hey everyone! well there actually isnt much more that i can tell you about this week, because i talked on the phone with the family, but i will still give a brief overview and updates on the baptism. i want to talk about the baptism first, because it was great! Arturo, Rosy, and Arturito were all baptized and confirmed on sunday, and had a wonderful time. i baptized Rosy and Arturito, and E. wilding baptized Arturo, dad. they were very concerned that after baptism, our communication would stop, but we reassured them that we will stay in contact forever. a few members pitched in to buy them a three year subscription for the liahona! so they will be solid on that, and on member support. they are so great, but sadly not many members came to their baptism. Rosys best friend in another ward was supposed to come and speak, but didnt show up until after the ordinance, because they didnt bathe themselves in time.... oh mexicans. but it didnt matter, they still enjoyed it. during the service, me and elder wilding sang a musical number of lord dismiss us with thy blessing, elder wilding singing harmony and me on bass, but it sounded really good acapella, and the bishop asked us to sing in sacrament. it was a little nerve racking, but we did good. also in sacrament, Mario got the priesthood, a new bible, and proclamation to the world and the living christ. he is doing really good, but still just doesnt have a ton of friends. we are helping him work his way in to the ward, and they will hopefully receive him well.
we found a decent number of new investigators this week, but not enough. we did thankfully find a super awesome mom and son, but we werent able to make it to our appointment on saturday because of tyhe interviews for baptism. thankfully we got ahold of them sunday morning to ask forgiveness, and we will call them tonight for another appointment. we really think they will be escogidos(elect) if we can stay in good contact with them, the only problem is that they live on the other end of our area, and they are the only investigators in that part.... we will try though.
well i remembered a few things i wanted to tell you all during the skype chat, but i completely forgot. during the next one, i will have a notepad of things i want to say. but these are just some things that i have noticed that are important in the work, and being prepared to do it all day long. 1. smiling. we made it into some doors this week because the people have seen us in the street, and asked us why we are always so happy. 2. service. we also got into a few doors because people saw us when we did the service project as a zone, and wanted to know why. 3 faith. you may see that all these things are very simple, but really, the simple things are the most important. 1 nephi 16: 29. faith to find, faith to continue, faith to trust in god even though it is difficult, faith to drop people if they arent ready right now, faith to love. 4. talk. talk with your companion if there are problems, talk to everyone. 5. keep the commandments 1 nephi 17:3. you have to keep the commandments and be like christ to receive the spirit. with the spirit, you can go anywhere, and if someone says something that throws you off guard, the spriit directs you. just like ammom with king lamoni. he deceived a man with god, because he had a part of god with him (the spirit of discernemnt)
i dont want to be preaching, but i want to help a little bit to prepare you all for your missions. this is really the best experience of my life, and i wouldnt trade it for anything. i heard someone say that president eyring said: a person who goes on a mission has 56 years more than a person who doesnt go on a mission. of experiences, knowledge, testimony, faith, love, etc. i know that is true, because if i was studying at home for an hour, but with no real purpose, like to help someone else, it wouldnt be as meaningful for me or anyone. i hope you all are preparing for a mission, or are getting to that age, do everything in your power to be a disciple of christ now and complete your challenge, and commandment. 3 nephi 5:13. if you notice anything you lack right now, try your hardest to apply it now. not for me, but for your brothers and sisters, and the lord that awaits your service. pray for help to complete.
love you all tons, and am really grateful for your help, support and love in every prayer, letter, or action that you do. i know the lord will bless you 10X if we do the hard things for him. Malakiah 3:10. test him how much he will bless you.
elder facer
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Dear Family:
We are sending to you a picture of your beloved missionary during our Christmas conference where we have had a wonderful spiritual experience. Best wishes for all during this Christmas Season, hoping to be closer to our Savior with all our heart and to serve Him until the end. With love,President & Sister Spannaus
We are sending to you a picture of your beloved missionary during our Christmas conference where we have had a wonderful spiritual experience. Best wishes for all during this Christmas Season, hoping to be closer to our Savior with all our heart and to serve Him until the end. With love,President & Sister Spannaus
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
One of the simplest, sloppiest letter writers is all grown up...
