August 31, 2015 -- Short and Sweet

For this week, we had Tania´s baptism, but one of the assistants came in to baptize her. The bishop was really mad. We have Juana´s baptism this week, and the assistants want us to force Teresa to be baptized as well.

 

I'm not doing too well. I do not want to be here right now.
 

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

August 24 -- One More Time

Many things happened this week. It would be inappropriate to tell you about them by email, though. Sorry. Suffice it to say, I am alive. And still here.

Tania´s baptism is this week, and Juana´s is next week. But the assistants want us to bump her up to this week. :( She finished Alma, but we do not know where she is anymore in the Book of Mormon. She asked us what she should do with her idols (her Virgin Guadalupe and her nativity). We explained that nativities are fine, and that the difference between worshipping idols and remembering Jesus is very large. Gloria is moving to Matamoros for during the week, but is here on weekends, so she will be here for her baptism on the 19th and can attend church.

We met a woman named Amelia who already knows we are different. But I cannot tell you why.

We met a woman named Nelly who also knows this but for different reasons.

We had a bunch of confrontations this week with people who wanted to know what we think about mental issues, homosexuality, gifts of the spirit, and similar concepts that are supremely difficult to explain when the person who asks the question has their mind set on one answer, and it is not the correct one.

We are doing fine.

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

August 17, 2015

So, Sister Maqueda told my zone leader and me that Said and Carlos are going to go to her sister´s church and refused to hear any other options. We are not sure if we can continue visiting. Said promised to be baptized when he turns 18. I hope he remembers that promise.

Our Zone Leaders had interchanges with us so that they could explain the new way we are going to contact now. We have a whole bunch of cards left over from Christmas (ÉlEsLaDádiva), so we have to start every conversation by offering the contact a card. If they say no, we leave. If they say yes, we talk to them. (The idea is, if they will not accept a card, there is no way short of a miracle of getting them to accept any other invitation; we do not have time for that, plus faith based on miracles is worth nothing.) The next thing we do is invite them to baptism if they arrive at a knowledge that the things we teach are true. If they say yes, we teach them immediately and set a baptismal date with them. If they say no, we change the question to "Ok, I guess what we really wanted to ask was if god told you to, would you be baptized?" If they say yes, we set a lesson plan with them. If they say no, we leave. This is a plan given to us to help us figure out who is wheat and who is chaff. It works pretty well. You do not waste time with people who do not want anything to do with you but are too polite to tell you so.

Juana is now our best investigator. When we visited her Thursday, she was in Alma 43. She started reading from the first page, and we have like a month teaching her. She told us she knows she is going to be baptized, dropped coffee, is changing her work schedule so that she doesn't work on Sunday, and is basically just an awesome person. Her goal right now is the 28th.

Thania also said she is going to be baptized (the 28th). The only problem is her work schedule, and we are trying to figure that one out. Did I mention she is a math teacher? We had a great discussion in which we were talking about calculus (we still remember it) and Elder Robertshaw got out a piece of paper and drew a graph which was an infinite integral from which, through some strange machination or magic of math, you can receive a finite volume. I said something very profound about that, which we do not remember, relating to how god, being infinite, is able to give us a finite answer when we pray with faith. It was awesome.

We found a drunk catholic who was super interested in the message we share. He doesn´t live in our area, but he has lots of questions and likes us because we answer him every time he asks.

Changes were supposed to be Saturday, but only 8 missionaries in the entire mission had transfers, which is strange--2 sisters and 6 elders, and they just traded spots. With that being 5.25% (more or less) of the number of total missionaries, we are expecting special transfers about halfway through this transfer.

More than that, I want you to know that the message we bring is true. As a missionary, I represent the only true and authorized church of God here on Earth. I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet, through whom God restored the fullness of the gospel and the Priesthood to the earth. And that the only way we humans will return to be with him is if we first take upon ourselves baptism, by an authorized Priesthood holder, in the way that God has defined. So, if there is, on the off chance, someone reading this who has not yet listened to the missionaries, I invite you to do so. The message is true, and God loves you. If you do not act upon this message, you will never understand just how much.

Have a great week.

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

 

 

August 10, 2015

Well, so having one year feels a lot like having 0 years. Nothing really changed. 

 

Big news--it´s a boy! Rosa had her son this week. He is really really small. He weighs like 5 lbs I think. His name is Naithan. He doesn´t talk much, hardly at all actually. Basically he just sits there with his eyes closed and doesn´t move. It's kind of creepy. But, now that his mother successfully gave birth (it wasn´t a C-section, which is basically the normal for everyone here), she is going to school in Matamoros, which means she is not here in Reynosa. And her mother (Gloria) is accompanying her due to her weakened condition. So she didn´t come to church. 

