Baptism of Sofia and Pedro

October 29, 2012

This week was good. Pedro and Sofia are getting baptized this Saturday! We are very excited for them and are praying every day that it will be a good experience for them. Pedro is learning a lot and loves church. Sofia received her answer and is strengthening her testimony everyday! I love seeing the Holy Ghost work within people. I love being a missionary! We need to find some people, it is a huuuuuuge problem. We are going to try some new ways of finding.

November 6, 2012

Well thanks for your prayers! They, as well as ours,were answered! Sofia and Pedro were baptized! It was a great experience! It was Elder Bentalls first baptism and he loved it. The service went great! The young women did a musical number for Sofia and Pedro. Pedro wanted the first counselor to baptize him. It was his first baptism as well. We are having a lot of success working close to the bishopric. They will be life long buddies for sure. We are still looking very hard to find people, but the Lord blessed us this week by leading us to 2 families that want to listen to the restored gospel- The Tovares family and the Prado family. We felt something special in each one of the lessons we had with them. I am so thankful for the opportunity we have to teach them.  We are still on the hunt and we want to make the most of our time. I love you all!

Finding, finding, finding

Thanks a ton for all of the birthday wishes! I still don't feel like I am 21. On my birthday I bought literally the biggest banana I have ever seen in my life! It weighed over 0.6 kilos and it cost 5 pesos. This week Elder Bentall and I were looking and looking for people. We are trying to get the ward working, but we aren't seeing the results as fast as we would like. We brought a man named Pedro to church last Sunday. We talked to him earlier this week and he was super sick. He has diabetes and had sugar levels over 500 the other day(I have no idea what that means, only that it is bad - I think. But dad would know) and he is having serious problems.The first time we talked to him, he could barely even walk. We felt a strong impression to give him a blessing and he accepted. The next time we talked to him he looked a ton better, and when we went to go take him to church he was walking like normal! He loved the Church! And the Ward members were great with him. He accepted to be baptized on the third of November. We are really hoping that Sofia gets baptized that day too. She needs alot more support from her family. Well I am praying a lot and studying a ton on how can we get this area moving. We need some major prayers headed our way to help us find some families that will get baptized. Well I love you all. I am thankful for the scriptures. They always have the answers. 

Love you all. Good luck Austin!!! You will be a great missionary!!!!

Family History

This week was a rough one. Elder Bentall and I are searching and searching but we just can't seem to find a lot of people who want to listen to us. I really feel like there is a family here that needs the Gospel but we need to find them!!!! Sofia is learning a lot but she has a lot of pressure from her family. We are hoping that she gets baptized the 27th. We are going to pray a lot for her so that it goes well for her. We have a genealogy activity in 2 weeks and I need to bring a couple cool stories about my ancestors. I don't know if it would be possible if my expert grandmas could help me out with that and send them to me before next Monday?? That would be great. Well I love you all. We have a ton of work to do! I found out where all of the old Easter candy that doesn't get eaten goes - to a store called Waldos!!!! It is the greatest! I bought a giant bag of Reeses Easter eggs and I was very happy! I love this gospel! I love being a missionary! Every day my testimony of the Book of Mormon gets confirmed. It is a great book.

General Conference

I sure did love General Conference! It was the greatest!!!! I am pretty excited for Parker and Sam to serve their missions early! I instantly thought of them when I heard that! That is sooooo crazy! I enjoyed all of the talks but I loved D. Todd Christoferson's, (he is like the Bill Nye of the 12). I also enjoyed Uchtdorf's about how we need to enjoy everything. I loved the scripture that he used from Psalms 118:24 This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. I agree with him. 

This week was good. Elder Bentall is talking more in the lessons and he is getting his Spanish down good. Last week we tried to visit a less active member but she wasn't there.  But then she showed up at church Sunday when her family told her that the missionaries passed by. We visited with her and she has a 14 year old sister named Sofia that isn't baptized that we started to teach. She is progressing really well and is reading almost everything we leave with her. Her sister that is a member got a call from her sister that lives in Washington and she wanted to say hi,. I just had to ask if she knew Kory, and it turns out- she did! He was in her ward before he went home! It was cool! Tell Kory the Hermana Bety Mora says hi! But Sofia was having trouble accepting a date to get baptized, so we prayed alot for her and told her if she prayed and wrote down all the questions about her life, that every one would be answered in the conference. After the conference we showed her the baptismal font and she accepted to be baptized the 20th! I am very grateful for answers to prayers! I know that God hears and answers every one of our prayers. 

It is hot!

It is not raining that much anymore, it is just really hot. This week was alright. We are trying to find new people to teach and we are having some difficulties right now but I know the Lord is preparing more people. This week Perla and Jorge got baptized. They are 2 kids of a less active member that we helped activate. They are pretty cool. They were found by Elder Tapia and Elder Reid and they were taught by Elder May and Elder Cluff. But then they changed areas and Elder Esquivel and I taught them too and we all got to see them get baptized Saturday! This Thursday I get to go to TEPIC!!!!!!!!! Yup- with the whole zone of Vallarta! Elder De Hoyos, the seventy of the area will be giving us a conference! I am going to bring a ton of questions! I am pretty excited! I sure do love Tepic. Well I love you all!

