. ha ha.

Jose was a homie that we baptized in Prados. He is cool. I baptized him with Elder Clark. And Juana is sick. She and Gabby are gonna go to the temple within a couple months so it is cool and a lady named Lucia is gonna get sealed with her husband Ivon. So it is cool stuff. I was happy to learn all of that.

And we are suppose to be in every conference. Here we are going to jump ahead an hour on Saturday night so we will see it at 10 on Saturday and Sunday at 11. ha ha kinda cool. Then the next week will be Easter. Jeffy wrote me and told me he spoke with pops. Ben says that dad is a ¨spiritual powerhouse¨ those are his words ha ha. So its good to hear that they both did well on their talks. Oh and happy late anniversary. I didn't know about that. And it's good to hear that more boys are getting born into the family cause we need em ha ha.  That sucks to be Ethan. He is gonna miss out.  I'll ask president when we are suppose to be home so you guys can know and be ready for it. And mom I know you are trunky ha ha! But don't worry about it. All of us are a little bit.

But here we are trying to get the area in better shape. It's tough to be with a comp that doesn't want to do much but we just have to make the best of it. But we will see how it goes and see if he wants to change. But that's it for this week. I hope you are all doing well. Have a good week and listen well in conference. It's going to be sweet stuff I'm positive about that. Love you all!

March 19, 2012

 

Hey mom!

Good to hear from you. But how did you already know that I got transferred?? Kinda freaked me out when I read the letter ha ha. But I got changed to the State of Mexico again. I think that this will be my last area here in the mission. I got sent to Tepalcapa. It's really close to where I was in Cuautitlan. So it's cool. I am with another Mexican named Elder Mezo. He is from Vera Cruz. And he has a year in the mission. So its my second comp from there. .

It was a little difficult to say good bye to the members investigators and the converts in my last area. There are some really cool people there that I learned to love and to serve. I miss that area already ha ha. I think that Elder Hernandez was a little sad that I got changed. I was too. But that's how it goes here there are always unexpected things that happen, but I had a good time with Elder Hernandez. He is a good kid. But now I'm here and we will see how it goes.

This last week was a little tough for us in Queretaro. We found some people but they are really smart and had some questions. So it was a little difficult to help them but I think if the missionaries can keep going they can help them out. And on Saturday we saw the soccer team Las Chivas here in Queretaro. They were leaving from their hotel to go to the stadium and we saw and went and got some pictures of them getting in to their bus. It was cool. I'll send some pictures. And we also are helping one kid go on a mission. He is really cool. His name is Toño. He is 23 and we are helping him go on the mission. Him and his brother are really funny and cool. Then yesterday I had to say bye to everyone. So we went with one family that is really cool and have always helped us. They are the familia Perez. They are sweet stuff. They are the family that gave me the hammock. But it was a good experience. Then we also brought Noemi to the church again. She wants to get baptized but she has a problem with the family. She lives with her sister in law and she doesn't live with her kids.  Her kids live with her sister. Her sister and mom said if she gets baptized she will have to take her kids which she can't support right now. So it is a difficult situation with her. And Victor couldn't go to church Sunday so that was a bummer too. But I think I left my area better than I found it so that is the important thing.
And about New York, it's fine for me- 10 days. The time you want to be there we can do that. So don't worry about that. It's all good with me. When would we go? And I'm excited for the packages. It will be easy to get them cause I am really close to the offices. Spencer wrote me today and said that today is his last p day! That's crazy that he is going to be home really soon and it's weird to think that I will be going home soon too. The time in Queretaro went by really quick actually. So I think these next four months will go by really quick too. Well I don't have much time today and here are some pictures. The first 2 are of the Chivas then the third one is with Toño and his brother Pancho. They are cool. They took me to the bus station today. Good guys. Well gotta go have a good week, I will have more stuff to tell you next week hopefully! Love you all.

March 5, 2012

Hey mom!

55 degrees! I would love that weather right now here ha ha. I think its about 85 or 90 here right now I'm not sure but its good and hot. I miss the snow, I am not gonna lie about that. Here its just hot or it rains. So it doesn't have much of a variety.

