Hey everyone!
This week was ok. I spent Thanksgiving in Tuxtla cause we had to go on divisions. I was at least able to have a pretty good dinner over there of a chicken and poblano casserole type of thing. That was about the extent of my Thanksgiving though. I did have a turkey out back of our house that was gobbling all morning. That was the first day I´ve heard that and helped me remember that it was Thanksgiving.
Umm... We had another good lesson with with an investigator. He now said he believes the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. But he also said he doesn´t know why but he just can´t get himself to do the things like go to church or read when we aren´t there. I think he is going to progress really fast once he gets to church. His biggest reason was that he and his family are Catholic and he has already been baptized. We´ll see what happens this week.
Neither of us got transfered this week. Looks like I´ll be here in Suchiapa for Christmas. That should be good since we´ll actually know the members and maybe have some good dinners! Not sure if Nelson or Ngatu got transferred. I hope not. It's pretty cool having us in the same zone.
We may be eating burgers tomorrow night with some less actives and an investigator. That should be really good. We did make it to Burger King this week. After our district meeting in Tuxtla we got on a combi that was supposed to take us the la parque central, which is where BK is. Well we rode if for a long time and never reached the park. I asked someone if it was going to take us there and they said we had already passed it. It turned out that there was a protest at the park that made the combi take a different route. So we had to get a taxi to get us unlost. It was nice to have some good almost American food.
Well that was my week. I can´t really remember anything else. I´m sure there was more that happened though.
Love and miss you all!
Aaron
Serving the Lord
Monday, November 26, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
A Weird Week
Hey family!
Well this week definitely was a little weird. They whole week was just odd. I don´t really know how to explain it. Everything was just off. At some points I didn´t know what to say to anyone. Not even the people that I know really well. I just tried to get something out.
Friday we walked all over Suchiapa and only talked to 2 members for about 20 minutes each. We went to every house that we could think of, investigators, members, inactives, and nothing!
Elder Torres and I both had a really weird feeling on Saturday. We could not figure out what was going on. It was a kind of anxious type of feeling and that there was something we had to do but didn´t know what it was or how to do it. Plus we both could eat whatever we wanted and never got full! I ate so much and still felt like I didn´t eat a single thing. He did the same.
We had a lesson with Robertoni. He is doing really well. He just needs to pray. He was raised Catholic. He doesn´t believe in saints and uh, images. Which is something that we usually have to deal with. He also already believes the Book of Mormon is true. But he still has doubts about Joseph Smith. He believes it but still hasn´t prayed to get a true answer.
After that lesson we felt a little more normal. Still had a little of that feeling but not like before. I just don´t know what it was! Luckily that is gone now!
We didn´t have anything weird to eat this week and I guess there was a 5.2 earthquake here in Chiapas but we didn´t feel it.
Well, that's about all I can remember.
I love and miss you all!
Aaron
Well this week definitely was a little weird. They whole week was just odd. I don´t really know how to explain it. Everything was just off. At some points I didn´t know what to say to anyone. Not even the people that I know really well. I just tried to get something out.
Friday we walked all over Suchiapa and only talked to 2 members for about 20 minutes each. We went to every house that we could think of, investigators, members, inactives, and nothing!
Elder Torres and I both had a really weird feeling on Saturday. We could not figure out what was going on. It was a kind of anxious type of feeling and that there was something we had to do but didn´t know what it was or how to do it. Plus we both could eat whatever we wanted and never got full! I ate so much and still felt like I didn´t eat a single thing. He did the same.
We had a lesson with Robertoni. He is doing really well. He just needs to pray. He was raised Catholic. He doesn´t believe in saints and uh, images. Which is something that we usually have to deal with. He also already believes the Book of Mormon is true. But he still has doubts about Joseph Smith. He believes it but still hasn´t prayed to get a true answer.
After that lesson we felt a little more normal. Still had a little of that feeling but not like before. I just don´t know what it was! Luckily that is gone now!
We didn´t have anything weird to eat this week and I guess there was a 5.2 earthquake here in Chiapas but we didn´t feel it.
Well, that's about all I can remember.
I love and miss you all!
Aaron
Monday, November 12, 2012
Earthquake!!!!
Hey family!
Well, this week I experienced my first earthquake! Well, aftershock that is. We were just in the house studying and there was a truck outside. The house started vibrating a little and I thought it was just from the truck at first. Then it got a little worse. We headed outside until it ended. Pretty cool but not, at the same time. It was in the center of Guatemala and I think 39 people were killed. I don´t know if they found anymore.
