Transfer 10 Week 4 March 16 2015

Anyway, this week went well. On Tuesday the mission president came to Piedras Negras, and we watch the movie Meet the Mormons as a zone. I really liked the movie. If you haven´t seen it, I would definitely recomend it.

Then on Wednesday, we had our interviews with the president in the morning. They went well. I always like getting a chance to talk with the president one on one. He is really smart and he gives great advice as well. 

Unfortunately we didnt have enough time to go and wash clothes with a member this last week because I went to Saltillo on monday, so we had to wash our clothes in our sink. It wasnt the best experience, but it turns out that I was more skilled at washing my clothes by hand than I thought I was. But luckily today we got to go and wash with a real washer.

All in all the week was super normal. A lot of drunk people came up to talk to us this week. It is super sad to see the effects that alcohol does on people. It is a strange feeling to talk to a grown man as if he were a small child. 

We found a new investigator this week named Jesus. He is really cool. He used to be a tatoo artist and he is almost completely covered in tatoos. even his face. He used to live in texas so his english is really good, and he is also one of the most polite people that I have met here. He joined a church when he was in prison, but doesnt assist any church now, but he says that he would like to go to church with us, 

Anyway, I dont know what else to write, so ya

Elder Earl

Transfer 10 Week 3 March 10 2015

Well, Elder sebastian and I had another really good week. And it is really hard to believe that this change is already halfway over. This Tuesday I did divisions with one of my zone leaders. His name is Elder Muñiz. I had a really good time. He has been in the mission for about 18 months and he has a very profound knowledge about the gospel. I had a really great time and I was able to learn a lot from him.

One of the best thing that happend this week was that we found 8 new investigators. That is more than I have been able to find in one week for quite a while. It was a great feeling to be able to have so much success this week even though it was cold all week, because ussually when it is cold it is really hard to find people who are willing to open their doors.

A few weeks ago I wrote a little bit about an investigator that we found named Jerry. Unfortunately he had to move and we completely lost contact with him for like 3 weeks. But luckily this week while walking in a part of our area where we usually dont visit we found him again! The best part is that we didnt even have a reason to go to that part of the area. We just felt like we should go there and try to contact some people because we hadnt really ever gone there before. And I am so happy that my companion and I were able to follow that subtle prompting from the Spirit, even if we didnt realize it was revelation at the time.

Later on saturday I found out that I was going to have to go to saltillo on sunday to renew my visa so I dont get deported. So on Sunday unfortunately I was only able to go to Sacrament meeting because I had to catch a bus ride, and 8 hours later I was in Saltillo.

Saltillo was fine. It was a super fast trip. It was cool because I was able to see some Elders that I have not seen in quite a while. Like Elder Bradley from my MTC district. And a couple of Latino Elders that arrived to the mission the same day that I did. It was really cool to see them, because I couldnt even talk to them the first time that I met them, but now I can! Then I got back to my area at like midnight yesterday, so I am super tired right now.

so ya

Elder Earl

Transfer 10 Week 2 March 2 2015

Elder Sebastian and I had another really good week. We had a lot of work to do.

This week was kind of just a normal week. But I got cold again which was kind of weird. But I forgot my planner in the house so I cant really remember anything that I was going to write. 

Yesterday was really good. Our investigator Joel went to church. It was his third time going. His wife and two of his kids are members of the church, and he has a son that is in the MTC in provo. He has been progressing very well. I remember the first time that we went to visit him he didnt want to talk much about the church at all. But ever since his son entered the MTC about a month ago he started warming up to the church a little bit more and he started to attend. And yesterday he actually started to participate a lot in the classes. We also went and ate with them yesterday like we do almost every sunday and we shared a message about temples and family history work. His wife had actually gone to the temple just the week before and he had a few questions about it, so it worked out perfectly.

We also had a lesson with our investigator named Rafael yesterday. We shared the Restoration video with him and we talked a lot about the Preisthood. We have invited him to be baptized before but he always told us that he had already been baptized in a different church so he didnt need to. He had a lot of questions for us about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon after the video. And we invited him to baptism again. He said that he is going to continue to read the Book of Mormon and he is going to pray and ask if it is true, and if he feels that it is true he will be baptized! 

So this week was pretty good. I am still doing great. I dont have any compaints at all. I am just glad to be here.

Elder Earl

 One of the families we are working with...with Elder Martinez.

This is how close I am to TEXAS!!

Eating tortillas I made from scratch.  We found out afterwards that you should use hot water and not cold water when making them..they were a little hard.

Transfer 10 Week 1 February 23 2015

Well I had another really good week. I met my new companion on Tuesday and we started to work like usual.

