I heard that song this week, the one by Phil Collins. I had no idea I missed music so much! Also the mission released a video that all the missionaries had to watch that had an acoustic version of Sail in it, which means I could not concentrate because I was dying of music deprivation of that kind. Part of the problem is that my usb got a virus when I shared a song with one of my friends here, so I lost half of my music. BUT, I still have Josh, Andrea, and Inside Out, as well as some piano, so I will probably survive.
Sarahi (that is how you spell it apparently) did get baptized, but José didn't because he is going to be baptized on his wife´s birthday (the 6th of May). And Rosalio, the other man who we were going to baptize, told us he had gone suicidal, and then he dropped off the face of the earth. We do not know where he went and neither do any of his friends and acquaintances.
In other, more sunny, news, this week contains día del niño, which is children´s day, which means the members booked me for the week to do balloon animals for them. I have to figure out how to do minions--all I remember is that they are squat fat yellow things with goggles in coveralls. That shouldn't be too hard to figure out, right? The ward also did an orchestra, which was really really neat, although practically all of the nonmembers who went didn't want to fill out the reference cards we handed out. But, people started talking to us when we were just standing in the road and have continued inviting us to their houses. Less actives in a subdivision that I have never before seen gave us more cake and also fed us the day after when the members fell through on us. So, we're altogether cool. They also are tracking down the aunts of my companion who live here but we have been unable to contact. The family of thirty surprised us and made us dinner two times this week. People give us fruits when they see us.
I received an innocent looking cake from other missionaries that ended up being 3 weeks old. Given that Mexicans use a lot of milk in their cakes, this means it was rancid. I ate it and suffered for two days. But I am in the clear once again.
A little kid whistled to us, so we went to his house. There we were confronted by his father who had a lot of questions. He has studied a lot and has a lot of Bible knowledge. But given controversial topics, he asked pointed questions that are impossible for people to answer using only the Bible. When we answered them and bore testimony, he asked us to baptize him right away in a large container of water he had ready for this purpose behind his house. We told him we could not do so if he was not willing to do a couple of things: first, take the lessons because he had a lot more questions we did not have time sufficient to answer, second, go to church to know if its real, and, third, decide for himself by reading the Book of Mormon. We want him to get baptized for himself, not just because I could explain profound doctrine to him. We'll see what happens this week.
I had a night of pure insomnia this week when I ate the cake. That also happened to be a day of exchanges, where we swap companions for one day. So I spent the night reading and worked two days straight. I still do not feel tired, but I can sleep now, so that is much better.
That's all I have to report this week.
Love ya.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
Monday, 27 April 2015
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
April 20, 2015 -- Elder Palma
Hello fambly.
This week lots of things happened.
1: Sugey got baptized. She is the woman with the excommunicated husband. I got to confirm her, and my companion baptized her. She is super happy about everything.
2: Brother Joseph (José), the husband of my Relief Society president will be baptized this week. He didn´t feel ready, but this week he will be. Also Sarai, the friend of his daughter, will be baptized the same day, same time. José told me I have to baptize him.
3: Rosalio, the man who was suicidal, has not talked to us and is not answering his phone. But we should see him tomorrow, so we're hoping for the best.
4: Juana and Leslie had their baptismal dates moved because Juana has to work this Saturday and is going to be absolutely dead. I taught them using an avengers sticker we found on the ground on the way to their house. I explained that they are sometimes unable to fight due to problems with the substances we do not use (Hawkeye gets coffee jitters and cannot aim his bow, Hulk is using a suppressant drug that prevents him from getting angry and so cannot become the hulk, Iron man cannot breathe because his lungs shut down from tobacco, and so on). Basically, everyone dies if someone messes up. That is how these substances are for our bodies. They understood perfectly. It was really cool.
5: The Medina Family: These are the 30 people. All of the men drink and all of them live in free union, but the young women are super animated about learning. They also give us food when we visit. It is really very strange but cool. So far like four of them go to church, and all the women want to change.
6: Brother Richard (Ricardo) is a man who has refused to hear the missionaries for a long time. All of the members of his family are members of the church. We convinced him to pray, and it was the first time he has prayed since he was like 20. Then he gave us cake. It was super sweet, and we could not finish it, so we gave it to the other elders.