Back to Guadalajara

Sep. 3

Well I am in Guadalajara tonight and tomorrow and I love the weather!!!! The heat in Vallarta has gotten reeeeaaaally strong. This week had its ups and downs, Hno Arturo and Saggy couldn't get married. They are having problems with their birth certificates, but they still love the church and their testimonies are growing. We baptized 2 girls that were going to get baptized in another ward but they moved to our area this week. They are way cool and have very strong testimonies - hermana angy and hermana ana- they both want to serve missions! Well i love you all!

Sep. 10

Well Guadalajara was cool. Guadalajara was fantastic! Every month the zone leaders of the mission have a reunion with the president. I am still the zone leader and so I have been going every month. Esquviel and I learned a lot and we have a ton of great ideas help out the zone. This week we also had a zone conference which was one of the best I have had in all of my mission, My love for the scriptures grew a ton! The presidente gave us all an hour for questions about doctrine. My companion and I asked him like a million questions about the plan of salvation. It was an awesome experience. We also had a stake conference that was also great.

Arturo and Sagrario still aren't married.... they are still battling to get a paper for their daughter. That is all that they are missing to get married! They had a cool experience trying to get the paper. They were talking to the secretary in the social security building and I guess the secretary was being a little unhelpfully snobbish and Sagrario was almost in tears. Arturo, who was trying to calm her down, went to buy her a soda. She told us that she said a prayer that someone would arrive to help her. When her husband returned, he was with the mom of Sagrario! She went there for a different reason and had no idea that her daughter was there but God answers prayers!!! Her mom let that secretary have it and now they should get their paper within a month. We are praying that it gets here sooner. Well I love you all!

Predator!

Hola! Well this week was great. We worked hard and we received blessings. We are preparing 4 people to get baptized next week! Thanks for your prayers for Hma Sagrario and Arturo. They went to church again yesterday and loved it. They are both set on getting baptized this week. We will be praying alot that there isn't any problems with them getting married. Hermana Sagrario told us that she always told herself that she would never get married but when she learned about all the blessings of the Law of Chastity, she and Arturo gladly accepted to get married this week! I am very gratefull for the opportunity to teach them. Also 2 kids of a less active hermana who is reactivating in the church, Jorge and Perla, want to get baptized! They are almost ready and they love the church alot! Arturo, the husband of Paula didn't make it to church Sunday and we were really sad. He was going to get baptized this week, but we will have to give him another week more to prepare himself. 

Well we went to the film site of PREDATOR!!! It was kinda cool - walking the ground that was walked on by Arnold like 20 years ago, and the lamanites like 2000 years ago. The place is called Eden and it is almost exactly how I imagine the Garden of Eden. I feel bad because the pictures don't show justice of how beautiful it was. Well I love you all! Thanks for all your prayers!!!!!

I love it here!

This week was good and we learned alot. Elder Esquviel and I are working alot with the less actives and we are getting some awesome referrals. A young family went to church with us yesterday for the first time. Hermana Sagrario( sagy for short) and Arturo and they are pretty cool. Hermana Sagy told us that she saw us like 2 weeks ago and had the impression to talk with us but felt embarrassed so she didn't. But when her member-friend invited her to listen, she gladly accepted. She and her husband accepted to be baptized the 1st of September, but they need to get married first. I love this place. I love being a missionary. I love My Father in heaven. oh and I love you all! 

Hola!

 Well it looks like Elder Esquivel and I will be having our 3rd change

together! I haven't had a companion for that long ever in my mission. But Iam pretty happy it is Elder Esquviel. We are good buddies. This week was atough one. We are having some problems finding new investigators. Acompanionship just got taken out of our ward, so now our area has doubled insize. It is one of the biggest, if not the biggest area in the mission. ButElder Esquviel and I are excited. We are praying and working really hard tohelp strengthen our ward. We are preparing the Wife of Jose Eduardo to getbaptized this week. She bore us her testimony the other day. She said shewas working and a few "preachers" came by and saw her Book of Mormon andstarted saying a whole bunch of anti-mormon stuff. She simply responded tothem that the Church has helped her a ton to have a better family and shehas seen huge changes in her husband thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.They couldn't say anything against her testimony. We were really happy tohear that experience from her. I am very thankful for the Church and Iknow that I have been made a better person thanks to being obedient to thecommandments. My companion and I were attacked a lot last week by people whodidn't want to accept the restored gospel. But we just do what Helaman andhis brethren did and "baptize unto repentance all men whosoever wouldhearken unto their words." alma 48:19.Well we are sure praying that more people will start hearkening untoour words. We know they will come. Well I love you all! Thanks for all ofyour love and support. 

Back to Guadalajara!

