good afternoon, to all those who arent sick, and to all those who are sick(like me) i hope it goes better. since saturday when i woke up, i have had a terrible cough, and i thought it would just go away, but as of right now it hasnt, so i will call hna. spannaus in the night to see what to do. so it has been pretty rough, because randomly last night it started to rain, luckily, right after we got inside. well im happy, and sad to talk about this week. because it was a very trying week and we worked so hard, but with so little results, probably one of the hardest of the mission but i feel that i was really able to stay positive(almost 100% of the time). it was a very hard trial, but i feel like with pres. spannaus` help, i was able to overcome it.
this week, we had interviews on thursday, and we had a very good talk about recommitment. he didnt have to rebuke me by saying it, but i decided that i need to do just that much better to finish up the mission good. sharon sent a good email about that, and it was nice to see all those who wrote to give words of encouragement. but for now im going to go back to the good news of the interview.
elder wilding asked pres. to use his cell phone to call some converts, and decided to call rosy and arturo from chilpancingo. they have been talking to the bishop and getting ready to go to the temple!!!! they say that they will go in february, but they still dont know the date.
please pray a lot for them, that has been one of my biggest desires to take a family to the temple to be sealed, and finally it is possible.
we both got to talk to arturo, and he sounded a whole lot more grown up, what emily said about the gospel making us better people, and more organized really is true, we have seen it in this family. sadly president mentioned to me and elder sonntag, a little note about changes being possible between us this weekend. he may have plans for e. sonntag to train and send me to another area. its not sure, but possible, not my will, but thine be done. it doesnt matter who with, or where, but i have to and i will keep working hard until the end of the mission(just like scott mentioned) wow, i really did learn a lot from you all in your letters. and to tie in what mom and betsy said, that is exactly what president told me about having good results.
thats not the important thing, what really matters is forgetting yourself in the work, and being obedient. president said, if you die today, is God going to ask about how many baptisms i had in the mission, or how many new investigators i found? no, he is going to ask about if i completed with whatever he commanded me to do or follow, who to help, and what i did with my time. he had me reread alma 5, and i learned a lot from the questions that alma asked the people.
well, my time has run out once again, so we will have to wait until next week to chat more, but thank you for your support to everyone, and if clarissa gets this too, i got your letter, but it didnt give me time to read it, but ill print it off. your letters have been uplifting and inspiring, and i have felt the spirit and your love.
see you all next week!
mucho amor
elder facer
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
A diligently hard week
good afternoon family and friends! its good to be with you again and write, hopefully something inspiring, because i sure have felt inspired with the thoughts and letters you all have shared, except for alyssas, because she punished us (thanks joseph) with a generic letter haha. but ill be waiting for a good one next week as promised. it was good to hear that everything went well for wyatt, and that he gave a good talk.
also its fun to hear that for scott and alicia, the windows of heaven are opening for a new blessing and a new test. as mom commented, i really have learned so much from dad. maybe he didnt give me a shirt to take on the mission, because he was a lot taller than me and joseph, but he did teach me the characteristics that have shaped and changed my mission. i dont exclude you mom, but just as you commented on dad, i wanted to talk about him. i heard a quote a month ago from an emeritus seventy in our ward: you can see how converted the parents are by how the kids live and act. im far from the best missionary, but i know that my example and idol has always been dad to inspire me and lift me to be better. the little sacrifices that have been made are what shaped me. maybe he got mad at me while working with him, because i didnt know how to do anything, but he gave me the time to be with him, and learn hard work and to love good work. thanks dad i love you.
