Sorry this letter is so scrambled...

Hola mi familia!

Another week has past by and I am here in the cyber again. This week I felt like we were running all over the place. On Monday night the assistants came over to stay the next two nights and work in our zone. They also came to the junta. It was a pretty good junta. We talked about the importance of meaningful prayer and how we need to do it ourselves as well as how we can help our investigators commit to praying. We also talked about how to invite people to be baptized from the beginning. Everyone was pretty excited and people have been getting better at inviting this past week. After the junta I went to Ixtlahuaca to work with the 2 elders there. The assistants split up and one went with my companion. There is this one father of this family of recent converts who has been investigating the church. We went to invite him to be baptized. We had a super powerful lesson and we invited him. He accepted! But then I did the interview and he didn´t pass...He has some things to clear up in his life. :/ The elders were kind of bummed so I went and bought them hamburgers. Also on Thursday I went out there once again to work with Elder Uelese from Samoa. We went to some part of their area in the middle of nowhere to this reference of a member. The reference had read the entire Book of Mormon, but he didn’t seemed too impressed which was kind of a bummer. We had most of the day in this pueblo so it wasn’t super productive. 

That was pretty much what has happened during the week. Yesterday we did have the baptism of the family Segundo Rangel. You can see the picture. One of the daughters is super pregnant. She is going to have her baby in less than 2 weeks... I also got a picture right as my companion is sneezing. haha. Everyone else looks angry. 

Guadalupe was sick yesterday so she couldn’t go to church, but she is still progressing. We did find another family who might have some potential. It was just a contact off the street to a guy named Victor. He and his wife came yesterday and they have some other kids and grandkids that live with them so we are going to keep teaching them.

We also have some other people we are teaching. I think I told you about Jazmin and her kids. We are going to be planning for their baptism this Sunday. Jazmin said her son, Jesus was really liking church.

Sorry this letter is so scrambled. I think I am getting lazier and lazier in my letters haha.

We had the time change this past weekend (I think it’s different than the states) but I equally have been so DANG TIRED! 

So one thing Elder Goodrich and I have been doing is changing up our lessons. We have been using different examples and trying to explain to our investigators in different ways. It makes it more interesting for the investigators and for us. 

I have been reading in Alma this past week. Alma and Amulek are such cool missionaries. I read today when they were imprisoned and the judges killed all the believers in fire and then for days would beat Alma and Amulek. That would be just a test of faith. And then with all their faith, they busted the prison walls and walk out in glory. I had a movie going on in my mind. I want to develop faith like them. So that’s my goal this week. Love you all. Happy Day of the Dead (Halloween). I think I am going to buy a sugar skull today.

-Elder Thomas

These letters seem to get more and more repetitive. Still doing well.

Hey there family!

These letters seem to get more and more repetitive. Still doing well.

This past week has been good. It has been hard for the zone to have a lot of success because starting the month they had no one progressing. We are trying to animate the missionaries in the zone and we are going to work a lot with them to invite their investigators to be baptized. That is one of the hardest things missionaries have. They are scared to invite! Mom, you said something about not knowing that you should bring non-members to a fireside. I think you should ALWAYS bring non-members! Just invite them.  It is key to expose them to the Church. Also, when missionaries go to visit somebody to teach them, they should invite to be baptized. That is what we are hoping for after all. So they can make this promise to God. We shouldn’t wait to invite the people to whatever it is – an activity, church, or baptism. That is one thing I love being able to get better at. Inviting them to act. I could go on and on. I am excited to apply all these things that I have learned when I get home. :) Tomorrow we have a zone meeting. I love those books you sent me mom :) I plan to use some of those ideas when I talk about the importance of prayer tomorrow. Elder Goodrich and I already started using the example of 12 candles as the apostles and a candle for the prophet. People seem to understand well and it is more fun to teach in other ways.

Guadalupe is progressing! We have tried to teach her family and they always say, “If I can go I will.” Fortunately, Guadalupe came to church yesterday and liked it a lot. We had the primary program. It was pretty good. I love being reminded of the innocence of little kids. It reminds me of why Christ loved teaching the little kids. Very simply with love. That is something I always want to improve on as I teach. Elder Goodrich is really good at teaching simply so they understand, so I am learning a lot from him.

The family that was suppose to get baptized last week (Segunda Rangel) accepted once again baptism this week. They just get upset over stupid things. We passed by their house yesterday for the first time since last Sunday. They said they didn’t like how people were using their phones and stuff during class and some were talking. It was kinda dumb, but we were able to help them forgive the members and realized that no one is perfect. They accepted to forgive them and they said they will be baptized on Sunday to follow Christ. We will see this next week. 