Hey family!
Well the meeting in Guadalajara was cool. I got to see Elder Heath, Elder Hall, Elder Lopez and a ton of other buddies there. Presidente Wagner is pretty cool and he is really intelligent. We learned alot. Well back in Vallarta we have been having some problems finding new investigaters but we will keep working hard and I know that the Lord will provide. Hermano Jose Eduardo got baptized and it was awesome. 

Dolphins!!!

 This week was a rough one, but it was awesome too. So last week we went with Blanca who was progressing so awesomely and she lost a ton of her desire to learn(the family is saying things about the church), so she didn't go to church and we were upset. But the Friday before, we invited a nonmember daughter of a member to church and she went, her name is Reyna. She has received all the missionary lessons but never really wanted to get baptized, but she went to church. So after the sacrament we took her to the baptismal font and challenged her to be baptized for the following Saturday. The spirit testified and she accepted! We went with her everyday to prepare her for her baptism, and she was baptised Saturday. It was a cool experience but my companion and I were wondering what made the difference between us and the other million missionaries that have visited her?? At church, just about an hour after her confirmation, she was helping us challenge another investigator to be baptized and sharing her testimony. She said that we "went and taught her why." All she needed was to hear the doctrine in its clarity. We are preparing the Alderete family to be baptized the 11th of August and they are pretty excited! We are praying alot for them! This week we are praying alot for Luis. We hope that he gets baptized this Saturday. His mom seems alot more peaceful about things. Today I got to play with dolphins and sea lions and seals and giant parrots. It was cool! A member is a dolphin doctor and he hooked us up. Elder Esquivel and I are going to Guadalajara tonight again to another council, so it looks like I get to sleep on a bus again! woooo! WEll I LOVE you all! Thanks for all your support! I know the church is true and that MIRACLES HAPPEN EVERYDAY!!!!! take care of my bros!!!!

We now have P-DAYS!!!

Hey everyone! Yup Presidente Wagner made it so we now have P-DAYS! It feels weird but I am glad I am in Vallarta! This week was rough. Luis didn't get baptized. His mom didn't give him permission, but we are still working with him to help him get baptized. We are really praying for his mom that her heart can be softened. We got back from Guadalajara late Tuesday night and it was awesome. I got to see Elder Hall and Elder Lopez there. We talked about the rules of the mission. I don't want to be blasphemous but to give you a good idea of how I feel, I will relate it to the law of moses. I love Presidente Saucedo to death and learned sooooo much from him, but his way to be was very strict and we had ALOT of rules. Now with President Wagner, its like the law was fuflilled!!!! There really aren't any punishments anymore or a whole lot of rules, he only teaches us true principles and lets us govern ourselves. Its a big change but I am learning alot. 

We are teaching the daughter of a recent convert named Reina and she is preparing to get baptized this Saturday. She is pretty excited!!! We were eating lunch yesterday with a family and the hermana had to leave to work Her husband told us that she was going to a huge ranch here in Vallarta to give a massage to Kim Kardashian, We should have gone with her to baptize her but we didn't say anything. We are still working with the Alderete family and we are praying that they can all be prepared to be baptized the 4th of August! I love you all. I know this church is true! Search for revelation!

Leopolo's Baptism!

Hermano Leopolo got baptised!!!! It was  a great experience! He had been doing all he could do get work off Sundays and the Sunday of his confirmation they told him he had to work, but he said with a big smile " I am not going" so he didn't and he got confirmed. He has a lot of faith and has progressed a lot. We are planning on preparing a baptismal service this week for a 17 year old named Luis. He is completely escogido and wants to be clean from sin. But his dad doesn't want him to be baptized. We are praying a lot for Luis that everything works out for him Saturday. We had a conference with our new president. He is a man! He is way spiritual and has already helped a lot. The mission is going through a lot of changes and we are going to Guadalajara tonight to a council to talk about all the new plans. I love the mission. I am growing everyday and my testimony of My Father in Heaven is made more and more strong. Personal revelation is the greatest tool in life. I love you all! 

Nuevo Presidente!

Well the new Presidente is way cool. He is a very inspired guy. It was a weird feeling to call the contact in my phone "Presidente Saucedo" and hear a different voice. But I am learning to love the new Presidente a lot. He is very open to ideas. We are preparing Leo Poldo to get baptised this week. He is way excited! We are also teaching 3 young people who appear to be escogidos, Edgar, Blanca and Miguel Angel. They were suppose to go to church but didn't show up. We were sad, but they will come the next week. I caught an iguana and a tree frog. I really do love it here. I love you all!

Elder Esquivel!

Heeeeey! Elder Esquivel is my companion again!!! It is the second time we have been together! He is one of my favorite elders in the mission! Paula was baptized and it was sooooo great, except we forgot to turn off the water in the font before the service and the font started to over flow. It was a mess!  But it was a very spiritual service. I love it here! I don't know if we will baptise this week but the next week for sure! We are teaching a man named Leo Poldo and the Alderete family still. They are preparing themselves to be baptized! I love you all!