well we have had a diligently hard week. we had so many people in teaching, and so many appointments, but during the week, they just kept falling like flies at grandmas porch(8 people with fly-swatters) and it was hard to keep filling in our time with more things to to, but we managed. we had about 31 investigators, but because they havent been keeping their commitments, we will be having to drop many of them this week. sadly it has to happen, and i know good things will come from it, but its still hard to leave people that we have come to strive for and love so much. three investigators we are teaching, are striving to live the word of wisdom, mainly smoking and coffee. they are german, laura, and carla. german is the husband of a member since childhood, yuri, and his three kids were baptized last year. he is getting really excited and learning so much! he likes the gospel a lot, and defends it with co workers that are leaders of other churches! so cool, i hope he isnt preaching apostasy. haha! laura is a reference we received from the secretaries in the stake, her, with her two kids of 20 and 19 are pretty excited about baptism and have been willing to do all their homework and go to church, even though they live an hour away from the church! they live in the other city Huitzilac, its a part of cuernavaca, but its way far away. laura, aldo esteban, and jose juan are their names, please pray for them. they have baptism planned for feb. 4!! and carla is a recent converts sister that is 27, madre soltera(alone mom? i cant remember how to say it..... haha). she has had a lot of doubts, but was willing to try it out in faith, and needs a lot of support. her brothers recent wife is an ex-missionary, and is helping a lot, but she needs a lot of help with droppíng smoking. she has a lot of will power, but faith and prayers is more powerful! she is planning her baptism for feb. 11.
btw, german will have his date for the 25 of feb. we just need him to go to church!!!!
elder sonntag is helping me strive to speak 100% spanish. i have gotten a little lazy on speaking it all the time because of elder solomon, and need to get back in the habit. speaking of english, i gave a prayer in english in a members house, and i was sweating bullets, red faced, and elder sonntag was laughing when i finished, becase it just sounded so wrong. im worried to go home like this....especially with the family haha just kidding. we have been working hard, and are just waiting for the blessings.. also i talked to elder dahl, who took my spot in acapulco today, and he said that one of my converts are going to the temple soon, gildardo, so i might be going soon!!!! i cant wait, i have wanted to go to the temple my entire mission, and i hope he can go.
well thats about all with us, unless you have questions. we will talk next week. i love hearing from you all, and youre keeping me going, so thank you. i love you all, and i keep praying for you all. stay strong.
elder facer
also its fun to hear that for scott and alicia, the windows of heaven are opening for a new blessing and a new test. as mom commented, i really have learned so much from dad. maybe he didnt give me a shirt to take on the mission, because he was a lot taller than me and joseph, but he did teach me the characteristics that have shaped and changed my mission. i dont exclude you mom, but just as you commented on dad, i wanted to talk about him. i heard a quote a month ago from an emeritus seventy in our ward: you can see how converted the parents are by how the kids live and act. im far from the best missionary, but i know that my example and idol has always been dad to inspire me and lift me to be better. the little sacrifices that have been made are what shaped me. maybe he got mad at me while working with him, because i didnt know how to do anything, but he gave me the time to be with him, and learn hard work and to love good work. thanks dad i love you.
well we have had a diligently hard week. we had so many people in teaching, and so many appointments, but during the week, they just kept falling like flies at grandmas porch(8 people with fly-swatters) and it was hard to keep filling in our time with more things to to, but we managed. we had about 31 investigators, but because they havent been keeping their commitments, we will be having to drop many of them this week. sadly it has to happen, and i know good things will come from it, but its still hard to leave people that we have come to strive for and love so much. three investigators we are teaching, are striving to live the word of wisdom, mainly smoking and coffee. they are german, laura, and carla. german is the husband of a member since childhood, yuri, and his three kids were baptized last year. he is getting really excited and learning so much! he likes the gospel a lot, and defends it with co workers that are leaders of other churches! so cool, i hope he isnt preaching apostasy. haha! laura is a reference we received from the secretaries in the stake, her, with her two kids of 20 and 19 are pretty excited about baptism and have been willing to do all their homework and go to church, even though they live an hour away from the church! they live in the other city Huitzilac, its a part of cuernavaca, but its way far away. laura, aldo esteban, and jose juan are their names, please pray for them. they have baptism planned for feb. 4!! and carla is a recent converts sister that is 27, madre soltera(alone mom? i cant remember how to say it..... haha). she has had a lot of doubts, but was willing to try it out in faith, and needs a lot of support. her brothers recent wife is an ex-missionary, and is helping a lot, but she needs a lot of help with droppíng smoking. she has a lot of will power, but faith and prayers is more powerful! she is planning her baptism for feb. 11.
