This week was a pretty good, and pretty full week. On Monday I wrote home, and as I said last week, I stayed in my area and my companion Elder Carbajal went to a different area. He ended up going to Apodaca 1.1, which is a HUGE ward, with 6 missionaries, but his area is still bigger than our whole ward. He says he´s going to spend a ton in travel costs.
In the transfer meeting they announced that I would continue as the District Leader in Tamaulipas, that my new district would just include our ward, and that I would be training again. I was pretty excited. I also had pretty high hopes to have an American companion for the first time. I was hopeful. My Distirct is the following: Tamaulipas 1.1 (me and my companion), Tamaulipas 1.2 (Elder Bautista and Elder Redford), and Tamaulipas 1.3 (Hermana Perez and Hermana Bazan). It´s been pretty good. I feel good about having sisters in this part of the ward - they should be able to do a lot of good, and a lot of work.
So, the moment came to find out who my new companion would be... and I guessed it right. We were looking at the new Elders, and I thought "Maybe it´ll be that one," and it was! My new companion is Elder Bradley Anderson from the Los Angeles area in California. We´ve been getting along pretty well so far actually, with some of the same interests and chatting. One thing I miss though it speaking more Spanish. I hope that my Spanish doesn´t get worse from not speaking it enough. We actually should speak a lot more Spanish than we are. We´re going to be improving that. But, it´s been good.
We´ve had a pretty good week. We´re going to have to work a whole lot better, and a whole lot harder, and have a whole lot more faith, but we will see miracles, and baptisms. This week we got 7 new investigators, and 5 of them accepted baptismal dates (the other 2 we didn´t invite...), and it´s been good. We hope to help them make it all the way to the waters of baptism, and ultimately to the Temple.
One thing that has helped us a lot is contacting more people in the street, or as we ask for somebody at doorways of addresses we´ve been given, we contact them too. We ended the week with a total of 80 contacts, with 7 new investigators (from contacts or referrals from contacts), and 5 new baptismal dates. We´re going to be working really hard this week to get moving forward, and Elder Anderson is helping push my forward. He has some great ideas and excitement to contact and work hard, which is something I wanted in my new companion. It´s going to be a good transfer. His Spanish is already improving too.
On Saturday we had the Special Conference with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and it was really good. Elder Tad R. Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy, and Elder Daniel L. Johnson of the Seventy also spoke. It was a really good meeting.
Elder Cook spoke about having faith, loving all people, having a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and moving forward with strength and faith, invoking a special blessing upon us: "...you will be able to help the Lord establish His Church here... have a positive spirit... some of you may have been discouraged... I invoke a special blessing upon you... understanding from this day in your heart... what you are doing is more important than anything else... Some worry... [that they are] not capable enough... none of us [General Authorities] feel capable enough... don´t let that impede your progress... you are every bit capable enough to be the servant of the Savior..." He said other words too, but that´s what I´ll share here. He mentioned about success in the field in what we are becoming, and I liked that.
Elder Callister spoke before Elder Cook, and he talked about the Atonement and how we can access its power. It was a good talk too.
Elder Johnson is the Area President here, and he talked about working with the members. A promise he made to us came true that very night. He said that we should trust in the fact that the Holy Ghost will bring names to the minds of the members, and it totally happened that night, and it was really cool.
I think I´ll wrap up the email for now. We´re going to leave in about 20 minutes to go eat, and I´ve still got to write President Bird. I love you all and wish you well! Have a great week!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Week #74: Tamaulipas 1.1 - XII - Week 18
Well, another week has gone by and so has another transfer. It´s interesting how quickly times seems to fly by sometimes, and how slowly at other times. This transfer (6 weeks) has gone by really quickly. Tomorrow we have the transfer meeting where we will find out who is our new companion, our positions, etc.
Last night the Zone Leaders gave me the transfers... It was during the weekly call-in report where I talk about the areas in my District and our goals, numbers, and all of that good stuff. First they told me about some of the other areas - no changes whatsoever. Finally the moment came to hear about my area, and they told me that I AM STAYING. Then, they told us that Elder Carbjala is leaving the area. So, that is the only change this transfer. He leaves, I get a new companion, and the Zone opens two new areas up.
