April 15, 2013

I feel like there was something interesting from last week that I was going to respond to, but I can't remember what.  So just consider it responded to, whatever it was.  I really don't have time to read letters these days, I print them off and read them on buses or whenever I happen to have time.

Well, that subject line was a complete lie (he had written another town in the mission).  I'm still in S.  Haha!  Yep, 5 transfers here, I'll almost have a year in the mission by the end of this one.  I think I'm going to buy my house here and tell them to give me a calling in the branch.  

Ah!  I remembered the interesting thing.  Granny!  Yes, Mom, it weirded me out at first just a little bit (my mom is engaged), but then when I kept reading I felt like it was all good.  Like Heavenly Father was rewarding and blessing her for her patience and longsuffering with Grandpa, and that was His way of doing it.  If she's happy, I'm happy.  Love you Granny!

Happy Birthday Elder Pew!  Thanks to the branch President!!!

We had a good week.  I had a good birthday, thank you very much.  It was our last lesson with J before his baptismal interview (Law of Chastity to a 9 year old--kind of tricky) and it went well.  We had a SWEET lesson with J.  We showed up at her house and she had changed completely.  She told us she finally had decided to accept God and not blame him for all the bad things that happened to her.  We taught the Restoration and it went really well.  Very spiritual lesson.  Unfortunately she disappeared again after that, but we'll keep looking.  Also, in the middle of the day our Branch President called and told us to come over to his house at 4:30--something urgent.  The picture of me with the cake was the result of that visit.  And the other picture will give you a little more detail about what he put on it.  Love that guy!  

His 20th Birthday cake

We also had awesome lessons with A--including tears during the First Vision.  I was in splits with Elder D in G when it happened, but it sounds like it went really well.  She couldn't come to church for an unfortunate situation that we are going to try and help her resolve this week, but she should get baptized this transfer.  

Baptism of J

Speaking of baptisms, J got baptized on Saturday.  It was a little hectic because the font didn't want to fill up, so we had to do it with buckets, but the good thing about being in the true church is that these things somehow always work out.  It was a great service, Elder A baptized him.  We also sang "Come Thou Fount" but since it doesn't exist in Spanish we sang the words to "O My Father" in Spanish.  We literally put it together 10 minutes before the baptism but it turned out ok.  And J showed up for his confirmation, so that was a relief.

A less active member, L, brought his non member girlfriend to church this week and she loved it and is super excited to learn more!  Her name is E.  Such a blessing!

We have been trying a new idea to find investigators and get the members excited to help us.  We've been asking the members to make a list of 10 people that could accept the gospel, and then to pray to find out which of those 10 is prepared.  Then, this Sunday, we had them fast for that person, and this Saturday they are going to take their names to put in the prayer roll in the temple.  After that, they are going to give the person a Book of Mormon and tell them to read it, wait three days, and go back to see if they have read and if they want a visit from the missionaries.  It's worked miracles.  Heavenly Father has been revealing to them who they should invite to learn about the gospel, even to some of them in dreams!  The members are super excited right now and they are supporting us a lot.  2 of them have even told us that they are going to go knocking doors like JW's to find more people for us to teach.  Also, our Branch President has called a few other members to have callings and it's helping them to be more excited.  It's been an amazing thing to see--just an absolute 180 shift from what was going on a few months ago.  Which is why I was super worried they were going to transfer me.  I almost cried in Sunday School with the youth, and a few of them almost did also.  But the phone call came during branch counsel:  Elder J told me that we were both going to be staying, that his companion Elder D was being transferred, and that he was going to receive a child; and because he was going to train, they had called me to be the new District Leader.  So we'll see how that goes.  It was a super happy moment--I wanted to stay so bad!!!  This is going to be an amazing transfer, I am sure.  

Well, I think that's all.  Have a lovely week!  Thank you all for everything!  Love you!