btw, german will have his date for the 25 of feb. we just need him to go to church!!!!
elder sonntag is helping me strive to speak 100% spanish. i have gotten a little lazy on speaking it all the time because of elder solomon, and need to get back in the habit. speaking of english, i gave a prayer in english in a members house, and i was sweating bullets, red faced, and elder sonntag was laughing when i finished, becase it just sounded so wrong. im worried to go home like this....especially with the family haha just kidding. we have been working hard, and are just waiting for the blessings.. also i talked to elder dahl, who took my spot in acapulco today, and he said that one of my converts are going to the temple soon, gildardo, so i might be going soon!!!! i cant wait, i have wanted to go to the temple my entire mission, and i hope he can go.
well thats about all with us, unless you have questions. we will talk next week. i love hearing from you all, and youre keeping me going, so thank you. i love you all, and i keep praying for you all. stay strong.
elder facer
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Conversion
hey, mom, sorry it took so long, it takes us an hour to get home from the stake center for our meetings, the good thing, is that the internet is right next to our house. im not going to blab like i usually do, but i have some experiences that i want to share that really impacted me.
first of all, today, i found a member from anenecuilco, who has always been pretty active, and has watched the ward progress a lot. he was saying that ever since elder snyder and i got to the ward, and lifted it out of the slump it was in, the ward has ever since been progressing like crazy. when i was there, we had 60 going frequently, now there are 130!!! he mentioned it was all thanks to us for lifting up the ward, and getting them excited. i thought back, and sadly couldnt think of many things from anenecuilco, mostly because of my spanish, but i also heard that a family we taught and baptized went inactive, but they are now going again really good and strong! what joy it does ones heart to either plant the seed or collect the fruit, the blessings are the same, eternal joy.
this week, we taught a few people that the spirit was so strong in the lesson. the first was a friend of a ym in the ward, we went on splits once, and we found his friend jonathan. so we decided to go find him. we taught him alone, and he really didnt have any knowledge of god or even christ, but felt a deep burning desire to know more about it. so he was super attentive and answered every question we asked, because he listened so closely. after talking about joseph smith, and the first vision, and testifying that he could feel the same, and receive an answer directly from god, i felt inspired to ask how he felt. he confessed that he wanted to share it, but didnt know if it was appropriate, but as i asked, he shared that he felt something wierd that he had never felt before, so we explained that it is the spirit, and was so excited to know that he can always feel like that. he committed to baptism, and to pray and go to church. sadly there was a problem, and he couldnt get there.. after that, we taught carla, sister of a recent convert, named rodrigo, and his newly wed wife kenya who is an ex missionary. carla had been really rebellious, and had budist beliefs before, but realized that she didnt find the peace that she really wanted. she realized that she was denying herself of the faith and needed to accept the change her brother had made, and now she realized that she wants it. mostly for her baby daughter(who was blessed and named on sunday by her brother rodrigo) and she also felt the power of the gospel as we tesified of its truthfulness, and necessity in our lives to give us the peace we need and desire. she accepted baptism for the 8th of feb, and we may do it earlier if she is ready and can stop smoking.
it is so cool to see and feel exactly when the spirit guides us to ask an inspired question or say something especific that they need. i just wish that i was more worthy to feel that every day, and every moment...
we also had a way good lesson with a family that loves the message, but just doesnt want to go to church, so we will drop them this week. she asked me why i was so converted to what i preach. that was such a touching moment for me. i had never really realized that i was really converted to the gospel, i recognize that i lack a lot, and need to do a lot more still, but it was really touching. i cant share it all right now, but i remember after receiving my call, dad told me to go confirm it with god. kneeling down in the closet, and praying for about 45 mins(the longest prayer in my life up until that point) i felt comfort. it was very small, but it was something so significant to me at that point. then being in the misison and keeping the commandments and being obedient is what has completed that conversion. we both cried in the lesson, but she still didnt want to act..... but its ok, at lesat i will keep working hard. but i thank you dad, for making me look on my own. i had never really done that before, and that was what changed my life on december 9, 2009. thanks i love you.
