got back from a zone activity. We played basketball and soccer and had a little barbecue with hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, and jello. It was fun.
First, the good news. I found my memory card that I thought I had lost. Wooohooo! It was literaly a miracle because after having been lost for several weeks I looked in the same pocket of my backpack that I had already checked like 5 times, but for some reason this time I found it. I still bought another 4 GB memory card anyway because I needed another one. Today I plan on backing up my memory card to a CD.
Apart from that this week has been very difficult. I felt pretty depressed yesterday. On saturday we had six appointments fall through and we are still struggling a lot to find new investigators that are really interested. None of our investigators or the less actives we are teaching are showing up to church. The worst part though is that I`m seeing many of the people I baptized/taught go inactive right before my eyes and I don`t know what to do about it. Yesterday, I called Consuelo, the old lady I baptized who lives with her two grandchildren and her mentally disabled child, to ask her if she wanted us to take her to church and she told me that they are no longer going to go to our church. I didn`t ask her more details over the phone, but I just don`t understand what we did wrong. Just about everytime we went over there after she was baptized we helped her clean her house or her dishes or some other type of service. I have tried to give her all the love I`m capable of, and before she was so convinced that this was the true church. But, I should have known better. She doesn`t ever read the Book of Mormon and wasn`t really ready to be baptized. Patricia also hasn`t been going to church and now she won`t even let us in her house to teach her. She always says she`s busy or sometimes she just sends her kid out to tell us that she`s not there or that she`s busy and can`t come to the door, even when we come only the offer service. It seems like she has some family problems, but still, come on! Leandro, Margarita`s husband still hasn`t recieved the aaronic priesthood yet and hasn`t gone to church for 2 sundays even though he`s been here in Tlaxcala for both of those. It just kills me sometimes. My eyes were watering in sacrament meeting just thinking about. And the ward hasn`t exactly been too helpful in helping keep them active.
The only thing that cheered me up a little on sunday was the lesson we taught to that unmarried couple, Enrique and Carmen. They are going to church, reading, praying, and everything. They love learning about the gospel and accepted a baptismal date yesterday. They want to get married. The only problem is that Carmen, being an emigrant from Colombia, has to get permission from the Colombian government to be able to marry in Mexico. There are two problems with this. It could cost $4000 pesos, which of course they don`t have, but they are saving up, and, two, even if they were to send the money and the request today it would probably take at least a month to get a response. Carmen is going to talk with her lawyer today to see if there´s anyway to speed up and/or cheapen the process, but it doesn`t look like they`re going to be baptized while I`m here.
My district also seems to be having more success. One companionship is planning on baptizing four this by the end of this week and more in the following weeks. I just wish I could provide Elder Rainford with some more spiritual, encouraging, and uplifting experiences, it being his first area and all. Sometimes he wonders exactly why he`s here and, to be honest, even after more than a year and I still sometimes wonder the same thing. I told Pres. Rex before the last transfers that I felt like there was still something for me here in this area, but now I`m really questioning if that was the Spirit telling me that or if it was just me.
Speaking of Pres. Rex. We had our last interviews with him on Friday. He and his wife are being replaced the first of July. Too bad.
I gotta go, I`ll tell you about some other service activities and funny experiences we`ve had next week.
Love,
Brett
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
June 13, 2011
No, I still haven`t gotten either of the packages, which is weird because I`ve gotten a couple of letters recently. Maybe it did get lost somewhere.
I`m kind of bummed out right now because I think I lost my other memory card, the one that has all the pictures I`ve taken since I got to this area. The pictures I sent you last week were from my companion`s camera. I haven`t been able to find my memory card for a couple of weeks now. So, now I have absolutely no pictures from the first year of my mission and I have to buy a new memory card just to be able to take any more pictures.
Well, we still aren`t having the success we`re looking for. Everyone we teach just seems to disappear after 2 visits. Even with their phone number we somehow manage to lose contact with them. However, we started teaching the son of a member and his wife. They seem pretty interested. The only problem is that they`re not legally married, but they seem pretty willing to get married soon. I haven`t had too much success in my mission so far with investigators that aren`t married, but I think these guys are different. It would be a lot easier if the bishops could just do it like they can in the U.S. Here you have to go with a judge and pay a bunch of money. Well, it`s a lot of money for the people here.
