Week #39: Lauruels (La Oficina) 19

This week was pretty good overall. The main thing to talk about is the progress of Pablo y Paty. They´re great, and so happy, and so grateful to have met us and learned from us, and progressed as they have. They´re pretty awesome.

To re-cap the story: Pablo was inactive for about 18 years, and one day he saw some missionaries and decided to speak with them. They handed up the referral, and we went by to visit and teach him and his wife Paty. Things were going well, until about 3 lessons in she went out of town to take care of her nieces and nephews for like a month. Well, finally she came back and we started visiting with her again.

They were getting more and more excited, like enjoying the changes they were seeing. We´ve seen great stuff with them. And, this Sunday we had a baptism! She asked me to baptize her, and I of course was happy to do it, and honored to be asked. They´re great.

Also, it seems that Pablo´s record doesn´t show up. We have to see what the procedure is, but it´s possible we baptize him sometime soon too. So... We´ll have to see how that goes. But they´re great, and made sacrifices to get where they´re at. They understand well the processes and work hard. They´re great.

As of this Wednesday I´m going to have 9 months in the mission. So, time does fly away sometimes. It was a short while ago that I started, and here I am almost at 9 months. One more month and I´m going to have double-digits. And, also, I´m going to have half of my time here in this area next week - 20/40 weeks. So far I´ve been able to enjoy some things, learn, and grow. I still have a lot to improve, and to grow, but I´ve got time. I´ve still got time to learn and grow.

Congratulations to Michael, who enters the MTC this Wednesday!

I´m behind on my journal as far as length of entries goes. Sometimes I write very little, and that´s not great. So, I´ll have to improve with that. I hope you´re all well and have a great week.

Week #38: Laureles (La Oficina) 18

This week was a week of not getting a whole lot of work done in our area. We spent more time than necessary in the offices, but we´ve got the future to count on. We failed to visit a few people, so we´ve got to repent and apologize to them. It was also the last week of the Transfer - which means that there are transfers this week! Are you all ready?

*DRUM ROLL*

I am going... NOWHERE. I´m staying here, with Elder Ramirez todavía (still) and the office Elders and the Assistants are all the same for at least another transfer - so that´s good. Things were interesting this last transfer - provisional offices, 8 secretaries, change of President, new offices, and stuff like that. But, we´re now at the day of transfers - which is a day that´s interesting and packed in many ways.

Before I get on with talking about transfer days - and these transfers specifically - let me talk about some important stuff this week:

We´ve currently got three investigators with a baptismal date, but it seems like only 2 of them will be baptized on time. This week we´ve got the Hermana Paty - I´ve spoken of her and her husband before. If you go back to the old emails, I´ve been mentioning them for a while now. She´s feeling good about her baptism on the 14th - it´s official now. We just need to finish teaching everything, have her interview, and yeah. She asked me to baptize her, and I feel good about that. It´s nice being chosen. We celebrated Pablo´s birthday this Saturday (which is also my brother Jake´s birthday!) and it was pretty good overall.

We also met a new person named Rocio. Her boyfriend is a returned missionary, and she´s been more or less investigating for a few months now - but we´re giving the lessons. They´ve gone pretty well so far, and she came to the first two hours of Church this Sunday. So, she´s got her goal for the 21st of July. We´ll see how she progresses and feels - so far, so good.

Now, transfers stuff:

Well, today we´ve got to go and buy some stuff, then at about 2:30 or so the new missionaries will arrive - I need to take their passports to do their visa paperwork, and then we all eat pizza. Then, they leave to have interviews, and to go work for a while. We stick around here helping with stuff, working on stuff, and then in the night we have a light dinner thing for them.

Tomorrow, we help out with the transfers - which are different this time. Instead of telling the missionaries their new areas and companions, they only know that they´re changing - so it´s going to be an event to learn their companions. Could be good. We work on stuff, and then the Elders who are warpping up their missions go out with President and Sister Bird, and the Assistants to the Temple, to eat, and celebrate. I´ve got to have everything ready for them.

Well, we´ve got an eventful week coming up. I think I´ll wrap up for now. Things are going well with President and Sister Bird. President Bird put an emphasis in a conference he did about us getting converted in our missions - he was, and so was his son. I want to work toward that - being really truly converted here. So, I´ll have to be putting forth my efforts for that.

Well, week 18 already in the offices. It´s been pretty good. We´ll see how long I can stay here - I like it. And, be sure to write in your journals. I´ve been a bit lazy and have some pretty short entries. I can improve in that. Take care all!

Week #37: Laureles (La Oficina) 17

This past week has been pretty interesting. We had a change of Presidents.

President Bird is pretty different from President Walker. President Walker was more serious, like an "executive" is what Elder Ramirez said, and President Bird is more relaxed. He is still learning his Spanish again, and new stuff, and Sister Bird doesn´t speak hardly any Spanish. I´ve kind of enjoyed speaking some more English. We´re going to see some changes around here with some stuff, but more on that in the future. President Bird might come and spend more time at the offices than Presidente Walker did.

