Year 2, Week 7

SO MANY THINGS TO TALK ABOUT.

This week....

- I had my 20th birthday. I thank you all sincerely for sending me good wishes. I hope you all receive (edible) blessings for that.

- I had an appointment in the Immigration offices in Cancun that I forgot until the night before. I think I broke a world record getting from our house to the mission offices. 50 minutes.

- CONFERENCE AND LEADERSHIP COUNCIL WITH ELDER PINO OF THE SEVENTY.

- Marlon’s baptism!!!!!

... and much more. BUT I wanted to write you all personally, so I used up my time... O.o

I hope you all have a blessed week.

Love,

Elder Carson (Your favorite Mexican-boy missionary)

Year 2, Week 6

Well then!

I never thought I’d have to put on my "deal or no deal" face, but Sister Reynoso told me to do just that with the owner of our house. The owner didn’t want to accept responsibility for some pre-existing damage, so I had to pull out the receipts, call other missionaries, aannnnnnnnnndddd LOTS of other fun stuff.

Remember. Everyone is a child of God. Deep breaths.

More than mundane details, this week was FULL of miracles!!! Elder del Toro and I found THREE complete families (father, mother, children), and one of them went to church without any help. It was one of the happiest feelings when I saw them all getting out of their taxi dressed up Sunday-style. The dad’s name is Rodolfo, and the mom is Rosi. They have angelic qualities, honestly.

We also taught Pablo and his family. After teaching somewhat of a mix between the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation, he said, "well I don’t know about my family, but I’ve already decided to go through with this." Awesome. The family was a referral from a member in Cancun.

During an activity with the Relief Society, we were able to get 23 referrals in 20 minutes. The sisters were super excited to tell us about their friends and family who are "probably ready" to accept the Gospel! We told them to bring their friends to church while we work to set formal appointments with all of them. XD

ANND as part of the Christmas program we’re organizing, we talked to the councilor in the stake presidency about options for food. He said "I’m so glad you came to my family to ask about this. We’ve wanted to give a gift to the missionaries for many years now. We’ll make all 28 of you dinner, and we’ll bring you piñatas to break, too."

*jaw drop caused by pure generosity* That’s pioneer-calibur faith and devotion there.

Anyway, I’m happy, and the Christmas spirit is here (in rain-form instead of snow). I hope this week is an excellent week for all of you. May you all be showered with buckets of fun and blessings.

Love,

Elder Carson

Year 2, Week 5

Hey, family!!

Things are very very VERY wet here in Playa del Carmen!!! We’ve had a ton of rain, to the point that E. del Toro and I took off our ponchos because they weren’t helping much. We got wet, but it was fun and we sang himns loudly as we walked to our appointments.

I thought it was touching this week to see how some neighborhood kids helped a new member family. They had just come down from Veracruz to make a living, but their new house didn’t have ANYTHING - electricity, water, gas, NADA. We rallied up some ten-year-olds on the same street, and they came ever-so willingly to help us clean the front yard by cutting the grass, collecting stray garbage, and stuffing the yard-waste in trash bags. As a result, we have FOUR different families of references to contact! The Lord blesses us when we work together with our brothers and sisters to "bring to pass much righteousness."

We’re working hard to train the Elders and Sisters of the zone. We did a small study of their teaching-skills by inviting recent-converts to pretend to be investigators while we observed with a criteria sheet. Then, we visited their areas to help them based on their needs. Our goal is that each companionship learns to teach like the sons of Mosiah, with "power and authority".

Elder Pino, of the Area Presidency, is coming down on the 22nd of this month for a special conference. We’re preparing the missionaries to behave like adults so that the wrath of President Reynoso doesn’t descend upon them. We are also responsible for organizing the Christmas program for Playa and Cozumel - Himns, talks, theatre??, piñatas, food, etc. Lots of details to put in order, but it’s gonna be FUN! Anyone who says the mission isn’t fun... hasn’t come down to the Cancún México Mission!

I’m super happy. You guys have inspired me day by day to be better and ACHIEVE MORE. Life is an incredible opportunity that God has given us, and every day should be filled with love and with the Spirit. These two things can exist despite hardships. I hope this week treats you all well.

Love,

Elder Carson

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My companion was full of the Spirit when the gringos arrived.

Birthday party with investigator family!! Estas soooolas mañanitas....

Making trophies for the Zone... dundies​!!