7: Elder Palma is my new companion. He is from Tampico, which is another part of Tamaulipas, which is the state of Mexico we are in. Some of his nonmember aunts live in the area. Apparently they will be feeding us often :) He knows a tiny bit about anime because each and every single one of the girlfriends he has had has watched it. Many of his dates were going to conventions. I find this great because he has fun stories about them, and the girls set things up so that their life was like a really tacky boy meets girl and boy is oblivious right up until the girl tackles him so that he will take her out on a date type of movie or tv show. Apparently this is very common for anime people.
8: Little kids: Have I ever mentioned that little kids are the best? They don't make excuses; they either do what you ask them or they don't. They do not lie. They accept what you say and are open to listen. They pay attention. They are in all ways better than adults for learning. We are teaching some kids now, and they want us to come all the time to talk to them. The parents are not as excited, but the kids are awesome. They also invited all their friends to receive us. The parents are the hard part because they do not understand doctrine. They cannot see change viable in what they believe, and that makes it extremely difficult to convince them of the traditions of their fathers vs. the covenants of the lord.
9: I am completely all right now--no health problems. :)
10: I am happy.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
This week lots of things happened.
1: Sugey got baptized. She is the woman with the excommunicated husband. I got to confirm her, and my companion baptized her. She is super happy about everything.
2: Brother Joseph (José), the husband of my Relief Society president will be baptized this week. He didn´t feel ready, but this week he will be. Also Sarai, the friend of his daughter, will be baptized the same day, same time. José told me I have to baptize him.
3: Rosalio, the man who was suicidal, has not talked to us and is not answering his phone. But we should see him tomorrow, so we're hoping for the best.
4: Juana and Leslie had their baptismal dates moved because Juana has to work this Saturday and is going to be absolutely dead. I taught them using an avengers sticker we found on the ground on the way to their house. I explained that they are sometimes unable to fight due to problems with the substances we do not use (Hawkeye gets coffee jitters and cannot aim his bow, Hulk is using a suppressant drug that prevents him from getting angry and so cannot become the hulk, Iron man cannot breathe because his lungs shut down from tobacco, and so on). Basically, everyone dies if someone messes up. That is how these substances are for our bodies. They understood perfectly. It was really cool.
5: The Medina Family: These are the 30 people. All of the men drink and all of them live in free union, but the young women are super animated about learning. They also give us food when we visit. It is really very strange but cool. So far like four of them go to church, and all the women want to change.
6: Brother Richard (Ricardo) is a man who has refused to hear the missionaries for a long time. All of the members of his family are members of the church. We convinced him to pray, and it was the first time he has prayed since he was like 20. Then he gave us cake. It was super sweet, and we could not finish it, so we gave it to the other elders.
7: Elder Palma is my new companion. He is from Tampico, which is another part of Tamaulipas, which is the state of Mexico we are in. Some of his nonmember aunts live in the area. Apparently they will be feeding us often :) He knows a tiny bit about anime because each and every single one of the girlfriends he has had has watched it. Many of his dates were going to conventions. I find this great because he has fun stories about them, and the girls set things up so that their life was like a really tacky boy meets girl and boy is oblivious right up until the girl tackles him so that he will take her out on a date type of movie or tv show. Apparently this is very common for anime people.
8: Little kids: Have I ever mentioned that little kids are the best? They don't make excuses; they either do what you ask them or they don't. They do not lie. They accept what you say and are open to listen. They pay attention. They are in all ways better than adults for learning. We are teaching some kids now, and they want us to come all the time to talk to them. The parents are not as excited, but the kids are awesome. They also invited all their friends to receive us. The parents are the hard part because they do not understand doctrine. They cannot see change viable in what they believe, and that makes it extremely difficult to convince them of the traditions of their fathers vs. the covenants of the lord.
9: I am completely all right now--no health problems. :)
10: I am happy.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
April 13, 2015 -- Teaching 25+ Families!
Cesar´s friend is not baptized (yet) but will do this in the coming weeks. He has a lot of problems right now due to the situation with his family, but apparently our visits as missionaries are preventing him from committing suicide.
The spouse (nonmember) of my relief society president wants me to baptize him this Saturday! That means we have to teach all of the lessons before Thursday.
Also, the excommunicated member whose non-wife I was teaching went on vacation, and it turns out that they got married civilly! That means she will be baptized also Saturday.
