Mark Your Calendars for December 3rd!

¡HOLA!

Lots of good work this week and lots of people progressing!

This week Elder Valdovinos and I finished knocking in our area, so we started on round two of knocking and had great success!  We met a lady named Patricia and taught her about the Plan of Salvation.  She loved it and we are making plans for her to be baptized.  We also met with a woman named Andrea who had talked with the missionaries ten years before, but the missionaries were transferred and none ever came back.  We taught her a little about the Restoration again and she loves talking with us.  We hope to commit her to a baptismal date this week and have her baptized on the 3rd of December!

For the most part, this week was pretty calm as we knocked and contacted a bunch of people.  We finally met back up with one of our investigators, Sanjuana, on Friday and taught her and her grand-daughters about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Spirit was storng in the lesson.  They loved listening to us and learning more about the gospel. Sanjuana came to church this week and knows that she needs to get baptized in the correct form by Jesus Christ's example, so we are setting her up to also be baptized on the 3rd of December.  We promised her that as she obeys these commandments from God, that she will be blessed in her life and will have more peace in all she does.  I know this to be true!  When we have faith and are obedient to God´s commandments, He is able to open the windows of heaven and work miracles in our lives.

On Saturday, one of the wards in our stake had a youth missionary activity.  They were paired up to go out with the missionaries and spend the whole day with us doing awesome missionary stuff!  It was a neat activity and we had a lot of fun knocking and teaching with our assigned youth.  We taught Patricia about the Restoration of the true church of Christ and she was very receptive.  We extended a baptismal invitation which she accepted, so we are working on making that commitment firm, resolving all her questions and preparing her for baptism on the 3rd of December!

On Sunday, Sanjuana came to church with us; which was really awesome!  Jonathan also came to church on his own!  He is doing great!  He's continuing to read the Book of Mormon and praying daily!  What a great guy!  I know that he will be so good and firm in following the gospel.  Later, we met Sanjuana´s daughter and taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she accepted to be baptized.  She says that her daughters can continue talking with us and also be baptized, so we hope to baptize all of them on December 3rd!

Today was the usual p-day except we played football today as a zone against another zone.  Pretty fun.  I threw for two touchdowns and got one pick (interception), so it was a good day.

We are working really hard and I know that through our efforts, we will be blessed by God with families to baptize.  Fun stuff!  Lots and lots of hope and anticipation for December 3rd and the rest of this year!

I love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,
Elder San Diego

En Primer Lugar mi Bautismo - My First Baptism

Hey hey!

Wow, another week gone already! I don`t know how it`s possible, but this week has been even faster than all the others.

On Tuesday, we met with this cool couple, Benjamin and Jimena. They have two small girls and are strong Christians. Good start. So we taught them a little bit and are going to keep meeting with them. I know that as they keep being open and receptive to our message, they will be open and receptive to the Spirit which will tell them that this is the only true church of Jesus Christ and that they need to follow their response. 

On Wednesday, we had a multi-zone meeting at 8am and had some great instruction from President Tervort and one of the area seventies. They talked a little bit about Mosiah 12-16 which are some great chapters of when Abinadi is teaching King Noah and his priests. So, naturally, I encourage you all to read those chapters! They are great and full of the Spirit. Later in the night, Jonathan had his interview! Yay! He is way excited and so are we.

On Thursday, we had a great day of knocking and contacting. We met with a family and feel they are really great so we are going to focus on them. Later, we met with Jonathan and gave him a blessing to help him feel calm and peaceful since he was really stressed out with a job he had to get done. In the afternoon, we received a nice cold downpour to walk in, so that was cool. 

Friday was a great day. We started off visiting a contact named Sanjuana. We taught her and her grand-daughter about the Restoration and they felt the Spirit very strong. We invited them to be baptized and they are going to pray about it and read the Book of Mormon. I know they will receive an even stronger confirmation of the truth through the Spirit as they do this. So, as you can imagine, we are excited to meet with them again. We visited Jonathan again and an amazing thing happened! He is an industrial mechanic, so he makes different parts for businesses and hospitals. He felt stressed on Thursday because he had a project to complete, but the business called him and wanted it finished earlier or they would cut a big chunk of his pay. So he was pretty stressed out and that`s why we gave him a blessing. I know that priesthood blessings are from our loving Father in Heaven given directly to us through a worthy priesthood holder. When we met with Jonathan, he told us that he got all the work done super fast and a few hours earlier than expected! Wow! I know that as we show our faith in God and are obedient to His commandments, He blesses us with miracles in our lives.  Later, we met with the family we had contacted on Thursday. The mom is Cecilia and she has three sons: Angel Gael (8), Angel Gabriel (6), and Angel Ariel (2). (I call them "Los Angeles" hehe.) We watched the Restoration movie with them. They are really cool, and we are going to work on getting them to church and being baptized. Cool story from Friday: I ate tacos made with cow brain! Yeah! Funny thing is, they were really good. 

