Monday, December 12, 2011

December 12, 2011

Hey family!,

Well its been a good week a lot of stuff has happened this week. So start off by answering your questions I got the package last week or 2 weeks ago..... haha i forgot to tell you guys that. no one tried to rob anything cause i have the iPod and everything was awesome in the package! The ipod has brought me some Christmas feeling in my house and the hot chocolate I'm saving until Christmas day! Because Christmas eve we have to be in the house at 6 unless were are eating dinner with a member but all the elders in my area and the area around us want me to cook an American Christmas dinner so we will see it depends on where my money is and all that. i have been doing good with it and making it last. ive learned the importance and a lot of stuff. So i live in Cuidad Algra idk if he will know where that is. So this week we did pretty good this week we didn't end up baptizing on Sunday because we couldnt marry the couple last week because the man got sick so we are taking care of that Friday and baptizing them for sure on Sunday i hope. the other 2 one we coudnt get a hold of him because he was pretty busy and the other went to visit her family in another part of the city because of some problems with her family shes coming back Wednesday and i'm getting her in that water shes the one that is always like idk i want to baptize her more then anyone because she has had her answer for like 2 weeks and is ready just wont go cause things keep coming up is what she says. But we got 4 new investigators last week it sounds low but its pretty good cause streets have been empty and doors not opening. Because of the holidays. I have my companion working hard now he now understand how important this work is and how important every action we make is and also the importance of our name tags. He got an email from his family today and it really got him going he started crying and ran and gave me a hug and thanked me. Because he has a difficult family situation due to the fact that none of his family are members and now they have excepted to be baptized and his brother wants to serve a mission. I helped him understand that its because he is serving the Lord the way he needs to and the Lord is blessing him for it. So I have some stories to tell. So the other night i forget which night but we were in the house for the night and we were talking about honesty and the importance of honesty because my companion has been telling these white lies to people so i was talking to him about it when out of no where my bed started shaking and the ground and the house and everything hahahaha it was an earthquake we ran out side and i of course thought it was hilarious because my companion was freaking out when it was maybe 30 seconds and we ran outside and was talking to the rent lady and told her what my comp was doing and she was getting a pretty good kick out of it they all love me there. There always wanting me to come over so they can feed me and also convince me to date there 16 year old daughter the conversation is always funny cause the daughter is always freaking out cause i embarrass her with her parents its a fun stuff. So the other day we were running back to the church from an appointment because it was time to tame the toilet and i was bookin it and my companion was doing everything he could to make his short legs move fast and all i could hear it espararme! which means wait for me wait for me! and i was laughing and running when i ran by some guy and just kept going after saying beunas tardes (good afternoon) and i turned around and saw my companion and he waved me to stop and come back so i did and he was like im tired lets walk were almost there so i we started walking when the guy i passed by run up to me and was like wait i need to talk to you! and we started talking to him an he said he wanted to change his life because he is into to drugs and has 2 kids he needs to focus on but cant very well because of the drugs and hes always feeling frustrated and pressured and hes hearing voices telling him to stop or to keep going and we talked to him and my companion started going off like it was a contact and i waited for the time where i could cut in and tell the guy that we could help him and we have the things that will change his life and help him to be the father for his kids he wants to be and he asked me to say a prayer for him in the street so i did and he shook my companions hand and gave me this huuge hug and thanked me and it felt way good. He doesn't live in our area so we cant teach him but its OK hes ready. So today i had to go with my buddy's from the MTC to immigration to sign some papers and to get my license things so i can be qualified to teach if an officer were to ask me for it. which was way good to get to talk to them and share experiences and stuff. I miss you and love you all i will call on the 25th at 1 and talk to you guys cant wait. Have fun don't focus on the sad parts of this season focus on the great parts. Love you and talk to you next week thank you for all you guys do and ill let you know what happens with the family for the Christmas presents and ill take pictures with them and email them to you and tell you about them. Oh one more thing if you could email me pics of the house all decorated and Christmas eve and day please! love you all bye!