yesterday we had a christmas zone conference, and it was incredible! sadly me and e. wilding had to do everything for the setup, because it was in our church and we have the keys. sorry but yes i did get your package, haha and it made me laugh, because i remembered the gifts elder snyder had when we were looking through his baggage, i figured he helped you get them. haha its good to hear he is with someone, and please tell him i say feliz navidad y nuevo año y que le amo! thanks. also i got two packages from rusty which were awesome! full of ensigns and a few treats with a letter from him and his mom. its good to hear they are doing good, and he told me that he is going home teaching, but still not to church.... i will write to him and see if i can help too.. or if you see him, please rebuke him for me! haha jk. well to finish what i was saying about zone conference, i had such a good time! we joined with the zone of iguala and had such a good time! i saw two of the other people from my mtc district, and now only lack to see elder smith. they are both doing pretty good, and one of them, elder nelson, is training. also the new zone leader got to the mission with me, elder anaya. i always knew he would be an awesome misisonary and that he would be great. it was fun to see him again and talk. elder dominguez grandados tells elder snyder hi as well as elder johnson. we started out eating a ton of food that was prepared professionaly by members, and then had a white elephant gift exchange. i ended up with a nice pen/pencil set and gave a nice pen with candy and highlighters. the gift could only be 60 pesos (6 bucks) so it was hard to stay under. then we had the spiritual part with a lot of musical numbers. we watched the picture slide show of the service projects of the whole mission, and it was fun to see who i knew from the mission. hna spannaus had an amazing talk. she said she had read 3 nephi and focused on every time it mentions Christ, or gives an attribute, or an act that he did, etc. in just 3 nephi there were about 331 times. wow!!! can you imagine how many times it must mention something about christ in the whole book of mormon! it truly is another testament of christ. she spent 10 minutes reading us the list of all the paraphrased scriptures she found. i guess i had never really thought of how much he is, and what he did. he really is the perfect example in everything. later president spannaus talked about his experience of going to jerusalem about 4 years ago. he explained the pictures he showed us, and also his thoughts from his journal. incredible!!! it was alot about finishing your mission up strong, no matter what, and that every prophet, leader, etc of God, even christ completed their mission working until the very end. christ even had to do it all alone after the garden of gethsemane. it really is never too late to come back and ask for support and forgiveness from God.
mom, if you could please tell the primary from our ward how grateful i am for their letters. as i read every single letter, i cried, then i cried some more, and some more!! geez, im still not sure why i was crying, but i think it was because i might have the opportunity to be a good example for all those little growing kids. even just some of the simplest, and sloppiest letters were the most touching ´thank you´. i didnt realize what my work was doing, until i got those letters yesterday night. please tell them that i also say thank you from the bottom of my heart for those sweet, sincere letters that they were probably forced to write. i really do love each and every one of them and am so grateful for their support.
well this last week, we also baptized again, it was our good friend mario. he is such a stud and was so happy to finally receive his baptism and forgiveness from his sins. he really understood the importance of baptism, and has already helped us teach his daughter arumi. he always reads, and is super strong. he just lacks a little confidence in the ward, and still hasnt stayed all three hours, but knows that it is the right church. he was pretty lost all of his life, and never went to a church, he was an alcoholic for most of his life and got a lot into science and atheism, but he later realized that it was impossible that there is no god. one night he prayed for help, and the next night we came looking for his daughter arumi, and she didnt show, so we taught him. from that night, he hasnt gotten drunk, and has improved his family relationships, which were pretty bad before, at the point of divorce. elder wilding did the ordinance, and did it perfectly. also camilo, one of my converts from elder cardenas, got the melchizedek priesthood on sunday! so awesome, he only has 2 months of member, and has blessed the sacrament every week, read and prayed, and never misses a class of institute!