The ward Tamaulipas is going to have three companionships as of tomorrow. So, that means that my area will be a bit smaller than it is right now, but it will still be Tamaulipas 1.1. So, it will be interesting to have a smaller area. It´s not that much smaller, but I hope it makes a difference and helps us work better with more people in a more defined area. The other Elders in the ward also have their area smaller as of tomorrow (we both took parts of our area to make the third area) and it will be good for them too. They got the new house where they´re going to live, and they are staying together for a third transfer.
So, I´ll be starting my fourth transfer in the ward with a new companion. I´m looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a bit of a change. We have set some high goals for the next week, and we´re going to have to have a lot of faith, and we´re going to have to pray for miracles, but it can happen. Mircales can happen, they do exist, if we have faith. I´ve seen many little miracles, and we need some these days. It will be a miracle to have 60 lessons in a week, and it will be a miracle to baptize every week. Miracles are possible. We have to work hard though.
We had our Zone Meeting and Zone Conference this week, and it was really good. In the Zone Conferene President Bird talked about the Sacrament and its importance, and how it can help us. It was really good. I liked it. I want to have better experiences as I partake of the Sacrament. It´s one of the ordinances of "Endure to the End." I want to be prepared for, and look forward to, the day when I get to partake of the Sacrament at home again, in Sacrament Meeting in English in our beautiful chapel, with the organ and sacrament hymn that isn´t in the Spanish hymnbook and good stuff like that.
This weekend we´re going to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He will be speaking to us on Saturday. It´s going to be really good. Our mission is really blessed to be able to have Apostles visit so often. Before I arrived in 2012 Elder Bednar came, last year we had a visit by Elder Holland, and this year Elder Cook. We are truly blessed.
This week we went to San Pedro for a check-up on Elder Carbajal´s skin. We took a bus for about an hour and a half almost to the richer part of the Monterrey area (it´s in the West Mission). During that trip, in the office waiting, and coming back I was able to get some good reading of the Book of Mormon done. I read Alma 5, 6, 7, and 8. I was also able to talk to a man who was seated in front of us on the way back, who talked to us. He seemed really interesting, and it as a good contact. I felt prompted to give him a Book of Mormon that I had, after already giving him the Pamphlet of The Restoration. It was cool. I´m going to pass the referral on.
Well, I think that´s it for now. I love you all and wish you well. I am going to work hard and make the best of the last 7 months I have in the field. It sounds short now... Haha. Today I´ve got 17 months in the field. Time flies by. General Conference is soon. Have a great week everyone! I love you all!
Elder Bautista drew the cool images. The food is called Chilaquiles, and I´ll make them when I get home, I promise. Really simple and tastey.
.JPG)
Last night the Zone Leaders gave me the transfers... It was during the weekly call-in report where I talk about the areas in my District and our goals, numbers, and all of that good stuff. First they told me about some of the other areas - no changes whatsoever. Finally the moment came to hear about my area, and they told me that I AM STAYING. Then, they told us that Elder Carbjala is leaving the area. So, that is the only change this transfer. He leaves, I get a new companion, and the Zone opens two new areas up.
The ward Tamaulipas is going to have three companionships as of tomorrow. So, that means that my area will be a bit smaller than it is right now, but it will still be Tamaulipas 1.1. So, it will be interesting to have a smaller area. It´s not that much smaller, but I hope it makes a difference and helps us work better with more people in a more defined area. The other Elders in the ward also have their area smaller as of tomorrow (we both took parts of our area to make the third area) and it will be good for them too. They got the new house where they´re going to live, and they are staying together for a third transfer.
