This week was so awesome like normal. I got to talk to my mission President just one on one for a while which doesn't happen because there are so many missionaries in this mission. Mexico City is really calmed down. People are so drunk all the time and it's been a while since I've seen someone passes out right outside our door.
We got paid money for this month which was lucky because I was running out. haha still I'm not the best at watching my money, but we get 1400 pesos a month which really isn't that much, luckily the members help us out a ton with dinners and stuff. Other wise we would burn through money fast than this city burns through alcohol haha.
I'm stoked to start this new cambio (change). This next 6 weeks we have the same elders in our ward and I still got elder Mathis to hang on to, but we have a lot of investigators. Like all day We are packed with people and we have to burn a lot of money on taxis and busses to fit them all in. Not to mention meetings all week long. Some elders that I really like in my district are leaving to another part of the city Istapalapa; which is one of the most dirtiest dangerous parts of the city and the baptismal water there is green. I'm going to try to get a leather case for my scriptures made here in a little leather shop. I'm thinking of the tree of life ( the one here in mexico ) for my Book of Mormon and the aztec calender for my bible but I'm not sure yet.
I got to be a part of three confirmations of our three converts. The spirit was thick like smoke and I wasn't even giving the blessing and I was shaking, I felt it so strong. I really learned this week to rely on prayer too. I been doing things my own way and not relying on the Lord but I have repented and am really going to try hard now to always rely on prayer.
Here in Mexico, Christmas really isn't that big. They believe in all the same things but they like here what is called Dia de los Reyes Magos (Wise Man Day), which is the day of the three wise men from the story of jesuss birth. How it works is on the 5th i think people and kids put their wish list in balloons and send them off into the air. The next morning the three wise men somehow gets inside their protected homes and leaves gifts for them. It's way cool and I think it's just as cool as Christmas, I love the idea of the balloons, but also they eat here what is called a Rosca which is just a really big circular bread thing, but inside are little muñecas (dolls). That if you bite into you have to buy tamales on the 2nd of Febuary. It's completely random, but I think it's hilarious. So I have to buy two on the 2nd because I bite into two.
Also their new year here is interesting. They wait till 12:10 and they have a Thanksgiving dinner size dinner. After which they eat 12 uvas(grapes) and a piece of cheese for luck or something. So we ate some good chicken ( as usual ) and celebrated that. Me and Elder Mathis are working really hard. We have two baptism lined up for the 19th and these people are muy escogido (chosen). They do all the commitments and have a huge testimony already. It's so true that if the members like you, they give you more references which means more work and more baptisms, haha, but I also have a new found testimony for fasting. I had one the hardest fasts of my life but it paid off. We are fasting for an investigator that we have. We gave him a blessing because he is on his death bed and can't walk, he said that if he was healed he would join our church. Which is good and bad, it means that if God has mercy on him, we have a new convert, but he's waiting till after a miracle to have a testimony, so were going to try and fix that attitude but still keep his promise. The lady that we taught, she got baptized and confirmed now with two of her 3 daughters, the other one is 19 and didn't want anything to do with the church. She has two kids, one is 4 almost 5 and the other is 3. yeah I know that's crazy, but she accepted to have us come over and teach her after she saw the baptism of her mom. I think the spirit really chaged her heart, but I know you guys love to hear about the city instead of the mission.
Let's see.... well it's dark here at like 6 so for a couple of hours we are walking around the streets at night in the dark alleys which is where all the weirdos live, and come out. Also the freaking wolfs. The huge black dogs that hate everything living... come out, but like I said earlier, we are protect from God himself. So I never worry. It reminds me of a story of George Albert Smith, when he was sleeping one night and the mob came and threatened them that if he didn't come out they would come in and kill them all. George felt that everything would be alright. The mob fired 5 rounds into the house from all directions while he was still in bed. Destroyed everything in the house but the people in it. That is a miracle that I know everyone can have if they have enough faith.
School started again here so there are kids all over the streets again in their school uniforms. We have investigators coming to church regularly now and I absolutely love it. When I got here things were not good for the ward for investigators they didn't have a baptism in a long time and Mathis barely had investigators, in fact the only one he had we had to drop. He's a hard core drug addict that we taught everything to and he won't change or I come to church but ¨has a testimony¨ yeah whatever Raul.