But here this last week went well for us. We brought 2 new people to church and 5 in all. So it has been picking up a little bit the work. The mom and the daughter came and they brought the dad, so we are working with them the mom is a tough lady for some reason. But I think with a little more time she will get baptized with the family. The homies name is Joel. He's not a very good investigator. I think we are gonna drop him. He likes to party too much and doesn't really want to stop. But we will see how it goes this week. Then we had a miracle on Saturday. We were walking by a members house to get home at 8:50ish and he was outside talking to a lady. He told us talk to her about the church. So we did and we invited her to church with us on Sunday. She said yes. So we were like OK we will come get you to go to church in the morning. Then when we went she was there and ready to go to church! It was really cool to see that. It helped me a lot. So that is how we are doing in the work. We are starting to find more people that want to go to church. oh and on the way to church there was a freaking marathon on the main road!! It sucked cause like everybody was late to church. We got there like 15 mins late. We had to take a taxi and do a loop around the city to get to the church ha ha. But the important thing is that we made it there good with the investigators. Now for studying we have to stay until like 11:30or 12. We study 1 hour personally 2 hours together and half hour to an hour of English study for my comp. All the Mexicans have to learn English now. its a new rule so its cool. My comp is progressing in that too. So its cool. And they give us a folder thing that has somethings that we need to do and they we practice the lessons and see what our investigators need during those two hours.  If the president calls him to train well he will have to but he still needs a little more time before that.

Ethan is a funny dude. And that story is a classic. It's probably one of the best stories that man has ever heard cause everybody laughs when they hear it. I'm glad you got the hammock. The only reason why it cost a lot to send is cause he charged me for overnight.  I didn't know. But the next package wont be over night so it wont be so expensive. But do you like the hammock?? I am going to be in that thing a lot during my free time ha ha. And I have some requests I need a new oil container. Mine fell out of my pocket in the bus. And i need a new iron rod cause those two things were together. Then that's it I think. That's crazy that Spencer is getting home this month! That's cool stuff. But man that sucks that he has to wait forever to give his homecoming talk. ha ha I can't believe Kayla and Austin are gonna get married. I would have never guessed that one. But that's cool. When is Karson getting married? My friends are lame and don't find girls to marry. But that's fine. They are just waiting for me and Ethan to get home to show em how its done to get the women ha ha jk.   And no I have seen a black person here like 2 times. Once this last week and the other time in the immigration place ha ha. And here in Queretaro there are more white people, but still not that many. And man that Jazz game sounds like it was a sick one. I like to watch the jazz, but I'm not gonna recognize any player when I get back ha ha.

Ash wrote me today and said he is gonna take me rock climbing. I told him he needs to wait for a little bit cause I'm not in shape. I need to get lifting when I get home cause man, I would last very long climbing. ha ha And he told me he is gonna buy me the new Call of Duty so I'm excited for that too. And I'm sorry to hear about Misti. Hopefully she gets better. On Saturday when we got home we also had a dog crap on our yard. I was mad. Well still mad ha ha. And I would love to translate when I get back for the Mexicans. That would be sweet stuff, but I'm not cheap you can tell Leanne that ha ha jk. But ya that would be cool. Here we are doing good today we went and played soccer it was really fun. I like playing soccer a lot. I have plans to get an indoor soccer team when I get back called Los Geuros. So its gonna be cool.   But that's about it for this week here. We are doing better and we are progressing and seeing the miracles here. Take care and thanks for everything! Have a good week and do work! Love you all.

March 12, 2012

 

Hey mom!

Good to hear from you. Must be nice being in St George. Here its like 90 I think now so it's nice and hot here. At night it is starting to suck cause it's really hot. ha ha.

