Week 12 - First Change Completed

To answer a few Questions: 

Dad - I liked your thoughts about faith.  We have been teaching people lots of basic things about faith recently: Faith comes from consistently doing the things we are supposed to and with that foundation when the trials come, they won't kill the faith they'll only help it grow.  Faith is hard to picture as the grand faith of walking off the cliff. I think faith is the tiny little things like reading scriptures every single day, that takes a lot of faith.  I like the questions you posed about the faith to obey and all that but faith is smaller than that and bigger.  Faith is a lot of patience also, idk the more i write the less concise my thoughts become.

Earthquake: No, I didn't feel a thing.  We live like on a pretty solid, dead volcano.  It's practically solid rock.  I don't think they feel any earthquakes here.

Weather: It's strange to think about weather in Utah, because its always like the same here. haha  it's been spring like since i got here. and to think about snow and green grass is so foreign to Mexico.

So...about the bike with the basket - watch nacho libre, he drives one of these bikes but his has an engine.  We don't ride those, and I don't think anyone really rides in the baskets here, because you couldn't drive up any of the hills.

Things not specific to questions asked or emails sent:

This week we got a ton of new people.  We contacted 90 people (in the street and knocked doors) we only taught like 37 lessons we had a meeting or something one day.  Ya, we have a problem we keeping lessons short haha.

We contacted this lady, knocked her door, and talked and both me and zub.  I thought she was pretty chose.  We went to visit her and she wasn't there.  We visited again, and she wasn't there but this time we asked to share our message with her daughter, who is like 35 -  not like a teenager. The daughter is a pretty good investigator.  She read the stuff we gave her and the funny thing is that she said her mom is like a catholic and here they have a saying similar to like the bone but she's a Catholic with colored bones. hahah idk. So the daughter thought it was strange that the mom accepted us.  The next time we went to visit the daughter, she was there and so was her mom.  We taught her and it was a pretty good lesson, but after she said she'd come to church with us and read and do all the things we asked.  She was like "I'll learn and talk with you guys but I'm a catholic and I'm not going to change." haha well we´ll see.  If she does the stuff we ask, God will help her change.

What else... Oh, we had a different investigator that we put a baptismal date with, but when we were explaining baptism she thought that you got baptized naked.  haha yeah... no.

We also have this super difficult investigator who's husband is a member of the bishopric.  She is practically a member but she doesn't have a testimony.  She has a knowledge of the church and she knows its true, but doesn't have a testimony to back it up.  So, she's difficult, like pretty darn difficult.  The first person I've met or imagined that doesn't like the idea, or think its true, that families are forever.  She is really closed off, like doesn't answer questions of what are you thinking or feeling, or imagine your life in 10 years what do you see?  All that stuff she says "I don't know." Thats way tough for the husband, who is super open and has a testimony, has goals for the family, for her, for their two daughters, to hear.  We taught like this super long, way powerful lesson and then put a baptismal date/goal, and she was like "No, I don't want to."  She's afraid to receive and answer and because of that fear she wont.  It was a real downer.

We have another investigator, Maria Luna and her husband Valentin, who are pretty golden, but at the same time as it being easier to teach the wife because she has a churchy background, catholic, its almost easier to teach the husband, who is humble and tries to understand but doesn't where as his wife has her own understanding that we have to replace with truth.

I did flipping interchanges again!! In my area with another newbie like me in the mish.  It annoys me to do interchanges, but I realized I know my area pretty well, and I can kind of give lessons and start lessons in spanish. 

Elder Blotter

p-day clothes... jk I don't wear ties with my polo

Week 11 - General Conference Thoughts

So the baptism, ya he came to church the next day and got "Baptized with the Holy Ghost", haha I wrote baptized on accident so i just used it, and he came to conf this week, idk, he´s never recognized the spirit before so he doesn't know how to respond.

To answer your other question: no, splits aren't senior comps wanting to frito around, it's so that more work can get done. The tuesday split was so that work could happen in the areas while the dl interviewed an inv. and the other split in my area was because the elder is dead and doesn't work well, so they moved him around to like everyones area to help the work in his area - to revitalize the work, idk in dc 84 i found this scripture about missions that talks about those strong in testimony should be paired with the weak in testimony so to strengthen the other missionary.