i love you all, and im sorry i havent been able to write in the lsat couple of weeks to the rest of you, but i will make time next week. thanks for your patience with me and your prayers. it really is making a difference by small and simple things(alma 37:6-7). it really is so much better to look up! have a wonderful week. ill talk to president this week about the besmart application.
ps: i think i have a fungus on my foot.... ill talk with sister spannaus tonight about it.
love you all
elder facer
first of all, today, i found a member from anenecuilco, who has always been pretty active, and has watched the ward progress a lot. he was saying that ever since elder snyder and i got to the ward, and lifted it out of the slump it was in, the ward has ever since been progressing like crazy. when i was there, we had 60 going frequently, now there are 130!!! he mentioned it was all thanks to us for lifting up the ward, and getting them excited. i thought back, and sadly couldnt think of many things from anenecuilco, mostly because of my spanish, but i also heard that a family we taught and baptized went inactive, but they are now going again really good and strong! what joy it does ones heart to either plant the seed or collect the fruit, the blessings are the same, eternal joy.
this week, we taught a few people that the spirit was so strong in the lesson. the first was a friend of a ym in the ward, we went on splits once, and we found his friend jonathan. so we decided to go find him. we taught him alone, and he really didnt have any knowledge of god or even christ, but felt a deep burning desire to know more about it. so he was super attentive and answered every question we asked, because he listened so closely. after talking about joseph smith, and the first vision, and testifying that he could feel the same, and receive an answer directly from god, i felt inspired to ask how he felt. he confessed that he wanted to share it, but didnt know if it was appropriate, but as i asked, he shared that he felt something wierd that he had never felt before, so we explained that it is the spirit, and was so excited to know that he can always feel like that. he committed to baptism, and to pray and go to church. sadly there was a problem, and he couldnt get there.. after that, we taught carla, sister of a recent convert, named rodrigo, and his newly wed wife kenya who is an ex missionary. carla had been really rebellious, and had budist beliefs before, but realized that she didnt find the peace that she really wanted. she realized that she was denying herself of the faith and needed to accept the change her brother had made, and now she realized that she wants it. mostly for her baby daughter(who was blessed and named on sunday by her brother rodrigo) and she also felt the power of the gospel as we tesified of its truthfulness, and necessity in our lives to give us the peace we need and desire. she accepted baptism for the 8th of feb, and we may do it earlier if she is ready and can stop smoking.
it is so cool to see and feel exactly when the spirit guides us to ask an inspired question or say something especific that they need. i just wish that i was more worthy to feel that every day, and every moment...
we also had a way good lesson with a family that loves the message, but just doesnt want to go to church, so we will drop them this week. she asked me why i was so converted to what i preach. that was such a touching moment for me. i had never really realized that i was really converted to the gospel, i recognize that i lack a lot, and need to do a lot more still, but it was really touching. i cant share it all right now, but i remember after receiving my call, dad told me to go confirm it with god. kneeling down in the closet, and praying for about 45 mins(the longest prayer in my life up until that point) i felt comfort. it was very small, but it was something so significant to me at that point. then being in the misison and keeping the commandments and being obedient is what has completed that conversion. we both cried in the lesson, but she still didnt want to act..... but its ok, at lesat i will keep working hard. but i thank you dad, for making me look on my own. i had never really done that before, and that was what changed my life on december 9, 2009. thanks i love you.
i love you all, and im sorry i havent been able to write in the lsat couple of weeks to the rest of you, but i will make time next week. thanks for your patience with me and your prayers. it really is making a difference by small and simple things(alma 37:6-7). it really is so much better to look up! have a wonderful week. ill talk to president this week about the besmart application.
