Week 44 in the field!!!

Wow. Deep breaths.

There’s no way to completely describe the way it feels to be a zone leader. If I weren’t so happy, I would be going nuts!! :D haha.

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: The Lord will magnify you. Our job is to be worthy vessels.

I think I must have spent more time on my knees this week than in any other, because there are a lot of things that are not under my control, namely: whether the investigators in our zone decide to show up to church, whether the missionaries decide to be obedient, whether the bishop decides to allow investigators to be confirmed this weekend (with Conference and all). In short, we can’t control other people’s decisions.

BUT. We are ALWAYS in control of our own actions. The more I chose to be exactly obedient to the mission rules and trust in the Lord, I saw miracles in the zone. There was a couple who barely got married, and the wife decided one day before her baptism not to go through with it. We decided to say a prayer as a zone, and the next day the sister missionaries were able to discern her need, calm her fears, and help her make her first covenant with her Heavenly Father.

I am extremely grateful for that miracle. I feel like it was a test to see whether we would turn to Him. When we did, He was more than happy to help His daughter take that first step towards eternal life.

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• Evelyn, our investigator who got in a motorcycle accident and had her leg amputated, passed her baptismal interview! We’re planning her service for this Friday.
• We did exchanges with Puerto Aventuras. Elder Jimenez, my old friend from Haciendas, stayed with me and showed me a few things about my area (because he was here before).
• We found a guy named José Alberto who lived in Chicago for 15 years. He speaks English with a cool accent and accepted a baptismal date!

That’s it for now, friends!! Not much time. :D I love you all and I’m grateful for the love you send me in your letters!!!

Love,

Elder Carson

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(SD card problemss......)

Week 43 in the field!

Hello my friends!

I’ve learned a lot of new things this week, including that being a Zone Leader is (exhaustingly) fun!

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: One has to lead from the front of the pack.

Our bishop in Peten Ward, Bishop Mario, is SUPER. (Super Mario.... hehe). It’s no suprise to me that his ward achieves incredible things. Every other Sunday, he sets apart his ENTIRE evening and brings the ENTIRE bishopric to visit member and investigator families with the missionaries. The members of the ward, consequently, are excited to help out with the missionary work and give us lots of referrals!

It makes sense that the Savior led in the same way. Was his frequently-repeated line not, "Come, follow me"? If we want to lead well, we can’t be pushers - we have to be pullers.

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• E. Tellez is super friendly and helpful!! He does me favors before I even think to ask him! He’s an example to me of service and humility - it would do me well to be more like him.
• We traveled to Cancun for the Leadership Council of September. Good news! Playa is set to be the highest-baptizing zone in the mission! Not for what E. Tellez and I have done, of course (having just arrived), but it was definitely a boost of enthusiasm!!
• We had an INCREDIBLE stake activity to celebrate Mexican Independence Day (VIVA MÉXICO, WOOOO!!) There was a stage, cool lights, a beefy sound system, and a TON of investigators!!!! I didn’t even think to take pictures because I was too busy contacting everyone. 
• Exchanges with one of our three district leaders, E. Escorcia. The Lord blessed us to find SIX new families to teach in one day. Honestly one of the coolest days ever.
• We had a great lesson with Erik and Alex, two young adults who are investigating the church. They want to be marine biologists, so we told them about how the young single adults in the ward are doing Scuba classes! They got super excited and agreed to all the committments we extended!! XD

There are lots more stories from this week, but I’ll save them for when we see each other face to face. Remember that everyone is meant to be a leader, and we should strive to do so in the Savior’s way. I promise each of you that as you give it your 110% effort, you’ll find that the Lord shows you who you really are and what you can become.

Love,

Elder Carson

PS - Lots of love for yall in the States, but I can’t claim loyalty or they’ll hunt me down for being a Trump-supporter! XD VIVA MÉXICO!

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The latest on the tie collection - the majority are new, from companions and friends in the mission. :) The love evolves, people.

Goodbye Garcia family!!

Goodbye, Mission-Leader Oscar!!

Goodbye Bishop Herrera!!!

Hello Elder Tellez!! Mi chan compita.

Week 42 in the field!!!!

Good day!

I must say, I never thought I would arrive at the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but here I am: week 42 in the field.  

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: Specific prayers WORK, yo! This week I had a really intense personal study and was feelin the faith juice, so I ended with a specific prayer. I asked God to help me find a family of FIVE people at 5:00pm who would come to accept the gospel in their lives. To recognize them, I would look for a mom dressed in RED with THREE little kids walking home from school by her side. The father wouldn’t be there in the street with them, but he and the mother would be legally married.

At 5:00pm ON THE DOT, I scanned the road around us and spotted the family I was looking for. They were a ways off, so I had to drag my (confused) companions half-running on a detour to reach the mother with her three kids. The mother had red jeans on, and the little ones had on their backpacks from school. We gave them the run-down, and they were very friendly. The mom commented that her husband was waiting for them at home. They got married in Guatemala. We gifted them a pamphlet and tried to set a return date, but the mom explained that, because of work, they’re almost never at home.