Saturday was great! We finally had some success! Jonathan was baptized! Woohoo! I can`t describe how happy it made me feel, and I was the one that got to baptize him! Way cool experience!

On Sunday, Jonathan was confirmed! We are so happy for him and he feels so happy. I know this true and lasting happiness comes in and through the gospel of Jesus Christ and by following His example in our lives. Later, God gave us a gift! A lady named Andrea walked up to us and said she wanted to meet with us. She had talking with missionaries about 10 years ago, but they got transferred and she didn`t know how to get in touch with them. We are really excited to meet with her and hopefully commit her to baptism! 

Today was another good p-day. We went to downtown Mexico City and I bought a few cool bags and a jacket. Cool story is that I bought two tamales, two bags, a jacket, a suit pin, and lunch for all about the equivalent of twenty-three American dollars. Cool stuff. Oh! Shout-out to Cole Patterson! Today we were walking and two women introduced themselves to us as members of the church from Germany! Cool.

Well, that`s about it for this week. Keep doing great in all you do! I love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Jonathan's Baptism

Elder Valdovinos, Jonathan & Elder San Diego

"Luiz Offers You His Protection!"

Hey everyone!

Yet another week has gone by and boy was it fast!

Last Tuesday and Wednesday was Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It was fun learning a little more about it and seeing the people here participating in that traditional holiday. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were pretty similar. We had some investigators who told us they didn´t want to keep following with the lessons or be baptized so we had to drop them. So, in light of that, we knocked and knocked and knocked some more trying to find some new people who are interested and want to listen to this message. Funny story from Thursday: while I was knocking doors, I found a drunk guy sleeping on his patio. I called Elder Valdovinos over to take a look and join me in trying to wake him up. Like anyone else would do, Elder Valdovinos and I got little pebbles and pieces of vegetation to throw at him. We yelled and knocked on his gate and tried everything in the book, but he was out cold! He didn´t even move as we did all of this. Crazy. Elder Valdovinos and I had a good laugh at that.

Friday we knocked some more and met with some of our investigators. We met with a lady named Rosalia who is really cool. She likes talking with us and listening and wants to come to church with us. She is interested, so we are going to work hard to teach her all she needs to know and have her feel the Spirit to know this church is true so she can make the decision to be baptized. Her son is also interested, but we have yet to meet him.  From what she says, he sounds cool and willing to listen and is excited about it too. We also met the uncle of one of our investigators, Jonathan. His name is Luiz and he thanked us for all we have done for Jonathan and said he would like to talk with us one day. He also said that if anyone messes with us to just tell him and he will go beat them up. Yeah, we roll with security down here.

On Saturday we met with a young couple that another missionary gave to us as a reference. They are great. Their names are Mitchel and Brenda and together they have a little baby girl who is one month old. They have met with the missionaries before so they have been taught about half the lessons and love it. Elder Valdovinos and I taught them a little more and invited them to be baptized and they accepted! Woohoo! We haven´t set a specific date for them to be baptized yet since we have to get them married first, but it will be really soon.

Sunday was long but so good. Jonathan came to church this week and liked it and has his baptismal interview this Wednesday and his baptism on Saturday. Needless to say, we are all pretty excited. Just a little fact about Jonathan: before, he used to drink 50 liters of cerveza every week. Yes, 50. Last week he was down to only 2 liters and having no problem. We suggested for him to quit and abandon it forever and he agreed! I know that all things are possible as we turn to the Lord and ask for his help in our lives and rely on him. Such a truly amazing experience. Later, we met with some investigators, Gregorio and his two daughters Liliana and Ariadna. We invited Gregorio and Liliana to be baptized, but Gregorio said no, he wants to take more time to decide. However, Liliana said she wants to be baptized. She first needs the permission of her dad so we are praying that he will let her be baptized. When we were walking home, a drunk joven (youth) told us "Saca para una cahuama (a cahuama is a big bottle of cerveza)." (Give me your money so I can buy a cerveza) We just told him we had nothing and kept walking. Pretty funny.

