First Change Complete

im a little concerned why im not getting a letter every week anymore.... well tara is keeping me up to date at least. thanks tara! haha. well we had a very confusing and rough week this time. our goal of 7 baptisms for the change had really stressed us out, because we didnt know how we were going to get it.. we were busy every second of the day, and never had any down time in our daily planner. every day was full from 11 am until 9 or 930 pm. but it was very odd, for some reason this week we really didnt find anyone new. every other week, we have had approx. 15 nuevos, but this week we got 6.... it was kinda sad to see that number. but a good number we got, was 12 investigators in sacrament meeting! we usually only get 6. that was a product of our past finding people.

it has been really hard to get people prepared for baptism and committing to it this week, because so many people here, arent married! it is so frustrating. it is always because one of them just doesnt want to spend the money.. very frustrating. but we are making progress at least. i dont know if you remember me mentioning Maria Luisa before, but she is so solid. she has come to church every week since the first time she went, and she reads and prays everyday. the only reason she isnt baptized, is because of her dumb ´husband´. they arent even married. he is a jerk. he has cheated on her many times, and treats her like dirt, and just wont leave. it is her house, and she cant kick him out, because he wont leave and the police wont help her. the government is so corrupt here. the word illegal, doesnt exist. so sadly she has come to the conclusion to leave to live with some relatives in baja california... she is waiting for her last son to graduate from this school year, then she will leave him with one of his older sisters, and leave for about a year until he leaves.... its so sad, but she did say that we will be able to baptize her before she leaves so she can have her records anywhere waiting for her. that was so great to hear! but also it is still very sad about her situation.

we did get 3 baptisms this week though. trinidad, his wife dulce, and a little girl with inactive family stephanie. that is the correct spelling of her name. trinidad and dulce are the ones visiting from sinaloa, and it turns out that they will be here for about a month and a half more. he is so awesome. after i baptized him, we were both changing, and he turned and asked me ´what is this i am feeling? it is really awesome´ i seriously about broke down there and told him what it was. he was so excited and said ´so wait, i can have this feeling always? i want that´ he is such a wonderful guy. so i baptized him and dulce, luckily their names werent that hard. juan trinidad erenas torres, and dulce prado something. haha then aurelio baptized his daughter stephanie. she was really afraid of the water, but all went well. hahah

we found this investigator from san diego, he is 6 foot 2, about 350 lbs, and an english teacher here. he is staying with his sick abuelita. he is great. he loves to learn about the gospel, and retains the information really well! which is shocking here. haha. im just worried that we might need a bigger font for him...... please pray for him.

other than that, we have had just our basic routine of investigators, except we are seeing big results from these three kids and i ask that you pray for them too. they are sayonara, marcos, and diana. they are right on track, and just need a little bit more incouragement. please pray for the spirit to be with them. thanks

other than that, we are staying pretty healthy this time, and very poor.... for some reason, everyone in the zone feels like we were cut short on money and everyone is down to their last pesos. and we still ahve a week left at least before we get more money. speaking of that, did you get a new pin number for my card?

mom, do you know when the church is going to put out the new pmg? do you know if they are changing anything on it, or is it just making it smaller.

im glad to hear that the lane is being fixed, and everyone is still working hard. i hope grandma is feeling better and making great improvements! thanks for the update maryjo!

how is john and aricas baby doing? does someone have a picture of alyssas house they can send me? and if i want to get some pics of the mission in for the end of year slideshow, when would you like them by? everyone, thanks for all you do, and for your prayers. i am definately feeling comforted when times get rough, because i know i have all of you backing me up. thank you so much, you really dont know how much that really helps!

i love you all and pray for you all too!

elder facer

June 21--Week 6...or 5?

well another week down, but this one was better, because there wasnt any sickness!! haha.  but sadly we didnt get a baptism...  our goal of seven seems pretty far out now considering we only have two, and this is the last week in the change.  but we do have at least 3 baptisms planned for this weekend. hopefully the Lord will bless us with the chosen people that we can baptize.  also there is a girl whose family are members, but she wasnt baptized and wants to be, but the only problem is that she is 45 mins drive away from our main area....

can you believe that i am already on week six of the field?  after this week i am 1/8th over with my mission. haha. but im not counting down or anything. 