So, I´ll be starting my fourth transfer in the ward with a new companion. I´m looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a bit of a change. We have set some high goals for the next week, and we´re going to have to have a lot of faith, and we´re going to have to pray for miracles, but it can happen. Mircales can happen, they do exist, if we have faith. I´ve seen many little miracles, and we need some these days. It will be a miracle to have 60 lessons in a week, and it will be a miracle to baptize every week. Miracles are possible. We have to work hard though.
We had our Zone Meeting and Zone Conference this week, and it was really good. In the Zone Conferene President Bird talked about the Sacrament and its importance, and how it can help us. It was really good. I liked it. I want to have better experiences as I partake of the Sacrament. It´s one of the ordinances of "Endure to the End." I want to be prepared for, and look forward to, the day when I get to partake of the Sacrament at home again, in Sacrament Meeting in English in our beautiful chapel, with the organ and sacrament hymn that isn´t in the Spanish hymnbook and good stuff like that.
This weekend we´re going to hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He will be speaking to us on Saturday. It´s going to be really good. Our mission is really blessed to be able to have Apostles visit so often. Before I arrived in 2012 Elder Bednar came, last year we had a visit by Elder Holland, and this year Elder Cook. We are truly blessed.
This week we went to San Pedro for a check-up on Elder Carbajal´s skin. We took a bus for about an hour and a half almost to the richer part of the Monterrey area (it´s in the West Mission). During that trip, in the office waiting, and coming back I was able to get some good reading of the Book of Mormon done. I read Alma 5, 6, 7, and 8. I was also able to talk to a man who was seated in front of us on the way back, who talked to us. He seemed really interesting, and it as a good contact. I felt prompted to give him a Book of Mormon that I had, after already giving him the Pamphlet of The Restoration. It was cool. I´m going to pass the referral on.
Well, I think that´s it for now. I love you all and wish you well. I am going to work hard and make the best of the last 7 months I have in the field. It sounds short now... Haha. Today I´ve got 17 months in the field. Time flies by. General Conference is soon. Have a great week everyone! I love you all!
Elder Bautista drew the cool images. The food is called Chilaquiles, and I´ll make them when I get home, I promise. Really simple and tastey.
.JPG)
Week #73: Tamaulipas 1.1 - XII - Week 17
This past week was pretty good overall. We weren´t able to give very good follow-up to some of our investigators, and we saw that reflected in Church Attendance, but we´re going to work at it and improve a lot this week. It´s the last week of the transfer, so we´ve got to work really hard and do the best we can while we´re still here and still together. It´s probable that one of us leaves the area - this time much much more probable, but we´ll have to see what happens next week. I´ll let you know.
This week we did two intercambios with Tamaulipas 1.2, and we also had an activity on Saturday. The intercambios were pretty good overall, and we were able to set some goals and stuff like that. We´ll have to see what happens next week with them too (they´ve already got two transfers together, so we´ll see if they end up with three, or if they split up). It will be very interesting to see what happens.
So, as I said about our activity... a few months ago we planned an activity which would be a type of tour through the Plan of Salvation, with rooms representing the different kingdoms, places, etc. It was something that we talked about for a long time, and we kept post-poning the activity for lack of organization. Well, the day was coming closer and closer, and it seemed that once again it lacked organization and follow-through, so I wasn´t quite sure what was going to happen,
But, we continued on with the activty. We decorated the Telestial Kingdom, and the Spirit World (Paradise and Spirit Prison). The good news is that the ward did a great job and helped us out as planned. The Young Men decorated the Terrestial Kingdom, and the Young Women did a great job decorating the Celestial Kingdom. It was really cool and peaceful in that room, it was like the Temple. That was the best part of the activity.
So, people came, we had the tours, and people seemed to like it. In the end, it worked out great - the Lord saved our activity. We weren´t sure how it was going to turn out, and I brought a Plan B. But, it really did turn out pretty great.
This coming week we´ve got a lot going on. Tomorrow we´ve got Zone Meeting, where the Zone Leaders are going to train us on some new things, and try to help us improve. Then on Thursday we´ve got our Zone Conference, where President and Sister Bird are going to come and train us on stuff too, with more training by the Zone Leaders. Then, Sunday we find out the transfers and if the new area is opening up after all. So, it´ll be interesting.