Elder Pew

April 8th, 2013

So I just barely got done reading all the birthday wishes that were sent to me this week. Thank you everyone!  And Timo, no, your birthday means absolutely nothing on the mission.  It's better that way, trust me.

Well, this week went pretty good.  Of the investigators we found last week, the ones that are really progressing the most are R, S, and S, a family of three that we found contacting R in the street one day.  S is 12 and S is 7, their dad works and lives in Guadalajara and only comes to visit them about once every 2 weeks.  They are super Catholic.  S had open heart surgery recently and is very close to God.  They are all really receptive and awesome, especially little S.  At the closing prayer of our lesson yesterday, he told us that he felt like Christ was in his heart, and that he heard a voice that said "Follow me."  Pretty awesome!  They're getting baptized the 27th.  Unfortunately they didn't come to conference, but we'll keep trying.  

We're still working with R, who accepted a baptismal date for the 27th also.  He's awesome.

We found a new investigator named A, who is not from J so naturally she's super receptive and also has a baptismal date for the 27th.  

We invited everyone to conference, but unfortunately J was the only investigator that came.  But fortunately, he's getting baptized this Saturday and we're super excited about that!  

I got to see a lot of conference  (watch it here).  They showed it here in S, and it was 100% Spanish this time, which wasn't really that big of a problem.  I saw Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, and most of Sunday afternoon, unfortunately I missed Priesthood session, so I'm going to try and download it on my mp3 when I have the chance.  It was awesome!  I feel the same way mom, kind of sad when it ended.  But now we have 6 months to study everything!  Awesome.  I feel like they all spoke about things that I have been studying a lot lately:  obedience, the nature of God, families, unity, it was all there.  It made me feel like I'm headed in the right direction with this little branch.  

Well, I'm out of time.  Love you all! Oh, and Timo, if you're still working on that song, it's best to write the melody, then the chord progression, and the lyrics can go either first or last.  But I kind of just did it however it came, and that's probably what will happen with you also.  Good luck!

Elder Pew

April 1, 2013

It has been very, very hot.  I haven't seen a cloud in about a week now, and apparently this is nothing compared to what it will be like in May.  Perfect time to get transferred to the coast where it's hotter and super humid.  I'd love it if they left me here for one more transfer but I don't think it's very likely.  Two more weeks in S, where has the time gone?  

It was an awesome week!  Here in Mexico the kids all had last week off and this week as well, so we are taking advantage of that to teach lots of lessons with members present--like there's one of the youth with us at every hour every day!  They're so awesome.  They don't just come to the lessons and listen, they share their testimonies, whip out scriptures they've been reading on their own that totally help the people we are teaching, and really are just making a big difference.  We were able to teach 21 lessons with a member present this week (the S all time record, set by Elder A and I, is 23, and the mission record is 31) which was really good.  We found a bunch of new investigators too, and I think a lot of them could be really good.  The problem is that nobody was home this weekend, so we've only been able to teach about 1 lesson to most of them and nobody could come to church.  

Let me just explain a few of the Easter traditions around here.  The last 40 days have been what they call "Cuaresma" (Lent) which is supposed to represent the 40 days that Christ fasted before his ministry.  And to celebrate it, every Friday during Cuaresma they don't eat meat.  Fortunately, it's a Catholic thing, so the members still eat meat those days, but unfortunately, all the butchers here are Catholic and don't open.    The week before Easter is called the "Holy Week" and everything got super crazy around here.  The Centro turned into a Flea market/amusement park and there were events every day leading up to Friday (which is the day they celebrate the most).  Friday they did a live representation of Christ's crucifixion--everyone gathered in the center and they played out the whole thing with Pilate washing his hands, Christ being whipped and beaten, etc.  Then they all brought him up a hill by one of the Catholic Cathedrals where there was a big cross for him to be crucified on.  No, they didn't actually nail him to it, but they did tie him there for a few minutes.  Or so I'm told.  Luckily, we were able to avoid all that and still teach lessons while it was going on.  We just saw the big group of people walking toward the hill and it really did look like the multitude that killed Christ. 