Today we played soccer as a zone again and my team did pretty good. We all wore our Mexico jerseys and had a great time. I am getting pretty good at the good ol ball handling skills and scoring goals. Today I scored two goals! Yeah. I even tried a Chilena (bicycle kick) today and it almost went in but the goalie just had to be there to stop it and take away my glory.

Lots of good stuff happening here in Mexico! I know without a shadow of a doubt that this Church and gospel are true. There would be no reason to be out here if it wasn´t that way. I have people all day try to tell me that I am wrong and have been deceived, but I know deep within the truthfulness of all that I know and teach to others. I have received my witness from God and there is no way for me to deny what I know. I love this gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the fulness of the truth which God has to offer us. I know this with all my heart and soul. I bear testimony that it is true and invite anyone who is curious about it to learn more and test God to ask him if it is true and see by their own experience if it is indeed good. I know anyone who does this will receive from God their answer and his love and presence in their life.

I love you all! Keep doing great in all you do!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,
Elder San Diego

Happy Halloween!

Wow. One month in the field already and it still feels like I arrived earlier this week. Crazy!

Last Tuesday we had a great day teaching people and meeting with some of our contacts. Jonathan is doing great with cutting back on his drinking and is almost completely off of it. I know that as he keeps relying on the Lord, he will have the power to resist evil and temptations like never before. We also met with a really cool girl of about 28 years of age whose name is Karina. She has cousins and an uncle and aunt who are all members so she knew a little bit and that her cousins all served missions, but nothing more than that. We taught her and the Spirit was really strong, so we set her for a baptismal date on November 12 and she accepted! We also met with a real cool family Gilberto, his wife Natalia, and their son (one of three kids) named Christian. They are awesome and love hearing what we have to offer, so we will extend a baptismal date soon to them. The cool thing is that Gilberto and Christian are learning English so it is fun talking with them in both languages.

Wednesday started off with us going to the immigration office for me to sign some papers. We moved Jonathan`s baptismal date to the 5th of November to give him a little more time to prepare. We also taught Karina the commandments and she accepted to live all of them, which she had no problem doing before, which is great! Later, Josè Manuel and Andrea had their baptismal interviews, but they aren`t prepared. Elder Valdovinos and I have done almost all we can to teach Josè Manuel that it is important to be baptized in the correct form like Jesus Christ, but he doesn`t want to accept it even though he knows perfectly that he should. Andrea wants to be baptized, but doesn`t want to keep a certain commandment. We are going back to them to teach a little more and extend the offer to live all the commandments and be baptized. If they don`t accept, we are just going to have to move on and visit them only like once a month just to see how they are and if they want to make that covenant with God. That`s the thing, too. We can`t pick and choose which commandments work for us and which don`t. God doesn`t work that way. We need to obey all of His commandments for Him to be able to bless us.

Thursday, we knocked a bunch and made a bunch of return appointments that we hope go well. On Friday, we had a lot of success! We knocked and taught a bunch of lessons and have a bunch of new investigators now! I am excited to return to them all because they can really feel the Spirit, which is the most important part in conversion! We talked to Jonathan tonight and it was amazing. He said that although he has been off of drugs for two years now, he has never been able to quit drinking cerveza until he met us and started talking with us! He had tried everything in the book to try quitting, but it wasn`t until he started relying on God that he has been able to stop. Wow. He said we were like angels to him and that he is so grateful for us bringing this into his life. Wow x2. It is truly amazing having a front row seat in seeing God work miracles in His children`s lives.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty much the same, a lot of knocking and contacting with a little success. Crazy thing is that Elder Valdovinos and I have almost knocked our entire area, so we will finish in the next few weeks and start round 2 of knocking again!

Today has been a relaxing p-day. We played some soccer this morning and are going to finish our day with washing clothes and having our district meeting. Whew! What a week!

We have a bunch of people who are in line to be baptized, so hopefully November will be really successful!

Take care and love you all!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Preaching to...

...a Large City

"But of You It Is Required to Forgive All Men!"

¡Hola everyone!

What a crazy week it has been here in Mexico!

Ok, so on on Tuesday we met with Jose Manuel and Jonathan. Jose Manuel is doing good and we put a goal date for him to be baptized on the 29th of October. He just needs to come to church now and pray for his response which I know will come if he just asks. Jonathan accepted a baptismal date today for the 29th of October! It is really exciting. He just needs to come to church now.

