Hey everybody!
We had a decent week this week. It was the first time that we didn't complete with our 30 leccion minum ( minimum discussions), so I felt a little bummed about that, but after a good training meeting with the zone leaders, I feel renovated and ready to go. That happens all the time in the mission, where you have good weeks and bad weeks. Elder Carrigan is still learning spanish and becoming a better missionary. He doesn't understand the doctrine very well, so I always have to fix or clarify what he just said. He's doing really really well though. He's a hard worker, and has a really pure heart. He's a "sweat spirit" :) We got our hair cut really really short, too much, I don't even think it's ok, but it grew over the week.
I found the house that we are going to move into, and I hope we don't have to move anytime soon, because our house has literally been gutted. Everything is packed up and I might be packing up again in a week, as we have transfers in just 6 days. My workouts have gotten a lot better and I'm more focused on being obedient. There are so many little things that stop me from being perfect, but it's so nice having the atonement in my life and in the mission. Being able to repent every night for the disobedience and then be fully renewed with the santa cena (the sacrament) Really there is no need to be angry or sad, when you have the atonement and an eternal family, be happy. Our bishop was telling apostacy again in sacrament meeting and in our gospel principles class. Talking about what goes on in the temple. Seriously this ward has a lot of problems. The ward council is completely no focused and our misison leader hasn't been to church in weeks. Sometimes I get really frustrated with the lack of help, but when I think of the lack of support the apostles gave Christ, when he suffered in getsemany (while they just slept).
We had our divisions , with the zone leaders, and Elder Sanchez and I got really close, he's just a really good honest guy. He's less robot than the other zone leaders that I've had, but exactly obedient. I've tried really hard this week, to study and receive revelation like I've never before. Really all the answers are in the book of mormon and preach my gospel and Our President came out with a modelo de exito, (success model i think) that basically says the most important points of all preach my gospel. We had a less active have his interview in order to receive the Melkezidec Priesthood, and he didn't pass because he's having some faith issues. He goes to church every day, but he still struggles to believe that there is a God, I don't even know how he got baptized.
Day of the dead is coming up here soon, in about a month, and I'm so stoked, I was in the MTC the last one and completely missed it. When we move out, I'm really going to miss the tacos de mixiote outside our house. There like goat tacos with a really good salsa and our neighbors, is this old couple that makes homemade cream filled donuts, every other day, Elder Carrigan and I buy like 15 donuts, that are so soo cheap.
We went running this morning for the first time in the whole mission. Elder Carrigan almost died, he told me that he had never experienced the burning feeling in his chest before. I would like to go running every day. it's a lot harder to run here that it is in good old eugene. We also helped our stake president move furniture in his house, really no one will ever let you help them, they just simply have to much pride to let you help them and to much humbleness to allow you to leave their house without eating something. I swear I've trained my stomach to fit huge amounts of food in it. We had a miscommunication with the baptismal form this week, and it ended up meaning that Elder Carrigan and I had to cross the zone to give them a lost baptismal form. We've always been out of books of mormon for like 2 months. I seriously don't know what's happening with that, but it basically makes it impossible to preach the gospel.
Thats about it for this week. Next letter, I'll know if I'm staying or going.
Love, Elder Ordway
Aww, so we started out the week with a good p-day, two elders in the district are having problems, one is brand new and isn't taking the mission pressure very well, especially because his comp is from chile and he rarely talks english with him. So he's feeling really stressed, and Elder Valenzuela is training after just 3 transfers,hahaha we had a lot of success, this week. We still aren't having 20 investigators in church, but we will get there.
I have really learned to love this ward, we are going to move into a house this week, we have two to choose from and I still don't know which one is better, it's fallen completely on me to find this hosue and sign contracts and everything. We found a couple of new people that are really awesome and accepted to be baptized. Sadly we have changes in 2 weeks and every single one of our baptismal dates are for the next transfer. We have been fighting the rain for many days now, I can't wait till winter to come, so that the rain stops, it's better to be cold than to be wet. Especially when you have to walk everywhere.
