Arrived in Valle de Bravo -- the weeks seem to go by fast!

Here again? The weeks sure seem to go by fast. They feel long during it, but all of a sudden it’s another Monday.  So I just finished my first week here in Valle de Bravo.  Let me just say, the temptation is real. haha. I feel like we are on an island.  There are big mountains and at the base is a huge lake. And occasionally you see wakeboard boats. Haha. Don’t worry though I will resist.  The streets kind of remind me of the town from “Tangled” but Mexican style. And instead of murals of the lost princess everywhere, it’s the Virgin Mary.  It is seriously crazy how much Mexicans worship her. You see more of her than Christ.  They are just a little confused.  It’s really funny contacting some people because we will ask why they believe in her and they say because their parents taught them that and she is their mother.  Then we will say something about the Book of Mormon.  And guess what some say?  “A Bible? a Bible? We don’t need another bible.” What?!  Prophesies fulfilled.  I realize they just are hidden from the truth, but it is interesting to see.  And that’s why we are here, to plant the seeds and if they are ready, to return to the fold.  One day they will “see the light” haha.  Punny

So honestly this week has been super hard and exhausting.  When I came, we didn’t really have anyone to teach.  We contacted 94 people this past week.  That is a ton!  The biggest challenge this week was a festival going on and also the Day of the Dead, so a lot of people were not from here.  In terms of Day of the Dead celebrations, not that much happened.  People sold a bunch of orange flowers on the street and people talked about going to the cemetery but we didn’t see.  On Halloween, kids dressed up to go trick or treating. And then the next night (Saturday), they decided to go for round two.  Come on kids, you can’t do that...at least have a different costume. haha.  Kinda funny.

Anyway, back to the work. So yeah there weren’t a lot of people, so we have walked EVERYWHERE.  My feet are falling off. haha We are always so tired. We maybe got into 3 houses of investigators last week, nonetheless, we shall continue.

My companion, Elder Whatcott, is awesome. He is hilarous. He is from Saint George. He knows where Grandma and Grandpa Hymas live and Sue and Mike. We are pretty sure our grandparents know each other because his work in the temple as well, as sealers.   I don’t really have any pictures of us yet though.  Maybe next week...We are getting ready for Christmas. I know it’s a little early, but it’s something to look forward to here.  Elder Whatcott is drawing a Christmas tree and we listen to MoTab Christmas music.  A real party here.

Oh also, we went to this guy’s house whose dog just had puppies that day. There is a picture. The guy was really drunk though and it smelled like dog poop so we didn’t stay that long.  Drunk people are kinda funny. I try to avoid them, but sometimes they just are funny to talk to.

Sorry this letter is so random. 

Some cool stories that have happened were the first two days. The Monday night I got here we went to our cita with this family Concepcion, Bruno, and their two daughters. We taught Concepcion and one of the daughters. They both accepted to be baptized in 4 weeks! It was such a good way to start off the change. The rest of the week though we kept trying to find them to teach them but couldn’t find them. Bruno’s job is a clown, so we always are going “to teach this clown a lesson” haha.  Anyway, Saturday we had to meet with them to make sure everything was set to go to church on Sunday, but they weren’t home. We figured they were in centro at the last day of the festival, so we went to search down the clown. Of course everyone was still dressed up for Halloween, so we never found him. We decided to leave a note in their door saying we will come by in the morning to go to church with them. We went the next morning and they came with us! It was so nice to bring a family to church.

Another cool thing was on Tuesday we went to work with the hermanas in my district. Our district is SO young. I only have 5 months and the other missionaries only have 4 months, so we are all learning together. haha. Anyway, we went to one of their citas and taught this one guy about the Restoration of the Church. Then at the end, really randomly we brought up baptism and the importance of it. We asked him if he would like to be baptized and he agreed!  So now the hermanas are working with him to help him be prepared in a few weeks! 

This branch is really small... There are a few good members, but it really struggles. Yesterday we had 38 people in church which is good, but still... I have thought a lot about when the Church first began with Joseph Smith. There was nothing to be based on, no members to befriend, or a foundation to build off of. It was all through the power of God. That is what I am trying to learn while here, to lean on God to help this area. We want to reactivate people here and bring more people into the church with strong testimonies so they can stand on their own. At the same time, we want them to have friends to feel comfortable. The branch needs leadership, which it really doesn’t have enough of.  I really hope to have an impact on this branch. If any of you have good ideas, feel free to share.

So that is my first week. Kinda random, like usual. Anyway, we are living the mission life here. I might go paragliding if I come back here. There are always a ton in the sky. This week will be a good week. I feel it. ¡Adios mi familia! ¡les amo!

-Elder Thomas