ps: i think i have a fungus on my foot.... ill talk with sister spannaus tonight about it.
love you all
elder facer
Monday, January 9, 2012
Service Warms My Heart
good afternoon family. it was good to hear from so many of you and
thanks for remembering my birthday. ill give details about the day in
a little bit. mom, it was a pretty sweet story you shared about the
girl from california that got to BYU and also her sister, and that
you invited them to dinner. i was thinking of what little acts of
service can do to impact someone so greatly. i love looking back on
some of the little times, and big ones, that i have been able to help
someone in need, and then find them again with a huge smile on their
face to see us. it just warms my heart. i am still not there, but i
feel charity to a level when i am able to serve someone without a fear
or doubt in my heart. it just feels so good afterwards. so i thank
you and dad for your wonderful examples of selfless service.
well we have had a pretty busy week, but with a lot of trials, because
we havent been able to find a lot of our important investigators that
just couldnt make it to their appointments.... satan is working pretty
hard now a days.... but we will keep working harder! we had six
people go to church this week, but only three counted, because one of
them, we havent taught, and the other two werent there for sacrament
meeting. but its great progress for these people who are in such need
for the blessings the gospel has to offer. the ones that went were
luis, who is the husband of a member. laura and her sons esteban and
jose juan. jose juan is the one we havent taught yet, but they all
enjoyed the church a lot! and also we had graciela go with her two kids
alicia of 4 yrs, and hector of 8. they got there late, but were happy
to be there, and working hard to feel the spirit. she has a lot of
problems with her ex husband bugging her, and she is finding a lot of
peace in the gospel, and we will be challenging her for baptism this
week!!
sadly eder and alicia who went last week, couldnt go because of work,
but we will be rechallenging them for baptism for the 28 of january.
we arent finding a ton of people each week,but at least 10, and they
are all looking pretty good because they are being prepared by the
members. all is well with elder sonntag and me. we are working hard,
and really enjoying our time together. still loving the work.
well its about time to go now, sorry there wernt many good experiences
to share today, but we will be praying for them and looking for them
this week. i love you all tons! thanks for your support.
mom, do you think i should wait until fall, because i think that would
be a good idea. do i still need to get president spannaus to give me
the get go? ill talk to him today just in case. love you
elder facer
thanks for remembering my birthday. ill give details about the day in
a little bit. mom, it was a pretty sweet story you shared about the
girl from california that got to BYU and also her sister, and that
you invited them to dinner. i was thinking of what little acts of
service can do to impact someone so greatly. i love looking back on
some of the little times, and big ones, that i have been able to help
someone in need, and then find them again with a huge smile on their
face to see us. it just warms my heart. i am still not there, but i
feel charity to a level when i am able to serve someone without a fear
or doubt in my heart. it just feels so good afterwards. so i thank
you and dad for your wonderful examples of selfless service.
well we have had a pretty busy week, but with a lot of trials, because
we havent been able to find a lot of our important investigators that
just couldnt make it to their appointments.... satan is working pretty
hard now a days.... but we will keep working harder! we had six
people go to church this week, but only three counted, because one of
them, we havent taught, and the other two werent there for sacrament
meeting. but its great progress for these people who are in such need
for the blessings the gospel has to offer. the ones that went were
luis, who is the husband of a member. laura and her sons esteban and
jose juan. jose juan is the one we havent taught yet, but they all
enjoyed the church a lot! and also we had graciela go with her two kids
alicia of 4 yrs, and hector of 8. they got there late, but were happy
to be there, and working hard to feel the spirit. she has a lot of
problems with her ex husband bugging her, and she is finding a lot of
peace in the gospel, and we will be challenging her for baptism this
week!!
sadly eder and alicia who went last week, couldnt go because of work,
but we will be rechallenging them for baptism for the 28 of january.
we arent finding a ton of people each week,but at least 10, and they
are all looking pretty good because they are being prepared by the
members. all is well with elder sonntag and me. we are working hard,
and really enjoying our time together. still loving the work.