I love being a missionary here in mexico; eating cheap tacos and getting sick, there is no better way to live. But... I will officialy have 11 months in the mission, I'm doing everything possible not think about the year mark, becasue that means I'll be dying. We had a sweet zone conference with Elder Mendoza, from the 4th quorum of the 70, which doesn't sound that cool, but we never get visited by anyone, so it was a real treat to hear him speak, and not to have it be a voiced over video. We were all told to not get out of our seats for anything!!, but they gave us two water bottles, and I didn't want to haul them around so I drank them both, and during a short video, it hit me!! I had never had to go to the bathroom so bad in my life, I was at the point of dying I swear, I just couldn't hold it, and so I asked the ZL if i could go, but of course he said no. So I sat there dying and sweating and suffering, when out of nowhere, Elder Mendoza asked me personally if I needed to use the bathroom. Normally I would've said no, but being on the verge of dying I said yes. He saved my life, and I don't even know how he knew, either the spirit, or the sweat on my face.
We've been finding a lot of people and putting a lot of baptismal dates and then seeing them again, it's makes it hard to know who is chosen or who was just agreeing with everyone so that we would leave faster. My comp has gotten a lot better at spanish every week, we are learning a lot together, and he's super chill. He never has a problem with anything. The only thing bad though is that he won't do anything obedient unless I do it first. I could have 3 girls in the house and he wouldn't say anything...hahaha.. We watched a kid get set apart yesterday and I was really touched as I remember how cool my setting apart was. There is 3 kids in our ward preparing to serve, and they will leave when this change ends. I have learned a ton this week about how the Lord will really bless you if your being obedient. The moment that you give in to Satan, the Lord simply can't bless you anymore. I have gained such a strong testimony of obedience, especially after talking to a missionary who told me that our mission was one of the most strictest in the whole world. He was in 2 other missions and never had seen such obedience until he got with our president.
I love President Valadez, especially because he chewed out all of the stake presidents and mission leaders for doing nothing!! haha we had our ward activity that was nice and set up, it was completely mission based and not a single member brought anyone, there was on investigator there, who wasn't even in our ward and then the next day we had ward conference the next day. It was pretty cool ,but we didn't have much more than 100 people there. But a lot of less actives showed up. We also had intercambios (exchanges) this week, as I went into the area of Elder Yancey, he arrived in mexico the same day I did, but was in the advanced Spanish class, but now it doesn't matter as we all speak the same level of spanish. We laughed all day, He's literally one of my best friends. We talked about the show lost for hours and had some really funny experiences. That's about it for this week. Our house has been gutted in the middle of this moving process, we just don't have anything to use, except for a little portable stove.
Loves all around,
Elder Ordway
Another good week, not quite as good as last week, but all the same, I love being a missionary. This area is still rockin, it's been a bit tougher here than in my last area to baptize, but we are finding a lot of new people to teach, Elder Carrigan is accelerating in the work. I really feel his help when things get tough and the zone leaders area always down my back. I seriously wouldn't like to be a Zone Leader, there is too much seriousness. there is not enough room for love in the work. We have two families going really strong!! one of which is going to get baptized at the end of this month, it would have been sooner, but the mission upped it's rules about days at church, instead of just 2 days, now its 3, soon to be 4 then literally 5 days at church in order to get baptized. That's going to make it really hard to baptize... I've never heard that before. I don't even think I've been to church 5 days in My life!! naw just joking!! one family we still have to get the dad divorced and then remarried with the lady he is with right now. He's got kids in all sides of mexico, but there are really cool and we've had some really intense lessons.
We've had to step it up abit with our teaching. We been completing the 30 lessons every week without fail, now the only thing is that we get the new standard of excellence, which is 20 investigadores ( investigators) in church every week!! I seriously think that is going to be hard, seeing as we only have 5 that are progressing. We got to help this lady paint her house some more, we even invited the elders quorum to come, but knowing the elders quorum and especially being in mexico, no one showed up....Elder Carrigan has lost a ton of weight and he can now eat as much as I do and can walk fast now. I was nervous in the begging when you couldn't even down a salad!!! The President ordered all of the missionaries in the mission to write report on how we are going to get ward council working better and we had to turn them in that night!!! so everyone in my district was writing and it took hours to get everything to the zone leaders.