Lets see... This week was ok. We didn´t have too many lessons this week. We are still trying to work more and more with the members. One of the Hermanas still doesn´t feel ready. We don´t really know what to do now except wait. We still teach her but she hasn´t gone to church for a few weeks. Their family is really struggling right now and they don´t have much time. She has to work nights in Tuxtla sometimes so she doesn´t get back in time for church. Oh! Blughgh!
We got some cat calls thrown our way a couple days ago by some shemen in the back of a truck! Not sure what it is about this town but there are a lot of them. One works at the bar next to our house! I thought "she" looked a little manly but couldn´t tell. Then I heard him talk! That same day we walked by another bar and the two in the back of the truck were dancing outside as if to draw attention to the bar! And worse, I think it works! The people here sure have their minds messed up!
We got told yesterday at 3 that we had to get to a meeting in Tuxtla by 5. We had to hurry and eat so the hermana wasn´t left with all the food she just made for us. Then we sat in the combi for about 40 min just waiting for it to leave. We got to Tuxtla and got on another combi.Our District Leader, called asking where we were cause we were supposed to get there earlier. I told him in a combi and on our way. He called again asking how much time and to ask the driver. I didn´t. I just told him we didn´t know and there´s nothing we could do. WE ARE ON OUR WAY! He called again telling us to get a taxi. We didn´t. That would have taken more time to try and get one. He called again and I gave the phone to Elder Torres. We got there and were walking to the church and he called again! I just hung up. He called again. I hung up. He called one more time! I just said "WE ARE HERE!" and he told us to hurry. When we walked in he gave us a look as if we were stupid or something. Man he really made me mad! Luckily we didn´t have to talk to him at all while we were there.
One of the area 70s talked to us about how to work with the members and inactives. It was really good. I paid a lot more attention than usual for some reason. Hopefully well the ward will start helping us out a lot more. Well, that was my week.
Lets see... This week was ok. We didn´t have too many lessons this week. We are still trying to work more and more with the members. One of the Hermanas still doesn´t feel ready. We don´t really know what to do now except wait. We still teach her but she hasn´t gone to church for a few weeks. Their family is really struggling right now and they don´t have much time. She has to work nights in Tuxtla sometimes so she doesn´t get back in time for church. Oh! Blughgh!
We got some cat calls thrown our way a couple days ago by some shemen in the back of a truck! Not sure what it is about this town but there are a lot of them. One works at the bar next to our house! I thought "she" looked a little manly but couldn´t tell. Then I heard him talk! That same day we walked by another bar and the two in the back of the truck were dancing outside as if to draw attention to the bar! And worse, I think it works! The people here sure have their minds messed up!
We got told yesterday at 3 that we had to get to a meeting in Tuxtla by 5. We had to hurry and eat so the hermana wasn´t left with all the food she just made for us. Then we sat in the combi for about 40 min just waiting for it to leave. We got to Tuxtla and got on another combi.Our District Leader, called asking where we were cause we were supposed to get there earlier. I told him in a combi and on our way. He called again asking how much time and to ask the driver. I didn´t. I just told him we didn´t know and there´s nothing we could do. WE ARE ON OUR WAY! He called again telling us to get a taxi. We didn´t. That would have taken more time to try and get one. He called again and I gave the phone to Elder Torres. We got there and were walking to the church and he called again! I just hung up. He called again. I hung up. He called one more time! I just said "WE ARE HERE!" and he told us to hurry. When we walked in he gave us a look as if we were stupid or something. Man he really made me mad! Luckily we didn´t have to talk to him at all while we were there.
One of the area 70s talked to us about how to work with the members and inactives. It was really good. I paid a lot more attention than usual for some reason. Hopefully well the ward will start helping us out a lot more. Well, that was my week.
I love and miss you all!
Aaron
Monday, November 5, 2012
Day of the Dead
Hey everyone!
Another week gone. What happened? I just can´t remember...
We are trying to work better with the members. This last Thursday and Friday they had day of the dead. Nothing real interesting happened. I just saw a lot of wasted food on their shrines. Everyone just goes to the cemetary and that's about it. We didn´t have many lessons those two days, I think because of that. We were able to find a few different members to go out with us. Hopefully they will help us find some more people to teach.