General Conference 

We watched it in english in some different room on a little tv with a bad picture -  it was great.  I'm so glad it was in english.  I learned a lot about truth obedience love, more than living jesus speaks and idk those are all things that ive been studying lately, so maybe my thoughts about them came from study and not conf hahah. I've been really impressed recently with "the Jesus lives and speaks, more than only lives - way more."  He isn't passively alive doing nothing i think if people understood that it'd be different. I don't even remember if that was said but there was a whole talk on the resurrection and President Packer's talk he all but said I've seen jesus with my own eyes, its what the spirit was teaching, if not the apostles.  Umm... Obedience, I don't have my notes here with me either but there were some stellar thoughts. and I loved the truth you cant just set it aside, its truth and it has to be dealt with, as always there are things that I think of in conf that I need to change and be better on, and truth obedience and love were all on that list.

Things are going good here, I think I want to be in this area for a while with Elder Zubietta.  I really like my comp; he's a really hard worker. 

ya going to conf never was my favorite thing, but its better than going to the stake center to watch it on plastic chairs.  At least there are enough gringos here that we watched it in english, phew! I'm so glad that I could focus on what they were saying doctrinally and not have to worry about trying to understand spanish. 

This week the work, was just as good, but we had to go to migracion in polanco, which is like super rich city area.  You almost could forget you were in Mexico when you're there.  Seriously most of the people were essentially white & rich.  We saw a Ferrari - one of the elders we were with a latino could hardly believe his eyes.   

haha you wont believe this but I met an Elder Blotter this past week. haha he's from the East Mission and from the Logan area.  He knew Robbie Blotter.  The world is rather small.  After migracion we got back to our area late and had some food (comida) and only had like four lessons that day.  That kinda stunk.  Saturday was conf and we didn't have time to go back to our area and then return in between sessions, so no lessons on Saturday.  Sunday was almost the same, but we did have some lessons that day.   

So cool lessons this week: One of the members of our bishopric is the only member in his family, so we are trying to baptize the rest haha.  This is something I do find cool about Mexico - three generations live in the same house. Anyway, we taught his little brother and his girlfriend, hector y sandra, and they are progressing but need some work.  They're fun to teach because you cant just give the normal restoration or plan of salvation lessons - we have to teach to needs and questions and doubts they have, so it keeps you on your toes and we really have to focus on the simple parts of the gospel.  We also teach his wife, angelica.  She essentially has a testimony, she comes to church practically every week, and stuff like that, but the difference between a knowledge that its true and a spiritual knowledge that its true.  My comp decided we´d teach about "The Plan of Salvation" but specifically the Resurrection and Eternal Families.  It was an interesting choice, I thought, but I went with it.  We taught part of our little plan, and she brought up the doubt of are families eternal.  She actually doesn't really believe that they are.  At that point I took control of the lesson and steered the lesson to testimony and the simple part of gaining a testimony of the B.O.M, and that that solves all doubts and problems. idk it was a cool lesson and I actually felt like I taught with power, she´ll get baptized hopefully this month with her two daughters.

Today we had like a zone meeting activity, it was really fun.  We played soccer.  Apparently soccer balls here are really chincy or they just bought some crappy ones, because we popped two balls while playing.  I scored and had a pretty cool assist...  And yes we were playing against and with latinos. haha At the stake center there is like this little bobsled with wheels and a steering wheel the missionaries today had fun with that driving around in the parking lot, until the packed like 8 guys onto the thing that should hold 4 max and it flipped and our zone leader got some major road rash on his face.

We must have eaten something my body didn't like cause dang.  And the plumbing and bathrooms here are a little questionable anyways.  Sometimes with toilette paper the toilette just doesn't flush.  Sometimes it's the kind of flush that you pour a bucket of water into the bowl. ya it was an interesting week.  I'm not sure I'm over it either.  My stomach hurts every once in a while now.

Randomly...  my hands like swelled up yesterday, that was fun. haha they used to to that at home though it doesn't worry me, it's just weird.

Thoughts about General Conference: 

Lots talked about truth, obedience, and the whirlwind of satan, those are things that God wants us to think about. Also, I had a thought about when 70s quote other general authorities: I think "Don't you have your own experiences to share?", but I had the thought, call it an impression if you want, that they are saying exactly what God wants and maybe God wants us to here the quote from the general authority again.

I love you guys, the pics the little bobsled thingy and the baptism that we had at 9 am before the session of conf, only one baptism the older man baptized his son in law (as of one week)

Love you!