We are still looking for another house, we have untill the end of the month to get out and so far we haven't found anything!!! I'm really nervous, but I don't know what we are going to do, but I know the Lord will come through if we continue showing faith. Our mission leader is finally doing something, he started going back to church (he was a innactive member) and we now have our meetings every week. It's really awesome being able to work with the ward leaders!! actually...We area going to have a ward activity!! about the mormon history in mexico. I'm way excited because I find it really fascinating. This being one of the first areas that the first missionaries ever preached to; and also having the first mexican mormon church inside my area.
We are all going to be able to listen to Elder Mendoza of the seventy!!! He is coming to our zone conference and we are all going to be able to shake his hand. Our president said that if anyone is late, they area getting sent us home, but home is home. So if i show up at the house in a week, you'll now I was late to the zone conference. We drove home yesterday in the heaviest rains I've seen in a long time. We were literally driving down a river. I always saw a whirlpool in the middle of the road, where all the water was being drained down. I tried to whip it out my camera but i missed it. I bought a really nice umbrella too, I always thought umbrellas were for whimps, but it's so nice here, to have a nice sturdy umbrella.
There are some problems between some of the Elders in the district but I think we can get it resolved in the exchanges!! Things are going great here in Mexico City, It will be the next provo Utah by the time I leave. The work is getting really tightended and harder, we have to keep raising our standards, because the Lord is raising his. I love you all!! Especially My Mom.
-Elder Ordway
Haha, so I started the week really good, we were working really hard and finding some new people, one of which is a whole new famliy really really catholic, their two daughters are about to have the first communion or something catholic thing, and we have to get them baptized before that happens.
We've had some pretty good weather, the rainy season is starting to go away and so I'm not always completely soaked, one time this week though I did 3 baptismal interviews and got drenched to the bone in mud water, I then ripped my shirt and had to throw it away. My shoes are taking hard beating, but they should hold in for a couple more weeks, the water here is destroying them. We started the week too going to these hidden woods, normally your completely prohibited to go to any woods, because you can get killed or robbed, but we tested our luck and it was a really awesome time.
I met the new Elder in our district, he's a runner by from california, exactly the type of people that think they are all that. I was cool with everything (the skills at wake boarding, the houseboat, the girlfriend, the championships, the good looks) until he started dissing the oregon ducks, that's when I drew the line. No one disses my ducks in front of me!! We had a good district meeting, I'm starting to learn how to give a really good district meeting. We have two families really going strong!!! one of which we have to marry on the 22th, I'm really excited to see them progress.
Everything went good all week until the Rosal elders called me, (the elders we share the house with) they told me someone just tried to kill them, and threatened to kill Elder Carrigan and I!! Ironically he is our neighbor... So the president and the assistants got involved and checked out the street and then our house, just to see if it was clean. it wasn't......so they were kind of mad about that, but they told us that we have to move out immediately. So today we are moving out this week, I'm going to miss living with the 4 elders, but we found a sick house!!! is really small and cozy, with a water heater, so we will be going back to the bucket again, like in my last area. things here in san pedro are looking really good, instead of the dead area where I arrived to, it's alive and running!!!
We had to drop a lot of slow people, I'm the one that wants to drop them, and Elder Carrigan likes to hang on a bit more, but we've come to agreements. I love my comp and I love being a missionary!! the ward here is a little rough, there are just lot a lot of old people that refuse to help us in the work, besides giving us food....I'm going on 11 months now!! which is really crazy, I've got to step up my game now in the mission and work even harder than before, I'm really finding the meaning of putting weakly goals high to challenge you, it's like my old comp that had super super low goals, so he didn't feel bad when we didn't do good..hahah...I love you all as well!! -
-Elder Ordway
