Week 52 - A Ver Si Jala!

Hey Everyone!

Pretty good week this week.  Lots of chamba (work).  Last Monday we went with a Colombian woman that we found contacting last week named Sandra.  She's super cool.  She lives with her husband and her two little kids.  They moved her from Columbia like 4 months ago I think?  She was really interested in our message and it's always cool to hear a different accent.  The Mexico City Chilango accent is funny so change is good.  Actually people always tell me that my accent is super chilango and that I talk like a Narco, because I learned how to talk Spanish in Iztapalapa which is super ghetto and the accent stuck.  Oops.  But anyways we taught her two lessons and she accepted a baptismal date this week!  Her only problem is that she works on Sundays.  We're gonna have to work on that.

Also this week we went with Karla and Joel (the two school teachers that need to get married before we can throw them in the water) and had a really good lesson.  Since I'm leaving in two weeks I told them that I really want them to keep progressing when I leave.  We set a new goal with them and they said that for sure they are going to get married in December.  They set a date and made plans to get it done.  It was great.

On Saturday we had a leadership meeting in my old area, the famous PARAISO.  I was so excited to go back there.  It was sweet.  Sadly I couldn't visit anyone, but the meeting was good.  We talked about what we can do to make the mission better.  Right now we're really focusing in becoming truly converted, not just receiving a testimony.  We talked about how we need to learn how to be true disciples of Christ while we're here and that if someone else isn't being a disciple of Christ, it's our job to correct them.  There were a lot of good ideas shared and it was awesome to feel the Spirit in that room for about 4 hours.  Good times.

That's about it for the week.  Have a great week!  Love you guys!

Elder Warren

Elder Kay's face

Tacos 5 por $15 in Paraiso

Love these guys!

Elder Osorio and I in a mototaxi

Just so you guys know I can still dunk after 1 year in the mish

Week 51 - NDH De Oro

What's up fam,

We had an awesome week this week!  This Saturday we had the baptism of a little girl named Briza.  It was really cool how we found her.  We went to do a service project with a member from our ward and she told us she had a reference for us of an inactive from our ward named Teresa.  We went to visit her and found out that she has a 9 year old daughter!  We started working with both of them and were able to reactivate Teresa and baptize Briza!  It was really cool.  We had three investigators present in the baptism which was awesome.

Also we planned a Family Home Evening with an awesome family from our ward this Thursday.  They told us to invite all the people we wanted.  So we did, and we were able to bring FIVE investigators and a recent convert.  We played games and taught about prayer and it was awesome.  We love that family.

On Tuesday we had a Zone Conference and it was the greatest one so far.  They were talking a lot about if we're doing our job here on the mission.  They made the reference to a pit stop team.  They can change a car's tires and fill it with gas in like one second (if you haven't seen it watch a video).  If we're doing our job efficiently and correctly, we find great results.  They shared a lot about Jesus Christ and our own mothers and if we were making them proud for the work we're putting in and the loyalty we show them by being great missionaries. (Don't worry Coach Susie, I got you.)

To finish off the week it was Mexican Independence Day.  It was WILD.  Everyone was shooting of super loud fireworks and getting drunk in the streets.  It was pretty crazy!

That's about it for the week!  I hope you're all doing great!  Love and miss you guys!

Elder Warren

Week 50 - Que Flojera!

Hello Everyone!

Pretty solid week this week, probably because I wasn't sick haha.  Some cool things from the week:  We've been teaching a man named Julio recently.  I don't know if I've mentioned him before, but he's the father of a less active family and he's not a member.  We've been working with them for quite a while and finally (five years after the baptisms of his family) he's progressing!  We've had some really good lessons and he and his whole family went to church for the second time in a row!  That's the first time he's been to church twice in a row.  Good progress.

Also this week we started teaching a sastre (I don't remember how to say that in English).  The missionaries were teaching him like a year ago but they stopped visiting, who knows why.  We started talking with him and he was like, "What are the requirements for baptism?"  Long story short, we explained the requirements for baptism to him and put a baptismal date as a goal that we're going to work towards with him.  All he's gotta do is stop drinking alcohol, which shouldn't be too hard with the help of the Gospel.

Also we've been working with that reference that a member gave us (the one of the less active member with her daughter that's 9 years old that she wants us to baptize).  They've been able to go to church with us and we have her baptism planned for this Saturday!  It's pretty cool because this Saturday is Mexican Independence Day (which must be like Fourth of July but with tamales and tacos and stuff?).  We're excited for it and hoping that everything goes well!  I'll let you all know how wild Independence Day gets down here.

That's about it for now,  hope you all have a great week!  Love you guys!

Elder Warren

Pictures:

Getting my young selfie game up with my friends at the bowling alley x5

A pic of the Young Gun J-rad and I before the mish

A pic of the Young Gun J-rad and I before the mish

Getting my young selfie game up with my friends at the bowling alley!

Bowling fun!

Week 49 - Ataque De La Gripa

Hello Amigitos,

This week was a little slower for us.  I was sick all week with a pretty bad cold so I couldn't really breathe or stay awake, but we were able to get some work done still.