This week after the district meeting I took my district to the central bus station to sing and invite people to listen to us. We didn`t have very much success. Most of the people didn`t live in our area or weren`t interested, but it was still fun. There`s two guys in my district that play guitar pretty well and we sung a super cool version of ¨How Great Thou Art.¨
Today Elder Rainford and I played some one on one basketball.
I guess I`m doing pretty good. It`s just so hard for me to feel like I`m ever doing enough, and I´m always so worried about so many people. Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel like they don`t understand, and I wish I could just make them understand, but I can`t.
I love you guys and miss you a ton.
Brett
I`m kind of bummed out right now because I think I lost my other memory card, the one that has all the pictures I`ve taken since I got to this area. The pictures I sent you last week were from my companion`s camera. I haven`t been able to find my memory card for a couple of weeks now. So, now I have absolutely no pictures from the first year of my mission and I have to buy a new memory card just to be able to take any more pictures.
Well, we still aren`t having the success we`re looking for. Everyone we teach just seems to disappear after 2 visits. Even with their phone number we somehow manage to lose contact with them. However, we started teaching the son of a member and his wife. They seem pretty interested. The only problem is that they`re not legally married, but they seem pretty willing to get married soon. I haven`t had too much success in my mission so far with investigators that aren`t married, but I think these guys are different. It would be a lot easier if the bishops could just do it like they can in the U.S. Here you have to go with a judge and pay a bunch of money. Well, it`s a lot of money for the people here.
This week after the district meeting I took my district to the central bus station to sing and invite people to listen to us. We didn`t have very much success. Most of the people didn`t live in our area or weren`t interested, but it was still fun. There`s two guys in my district that play guitar pretty well and we sung a super cool version of ¨How Great Thou Art.¨
Today Elder Rainford and I played some one on one basketball.
I guess I`m doing pretty good. It`s just so hard for me to feel like I`m ever doing enough, and I´m always so worried about so many people. Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel like they don`t understand, and I wish I could just make them understand, but I can`t.
I love you guys and miss you a ton.
Brett
Monday, June 6, 2011
June 6,2011
Thanks for the great detailed letter, Dad, and don`t worry about burdening me down with problems at home. I think I`d prefer to know things a little bit at a time than to come home and find out everything at once. I`m actually not too worried about Austin yet because I know what his heart is like behind all that wanting to be accepted by his friends. Be strict with him but encourage him to find out for himself if everything you`ve taught him is true. Remember that it`s not that complicated. He can know for himself if he really wants to. He just has to study it out (read the Book of Mormon, listen in church) and then pray and ask God if it`s true. Put it to the test yourself, even if you already believe it`s true, so that you can have faith in the promise found in Moroni 10:35. Remind him as well that the Book of Mormon is the key. If the book is true, everything else must be as well. I personally testify that the Book of Mormon is true and that anyone who sincerely desires to, can know that for himself. I can`t deny it. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has been the foundation that has allowed me to press forward with faith and stay on my mission even when all else came into doubt and my mind was filled with confusion. He doesn`t have to go to a million churches to know which one is true. He just has to really want to know if this one is true or not (read the Book of Mormon everyday, pay attention at church, pray everyday asking if it`s true) and then if he finds out that it`s not he can continue his search and investigate another one, but I can promise you that if he puts in his part he won`t have to. His search will start and end right there, because this is the truth. He also needs to remember that it`s about recieving an answer through the power of the Holy Ghost and not proving it with logic and reasoning (1 Cor. 2:10-14). I heard you bore your testimony yesterday. That`s awesome, Dad. Keep doing stuff like that. Make sure Austin, Sean, and Marc know how you feel about the church and share with them how you know that it`s true.
I attached some pictures from when we hiked the Malinche, and from that crazy hailstorm a couple of weeks ago.
I attached some pictures from when we hiked the Malinche, and from that crazy hailstorm a couple of weeks ago.
