July 27, 2015 -- A Bible, a Bible, I have the Bible...

Hey guys!

Gloria's fine. But, unfortunately she is not legally married :´(

We met a woman named Barbara who is really awesome. She listened to us and let us do service for her. We cut her grass, which consisted of us pulling grass to the right length with our hands. it took about 4 hours. Afterward she gave us eggs, which were pretty good.

In case someone was unaware, it is HOT. All the time.

We found a part-member family where the nonmember loves something called anime. I found that great, and she came to church without us teaching her a single lesson. :) We shall see what happens with that one, but it looks promising.

A family brought their extended family to church so that they could meet us. They want us to teach them, and the brother apologized for not being married but assured us that they wanted to change that and are working toward doing so. That is all right by me!

The guy I talked about last week only comes to church if he is drunk so that he can disrupt the meeting. Personally I think that makes little to no sense, but hey. Also something very important: he knows this is the true church of god. He will not be baptized, however, because he refuses to get married, and he absolutely loves to drink. That makes me think of a certain bible reference found in Matthew 7. I hope someday he overcomes himself. And, to clarify, his son came home from his mission, baptized his own girlfriend, and then moved in with her.

On Sunday we helped some Jehovah´s Witnesses unload their new refridgerator and install it in their house. That kind of put us off, because generally they are tight about the whole day of rest thing. Afterward they bought us Coke (which I am starting to like, unfortunately, because that is what everyone drinks here), and we talked about our messages. One of them promised to pray and ask God. We have no idea if he will, but I sure hope so.

Elder Brogan tried to make no-bake cookies at the bishops house; they did not work, but they do taste heavenly.

A 7th Day Adventist wanted to argue with us about the whole Saturday vs. Sunday thing. Usually we just talk to Catholics or Nondoms, so that was interesting.

Elder Urias gave me his watch, so I now know what time it is.

We were rejected many, many, many times this week. The litany is always the same (feel free to add in emotions if you wish--it might make it more interesting):

                -Where is this written in the Bible?-

• It is not written in the Bible. It is written in the Book of Mormon, a second, powerful witness of Jesus Christ. That is why we asked you to pray about it to know if it is true.

                -How can I know it is true if it isn´t written in the Bible?-

• Repeat of prior statement

                -It is just that I only believe in God, Jesus, and the Spirit.-

• Yeah, us too. Now if you pray they will tell you these things are true.

                -Yeah, but they already gave us everything we need in the Bible.-

• Do you believe that god put all of his wisdom and knowledge into the Bible?

                -Yes-

• Why?

                -No answer or mumbling-

• Have you read the Bible?

                -Repeat-

• Have you read any part of the Bible?

                -Repeat-

• How do you know the Bible is true?

                -It is the word of God-

• Ok. Great. So would you oppose to God giving us more of his word?

                -God already told us everything we need to know, and it is in the Bible.-

• Sister, do you read the Bible?

                -No-

• Ok. Well God is talking to us in our times through prophets, just like in the days of old. If you pray about these things, you can know for yourself whether or not they are true. Could you pray please sister?

                -It is just that I only believe in God.-

• What?

                -I believe in God.-

• Great, well if you ask him if these things are true, he will tell you they are!

                -But they can´t be true.-

• Huh? Why not?

                -Because they are not in the Bible.-

• Right sister, that is why we asked you to pray, so that God can tell you they are true.

                -But it isn´t in the Bible.-

• Repeat above statement.

                -God doesn't talk to us.-

• What? Why?

                -Because he already told us everything we need to know, and it is in the Bible.-

• Do you believe that God put all of his wisdom and knowledge into the Bible?

                -Yes-

• So would you please explain to us how the internet came into being?

                -Huh?-

• Man created the internet, and I know of no place in the Bible where it even remotely mentions this particular invention. Is man, then, wiser than God?

                -No, that would be impossible. God inspired men so that he could create it.

• Great! So basically, God revealed to someone something that doesn´t come in the Bible, right? That means he shared more of his wisdom with mankind, which means the Bible does not hold all the truth that God knows, right?