It looks like we may be getting more money every month! That will help out. I still don´t really understand how they are doing the money for travel and all that. We´ll see if this is actually better or just a bunch of confusion.
An area seventy came and talked to us. It was Elder Johnson. It was pretty good. He focused on not baptizing ANYONE until they are ready. Fully ready. Also how when we ask people to do certain things, if we haven´t done them, DO them! Like praying and asking God if he really is our Heavenly Father, if we are His children, and if he actually knows us. The basics pass us by a lot of the time and we may need to focus more on those.
Torres and myself are quite different. We were brought up culturally different. He is a recent convert. He knows a lot of the scriptures and I really need to work on that.
I haven´t had anything too weird to eat this week. Nothing weird actually. Oh, I have had a lot of candied pumpkin which is really good and I think its easy to make. Just sugar, cinammon, I think, and water. Look it up how to make it and maybe try it sometime. Uhhh, what else?
One investigator promised to go to church and said he didn´t have anything else that would get in the way. Well, he didn´t show up again! We visited him after sacrament and he said he was going to get a shower and head over there. HE DIDN´T!!! I'm getting pretty sick of that.
Well, not much else crazy happened this week. We had some really good lessons and just need more help from the members. Ok, gotta go.
We are trying to work better with the members. This last Thursday and Friday they had day of the dead. Nothing real interesting happened. I just saw a lot of wasted food on their shrines. Everyone just goes to the cemetary and that's about it. We didn´t have many lessons those two days, I think because of that. We were able to find a few different members to go out with us. Hopefully they will help us find some more people to teach.
It looks like we may be getting more money every month! That will help out. I still don´t really understand how they are doing the money for travel and all that. We´ll see if this is actually better or just a bunch of confusion.
An area seventy came and talked to us. It was Elder Johnson. It was pretty good. He focused on not baptizing ANYONE until they are ready. Fully ready. Also how when we ask people to do certain things, if we haven´t done them, DO them! Like praying and asking God if he really is our Heavenly Father, if we are His children, and if he actually knows us. The basics pass us by a lot of the time and we may need to focus more on those.
Torres and myself are quite different. We were brought up culturally different. He is a recent convert. He knows a lot of the scriptures and I really need to work on that.
I haven´t had anything too weird to eat this week. Nothing weird actually. Oh, I have had a lot of candied pumpkin which is really good and I think its easy to make. Just sugar, cinammon, I think, and water. Look it up how to make it and maybe try it sometime. Uhhh, what else?
One investigator promised to go to church and said he didn´t have anything else that would get in the way. Well, he didn´t show up again! We visited him after sacrament and he said he was going to get a shower and head over there. HE DIDN´T!!! I'm getting pretty sick of that.
Well, not much else crazy happened this week. We had some really good lessons and just need more help from the members. Ok, gotta go.
Love and miss you all!
Aaron
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tejon tacos
Hey family!
Ok, I´m just sitting here trying to remember, again, what happened this week.
Well, first we did get a new rule saying we can´t tract by ourselves. If we go with a member we just go to the people that they know. Now we are just trying to get over the whole "I don´t know of anyone right now, but I´ll keep my eye out" shindig. That has made this week a bit different. We also have another rule that we can´t teach our progressing investigators without a member. This should definitely help us work more with members. It may take a little while to get it up and going but after it does it should go really well. It's pretty hard when we go to investigators and members houses and they aren´t there cause we don´t know what to do after that.
We went out to the ranch a couple times this week. Yesterday we taught a family the word of wisdom. Not two seconds after we were done the dad showed up drunker than ever. I have never seen him like that. Who knows? Maybe it showed them even more why they should live the word of wisdom. We had to leave because he was so drunk and we weren´t going to get anything done with him like that. It's pretty sad to see the family put on, what I think are fake smiles, when he is like that.
We also went to Piste´s house. We ate some Tejon Tacos. I'm sure Michael already knows what that is. I had no clue. All they could describe it as was a dog like thing that lives in the mountains and has a bushy tail but isn´t really like a dog. It wasn´t too bad. It definitely had a different taste but it was alright. Well, I looked that word up and you know what it came up with? Badger. I never thought that I would ever eat that! There;s just one more thing to add to my list of weird stuff I´ve eaten over here.
A couple of our investigators are going through some rough times right now. She still wants more time before she gets baptized. I don´t know what exactly is going on with them but they just seem really disorganized and really tired. She is working nights in Tuxtla and he is working in a field. Hopefully things will get better for them.
