Happy 29th Birthday, Mom!!!!

Hello and welcome to the next edition of "Where in the World is Elder San Diego?"!

Elder Cadena and I had a great week. 

We had Luisa and Tania's baptism on Tuesday and it was marvelous! My companion baptized Luisa and I had the privilege of baptizing Tania. They are super great and will be great examples of good. 

Also, in Catholic news, it was the Virgin Guadalupe's birthday this week. I'll explain the hubadaboo about all this confused belief and such when I get home but anyway, the Basilica de Guadalupe (center of the Virgin worship with cathedrals built to honor her) is right along the far edge of my area. What people do is come from all over and from different states of Mexico to give thanks to the virgin and sing the mañanitas to her. (like I said, it's a bunch of hubadaboo) So people come walking in what they call "peregrinaciones" (basically parades of people) and they are called "peregrinos" which translated means "wanderers". I think it's pretty funny that they are called wanderers and they come from afar to worship idols. It's just too ironic for me. But yeah, it was all packed up in this piece and there were many a people who came, an estimated 3 million. 

Then, we had a mission conference this week with Elder Daniel L. Johnson, the area president of Mexico for the Church. He talked to us and shared lots of good things with us on how we can improve the already marvelous job we are doing here in this mission. He gave us a statistic that in this mission of every 9 new investigators we find, we baptize 1. In all the other missions in Mexico, they have an average of 1 baptism for every 15 new investigators that they find. In all of Latin America, the average is 1 baptism for every 21 new investigators found. Thus, we are doing good over here. But, more important than that is the work we as members must complete in retention, activation, and fellowshipping. That is what leads to true conversion and makes it possible for us and others to be worthy for the gift of eternal life. 

This week, our stake also had a big Christmas party which was fun. We also found some additional families this week who we are excited to start working with and inviting them to come unto Christ. We are doing great and I hope you all are too! 

Let me not forget to wish a VERY Happy Birthday to my dearest dearly mother!! Happy Birthday Mom! I don't know how it works out, but I keep getting older and you keep staying 29! Crazy. Much love to you, mom! 

We will have a great week and I hope you all do too! If the world really does end, Happy End of the World Day! If not, I'll talk to you next week! I'll get my schedule all set and let you know what time we will Skype next week. Love!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Luisa and Tania's Baptism!

I helped teach a Christmas song in English to this group of kids along withElder Wood and Elder Durrant that they performed during the Stake Christmas party and it turned out great! 

Getting A "Big Hug" From The Spirit

Hey fam bam,

We had a really great week. We found lots of new people while looking for inactive members that are golden! We have planned some appointments for them this week and look to invite the Spirit strongly with them so he can testify of the truth of all we share. Very exciting! 

In other news, we have Tania's and Luisa's baptism lined up for tomorrow and they are super set! We also had a cool experience this week with Luisa. We went over to teach her and we started going over the commandments. I taught the second commandment and asked her if she had any questions. She replied that she did and started asking what "true and living God" meant. She started to ask if God and Jesus Christ really did exist and if they did, where they were and how we can say we know if we have never seen them. As she talked, I felt very strongly the presence of the Holy Spirit and after she was done I asked her what she was feeling. She replied that she felt a really good warm feeling on the inside and that it felt like she was sweating on the inside. I then asked her if she knew what it was and she said she didn't. I told her it was the Spirit and that it was testifying to her and to us that Christ does indeed live and that we know all things through the Spirit. I asked her how she felt in church and she said when she was there she felt as if someone was giving her a big hug. I then testified that that was also the spirit and reminded her of the other times we had felt it together. We focused her on that and that the way to receive it in fulness in our lives is to be baptized. It was a marvelous experience for the spirit to answer her own question and help give her the strength to use her agency for good and continue to prepare for her baptism. Yay! 

Good things are going to happen and December will truly be a month of miracles!  Elder Cadena and I have noticed a change in the people and a different spirit about them and that they are more open. We know that it is the spirit of Christ touching the hearts of the people to open them up for the message they will receive through us. Yeah! We are super excited to be doing missionary work right now and are ready to receive an outpouring of blessings from the Lord. 

Well, that's about it! I love you all! Have a great week!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

"Orange" ya glad I sent you this photo?

This week I ate a gusano, which translated means worm.  Mmmm, yum!!

"I Testify That Christ Lives!"

Hey guys!

We had another super duper week here in the vineyard of the Lord. 

On Wednesday we had a great mission conference where the spirit was strongly present and we learned a lot of great and important things about our work and relying on the Savior in those hard times of our missions and our lives. 

We worked really good and found lots of other people who we can start to teach. This week our baptism didn't go through, but we plan to have it this weekend. It is a mom and her daughter named Luisa and Tania. They are really good and we can feel the spirit very strongly every time we teach them. They are excited to follow the example of the Savior and take this very important step in their life towards returning to the presence of God. Yay! 

In other news this week, me and my companion had the opportunity to run into a modern-day Korihor! Never thought it would ever happen, but I met an anti-Christ! We were walking by and he stopped us and gave us a piece of paper each and we said goodbye and kept walking. Later as we opened it up and started reading it, Satan just flowed from the words that were printed. It was pretty hilarious reading the lame argument and the rest of the stuff that was there. Interesting and very uninspired. So that was good. 