My companion is named Elder Sabastian. He is from Idaho and he has been on the mission for about 8 months. 

On wednesday we had our zone meeting. We recieved a book of mormon from a member in a different ward here in Piedras Negras. It came with an address of her friend that she was gifting it to. So that day we went to her house to give her her Book of Mormon and to contact her. Her name is Paloma and we had a really good lesson with her. She says that she is really excited to start reading because her friend that is a member has told her a lot about it. She also wrote her testimony and marked a lot of her favorite scriptures and chapters for her. It was really cool.

We were also able to have a really good lesson with our investigator named Adrian and his kids. We contacted him a long time ago, but we haven´t been able to have a real lesson with him because he is always busy with work or with his children. We taught them the Restoration and we shared the video of Joseph Smith. They all decided that they want to start reading the Book of Mormon as a family and to pray to know it is true

These were really great experiences because I know that if they read meditate and pray they will recieve their answer through the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true. 

Yesterday was really good as well. Three of our investigators went to church! Which was really great. My companion was called up to give an impromtu talk as well. He struggled a bit but it wasnt horrible. I have heard worse, and I have given worse. Then we had a stake Priesthood conference. It went really well. The three young men that are going on missions all bore their testimonies, as well as a brother who was just called to be the stake Patriarch. The Stake President gave a talk about Patriarchal Blessings. It was really good.

Well thats it

Elder Earl

Transfer 9 Week 6 February 16 2015

Well. Another week and transfer have ended. It was a really good week, and we have the changes!

This last week was really good. We had a lot of lessons we recieved a few refferals and we were able to find a new investigator as well. He is kind of crazy but he is a good guy.

But the best part of the week was definitely yesterday! These last two transfers in this area have been really good but we have struggled with getting our investigators to go to church with us. Yesterday we had a ward conference and 70 people went to church which is the most that I have seen here in this ward and 3 of our investigators went as well! Overall the church services were really good. We listened to talks from the bishop as well as the stake president and the choir sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives (It was okay). The Presidents talk was very powerful. He spoke about Family History work and Temple work as well.

Today in the morning our district leader called us with the changes. My comp is going to Monclova tomorrow in the morning and I am staying here for another 6 weeks. I dont know my companion, but I know that his name is Elder Sebastian. He is american. But that is all I know. I think that he is fairly new to the mission as well. We will see how it goes.

Elder Earl

Transfer 9 Week 5 February 9 2015

Well I had a pretty normal week, not much to tell, but it was good

Next sunday we are going to have a ward conference here so the ward formed a choir and are going to sing a hymn. Unfortunately, not enough men joined, so we were probably forced to join the choir by the sister that was put in charge. And what is even more unfortunate is that I have to sing a solo. I´m not all that excited about it, but I guess it´s not the worst thing that can happen.

Also, on sunday after passing the sacrament I sat down and about 2 minutes later I heard. And now we will here a talk given my Elder Earl(but in spanish) And I was not prepared to give a talk because no one told me that I was going to speak! So I gave a 10 minute impromtu talk in spanish this last week. It wasnt perfect but I felt pretty good about it. And I was able to speak for quite a while as well.

Other than that the week was good but just kind of normal. I feel like our investigators are progressing pretty well, but unfortunately none of them are going to church. Which is super disappointing. But other than that, everything is going great! 4 days ago was the one year anniversary of the day I entered the MTC! So see you all in about a year!

Elder Earl

Transfer 9 Week 4 February 2 2015

Well, we had another really sweet and crazy week in Piedras Negras.

Tuesday was fun. In the morning we bought a pastry from some store really fast and then went to a lesson that he had scheduled in the morning with a man that we contacted the week before named Jaime. But while we were waiting for him to come out my Comp started to feed a dog that was next door. After the dog was done eating my comp just figured that they were friends so he put his figers through the fense to pet it. So we taught Jaime a lesson while my comps fingers were bleeding (ya it bit him). After the lesson we went to the hospital to get it cleaned properly. He didnt need a shot because he just got one last transfer when he cut open his head. I told him that he has bad luck. He told me that it is bad luck to be my companion. But he is fine now.

We had a lot of work this week! and Friday was actually one of the best days that I have had in a long time. We found two new invetigators that are super cool! One of them is named Jerry. He was listening to the missionaries while he was living in monterrey. and he went to church multiple times while he was there. He is a very spritual and humble man. He has had many difuculties in his life which have humbled him a lot. He has a strong desire to learn more and to be baptized! We have only had one lesson with him so far, and I think that he taught me more than I taught him.

Other than that the week was pretty normal.

Elder Earl