Wherever there is water, we baptize!!

Hello friends and family!  So this week was really awesome, for the first couple of days or so everything was pretty normal.  We taught lessons, contacted, the usual.  Its pretty great, I enjoy the "normal" missionary life.  Every day I have the opportunity to teach and serve.  It's pretty much the greatest, despite the trials and difficulties that pop up every now and then.  

So this Saturday we had 2 baptisms!  The first was an 8 year old who lives in Ejutla named S.  Her dad isn't around, so I had the opportunity to baptize her.  It was my first every baptism!  Originaly we were going to go down to a river or something to baptize her, but it was really cold that day.*  So they decided that I would baptize her in her front yard, in a little well for washing clothes.  It was tiny!  If she wasn't so small, I wouldn't be able to get her under the water.  But it turned out fine, and it was a great experience.  She came out of the water laughing, and I could tell it was a good experience for her.

The second baptism was our investigator E!  It was so great!  I am so glad she got baptized!  She is an amazing person, and has such a pure spirit.  She decided before that she wanted to be baptized in the river, so we all headed up there in the afternoon.  It is such a cool place!!  I was really glad when she decided to be baptized there, haha.  I had the opportunity to baptize her, and it was a great experience.  The water actually was really cold, but it was awesome!  She looked so happy afterwards!  

It is such a great feeling to help people come unto christ through baptism!  I really do love it.  I can see how happy they are, and how happy they can become if they continue on in the church!  I know that this church is true, and I am so proud to be a missionary.

So here in Miahuatlan there aren't a lot of people who have experience with music.  So even though I can't play all of the hymns on piano right now, I volunteered to be the pianist in sacrament meeting.  There are times when I can only play with one hand, but I'm glad to contribute to the branch!  I guess the members here were pretty excited to have a pianist, so the wife of the branch president asked if I would teach a music class.  I accepted, and I taught the first class yesterday.  It was really cool to share my talent with them!  I think that many times we think that we aren't good enough to share our talents, but I see now that this is never true.  This experience reminded me of the parable of the talents.  The man who recieved 1 talent was expected to share it and increase it, just as the man who recieved 5 talents.  We should do everything we can to use our talents to bless others, even if we are embarassed or think that we aren't good enough.  

Welp, thats all for this week.  Adios!!

Elder Lindsay

*Note:  When mexicans say that it is "really cold," its like 55 degrees.  So they have their big coats and everything and I'm doing fine in my short sleeved shirt.  A while back I was sick, and they all said that I was sick because I never wear a sweater.  Nope.  Thats not how it works.  So yeah, basically the temperature is fine here.  :)

Monte Alban Stake Conference

Visit from the Mission President

On the way to Huatulco, we passed through Miahutlan to give Elder Silvestre and Elder Lindsay a blender for their house. The family providing them dinner invited us to eat with them as well. We very much appreciate those who care for our missionaries. (Feb. 26, 2016)

Oaxaca's a pretty sweet place

Hello!  So this week was pretty good, we had some rough moments in the beginning, but everything is good now.  It's still really hard to live with someone so different from me.  Elder Silvestre is a great guy, but he and I have very different beliefs, habits, strengths, weaknesses, and so on.  I'm a little more quiet, and I don't have as much iniciative as some people.  This really bothers Elder Silvestre, even though I'm trying my best to get out of my comfort zone to be a good missionary.  Change takes time, so I'm improving little by little.  We talked things over, and things are better now.  It's hard to have a companion who is difficult to get along with, especially when you're with him for 3 transfers, (18 weeks) but I'm learning a lot from my experiences with him.

So we have a really awesome investigator who we have been teaching for about a month now.  His name is O.  He is a great guy, he's 27 and he is a teacher here in Miahuatlan.  He is somewhat shy, but very sincere and willing to do what we tell him to do.  (that is very rare here, usually the people say they are going to do something and then they never do it.)  He is reading the book of mormon, and he said that he recieved an answer that it is true!  He constantly wants to know more, and he asks a lot of questions, which is awesome.  We set his baptism for the 26th of march and we're working hard to prepare him for that day.  He has a small problem with alcohol, but he seems willing to change.  He also is interested in learning english, so we often stay at his house a little longer after lessons and I teach him a bit of English!  I'm so happy for the opportunity to teach him and help him find the happiness that the gospel brings.

We had to drop our investigator N...  I was super sad about that, because she was progressing so well and everything.  She wasn't making the changes in her life that are required for baptism.  Elder Silvestre made the final decision, and even though I wanted to continue teaching her to help her change, he wouldn't budge.  It's really sad, but I still believe in her.  Her progress record is in our area book, and after a time maybe other missionaries will have the opportunity to teach her.  Maybe then she will be ready to make the required changes in her life.

But the baptism of E is going to be this Saturday!  I am so excited for her!  She is an amazing person.  I am also happy for her son, L, who is 6 years old.  He is super cute, and because his mother now has the gospel, he will also have the opportunity to have the gospel in his life.  This missionary work really is amazing, I am so happy to be here helping people recieve these wonderful blessings.

Yesterday for P-day we had a multi-zone activity!  It was great, our district went up to Oaxaca on Sunday night to sleep there in the mission offices.  Then in the morning when everyone arrived we headed to "Àrbol del Tule," a really big tree that is more than 2000 years old!  It was pretty cool, and yes, it was really big.  Then we went to the ruins of Mitla.  They were awesome!  They are the ruins of the Zapotec people that lived here in Oaxaca before the spanish came.  It was way cool, and I am really glad I got to go!  It was fun to be with mission friends and make new mission friends.  We don't have a lot of opportunities as missionaries to just have fun, so it was very much needed.

Yesterday in the night we found a new family to teach, and we had a very spiritual lesson.  They are going through an extremely hard time, their daughter is in the hospital, their son started drinking, and a loved one reciently died.  When we knocked on their door, they were super ready to let us in, to listen to the word of God.  I felt the spirit guide me in that lesson so much.  I said things in spanish that I didn't know that I knew.  Elder Silvestre and I worked extremely well together as a companionship.  My favorite part of the lesson is when we gave them the book of mormon.  I was testifying of the book of mormon, and I said something like this. "I testify of this book.  I know that this book is your answer.  It can change your lives.  I came all the way from the United States to bring this book to you, because I know that it can help you more than anything else."  After testifying of the book, the Grandma looked up at me, and said thank you in such a sweet and sincere manner.  I felt the spirit so strong, because I knew that my words were given to me by the holy ghost, and that their hearts were open to recieve the holy spirit's testimony.  I knew that they would read the book of mormon.

Welp, thats my life in the mission this week.  It really is amazing to be here.  I love you all!

Elder Lindsay

 

Zone Activity with Atoyac and Mitla Zones

Missionaries LOVE to get their Flu shots! :)

Missionary Interviews