That´s it for this week. Take care everyone, have a great week, and pray for me please! Thanks so much! Love you all!
This week we did two intercambios with Tamaulipas 1.2, and we also had an activity on Saturday. The intercambios were pretty good overall, and we were able to set some goals and stuff like that. We´ll have to see what happens next week with them too (they´ve already got two transfers together, so we´ll see if they end up with three, or if they split up). It will be very interesting to see what happens.
So, as I said about our activity... a few months ago we planned an activity which would be a type of tour through the Plan of Salvation, with rooms representing the different kingdoms, places, etc. It was something that we talked about for a long time, and we kept post-poning the activity for lack of organization. Well, the day was coming closer and closer, and it seemed that once again it lacked organization and follow-through, so I wasn´t quite sure what was going to happen,
But, we continued on with the activty. We decorated the Telestial Kingdom, and the Spirit World (Paradise and Spirit Prison). The good news is that the ward did a great job and helped us out as planned. The Young Men decorated the Terrestial Kingdom, and the Young Women did a great job decorating the Celestial Kingdom. It was really cool and peaceful in that room, it was like the Temple. That was the best part of the activity.
So, people came, we had the tours, and people seemed to like it. In the end, it worked out great - the Lord saved our activity. We weren´t sure how it was going to turn out, and I brought a Plan B. But, it really did turn out pretty great.
This coming week we´ve got a lot going on. Tomorrow we´ve got Zone Meeting, where the Zone Leaders are going to train us on some new things, and try to help us improve. Then on Thursday we´ve got our Zone Conference, where President and Sister Bird are going to come and train us on stuff too, with more training by the Zone Leaders. Then, Sunday we find out the transfers and if the new area is opening up after all. So, it´ll be interesting.
That´s it for this week. Take care everyone, have a great week, and pray for me please! Thanks so much! Love you all!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Week #72: Tamaulipas 1.1 - XII - Week 16
This week I don´t have a lot of time to write, because we´re going to go iceskating in a little while, so I´m going to try and write what I can in a short amount of time. So, here we go...
This week we worked hard, but still had less lessons than the week before. But, that´s okay. This week looks pretty good actually. We´ve got plans to have some of the youth and others accompany us to our visits, and that will be a huge help. The work is a lot easier to do when somebody is accompanying us. That´s something that I never really had the opportunity to do before my mission - accompany the Elders. Hopefully Luke can get a chance to do it before he heads out, and maybe I´ll be able to lend a hand after my mission too.
What´s new? This transfer is going by pretty quickly. We´re already at week 5 of the transfer. Pretty soon they´ll be telling us what´s up, who´s leaving or who´s staying, etc. It will definitely be interesting. Change is always interesting. It seems like it´s a pretty sure deal that we´ll be getting 2 more missionaries in the ward (making us 6), so that will be a change for the better. We´ll just have to wait and see what happens. In two weeks I´ll let you all know what´s up.
Here´s an excerpt from my letter to President Bird:
"I was able to do two intercambios this week. On Tuesday Elder Bautista came to our area with me, and we were able to have a good working day - we were able to have some powerful lessons and get 2 baptismal dates. I enjoy working with Elder Bautista, he´s a good friend, and a really good Elder. He and Elder Redford know how to work well together, and with the members, and they are good at having many lessons too. We did the inventory, and we set some goals to help them improve their communication one with another, which hopefully will help them.
Later on Friday I was able to bring Elder Harrison to my area to work with him, and it was also a good day. It was a tough day at times with appointments falling through, and other difficulties, but in the end we were able to teach a good amount of lessons, and we enjoyed spending the time together. He is still struggling with his Spanish, but other than that he´s pretty great. He´s excited, he wants to work hard and be obedient, and he´s a good Elder. After the intercambio we had our inventory and we set many goals with Arboledas to help them move forward in the work."
Well, that´s it for today. I love you all and wish you well. Have a great week! Talk to you next week!