Anyways the language is coming better and better. I can understand a lot, but when people have long stories I start to lose it. One lady said that she was lost from her whole family and the day that she finally found one of her long lost sisters, we showed up and taught her whole family. It was a big lesson, with like 15 people in this one room all cramped, and we taught the first lesson. I really miss butterfingers, McDonalds fries, Harry Potter and Lost this week, in case anyone is interested, but I would love to hear from more of you guys. So please send me dear elders. not emails. I literally have to pay to read them, but the more that you learn how to handle the city, the less scary and cool things become, like you can always tell when people are straight lying and as a missionary you really have a higher, I don't know, power or authority to find the needs of people and know what to say always.
I bore my testimony and had not a clue what I was going to say, but I got tons of thanks for it. Our ward is learning how to do family history because it's not really big here. I also missed everyone, I started writing this memory book of all the cool memories I have before my mission because I didn't write a journal, and can't speak for my friends but I had like the best childhood ever so it need to be written. Our toilets still busted and we deep cleaned our bathroom. We got all the mold out from our shower and cloroxed everything. Stuff like that is expensive but I wouldn't trust anything else to clean our bathroom. It ALWAYS SMELLS terrible. I don't even know what to say.
I got a new agenda brand new, without all the drawings in it, like everyone her between the ages 18 and 30 have a ton of kids; so whenever we teach them, they grab all my stuff and start ripping things in half and my Libro de Mormon (Book of Mormon) is trashed I'm a bit mad but I really love it because it reminds me of how mexican this city is and how I can always look at that, so I let them draw with my scripture markers in my agenda it's really no big deal. I'lll send home the rest of the pictures I hope you got all of them mom I sent home ton it took me forever because the internet here sucks.
We'll they also have this drink here that is called Ponche and it's all over the place. Every house that we go into they give us their own version of Ponche because you really can't buy it in stores. Sometimes it's rico (yummy) but others it tastes bad bad bad, and we get to eat it with sugar cane, which is cool. Sometimes we eat so much food that I can barely make it back to the house without exploding, but also a lady in the ward made us a pumpkin pie, of course it was the day that we were fasting so the whole day we carried around this pie with us that we couldn't eat. We fasted for 26 hours which was hardddddd, simply because we had to go to meetings. We really have to do a ton of paperwork too. We are to teach the whole ward and all menos activos (less active) the first three lessons and report it every week. So We plan for 30 minutes every night and we use every minutes of it. I'm going to send home more pictures, for those of you who don't get them hassle my mom she should have them all. I would love for you guys to see them too. oh and Susan Eggleston I would love to keep getting everyone's letters if its not to hard. I love you all and can't wait to write you again next week.
I think, I should give my testimony because I haven't in a while. Let's see.
yo sé qué tenemos una profeta hoy que no dirigi y que él es un hombre de dios. yo sé qué el saucerdocio dedios realmente funciona y que tenemos el poder de dios para actuar en su nombre y que con suficiente fé en él. vamos a ver milagros en nuestros vidss. yo sé con todo mui corazon que josé smith era un profeta y que jesucristo realmente restauro su ilgesia yque tenemos la p´lentidus del eveangleiop hoy en dia. estoy muy agredecido por mi familia y amigos y tengo mucho consuelo con la facto que voy a entrar en el templio con cada uno de ellos. estoy muy agradecido por mi papa, siemple siendo digno a darme un bendicion. mi mama es todo a mi en mi vida y deseo que yo tenia mas tiempo con ella antes de mi mission. yo sé que somos misioneros de dios y que tenemos su nombre y tenemos que actuar como el. les ama todo.
( I know that we have a Prophet, that gives us, and he is a man of God. I know that God's priesthood really works and that we have the power of God to act in his name, and that we have enough faith in him we can see miracles in our own lives. I know with all my heart that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Jesus Christ really restored the church and that we have the gospel today. I'm very grateful for my family and friends, and I find much comfort to know I will walk into the temple with each one of them. I'm very grateful about my dad, always worthy and willing to give me a blessing. My mom is everything to me, and I wish I could had spent more time with her before my mission. I know that messengers of God, and that we need to behave after him and act like him. He loves us all.)
I love you all and I'll see you next week!!!
- Elder Ordway. Don't forget dear elders!!!
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