Another week... nothing crazy.

So this week went by pretty fast... Probably because we are teaching a lot.  Elder Garcia is a pretty fun dude, in the mornings we study some pretty deep stuff to break up the monotony of the simple lesson principles and stuff.  

Idk I dont really have anything crazy to write.  Oh so today in the morning I was roping a wooden chair and Elder Garcia thought it looked fun, so I started to teach him.  He is a fast learner but I understand how thin your patience can get when you try to teach someone to rope.  He did end up catching and I managed to help him without yelling.  And that makes me happy because these last two weeks the LORD has really be teaching me patience, or teaching me to excercise it, because man EVERYONE is driving me crazy lately.  But, I battle on.  

Elder Garcia is teaching me so much, and I am so grateful for that.  I dont have a whole lot to write today hopefully next week.  

Hearing about Bubba really made me sad...

I will send the few pictures that I took this week.

I love you all thanks for the Emails.

Look at this turtle... It is giant

This motorcycle helmet is pretty cool... I took this selfie while doing some major motorcycle driving. 

Looking down the street at downtown Alamo.

On the rooftops in Villas de San Clemente

Juan Carlos is a homie

Sunny mornings of sunday

So people just dump stuff in rivers here in mexico, and the buchershop just drains the remains of animals here in the river it is gross. 

New Week Nuevo Compañero

So yeah the title says it all.  This week we had special transferes because Elder Adan has been struggling a little bit with some things and President wanted him to be close by.  So CAMBIOS ESPECIALES.  We changed wednesday night and my new companion rolled in and we have just set this place on fire!  He has 18 months in the mission, and Its not that his is this amazing fully equiped machine but he actually talkes and helpes me teach.  We are geling so well in our lessons because we both have the same teaching style.

Not that I didnt love having Elder Adan as a companion, but now it just feels like for one of the first times in the mission that I have REALLY got in a groove, and Elder Garcia is really helping me to improve as a missionary as well. 

Nery, a youth that always works with us and his mom and sister and brother in law threw a party and we all broke our own piñata and ate popcorn and mexican candy and drank soda and had a grand old time.  

It has really been rainy here and we walk in soaking wet everything.  

We have been having a pretty good time together, we had quarterly interviews with the President and that was a wonderfully spiritual experience.  I know that he is called of GOD to that office because I dont even have to open my mouth and he can say something that I need to know or be comforted in a way that is best for me spontaneously.  

I had to planch some missionaries in our district because they never listen to my recomendations as a District Leader, and I have always just brushed it off and kept praying to help them.  Well one day they tried to throw something back in their face and call them out on the ridiculous lack of success that they had been having and that I dont just make stuff up to tell them and waste my breath.  AND WOW when they actually listened they started finding people to teach.  

However I AM NOT saying that I am this amazing missionary with all the answers.  Obviously our Heavenly Father Blesses us and gives us the opprotunities to touch the hearts of people, but sometimes if we try something a little different or new we can be suprised by the difference it can make.  This has helped me to gain a new respect for our leaders in the church and am praying everyday to be less pridefull to accept their advice because I dont want to be a hipocrite.  

Anyway thats about it this week, New comp. Having fun, hopefully it stayes this way for a while.  

I love you all and am so grateful for all your emails.

Be safe errbody.

 

HAHA useless. 

Having fun with the niños 

The Zone.

 When Elder Garcia got here... The guy next to me is an ex missionary, we were both in tezuitlan at the same time, Hno. Quintana, he served here in Alamo too.

Foggy Morning 

Nery and Hno. Juvencio an investigator. 

 Just an example of some of the skills I have been learning here on the mish. 

(video)

These fish are huge and the boat they use to catch them with are TINY. 

Elder Garcia, me, and GIANTGILLS 

This family of investigators is just awesome, we all get along so great, and they love to have us over.  And in fact invited us to dinner tonight to eat... yes... fish! whoop!

 

So... I dont know what to write about

So I dont understand the point of the mission being an emotional roller coaster.  The very minute you think you get locked in everything starts to fall apart.  I did a lot of praying and pondering on what I really needed to learn and I finally got an answer.

I am really good at starting off strong, really strong.  My problem is the finishing off strong.  

(Yes mom I remember how you always used to say that, remembering you tell me that was how I got my answer.)

So we have some pretty good investigators, that have been awesome uptil about this point they have all had problems and are now questioning the gospel, Book of Mormon JS etc...

I was really bummed out when our best investigator who was lacking a lot of money for some medicine for his wife.  Well a friend who is a pastor passed by and talked really bad about the church and then ended up going and giving a bunch of money to our investigator.  He is paid for his sermons and so he has a bunch of money to blow here..  

We had a pretty good lesson and ended finaly with a scripture.. Dont remember exactly where it is but... The spirit of contention is not from God but the Devil.  And how we wont talk bad about other religions becuase we are instructed not to.  And we left our investigator on his heels.  

I have decided that every investigator passes through a very difficult time of trial or something that keeps them from being baptized and that us as missionaries need not get worried just plow through those problems.  Or in other words... Finish strong.  

The food here is so good. Next to italian food, just about everything that we eat here is amazing and some of the best I have ever tasted.  

We eat tortillas with everything.. Everyone eats tortillas with everything.  And if you dont have the tortillas it fills like the food is lacking something.  At times I think of when Im gonna go home and theres not gonna be tortillas and I have like a mini panic attack haha.  

We dont really go anywhere or do anything neet here in Alamo on account of the amount of money we spend traveling to the stake center.  

