Week WHAT 17 in the field!!

Week WHAT? Time's a-flyin like nothing else out here. 

Hello dearest friends. 

This week, we had a wonderfully-delicious and spiritually-rich bite of success, and I'm super happy for this chance to tell you all about it. I won't have time for much else, today, but remember: the next PDay is THIS SATURDAY because it's the last week of this transfer. 

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: The Lord pays TRIPLE for our efforts! After lots of time teaching, committing, re-committing, interviewing, and worrying, LUIS AND BLANCA GOT BAPTIZED!!! WOOOOOOHOOOO! It was honestly a wonderful experience. 

We arrived at the church building at 6:30, the prescribed hour, but the gates surrounding the church were locked, and nobody arrived to open them until 6:50. Wonderful. the baptism was supposed to be at 7:00. I took a deep breath and relaxed. The guests still hadn't arrived. 

Next, we went to check the font, and SURPRISE, it was empty!! So E. Gallegos and I rushed to turn on the valves and shut the drain. When we tried to enter the font to get to the water controls, the door wouldn't open! Needless to say, I was panicking a little bit at this point, but I tried to keep myself focused on the purpose of being there. 

We got it done. E. Gallegos maaaaayyyy have had to vault the barrier in front of the font to get it done, but we got it done. The font was filled when the guests arrived, and the program proceeded as normal. 

Turns out, those who were supposed to give the intermediary message didn't show up, so E. Gallegos and I shared an abbreviated version of the Restoration with the crowd. To my surprise, the words left my lips perfectly and with ease. Same with my companion. We didn't have to backtrack or re-explain anything for lack of clarity. We NAILED IT. 

After all was said and done, Luis and Blanca looked super happy. The Spirit was felt SUPER strong, and Hna. Marvel, our dear investigator (and mom of Luis and Blanca) began to cry as she offered the closing prayer. After the service, she began to cry AGAIN thanking us for what we had done. 

We set appointments with ALL the family members and extended-family members who came to the baptism. We felt good. 

As we were leaving the building, it occurred to me how much the Lord had blessed us during those brief minutes. At the beginning, it seemed like everything was going south, but looking back, it was honestly one of the most special baptismal services I had ever had the pleasure to attend. We put in our time and effort, and the Lord payed back BIG TIME. 

That's how it is, folks - put in your effort, and the blessings will overflow your life. 

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Like I said, I don't have much time today. I hope this experience helped you guys somehow to grow and improve in your personal life. Maybe you´re not organizing baptisms, but you might be organizing family home evenings or ward activities. The Lord is there for you. Reach out to him!

Until Saturday, friends - I'll tell you about the rest of the biz then.

Love, 

Elder Carson

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There's the fam :)

Hno. Rolando (Batman) takes blurry photos, but we love him anyway.

And here's Luis, the man of the hour. Don't worry, the smile in his heart, voice, and everything but his face was much bigger X)

Week 16 in the field!

Ohhh say can you SEEEE, BYY --

Oh, sorry, my good friends, I was just singing the national anthem because I found the English hymn book in the house of a member and it reminded me of how fortunate I am to be American :) For now, though, I feel good soaking up the Mexican culture and working harder than the sun is hot. This week was great. Here's the review. 

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: FASTING HAS REAL POWER. If I were to choose a commandment that I have historically minimalized, it would probably be that one. The fast. What's the point? Does it REALLY REALLY make a difference if we fast on top of all our urgent prayers? After this week, I can honestly tell you that yes, it does. 

We had a special fast last Sunday for lots of things, and among these things was the plea that one of our beloved less-actives, Hna. Dulce, could find a job to support her and her family. She had been going through a faith-crisis when the hotel she worked for suddenly decided to drop her, but she agreed to fast with us, and we just found out that she got her dream position in one of the most pretigious hotels in Cancùn! She was so happy when she told us (and so proud of her ability to go without her husbands Veracruzano food). Now I just have to teach her a little English to help her stay put in the job X). 

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- We had exchanges this week! I stayed in our area and received Elder Reyes, one of the Zone Leaders. We had lots of laughs and worked hard to find new people to teach. 

- During exchanges, we were having a language study in the park when a Jehovah's Witness came up to us and started chewing us out about our beliefs (specifically, that Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same person). Elder Reyes had the ganas to scripture-battle, but together, we managed to defuse the situation and invite her to act on her doubts. 

- We had a Stake Conference yesterday where an area seventy spoke! It was cool, and he had some heated words for those who had supposedly been openly rebellious against church leaders. That's the kind of stuff we like to hear, as missionaries ;D. 

- We found a young man, Isaac (16 years old) who was living on his own with his brothers for a while, inactive in the church. He has a lot of interest to return and even accompanied us to various appointments! 

- I feel more and more confident speaking in our zone conferences each time. We had a conference this week, and I was able to speak out about some issues I had noticed among the missionaries. I heard lots of sounds of agreement, so I know I didn't ONLY say goofball things :) 

- We found a young investigator named Leyvi, and she is awesome! She does all her homework, and immediately retains the things we teach. She couldn't attend church this week, but its because she already had plans made for Sunday... This next week, she committed to go. 

- One of our investigators, Lizbeth, couldn't attend our ward because she went with her husband to Tizimin to visit family. But, like the dedicated and COMMITTED investigator she is, she attended church in TIZIMIN so that she can keep with her goal of being baptized the 14th of April! Woohoo!

