Week 82

Let me introduce you to JICAMA (a weird root fruit that tastes like water in
fruit form, but i love it with chile/limon powder:)

cada vez que escribo no puedo creer que ya haya pasado otra semana en el campo misional. Wow that was written on autopilot...man it`s hard to adjust to English sometimes! As I say each time I write home, I can`t believe another week`s over. September is already coming to a close and that means....GENERAL CONFERENCE  time!!! And my last one in the mission field for that matter....:,( It`s going too fast!

Anyway, this week improved a little, although it was pretty tough working with all the festivities and parties this weekend for Independence Day. The whole town came together in the center where the Catholic church and park are at and did what`s called a "grito" which is a big chant they do in the town centers, state centers, and in the country's center in Mexico city. They do the town one at 10, state at 11 and country at 12, with fireworks and loud music and chanting. Some members warned me it would be dangerous and others tried to convince my companion to take me so I can see what it`s like, but he refused and I wouldn't do it anyways, at least not as a missionary...

This weekend a bunch of members including the Bishop went to Cancun, since the fist counselor had his wedding there, so this Sunday was interesting...I gave a talk on the importance of each member of a team, talking about a comparison of a sports team, a mission, and a ward. The point I wanted to get across is that the ward success in both retention of it`s members and growth of new members depends on each member's faithfulness in keeping their covenants. I used an article called, "Keeping Covenants: A Message for Those Who Will Serve a Mission" by Elder Holland in the January 2012 Liahona. He explains how miracles in a mission, or in my talks case a ward, when he said

"if we really want to succeed in our callings, if we want to have access to every help and every advantage and every blessing from the Father, if we want to have the door of heaven thrown open to us that we might receive the powers of godliness, we must keep our covenants!"

"It is when an entire (ward) is united by the strength of every (member's) integrity, every (member's) personal covenant keeping, that we move mountains. "

I leave my testimony along with Elder Holland that when we start to truly do all we can to keep our covenants and magnify our callings, we can move mountains in the mission, the ward, or even our own families and I share this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

P.S. Shout out to Devin Taylor who got his mission call to Guatemala! You`ll love it there. I have met several missionaries who lived there :). Congrats! Do all you can to prepare yourself physically, economically, emotionally, and most important spiritually (not just knowledge of the gospel, although it is important, but more important is to live the gospel!) 

JICAMA, yum!