Transfer 6 Week 6 October 13 2014

Well another transfer has ended and we received our changes today! I will let you know what is gonna happen at the end of the email. I forgot to mention that like a week ago I hit the 8 month mark! Which means that I am already a third of the way done with my mission. Which is exciting but also kind of scary. There is still a lot of things that I want to do as a full-time missionary. I can´t waste any time!

This last week was super cool! A great way to end a trasfer. We have been planning  a missionary activity in the ward for the last couple of weeks. So we were preparing for that basically the whole week. What we did was collect a bunch of used Church magazines (Liahonas) from the members that live here. We took the ones that were in good shape and pasted a map showing where the church was on the back. Then on Saturday we went out to different parts of the area to contact people, give out liahonas, and invite them to listen to the missionaries. About 20 members came. Which was fine we would have liked to have more but we made do. I ended up being partnered with one of the Young Men in the ward. His name is Lalo, and his is 15. I was a little nervous at first because usually I have my native speaking companion with me to help me out when the going gets rough, but everything went very well. I had a really good time actually. We contacted a few crazy people which was bound to happen, but a few really good ones as well! And we even contacted a inactive member of the church. So all in all we had a lot of success with the activity.

Today was also a week of some pretty crazy contacts. First a lady who aparently fasted for 30 days straight and was trying to tell us that it is a sin for women to wear pants and that they should wear dresses all the time. She was talking for a good 30 minutes without letting us say anything. Then a man who aparently has a lunatic for a son. He told me that he thinks that i will be able to help him because I look like I have dealt with a lot of lunatics is my past. Whatever that means. And then another man who told me that he goes to heaven on a regular basis, and then told me that heaven doesnt exist. It was an interesting week.

Well dont have much more to say except for the changes. a week ago I had an interview with the President. I told him that I wanted to stay in my area for a least another transfer. He told that he was pretty sure that I was staying in my area with the same companion but he was going to see what the Lord says. Aparently the Lord said otherwise, because tomorrow I am going to take an 8 hour bus ride to Piedras Negras. I was a little sad at first, but I do know that my President does recieve revelation directly from the Lord when he does the changes. And I know that if i am going to Piedras Negras it is because that is where He needs me right now. I am a little excited. Piedras Negras isnt as big as Saltillo but it is still really big. And it is on the border of Mexico and Texas, so i will be really close to the United States and all. Everyone says that Piedras Negras is basically the United States so it should be fun. But it is still like super hot there. But Whatever.

Elder Earl

Transfer 6 Week 5 October 6 2014

This week was another really good week. And it was even better because I got to see General Conference.

Unfortunately I was having some problems with the computer I was using. So I dont have like any time to write today. But this week was good. We had a lot of good contacts, and I think that a few of them are actually going to progress! Other than that we also had one investigador go to general conferece. As well as a few less active members that we are teaching.

General Conference was super cool this week! It was great that the added the talks in different languages. The people here were all pretty excited about the two talks that were in Spanish! I know that I was hoping to be able to watch it in English, but that didnt happen. But the good part is that I basically understood everything! So it turned out being really great for learning, as well as for my confidence with understanding Spanish.

I noticed that almost every talk mentioned the Prophet. Many talked about the Prophet Joseph Smith, and almost every one mentioned President Monson. I just want to say that there is no doubt in my mind that Jospeh Smith was a prophet and that Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet today! Its funny how much I thought I knew before coming on a mission. And it is amazing how much I have learned and how much my testimony has been strengthened since coming here! 

Elder Earl

transfer 6 Week 4 September 29 2014

Well it was another great week.

 

I ate something really kind of discusting this week. it was pig skin soaked in vinegar. I dont understand why anyone would even think about inventing that. It basically just tastes like vinegar, but the consistensy is super gross. And the fact that you are eating raw pig skin is kind of super gross as well.

 

We had kind of a tough time with one of our investigators this week. Because he was put in prison for a few days. That was the bad part, but the good thing is that I think that it really opened his eyes. I think that it was exactly what he needed to be able to give up drinking. He is a really good guy, and he really likes to talk to us, but it is really hard for him to quit drinking. We had a really good talk with him the day that he was released. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and all of the blessings he will recieve if he is obedient. He talked about how he really wants to change, and I believe him. And I know that with the help of Jesus Christ and His Atonement all people can change for the better.

 

Yesterday was good as well. Beatriz came to church again! She has gone to church 5 times now, and she has the desire to be baptized, all she needs to do know is decide that she wants to do it soon, and we will have another baptism this change. I am super exciting for her, and her family.

 

I am super excited to watch General Conference this weekend! There is nothing quite like listening to the Prophet, Apostles, and other church leaders. In my studies this week I came across D&C section 21. It talks about the Prophet, and I challenge everyone to read it before the conference this weekend.

 

Elder Earl

transfer 6 Week 3 September 22 2014

Man I cant beleive that this change is already halfway over! The time in the mission really goes by super fast! This week was another really good week.

This week I got to do divisions again. Elder Gonzalez my district leader came to my area with Elder Porras. And I went to the other area with Elder Vargas. It was a lot of fun. Elder Vargas is a brand new Elder. This is his first change, so it was a lot of fun being the ¨experienced¨ one. I could tell that he was pretty nervous. We contacted this guy, Elder Vargas introduced himself, and then he introduced me as Elder Gonzalez! The guy was just staring at me like ¨there is no way that guy is named Gonzalez. So I introduced myself and we finished the contact, while I was fighting the laughs. The rest of the day went well. 

