"Therefore, Come And Be Baptized Unto Repentance, That Ye May Be Washed From Your Sins!"

Hey guys!

Elder Johnson and I had a great week and some amazing spiritual experiences. On Monday after our zone meeting, we went over to the house of a guy named Jose Luis. We had met him a few days before while we were walking. He was over to the side of the road drinking and said hi to us and called us over so we went and talked to him for a little and put an appointment. So we went and applied what we had taught the zone in our meeting about loving and teaching others as if they were your own family and teaching according to their needs. We talked and he mentioned how he always felt unsettled and not in peace and how he would like to start anew. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about how through faith, we repent and are forgiven if we truly forsake and feel sorrow for our sins. We then taught how through baptism we are washed clean of our sins and wrong-doings and that through following Jesus Christ we receive a remission of our sins and peace through the spirit. We felt the power of the Holy Spirit in that moment and identified with him that what he was feeling (which he described as peace, happiness, and something big inside of him) was the spirit and invited him to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ and he accepted! We plan to baptize him this Sunday since we are still helping him to stop drinking. Cool thing is we have a member in our ward who used to be an alcoholic and has helped the stake out with the Church's recovery program so he is helping us to help Jose Luis to stop drinking.

On Wednesday, we went to our convert's house to try teach some of her non-member family members and we found her husband Oscar there so he listened to us. He said that he really needed a change in his life and that he would love to go to church and everything and be with his wife and kids there and feel and have more peace in his life. We taught him that through repentance and baptism, we can receive that peace and guidance through the spirit which we receive after baptism. The spirit was strongly present and we invited him to be baptized and he accepted also! We plan to baptize him this Sunday.

Also, on Saturday we had a neat experience with one of our investigators, Maria. She had previously listened to missionaries and had wanted to be baptized but her husband forbade her to. We taught her about the importance to follow Christ through baptism and how even though there might be opposition, there will always be a way for us to complete with the Lord's command if we want to and if we strive hard do all we can to complete His will. She accepted to pray for a confirmation to know the Lord's will concerning her and for courage to talk to her husband to get permission. She shared with us her amazing experience that she had that after she prayed about her baptism and for the Lord to help her make a sure decision, she opened her Book of Mormon and stumbled upon some scriptures that the sister missionaries had marked for her in her book that happened to be Alma chapter 7 verses 11 through 16. She was impacted by those scriptures and as we discussed the importance of that answer of God to her in that moment, we were touched by the spirit and she realized that no matter what, she needed to be baptized and follow Christ. She decided and is firm in her decision and told us that she will just let her husband know that she has made a decision and that with his permission or not, she was going to follow Jesus Christ. She is very enthusiastic and excited for her upcoming baptism which is scheduled for May 10.

We are doing great and I hope you all are too! Love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Following The Guidance Of Modern-Day Prophets

Hey guys!

We had a very eventful yet uneventful week. We absolutely did WORK this week and I think this is the most tired I have ever been in my mission (also taking into account the fact that we wake up at 5:40am to go get big at the gym). 

But we taught a bunch of solid lessons this week all with the amazing presence of the spirit. We invited everyone we met to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ but the main theme we found in common with all of our investigators was that they feel they aren't prepared and that they won't be prepared until after a long time and knowing everything (totally not true, that's why we're given faith). But, we have good investigators that are progressing and taking everything we give them. 

One cool experience I had was that I got to talk in church on Sunday about the importance of listening to the General Conferences of the Church and following the guidance of modern-day prophets. One of our investigators named Jorge who we haven't taught about prophets yet was at church so I specifically made it a point to direct my thoughts and words toward him and his needs. After church we talked a bit and set up an appointment and he said he was really interested in learning more about modern-day prophets and receiving more knowledge from us. Cool! But yeah, well I gotta go but we are doing swell as I hope all of you are! 

Take care and love you!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

I thought this was hilarious.  Since I arrived in Mexico, I made the correct judgement that Coke is the replacement for water here.  But never had I beheld such a scene as this one!  A fridge full of Coke for all the Coke-loving Mexicans and the one bottle of water for the dehydrated Elder that comes a walkin' by.  How considerate!

Following The Example Of Jesus Christ!

Hey guys!

Elder Johnson and I had a great week. We found a lot of new investigators this week and have received many references from members and we are working really great right now.

One cool experience we had this week was with an inspired contact. Elder Johnson and I were heading to an appointment and talking about how much more effective it is to receive references from members and following the divine guidance of the Spirit than anything else when a guy stopped us on our way down the hill to say hi to us. So we stopped and talked to him for a little about him personally and about what we do as missionaries and how our message could bless him in his life. He listened and accepted that we come back to teach him. The next night we went over to his house and taught him and his girlfriend about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we explained about the process of repentance and about the Savior's Atonement, the Spirit was strongly present. We explained how the Spirit testifies of truth and the need to follow the example of Jesus Christ and how through baptism we can be washed clean of sin and mistakes and then invited them to follow His example and be baptized. They both accepted and are very excited to be able to follow through with the Savior's teachings. We plan to marry them this week and have their baptisms on Saturday! The zone is doing really great and we re all seeing a lot of success! Now we just gotta keep up with all of them to make sure we do even better!