                -No answer-

• Excellent Sister, so would you please pray about these things so that you can know for yourself?

                -It is just that they are not in the Bible.-

• Right, which is why you should ask god, and he will tell you they are true. You do not have to rely on us, or any other person. You can ask God, and He cannot lie to you! So, how about offering a prayer sister?

                -It is not in the Bible-...

SIGH!  Now, I could go on, but you get the basic idea. Usually the person is dumbfounded and the missionaries are tired. The conversation finally ends when we just leave.

So, until next time. Love you guys.

Saludos, Amor, y Todo que te puedo ofrecer
Salutations, Love, and all that I can offer
Elder Scott

July 20, 2015 -- To Clarify

To clarify what I sent last week, Elder Robertshaw is my companion. He is an awesome guy. We spend all day singing and talking to people. It is hot. We have people we teach. The end.
Did you like my clarification? :)

 

So I would like to inform everyone that I am really happy! 

 

I fasted Friday, which was an excellent day to fast because not only was it very hot, but we got to clean out the baptismal font! The drainage equipment does not work, and the water tanks are full in our chapel; so we got to empty all the water out with buckets. It was about 2 feet deep, green, with lots of cockroaches (dead) and mosquitoes (alive). It only took 4 hours out of our day to empty, clean, fill, empty again (the water came out yellow) clean again, and then fill the font. After that we ate, and we were exhausted when we finally had the baptism. But we appreciated it a lot more, let me tell you. 

 

We had an excellent week! The number of investigators who came to church doubled, we still had 25 lessons, and we got 6 references, 3 of which we contacted. They didn't want anything to do with us, but we managed to get a ton of work done in spite of spending so much time not teaching. (We spent like a day and a half doing other chores such as cleaning fonts.) 

 

I had interchanges with the zone leaders, which was all right. They do not really have anyone they're teaching, unfortunately, so we contacted a lot. There is an elder in training over there, too, so he got to practice talking.

In other (bad) news, there is a man in priesthood who is a nonmember living in free union (not married) with a ward member. (His son is a returned missionary who baptized his girlfriend and then moved in with her.) He explodes whenever someone bears their testimony in church, refuses to lower his voice (he talks at a nice outside-voice yell level), and basically attempts to ruin the meeting for everyone else. He also takes offense whenever the topic is any type of sin (especially sexual sin) and takes all of the class time whining. We asked him to try to be more reverent and he told us to take a hike in very strong language. We are going to eat in his home on Thursday alone because the other elders´ investigator invited them to eat that day and would not let them say no. :(

We found a woman named Gloria this week who came to church, wants to be baptized, and already believes in what we say. She is already reading the book of Mormon, and basically, she is an awesome person.

 

Have an excellent week!

Saludos, Amor, y Todo que te puedo ofrecer
Salutations, Love, and all that I can offer
Elder Scott

July 13, 2015 -- Mine

Well, the area (Reynosa) is officially mine now, which is good because we worked hard this week. We had 30 lessons (the weekly average is 12-18 lessons), and we have a ton of people that want to feed us, go to church, and get baptized. Unfortunately, only two of them went to church.

I had no idea I would enjoy being with someone from the MTC this much. Elder Robertshaw knows a lot of music, too, and we amuse ourselves when we are walking by singing. Also, we get to sing in lessons (a luxury, because generally no one can sing and it drives away the spirit when they try), and he is good. 

In other news, I got the stuff that my old companion did not initially send me, and my shoes and my razor were both covered in mold! I am going to figure out how to clean that so that I can use them.

 
Some less actives picked us up in the middle of the street and tried to rent a house to us when we were going to a lesson appointment we had. It was incredibly strange, and the lesson fell through when we finally got there. 

We now know the area, so we have no problems arriving anywhere.

Elder Robertshaw opens the bible to a random page to find a spiritual thought to share with one of his friends who is currently serving her mission. He opened to Isaiah 62:5, which we thought was hilarious. I do not believe he will send her that scripture.