I did not baptize his daughter this week, but either this week or the next it'll happen, and it's going to be awesome.  

It's pretty certain that J will get baptized on the 13th.  His mom is now fully active in the church, now we just need to work on his dad and older sister so that they can get baptized someday also.  It's been fun to teach him.  We are also teaching his mom's cousin, who has been listening to the missionaries in S but just barely moved here.  He reads the Bible every day, has received an answer that the church is true, and knows he needs to get baptized, he just doesn't feel ready yet.  In the lesson when he told us this, I felt like he just needed to know the commandments (law of chastity, sabbath day, word of wisdom, etc.) and keep them and he'll feel more ready.  He said he was willing to do repent and change his life, so we're not too worried about him.  BTW his name is R.  

We found another awesome investigator contacting in the plaza during all the mayhem this week.  Her name is D, she's 19, and super ready for the gospel.  From the moment we walked in her house there was just a good feeling there.  We connected really well with her from the beginning and the Spirit was way strong.  She accepted a baptismal date super easy, and the next visit she told us that she had prayed and received an answer that it was all true!  But then her stinking boyfriend showed up and ruined everything.  The first thing he said was "Are you guys Catholic? Oh, well we don't want to listen to you."  And then he pretty much pressured her into not listening anymore, so we're praying for another opportunity to find her and that her boyfriend changes his ways.  

We played soccer, volleyball, and basketball almost all day today and I am redder than the Mexican flag.  (see photo attached)

I haven't read all your letters, but it sounds like Grandpa's funeral was a good experience.  And the only friend that I've been writing is Austin, but man has it been good!  Love that guy.  They sell chocolates here, but I haven't actually ever bought them.  I should, right?

Well, that's it for this week.  Prepare yourselves for Conference, it's going to be awesome!  I love you all!

Elder Pew

March 25th, 2013

Well, it was a tough week.  Remember all those awesome people I wrote about last week?  They disappeared.  Except for J.  Definitely going to get baptized.  He came to church and everything this week and he is understanding the lessons really well.  We found a new person named L who seems pretty cool.  She didn't come to church but she's super excited and accepted a baptismal date for the 13th also.  but other than that we pretty much just walked around looking for people who weren't home.  

I don't have a lot to say this week.  One cool experience:  So Wednesday I got the call that Grandpa had died.  I was fine, a little sad, but fine.  I didn't shed a single tear or anything and it didn't distract me at all.  We've been doing this new program with the members to get them excited about missionary work and help them know the doctrine better.  We give them one of the pamphlets to go along with one of the lessons (restoration, plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, etc.) and tell them to study it well.  Then a few days later, we come back and do a little practice where the member, with one of us as his companion, teaches the other missionary, who takes the role of a current investigator, the lesson that they had studied.  That night we went to do it with a 17 year old girl named R, and she was going to teach us the Plan of Salvation.  And of course it was my turn to be investigator.  It was exactly what I needed.  I wasn't sad or anything, but it helped me a lot and strengthened my testimony.  She had no idea what had happened that day, but the Spirit spoke through her and Elder A what I needed to hear.  Mostly this whole experience has strengthened my testimony of the Plan of Salvation a lot.  I surprised myself with how totally fine I was with the news.  I know I'll see Grandpa again and that he is in a better place right now--doing exactly what I'm doing.  It has been a real blessing to be here in the mission when this happened, not having to see all the suffering and being completely focused on the gospel and the needs of other people.  I am so full of thanks. 

Our Branch President going to be in Guzman and Guadalajara all this week, so I'm in charge of the branch right now.  Hopefully nobody dies and we don't have to look for a new house of prayer, or nothing else crazy happens this week.  

This Sunday I, the less active member that I told you about, is going to baptize his 8 year old daughter.  Should be sweet!