Oh I forgot about the food again.. So before the mission I hated spicey foods...just couldnt do it.  Now I have made up my own saying, And believe it or not I really made it up and it ryhmes "Si no es picoso, no es sabroso" which in english means "if it isnt spicy it isnt tasty"  We eat some gnarly hot peppers and stuff, you go from freezing cold to sweating to death, and you know what, it doent tast good without them.  

They do make a lot of spaghetti here in Mexico but it is always covered in a strange sause of some sort and I just eat it to be polite.  I think I have told you guys about feet.  They eat pigs feet, cow feet, chicken feet etc... Yeah try not to puke... Its really tough for me when we eat those types of things thankfully we havent eaten tongue yet.  Watch as we go to lunch today the first thing theyre gonna wheel out.  

Anyway Im running out of things to type.  

I love you all and am so grateful for all your emails. 

Till next week.

Just out here in the cold. smiling

 No I dont know how safe we are from Jaguars but we have to go teach somebody!

Yeah people do this in mexico... they dont really even care.  That cement is dried that way and they are just leaving it a week later.

 So I lost my wallet on week 3 of my mission... and we went to Xalapa to have a conference with the president and LOOK AT WHAT I AM HOLDING IN MY HAND!!! I lost it in a different area, in a different state and 3 months later I am holding it in my hand.  Thank you good samerixican.

Elder Aguilar Has a hilarious accent and he is a homie he i sfrom Baja.

This building is full of dried marijuana which is illegal here in Mexico.  Just throwing it out there. 

 Tampico is that way in case you guys were wondering.

 Just trapsing through the forest.

Im COLD

So Hi everyone, I just want to throw a shout out to all of the return missionaries that I talked to that had gone to Xalapa, AND LIED TO ME!!! ITS 33DEGREES RN!  And the reason is because everyone said "Oh yeah its burning hot year round 24/7 haha so I dont have any big coats and the cement houses here just serve as coolers or ice chests! HAHAHA

Anyway so I have decided to not report on how the week went because everytime I say whether it went good or bad it always turns 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

But I want to talk about Joseph Smith.

No I want everyone to drop what they think they know, Im tired of hearing that there are not profets on the earth anymore, NO ONE has the authority to put words into GODS mouth. 

So stop thinking of what you think the bible says and listen.

Adam was the first profet... There was a falling away after time and the population became evil.. NOAH ALONE recieved revelation that God would flood the earth.  He was the only one to talk with God, and nobody believed him (except his family).

After that they passed the Prophetship through his posterity for a time until Joseph of Egypt and Israel... After those men were gone the population fell away from the correct practices and knowledge of God while in Captivity to pharoan, or however you spell it. 

And then Moses happened... He was about 80 years old COMPLETELY ALONE and saw the burning bush! He claimed to see God after the falling away and at first the Jews rejected him, but eventually he led them out of captivity.  And then he made Joshua their leader, and there really wasnt a prophet prophet for a time UNTIL A YOUNG BOY Samuel saw God and claimed to be a prophet, and then gave the keys and passed them along until the invasion of Babilon and they were all taken captive.  

Daniel was then a prophet during that time... but are you guys understanding the pattern.  THEY ARE COMPLETELY ALONE WHEN THEY HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES, and the people a lot of times dont belive them at first.  AND THEN THEY FALL AWAY--- AND THEN God calls another prophet.  

After Christ and his apostles were all killed, THERE WAS NO PROPHET. OK so there was another falling away NO REVELATION.  

NO ONE HAD THE AUTHORITY TO CHANGE ANY OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST OR CHANGE ANYTHING FOR THAT MATTER.  

And so the Bible ended...................................Because there where no more prophets for this "Great and last falling away"  So dont tell yourselves that God shut the heavens and decided that we had all the teaching that we would ever need in this CONSTANTLY CHANGING WORLD!  

Joseph Smith was a righteous young man who had an HONEST desire to know what church to join and while he was ALONE... just like Noah, just like Moses and just like Samuel... and all the prophets of antiquity.  GOD AND JESUS CHRIST APPEARED TO HIM.  AND WITH THE HELP OF GOD and administering angels he RESTORED the church that Christ himself established.  

These are the last days and god has chosen another prophet... and if you dont think that is possible all you Bible wise scriptorians you go and read ACT 2:17 and you tell me that Joseph cant be a prophet.  

God HAS ALWAYS worked with his people through prophets and ALWAYS WILL, because he "is the same yesterday, today and forever" 

And if say the Book Of Mormon isnt true You HAVENT read and put forth an effort to God to recieve an answer.  And all of you guys that like to say oh but it says in Revelations that anyone who adds or takes away will be condemned... PUT YOU GLASSES BACK ON and you will see that it says THIS BOOK OF PROPHECY. Revelations a BOOK of pure PROPHECY was added the Bible hundreds of years later and talks about ITSELF in that book because John was the only one commanded by God to write it.  

The story of Joseph Smith is not weird its exactly like the pattern in the bible.  And through revelation he called 12 apostles and the prophets that followed him follow the same divine ordination from on high as in ancient times.  

So have confidence in the church and those who tell you it is not true or that Joseph smith wasnt a prophet it is because they ARE NOT CALLED OF GOD and DO NOT have the authority to speak on those matters.  

So thanks.  

Im tired of typing but I had a moment of personal revelation in my personal study last week and I KNOW WITH ALL MY HEART that Joseph Smith and now Thomas S. Monson is a prophet.  

Thanks for all your emails.. I hope you guys understand now that the church really is true.  

I love you all and love the stories and  emails you guys send eveyweek.

OH AND KELLY CONGRATS ON THE MISSION CALL!!!! IM STOKED FOR YA!!