Wednesday we had a really good day! We had a lesson with our investigator Beatriz. She is married to a member named Javier. They are both super awesome and are literally one of the coolest families that I have met. Javier has been inactive for about 10 years, but ever since the missionaries have started to come to church he has been super excited about the Church and always wants to learn more. And he always comes to Church now if he doesnt have to work. Beatriz has been Catholic her whole life, and it has taken her a long time to really accept the Gospel and it´s teachings. But on Wednesday she finally told us that she wants to be baptized! 

On Friday there was a stake activity that I got to go to. It is called La Noche Mexicana and it is to celebrate the Mexican independence day. It was pretty cool. I got to see a few traditional mexican dances. In one of them, the dancers all had candles on top of their heads! that was wierd. And in another one, all of them had a pineapple that they held on top of their shoulder. Also kind of wierd, but cool. The best part is that two of our investigators were also there! We didnt get to stay for too long because we had to be home by 9:30. 

Sunday was good as well. One of our investigators came, but we had like 6 say that they would come. 

Elder Earl

Transfer 6 Week 2 September 15, 2014

We had a really good week this week. I am really getting along with my new companion, and we work well together. I like it a lot because he olny has like 4 months more than I do. So he doesn´t think that he knows everything like some other missionaries that I know.

One of the most exciting things that happened this week is that one of our investigators decided that she wants to be baptised! Her name is Yolanda. She is an old investigator. So she took the missionary lessons a while ago with other missionaries but was never baptised. But now she decided that she is ready. She runs a store in her house. Something really common in Mexico. 

Yesterday was a pretty good day in the church. Enrique blessed the Sacrament for the first time! and he asked me to do it with him. It went really well! It was my first time blessing the Sacrament in this ward as well. 

The weather was really weird this week. All week it was super hot! but then it would rain everyday as well for a couple hours. But then on Saturday and Sunday it rained for two days straight and a lot of the streets were partially flooded. There was also a whole bunch of fog! And it was super cold! Aparently it gets really cold here in Saltillo. Like down into the 30´s. And it will get to the point where there is so much fog that you cant see something right in front of you! So that will be super cool!

Yesterday we contacted a Clown. Clowns are super popular here in Mexico. All of the kids love them! And a lot of people perform on the street as clowns. It is cool. Actually the clown contacted us! He basically asked us what it is that we teach. So we told him a very short version of the Restoration. And he seems really interested! He juggles while he rides a really tall unicycle. It is cool. And he has all of the nesesities as well! Big shoes, red nose, big flower, makeup. 

So ya

Elder Earl

Transfer 6 Week 1 September 8 2014

This week was pretty sweet and all. But I dont have much time. I met my new companion. Elder Porras. He is from Hidalgo Mexico, and he seems pretty cool. I definitely think that we are going to get along. We had a good week this week. We had the confirmation of Enrique yesterday. And both him and Darío were ordained in the Arronic Priesthood. That was super cool. And both of them bore their testimonies in Sacrament meeting yesterday as well.

I was a little worried about leading my comp around in our area. Because I have only been here for one transfer and our area is one of the biggest in the mission. But it has actually gone by really smoothly. I know a lot more than I think I know. And that can apply to a lot of things. 

One thing that I am kind of bummed about is that I am the only gringo in my district now. Which is fine because I know that I will be able to learn a lot with of these Spanish speakers. But it is nice to have at least one English speaker with me. There are two brand new missionaries in my district though. So at least I am not the newest missionary in my district anymore!

Elder Earl

Transfer 5 Week 6 September 1 2014

Well another week and another change has ended! This week was super great as well. A great way to end a change!

The main reason why this week was so great was because we had two baptisms! Dario and Enrique. They are both super cool guys, they have both become really great friend of me. 

I also did divisions this week. It was my first time being companions with someone from the United States. He is super cool. His name is Elder Townsend and is from Utah. He has been in the mission for about 14 months so his Spanish is a lot better than mine. But not perfect. So it was a little bit harder. It was super cool though, because I could feel myself using Spanish that I have never used before. I difinitely have have faith that the Gift of Tongues is real, and that The Lord really does help us. There is no way I could do this without Him.

We finished the week with the baptism of Dario on Saturday. It was really cool because his wife and her mom came to the baptism! They are inactive members, and he was kind of worried about telling them that he decided to be baptized. But they were very supportive of him, and the baptism went really well!

Sunday was also really sweet! We had the confirmation of Dario, and then he gave his talk afterwards! He gave it on Faith, and it was really good!

We thought that we were going to have the baptism of Enrique on Sunday, but it turns out that his Dad who is not a member wanted to come. So we had it this morning actually! It also went really well! After the baptism, after we changed out of our wet clothes, Enrique told me that he decided that he wants to serve a mission! That was some pretty good news! I told him that after about a year of preparation he could difinitely be ready to serve! 

We also recieved the changes today. I am staying here in Obregon, but my companion is going to a different area here in Saltillo. My new companion is going to be Elder Porras. I dont know him. But i am gonna meet him tomorrow. The worst part is that both of the other missionaries in my ward are going to leave as well. So I have to teach the area to my companion, and the other missionaries will have a lot of questions about their area as well. And I just barely got comfortable with my own area! Hopefully I can at least show them where their house is...

The missionaries from Obregon. Yo, Elder Townsend, Garcia, and Brown

 Elder Sierra from Honduras

 our zone