This last week went good for us. We brought one guy to church whose name is Victor. He is 20 years old but he is interested in the church and wants to know more about it. So we will see how it goes with him. The other lady she is good. She has a baptismal date for the 24th of this month. So we will see how it goes with her too. She is hard to visit cause she works until like 830 or 9 and her family doesn't want us in her house so we have to teach in a members house which is better but tough at those hours to do it. The family that we are teaching is at the point where they need to get baptized or we need to leave them so we will see what happens this week with them. And Ethan, man I don't know what we are going to do with that kid. I told him that he could come to new york with us. If that's fine with you. Actually it would be cool if all the friends could go. So if you don't care could you invite them? If not it's cool too. But this last week I called Juana. One of my converts in Prados.  She was way happy and she said she is going to enter the temple hitting the one year mark!! So I'm way stoked for her. She is awesome. Then I also talked to Jose. He was way happy I called, too. He was like I can't believe it's you! I didn't think I would talk to you ever again.  He is still active in the church. He said he has slacked a little bit but he is going to do better. Then yesterday a bunch of white members came to Queretaro to do a service project.  They came to church and there were like girls that were in high school and they were talking to me and made fun of me because they said I talk like a Mexican!! I really can't tell the difference but I'm sure they can cause they only came for 3 days here. But yes, know I speak like a Mexican even in English ha ha. And later after church we took them out to visit people that we are teaching and the less active families. We took a mom and her son to a less active family. It was really cool, they shared a scripture and their testimonies. I had to translate for them so it was a cool experience. And on Friday we were walking a long at like 6:30 in the afternoon here and we saw a dude packing his stuff to move. We told him we would help him and he said no then my comp said again and convinced him that we were going to help him move.

So we then started helping him and we found out that he is a Jehovah's Witness. We helped him and then he wanted to move his shelves that he has. When we got to the other house where he was moving it was on the third floor and the shelves were too big to carry them up. So we called some members and they came and helped us. We had to tie ropes to the shelves and lift them up to the third floor! It was pretty cool cause the shelves are wood so the were pretty heavy. But we finished and he accepted a visit from us this week. So it was cool to see that cause here the Jehovah's Witnesses are pretty crazy and they never want to hear from us. They just want to contend haha. But we will see how it goes with him. And now here in my mission we don't have subways. We just have the camiones and they wouldn't let us do it.

It's good to hear that Ash is going to help with the Sons of Helaman again. That will be a good experience for him. When are they going to do that? And too bad Parker is going to the East. That mission is right in DF and he is going to get robbed quite a bit. But oh well it will be a good experience for him ha ha. It will help him a lot. And I think you told me that Kyler was going to Chile.  I won't train Johnny. I think I will be here one more change, but we will see what happens. And yes there they have a marathon here like once month! They are so dumb cause they always do it on the busiest road of Queretaro. But whatev. And Jeffy. Man that homie is crazy ha ha in a good way. He is the only one doing work, is what it sounds like of the three that are home! Los gueros are the white people ha ha, that's what all the Mexicans call us here. that and gringo. then here today we played soccer again it was fun. i played a lot better today. Then I also bought my Tolex. (fake Rolex) for 150 pesos so it was good then I also bought a sweater. A cool one. But yes that is about it here. We are doing good and we are striving to find those people that are waiting for the gospel in their lives. My comp is doing well and we are also helping a guy here to go on a mission so it is cool. We are having fun and doing work so that is the most important thing. I love you all and I hope you have a good week!

Here is a pic of by where I live and the sun. It's cool I think. See you later!

February 27, 2012

Hey mom! Good to hear from you one again. This last week went well for us. We brought three new people to church! So I was happy with that. We brought a mom and her daughter and one other homie. So it was cool. We will see how they progress. I hope they can. The mom we have been teaching for a little bit but she never could come to church and this week she came! So it was cool we will see how she goes. Then the other homie, he is a wierd dude. We haven't really even taught him. We were teaching his brother Fransisco and he was there and we invited him to church and he came. So we will see how it goes with him. And we havent seen Hector. I don't think he really wants to commit himself with God. That's how it always happens here. Sounds like the conference was good. Here we had the meeting with Pres Johnson. He is the area president here in Mexico. And he is from the same place as pres call. He talked to us about the Spirit and how important it is in the work. And he told us about how we need to find the chosen people. He says we stay too long teaching people that dont progress or people that aren't going to be good members in the church. And they gave cell phones to every companionship so we will see how it goes. so it went really well. Pres Call and the hermana Call both speak english.  They don't have any kids on the mission. All are home. And give Pres Nancollas a shout out for me, and hermana Nancollas. They are sweet. And you better not forget to tell them when my homecoming is! haha.