The story of the hour: the family that gave us cake. We went back. It is a family of 30 people. They do not know exactly how many of them there are. They can´t count them successfully. :) Every time we visit they give us food. Some of them went to church this week, and everything would be really great if it wasn't for the fact that almost without exception they are living in union libre--or free union. They consider themselves married, but they are not actually married. They believe what we tell them. I hope they have sufficient faith to marry civilly. The last time we visited them, they gave us a really strange vegetable. You put it in flour tortillas, and you eat it. It tastes exactly like pizza, but it looks like spinach. It was incredibly strange.
So, I went to the hospital this week. I started to have a lot of nausea, my stomach hurt, and I got dizzy--the works. They pumped me full of antibiotics and suero (which is like Gatorade, apparently) and sent me out. They also told me I shouldn't be outside in the heat (fat chance I stay inside) and gave me a prescription for meds. I'm feeling better now, although not 100%. The nausea won't go away for some reason.
My companion is getting transferred. Again. I will be going to Rio Bravo to collect my new companion Elder Palmas and returning here.
In other news, the mission president´s wife has stated that the missionaries are not allowed to eat Chinese food. Apparently that is a common cause of stomach issues for missionaries.
Romans is super deceptive. This is why so many people believe works are not important, if you read the JST faith is followed by works as a show that you really care, and these justify belief. James says the same thing.
We currently have 25 families in teaching. We are going to boot some of the less serious ones because there really isn't time to visit them all, and some are going to get baptized. So that'll open things up. The Medina Family (family of 30) are a handful all by themselves.
We shall see what the Lord sends my way this week. Until next week,
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
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The spouse (nonmember) of my relief society president wants me to baptize him this Saturday! That means we have to teach all of the lessons before Thursday.
Also, the excommunicated member whose non-wife I was teaching went on vacation, and it turns out that they got married civilly! That means she will be baptized also Saturday.
The story of the hour: the family that gave us cake. We went back. It is a family of 30 people. They do not know exactly how many of them there are. They can´t count them successfully. :) Every time we visit they give us food. Some of them went to church this week, and everything would be really great if it wasn't for the fact that almost without exception they are living in union libre--or free union. They consider themselves married, but they are not actually married. They believe what we tell them. I hope they have sufficient faith to marry civilly. The last time we visited them, they gave us a really strange vegetable. You put it in flour tortillas, and you eat it. It tastes exactly like pizza, but it looks like spinach. It was incredibly strange.
So, I went to the hospital this week. I started to have a lot of nausea, my stomach hurt, and I got dizzy--the works. They pumped me full of antibiotics and suero (which is like Gatorade, apparently) and sent me out. They also told me I shouldn't be outside in the heat (fat chance I stay inside) and gave me a prescription for meds. I'm feeling better now, although not 100%. The nausea won't go away for some reason.
My companion is getting transferred. Again. I will be going to Rio Bravo to collect my new companion Elder Palmas and returning here.
In other news, the mission president´s wife has stated that the missionaries are not allowed to eat Chinese food. Apparently that is a common cause of stomach issues for missionaries.
Romans is super deceptive. This is why so many people believe works are not important, if you read the JST faith is followed by works as a show that you really care, and these justify belief. James says the same thing.
We currently have 25 families in teaching. We are going to boot some of the less serious ones because there really isn't time to visit them all, and some are going to get baptized. So that'll open things up. The Medina Family (family of 30) are a handful all by themselves.
We shall see what the Lord sends my way this week. Until next week,
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
Monday, 6 April 2015
April 6, 2015 -- General Conference
General conference was great, as always. I liked the focus, although I was a little dissapointed that no one brought out Deuteronomy 22, Leviticus 18, or 1st Corinthians 6. Those make it pretty clear, right?
We met a pf (possibly future/part family) that consists of +20 people. We will be visiting them Tuesday. They gave us cake when we talked to them, so of course we will be coming back.
People contact us now, which is very, very great. It makes a missionary very happy.
Cesar brought us a man who lost his family (he was not married to his spouse, but they had 20 years in union libre) due to her having relations with another man. He has a testimony already, and he will be baptized on the 25th.
Concepciòn is progressing nicely, although slowly.
We will be talking with Nancy and her mother this week, but I'm not sure if they will be baptized. So, in one week we shall know who stays and who goes.
This is something I have found very useful with the people we talk to: the road to hell is paved with good intentions (el camino hacia el infierno es pavimentado con intenciones buenas). It gets the point across to people that acts are actually important, not just faith. I have begun compiling a list of useful bible verses to show the harder people that we are speaking truth.
