Piedras Negras, Coahuila week 12

Great last week of the transfer. It was freezing the beginnig of the week , but then Mexico realized again that it was Mexico and today its soooooper hot. :)

Last week we had a great district meeting. The Zone Leaders asked all the senior comps that if they didnt baptise this week if we were willing to be lowered to junior comp. We all said yes. That freaked me out a bit haha. But thankfully we had a baptism lined up and baptised the son of a family that was inactive. But some of the other elders didnt baptise so Im interested to see what really happens there. But Im really glad we baptised haha.
Im sorry i dont have much time but thank you family for my birthday package!!!! The ties are hideous! I love them! But maybe in the next package you could send me some pretty ones? that would be great. I need some more professional ones for meetings and such haha.

Anyway we had interviews and they were awesome and the mission president really knows me and wants to help me. My comp got bit on his foot the other night but dot worry hes okay. Today we made tortillas and ate chorizo. One of the zone leaders fell and scraped his knee the other day. The bishops family gave me a real nice card about how i was a great missionary! Yesterday we didnt have anything to eat because the sister we were going to eat with wasnt home and we had literally nothing in the house so we had to break the sabbath and bought hamburgers and coke. I love coke and hamburgers. Today we have transfers and I dont want to leave but im sure my next trasfer will be great if I go, and my son is great and learning fast!

Much Love
JAmes

Piedras Negras, Coahuila week 11

This week was great! We had 2 baptisms. We worked hard, and got some great results.

This week, we found an inactive family named Guzmán. Well, everyone in our ward is named Guzmán, (kinda like the Hepworths and Shifflets) so we found one of the lost sheep. His wife and children aren't members. We went to their house and explained about a baptism in the Lord's Church, and what the scriptures say is a baptism. Here its a bautiso, and bautismo. We explained it and she seemed to understand well. She said that they needed to go to church. We were like, "ya, that's what I said" haha. Inside joke. But... she really did say that and they went this week. All their family was there and welcomed them. We're hoping to baptize... no were GOING to baptize them this week.
Mexican Independence Day was the 16th. the 15th in the night they all gathered together in different places and did whats called "el grito" or the scream. They yelled "¡Viva México..." and then all the names of national heroes. Upon hearing the names I realized they were almost all the street names here, and in my last area haha. How original, But...you gringos do the same.

I bought a jersey of my favorite team this week, América, for 20 pesos which is like 2 bucks. New originals are like 5-700 pesos. Not in my budget. When I go home maybe, but or right now I can handle a knock of haha.

CONGRATS TO CHRIS!!! Mister Elder now. Get them papers in as quick as you can. Get out here! ¡Ven por acá!
Anyway, my testimony continues to be strengthened of Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel. I love how people find it so hard to believe. But God does not see things the way we see them. Our minds cannot comprehend the things of God, UNLESS we ask him. That's why we have to obtain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, because if we try to comprehend it with our mortal minds, we will quickly be dumbfounded and reject it. Ask God. What better witness can we receive than one from the Creator, Our Father in Heaven? So simple, yet so many get lost in the doctrines of man that they don't even know who God is. We ask people all the time who God is and 99 percent of the time thy have no idea. NO idea. Its so sad. But for that exact reason we are here as missionaries to bring the world His truth. Going forth to all nations we preach the gospel of repentance and baptism unto the lost sheep of the Father. If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. That's what we are doing. How great is our Call!

I thought up a quick poem the other day while riding my bike at sunset:

Only a Being with Infinite Wisdom,
Senses Perfected, a glorious state,
Could create such a beautiful Telestial Kingdom,
There never could be such a perfect "mistake."

I hope all is well and expect everyone who reads this to write me a letter :)

Love you all and take care!