We had a cool visit with my recent convert, Alejandro (the old dude that got baptized like 2 months ago).  We were talking with him and he said that he wanted to help more people learn about the church.  He said, "Let's go knock on all of the doors in this area and explain to them all why they should be Mormon."  Alejandro is so awesome.  He laid out a whole plan for us to knock on every single door in the Colonia to baptize more people.  So we're gonna start doing that with him in a couple of weeks.  It will be really cool because Alejandro is a professional salesman, and he's one of the best.  I'm excited to see how he "sells" the Gospel!

Also this morning we went to the offices and while we were there was an earthquake alarm.  So all of us missionaries went outside to see what was up.  There wasn't an earthquake, but some drunk dude came up to us and started yelling at us.  He actually had pretty good English for a drunk dude.  He said that it wasn't fair that some dude beat him up, and I guess that was our fault?  He threw some garden hedge clippers at President Mann but missed by a lot because he was pretty wasted.  And then a bunch of girls from across the street started waving at us and taking pictures.  I guess they're not used to seeing so many white people haha.  It was a fun trip to the offices.

Well there's some other stuff from the week but it's not too interesting so I won't bore you all.  This week will be better because I don't feel too sick anymore.  Hope you all have a great week!  Love you guys!

Elder Warren

2 Week Old Puppy (:

Pres and Elder Santiago (He leaves next week)

We're big (but he's bigger)

The five white people from my generation

The zone at the end of last cycle

Week 48 - Olvidados

Hello Everyone,

We had a pretty solid week.  Yesterday Rafaela got confirmed after her baptism last Sunday.  President Mann was there to see it and he was able to talk to her and her family afterward which was cool.

Also this Monday we had a cool experience.  A sister from our ward asked us to help her move some old stuff up to her roof (on a three-story house, which was pretty tiring).  After we helped her she made us pancakes which was pretty awesome, but it was more awesome because she gave us a reference of a less-active sister from the ward.  We went to visit her this week and turns out she has a nine year old daughter and she wants her to get baptized!  We were obviously willing to help her with that haha.  The blessings of service!

Today's the day of changes but we didn't have changes, which was what we were expecting because I have to finish Elder Callirgos' training.  So we're getting ready for six more weeks together here in Pantitlan!  It should be really good, there's a lot of work here right now.  We have three people preparing to be baptized in the month of September so we'll see how that goes!  We're having a good time out here and seeing the blessings of our work!

Well that's pretty much it for this week, it was pretty tranquilo.  Hope you all are doing well and that you have a great week!

Elder Warren

Week 47 - Back 2 Back

Hello my friends,

Awesome week this week.  Yesterday we had a baptism (back to back).  One of our investigator's named Rafaela got baptized.  We've been teaching her and her family for a long time so it was a really cool day.  Also it was cool because this week she started to have some doubts and she wasn't sure that she was ready to get baptized.  We talked with her a lot and were able to help her with those doubts, and she decided she was ready to get baptized.  After the baptism there were no doubts.  I asked her how she felt after the service and she looked at me with tears of joy in her eyes and said, "I'm very content."  It was awesome.  Also afterward two of her grandsons said they wanted to follow her example and start listening to our lessons!

ALSO we have two investigators that have been listening to the missionaries for a super long time (if you don't know what a long time is, it means 6 years).  The problem is that they're not married.  The woman, Karla, wanted to get married and get baptized, but the man, Joel, kept saying that he didn't want to get married.  Last week we asked them to talk seriously about marriage and what they are going to do.  This Friday, when we visited them again, Joel said that he was finally able to look at marriage differently and that he knew it was necessary.  He was able to see how marriage would help his family, house, job, etc., and said that it was going to happen before the end of this year.  Great progress.

That was the best of the week!  I'll keep you all updated on the other awesome stuff I do in the near future.  Have a great week!

Elder Warren

(Also we fould and killed that stupid mouse that woke us up at 2 am which was a huge success.  I will attach a photo and video.)

The selfie is with my buddy Ulisses the cholo

Week 46 - Bautismos Sorpresas

Mi Gente Que Tranzita,

Pretty awesome week.  One of our investigators told us on Saturday night, out of nowhere, that she wanted to get baptized and confirmed on Sunday so that she could go to the temple with the other youth from our ward this week. So we made it happen!  Her name is Monica.  She was the only non-member from her family so it was pretty easy to teach and baptize her.  She was able to get baptized and confirmed yesterday and it was an awesome service.  My boy Elder Santiago in the offices is gonna put her information in the system today so that she can go do baptisms this week!

Also Ulisses, the awesome dude that's been to jail and has maybe killed somebody before (who knows) started reading the Book of Mormon all by himself this week to help calm him down in difficult times.  He read about Enos and was interested in learning about repentance, just like Enos was able to do through his prayer.  We had a really great lesson with him and he says that he'll go to church with us (for the very first time) this Sunday.  He's such a cool guy.  And I feel safer in my area because I'm his friend hahaha.

On Friday we did divisions with some other Elders because I teach a white lady in their area and she doesn't speak any Spanish.  And I'm the only white person in this area so I go over there every Friday.  It's pretty dang difficult because (1) I'm not used to teaching in English, and (2) She asks a TON of questions.  She's super skeptical about everything.  And then later that evening we had a literally debate with a family about religious beliefs which was fun because nobody got their feelings hurt.  And it was funny because they're supposedly from the same religion but they started to disagree on so many things and were almost yelling at each other.  There were a lot of interruptions and wild ideas flying around in that room.  That was a first for me.

That's it for the week!  Hope you all are doing well!  Love and miss you all!

Elder Warren