One difference between the Birds and Los Walker: los Walker always eat really well, like, healthy. On Friday, after we met President and Hermana Bird, we ended up eating fired chicken, and they were there with us licking their fingers and enjoying the food too. It was an amusing little difference between the two couples.

Yesterday we were like little Assistant juniors - Presidente y la Hermana Bird wanted to partake of the Sacrament, but were detained for some health stuff with a missionary, so they came too late to be at our ward, so after the first hour WE left with them to go to another ward. We were blessed to be able to make it there, but we were late too. So, we waited, they spoke briefly, and then we went to ANOTHER ward. This one waited for them, so they got to partake. Afterwards, we all went to the Baptism the Assistants were having in their ward (America) and we had a family there - Pablo y Paty. It was nice, and the Birds got to meet them. That was our little adventure during part of Sunday. Good stuff.

Today we´re here with the Birds, and we´ve been having meetings with him. It´s his birthday, so we´ve got some cakes, and we might go out to eat with them too. We´ll have to see what happens.

What else? The division is official - we´re a smaller mission now. It´s pretty good.

The new offices turned out really nice - a whole lot better than the old ones. They´re nice. I´ll attach some photos.

This week I´ve been reading in Alma - today I finished some stuff and chapter 42, so I´m getting along here. He spoke of our agency I think. It´s important that we make good choices. Earlier in the chapters near this one he spoke of good examples. We can all try and be good examples. It´s something I want to be for my family, friends, and my future family.

Presidente y Hermana Bird on his birthday.

Week #36: Laureles (La Oficina) 16

This past week was pretty good. We have a lot of work to do and improve in our area, but we´re doing pretty well. I´m still enjoying being in the offices. Now we´re down to four (and the assistants) again. Tuesday during our weekly meeting with President Walker he announced that they were going to be shipping out Wednesday in the morning. So, they prepared the stuff and left. Which means... I get my own computer and area once again.

It´s been pretty good being the Executive Secretary. I work with the visas, flights, and the packets of release for the missionaries who finish up their mission. Our mission only has 2 Elders finishing up, but I´ve also been calling the families of the Elders of the Reynosa Mission to let them know when they´ll be receiving their missionaries. I´ve organized some things to better fit my tastes, and it´s pretty calm. I do some other stuff too, but overall it´s less than I had to do as the Records Secretary as far as a daily thing goes.

I´ve been getting along pretty well as of late. More... like... happy and good. Things are better with my new companionship. We have stuff to do in the area, but it´s fresher and newer in ways. In a few days we´ll receive President Bird and Sister Bird, and we´ll be moving into the new offices I think like 1 or 2 days before that. We aren´t getting new desks, but we ARE getting new seats. That´ll be nice.

This week we had our "goodbye meeting" with the Walkers. It was pretty good. President Walker spoke on Repentance, like really understanding it and teaching it well to the investigators. If they can understand it better, they can use it, and stay stronger in the gospel.

Hmm... We also had the worldwide broadcast. It was pretty good. The focus was SUPER member-missionary focused. So, Member Missionaries, por favor, ¡ayúdenos! If our ward can put this stuff in action, it´ll be better for us. We have a fresh new Bishopric, and we´re going to actually start having Ward Council (I still have NEVER attended one... and I´ve got more than 8 months as a missionary... SO...), so that should help. It should be good.

Well, I think I´ll spend the rest of the time writing personal messages. I hope you all have a great week and do good things. I´ve had a pretty good week, as I said, I feel a bit less tense, more relaxed and comfortable in ways... So, that´s good.

Take care all, and have a great week.

BUT, before I get off... In the new training, the videos were pretty great. I was a bit touched by the "Army of Helaman" video, so if you didn´t see the broadcast (or even if you did) go ahead and check it out.

Also, I´ll finally be having an exchange tomorrow. I spent a day with a different secretary, but that wasn´t like and official exchange. I haven´t had one since I got here in the offices - so, like 15 or 16 weeks ago was my last one. I´ll be leaving my area and working in a different one - also the first time in months. So, we´ll see! Take care!

Love, Elder Izak Thomas Erekson

Week #35: Laureles (La Oficina) 15

Things are going pretty well this week. I´ve feeling pretty good, and have had some good experiences this week spiritually - started to grow more again maybe. So, things are pretty good.

What can I share? I received some mail this week, so thank you to Mom and Dad and the others who´ve sent me mail. Thank you Grandpa Tom for sending me a letter!

This week should be the last week of being in the makeshift offices. Maybe. They´re getting closer to actually wrapping up our new offices. So that´ll be nice. I was expecting to receive new furniture, but I´ve heard that´s not in the plan... Oh well.

We got a new Bishopric (our Bishop became the Stake President on like April 20th or something around there... so you can see we went witihout a BISHOP full-time for a while). So, that´ll be good, and we´ll go working better with the ward as we progress.