Much Love
JAmes

Piedras NEgras, Coahuila week 10

Good week. Actually a pretty hard week. My comp is new so he doesnt really do a whole lot so I have to do it all. Bu this week Im gonna put him to work.
I have a great experience for you. We were looking for a house this week, and we stopped and asked a guy sitting in his house, which also appeared to be an electrician shop. It turns out that at 4 in the afternoon hes drunk. No offense haha. So were talking to him, and while were asking him hes playing with a current measurer. He grabs one end, then puts his hand on my shoulder and tells me to grab the other end. I do, and the meter barely goes up. So he grabs it alone. Still barely goes up. Then my comp, and barely still. Then I grab it, and it goes up almost al the way. I look at the man, and see an idea pop in his head. Silly drunkard. haha I lterally saw the grin come on his face, then chuckle to himself, sit up straight and compose himself as if nothinghad happened and states, "Oh, thats because this measures GAYS!" We all died laughing. I can officially say Ive been called gay by a drunk person in Mexico. My life is complete.
We had a surprise in the stake center this week that our leaders told us to go to. We had no Idea what it was. We arrived, and it was a homecoming of a missionary. My first thought was oh great, This is great motivation for someone who still has 16 months left. So we sat down in the crowd of people and watched a slideshow of photos. I started thinking abut how long I still had left, when all of a sudden I got the feeling that the time is so amazingly short, and that before I know it, Ill be there. IT was such a great feeling, knowing that for these last 16 months I have to work harder than ever and make my homecoming day, a great one where I have no regrets.
Anyway, Thats about all. I love you all and want you all to send me letters. Mason, Chris, Amy, Becca, Ashley B, Brooke B, Sarah G, burgermills, Dustin, Drew, Chris S, Riles, all my buddies. Just write something quick if you dont have much time but i really want to hear from you.
Love you all and have a great week!!!
Much Love
JAmes

Piedras Negras, Coahuila Week 9

This week was pretty good. Well, pretty hard actually. I went one day with the Zone Leaders to learn how to teach better, but I didnt get a whole lot out of it. but i did get a few things that are useful.

We had a baptism of a 14 year old girl yesterday. Her name is Argelia. It was a good baptism. Her mom was there too, and shes a little... well animated. I think ive wrIveen about her before. Haha sHa hand one of the zone leaders get along really well because they're both loud and dont sdinttalking haha bha haver all it was good.
Oh yeah, i almost forgot... Im 20. It was just another day at work haha. A few time I checked my watch to see the date and realized ti was my birthday. IT just suprised me haha. But ya, 20, I dont really have anymore freedom than when I was 19 so its pretty much the same.
I read the life stories of Pres. Uchtdorf and Pres. Bednar yesterday. What a contrast. It goes from Pres. Uchtdorf and his living in post war Germany, to being a pro pilot and taking over a hijacked plane and stuff, To Elder Bednar, who was president of BYU and has always been a quiet loving Dad. HAHA I kinda lost interest when I went from President Uchdorfs bio to his, but there were also many intersting things about him too.
Not a whole lot happened this week. Sorry for being a boring person haha. Ill try to make this week super exhilarating..

Much Love
JAmes

Piedras Negras, Coahuila Week 8

This week was pretty good. We baptized a lady named Claudia who the missionaries had been wanting to baptize for like 5 months. It was great.
So Saturday we started off the day working, contacting mainly, but with 0 success. I knew a half hour in the day was gonna be a bad one. Everyone seemed to be a devout supporter of their churches haha. Anyway, I contacted a lady and we FINALLY got into her house. So were talking and her granddaughter, like 4 or5, gives me a piece of paper. I just put it on the couch, cuz I was focused on owning her grandmas heart with the Spirit. Were talking and whatnot, and once again the whole idea of "having the true church of Jesus Christ" and "being the only church in all the world that god and Jesus Christ direct" held no desire for her. Sweet. So seeing this, we end the lesson and get ready to leave. Once outside, the grandkids all come out to tell us bye, and this girl hands me this paper again. Im pretty annoyed by this point at the lack of success, and this little girl wasnt really helping, but I still thanked her and everything. I took the paper, and opened it. There was only one word writen on it- "milagros". Miracles. It made me think about how Im a representative of Christ, and not just because I say it or because those who followed Christ in the bible were "representatives" or worthless stuff like that. Ive been called by a Prophet, the ONLY people in the world who can talk to God. He received revelation for where I should go. I was set apart as a missionary, one with the authority from God to do those miracles. I am His representative here. It also made me think about what my MTC treacher said: "The hardest times come right before the miracles." And that night, we interviewed Claudia, and Sunday baptized her. The Lord is caring for us out here, and not just because were "Christians" or "Children of God", but we act on the faith that we have. We're here preaching in his name. We are His messengers, literally. No one else, apart from the other 53000 missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, can say that. Sure they preach the Bible and stuff, and that's all good. But they have not literally been given authority to do so. Many take the Bible too figuratively, that a "prophet" is someone who preaches the Gospel, an Apostle is a "servant", or the "true church" is ourselves or stuff like that. They just dont understand how to understand the bible. Once again, Ive been give the authority, and the Holy Ghost, to discern and literally receive revelation, for what the Prophets in the bible were saying, and not what the errored translation of man says. So many things have been lost, and that what Satan wants. "Just think youll be saved by faith. Oh no, you dont have to really DO anything, just believe in Christ." We know thats not the Plan of God. If all we had to do was believe in Christ, what is the point of coming to Earth?
Sorry if I just unloaded on you guys. I think Ive jsut hit the point to where I hear the same thing over and over and see how sure the people think of their answers, when really they've never even cracked open their grandmas bible sitting on their front table. But thats why were here, to help them to understand, to know the plan of God, where the real happiness and knowledge is.
I love being a missionary and know that this is the ONLY true church of God, and I have no problem saying it. I know because the Holy Ghost has told me. What better answer can you recieve than that?
I love you all and take care!!!