What stories did you tell the Annis family that they didnt know? haha That's funny but the good thing is that Ethan is on an island very very far away from his family so they cant really do anything to him.  Me and my comp get along really well. He is a chill dude really humble so that is what I'm trying to learn from him. And ya me and my comp are doing the 12 week missionary training thing. I dont like it that much cause we have to study until like 11:30! But whatev. I only have to do it for like 2 or 3 more weeks. And it helps him a lot to learn what he needs to do. So it has its pros and cons. thanks for the towel. Did you get the hammock that I sent?? If not I'm gunna kill the UPS here. And yes it is fine if you combine them mom. There isnt problem with that. And we see Pres Call every month about. It just depends. Here in Queretaro he only comes for zone meetings interviews or stuff like that. So we don't see him tha tmuch. He has a lot to do anyways. And yes mom we go to the same ward every week cause we the area of our ward is huge! Our ward boundry is a lot bigger than our stake in ogden haha. It takes me like 40 minutes to get to the church in the camiones. In car like 20. and for some people its even farther. And yes you told me about Carson Campbell. That's crazy they are gettin married this next week. and Karson Halvy, I thought that homie was gunna get married before his brother. But his brother beat him by like almost a year haha. And I also think Jeff is gunna be the first to get married. Him then Israel. Ben going with the statistics of his brothers won't get married until he is about 28 so im thinkin he is gunna be the last haha. jk . But that's about it for this week. I commented to Ben in my letter to him that I am really liking the scripture study time that we have here. I am learning a bunch. Like yesterday the other elders are teaching a dude that knows a little bit about he bible and we were talking about exaltation. And he was like God is jealous and if he is jealous how can we be like him? So another elder took out a scripture then a thought came to my mind about how Jesus commanded us to be like he is, so I said that and said that God doesn't give us commandments that we can't fufill, so I got him good with that one! haha It was cool. I like seeing how I have progressed in the knowledge of the scriptures. Oh and one day when I was studying and thursday had been a good day for us and Friday a bad one then I prayed and opened the bible and I read a scripture in Hagoea or something like that almost at the end of the old testament and it told me to keep working and to keep putting forth effort. It was really cool then Saturday went well for us! So it's cool to see how God answers our prayers when we need it. That's what I got to say today I hope you have a good day and a good week. See you later!   Love you all!

February 20, 2012

Hey mom! good to hear from you again. And go to Philly that place is really good but really expensive. That's good to hear that Jeffy did a good job on his homecoming talk. I don't think I will do that good so don't plan on a big fantastic talk ahah.  I really like reading the scriptures and I think I will read more books when I get back because I have learned playing video games and watching TV aren't that productive ha ha. And I don't really tell stories before the mission just sometimes. But yes.  I don't know if they would laugh. I think I have told that one about Vegas a time or two, and they laughed I think. But we don't really talk about life before the mission. Who is Karson engaged to? When is that homie getting married?

The pillow case, I am going to use tonight. I got the package when we had interviews and I opened it there and the hermana Call liked the pillowcases. I was gonna give her one but she didn't accept it. I liked the pictures too. There were like 30 or something I think, I'm not really sure. And I couldn't open up the pictures of last week. So I could only see them small. But they they are cool stuff. Yes that towel is gonna be for a Mexican. And for my birthday I don't really want anything. Just reeses candy, peeps and jerky. Keep the other stuff for when I get home, then we can look for stuff. And ya I remember Bailey. That's crazy she is going a mission too. A bunch of those Bonneville girls are going a missions. Ben told me of another one that is gonna go on a mission too.  I don't know where those sweats are to tell the truth. I can't remember where anything is in the house of things like that aha ha. And the little kids in the school. That's gonna be cool to see them again. They are cool kids. But too bad I will get home in July so they wont be able to see me until like Agosto. Oh and Ashton told me that he was gonna be applying for that job. I hope it goes well for him and that he gets it! It's gonna be a lot better for him. He will enjoy it a lot more I think.