May 30, 2011
Well, we had just a little bit better week: 2 lessons to non-members and 2 new investigators. Wooohoo! ;-) The open house activity that we had on Saturday turned out ok. All the organizations, Primary, Relief Society, Young Men, Young Women, Elders Quorum, the bishopric, genealogy, and even insitute gave a brief presentation as we gave non-members a tour through the chapel. It was a very unifying, interesting, and well-organized activity. The only problem was that not many non-members went. We did meet a guy who was really interested from the neighboring area, but at least he´s in my district. My next idea for a ward activity is a mini MTC experience on the ward level. I am and have been working with less actives, but it´s a little difficult to know how to help them. I just wish we had home teachers here. It´s been in the reorganization process for months now.
It´s been super hot here lately. I wish we had air conditioning.
It´s official, I´m going to be in this same area for another 6 weeks. It´s really getting difficult, but Pres. Rex asked me if I wanted to stay here and I told him yes, mainly because I want to continue training Elder Rainford. So, it´s my own fault.
My first companion in this area, Elder Hurtado, is now asistant to the President. That´s pretty cool. Now, I´ve got some real connections. He´s an awesome missionary.
It´s been super hot here lately. I wish we had air conditioning.
It´s official, I´m going to be in this same area for another 6 weeks. It´s really getting difficult, but Pres. Rex asked me if I wanted to stay here and I told him yes, mainly because I want to continue training Elder Rainford. So, it´s my own fault.
My first companion in this area, Elder Hurtado, is now asistant to the President. That´s pretty cool. Now, I´ve got some real connections. He´s an awesome missionary.
May 23, 2011
I hope Muffin is ok. I can´t believe one of the deer finally fought back. Maybe that will teach her a lesson to not chase them anymore, but I doubt it.
The weather is to put it simply, weird. Right now it´s super hot but last sunday, the 15th, there was a crazy hail storm with huge chunks of ice that broke car windows and tin roofs. My companion has some pictures I´ll send to you. My companion and I weren´t in the worst part and besides we were inside eating when it happened so we weren´t affected, but it was crazy how much hail fell.
I did my first baptism interview this past week. I interviewed an 11 year old kid. So, it wasn´t that hard. It was actually kind of fun except for the fact that I had to travel an hour and a half on a cramped little van to do it.
Other news, Elder Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy came and talked with the whole mission on wednesday. It was pretty cool. He talked about how we were called by revelation and by apostolic authority to the exact place where we were serving and, therefore, we shouldn´t complain about our area nor our companion instead we should see what we can learn from the experience. He based a lot of his comments on the talk he gave in the april 2010 general conference. However, he also spoke about being balanced missionaries and building up the kingdom not only through baptisms but rather also through helping in retention and reactivation.
The weather is to put it simply, weird. Right now it´s super hot but last sunday, the 15th, there was a crazy hail storm with huge chunks of ice that broke car windows and tin roofs. My companion has some pictures I´ll send to you. My companion and I weren´t in the worst part and besides we were inside eating when it happened so we weren´t affected, but it was crazy how much hail fell.
I did my first baptism interview this past week. I interviewed an 11 year old kid. So, it wasn´t that hard. It was actually kind of fun except for the fact that I had to travel an hour and a half on a cramped little van to do it.
Other news, Elder Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy came and talked with the whole mission on wednesday. It was pretty cool. He talked about how we were called by revelation and by apostolic authority to the exact place where we were serving and, therefore, we shouldn´t complain about our area nor our companion instead we should see what we can learn from the experience. He based a lot of his comments on the talk he gave in the april 2010 general conference. However, he also spoke about being balanced missionaries and building up the kingdom not only through baptisms but rather also through helping in retention and reactivation.