Elder Blotter

Week 10 - Busy Busy Baptisms!

hahaha ya adapting to the work and altitude, haha i still think ill be exhausted after every day. This past week was so insane.  We had three baptisms and so had to schedule the interviews right, and two of them were wednesday night at six k so we go to the church and the alarm is blaring and no one knows the code to shut it off, so my comp and the dl go to the stake center and do divisions and I with another greeny, but he's Mexican, go to his area.  I had nothing more than pamphlets and scriptures. I stayed the night in the other area and then the next day was a zone meeting in the stake center which is a good half hour walk from my area and a good hour combi (van) ride, had showered or changed in two days, then after/during zone conf my comp goes with the zl because one of our inv. was getting married and I went with the other zl to his area.... finally at like 4 that day my comp shows up and we walk for a good half hour to get back to our area and got to work and the next day was zone conf with the president at a different stake center. walked there too. got back to our area at around one-ish and then worked, the next day was saturday with the baptisms had to clean the font fill it and stuff like that,  hahaha... Ya I was a little tired. 

Tracting - I apologize haha, we only had 41 lessons this week and three baptisms and the dl kind of rode us and I was like what do you want?

Tennis sounds fun; it's like perpetual spring time here, it down poured, even hailed for a little bit too, yesterday pretty hard core.

Spiritual Thought: in 2 nephi 2 talks about there needs to be an oposite in everything and cosas similar to that, we taught an inv. last night who believes in god sometimes, and we see testigos de jehovah all the time and they dont beleive in life after death from what i understand. anyways with those things ive been thinking and i shared this with the investigator that literally everything denotes god, he had said he had a desire to be a better human, which is an acknowledgement of god because without god without anything after there literally is no purpose to anything. also something i learned in the mtc and the member in last nights lesson shared with the inv. that with a true understanding of who god is, and i mean a human understanding, becuase we cant conceive god and i know that, but if you understand that god is your loving father, like really understand what that entails nothing else really matters it all makes sense past that.

A month in Mexico feels like no time at all and at the same time an eternity. I can hardly remember what life was like before the mission. I am doing better at the language every week, people act surprised instead of relieved when i tell them ive only been in Mexico for a month. haha still need more language skills though.

So this week, in my mind, I want something sewed like a little case for my scriptures haha nothing much just so in my bag they don't get hurt, and I realized I cant just have you sew it for me mom. hahaha theres a lady we visit that I'll have to ask.

I'm looking forward to gen conf too, we go to the church and it's live I think, 10 and 2 and 11 and 3 on sunday so one of the days is delayed but ya we watch gen conf on the 5th and 6th, and we have a baptism in between sessions. and we´re bringing inv. so it'll be pretty wonderful I think. 

So this past week: we baptized three people Juan Carlos, Lesly and Alicia.  

I personally baptized Juan Carlos.  haha... Funny little story about him, so it's Mexico... so the baptism was supposed to start at 6.  The first people arrived at 6:20  - two members who we invited to attend, the first inv. to be baptized arrived at 645, and every person asks if they're late when they arrive, and you look at your clock and wonder idk are you late? haha anyways we didnt start till after 7 because the bishop was the last to arrive, both the members that were going to give talks didnt show. hahaha ya the other missionaries in the ward spoke for us,

Then I baptized Juan Carlos, just keep in mind that the font was prepared to be used at 6 not 730, haha we go in the water, and i honestly think most Mexicans haven't seen that much water in their life before, so he got a little deer in the headlights look, and then acted like the water was ice water, it had been warm an hour before, haha so we go down I say the prayer, baptized him pull him up, literally I had to like lift him because he didn't keep his feet on the ground, and once he stood up he like idk even how to explain this: I'll start with when I told him to use his hand to plug his nose he said he didn't need to, so we stood up and he acts pained like something is hurting him, he covers his face and stands there for like 15 seconds and then he´s like okay hahaha

so take him out of the font to change, and stuff and my comp was going to baptize the other two, so I change as well, in the bathroom Juan Carlos says to me... "I didn't like it." and I was like "what didn't you like?", he said "All of it."  So theres that? haha then after he gets dressed he just leaves, I kind of like follow him to see where he´s going and he just exits the church gets to the road and just takes off running. haha turns out there was some party he wanted to go to.... Ya he has his priorities straight.

After the baptism, the old lady gave me a hug.  haha...  I just accepted it and hugged her. It was a transgression not a disobedience. The old lady is Alicia; she´s way cool. I like her a lot.

haha so we´ve found that the testigos de jehovah (j-dubs) prepare people for us. They teach about the "Bible" and people learn a little about jesus and stuff like that go to church and they don't really like it.  Obviously stupor of thought because its false. haha and then we come and teach and they feel the spirit and they go to church and it feels right because it is. hhahaa

I'm sure theres more I'm forgetting to tell you...

love you guys a ton, miss you guys more than I thought I would ;)

Elder Blotter