well sadly thats about it that is going on for the good. the work is still struggling a little to find new investigators, but we decided its really time to focus on the members to receive references. we havent received one in two weeks, and for that, we are really struggling to keep finding. but we keep trucking along. manuel is probably going to have to be dropped this week if he doesnt come to church next week, because he just feels that he hasnt felt anything yet. he is still looking for a ´sign´ i really wanted to planch him with one of the bible scriptures from the new testament when christ says oh ye wicked and perverse generation that seek after a sign when we have already received it, but im not sure if that would push him towards baptism... haha but luckily we are going to baptize again this week a family of three! arturo, rosy, and arturo. they are so great, and arturo is the reason. he was never raised in a religion or in god, but when he met his wife, she introduced him to christianism with the christians, but he didnt like it, and said that some day he would find the right church for him. we came by, and ever since that first day, he has been excited and going to church, reading, praying, and acting on faith to keep the commandments. they have a date for sunday in the morning before church. please pray for them!!!!!!!
that is really all that is going on, just that it is actually getting cold now. every night nad morning is pretty cold, and during the day is still alittle warm, and i still sweat. sadly i keep gaining little by little in weight. i am really going to have to go on a diet or something..... me and elder wilding are still doing good, just a few little attitude problems, but its just because we do things differently. all is well, and thank you all for all youre doing for me! love you all and i ask for your prayers and that you have a super wonderful holiday! ill see a few of you on saturday!
elder facer
mom, if you could please tell the primary from our ward how grateful i am for their letters. as i read every single letter, i cried, then i cried some more, and some more!! geez, im still not sure why i was crying, but i think it was because i might have the opportunity to be a good example for all those little growing kids. even just some of the simplest, and sloppiest letters were the most touching ´thank you´. i didnt realize what my work was doing, until i got those letters yesterday night. please tell them that i also say thank you from the bottom of my heart for those sweet, sincere letters that they were probably forced to write. i really do love each and every one of them and am so grateful for their support.
well this last week, we also baptized again, it was our good friend mario. he is such a stud and was so happy to finally receive his baptism and forgiveness from his sins. he really understood the importance of baptism, and has already helped us teach his daughter arumi. he always reads, and is super strong. he just lacks a little confidence in the ward, and still hasnt stayed all three hours, but knows that it is the right church. he was pretty lost all of his life, and never went to a church, he was an alcoholic for most of his life and got a lot into science and atheism, but he later realized that it was impossible that there is no god. one night he prayed for help, and the next night we came looking for his daughter arumi, and she didnt show, so we taught him. from that night, he hasnt gotten drunk, and has improved his family relationships, which were pretty bad before, at the point of divorce. elder wilding did the ordinance, and did it perfectly. also camilo, one of my converts from elder cardenas, got the melchizedek priesthood on sunday! so awesome, he only has 2 months of member, and has blessed the sacrament every week, read and prayed, and never misses a class of institute!
well sadly thats about it that is going on for the good. the work is still struggling a little to find new investigators, but we decided its really time to focus on the members to receive references. we havent received one in two weeks, and for that, we are really struggling to keep finding. but we keep trucking along. manuel is probably going to have to be dropped this week if he doesnt come to church next week, because he just feels that he hasnt felt anything yet. he is still looking for a ´sign´ i really wanted to planch him with one of the bible scriptures from the new testament when christ says oh ye wicked and perverse generation that seek after a sign when we have already received it, but im not sure if that would push him towards baptism... haha but luckily we are going to baptize again this week a family of three! arturo, rosy, and arturo. they are so great, and arturo is the reason. he was never raised in a religion or in god, but when he met his wife, she introduced him to christianism with the christians, but he didnt like it, and said that some day he would find the right church for him. we came by, and ever since that first day, he has been excited and going to church, reading, praying, and acting on faith to keep the commandments. they have a date for sunday in the morning before church. please pray for them!!!!!!!
that is really all that is going on, just that it is actually getting cold now. every night nad morning is pretty cold, and during the day is still alittle warm, and i still sweat. sadly i keep gaining little by little in weight. i am really going to have to go on a diet or something..... me and elder wilding are still doing good, just a few little attitude problems, but its just because we do things differently. all is well, and thank you all for all youre doing for me! love you all and i ask for your prayers and that you have a super wonderful holiday! ill see a few of you on saturday!