ALL FATHERS OUT THERE.  im very sorry that i missed fathers day yesterday, but i have good news.  Today is Día de los Padres.  so happy día de los padres instead! haha. i love you all fathers.  especially my dad, who i miss very much.

congratulations john and arica on a beautiful new baby! im so excited for you.  and i am sorry to hear about grandma.  its good to hear that everything is going good, i hope that the recovery will be very speedy and not very painful. 

well this week has been kind of crazy.  we have had so many appointments, that we havent had any real time to contact any one new, or referrals..... but this week we are changing our plans, and focusing big time on really seeking out the escogidos.  elder snyder and i had a very progressive talk last night, and we are going to change a lot of our ways of teaching, and only try to focus on the escogidos, and not as much on the others, who God hasnt prepared as much to hear the gospel.  we have been working a lot with the bishop this week, and because of that, we have realized so much more how great of a man he is, and all that he does for his family, and the ward. 

we have the coolest investigator i have ever seen right now.  his name is trinidad, and his wife is dulce.  they have one kid who is like 6 months.  they are down visiting family right now, and we happened to be able to teach them, the family they are visiting is a less active family.  so we got a double hitter on this one.  but he is so involved in everything we do.  if we tell him to read a chapter, he prays before, studdies it, and prays after.  when we ask for a recap, he practically gives it verse for verse! it is incredible.  his wife isnt as good, but she still is in the lessons, goes to church, and reads a little.  im just so mad that he isnt in our area, and cant stay in our ward.  he lives in Sinaloa, im not sure if it is a state, or just  a city.  but i have a very good feeling that in a year, i will be able to go to the temple with him and dulce to be sealed!!!  i know that he will strive for that.  they are only here for like 3 and a half weeks, so just long enough for us to baptize and confirm them, then they are headed back....

im sorry that i dont have a ton of time again, i just cant realize how little time we actually have even on pdays.... thanks for keeping me updated, everyone.  i love to get your letters and just know whats going on in everyones life.  thank you all so much, not only for your letters but also for your example.  both before the mission and still now.  stay strong in your families.  being here only six weeks, i am seeing how incredibly hard satanás is working to ruin families.  please stay strong, and listen to the guidance and council of your parents.  if parents are readiing this, show it to your kids.  obedience is key, whether on the mission or not.  i love you all, and pray for your good health, and success in life and callings.  may the Lord watch over you all in all things.

elder facer

A Rough Weekend

Hey. how is everything going this week? tara filled me in on some stuff.

well i guess i just cant stay healthy here. haha. this week, a very poor investigator fed us, and she gave us water from the tap..... we were ok, until an appointment with another investigator the next day in the evening. I threw up twice at her house, and later that night elder snyder started and practically didnt stop all night long. this was on friday that it started and continued to saturday. we couldnt do anything on saturday, because we were both on the toilet or in front of it most of saturday. a very sweet member lady brought us a simple breakfast, and had other members bring medicine and lunch. by the end of the day, we were a little better, but not fully recovered. we had to cancel all of our appointments, and only remind about going to church. but sadly we did have to get up and work at 5, because we had to prepare for another baptism.

This week, it was a little girl of 10 yrs who for some reason wasnt baptized.... so we taught her in one week and baptized her! it was a good experience, especially because her uncle was able to do the ordinance. but very sadly, our expected baptism canceled on friday. it was the lady whose house i threw up at. Her name is Sandra. she is by far the most golden investigator we have, but she doesnt feel like she is prepared enough again. we have done all we can, so please pray for her, and help her to receive her answer.

mom. elder snyder has the condensed version of PMG, and i have sadly lusted over it. haha jk. but there is a lady you can email and she will send it to either you or me. her email is miniPMGmom@gmail.com. i would truly love it if you would at least check for me and see what it would cost, or if you could get it for me.

im sorry i dont have a ton of time today, but thanks for your prayers and i pray for all of you everyday! keep up the good work, trust in the lord, y ¡hechar le ganas!
i love you all
elder facer

Not a Lot of Time

im writng really late today, but we went to tepoztlan to see an ancient pyramid.! i am going to send a box home soon enough for you, with a few small gifts and my memory card. the biggest gift ever! i have been trying to take pics of everything, but it is hard to remember sometimes.

angelica is a great member here who speaks great english, and would really love to go to byu to study, if you could please send the info of what she needs to do that would be great. she is currently a student at a college in cuernavaca, and i would like to see if there was any way to help her get there.

well luckily i am better now. it was something in one of the meals i ate that was appearantly very new! i love the food here. everymeal, we have tortillas with it, usually a soup, and usually with chicken. they eat chicken with everything. i would have to say one of my favorite things to eat here, is called picadas. or french toast! haha me and elder snyder eat it for breakfast almost everyday. haha it is wierd to have to provide for myself... i miss you mom haha. for other meals i dont know, i havent have had a ton of stuff. everything is mostly the same genre of meal.

to try to answer some of alyssas questions, there is absolutely no neutral color of house. purple, red, green, blue, yellow, white, black. all made out of cement. when i send the pictures home, you will see a lot more of what i mean. i love laughing with elder snyder about that here, here, you can say hi to anyone, and they will respond. but if i was to do that with everyone on the street in the usa, almost no one would respond. yes driving is insane. it really does scare me when we have to go long distanes in a combie (little bus) or in a taxi. everyone knows to watch out for them. the poverty level really is insane here. especially in anenequilco. mom, i dont know if you would be able to handle coming to pick me up.... bugs and cockroaches, spiders, mosquitoes etc are everywhere in our house. but also there are geckos to help get rid of some bugs. it is crazy hot here everyday, but i hear when i go to acapulco, it is even worse.... everyone dies in acapulco of heat.