I told you i've been teaching sunday school for the youth here.  Basically I love it.  This new program is super inspired and is going to make some pretty rocking missionaries.  The lesson yesterday was particularly awesome.  It was about relying on the grace of the Savior to become a better teacher of the gospel.  I hardly had to teach anything, the youth did it all!  I just told them which scriptures to look up and they taught each other.  It was super spiritual, and at the end we did a practice to see if they could do it.  I pretended to be one of their less-active friends and they as a class had to use the spirit to convince me to come to church next sunday.  It was a great experience, they did really well and felt the Spirit super strong.  And then they decided to go around and visit the less active youth for mutual this week!  So I´m excited to hear how that went.  They are so great.  

I'm glad to hear that you all took the news well also this week.  I've been praying for you a lot, especially Granny.  Take good care of her, ok?  I love you all!  have a fantastic week and happy easter!

Elder Pew

March 18th, 2013

Responding:

I got the Valentine's day package!  Thank you very much!  Also, the banner that the young men and women made for Christmas also got to me this week.  Love those guys. The only people who are not allowed to write me are girls that live within the mission boundaries.  So yeah, all their email addresses would be nice, and also as long as S hasn't moved to Puerto Vallarta she's good too.  Also, if you could get C's email address for me that would be great, because she's sent me two letters that I still haven't responded to.  Thanks!

What a great week!  We found a bunch of new investigators and we have appointments with two more today!  In fact, we have so many appointments tonight (4) that we are going to have to do splits with some of the Priesthood holders here to make it to all of them.  We have been very blessed this week.

Meet our new investigators!

C:  Valentina's brother's girlfriend who has been living with them the last few weeks.  V had told her a lot about the church and invited her to listen to us this Tuesday.  She's really great.  She's really receptive to everything we say and really wants to be a good person and change her life.  She had a super spiritual experience one time--she got hit by a motorcycle and basically died.  She saw a light and went toward it and said it felt really great.  Then she heard her mom's voice telling her to come back and she woke up alive again.  She has definitely been prepared to hear the gospel.  Also, she wants to get married to her boyfriend, so we dodged a bullet there, too.  She's getting baptized April 13th.

M and A:  Another referral from V.  M's husband works for the military just like J, so that's how they met.  They just barely moved in around the corner from V and her family and they're not from S, so naturally they are way receptive to everything.  A is her 12 year old daughter who has also been listening and is really interested.  She is very smart and understand's everything we talk about.  They are really great and always super excited when we come over.  The dad still doesn't seem to want anything to do with us, but that will change.  I always feel the Spirit super strong when we teach them. 

J:  10 year old son of a less active we've been reactivating.  He came to church last week and loved it and has been listening to us ever since.  He's a little shy, but he's a good kid and recognizes the Spirit really well. 

V:  We found her and her husband, L, about 2 months ago looking for a less active member from the ward list who had moved.  Every time we went over after that they were always busy or not home, but we found them again this week.  She's super receptive also and has accepted a baptismal date, but we are going to have to move it to the 13th of April because she didn't make it to church. 

J and F:  One of the members here is a taxi driver and took these two girls somewhere one day.  He talked to them about the church and they were interested.  We went over to visit them Saturday and had a great lesson.  They are sisters, J is 21 and F is 18.  Their mom is a Cataquista (I don't know this word in English, but basically she works for the Catholic church), but she lets them listen to us.  They told us they had never really understood religion, that they found it hard to believe in God because they had never seen him or felt his presence.  So we taught them about faith and prayer, and we invited J to pray at the end of the lesson and ask God if he really exists and if he loves her.  We promised her that she would receive her answer right then, and she did!  She was crying halfway through the prayer and her sister and mom were too!  I love that!  Our authority is so real.  I love being able to tell someone with all the confidence in the world that if they ask God for an answer to their prayer right then, he will give it to them right then, and then seeing it happen!  So ever since that lesson they've been hooked.  We have a lesson with them tonight and it should be great!