well its about time to go now, sorry there wernt many good experiences
to share today, but we will be praying for them and looking for them
this week. i love you all tons! thanks for your support.
mom, do you think i should wait until fall, because i think that would
be a good idea. do i still need to get president spannaus to give me
the get go? ill talk to him today just in case. love you
elder facer
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Years Traditions
well first of all, elder wilding is sitting right next to me and he says hello! he is my new zone leader haha. im so stoked to have him back. well the week was good except for the weekend. ill be quick to explain it, then talk about some of the new year traditions in mexico, which by the way, are very different from utah. thursday in the night we got really sick, and elder sonntag was vomitting all night, i woke up with vomit and diahrrea. we got blessings, then left to work to get miguel his interview, he got baptized!, then went to give a blessing to a sister in the ward. she described her symptoms and elder sonntag went white. he realized that he had the same symptoms as the sister, which she said was salmonela...... so he called hna spanaus and she told us to go home and not eat for the rest of the day. i wasnt as bad as my companion, but i still felt a little sick.
i read 50 pages in d&c and am in d&c 80 which has been a really fun experience. i have learned a lot and am really enjoying the personal revelations that the lord gives that i can apply to myself. saturday we baptized miguel and were feeling a little bit better. it was a sad baptism and only 6 people were there.... but we felt the spirit and did a special musical number. he was confirmed on sunday and we gave him a tie and a HLJ ring, (thanks sharon for the rings it was a really good idea) also we took a golden family to church. after a huge party they had on saturday, when we showed up at their house, they were getting up, and we invited them to church and they gave us breakfast and we went together. they are getting ready for baptism on the 14 of january. please pray for them! eder, alicia, and fernanda.
well new years is pretty cool here. we had pozole verde and bacalao for dinner. they are amazing foods, and we had three cakes, german chocolate, flan and chocolate, and pecan pie! so good. then at the last 12 seconds to midnight you eat a grape to say goodbye to every month and ask for a wish. if you eat all twelve grapes in the 12 seconds it comes true. then, we did a veracruz tradition, you stuff clothes with woodchips in socks, pants, shirt and a make shift head with a tooooooon of fireworks! then sing and dance with him and light him on fire. it was a huge blast! i have a video too! it is actually a day for family to be toghether, not like home were we always split up for our different parties. but i like the both.
sorry i have to go now, it has been hard to focus on writing with elder wilding here on my side, but thats pretty much all that happened in the week. its starting to get really windy here, and it looks like a storm maybe. we will see. i love you all!
elder facer
i read 50 pages in d&c and am in d&c 80 which has been a really fun experience. i have learned a lot and am really enjoying the personal revelations that the lord gives that i can apply to myself. saturday we baptized miguel and were feeling a little bit better. it was a sad baptism and only 6 people were there.... but we felt the spirit and did a special musical number. he was confirmed on sunday and we gave him a tie and a HLJ ring, (thanks sharon for the rings it was a really good idea) also we took a golden family to church. after a huge party they had on saturday, when we showed up at their house, they were getting up, and we invited them to church and they gave us breakfast and we went together. they are getting ready for baptism on the 14 of january. please pray for them! eder, alicia, and fernanda.
well new years is pretty cool here. we had pozole verde and bacalao for dinner. they are amazing foods, and we had three cakes, german chocolate, flan and chocolate, and pecan pie! so good. then at the last 12 seconds to midnight you eat a grape to say goodbye to every month and ask for a wish. if you eat all twelve grapes in the 12 seconds it comes true. then, we did a veracruz tradition, you stuff clothes with woodchips in socks, pants, shirt and a make shift head with a tooooooon of fireworks! then sing and dance with him and light him on fire. it was a huge blast! i have a video too! it is actually a day for family to be toghether, not like home were we always split up for our different parties. but i like the both.
sorry i have to go now, it has been hard to focus on writing with elder wilding here on my side, but thats pretty much all that happened in the week. its starting to get really windy here, and it looks like a storm maybe. we will see. i love you all!
elder facer
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