This week we worked hard, but still had less lessons than the week before. But, that´s okay. This week looks pretty good actually. We´ve got plans to have some of the youth and others accompany us to our visits, and that will be a huge help. The work is a lot easier to do when somebody is accompanying us. That´s something that I never really had the opportunity to do before my mission - accompany the Elders. Hopefully Luke can get a chance to do it before he heads out, and maybe I´ll be able to lend a hand after my mission too.
What´s new? This transfer is going by pretty quickly. We´re already at week 5 of the transfer. Pretty soon they´ll be telling us what´s up, who´s leaving or who´s staying, etc. It will definitely be interesting. Change is always interesting. It seems like it´s a pretty sure deal that we´ll be getting 2 more missionaries in the ward (making us 6), so that will be a change for the better. We´ll just have to wait and see what happens. In two weeks I´ll let you all know what´s up.
Here´s an excerpt from my letter to President Bird:
"I was able to do two intercambios this week. On Tuesday Elder Bautista came to our area with me, and we were able to have a good working day - we were able to have some powerful lessons and get 2 baptismal dates. I enjoy working with Elder Bautista, he´s a good friend, and a really good Elder. He and Elder Redford know how to work well together, and with the members, and they are good at having many lessons too. We did the inventory, and we set some goals to help them improve their communication one with another, which hopefully will help them.
Later on Friday I was able to bring Elder Harrison to my area to work with him, and it was also a good day. It was a tough day at times with appointments falling through, and other difficulties, but in the end we were able to teach a good amount of lessons, and we enjoyed spending the time together. He is still struggling with his Spanish, but other than that he´s pretty great. He´s excited, he wants to work hard and be obedient, and he´s a good Elder. After the intercambio we had our inventory and we set many goals with Arboledas to help them move forward in the work."
Well, that´s it for today. I love you all and wish you well. Have a great week! Talk to you next week!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Week #71: Tamaulipas 1.1 - XII - Week 15
This week was a pretty good week. As I said this last week, the Mexico Area Presidency wants us to be teaching more lessons, and in order to do that the mission wants us to cut our lessons up, make them shorter but more powerful, and get a lot more people in the teaching and baptismal pools. So, we tried to work hard this week, teach little lessons, inviting people to be baptized, etc.
It went pretty well. We´re on our way. This week we taugth 27 lessons, as compared to 20 last week. Hopefully we can keep going and have a really good rhythm in the work. We were able to teach some new investigators, and we have hopes for some baptisms in the next two months with those that we already know.
One such person is Liz. She is 20 years old. We contacted her in the street, and we weren´t able to consistently visit and teach her, so her baptismal date fell through. We actually gave up on visiting her, because she was going to leave for school. But, we saw her, and got back in contact. Then, she came to Church! So, we set up an appointment to see her on Friday. I was on intercambios with Elder Soto, so he and I taught the lesson, and we asked how she felt. She sounded really excited, and sure, that the Church and Book of Mormon are true, and she confidently accepted the baptismal invitation. Elder Soto was really excited, said that she was "Escogidísimo" (very chosen). It was pretty cool. We´re hoping that she´ll be ready by March 29th.
I wrote about our intercambio in my letter to President Bird: "The Zone Leaders did intercambios with us on Friday, and Elder Soto came with me to the area. We had a golden day - we taught 7 lessons, and two people accepted baptismal dates. It was a full day, and very good. One of those lessons was actually by Elder Carbajal and I before the intercambio. We need to get to the point where every day is like that. One thing I really liked from the intercambio was the audacity and faith of Elder Soto. In his prayer before we left to work, he prayed to see miracles, and we had a miracle day. That was pretty great."
We´ve got some other people in the works right now. One is named Juan Sánchez. We met some new families, and one of them seems like they could progress and end up being baptized too. We´re going to keep working with them and working hard in the area.
In other news, the ward should be getting two more missionaries this transfer (March 18th). That means that there will be three companionships, and SIX missionaries in the ward Tamaulipas. That will be pretty cool, and the work will keep moving forwrad. We´ll be able to find more and more people, teach more lessons, focus on a smaller area, and it´ll be great stuff. We found out Tuesday night.