The doctor cleared me, so apparently I am healed. It sure is nice to be able to preach again. Unfortunately, we are entering something called the Kanicula, which means it does not rain, the temperature is always at least 40 degrees C, and the sun is very strong. But I am enjoying it.

I have nothing else to talk about really, so here are some people I met here:

Tomi is a nine-year-old boy we will baptize next week because we just reactivated his parents. He is an awesome kid.

Eloi is a 10 year old boy whose family was recently baptized, but he was unable to be in the lessons because he was with his father (divorced parents). He will be baptized in two weeks.

Baltazar is a seventy-year-old blind man, grandfather of Eloi, and he will receive the priesthood this week. It would be amazing if he could baptize his grandson.

Guadalupe is a Jehovah´s Witness we talked to twice. She warmed up to us after the first lesson, then when we came the second time she refused to talk to us and acted like we were not even there. It made us sad. She accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson, but I do not know what happened the morning of the next day, and she was super cold when we came back the next night. :(

The Gutierrez Mata family are creentes (catholics who do not attend church) that accepted us and a baptismal date for the 7th. The trick is getting them to church.

José Angel and Argelio are a brother and sister (51 and ?? [because you do not ask a woman her age]) who are also creentes but who asked all the really good questions missionaries want to hear about baptism, authority, why there are so many churches, the works.

Enrique is a sixteen-year-old kid that works in a bakery. He knows the Book of Mormon is true but doesn't want to go to church. His mother also believes in the Book of Mormon and told us that we would probably conquer her with that book, which is super awkward for a missionary, given that conquering has many meanings and the only common use is sexual. It is correct to say, but it was a little surprising. Unfortunately, they are moving back to their home in Colima, :( , which is like 16 hours from here. In car. 

We also lost another family because they moved, Emma and her kids. They are great people; they just had to leave. They are moving right outside the limits of our area. :(

I met a bunch of other people, but these are few couple that I found interesting. So, there you have them.

That is about it. Love you guys. Have an excellent week.

Saludos, Amor, y Todo que te puedo ofrecer
Salutations, Love, and all that I can offer
Elder Scott

July 6, 2015 -- Emeritus

Hiya! So I am able to work again now!

And, I got sent on a special interchange with an elder from my district in the MTC named Elder Robertshaw. I also live with Elder Brogan, who was my companion in the MTC. This area has not been assigned to me, however. Elder Robertshaw´s companion hurt himself kicking a ball against a wall and can´t walk for a couple of weeks as a result.

My last (hopefully) doctor´s appointment is today.

Some of my stuff was lost when my companion sent it with President (don´t worry, I will get it eventually). Among these things were my shoes. I thought those would be one of the things my companion was sure to send. I guess it is a good thing that in the mission home there are black trash bags full of things that missionaries who have gone home did not want to take with them. So I have a newish pair of shoes that are ok.

I had a beard! I will not send pictures, but I was unable to shave or do any other self care for a month, so I had lots of hair. I bought a razor (another thing my companion forgot and I will get eventually) and shaved, which is happy. I also found a suit jacket that actually fits me in the mission home, and president asked me whose clothing I was wearing (I told him) and then informed me I looked like a model ;) My waist is now a 31, which I am very happy about. Lets see how I end up :)

One of the suits I brought with me molded. My companion packed it wet in a plastic bag. Oh well. IT doesn´t matter, since I got a replacement.

I am currently an emeritus missionary just like Elder Scott is an emeritus apostle. But I should be returning to duties. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Love you guys.

Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott

June 29, 2015 -- out of the hospital

Hey! I am alive. I have another week of down time. The internal bleeding stopped, which is a good bonus. I have read 3 of the church manuals. I learned many interesting things about the new testament, the old testament, the book of mormon, I finished the bible, the book of mormon, all of the liahonas that are in the house. Basically I get to start over the book of mormon again and then I have nothing else to do. But, that is what 4 weeks of down time means.

Love you guys!