Elder Lowder

December 5, 2011

Hey Everyone,

Well one more week is down and it went by so fast. No lie, it was crazy. Last night I was talking to my comp and it was time to plan and he said, we had this and that stuff we do on p day and I was like noooo, tomorrow isn’t p-day. He was like, yes it is and yeah it was crazy. Anyways, it was a good week. We had one baptism yesterday the other couldn’t make it, so it’s rescheduled to this week and we have 3 more so 4 this Sunday. The only problem is that we have to marry a couple so we can baptize the wife cause the husband is a member but was baptized before they were a thing. The wife isn’t very intelligent so she doesn’t really understand me when I talk which is frustrating because I want to teach her but she can’t understand. It’s ok, I talk and my comp helps her understand. The baptism yesterday was such a great experience. It felt so good to watch someone I helped teach take that step in their life to follow Christ. So I love the idea of doing the Christmas gift thing for a family. I have some people in mind but I will talk to my comp about it and we will decide but we will definitely do that. So if I spell something wrong I can’t do spell check because the computer is in Spanish so no matter what, all the words I type are spelled wrong because they’re in English, so just ignore the spelling, sorry haha. I got the package yesterday and I couldn’t stop smiling. It was a great spirit lifter because I was feeling a little down yesterday because I got mad at my companion pretty bad and we had a talk and stuff and I felt bad. Everything is good now and he understands how frustrated I’ve been with him working and everything and he’s been doing great, and I’ve been working on things about myself too, so things are great. So I have a question. I am aloud to call either 24 or 25 of December. Which day is best for you guys? Let me know please. So as you all know I hate fish and just hate it. So we went to a members house to eat and we walked in and it smelled amazing. She put the soup in front of me I ate it and it was awesome and then she put a plate in front of me and I couldn’t tell what it was and she didn’t tell us. So I just thought and came to the conclusion that it was chicken. I grabbed my tortilla and went to town and it was sooooo good and my companion knows I don’t like fish and I ate 2 plates of it and after I was done he looked at me and said, do you know what you just ate? I said, no and he said, fish and I was like noooo way, it was seriously soo freaking good. I thought of you guys cause I know how much you guys like fish and so yeah, it was way good. So another story. We were in a lesson and we were talking and teaching and I had to fart and I had been doing it all day. They were silent all day and didn’t stink and so I figured, it’s ok, no problem. So I let it go and it was loud and long and right when it happened I looked at my companion like it was him that did it cause the investigator was staring at me and laughing and she believed it was him. It was seriously one of the funniest situations I’ve ever been in. So another is, we were walking to an appointment and something happened to my comp, idk what it was but he just yells the f word and I was like Elder, what did you just say? He said it again and I said, do you know what that means? He said, no and I explained it and I just laughed about it. So everywhere I go, about 4 or 5 times a day a person stops us and says, I’m no interested in your church, but I need help with English and asks me a question and I help them . My comp decided to tell my bishop about this and so he decided that we’re going to have a thing every week where I teach English to people, investigators, members, random people. I was like, ok sounds good, so I’m teaching an English class each week. So I went and bought me a thing of sanitizer cause I’m still a clean freak about my body and now the house and all of my things and so every time I touch something and feel nasty, Ii throw a drop on my hands and go to town! so I’m pretty bugged right now because I was talking to my zone leaders today and one is white and he was like, you want to know something and I said sure and he said no matter what type, except for 2 types of water, all the other types turn your teeth yellow here in Mexico. I’m pretty ticked about this because I like my teeth white! Ho he was like, whiten your teeth before you go home. All day I’ve been looking in the mirror at my teeth and I can’t tell if they have changed or not, so I’m bugged about it. Well vie got to go. Sorry it took so long to get this off. Today was a busy, crazy p-day. It will be a lot earlier next week. Hey keep all the traditions going for me, do them all and have fun for me! I love you. Enjoy your hallmarks mom and dad, enjoy your Christmas football and Brandon, enjoy your sneaking around sniffin out the presents, haha. Have fun guys. I love you and talk to you next Monday!

Elder Lowder