L:  Our Zone Leader, Elder A, started his mission in S and told us to visit her.  We haven't had a real lesson with her yet, but we have passed by her house a couple times and she already told us she wants to get baptized!  The only challenge is that she is living with her boyfriend right now, so we need to help her get married or separate from him. 

Luckily, none of them came to church this week.  Luckily, because it was a disaster.  Our branch president had a family issue so he did not make it to church.  Big problem, because he had the sound system, the microphone, and all the cables that we needed.  So we had to yell from the pulpit and sing a capella.  

Well, I haven't heard anything about Grandpa yet, but I really don't feel that sad.  I felt the saddest when you told me he was being put on hospice.  It's just obvious to me that I'll see him again and he'll be much happier when he's passed on.  Heavenly Father has blessed me with a lot this week in a lot of different ways, and it's helped me stay focused and keep from getting sad.  The Spirit truly is a comforter.  But I am going to miss him, a lot.  I have so much respect for that man and all he has taught me.  I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for him and his example.  I love you Grandpa!  Thank you for the life you've lived!

Thank you all for everything!  Have a fantastic week!  See you soon!

Elder Pew

March 11, 2013

We received news this week that we are now allowed to email friends and recent converts and we have 2 hours each p-day to write.  So I'm enjoying that.  

Thanks Dad!  That Savior Redeemer of My Soul song might be my new favorite.  And Timo, oh gosh!  New York is just the best, isnt it?  I agree that Lion King was absolutely incredible and I actually didn't love Spiderman--the first half was pretty good but after that, well yeah, it just got weird.  Also, look up the music video for "I feel better" by Hot Chip and look for Doctor Armstrong at the end of the video.  Also, enjoy the rest of it because it's pretty hilarious.  Oh, and Carnegie Deli...heaven.  Mom, still no Valentine's day package.  Who knows what's going on, but whatever.

It was another rough week, but not because of the companion, thank goodness.  Elder A is super awesome.  He's kind of quiet and shy, but he's a hard worker and is exciting to get things moving again around here.  He's got a great attitude and it's really helped a lot.  We're going to have success.  

We need them (the members) to really understand the gospel so that they are good examples to the investigators and so that they can teach their children how to act.  We have been handing out pamphlets of the restoration and telling them that we will come back in a few days so that they can teach us the Restoration.  I think it's going to work well. 

It's been a struggle to find investigators.  We've been getting a lot of referrals, just not very good ones.  For example, we went to contact one, and this guy came out of his house super angry.  We tried to contact him, but he was too mad to listen.  He demanded to know what authority we had, and when we explained to him he said a bunch of apostasy and got even madder.  To avoid the spirit of contention, we left as he kept screaming at us, calling us "borreguitos" (little goats) and a lot of other things that I won't mention here.  Poor guy.  That's just kind of how this week went.  But, we've kept having success with less actives.  Another member who hadn't been to church in about 18 years came this Sunday, and her husband and three kids aren't members, so that could be good.    

I have been thinking a lot about unity lately, with all these problems we have in the branch here.  I've learned a lot.  We've been trying to put more emphasis in the first point of lesson 1--God is our loving Heavenly Father--trying to make sure that everyone understands that Heavenly Father loves them and wants them to become like Him.  Heavenly Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are one and their whole purpose is to make us one with them.  You can see that pattern in everything we do in the church; for example, the Sacrament.  It's a covenant that we make with our Father that we will remember His Son so that he gives us his Spirit.  The Atonement is the way that we can become one with them--just look at the word and what it means.  When Christ suffered for all our sins, pains, and afflictions, he did it individually, for each one of us, and became One with everyone.  Through Christ's Atonement, we can become more like our Father as the Spirit works a change in our hearts.  And since Christ is one with everyone, as we become more like Him we too become more united with others.  We can feel the Father's love for them and see in them what He sees.  The Atonement is the answer for all the disunity and misunderstandings in our lives.  Moses 7:18 says "And the Lord called His people Zion, because they were of One heart and One mind."  Put the Atonement into effect in your lives so that we can establish Zion, so that we can be at one with our Father and with His children.  