May 15, 2011
Well, this week went by pretty fast. We had a single mom and her three daughters with baptismal dates for the 22 of May, but they didn´t go to church yesterday. So, that won´t be happening, but maybe at a later date. However, this 19 yr old kid we just met a couple of days ago (he is the cousin of another investigator that wasn´t very interested in changing religion) did go to church and enjoyed it a lot. He´s a really cool guy who loves reading, but he has some doubts mainly about whether God really exists. He has read and studied a lot of books and tends to trust more in scientific theories and evidence than in God, but he loves talking with us about his doubts and wants to learn more. We talked to him about prayer and he said that he had asked God through prayer many times already if he reallys exists but that he still hasn´t received a "satisfactory" answer yet. We´ll see where this goes. Many times, not always, but many times, I can tell the quality of a good, or better said, sincere investigator just by listening to the first prayer we have him offer. If that´s the case this guy is golden. Without having to encourage him like we do with most investigators he offered a very heartfelt and sincere prayer at the end of our first lesson. I love hearing them pray publicly for their first time. I think as members we pray so often that sometimes we lose that essence of really talking personally and openly to our heavenly father. Isn´t prayer the most amazing and at times the most difficult thing.
I think I´m messing up on the training thing. Before I feel like I let him participate more, but recently, with the totally unplanned lessons we´ve had it´s been harder to know how to involve him. I don´t want to puthim on the spot or embarrass him too much and just randomly turn to him and wait for him to say something. I try to help by asking him specific questions, but it´s still a little hard.
I think I´m messing up on the training thing. Before I feel like I let him participate more, but recently, with the totally unplanned lessons we´ve had it´s been harder to know how to involve him. I don´t want to puthim on the spot or embarrass him too much and just randomly turn to him and wait for him to say something. I try to help by asking him specific questions, but it´s still a little hard.
May 8, 2011
Well, I hope my companion is learning something. One thing is for sure. He´s super tired after his first two weeks in the mission field. Yesterday he fell right asleep in sacrament meeting and I sense his exhaustion when he asked me the other day, ¨Elder Graham, what keeps you going?¨ I been reflecting on that question a lot lately, but still haven´t quite been able to find the answer. It was a very good question. However, Elder Rainford is an excellent missionary and it´s been a joy to be with him. He never complains about anything and accepts correction and constructive criticism without getting offended. He wants to learn and already knows a fair amount. The other day we were in a lesson and I was trying to explain to someone why we don´t worship/pray to/venerate the Virgen Mary, or more common here the Virgen of Guadalupe, but she refused to accept it. So, I just decided to start teaching the plan of salvation to her and the others that were listening. When we got to the part about the atonement, my companion read Alma 7:11-13 and then bore one of the most powerful testimonies of Jesus Christ that I have ever heard. I didn´t even know what to say afterward for a few seconds. They all committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and one of the lady´s that was there specifically mentioned that she liked very much what my companion explained. It was an awesome moment.
After looking back on the last two weeks yesterday I got a little discouraged. It´s difficult being in the same area for so long because I already know everyone and sometimes I feel like there´s no new ideas left to try. Sometimes I feel like even trying my hardest I can´t get the results I want. I love this ward, but sometimes I get very little help from anyone. Things don´t always function here quite like they do in the U.S. I hope you guys are helping the missionaries back home in any way that you possibly can because participation from the ward members really is essential. I felt a little better though after talking to my old companion, Elder Hurtado. (haha, the advantages of having a cell phone now - calls between missionaries are free). He was my first companion in this area. He called me to check how things were going here in Totolac.
I will probably send you another to email or call you to confirm everything with the call on Mother´s Day. By the way, I just found this weekend that here they also celebrate Kid´s Day. On saturday they had a big carnaval type thing for it and today they are celebrating it in the schools. I think we should have a Kid´s Day in the U.S. too.
After looking back on the last two weeks yesterday I got a little discouraged. It´s difficult being in the same area for so long because I already know everyone and sometimes I feel like there´s no new ideas left to try. Sometimes I feel like even trying my hardest I can´t get the results I want. I love this ward, but sometimes I get very little help from anyone. Things don´t always function here quite like they do in the U.S. I hope you guys are helping the missionaries back home in any way that you possibly can because participation from the ward members really is essential. I felt a little better though after talking to my old companion, Elder Hurtado. (haha, the advantages of having a cell phone now - calls between missionaries are free). He was my first companion in this area. He called me to check how things were going here in Totolac.
I will probably send you another to email or call you to confirm everything with the call on Mother´s Day. By the way, I just found this weekend that here they also celebrate Kid´s Day. On saturday they had a big carnaval type thing for it and today they are celebrating it in the schools. I think we should have a Kid´s Day in the U.S. too.
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