Also, I found something really cool. Read Revelations 14:1-5. If any of these things go against your religious belief, then who are these 144000 people spoken of? This is what the bible says: Verse 1: The lamb (Jesus Christ) will be on mount Zion. Also, the 144000 will have the name of the father written on their forehead, in Spanish it reads only front. So, Jesus will appear on mount Zion (and where is that?) and the 144000 will have written (I say in a nametag) the name of their father (Jehovah is the father of the Israelites following what the old testament tells us, so Jesus Christ) boldly displayed for all to see.[Verse 2: Nothing. :) ] Verse 3: They will sing in front of God, cherubim, and ELDERS (the church, therefore, must have people of this designation) and the song will be one that no one else can learn if they are not one of these redeemed ones (they will be redeemed, or literally they will be bought, much like Jesus was bought with the infamous 30 pieces of silver). They will have already been payed for by Jesus. Verse 4: These souls will be virgins, and will be men, and will have served or will be serving missions (not contaminated with women {God has established his laws, if it specifically says this, that means it applies to the opposite sex} because they will be virgins. They will go where the Lord wants them to go {mission}) and they are the first to be redeemed out of the world (firstfruits for god and the lamb). Verse 5: They will be absolutely trustworthy because they will not have part in deceit. And with all of this, they will be spotless before the throne of god. Interesting right? Keep in mind that some words may be slightly different due to the wide variety of bibles used in the world today. Also, mine is in Spanish,and yours in English.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
We met a pf (possibly future/part family) that consists of +20 people. We will be visiting them Tuesday. They gave us cake when we talked to them, so of course we will be coming back.
People contact us now, which is very, very great. It makes a missionary very happy.
Cesar brought us a man who lost his family (he was not married to his spouse, but they had 20 years in union libre) due to her having relations with another man. He has a testimony already, and he will be baptized on the 25th.
Concepciòn is progressing nicely, although slowly.
We will be talking with Nancy and her mother this week, but I'm not sure if they will be baptized. So, in one week we shall know who stays and who goes.
This is something I have found very useful with the people we talk to: the road to hell is paved with good intentions (el camino hacia el infierno es pavimentado con intenciones buenas). It gets the point across to people that acts are actually important, not just faith. I have begun compiling a list of useful bible verses to show the harder people that we are speaking truth.
Also, I found something really cool. Read Revelations 14:1-5. If any of these things go against your religious belief, then who are these 144000 people spoken of? This is what the bible says: Verse 1: The lamb (Jesus Christ) will be on mount Zion. Also, the 144000 will have the name of the father written on their forehead, in Spanish it reads only front. So, Jesus will appear on mount Zion (and where is that?) and the 144000 will have written (I say in a nametag) the name of their father (Jehovah is the father of the Israelites following what the old testament tells us, so Jesus Christ) boldly displayed for all to see.[Verse 2: Nothing. :) ] Verse 3: They will sing in front of God, cherubim, and ELDERS (the church, therefore, must have people of this designation) and the song will be one that no one else can learn if they are not one of these redeemed ones (they will be redeemed, or literally they will be bought, much like Jesus was bought with the infamous 30 pieces of silver). They will have already been payed for by Jesus. Verse 4: These souls will be virgins, and will be men, and will have served or will be serving missions (not contaminated with women {God has established his laws, if it specifically says this, that means it applies to the opposite sex} because they will be virgins. They will go where the Lord wants them to go {mission}) and they are the first to be redeemed out of the world (firstfruits for god and the lamb). Verse 5: They will be absolutely trustworthy because they will not have part in deceit. And with all of this, they will be spotless before the throne of god. Interesting right? Keep in mind that some words may be slightly different due to the wide variety of bibles used in the world today. Also, mine is in Spanish,and yours in English.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
March 30, 2015 -- The Virgin Guadelupe
Well, I am doing fine.
My companion received The Miracle Of Forgiveness in the mail, and I read it. That is a really awesome book. It tells you how it is straight up. I liked it a lot.
I'm very excited about General Conference this week.