elder facer
Monday, December 13, 2010
Working Out in Different Ways
We finally baptized!!!!! alfredo pulled through for us this week, with shockingly only one lesson.... we talked to him about acting on faith, and beleiving-not knowing. i dont know why, but many mexicans have a hard time realizing the difference between the two. but we talked to him, and helped him realize that he has already received an answer. he told us right then and there that he was going to do it. i was the lucky one to perform both the ordinances: baptism, and confirmation. it went really well, just that it took forever for the service to get started, but it went well. he and is girlfriend betty, who is a super solid member who has given us three references and all three have gotten baptized, they were both way happy after the service. i talked with him for a little in the bathroom, and told him to go home and write in his journal or on a piece of paper how he felt, how he feels, and what this means to him. betty told me that he was really excited to do it, but that he hadnt really expressed his inner feelings about the ordinances yet. he is a little bit closed, but still a great friend. he speaks english very well, and we talk at times for practice.
this week has been good, but just not a whole lot has happened..... we did better on our lessons, but that is about it. our other two possibilities that we had for this week will have to wait for at least this next week, or even farther..... katia is great, and is also excited to get baptized, but she headed down to tierra colorada to be with her son this weekend and her dad before he tries to get to the united states. its kinda funny how open people are here about being illegal in the US and how many times they go and get caught and sent back, but still try agian with the punishments wide open.... we get alot of people asking us if we can help them get across, or a cheaper visa, and its really annoying. but anyways, katia is great and she will hopefully be able to return from tierra colorada next wednesday and work for her baptism next friday or saturday. we did talk to manuel, and he still doesnt feel like he has an answer, so we will try to help him realize what he has and go back through all the teaching with him, about if he doesnt act soon, we may have to drop him until he does act..... i hope it comes soon.
on the 22 of this month, we are having an activity for christmas our church with three wards. it is going to be really good, and i think it will have a good turn out, of members and investigators. speaking of investigators attending the activity, we have a great family progressing, but sadly very slowly. it is arturo, rosy, and their son arturo. also they have three other kids, but two are under age, and the oldest girl, but she doesnt live with them. they are all so great and love us, and the church, but after three weeks, we have only taught them three times and one was a great family home evening that we had on obedience for them. they were really sad to hear that it was possible that one of us left this past weekend, but thankfully we both are still here. elder arevalo, my old district leader, left for the offices today, and will go home on wedensday. its really sad to watch close friends, or companions leave, but the work keeps moving on. so me and elder wilding will have at least one change together, but i think that is all we will have.
also one more investigator is mario. he is so great, and is super excited for his baptism this week, he has been ready for about a week, but wanted to wait it out a little longer, but is ready to do it this week. we are also hoping his daughter and her husband will be willing to do it with him, they are almost all ready also, and we are hoping after his baptism, his stubborn catholic wife blanca will change with him. he is praying for that like crazy as well as reading everyday and praying. what a stud!
well the weather is still about the same, but in the morning and night, it is pretty cold. the breeze we get every day is a little chilly, but it feels good when we are sweating. me and elder wilding are happy to be together for another change, and will continue to progress in all ways. we are happy and still ready to work. by the way, we did a service project as a zone this last friday, we cleaned a park for a mothers and children hospital for 7 hours. mostly for lack of equipment it took so long, but also a lot of lazy mexicans. haha i got a little burnt but not too bad, and it was a good experience. the only problem was that my body still hurts a little bit. i havent been working out as hard as i used to.... but its all good
if you all could keep in your prayers manuel, katia, mario, crisanto, arumi, blanca, arturo, arturo, and rosy, it would be really great. or at least a few names each. haha thanks a ton for all your love and support, it is really great to know that i have a good family and friends who are always there to help in my times of need. love you all tons and we will talk next week!