Wednesday, we taught Jonathan about the commandments and he has committed to live all the commandments and accepted to live the law of chastity, law of tithing, and word of wisdom! He said that he used to be a drug addict but he is on his second year now drug free. He said all he needs to change is that he drink a little bit of cerveza but said it is something he is willing to give up to be baptized and said he would gladly follow through with that. Yeah!

Thursday, we headed down to the mission office for me to sign some papers because there were conflicts with my name. Then, we met with our investigators, returned to our contacts, and knocked some more doors.

On Friday we knocked almost all day and found a really cool family and taught them the first lesson. The mom´s name is Laura and she has two kids, Mariana who is 12 and Benjamin who is 9. Benjamin loves us and likes to listen to the message we have. We know they are really good and that we can baptize them with a little hard work and faith. Funny story: Benjamin loves to listen to me beat-box and he and all his cousins are enthralled with it. Another funny story: Last week Elder Valdovinos and I were walking and I stepped in some wet cement, leaving my footprint. So now, I can really say I left my footprint in this first area of mine!

Saturday was more or less a somewhat disappointing day. We had all our appointments fall so we knocked and contacted a bunch and had a little bit of success. What makes up for it all is knowing I am doing the Lord's work and he is with me through it all!

Sunday was great and crazy at the same time. Andrea came to church and had such a powerful confirmation from the Spirit that this church is true. We talked to her for a little bit and are going to set her for a baptismal date this weekend! Hurray for the Spirit and prayers being answered! In other news, my camera, umbrella, and flashlight got stolen. They were all deep in my bag so I know that the only time someone could have taken my stuff was when I didn´t have my bag in my sight, which was only once during the day when we were helping one of our investigators with something and we were on the roof with him and his mom was downstairs. She does not like us and said our church is just one big lie. Anyway, I know she took my stuff, but she won´t admit it. So, I have just followed through with what Christ taught to love our enemies and it has given me such peace to do that. I just hope I can get it all back!

Today was another good p-day. We went to downtown Mexico City and saw all the cool buildings and later we have some interviews. Busy busy, but so great!

Well, I have to go. I love you all!

Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Me in front of a Catholic Cathedral

The Mexican Flag

Predicad Mi Evangelio - Preach My Gospel

¡Hola!

A great week it has been here in Mexico! The time seems to just fly by so quickly here!

Tuesday was a pretty good day. We contacted a bunch and knocked doors like crazy and ended up with quite a few appointments. Other than that, not too much else happened...but! It is just dandy!

On Wednesday we had some success! We found a lady named Denise and taught a great lesson and the Spirit was very strong. We invited her to be baptized and she agreed! Yeah!

Thursday, we started out with no appointments, so we went to work knocking doors and contacting! We even found some people that we taught lessons to and they were very receptive. Yay! Elder Valdovinos and I are praying to find a great family to teach and baptize. I know that as we keep working hard in this area, we will receive a family in answer to our prayers! On another note, the members here are great! They are so nice and we have a meal appointment every day! Hurrah for not starving! Here in Mexico there is only really one meal of the day at about 3pm and that`s pretty much all I need or even feel like eating, which is great!

On Friday we had a bunch of appointments. For the most part, a lot fell through. But the ones who we got to were great! We have one investigator named Jose Manuel who is an older man and drives a taxi. We found him on Thursday and returned today and he read 3 Nephi 11, the Restoration pamphlet we gave him and took it upon himself and started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning! Wow! We have taught him a bit and invited him to be baptized and he is going to pray and think about it this week and come to church and says when he feels it is right he will be baptized. I know as we pray to know the truth, we will always come to know it!

Saturday was good. We have 5 people we are really going to focus on: Jaime, Jonathan, Jose Manuel, Adreana, Denise, and Joselyn. I do not have time to expound on all of them, but they are all great and we are setting them all up for baptisms as they progress! I know that this gospel blesses lives. I have seen it in my own life and I see it even more in the lives of those we teach! So amazing!

Sunday was okay. Church was good and after, Elder Valdovinos and I knocked and contacted some more and had a little bit of success. And, as we keep working, we will have even more!

Today was p-day yet again, so that meant soccer with the zone! My team pretty much dominated all day long. We had a great offense (I scored a goal!) and a killer defense (me and our goalie Elder Brimhall!) and went 15-2 today with an 8 game win streak. After I finish this e-mail, Elder Valdovinos and I are going to get some tacos! Yay!