I know Christ lives and that His Atonement is real.  This is his church, and nothing can stop his work.  I love you all and thank you for your love and prayers!  Have a great week!  Bye!

Elder Pew

March 4, 2013

They still can´t get rid of me here in S. 

Also, I seem to be a Peruvian magnet.  That´s right, my new companion is, Elder A, is also from Peru.  He´s actually from the same stake as Elder R and has the same amount of time in the mission.  Wild, right?  He seems pretty cool, he just got here today and he was a little sad to leave his first area (who isnt?), but we´re excited to work together.  Elder R is with Elder A´s trainer in his old area in Guadalajara, we just traded companions.  Kind of fun.

This was possibly the craziest week of my life.

It all started last Monday.  Elder R had a little problem with the mission rules again, and since I don't let him break them, the little problem became a big one.  He gave me the cold shoulder all day and before district class Tuesday he told me that he had told his family the day before that he was going home that week.  I kind of freaked out about that and talked to the zone leaders right away so that they would talk to him.  He was still super mad after talking to them and our District leader, so I talked to President Wagner and he talked to Elder R.  He gave him until Thursday night to make his decision on whether he was going to stay or go home.  In the bus back to S he still wasn't talking or letting me help him, so I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that I had done everything I could for him and asked Him to help Elder R make the right decision.  Wednesday was probably one of the worst days of my life.  We learned the principle "if ye have not the spirit ye shall not teach" really well.  It didn´t matter how many people we talked to and how many appointments we put, we couldn´t get in a single door.  It was absolutely miserable.  Thursday was about the same, still not talking to me, still nothing happening in the area.  But then when he talked to President Wagner that night he told him that he was going to stay!  It was an absolute miracle and I know it was a prayer answered.  President talked to me after and said to still not let him be disobedient, to help him learn to think about other people and be focused on the mission, and that he was going to leave us together another transfer in S.  It was a great moment.  Unfortunately, the problems didn't end there.  Friday and Saturday were equally ineffective and I was really pretty unexcited about everything going on.  Then Saturday the craziest thing happened.  A member of the branch who transports gasoline from one coast of Mexico to the other for a living got in a car crash and passed away that morning.  He was endowed, and I guess endowed members have to be dressed in their temple clothes when they are buried by another endowed member of the same gender.  His family, who were all Catholics, came looking for us for that reason.  We had to get in contact with the District President to have him do it or authorize someone in the branch to do it, because President A had left S that morning and was still on his way back when we heard the news.  We finally got in contact with him and he told Pres. A to do it.  Since the only other endowed men in S are us, he told us we had to help him with it.  I could not believe what was happening.  I literally was going to have to change the clothes of a dead man!  Why had my life led me to that?  Who knows.  But the thing was that his body was in a morgue in Guzman, and his family was going to call us when they brought it to S.  After a few minutes of tensely waiting, they called us saying the body was too burnt to be able to put any clothing on him, so that was about the biggest sigh of relief in my entire life.  This crazy little area!

Sunday we only had sacrament meeting, because his funeral was right after.  We all went to the cemetary together and it was a good experience.  We´re hoping that it turns into a chance to teach the rest of his family because we have to stay in contact with them so that we can go dedicate his grave. 

At 6 we got the call that Elder R was being transferred.  He was a little sad, and he actually cried this morning when we said goodbye.  We were on good terms when he left and I hope he does well in his new area. 

We´re basically opening an area this week after what happened last week, so pray a lot that we can find new investigators who are willing to progress and change their lives. 

Happy birthday Izak and Dad this week!  and speaking of Dad, are you ok?  have you sent me emails the last two weeks, if so, they haven't gotten to me (He did send them but to the wrong email--oops!).  If not, repent!  I miss you!  I love you! 

Have a great week everyone else!  I love you all!  Thanks for everything!

Elder Pew