The work here is going ok. This last week we found another young couple. They are cool but they can't go to church until March but they want to learn more and they are excited for church. So we will see how it goes With them. I hope we can get them to go to church and keep them excited to do the things. I think they will be really good converts if they choose too. They are Edgar and Maria. So we will see how it goes with them. Then we are trying to get a homie named Hector to come to church. He needs the help. He came here to Queretaro to get away from the drugs. So we are working with him too. Then this week we will have a meeting with the area president. President Johnson is gonna come on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to that. I like listening to the general authorities. I learn a lot ever time I listen to them. And me and my comp we aren't working out. I don't like it here. I hate doing push ups and stuff like that. I prefer free weights so I am gonna wait til I get home. then I'm gonna have to do some work. ha ha cause I got my little keg going on now ha ha. And Fransisco didn't go, he had to go to DF for something with his family. We were teaching him last week and his wife got home and she was really mad with him cause he was listening to us. So we will see what happens with him. And of course Ben can come with us to New York! That would be fine. Are we gonna fly or drive there? Me and him can stay in a room.

Now the retention is always hard. Many people don't support the new converts and they have trails and they fall away. I have seen it with some people that I have baptized. It is really sad to see that happen cause they still don't have that strong testimony of the church yet. So it's a bummer. We all need to try and help out the investigators and the new converts so that they can stay active in the church. And I don't know where Aruba is but ya that is pretty crazy ha ha. Here we are doing well we are progressing a lot as companions me and Elder Hernandez. He is a cool kid. A cool story too. We just need to keep striving to get better and find the people that are ready to receive the gospel in their lives. Oh ya on Saturday we did service with a member in our ward to move his oven that he cooks pan dulce in and man that took like 2 hours to move it cause it is huge! And we had to lift it above a 6 foot wall! It was crazy, but we did it and nobody got hurt that is the good part. But it was pretty crazy stuff. Well that's about it for this letter. I hope you enjoy the hammock because when I get back its all mine :) Take care I love you all birthday shout out to Michael, the 24th. Have a good one buddy.

February 13, 2012

Hey Mom!

Good to hear from you once again. Here we are doing well we had one baptism last week. So it went well. My comps first baptism so it was cool. And we bought them cake cause it was his birthday a couple weeks ago and his sisters b day today!  Also last night a hermano gave me a sick hammock. It's the one with the sticks on both sides. So I'm trying to think how I'm gonna send that bad boy home in the mail ha ha cause it doesn't fit in my bags. But its gonna be a sick hammock. Then today we played soccer. I bought a Queretaro Gallo's jersey today. It's pretty cool, I like it and it's the only soccer team in our mission so I had to take advantage of that here. And we also went again to the hermanos queso carnes. Man those things are bomb!! I love most of the Mexican food.

This last week went ok, we didn't have much time to work cause we had interviews with president and I did divisions with another elder. This last week it has been raining almost everyday. So that makes it a little more difficult here cause nobody is use to the rain cause it hardly ever rains here. The interviews went well. With Pres Call the interviews are a lot longer. So I like them a little bit more. He said he was happy he put me and Elder Hernandez together cause he has progressed quite a bit. So it was cool to hear that. The divisions went ok. I went to another area so it was chill.

And yes, marriage is a big deal. A lot of people just separate over anything! And that's not how it is suppose to be. We need to work through the problems like he said. Right now we have found a couple of people but they aren't coming to church! So it's frustrating cause its tough to get people to church here. First cause its far away, second because it starts at 9 and third cause its cold in the morning and nobody wants to get out of bed ha ha. But we just gotta keep working so we can find the people that do want to come to church. We found one homie that looks like he should be coming to church this week. His name is Fransisco. So we will see how it goes with him. I hope he can progress.

That's crazy that Jeff is already home too! I can't believe that homie is already back. That's cool to hear. I hope he is doing well. Spencer gets home in like a month too!! It's crazy that everyone is getting home so quick. That's good to hear that some are more kids in the ward are going on their missions. Europe- I'm glad I didn't get called there. ha ha I like it here in Mexico. Everything is cool here. And I can't see the little cave man dude. Sorry. Oh and I did get your package. It's cool stuff. I like the little valentines you sent me! I took a picture of them. Then I gave those warhead candies to the hermano that gave me the hammock, he loves those things ha ha hermano Mauricio is really cool.

And as for the travel thing, I think that we should go to New York. But I will confirm that to you next week. I have been thinking a little bit about it and I think that would be better but I'll let you know next week. Well that's about it for here. I'm doing good my comp too. We liked the package and I like the little Jazz magnet. That's cool. But I should be sending a package home soon, once I figure out how to send that bad boy home. Take care and I love you all. Give the what up to Jeffy for me. Happy Valentines Day!