elder facer
this week has been good, but just not a whole lot has happened..... we did better on our lessons, but that is about it. our other two possibilities that we had for this week will have to wait for at least this next week, or even farther..... katia is great, and is also excited to get baptized, but she headed down to tierra colorada to be with her son this weekend and her dad before he tries to get to the united states. its kinda funny how open people are here about being illegal in the US and how many times they go and get caught and sent back, but still try agian with the punishments wide open.... we get alot of people asking us if we can help them get across, or a cheaper visa, and its really annoying. but anyways, katia is great and she will hopefully be able to return from tierra colorada next wednesday and work for her baptism next friday or saturday. we did talk to manuel, and he still doesnt feel like he has an answer, so we will try to help him realize what he has and go back through all the teaching with him, about if he doesnt act soon, we may have to drop him until he does act..... i hope it comes soon.
on the 22 of this month, we are having an activity for christmas our church with three wards. it is going to be really good, and i think it will have a good turn out, of members and investigators. speaking of investigators attending the activity, we have a great family progressing, but sadly very slowly. it is arturo, rosy, and their son arturo. also they have three other kids, but two are under age, and the oldest girl, but she doesnt live with them. they are all so great and love us, and the church, but after three weeks, we have only taught them three times and one was a great family home evening that we had on obedience for them. they were really sad to hear that it was possible that one of us left this past weekend, but thankfully we both are still here. elder arevalo, my old district leader, left for the offices today, and will go home on wedensday. its really sad to watch close friends, or companions leave, but the work keeps moving on. so me and elder wilding will have at least one change together, but i think that is all we will have.
also one more investigator is mario. he is so great, and is super excited for his baptism this week, he has been ready for about a week, but wanted to wait it out a little longer, but is ready to do it this week. we are also hoping his daughter and her husband will be willing to do it with him, they are almost all ready also, and we are hoping after his baptism, his stubborn catholic wife blanca will change with him. he is praying for that like crazy as well as reading everyday and praying. what a stud!
well the weather is still about the same, but in the morning and night, it is pretty cold. the breeze we get every day is a little chilly, but it feels good when we are sweating. me and elder wilding are happy to be together for another change, and will continue to progress in all ways. we are happy and still ready to work. by the way, we did a service project as a zone this last friday, we cleaned a park for a mothers and children hospital for 7 hours. mostly for lack of equipment it took so long, but also a lot of lazy mexicans. haha i got a little burnt but not too bad, and it was a good experience. the only problem was that my body still hurts a little bit. i havent been working out as hard as i used to.... but its all good
if you all could keep in your prayers manuel, katia, mario, crisanto, arumi, blanca, arturo, arturo, and rosy, it would be really great. or at least a few names each. haha thanks a ton for all your love and support, it is really great to know that i have a good family and friends who are always there to help in my times of need. love you all tons and we will talk next week!
elder facer
Sunday, December 12, 2010
the miracle plant from david and estela.......
some of my good friends of the zone. elder arevalo is one of my best friends. he is on the top in the middle with glasses.
la mordida! whenevery there is a birthday or celebration with cake, they make the celebrater take a bite, like a wedding, and usually there is someone to push your face in the cake.
zona chilpancingo as of right now.
mario, ward mission leader and convert of cardenas, and on the right is camilo, my convert
camilo and angel, convert of elder cardenas. his dad is pablo, our convert
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Don't Get Discouraged!!
i think we will plan to talk around 11 am my time on Christmas morning, so that should be 10 your time if i am correct. ps; the zone leaders said i got two or three packages, so they arrived on time. thank you! i will get them tonight.
another week down without baptisms..... both alfredo and manuel didnt have as firm of a testimony on joseph smith as they had expressed to us, and had more doubts, but they said they will do all that is possible to find an answer and get baptized. they both want it, but it just hasnt happened yet. the good thing is that i think i am learning how to not get discouraged: trusting in god! how simple, no? but sadly it has been hard in the past. i think i have really learned to always stay positive, and accept whatever trials the lord sends our way. it is really hard, but after having these 6 weeks of not baptizing, i have started to realize the benefit of the trial. i just really hope that we baptize this week, so i can keep my streak going of never whiting out in a change. but what will come is in the lords hands. we did really good this week on our dats, and im not really sure if its anything we really did. it just worked out, but i think because of these dats we will get really good results out of them.