Much Love
JAmes

Piedras NEgras, Coahuila Week 7

This week was pretty good. I got a new companion, his name is Elder Hernandez. Hes my son, or that means im his first companion in the mission. Hes a cool guy, and its been a little awkward this week because we dont have too much in common and he doesnt really know whats going on haha, but Im sure things will get more comfy.
This week I realized how much I really do know, and how much Ive grown. I always have the mindset of " I dont know how to do that very well" or "Im glad my companion knows what hes doing because I dont!" But this week I learned that God has taught me so much, and that I need to confide in myself more. NOT however, to the point of pride, but just recognizing how far Ive come and how I really do know how to do this stuff. Still, I may not be too good at it haha, but Im always bettering my skills as a missionary and learning to rely on the Spirit more and more. With my new comp, Ive had to do everything. Contact, teach, plan, everything. And before, that scared me a bit, but now I realize that I can do all those things, and for that reason ,the Lord has chosen to put me with a new missionary, so I can teach him all the things he needs to know.
We found some people who are really interested in the gospel this week. They had all the perfect questions, like, " How do I know which church is right? Why are there so many churches?" and questions like that. They told us they were just living in that house until her husband found work, so we knew we had to baptize them quick. They told us they were going to go to church, but didnt come. We passed by their house, and they told us they would meet us there, but never came. We went back that afternoon, and we were told that they went back to their old house, which is out of our area. But I think theyre still there so were going to go back and see them.
Sorry, but not a whole lot more happened this week. We just kinda got to work haha. We have Zone Conference this week so Ill tell ya all about that.
Much Love
JAmes

Mundo Nuevo, Coahuila Week 6

This week was good. We had 3 baptisms, and are ending the change with 5. These people are prepared.
We had interviews with the President of the Mission this past week. I know, without a doubt, that this man is truly inspired by God. The spirit was so strong there with us during the interview and while he answered some of my questions.

So before the interviews, all the missionaries in my district (or like 6 other missionaries) were all there together. Then Sister Romney came in and just started chatting with us for a second, and mentioned that she was going to Eagle pass, which is the town across the border from us, like 10 minutes away. My comps eyes got big and he asked her to buy us some peanut butter. Here it is rare, and super expensive, and yes I wanted some too, but I wasn't just going to blurt it out. so, we wait and wait and she comes back- with 2 HUGE containers of peanut butter. I almost cried. I asked her how much it cost and she just said "nothing... well nothing for you guys" I love that woman. She is always just doing random awesome stuff like that. She's always happy, smiling, and thinking of us in all things. But the next time I see her I'm going to pay her for the peanut butter haha.
The baptisms were good. All 3 are kids of families that WERE inactive but not anymore. My comp baptized one of the kids first, and when I went around to get in the font to baptize the other, that little kid of 9 years old, clapped his hands together and with a huge smile said, "¡Me bauticé!" ( I got baptized!) It was just such a sweet moment, seeing the joy on his face. Adults always think that they need to know more about the church or scriptures or whatever before they get baptized. But look at 9 year old Luis Angel. Do you think he is a doctrinal master, or knows the purpose of the quorums of the 70? No. And that's how it should be. After getting the Holy Ghost, then the learning comes. All one has to know is that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His Church, and that God and Jesus Christ direct it. Its all so simple, but everyone misses it!! But that's why we're here.
The zone leaders and i are, well, lets just say were tight. One of them asked me yesterday if Id like to be a Dad (or get a missionary fresh from the MTC). I said whatever the Lord wants of me I'll do. Why? He just said he was just wondering. So well see if im going to be a trainer. But its also very possible they're messing with me haha thats totally them. But well see.

Love you all and hope all is well with you Gringos up there.

Much Love
JAmes

p.s. I just found out that Larry King died like half a year ago. Or maybe I just forgot. Either way, that sucks. I'm sure he's getting taught by Pres. Hinckley right now!!