It didn’t matter to me, really. I KNOW they will come to know the Gospel in the Lord’s due time, and His time is perfect.

LECCIÓN DOS: When saying specific prayers to find investigators, the wise elder will think to specify that the investigators accept a visit.

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• ALEJANDRO GOT THE BAPTISMAL DUNK! It was a combined service with the sister-missionaries of Chetumal, and it went very well. Alejandro was a little nervous beforehand, but after the ordinance, he was beaming.
• I went on splits with Hno. Cortéz to cover appointments somewhat far away from the house. We arrived comfortably in his car and set a baptismal date for a young pregnant girl named Marla who’s finalizing her plans to get married. At age 15. Wow.
• Our district leaders bought us pizza because we reached our goal for baptisms this transfer! That’s good leadership.
• I got a free haircut and.... well, the dude almost cut my head off with the little razor. You get what you pay for, I suppose.
• WE GOT THE TRANSFER NEWS! I’m going to Playa del Carmen as a Zone Leader! The area is called Puerto Aventuras - "Adventure Port". I’m certain that plenty of adventures await me there and that they’ll be good ones.
• We bought a tub of Oreo ice-cream between the three of us. Worth every peso.

That’s it for now. This was a short week. As always, the first week of the transfer will be WITHOUT PDay, so I’ll be writing you all in nine days! It’ll be a good-un with an extra 48-hours of adventure.

Keep the idea of specific prayers in mind. Prayer is like a harmonica - it seems a little useless until you dedicate the time and effort into learning how to use it. LEARN HOW TO PRAY, YALL, and it’ll be the greatest source of blessings in your day-to-day life.

Love,

Elder Carson

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Squad selfie while packing up the house. All three of us are getting transferred!! (PS - Military hair-cut feels good in the heat).

Combined baptisms, combined POWER!

The little one just after being spiritually cleansed.

The Chan-Distrito. We´re a happy family.

Week 41 in the field!!!!!

My dear friends and aquaintences (spelling?) 

As you have likely noticed, I’m forgetting English. It’s a fact. But I’ll be sure to serenade you all in South/Central America’s love-language when I get back!

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: The Lord gives more to good stewards!!!!

This week, I was testing a theory: to find success, you’ve got to prove your stuff. Often, the Spirit prompts me to talk to people in the street who aren’t at all interested in our message. Does that mean it wasn’t the Spirit?

NO!

Why? Two reasons: (1) We’re planting a seedling in that person, and (2) the Lord’s preparing us for the guy across the street. The second guy you talk to is going to be MORE AWESOME than the first. And the third more than the second, as long as we take courage each time the Spirit prompts us.

On exchanges with Elder Vera, I was following a "chain" of people in this manner when a taxi suddenly stopped on the side of the road. I went to talk to the guy, and said, "hello, good sir, what’s your name?"

"What do I look like?" he asked, making me guess.

I thought he was joking, so in the same tone, I said, "your name is Jorge, and you want to hear about the Gospel, right?"

The dude looked surprised and let us into the taxi. He introduced himself as Jorge Campos (yes!), and proceeded to tell us that he’s having family troubles and has been looking for a church. He also told us that his son is Mormon, and that it seems like a good option to him.

The Spirit will never misguide you. Trust Him, and you’ll find the success you’re looking for.

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• NEXT PDAY WILL BE ON SATURDAY, QUERIDOS :) 
• Celebrated E. Tello’s birthday in Burger King. He’s addicted to the chocolate milkshakes.
• We had a FANTASTIC Family Home Evening with Dr. Toledo, our new Elders Quorum President, and he treated us to an american classic of burgers and fries afterwards. A noble man, surely. We committed his inactive son to go to church.
• OSVALDO GOT BAPTIZED! And the program was LEGIT. The primary president pitched in and made a program where the KIDS gave talks/did the music/prayers/EVERYTHING. Honestly one of the best things I’ve seen. I think the ward mission plan we pitched has helped a lot - the ward leaders are super excited to help us now :D
• On Saturday, we started a special fast with the whole zone to help us achieve our goals. It was great to see a new sense of unity on the face of each missionary. Fantastic idea from E. Mun.
• We visited the ruins of Ox-Tan-Kah today!! What an incredible experience! Honestly, these are some of the smaller ruins in this mission, but I was blown away by the mystical ambience that was felt on the grounds. Like walking through the remains of a fairy-tale.
• THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE MAKING OF THE PACKAGE I GOT. EVERYTHING WAS WELL-APPRECIATED BY ME AND MY COMPANIONS. :D

Loves to you all! Until Saturday! Follow the Spirit and be really happy!

Elder Carson

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OSVALDO THE CHAMP! He gave a great testimony at the end of the service about the Gospel and the temperature of the water.

A spanish chapel (built many years after all the other structures in OxTanKah).

Our dear friend Hno. Cortèz (the optimistic guy I told you about)

Elder TombRaider

"ARREPENTIOS, OH VOSOTROS, EXTREMOS DE LA TIERRA"

Toledo family - excellent in ALL aspects, but the big man`s got a firm hand for injections. (PS they don`t inject you in the arm here).