We have this other family that is SUPER GOOD. Her name is Jazmin and her 2 kids Erick, and Jesus. Jazmin (the mom) and Erick accepted to be baptized, but Jesus doesn’t because he is scared of what his friends will say in school because he goes to a Catholic school. They really want to be baptized but we are trying to help Jesus out. 

That is pretty much a wrap-up of our investigators.

On Saturday we had a noche de hogar with Jazmin and her family with another lady and her two kids who are members. We tried teaching them how to make chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the same brown sugar exists here. It was more just like regular sugar that was brown. So they turned out super hard. They don’t eat cookies and brownies here :( There desserts are more like jello and arroz con leche. 

Other fun thing... Yesterday in the principios del evangelio class the Arriaga Muñon family came! I guess they found where the church is and they wanted to come visit me! It was really fun to see them. They are doing well and told them that they did a noche de hogar with some other members on Wednesday. I love that family. They said Elder Goff had special changes though and so now the other missionaries don’t visit them that much... But they are still really excited about being sealed in a year.

So all is going well here! I love this area. Super rural filled with crazy dogs. We usually carry a rock in our hand for protection. It also is getting cold here. Even though everyone thinks all of Mexico is always hot, that is not true. My area is one of the coldest in the mission. And it’s about to get a whole lot colder... blehh. Luckily no snow though. Thanks for your love and support!

-Elder Thomas

Doing super well...sorry if I have lots of typos

BUENOS TARDES MI FAMILIA!

I am doing super well. Loving the mission despite the dissappointments we have. Sorry if I have a lot of typos. This keyboard is super viejo.

So I am now 21. Lived to see the age of drinking. Not that I plan to do it. If I really wanted to do it, I could have started when I got to Mexico because people start really young. They just go to the store and say they are buying it for their dad.

Thanks so much for the package. I really like it. Also all your funny Mexican comments on the balloons. You are all just jealous of the tortillas and beans we eat. It is pretty great. The food is great...most of the time. 

So a few of the highlights in the past few days. Thursday was pretty great. I have been praying to find a new family to teach and so that’s what I got! We were dying in the morning. Mornings are always super slow because no one is in their houses. So we just said that we would go to the food early. an hour early. We traveled to the pueblo and got there at 2. The food was at 3. We took a taxi to the pueblo. Here they fit way to many people in the taxis then there are seats. I was super tired in the 20 minute taxi ride and was out. I kept bobbing my head trying to stay awake. We got to the pueblo and I think God felt bad for me so he sent us a miracle. This older lady across the street called to us. She is a member from the Lerma stake but grew up in this pueblo. She and her 7 kids are members but none of her siblings are. She was so happy because she has always wondered when the missionaries would start working the pueblo. She was just visting for the week but she introduced us to her sister. Her sister is super good. She is named Guadalupe and she has accepted all. She came to church yesterday and the member sister went up and shared her testimony. She was so excited that she had found us. It was such a miracle that we were there and she found us. I am excited for her. We will see how she progresses this next week.

Friday we did interchanges with some other elders in El Oro. I worked here and surprisingly I never really got lost. On Saturday for my birthday I woke up to find we didn’t have any water again. So I filled up buckets from the water from my companion’s garrafon. We heated it with an iron and I had a bucket shower. Gotta love those things... Elder Goodrick and Elder Moreno met back at the house to change back. The other elders got confetti filled eggs from some members and exploded them on my head for my birthday. We are still finding confetti all over the place. haha. We had cake at the food which was fun. It is a tradition to put your face in the cake here. I don’t really understand it, but I just do it. We had plans to make cookies with this family that was suppose to get baptized at this member’s house, but they bailed. At night we went to visit some other recent converts and they took us to Dominos to take back to our house. I opened my package at night and that was my birthday! It was a pretty good day.

Sunday wasn’t super great. the family we had planned to be baptized was all set to go yesterday. We did everything we could to help them along their way. They hadn’t been keeping their commitments very well, but said they wanted to get baptized. We went to wake them up in the morning and we got to church, but however, after the services they said they didn’t like church at all. We are pretty sure it was because of a class that they didn’t agree with for some controversial stuff about homosexuality. At the end of the services, the father told us they didn’t like church and didn’t want to be baptized. They ended up leaving without telling us anything. It was a huge downer. They said they weren’t interested anymore and they left with the whole family following. We are probably going to leave them for a time as they haven’t been putting in their efforts as much as they should to gain a testimony. It just was super sad because we had everything planned. Members were ready, we prepared a number to sing and had their clothes. Maybe it just wasn’t their time.

So that was the past few days. About my area real quick. It is really pretty. Also it is pretty big. There are a bunch of pueblos so we go to the taxi base and take a colectivo to where we need to go. 