So, life has been pretty good this week. Thanks to everyone who has written me, shared their testimony with me, or who has prayed for me and the work. Please pray that we might be able to continue in this path, working towards our goals of teaching many lessons, and having many baptisms. Please pray that our studies will be effective, and strengthen us.
I´ve felt pretty good this week. I´m going to keep focusing my studies, my prayers, and my actions on the work and the gospel. It should be good. I love you all and wish you well.
It went pretty well. We´re on our way. This week we taugth 27 lessons, as compared to 20 last week. Hopefully we can keep going and have a really good rhythm in the work. We were able to teach some new investigators, and we have hopes for some baptisms in the next two months with those that we already know.
One such person is Liz. She is 20 years old. We contacted her in the street, and we weren´t able to consistently visit and teach her, so her baptismal date fell through. We actually gave up on visiting her, because she was going to leave for school. But, we saw her, and got back in contact. Then, she came to Church! So, we set up an appointment to see her on Friday. I was on intercambios with Elder Soto, so he and I taught the lesson, and we asked how she felt. She sounded really excited, and sure, that the Church and Book of Mormon are true, and she confidently accepted the baptismal invitation. Elder Soto was really excited, said that she was "Escogidísimo" (very chosen). It was pretty cool. We´re hoping that she´ll be ready by March 29th.
I wrote about our intercambio in my letter to President Bird: "The Zone Leaders did intercambios with us on Friday, and Elder Soto came with me to the area. We had a golden day - we taught 7 lessons, and two people accepted baptismal dates. It was a full day, and very good. One of those lessons was actually by Elder Carbajal and I before the intercambio. We need to get to the point where every day is like that. One thing I really liked from the intercambio was the audacity and faith of Elder Soto. In his prayer before we left to work, he prayed to see miracles, and we had a miracle day. That was pretty great."
We´ve got some other people in the works right now. One is named Juan Sánchez. We met some new families, and one of them seems like they could progress and end up being baptized too. We´re going to keep working with them and working hard in the area.
In other news, the ward should be getting two more missionaries this transfer (March 18th). That means that there will be three companionships, and SIX missionaries in the ward Tamaulipas. That will be pretty cool, and the work will keep moving forwrad. We´ll be able to find more and more people, teach more lessons, focus on a smaller area, and it´ll be great stuff. We found out Tuesday night.
So, life has been pretty good this week. Thanks to everyone who has written me, shared their testimony with me, or who has prayed for me and the work. Please pray that we might be able to continue in this path, working towards our goals of teaching many lessons, and having many baptisms. Please pray that our studies will be effective, and strengthen us.
I´ve felt pretty good this week. I´m going to keep focusing my studies, my prayers, and my actions on the work and the gospel. It should be good. I love you all and wish you well.
Week #70: Tamaulipas 1.1 - XII - Week 14
It´s been a short little while since we all last chatted, so I don´t have too much to share that´s new. It was a pretty good end of the week though.
On Friday we had a training meeting where all of the District Leaders got together to be trained, practice, and learn. It was a pretty great experience, I really liked what they were telling us about. I have a lot to learn, but it´s been good so far. We talked about how we need to set an example with our area, our obedience, and our faith. We should be teaching many MANY lessons, and they should be short, direct, and powerful, and frequent. It´s a cool new focus that´s a bit different, that I really like.
Afterwards I was in the offices briefly getting some maps scanned to make a new map for Tamaulipas 1.2, and Arboledas 1.2 too, and I signed Elder Raff´s journal with my "goodbye" to him - he´s wrapping up his misison in FOUR WEEKS. I remember when he was in my first District - he had less than a year in the field. He´s a great person. After that, we left to go back to our area, and we worked.
We were able to have our weekly meeting with Hermano Villasana (the Ward Mission Leader), and we talked a lot about problems and potention problems in our side of the ward with the work, helping members stay active, etc. We talked for like an hour. Then we left for an appointment, and the other Elders started their half of the meeting.