Also, can you guess what one of the most exciting things that happened this week was? I had a lesson with the best friend of one of the young women outside the young woman`s house. She accepted baptism, the young woman's mom was super proud and happy to see her daughter preaching, and her brother gave me 40 magic cards immediately afterward. Not only did the second most enjoyable thing for a missionary happen--when a member brings the friend and they accept everything--but one of the favorite Derik things, magic cards, also happened. I was ecstatic! Also, interestingly the friend's mother ended up being a contact we had due to an overwhelming sensation of sickness I had one day which made it so that we had to ask for help at the house where we conveniently met her. It's good to know that God provides the means so that even suffering has a purpose.
I found a turtle that was laying eggs--very cool. Also I did a whole bunch of balloon animals for the primary children as a reward for learning the follow the prophet song. Did you know that song has nine verses and that each one is super long? Wow!
Cesar blessed the sacrament! Yeah!
In other news the members are introducing us to their friends more now. :)
A woman named Leticia Guadalupe is listening to us. She is very, very, very Catholic--like super Catholic. And her husband is creente (believer), which means he believes in God, classifies himself as Catholic, but will not pray, and will not attend a church, but likes to listen. People sure are interesting, don´t you think? The brother is unwilling to do anything, and the sister understands almost nothing, but their son is already baptized. Also, they give us food and want us to keep coming. Leticia does not believe in the virgin Guadalupe, but every single one of her kids has that name as a second name.
Ok, so the Virgin Guadalupe: I really do not know what the heck this is. It is one of those things I am not sure I will ever understand. Basically it is Mary, but Mexican. and very brown. So Catholic churches here have both, María and Guadalupe, in their art pieces that they worship. It is very, very strange. Some of them worship her even though they tell me TO MY FACE they do not believe in her. What the heck is this? I'm pretty sure that this is what the Nephites dealt with a lot when they preached to the Lamanites; they taught them the gospel of God, and they had to leave behind their traditions. This world can be really crazy.
The Paz Martinez family dropped us. The brother says a whole bunch of curses when we come, and the sister cannot take it anymore. The brother reverted to alcohol (and we think drugs too) and the sister doesn´t want us to come any more because of him.
Life goes on, and I have work to do. Until next week.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
My companion received The Miracle Of Forgiveness in the mail, and I read it. That is a really awesome book. It tells you how it is straight up. I liked it a lot.
I'm very excited about General Conference this week.
Also, can you guess what one of the most exciting things that happened this week was? I had a lesson with the best friend of one of the young women outside the young woman`s house. She accepted baptism, the young woman's mom was super proud and happy to see her daughter preaching, and her brother gave me 40 magic cards immediately afterward. Not only did the second most enjoyable thing for a missionary happen--when a member brings the friend and they accept everything--but one of the favorite Derik things, magic cards, also happened. I was ecstatic! Also, interestingly the friend's mother ended up being a contact we had due to an overwhelming sensation of sickness I had one day which made it so that we had to ask for help at the house where we conveniently met her. It's good to know that God provides the means so that even suffering has a purpose.
I found a turtle that was laying eggs--very cool. Also I did a whole bunch of balloon animals for the primary children as a reward for learning the follow the prophet song. Did you know that song has nine verses and that each one is super long? Wow!
Cesar blessed the sacrament! Yeah!
In other news the members are introducing us to their friends more now. :)
A woman named Leticia Guadalupe is listening to us. She is very, very, very Catholic--like super Catholic. And her husband is creente (believer), which means he believes in God, classifies himself as Catholic, but will not pray, and will not attend a church, but likes to listen. People sure are interesting, don´t you think? The brother is unwilling to do anything, and the sister understands almost nothing, but their son is already baptized. Also, they give us food and want us to keep coming. Leticia does not believe in the virgin Guadalupe, but every single one of her kids has that name as a second name.
Ok, so the Virgin Guadalupe: I really do not know what the heck this is. It is one of those things I am not sure I will ever understand. Basically it is Mary, but Mexican. and very brown. So Catholic churches here have both, María and Guadalupe, in their art pieces that they worship. It is very, very strange. Some of them worship her even though they tell me TO MY FACE they do not believe in her. What the heck is this? I'm pretty sure that this is what the Nephites dealt with a lot when they preached to the Lamanites; they taught them the gospel of God, and they had to leave behind their traditions. This world can be really crazy.
The Paz Martinez family dropped us. The brother says a whole bunch of curses when we come, and the sister cannot take it anymore. The brother reverted to alcohol (and we think drugs too) and the sister doesn´t want us to come any more because of him.
Life goes on, and I have work to do. Until next week.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
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