I had to bear my testimony in church this Sunday which wouldn´t be that bad but Pres. Ruiz let me know I was going to be doing that as he was talking at the pulpit. Missionaries still would like to know these things ahead of time too! Well, I don´t have anything else that I could think of
I hope everything is going great for all of you back home.
Love you!
Aaron
Ok, I´m just sitting here trying to remember, again, what happened this week.
Well, first we did get a new rule saying we can´t tract by ourselves. If we go with a member we just go to the people that they know. Now we are just trying to get over the whole "I don´t know of anyone right now, but I´ll keep my eye out" shindig. That has made this week a bit different. We also have another rule that we can´t teach our progressing investigators without a member. This should definitely help us work more with members. It may take a little while to get it up and going but after it does it should go really well. It's pretty hard when we go to investigators and members houses and they aren´t there cause we don´t know what to do after that.
We went out to the ranch a couple times this week. Yesterday we taught a family the word of wisdom. Not two seconds after we were done the dad showed up drunker than ever. I have never seen him like that. Who knows? Maybe it showed them even more why they should live the word of wisdom. We had to leave because he was so drunk and we weren´t going to get anything done with him like that. It's pretty sad to see the family put on, what I think are fake smiles, when he is like that.
We also went to Piste´s house. We ate some Tejon Tacos. I'm sure Michael already knows what that is. I had no clue. All they could describe it as was a dog like thing that lives in the mountains and has a bushy tail but isn´t really like a dog. It wasn´t too bad. It definitely had a different taste but it was alright. Well, I looked that word up and you know what it came up with? Badger. I never thought that I would ever eat that! There;s just one more thing to add to my list of weird stuff I´ve eaten over here.
A couple of our investigators are going through some rough times right now. She still wants more time before she gets baptized. I don´t know what exactly is going on with them but they just seem really disorganized and really tired. She is working nights in Tuxtla and he is working in a field. Hopefully things will get better for them.
I had to bear my testimony in church this Sunday which wouldn´t be that bad but Pres. Ruiz let me know I was going to be doing that as he was talking at the pulpit. Missionaries still would like to know these things ahead of time too! Well, I don´t have anything else that I could think of
I hope everything is going great for all of you back home.
Love you!
Aaron
Monday, October 22, 2012
First Week Training
Hey Family
Well, my first week of training is over. It wasn´t too bad. My comp is Elder Torrez. He´s from Oaxaca, not too far from here. There´s not much that I actually have to train him in. He knows a lot about the scriptures and teaches pretty well. The only thing is in lessons he says way too much than he should or has too. He just needs to simplify things a lot and he´ll do pretty well.
We are getting along OK. We don´t really have much in common at all. He also tries to tell me how Mexico is better than the USA. Well that just isn´t going to happen.
Gledys, an investigator that Elder Enke and I found, was on date for this last Saturday but ended up not getting baptized. She said she still wants to but she just needs more time. I´m hoping she will soon cause I haven´t seen anyone that I started teaching get baptized yet. I was really glad she told us that she didn´t feel ready. This decision is between them and God.
We of course are going to keep working with Gledys and see what happens. We are going to teach her husband and daughter more too. Her older two daughters don´t really want anything to do with religion. We´ll see if they do in awhile.
Oh! I was alone for a good hour or two this week. That was pretty nice. The Zone Leaders said Elder Enke and I could split up so he could get to the bus and I could get to the meeting to pick up Elder Torrez. I got on a Combi, leaving Elder Enke, and went to the church next to the temple. I was about an hour early and just hung around the temple.
Not much else to say about this week. Hopefully this next one goes well. Oh yeah, I made tamales yesterday for the first time. Nena, the land lady, made them so we helped. They were bean tamales and they put shrimp heads in the beans and blended them up, mmmm!
I love and miss you all!
Aaron
Monday, October 15, 2012
A Pretty Crazy Week
Hey Family
A lot of stuff happened this week. Not sure if all of this next part should be sent to everyone.
On Wednesday we got a call from the assistants saying that three of our investigators were going to get baptized on Saturday. That was a pretty big shock. We had told Carolina to pray the night before to know if she should get baptized now or wait for her husband.
