Week 16: Panchos, Bautismos, y Cancer

1.  I loved hearing from the member yesterday.  It is fun to receive these messages.  

-A lot of members do it here.

2.  Did you ever get to check with the McFarlands?  I would love to link up with them.

- No, they serve in San Cristobal.

3. I'm sure you heard about the new guideline for communication with parents while on mission. With the changes, what has your mission president said for you guys to do?

-We choose what we want.

4. How are things going with your goals as a companionship?

-Well we kinda just do daily goals, so good I guess.

5. How long has your companion been out again?

-22 months

6. Where is your companion from?

-Puebla

The district calls my companion "Abuelito."  2 months left in his mission

Well sorry for not writing last week but I called the fam because we now have the ability to call if we want. These past two weeks went by really fast but quite a bit happened as you are probably anticipating from the title LOL.

PANCHOS:

So the story of the sacred pancho is very simple but it was funny. I really don't have any other reason than it's funny to tell it, but here it goes. So Elder Perez and I decided to head to Tres Picos because they have an investigator that was ready for baptism but the elders said it was alright they were gonna wait a week. But Elder Perez was gonna give the interview and see what happens. 

So we get there and Elder Perez starts the interview and finishes with him and Eber walking out very fast at us saying VAMOS AL RIO!!! Apparently, during the interview, Eber said he wanted to be baptized right now but he didn't know how because we didn't have a place or clothes. 

But all Elder Perez said was let's go. So there we were 6 people in one moto taxi headed towards the river. We stopped at the elders house first to grab clothes for the baptism and went. When we got to the river, we realized all of the shirts did not fit Eber and so we took a moment to think because he's a big dude. We figured my shirt had to be the closest fit of all. So I gave my shirt up and traded it for a poncho. What  a life, am I right? Chillin' in Tres Picos watching a baptism in a poncho.

BAUTISMOS: 

The baptisms were from Tres Picos, which I pretty much already went over. But we had one too. The same night of the poncho incident, Elder Perez and I had a baptism. It was the wife of someone we baptized in January which is good. So now the whole family are members. That's the goal with our baptisms to be for families because realmente this gospel is for the family. So it was pretty fun to have the baptism of Elmer here in Tonala and after hear there testimony.

CANCER: 

So yes, this week I came down with sickness but the cancer isn't about me LOL. It is in reference to one of our lessons this week. The investigator we were teaching has been having trouble with the whole repenting process. We were talking to him a little bit about it and he said something a little interesting. He said "Sin is like cancer".... how true is that statement? Really, if you really think about it sin is a cancer on our spiritual soul. Cancer for the body is something that slowly eats away and kills the body if not treated. Sin is the exact same when we transgress or do something in contradiction to God's laws it's an opening for Satan to make us think it's okay to do again since we already did it. Slowly but surely it eats away at our spiritual well being. The way we treat it is repentance through our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ suffered and died for those sins. All we need to do is have faith in him and begin the repentance process, replace bad habits with good, ask for forgiveness from God, and decide in your heart you don't want  this "cancer."  As Jesus said to the adulterer "Then go up and sin no more". So first faith, second change our habits, third ask for the forgiveness, then last but not least continue everyday to try to get better and leave that "cancer" behind in the dust. As we decide to leave the cancer in the dust we will begin to feel more of the spirit and God's love in our lives. Don't let Satan "bind" your spiritual and temporal happiness. Take control and leave the cancer behind.

HASTA EL ARBOL!!

TGM!!!

Week 14: Not Enough Time

1. How are the 2 investigators from the pizza place coming along?

-We don't know. They didn't seem like they were progressing. We need people that are moving.

2. What goals have you set this month?

-Well we had the goal of 6 baptisms this month but Elder Perez and I needed a little bit of a kick start. So we made a goal of 26 in the next 6 weeks. We think we can do it.

3. Do you have district meetings weekly?

-No we don't have many meetings. They are a waste of precious time--one meeting a month with the zone, then the leaders have their meeting once a month, then president comes for a tiny meeting once a month.

4. How many are in your district? In your zone?

-6  areas in the zone

5. Are you still sunburned?

-I mean -I'm always darker.

6. How many investigators do you have total?

-I don't know the number honestly but we always focus hard on 30.

7. Is there air conditioning anywhere you go or just fans?

- I mean some places have climas but a lot of fans.

Mom writing: There was a gas truck explosion right in front of Elder McFarland and his companion 3 days ago.  They were on their way to visit a person and they were right there when it happened.  They helped people out.  Here is the story: 

Zone Meeting Notes

Week 13: Minister With LOVE

1. Did you feel the earthquake? Where were you when it happened?

-No we haven't felt any of the earthquakes the. People here don't understand how 'cause there are so many.

2. I saw some pictures of the baptisms. So amazing! So who did you baptize?

-I baptized the youth. It was cool. It wasn't the place we wanted but it worked out

3. How was your week?

-It was good--really fast as usual. We have been a little sick but nothing like terrible.

4. How do you split apart your week between the different areas?

-We go to Cabeza Wednesday and Thursday then Sunday after church.

5. Is it transfer week?

-Well technically yes, but let's be real. In this mission we never know when changes are gonna happen.

This week we decided to focus on less active members of the church and part member families. It was a good opportunity to minister to the members who were struggling and hear what they needed. It reminded us of not only our purpose as missionaries but what all members of this church should do. 

As a missionary, our purpose is to invite all to come unto Christ and to help them learn about his gospel. But as we went around visiting less active members and part member families it made me think about what we should do as members of this church in general. It really hit me with two instances.

The first instance was when one brother asked us why no one comes to visit him from the branch. His grandson died about two or three weeks ago and we were the only people to visit him after the funeral and burial. 

The second was a part member family. The mother and most of the family aren't members. During our visit, we were sharing scriptures and giving our thoughts and then she straight up asks "Why are you here?".  For a moment I wanted to tell her the missionary purpose word for word but then I quickly felt that that wasn't what she needed to hear. As I responded, I´m glad I listened to the prompting because the response also helped my testimony as well. 

As members of this church, we are so blessed to have knowledge of the restored gospel. We are blessed with the pure joy that it brings and blessed with the love that we can feel from our Heavenly Father and Savior as we try to live in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have all of these blessings and many more through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So why are we not giving it our all to help others receive these blessings? Why are we not giving our efforts to our friends and family members to help them feel the love of our Savior or the joy of this gospel. 

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, when we are baptized, we promise to take the name of the Savior upon ourselves. Remember that! What did the Savior do always? ....MINISTER WITH LOVE. This is exactly what we should be doing.

I know the term "Representative of Christ" is usually put on only missionaries and apostles but aren't all members of this church representatives of Christ if at baptism we promise to take the name of Christ upon ourselves? Yes, as representatives of Christ, we all should strive to follow the example of our loving Savior and minister to our friends, minister to our family, minister to all with love and kindness. As we do this, they will feel the joy this gospel brings. They will feel the love of our Savior Jesus Christ. That is our purpose as members of this church and I am so glad I was reminded of that this week. 

HASTA EL ARBOL

A LA META

200 TGM!!!!!