Cool story! This morning we got up at 4:50 am to go hike this huge mountain in our area with two other Elders to see the sunrise. So we were hiking and basically bear crawling the mountain because it was so steep. But it was cool. When we saw the mountain we climbed when the sun came up, we were surprised  because it was basically just a vertical climb all the way up. So being that we were on a very steep hill, we were already "past the point of no return" so we had to keep climbing up to be able to get down. As we were approaching the bigger mountain right next to us, we found witches up there with us. Crazy! I don't have too much time to tell that whole story so if you're interested ask me about it when you see me again. So, we get past the witches and take pictures of the sunrise and go to the very highest tip-pity top point of the mountain and offer a prayer (because the tops of mountains are basically like temples and it's just cool like that) and head back down to go play soccer with the zone. Yay! Fun! 

But yeah, we are doing great and I hope you all are too! Oh yeah, Happy Belated Birthday to my faddah unit! He turned a grand 51 years old on March 20th which makes me also realize that I turn 21 this year... man, I'm gonna get old fast. Anyway, have a great week! Love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Beautiful Sunrise!

Tip-pity top of the mountain

Working Hard To Bring People Unto Christ

Hey guys!

Elder Johnson and I had a great week. We are having lots of experiences and working hard to bring people unto Christ. This week, we went with a sister in our ward to eat with her on Tuesday. We ate and talked to her and then shared a spiritual message with her afterwards. We identified the spirit when it came and asked her if she knew anyone who she would like for them to receive the gospel. She said she had a sister who could really use the gospel in her life and receive the blessings from it for her and her family. So we went with her to visit her sister and we put an appointment with her. We went back the next day and taught according to the spirit and her needs. The spirit testified strongly to her and she was really glad that we could finally visit with her. She accepted to be baptized and we baptized her on Saturday after General Conference and confirmed her the next day. We are super happy for her and can't wait to go back this week and invite her to stay strong and start being a missionary herself. We have many more investigators who we are working with right now and will have lots of success in the coming days and weeks.

General Conference was especially great this year. I highly recommend you all read over and listen to the talks again just as President Monson had also suggested. I know that as we do, we will experience the joys of the spirit and his companionship with us constantly and fully. I really enjoyed the themes that they focused on on being a true disciples of Christ through sharing the gospel, the importance of obedience, and how we need to stand firm in a world of shifting and changing values. I forgot my notes back at home but next week I'll send all of my favorite notes and quotes. Have a great week! I love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Martha's Familia!

Martha's baptism!

Pictures of my zone

Following The Instructions Of The Spirit

Hey guys!

This past week me and Elder Jay finished off great. We baptized one girl whose name is Becky Kim. We had her baptism on Wednesday and it was great and the rest of her family was there to support her. We also put 5 baptismal dates this week for this upcoming Saturday and will confirm them and Geovanni also. This past week we had some amazing experiences with some of the investigators we found that will be baptized. 

One day we decided to dedicate time to the Lord and follow the instructions of the Spirit as we walked around. We prayed specifically for the guidance of the Lord during that time and set off to follow the indications of the Spirit. As we were passing by a certain house, I started to feel the Spirit so I stopped and looked at it. Then we heard a little girl crying and I felt the Spirit even more. So we went and knocked on the door and presented ourselves with the lady and she said we could come back the next day. So we went but when we were knocking, no one came to the door. Then all of a sudden, a guy came walking up to us and said that he thought he knew Elder Jay and that he had seen him before. He was a little drunk at the time so we went walking and talking with him some more and set an appointment for the next day. When we went by the next day we found him and we went to the park with him to sit down and talk. He really needed emotional support and also wanted to seriously change his life and start over again. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit came super strong. We asked him how he felt and he said he felt something swell inside of him and that he had a huge calm and peace fall over him. We invited him to follow Jesus Christ and start anew and he said yes. Since then, he has been changing drastically. We taught him about the need to live the Word of Wisdom and he got all of his bottles together one night and we accompanied him as he threw all of his alcohol away in the trash. It was a way cool experience. (way interesting too because he speaks English because he used to live in the U.S. so we have taught him entirely in English.) His name is Chris.

Also, all of our appointments fell through Saturday and we were walking to go visit an inactive member when a guy named Paul, who we had met on the street one time and went to visit him but never found him, saw us and called us over. We went over and entered into his house and taught him about the Godhead. When the Spirit was present we identified it with him and invited him to be baptized and he also accepted.

There are another 3 who will be baptized this Saturday with them so I am looking forward to when they make that covenant with God. Also, we had a mission dodgeball tournament today and my zone rocked and beat everyone and so we were the champions!

And one last news!  I just got moved up today by President Tervort as the Zone Leader in a zone called Cuautepec!!  Awesome.  My new companion is Elder Johnson and we are going to tear it up!

Have a great week! Love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Becky Kim's baptism!

The winning zone! Industrial!