Good week and a better one to come! I testify that Christ lives. He is our Savior and our Advocate with the Father. Through His grace and mercy, we can obtain the mighty peace of mind, body, and spirit that God has to offer us. He has restored His truth to the earth in our days through His prophet. No unhallowed hand shall ever stop the work of the Lord from progressing. I testify that He is and was and is to come. I know that He is the way. He is our very Redeemer. His name is Jesus Christ and His power is in and through His gospel. Of this I testify in His holy name. Amen.

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

The Lord Will Lead You To Those Who Are Ready!

Hey guys!

Me and Elder Cadena had a good week last week.

We baptized this last week a reference we got from some inactives in our ward. It was their grandson, Carlos, and so we talked with him and taught him and he decided to be baptized. The cool thing was that his grandpa had the opportunity to baptize him and because of us going over and the spirit they were able to feel with us, we activated 3 people from that family and have plans to invite other family members that live there to listen to our message.

We also had a great experience the other night also. While we were passing by this one lady on the street that we had previously bought elotes from one night, I decided to stop and say hi to see how she was doing. As we stopped by she  apologized and said she had lied to us before because we had gone to look for an inactive and we asked her if she knew who we were looking for. Long story short, she lied because her husband doesn't like us or that she got baptized and she told us she was who we were looking for.

We talked a bit and she mentioned her sister and how she has a lot of life problems. So, I asked for her name and direction and the next day we went to visit her. We helped her and invited the spirit to her house through a little message we shared and used the 6 steps and invited her to baptism and she accepted! She and her daughter went to church and enjoyed it. We have her baptism planned for this Saturday and plan to also talk to her daughter and invite her also since she wasn't there when we talked to her mom.

All in all, we are doing great and have some really great references who we will be working with hard. We also have been able to activate 2 other families who also have lots of family who are not members yet.

Good stuff! I love you all! Have a great week!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Tired....But Satisfying!!!

Hey guys!

We had a tiring but satisfying week. We were able to visit a lot of inactive families in our ward and have started to help them get back on the straight and narrow path. And we had success! We got 3 inactive families to church this week and have more committed to return next week and keep up with their promises they have made with God. While with one inactive couple, we got to know their grandson, Carlos. He is a great little boy that is 9 years old and had always liked going to church with his grandparents before. So, we started teaching him and he will be baptized this Saturday! He is excited and so are his grandparents. We have also found a couple more people to teach as we have been visiting and activating members who are doing well. So we are excited for all of them and anxious for them to feel the spirit more and complete their commitments. So, we are going to have some awesome times this next week! 

Well, that's all for now. Take care! Love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

We went bowling as a zone last week and did it tournament style. 

I barely got in to the finals with a score of 110 from the qualifying game and....

...then won it all in the finals game coming from behind 

with a score of 139 thanks to some last second strikes! 

So Many Referrals....So Little Time!!

Hey guys!

We had a great week and lots of experiences with the spirit with members. It's really neat seeing members receive the courage to share with others the joy they know and the truth that they are blessed to have. We have so many references that it's been a struggle to talk with all of them. Good stuff. We will focus more on being able to talk with all so we can invite the spirit with them and help them progress in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We also had a great Stake Conference on Sunday! It was a big broadcast to all the stakes and the speakers included Sis. Stephens from the Relief Society Presidency, Elder Clark from the Seventy, another elder from the seventy whose name escapes me, and Elder Richard G. Scott from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They are gave heart-felt talks and the spirit was strongly present in the meeting. Here are some things that were said that really stood out to me:

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." quote by Winston Churchill

"Enduring to the end means getting up every time we fall down."

"Faith and fear cannot exist together."

Some of the themes shared were about the sacrament, centering ourselves on Christ, the importance of family home evening, and the blessings of marriage and the temple. It was a truly inspiring Stake Conference. 

But, we are doing great and will continue to do so. I love you all! Have a great week!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

These are some of the altars of offerings they make in Mexico for  Day of the Dead.

The belief is that their loved ones that are dead come to visit on that day so they put out pictures of dead loved ones and also put out some goodies or food that that person loved while they lived,

and the people here say the spirits come and "eat the food".  Nice tradition. 

Love & Appreciation For Sharing The Gospel

Hey folks!

Great week! We had so many cool experiences with the members this week as we went over to their houses and taught them with the spirit. We have already seen many blessings from the Lord in our work. When we invite the members, with the spirit, to help us in the work and invite them to think of people who they know who are ready for the gospel they give us so many that it's starting to get hard to plan our time in our days. But! Everything is super good. We really are going to see a lot of success soon and I am really excited and humbled by it too. I don't think I can adequately express the gratitude I have for members who truly take the name of Christ upon them and help others receive the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Thanks to such a member and his fearlessness to share what he knew to be true, my family is truly blessed to have the gospel in their lives and thanks to him I have enjoyed so many blessings. Like I said, I can't fully describe how much appreciation and love I have for members of Jesus Christ's church who choose to offer the blessings of the gospel to those they know. 

Well, that's pretty much all for this week. I hope you all have a great week! I love you!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

View of Mexico City from Martin Carrera