 

To celebrate our one-year mark, we told a sister that we had one year in the mission and she hopped next door to the pastelería, which is a store that only sells cake, and bought us some. Mom, you asked about Mexicans and eating cake all of the time and why they aren't all fat. The reason not all Mexicans are horribly fat due to eating cake all the time is generally (not always, but generally) because 1) they are in fact horribly fat, 2) they do not have sufficient means to buy other food, so they remain skinny, 3) they are rich and their trainer keeps them fit, and 4) those are basically the reasons, actually.

Dania is actually Thania. Th sounds like d here. That baptism is still on for the 28th. 

 

The 2 large families we contacted, two of the young men of one of those families went to church yesterday. When we came to visit them, they asked us the following--What do I have to do to get the priesthood? What do I have to do to pass the sacrament? Can I bless it? If I talk to the bishop (which they did) can he work things out? Can I be baptized right now? At what age can I leave on my mission? Will I get sent out of the country? What do I have to do to be called as Quorum President? Can I give a talk?--and a bunch of similair questions that every missionary dreams of being asked. The problem is that we had no idea how to answer all of them. Each answer just brought up more questions. These two young men are named Saíd and Carlos. And they are the best. 

 

They bought a board game this week. It surprised us a lot because, I have never met anyone, not in all my life, who has had the actual board game of Othello. Elder Robertshaw and I know how to play (his father taught him), so we explained it to him. As of now, I am beating Carlos 2-0, Elder Robertshaw is beating me 1-0, and Carlos is beating Elder Robertshaw 1-0. Every time we come and visit them they bring us food. Their mother Fransisca makes us chamoyadas every time we come (which is a sweet and spicy icee they fill with bitter flavoring and then stick gummies and fruit on). I used to think they were nasty. Now that I have one almost every day, I am starting to like the flavor. We come visit them almost every day of the week now, because we asked when they would like us to come back and teach them more, and Saíd said; ¨A mi me gustaría si venían cada día a visitarnos¨, which means "I would like it if you came and visited us every day." The mom is super nice but she is conflicted because she isn´t sure what to believe. She is unwilling to pray and ask god. We are working with her.

We helped the ward clerk move Saturday. While we were unloading his stuff at his new home, out hopped a mouse, which began to run. Everyone was just standing yelling, so I chased it. And kicked the mouse out of the garage. (It was trying to go hide.) After the 3rd time I kicked it, it stopped moving. Then Elder Brogan hit it with a broomstick until it died. 

 

It was the continuation of a very strange day. I started the day of with lots of stomach issues, and that happened. Then, we ate twice. Following which we went and visited Saíd and Carlos, had a conversation where an old investigator we had dropped explained to us that the JWs are wrong and believe in science (you can imagine that conversation, we were just standing there thinking, wow--that is a cohesive argument.) She wanted us to give her an answer to confuse them the next time they came and prove them wrong about the 144000 people who get to be saved thing. As a rule, we do not spend time tearing other churches down. I would much rather have my investigators gain a testimony of the book of mormon than give an investigator the tools to bible bash. But we could not get her to stop raving about the JWs. We eventually just left. 

 

And then the next thing happened. We figured out that this group of 4 teenage girls always takes the same route every day to go do something. We do not know what, but they do not wear modest clothing, so we figure it can´t be a good thing. But, the point of that random comment is that we were late getting home one night, so we ended up passing them walking really quickly. And they started doing catcalls at us and making kissing noises. They made comments about my rear. And said some things that would make you blush to hear. Basically something good missionaries do not want to hear. But they follow us home every night on their way to whatever it is they go to do. We have taken to walking much faster close to home due to them.

But, basically another crazy week here in Mexico. It really is great to be here.
Love you all.

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

 

Here's my new visa picture:

 

August 3, 2015 -- more cake

On Thursday, I will be out one year; that is quite something! And I am here with two of the elders I was with a year ago--very strange.

I´d like everyone to know I am fine. We are having an excellent time and excellent lessons.

We had a lesson with Dania (part member family, 25 year old that likes anime). That was really great. She accepted a baptismal date (apparently a first), and everyone was super happy. At the end, the assistants showed up and brought a cake. It turns out that the family had scheduled a birthday party for one of the assistants immediately after our lesson, so we got cake. It almost made us late for the baptism that was scheduled that night, and it was also on fast Sunday, so it complicated things a little bit.

On Sunday we contacted two large families (one that has 8 people over the age of eight and one with 9), and they accepted what we shared. We are going to see if they want to progress. The family of eight wants to go to church and is pretty excited. To top that one off, the older son who does not live with them already goes to this church. Also, we met a guy from California that is here. He does not know how long he will be visiting family. He speaks English perfectly, and he wants us to teach him in English. That will be interesting because we have never done that before.

Barbara tried to return the Book of Mormon to us. It seems like she does not want us to visit anymore. :(

We visit lots of other people, and basically everyone else is cool.

Oh! Gloria's daughter Rosa? We think she gave birth yesterday. We will know for sure by next week.

But, basically, that's what I have to say for this week. All of this is worth it!

Love you all.

Saludos, Amor, y Todo que te puedo ofrecer

Salutations, Love, and all that I can offer

Elder Scott

 

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