We had a TON of people at Church this week, it was pretty full actually during Sacrament Meeting. We had people who are reactivating themselves, less actives who haven´t come for a while, investigators, and lots of people. It was good. It was nice to have the ward be fuller. Hopefully we can keep on working hard and well with the ward, and help more and more people come, and get some baptisms.
To end our week, we had a lesson in the chapel, where we presented the Sacrament room, and the baptistry. It was cool. Our investigator seemed calm, he talked less than usual, and he said he felt peace. We put a baptismal date goal for April 5th, and he accepted. We´re going to work hard and help him make it to that goal.
As I said about teaching MANY lessons: the Area Presidency wants us to step it up and teach more. They want us to be teaching 40 - 60 lessons a week, and our weekly total this past week was 20 lessons, so there is work to be done. In order to get to this goal of better work, we are going to be teaching the lessons shorter, divided, and more frequently. The ideal would be the following:
- To be baptized an investigator needs to go to Church (Sacrament Meeting) 5 times at least as a rule in Mexico.
- We have 5 weeks, then, to teach the 4 Lessons (The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Commandments) before they are baptized. It would be ideal to teach the lessons cut up, like one per week in 3 visits or so, and that they come to Church each week.
It sounds really great in theory, but it´s hard to get it into practice. We´ll get there though. It will be better. In short lessons, they can feel the Spirit quickly, notice the difference when we leave, and progressed little by little. That´s what needs to happen. It will be good.
Well, that´s it for today. I hope you´re all doing great and have an awesome week. Thank you so much for your letters, love, and prayers! Take care!
On Friday we had a training meeting where all of the District Leaders got together to be trained, practice, and learn. It was a pretty great experience, I really liked what they were telling us about. I have a lot to learn, but it´s been good so far. We talked about how we need to set an example with our area, our obedience, and our faith. We should be teaching many MANY lessons, and they should be short, direct, and powerful, and frequent. It´s a cool new focus that´s a bit different, that I really like.
Afterwards I was in the offices briefly getting some maps scanned to make a new map for Tamaulipas 1.2, and Arboledas 1.2 too, and I signed Elder Raff´s journal with my "goodbye" to him - he´s wrapping up his misison in FOUR WEEKS. I remember when he was in my first District - he had less than a year in the field. He´s a great person. After that, we left to go back to our area, and we worked.
We were able to have our weekly meeting with Hermano Villasana (the Ward Mission Leader), and we talked a lot about problems and potention problems in our side of the ward with the work, helping members stay active, etc. We talked for like an hour. Then we left for an appointment, and the other Elders started their half of the meeting.
We had a TON of people at Church this week, it was pretty full actually during Sacrament Meeting. We had people who are reactivating themselves, less actives who haven´t come for a while, investigators, and lots of people. It was good. It was nice to have the ward be fuller. Hopefully we can keep on working hard and well with the ward, and help more and more people come, and get some baptisms.
To end our week, we had a lesson in the chapel, where we presented the Sacrament room, and the baptistry. It was cool. Our investigator seemed calm, he talked less than usual, and he said he felt peace. We put a baptismal date goal for April 5th, and he accepted. We´re going to work hard and help him make it to that goal.
As I said about teaching MANY lessons: the Area Presidency wants us to step it up and teach more. They want us to be teaching 40 - 60 lessons a week, and our weekly total this past week was 20 lessons, so there is work to be done. In order to get to this goal of better work, we are going to be teaching the lessons shorter, divided, and more frequently. The ideal would be the following:
- To be baptized an investigator needs to go to Church (Sacrament Meeting) 5 times at least as a rule in Mexico.
- We have 5 weeks, then, to teach the 4 Lessons (The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Commandments) before they are baptized. It would be ideal to teach the lessons cut up, like one per week in 3 visits or so, and that they come to Church each week.