That's all for this week, my wonderful friendlies. Keep your heads up and remember that you've got an omnipotent God to turn to if you need help with the stuff life throws at you. 

Much love from the tropics. 

Elder Carson 

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.. AHA!! taking notes during a meeting.....

Thinking...

... More thinking... 

In the house of Marvel and Paul with Elder Reyes. COCHINITA BAYBAY :D

An iguana standing proudly in front of a local supermarket.

Playing volleyball with the Hermanas.... they told us to go easy on em, but they forgot to tell the hermanas that we`re also human.... O.O

Week 15 in the field!

Queridos amigos, 

I was informed that my last mail felt a little rushed. X) This week, I have a bit more time to tell you all what's goin' down.

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: When you lead, lead for DESIRE. If you try to lead people directly to an action, it's likely that they´re not going to follow through. 

This is big in the mission. A lot of times, we're tempted to think someone who smokes needs to hear about the Word of Wisdom, and someone living with a partner unmarried The Law of Chastity. But it's not always so. 

This week, we visited Hno. Efraín and Hna. Ana. He´s a less-active member and she's an investigator. They need to get married, but instead of teaching the Law of Chastity, we decided to show them a cute little video called "Expressions of Love," where a bunch of couples recite the dorky nothings that they do to pass time together. It was actually perfect. They were smiling the whole time, and at the end of the video they were VISIBLY more committed to get married and pursue their goal to be sealed in the temple. THEY HAVE THE GANAS, YO!

They also had a friend there, and HE was super interested to hear from us after the video! 

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We went on splits with the assistants! It was awesome (and unplanned - they stayed on the bus too long and ended up in our area). I went with Elder Tejeda, because Elder Carlson thought we would confuse the world with our names (I agree, but I thought it would be kinda fun). We visited lots of people in a really short period of time. He talks fast, but he´s really nice and told me I speak the language well. :) 

We suggested to President Reynoso that a young women from the ward be put in as a temporary missionary and he agreed! The young woman, Adela, was super grateful because she's in the process of filling out her papers but it's taking a lot of time because she´s got health problems. She was a little discouraged, but we were able to set her up for at least one transfer. 

We visited Alejandro and Natalia (less-active and non-member, respectively) and had a great lesson about families and the temple! Also, their dog vomitted on the floor in front of us while we were starting.... woo. 

I started reading Our Heritage. I'm actually really enjoying the history of the Church. It struck me how faithful the Saints were in the beginning. They were willing to sacrifice their homes, their time, their LIVES to follow the Prophet. What changed, guys?? That's a joke - I know you're all as faithful as the Pope (Mormon style) ;D. 

We had EIGHT investigators attend church! I FEEEL GOOD (nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh). It was wonderful to see some of them for the SECOND time in a row keeping their commitments. Now, here's to a lifetime of attendance!! Yeah! 

We really really REALLY didn't have many new investigators this week.... we think God's sending us a message that we need to work with less-actives more, because we found about five families (by pure miracles) that we didn't know existed that are members. 

That's all folks! I´m as happy as Bugs Bunny here in the best mission in the world. While you're all going about your daily lives this week, remember to pray to your Heavenly Father and tell him what's goin' on - your worries, fears, hopes and dreams. He's more than happy to help you.

Love, 

Elder Carson

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Mexican styyyyyyyyllllleeeee. We call it Flow. Faith without flow is dead.

Jeremías got baptized (my amigo and investigator from Chac Mool)!! We got to see him because Elder Gallegos did the interview.

When a cloud gives birth to a star...

Then the star is to close to the Earth and a house burns down.

Week 14, I think!

Hello, goofballs! 

What a wondeful thing it is to be able to write you all each week! This time, there ain`t much time, so I`m gonna keep things relatively short, but just know that I`m working hard and learning lots. 

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: Be opportune. Among the many strengths of my super-elder companion, I`ve managed to detect something very important that he ALWAYS does. He acts without hesitation when prompted by the Spirit. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to get trapped in my own little world, and when that happens in the mission-field, I miss opportunities to serve. When we serve the Lord with our heart, might, MIND, and strength, unexpected teaching situations pop up, there are more people to talk to, and we learn much, much more each day. 

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We had TWO Family Home Evenings this week where members invited their friends. The first was with the family Balam Tec, who invited their neighbor. We had a nice lesson, and, acting on a prompting, I had everyone pause and share something they love about a member of their family. It actually worked really well. Little Mauricio loves his mommy because she always makes yummy food :) 

The second was with the Hermana Paty Pool, and she invited HOSTS of neighbors. It was awesome. We watched a video (of Todd Sylvester) and handed out cards with our sumber, offering free service to anyone who needed it. 

We visited Abel, and he was feeling down, so we finished the lesson early and spent 15 minutes drawing and coloring with him. He cheered up quick!

We found a less-active member miraculously by contacting him in a park! His name is Alejandro, and he`s got a girlfriend who is not a member! Woohoo! They`re getting married and BAPTIZED! (so they say - we`ll see) 

I gave candy to the Elders to bribe them to complete their goals for language-learning this week! Bwahahaha.... 

We literally had to talk an investigator out of hiring a hit-man. Yeah. 

We had NINE investigators attend church! Busiest meeting of my life!! Woohoo!

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Whhaaaaat, it's true!

If we don't have pizza, we don't have life.

Finished work of art with Abel and Arely.