i also went on changes with my district leader: elder arevalo. he is really one of my greatest examples right now. he is a fun, hard workin guy who really knows how to teach. he learned a lot from some of the greatest missionaries in this mission. he came and really helped me learn what i was lacking in teaching, as well as being bold with people. i thought i was bold before, but he showed me a whole new level! we challenged a lot of people, found few, but also had very many lessons with members present. as well as taught many members a lesson to strengthen their testimony on what we are doing, and to help them realize their part in the missionary work. i was very impressed with this week, as well as i wasnt as near as tired as other weeks, because we did more teaching, and much less walking. elder arevalo taught me a ton in just those two days, but sadly he is leaving the 12 of december. i will really miss him, but he may be my way of getting good new shoes, because in mexico, every thing is super cheap! here is probably the most expensive you will find. except for ties! i can get a tie for 40 pesos, or 4 dollars!!!! and they are good sturdy ties. if anyone is needing ties for mission prep, or which ever reason, i can get it in about any color or design here. so let me know!!! haha. but any ways, today at soccer, i slipped twice and really tore up my legs, i miss playing at timpanogos indoor and getting torn up, but the only reason was because i dont have any grip on my shoes.... so e. arevalo might be able to help me get some good, cheap shoes.
we are doing good, and have 9 people with a baptismal date within this month, but lets see how it works out. in november we had 10 and all of them fell, so lets see how the lord will work with us this month..... i have decided to change the way i teach and plan after being with elder arevalo. he taught me to teach by the scriptures and to what end. also that i need to plan out my own lesson plan with specific scriptures to answer doubts and teach the principles. today, i will go and buy the notebook to start. also how much easier it is for mexicans to learn with an object lesson.......... i felt like i was teaching a class of 8 yr olds, but they really started to understand, and they all accepted a date. so i have started to make my own object lessons for the restoration, and the plan of salvation. hopefully it works as good for me as it did for him.
i have almost finished the book of mormon in spanish, i am in ether 2 right now, and i will finish by the end of this week i bet. i have really found many great scriptures in this time going through in a different language. you really do come across new things every time. especially how much i now love the writings of mormon in the book of mormon. chapter 7 is short but very powerful, and also i really liked ch. 9. both talking about the importance of christ, and how we are able to see and recieve miracles. it is only by faith. maybe its not that profound to you all, but it was important to me. haha. if we trust in god to do what ever he asks, he works miracles. trust is the key. or in other words faith.
lys, you made me laugh when you said that you and el bebito were the center of attention in peru, because just this last week, i was also the center of attention. we were contacting a lady and she went to get her husband to set an appointment, and we were waiting when three of her teenage daughters came out and were completely gawking over me.... they were staring in my eyes and trying to flirt and wanted to take a picture, but i just felt wierd. maybe it was because i didnt have el bebito to take the attention away from me... maybe next time. haha i was happy to hear from a lot of people this week, and i hope all is well for everyone. thank you for your support and love and letters. it really means alot to me, because im not going to lie: the mission is hard! i have never struggled like this in my entire life, but i have also never learned so many important lessons. like the christ like attributes, scripture study, love everyone, discipline, diligence, etc. there are a lot of things i have learned, but i now think the most important thing i have started to catch on to is dont get discouraged! trust in the lord, work hard, and keep the commandments. the commandments seem simple, but review them and your covenants. find at least one thing you can change or make better in your life to keep your covenants sacred and important to you. the lord will bless you tons.! i know thats a true principle, because i have seen it happen many times here. love you all, and i will try to take more pics of whatever i can this week for you. if you have questions please ask me, especially about talking on christmas. cuidense muchisimo.