we had mission conference on tuesday, and that was incredible! it was good to see president and get his info on some things.

sorry im trying to get through this quick, because i dont have a ton of time. if i dont answer a question this time, please ask it again and i will answer it next time.

i also went on splits with another missionary in my district, so we could get a lady her baptismal interview. splits was great, i was with a mexican companion who didnt know english, so it really forced me to speak 100%. it was great. also that day i saw a moving circus and two huge white tigers! awesome.

with that baptismal interview, it was ana. we are teaching her, and her baptism was last saturday and i did the service. it was such a great experience. the first baptism i went to here, i performed it.

im sorry that i dont have more time, cause i really want to write more! but for today i cant. i love you all and keep up the good work. please pray for karina, luis, alejandra, sandra, guadalupe, jazmin, juan, hector, maria luisa, paty, jesus, cristina, and herlinda. these are some of our progressing investigators who definitely need all the help from prayers they can get! love you all!

elder facer

Segunda Semana Ouch

Elder Facer w/ his mission president and wife, President and Sister Spannaus

well sadly we went two weeks with out baptizing.... elder snyder helped me realize that if our desires are right, and we are dedicating everything we can do to the Lord and his work, we really can baptize every week. well we actually thought we had a random baptism, but he actually fell through. he calls himself Hugo, has 13 years, and seemed really ready, and we found him on thursday. we tried to jump right in and get him baptized because he had already talked with the missionaries about a year ago, had been to church at least 3 times. so he started to prep him, but on friday, he missed our appt., drank coffee that morning, and he is a little messed ùp in the head. so we dont really know if he is actually serious about all that he tells us. so sadly we had to cancel on him...

we also had a little nine year old boy Juanito. his dad is a counselor in the bishopric, but sadly doesnt really have desires to force his son to be baptized. juan just wont decide, because he is terrified of water! who would have thought that simple thing would keep someone back from baptism and eternal salvation.

we got 13 new investigators this week, and again, shockingly, [well not really] almost every single one of those were from member referalls. speaking of one member in particular, her name is isabel. she is incredible and i think has already given us 5 referrals and fed us twice. her son served in torreon, and is now married with one kid. the reason i bring him up, is because i swear on my life: hi is SASQUATCH! its amazing. he is very big, has the long crazy hair, cant talk very well, and keeps appearing out of no where! its so funny. some things that animal planet never told me about sasquatch, is that he is mormon, served a mission, married with one kid, and actually wears a OAXACA poncho every day! if i can every get a picture of him i definately will!

to finish what i was saying about the members, it is sadly kinda just how i expected it on sunday. no offense to any latino who may read this, but the meeting didnt start until 25 after 9, because no one had shown up. hahaha. but at the same time, it was very sad to see that, because also none of our investigators showed up.... well 3 out of 14. one of our chosen families was going to come, but appearantly the jerk super catholic husband wouldnt allow it. we will talk to them tomorrow to see what happened.. it is the mom karina, son luis, and daughter alejandra. they all love the gospel and want to be baptized, but the husband comes every weekend from mexico city. he has at least one other family, and doesnt care too much for this family, but for some reason doesnt want them to be baptized... please pray for him to have a soft heart and be willing to change his mind by the power of the spirit, and the love of our eternal father in heaven. it honestly broke my heart. but at least our baptism for this friday came! her name is ana. she chatted with the missionaries before, but didnt remember a whole lot. but really wanted to be baptized, so we are helping her!

we have other investigators who are doing very well, but because of the marital problems here, no one wants to change and get married to be baptized. people just dont want to spend the money, or the hassel of it, when they feel they are in love. also almost every girl is pregnant at around the age of 15, it is so sad to see that.....

my spanish is improving a lot, but im still not great. i understand about 90%, but just cant respond how i want to, or even know the words. the investigators have commented on my spanish many times that for so short a time, i am doing very well.

most of the members are good, but its so sad to see that they dont fully understand the importance of baptism for a new investigator. they are willing to reach out and be friends, but wont help push anyone to baptism.... we are trying to always show the members we are working our hardest, and we always ask for a referral from every member, and also we are going to start asking investigators who they would like to bring to our next lesson. i think that will be a good thing to do.

mom: to do pictures, i will either need you to send me the camera cord, or i will send the memory card, but remember either way it will take approximately six weeks for me to get it...

sadly, i think i got prideful that i didnt get sick my first week. i have had the mexi-squirts almost all this week, and especially today.... while we were at the super mercado, i threw up like three times. i have felt pretty sick, but at least it has been sunday and p day, so i didnt have to be out contacting or teaching with it. i really just hope that it will go away soon....

thank you tara, emily, and maryjo for the letters! i love to hear how everything is going:]

i love you all! thanks for all you do!!

elder facer