Everything is just amazing here. I wish I had more time to tell more! Anyway, I love you all! Take care!

¡Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

Houses!

Lots and Lots of Houses!!

Bienvenido a la Ciudad de México (Welcome to Mexico City)

Hola and many greetings from Mexico!

Wow! What a week it has been here in Mexico! Everything is just amazing. The people, the food, serving the Lord, and a bunch of other things! Family, you would have a hay day here because there are SO many VW´s driving around up in this piece!

So last Thursday and Friday weren´t much of anything. Just a bunch of meetings and things for the missionaries leaving the MTC. Saturday and Sunday were spectacular and very spiritually uplifting from General Conference. I highly recommend reading over the talks again or going onto lds.org and watching videos of the talks. They were so good!

So. Monday. My first day in MEXICO! As I was flying in to the city, I looked out the window and what did I see? Houses. And I mean a lot and a lot of houses and buildings. They went as far as I could see! And I´m looking out of an airplane! President Tervort and his secretaries came and picked us up from the airport and drove us to the mission home. It is so crazy when you drive around here! There are basically no lines and people are merging whenever they want and driving super fast. So fun! Crazy thing is even with all the crazy driving, I have yet to see anyone hit another car. Mexico City is just great. I really feel at home here. I also feel unusually tall. That makes me happy. So we went to the mission home, had dinner (Pizza Hut and lasagna), and had a great meeting with President Tervort talking about what we ought to expect out of ourselves and how to help people know this gospel is true through a witness of the Spirit. Really great. Then we met our trainers! My trainer is Elder Valdovinos. He is from here in Mexico City except a different part. He is bien chito (really cool) and is great. Fun fact! Elder Valdovinos was also the trainer of one of my friends and basically roommates Elder Quirante! Crazy.

Tuesday was my first day in the field and boy was it crazy! Elder Valdovinos and I are opening a new area so we were starting from scratch so that means a bunch of knocking doors and contacting for a while which is very fun. I was getting so lost trying to understand everyone here. They speak so fast! But we had a few contacts and I ended the day with some lovely blisters on my feet. (good news now is my feet are like rocks! yeah! no more pain for me!)

Wednesday was great. I started contacting and knocking doors by myself! Yeah! All our appointments for today fell through, but it´s ok! It just means we get to work even harder to find the people God has prepared!

Thursday was pretty similar in that basically all our appointments fell through so we got to do a bunch more knocking and contacting! Elder Valdovinos said we need to try get up to 25 contacts each. Yay for motivation!

On Friday it poured on us! So much rain. Oh how I love it. Whether my books like it is another story for another time. We did more contacting and knocking and found a great lady named Blanca. She invited us in as we were knocking our last street for the day and we taught her about the Restoration and Book of Mormon. I felt the Spirit strongly and know she did too. We got her to even commit to read part of the Book of Mormon and pray about it and about Joseph Smith! God is always so gracious towards us in our lives. His Spirit and words in the scriptures always touch my heart.

Saturday. All of our appointments fell through so we knocked and contacted for most of the day. And guess what? I ended the day with 28 contacts! Whether or not they fall through doesn´t matter too much, just the fact that I can hold my own in conversations and understand people is great and also that Elder Valdovinos and I are talking to more people and about to find some investigators! It rained again also so he and I were nice and wet for a good part of the day.

Church was way good yesterday. There was such a great spirit there as we had a testimony meeting. I even got up and shared my testimony in Spanish! Thanks to Heavenly Father for the gift of tongues, I am doing pretty good in the language. We taught a great guy named Jaime also. He is great and I know that as he reads the Book of Mormon and prays, he will receive his witness of the truth and receive direction from on high in all he does as we promised him, just as I know we all can receive the same in our own lives!

Today was P-day so we played soccer as a zone. It was way fun. Elder Valdovinos and I also went and got tacos at a local stand. They were AMAZING. Street vendors here are superb and I would eat from them every day if I had the dinero to. These three things you will always find on the streets: tacos, chicharrones, and gelatin. Isn´t Mexico City amazing?

Well that´s all for now. I love you all!

Ten fe y se obediente!

Todo mi amor,

Elder San Diego

New Arriving Missionaries at the Mexico City Northwest Mission Home

Training Session for the new missionaries & meeting their Trainers

"Meet & Greet" at the mission home