Well, Pres and the assistants were driving through Cardenas and stopped to get some food. One of the assistants had been in Suchiapa before for about 9 months. They stopped at Carolina's and Miguel´s store. He asked if she had been baptized and she said no. They had a long chat with her and then her husband. They both said they would get baptized on Saturday. They also have a 9 yr old, Brayan, that would be as well.
We stopped by the next day and talked with them. Miguel wasn´t wanting to get baptized before and told us he was so his wife didn´t have to wait. He said he wasn´t sure if he would be able to keep the Sabbath day, cause he has a store and Sundays are his best days, or the word of wisdom. He didn´t know if the Book of Mormon was true or if Joseph Smith was a prophet. We just told him to pray that night to know. Hopefully he received his answer.
We did baptize them on Saturday. It was a pretty stressful morning trying to get members and investigators there. We had to get some people to give some talks too. We had more members than we thought we would so that was really good. Pres baptized Miguel, the assistant baptized Carolina, and I baptized Brayan. It was pretty cool to be a part of that family getting baptized. Brayan said he had had a bad cold and runny nose before and said when he went under the water it just went away. Pretty cool for him.
They all seemed to have a really good experience even Miguel. He seems to be doing good and we are going to keep teaching him more. His mom had a really hard time with him getting baptized. He also received the priesthood yesterday.
Arbe had been doing really well and hadn´t had a drink for a couple weeks. Yesterday he walked up to us and asked why we didn´t come by his house this morning, which we did but he wasn´t there, and he said he was drunk. It was pretty hard to see him like that. He was doing really well but hadn´t ever gone to church. We are really going to work with him to get him there.
We also found out that Elder Enke is getting transferred and I have to train someone! I´m not really ready for that but its coming no matter what. We were really hoping we would have another transfer here but no such luck. My new comp, I believe is Mexican. I don´t know if he is just starting or has been out for a transfer. We´ll have to just wait and find out.
Oh, we also went to try and get some crabs. We went with Piste to a creek and you have to stick your hand in some holes to find them. You just feel for them and pull them out. We didn´t find any though. We might go again sometime.
Well, that is what I can remember from this week. We´ll see what this next one brings.
On Wednesday we got a call from the assistants saying that three of our investigators were going to get baptized on Saturday. That was a pretty big shock. We had told Carolina to pray the night before to know if she should get baptized now or wait for her husband.
Well, Pres and the assistants were driving through Cardenas and stopped to get some food. One of the assistants had been in Suchiapa before for about 9 months. They stopped at Carolina's and Miguel´s store. He asked if she had been baptized and she said no. They had a long chat with her and then her husband. They both said they would get baptized on Saturday. They also have a 9 yr old, Brayan, that would be as well.
We stopped by the next day and talked with them. Miguel wasn´t wanting to get baptized before and told us he was so his wife didn´t have to wait. He said he wasn´t sure if he would be able to keep the Sabbath day, cause he has a store and Sundays are his best days, or the word of wisdom. He didn´t know if the Book of Mormon was true or if Joseph Smith was a prophet. We just told him to pray that night to know. Hopefully he received his answer.
We did baptize them on Saturday. It was a pretty stressful morning trying to get members and investigators there. We had to get some people to give some talks too. We had more members than we thought we would so that was really good. Pres baptized Miguel, the assistant baptized Carolina, and I baptized Brayan. It was pretty cool to be a part of that family getting baptized. Brayan said he had had a bad cold and runny nose before and said when he went under the water it just went away. Pretty cool for him.
They all seemed to have a really good experience even Miguel. He seems to be doing good and we are going to keep teaching him more. His mom had a really hard time with him getting baptized. He also received the priesthood yesterday.
Arbe had been doing really well and hadn´t had a drink for a couple weeks. Yesterday he walked up to us and asked why we didn´t come by his house this morning, which we did but he wasn´t there, and he said he was drunk. It was pretty hard to see him like that. He was doing really well but hadn´t ever gone to church. We are really going to work with him to get him there.
We also found out that Elder Enke is getting transferred and I have to train someone! I´m not really ready for that but its coming no matter what. We were really hoping we would have another transfer here but no such luck. My new comp, I believe is Mexican. I don´t know if he is just starting or has been out for a transfer. We´ll have to just wait and find out.
Oh, we also went to try and get some crabs. We went with Piste to a creek and you have to stick your hand in some holes to find them. You just feel for them and pull them out. We didn´t find any though. We might go again sometime.
Well, that is what I can remember from this week. We´ll see what this next one brings.
Love and miss you all!
Aaron
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