elder facer
another week down without baptisms..... both alfredo and manuel didnt have as firm of a testimony on joseph smith as they had expressed to us, and had more doubts, but they said they will do all that is possible to find an answer and get baptized. they both want it, but it just hasnt happened yet. the good thing is that i think i am learning how to not get discouraged: trusting in god! how simple, no? but sadly it has been hard in the past. i think i have really learned to always stay positive, and accept whatever trials the lord sends our way. it is really hard, but after having these 6 weeks of not baptizing, i have started to realize the benefit of the trial. i just really hope that we baptize this week, so i can keep my streak going of never whiting out in a change. but what will come is in the lords hands. we did really good this week on our dats, and im not really sure if its anything we really did. it just worked out, but i think because of these dats we will get really good results out of them.
i also went on changes with my district leader: elder arevalo. he is really one of my greatest examples right now. he is a fun, hard workin guy who really knows how to teach. he learned a lot from some of the greatest missionaries in this mission. he came and really helped me learn what i was lacking in teaching, as well as being bold with people. i thought i was bold before, but he showed me a whole new level! we challenged a lot of people, found few, but also had very many lessons with members present. as well as taught many members a lesson to strengthen their testimony on what we are doing, and to help them realize their part in the missionary work. i was very impressed with this week, as well as i wasnt as near as tired as other weeks, because we did more teaching, and much less walking. elder arevalo taught me a ton in just those two days, but sadly he is leaving the 12 of december. i will really miss him, but he may be my way of getting good new shoes, because in mexico, every thing is super cheap! here is probably the most expensive you will find. except for ties! i can get a tie for 40 pesos, or 4 dollars!!!! and they are good sturdy ties. if anyone is needing ties for mission prep, or which ever reason, i can get it in about any color or design here. so let me know!!! haha. but any ways, today at soccer, i slipped twice and really tore up my legs, i miss playing at timpanogos indoor and getting torn up, but the only reason was because i dont have any grip on my shoes.... so e. arevalo might be able to help me get some good, cheap shoes.
we are doing good, and have 9 people with a baptismal date within this month, but lets see how it works out. in november we had 10 and all of them fell, so lets see how the lord will work with us this month..... i have decided to change the way i teach and plan after being with elder arevalo. he taught me to teach by the scriptures and to what end. also that i need to plan out my own lesson plan with specific scriptures to answer doubts and teach the principles. today, i will go and buy the notebook to start. also how much easier it is for mexicans to learn with an object lesson.......... i felt like i was teaching a class of 8 yr olds, but they really started to understand, and they all accepted a date. so i have started to make my own object lessons for the restoration, and the plan of salvation. hopefully it works as good for me as it did for him.
i have almost finished the book of mormon in spanish, i am in ether 2 right now, and i will finish by the end of this week i bet. i have really found many great scriptures in this time going through in a different language. you really do come across new things every time. especially how much i now love the writings of mormon in the book of mormon. chapter 7 is short but very powerful, and also i really liked ch. 9. both talking about the importance of christ, and how we are able to see and recieve miracles. it is only by faith. maybe its not that profound to you all, but it was important to me. haha. if we trust in god to do what ever he asks, he works miracles. trust is the key. or in other words faith.
lys, you made me laugh when you said that you and el bebito were the center of attention in peru, because just this last week, i was also the center of attention. we were contacting a lady and she went to get her husband to set an appointment, and we were waiting when three of her teenage daughters came out and were completely gawking over me.... they were staring in my eyes and trying to flirt and wanted to take a picture, but i just felt wierd. maybe it was because i didnt have el bebito to take the attention away from me... maybe next time. haha i was happy to hear from a lot of people this week, and i hope all is well for everyone. thank you for your support and love and letters. it really means alot to me, because im not going to lie: the mission is hard! i have never struggled like this in my entire life, but i have also never learned so many important lessons. like the christ like attributes, scripture study, love everyone, discipline, diligence, etc. there are a lot of things i have learned, but i now think the most important thing i have started to catch on to is dont get discouraged! trust in the lord, work hard, and keep the commandments. the commandments seem simple, but review them and your covenants. find at least one thing you can change or make better in your life to keep your covenants sacred and important to you. the lord will bless you tons.! i know thats a true principle, because i have seen it happen many times here. love you all, and i will try to take more pics of whatever i can this week for you. if you have questions please ask me, especially about talking on christmas. cuidense muchisimo.
elder facer
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