So, my hair was pretty long - so I gave myself a haircut. I kind of cut it short in a place.

Wednesday we´ve got our "Goodbye Meeting" it could be called with the Walkers. So, that´s coming up. Then we´ll get the new President and Hermana on the... 29th? 27th? Pretty soon, and things will be going in that direction.

Also soon, we should cut down to 4 secretaries here, and the other 4 leave for Reynosa. What else? I´ve chatted briefly with Elder Harrop and Elder Medrano from my earlier days. Back when I didn´t have 8 months as a Missionary. They seem to be doing pretty well. It´ll be nice to have my own computer again - and I´ll organize the stuff to serve me better - I´ve done a bit, but I don´t want to do any drastic changes really until I´ve got it for myself.

Have a great week, and I hope you´ve all had a great Father´s Day! Take care!

Week #34: Laureles (La Oficina) 14

Dear everyone,

Before I continue writing a ton in the personal department, I wanted to shoot a quick general email to all of you. Hopefully this week has been pretty good for all of you, for me it´s been pretty good.

Elder Ramirez and I are getting along pretty well. One event from this week: we went to go and sleep in the house (we have a house, and sometimes sleep at the offices too) and lo and behold - the "luz" or power was cut. Yeah, we kind of never slept there (Elder Capiz and I) and we failed to pay the bill, as did I with Elder Ramirez. So... that happened, and we returned to stay here at the offices. We still have yet to return to stay in our house (we were there a while Sunday - and it was kind of hot without AC or our fans being able to be turned on). But, I think today we´ll try and go and pay the late bill.

Things are going a bit better this week - last week I was a bit bleh on Monday, but today I´m doing pretty well. As I said, my new companionship is going pretty well. I´ve learned stuff from my past companions, and I can see the difference that some small things can make over time. So, I´m trying to be a good companion, and to resolve smaller issues before they grow bigger. Also, I can apply the principle of forgiveness.

Speaking of forgiveness, I spoke on the subject on Sunday. I sort of connected it to the members welcoming investigators or less-active members who are returning, but also in a general sense. It was also a talk for myself. I had more stuff to say (which wasn´t totally related 100%) but since we´re four missionaries, the time got cut short. I read a lot, but I did not really write a talk - I made an outline. It´s the way I liked to give talks in English, and I basically did it last month - but this month it was more like how I used to do it. So, that´s good. I went like 15 minutes, and was cutting it short. Sometimes, I can form a long idea - chain of ideas. I was first, since I have the least time in the mission of the four of us, but that was fine with me. I think I talked the most...

Next, we went to our second hour, and it was Principios del Evangelio (Gopsel Principles) and guess who got to teach? I did. I hadn´t really studied the lesson for the week (we don´t have a teacher, but we haven´t really been good at following the manual either - so I went with the lesson that should be the one for that day), and it went pretty well. Next, I gave the lesson (even less prepared) during Priesthood. It got better as time went on, because I got some help, and while I assigned somebody to read a paragraph - I skipped ahead to have a comprehension of what was going to come next in the lesson. So, that was that. I was involved in teaching all of the meetings that day.

Also, I think I´ve mentioned it before - but we´re without a Bishop. Yeah, it´s been like a month and half or so without a Bishop. Our Stake President is still technically our Bishop. We might see a new Bishop in a little bit.

Things went pretty well this week. I hope you´re all doing well!

Write in your journals!

Week #33: Laureles (La Oficina) 13

So, this morning was pretty crazy. As the Secretary of Records, I was in charge of sending something called "La Brújula" (the compass) to all of the missionaries in the mission. It includes messages from Presidente y la Hermana Walker, one of the assistants, and other stuff. Well, with the craziness of May, we never sent the May edition, and this morning President Walker sent his and la Hermana Walker´s talks to me, so that I could send the June Brújula. Well, let´s just say I had to repent quickly. I modified the May edition, added pages, and finally was able to have it ready. BUT, it would not export correctly, so I sent everyone the Brújula in parts, and will have to resolve the problem and sent it corretly in a bit. So, do your work on time. President was accomodating and nice though, but it should not have happened.

This week we´ve been eight here in the offices. I´ve been learning some stuff with the visas, and the stuff I´ll be doing as "Secretario Ejecutivo" and also helping ease the transition for the new secretaries of records, by helping complete my unfinished tasks. I need to make sure to pray, and stay on top of my tasks.

So, some basic chatty stuff...

Elder Ramirez and I are getting along pretty well. We talk a bit more openly than I was talking with Elder Capiz, and I feel pretty good with our companionship. With some of the craziness of the changes, I feel like I haven´t been the best, so I will improve myself too. But, I am glad to have a new companion, and so far we´re doing pretty well. Elder Ramirez is from the state of Mexico, and is a pretty nice person. He´s pretty patient, and nice, and I feel pretty good overall.