Our house is pretty nice and big. Apart from not having water (we do have it again) sometimes, it is nice and clean and tiled. :)  I do miss carpet here though... Elder Goodrich is a great companion. He is pretty smart and we have a lot in common. He went to BYU for a semester before his mission. He actually lived in Massachusetts, but now lives in Springville, Utah. He is a really good teacher and teaches very clearly. I learn a lot from him.

Have a great week!

-Elder Thomas

Not much time to write...I love the Gospel. It is the best.

Hey Family,

I don’t have a lot of time so I will keep this short. I was reading your emails but I will have to print them off. 

All is well here! I loved conference. So many great talks about being disciples of Christ. Much more about improving personally.  The world’s values are decreasing more and more every day and we need to be prepared.  I am excited to get the Liahona in a month with all the talks.

Monday we had concilio. It was pretty good. I was able to see a bunch of my buddies (Elder Whatcott, Huber, Dahlin, Olvera). It was nice. We talked about working more with members. I really want to help the zone set up plans in all their areas. 

We had the zone meeting yesterday and that went well. We have 7 companionships in our zone. My area is super pretty. Lots of traveling to a bunch of little pueblos. I love this area. We also have a nice house. :)

Being zone leader is good. I am learning a ton and I love being able to serve other people. 

My companion is great. He is so nice and we have a ton in common. He reminds me of Elder Dahlin a bit. We have some people that are progressing and we are hoping a family will be baptized this week.

Today we had interviews with President. They went well. He is a funny guy but I sure respect him a ton. 

I am doing well. Excited for my birthday! We plan to buy pizza at night  :)  Sorry I don’t have more time. Thanks for thinking of me. I love you all. I love the Gospel. It is the best.

-Elder Thomas

P.S. - Happy Birthday April and James!

 P.P.S. – Dad, Hope you get the house fixed okay! Ehhh that’s frustrating. At least you have hot water. We didn’t have hot water last week. Haha.  Cold showers are not fun. We got it back though :) Love you lots Dad!

New zone leader assignment in Atlacomulco

Well here I go mi familia,

Yup. I got changed. This time it’s a little different. I got the phone call at about 9:30 on Saturday night and my zone leader said, “So who have you been talking to? You have been talking to Someone high up. Do you know what is going to happen?” I responded and said, “I do now.” Yup. I am now zone leader. I got moved to an area called Atlacomulco.  I am with Elder Goodrich from Springville, Utah. He seems like a really nice guy and I think he will help me a lot in getting use to this new position. He has 21 months in the mission, so it will be weird having someone with more time than me. There is a lot more responsibility as zone leader. I am super nervous about it all because I want to really serve everyone in my zone.  Having a good amount of time as district leader I could see what other people thought about their past zone leaders. Some really liked them, or others could tell that they only cared about numbers. I really learned a lot in my last area and I hope to take it here and serve my zone and get to know all the missionaries and their investigators. Pray for me, because I will need a lot of help. Also next week I won’t write until Wednesday because I have to go to concilio [council] and won’t have a p-day until Wednesday.

This past week was really good. The biggest thing that happened was we had the baptism of Angela. She is so good. She was a little hesitant about getting baptized this week because she wants to have more changes in her family life. Her husband is not a very good person and she wants to make changes. We told her about the example she would be for her family and how this is just the beginning. It seemed to resolve her doubts and she had her interview on Thursday. We had a really good service. Edgar and Karla shared a little message and I played Homeward Bound for the musical number. I was pretty nervous because I haven’t played piano in like 7-8 months, but it went well. The Spirit was really strong in the service. Also her granddaughter came to church with her. I really hope that all of her huge family can come into the Gospel.

I had to do some interviews for other people this week, so there wasn’t much more than that. I was super sad leaving yesterday. I cried saying goodbye to lots of people. I will miss Edgar and his family. I love them so much.  We had cake as we all cried around the table yesterday. I promised them that in a year I will come back for their sealing.  Also, this one member named Diana made an announcement to us yesterday.  We would go to their house every Monday and Diana has about a year as a member. She is 21 and super funny.  She has such a strong testimony and many times this change I have suggested that she serve a mission. She said it wasn’t for her, but yesterday she told us that she just talked to the bishop yesterday and she plans to leave in December!  I am so excited for her! (in the picture with the orange wall, the tall one).

I have loved Tecnologico so much. I really thought I was going to stay there another change, but it seems like the Lord has other plans for me. I have so many good memories there and many good friends.

So pray for me this next few weeks as I get use to this new change.  Time is always flying. In less than 7 months I will be home.  I love this mission. It always has challenges, but that is how we grow. If life were easy, then we would never learn anything. I am grateful for all of your support. I love and miss you all!

-Elder Thomas

p.s. here are some pictures of me with some families