It sounds really great in theory, but it´s hard to get it into practice. We´ll get there though. It will be better. In short lessons, they can feel the Spirit quickly, notice the difference when we leave, and progressed little by little. That´s what needs to happen. It will be good.
Well, that´s it for today. I hope you´re all doing great and have an awesome week. Thank you so much for your letters, love, and prayers! Take care!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Week #69: Tamaulipas 1.1 - XII, Week 1
I´ve got some new news for everyone. I learned on Tuesday that I am the new District Leader, and that we changed Zones. We are no longer part of the Zone Humildad, we are part of a new tiny Zone called Conocimiento (Knowledge). The Zone Leaders are my friends Elder Quevedo and Elder Soto. My District is Tamaulipas 1.1 (me and Elder Carbajal), Tamaulipas 1.2 (Elder Bautista and Elder Redford), and Arboledas 1.1 (Elder Aguilar and Elder Harrison). It´s been good so far. In the Zone, I´m one of the old people now. Me, and the Zone Leaders are the only people who served with President Walker in our Zone.
I was able to do some intercambios. First I went with Elder Redford to his area, and we had a pretty good day. I talked too much in the lesson though, so I think we´re going to do another further along in the transfer and I´ll let him teach more. It was a pretty good intercambio.
The next intercambio was this past Tuesday - after my first capacitación (training / lesson that I give), and I went with Elder Aguilar to his area, and it was also pretty good. I obviously need to improve as a District Leader. Good news is that tomorrow there is a meeting for the District Leaders, so that should be able to help me out a lot. Plus, sometime in the near future I´ll have an intercambio with Elder Quevedo (my old friend), and he will help me out too. It should be good.
Things are going pretty well in the area too - we´ve got some investigators who are actually progressing - we had people come to Church. We set some goals and made some plans to help them progress towards baptism, and of course looking for new people, and strengthening the ones who are coming back to Church now. We had some worrysome moments, but I feel calmer now about the reactivation. We´ll see how we can help them all stick around and be strong.
This week I´m not writing until Thursday, because we had a change of P-day this week. Today we went to the Temple. It was pretty good overall. I bought some music at the store in the chapel, and it was good. Here is a photo of my District. They are (from left to right): Elder Redford, Elder Aguilar, Elder Carbajal, myself, Elder Bautista, Elder Harrison. We went out to eat at a buffet today, and after we finish writing we´re going to watch a movie in the chapel. Not sure which movie yet, but we´ll be watching it.
Well, I´m going to end with some personal messages, then I´m off to write President Bird. I love you all and wish you well!
I was able to do some intercambios. First I went with Elder Redford to his area, and we had a pretty good day. I talked too much in the lesson though, so I think we´re going to do another further along in the transfer and I´ll let him teach more. It was a pretty good intercambio.
The next intercambio was this past Tuesday - after my first capacitación (training / lesson that I give), and I went with Elder Aguilar to his area, and it was also pretty good. I obviously need to improve as a District Leader. Good news is that tomorrow there is a meeting for the District Leaders, so that should be able to help me out a lot. Plus, sometime in the near future I´ll have an intercambio with Elder Quevedo (my old friend), and he will help me out too. It should be good.
Things are going pretty well in the area too - we´ve got some investigators who are actually progressing - we had people come to Church. We set some goals and made some plans to help them progress towards baptism, and of course looking for new people, and strengthening the ones who are coming back to Church now. We had some worrysome moments, but I feel calmer now about the reactivation. We´ll see how we can help them all stick around and be strong.
This week I´m not writing until Thursday, because we had a change of P-day this week. Today we went to the Temple. It was pretty good overall. I bought some music at the store in the chapel, and it was good. Here is a photo of my District. They are (from left to right): Elder Redford, Elder Aguilar, Elder Carbajal, myself, Elder Bautista, Elder Harrison. We went out to eat at a buffet today, and after we finish writing we´re going to watch a movie in the chapel. Not sure which movie yet, but we´ll be watching it.
Well, I´m going to end with some personal messages, then I´m off to write President Bird. I love you all and wish you well!
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