Monday, October 28, 2013

Elder Loveless and Elder Whitney, Zac's trainer and first companion in Mexico.


"New tie. One of the members gave me and Elder Whitney free ties:)"


"The flyers we made for the English class."



"These 3 pictures are of me at the farthest south our area goes. It is possible that it is the farthest south I'll ever go in my life!!!"




"Funny graffiti I found, has Mario stuff in it :)"


"Me doing my laundry, yeah, ha ha."


10/28/2013 2nd week in Camargo, Mexico

Well it's been an interesting week, and with that, it has been one of the Hardest weeks of my life. So on Tuesday Elder Whitney was sick, and so we stayed home that day for him to rest, so not much got done that day, then the rest of the week got worse. It started with the fact that we felt so good about the week. We got tons of appointments with people to come back, but almost all of them fell through. All of our amazing investigators that we have, they told us to come back at certain times and almost always they weren't there. Even like two or three times, one of the kids answered the door and we asked if their parents were there, and they left for a second, and came back and said no, they're gone, which pretty much is obvious that they just went and asked their parents.....but yeah. And then on top of all that stuff, I thought I had a bad infection in my mouth, and so I was worrying about that pretty much most of the time, and not focusing on the work. This week I actually cried a few times, thinking, how is this possible. It only gets worse too, because we are walking around each day for an average of 6 hours in the sun, so because of that and the not very much sleep, we usually have headaches, which makes it all worse.

          But then me and Elder Whitney were talking and said, we have to change this: On Friday night I prayed. I prayed a prayer like I've never prayed before. I asked Heavenly Father to change me, to heal me, to help me have the desire and the mindset to be able to be successful. I woke up the next day and I felt his help. During personal study in the morning I was reading the scriptures and felt at peace. I felt at peace in the work, and I just felt at peace overall. My mouth started to actually heal, and not hurt as bad. Things went a little better. We didn't still get much done on Saturday though, because we had meetings with the bishopric and other stuff like that, but I felt at peace. I felt a desire to do better.

          Yesterday on Sunday we also found out that one of our family's, Hipolito (the guy that sells churros) and his family, were waiting for another member family to pick them up for church, and they never showed up to pick them up for church. The family was so sad. They have 5 kids, 4 girls and 1 boy, and they're all really young, and they don't have too much. They don't have a way to get to church, so we have to find ways to get them to church. It was sad, but next week me and Elder Whitney are going to make sure to find a way to get them to church. I found a lot of peace talking to the family yesterday, because the little girls were laughing, and just having fun. We let the little boy play with our flashlights, and we were just playing with the little kids. I was pretending to be very viejito (really old), and I was talking in a shaky voice, and the little girls were just laughing, and then the little boy grabbed mine and Elder Whitney's fingers and wanted to show us something. It was good, and I found this peace that I hadn't felt in a while. It was a good overwhelming feeling, and it reassured me that I need to do better, because there are family's like this family that are waiting and need this gospel. But yeah, so I know that this next week will be better, because I'm going to make it that way.

          So other then the stories I just wanted to say all of the funny weird and crazy stuff I experience from my day to day life:

-I guess a lot of people are moving out of town in a month or so because it is so cold. People think it's cold right now, and it's funny because it feels hot to us.

-So I'm still planning on writing letters too, but I won't be sending them until maybe once a month, but that letter will have all the letters I wrote that month. This is because it is pretty expensive to send letters every week, so if I do it once a month it will be better for the budget.

-People put dogs on their roofs....don't know exactly why.

-Pretty much everyone has gates around their house, so to knock on doors, we actually use coins and tap on the gates.

-After you buy your food at grocery stores, you have to tip the bagger....I guess they don't really get paid like everyone else.

-We don't have bikes or cars, so we walk everywhere, which sometimes means we have to walk an hour and a half to get places.

-Our mission is a reference only mission....UNLESS the spirit says otherwise ;)

-Tortillas are served with EVERYTHING. Like it doesn't matter even if you have a sandwich for a meal, there will be tortillas too.

-We have a Zumba place right by our house which is interesting, because for about an hour during our study times they have the music blasting.

-Pretty much all of the teenagers like the American boys.....the missionaries. We've gotten giggles when we pass by, waves, and blowing kisses. And then all we do is wave back and keep walking....it's pretty much funny! haha

-People that sell stuff will put Super big speakers on top of their cars for advertisement. Those are super annoying.

-We teach an English class every Friday at 5:00-6:30 in the Church which is super fun! We taught the few people there last time head, shoulders, knees and toes! haha

-Everyone is surprised when I say that I have only been in Mexico for 2 weeks, because my spanish is good ;) I usually just say, Mi papa sirvió un misión también, y el sirvió in México, entonces, estoy siguiendo en sus pasos. Yo necesito ser come el! (My dad served a mission too, and he served in Mexico, so, I'm following in his steps. I need to be like him) haha but yeah, I guess my Spanish is really good so far! I still struggle with understanding people though.

-Also, I usually feel pretty safe for the most part, until all of a sudden we're walking down a street when a bunch police cars do a need for speed spin turn thing around the corner holding guns, and then jump out of the car while it's half moving and break into houses. Yeah, those are the times where it's kinda like a movie....but it's like happening right before my eyes.

-I haven't got the packages yet, but that's because I haven't been able to visit Chihuahua yet. We're doing that this week, so I should get the package, or packages, this week.

-For the most part, I am doing fine with money and food, but I haven't been able to buy as much food as I've wanted. Because of the fact we're so far away from everything that happens, we have to pay for travel and what not, so I have to keep food to a minimum if I want to live within my means. I pretty much have only enough for the week.

-It's fine if you sent to the other address, it will just be readdressed to the new address.

-So it sounds like the family is doing good! Keep on keepin on, and keep me updated with everything.

-For Christmas??? Food, my knee brace, and maybe tie(s) :) Anything else you want to send would be great, maybe put a little money on the card. I'm not very picky especially cuz I'll be here anyway, but yeah!

So yeah, it was a rough week, but I'm planning on having a better week this week! Just a little testimony in Spanish. Dad can translate:
Yo se que tenemos dificultades, cada día, y tenemos pruebas, pero Jesucristo está siempre allí para nosotros, y el ayudará si doblamos nos mismos a él. Yo se que el misión es difícil a veces, pero yo puedo hacerlo, y si yo lo hago, yo seré bendecido. Yo se que Jesucristo hizo familias para que podamos ser feliz en esta vida, y en la vida antes esta vida. Yo se que el don de lenguas es real, y yo he sido bendecido porque de eso. Presidente Jose F Smith fue un profeta de Dios, y por medio de Jose F Smith, Jesucristo restauró su Evangelio, su Iglesia, en el mundo otra vez. El Libro De Mormon es verdadero, y cuando leemos el Libro, podemos recibir paz y gozo, y yo he encontrado esa paz y gozo en mi vida, especialmente esta semana pasada. Y yo digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

I love you all!!!! And I'm happy to be serving the Lord in Mexico Chihuahua :)

-Elder Loveless

(Sorry it's so long, I missed a lot last week of what I was going to say.)

 

Monday, October 21, 2013

"I realized I didn't have any pics of me, so here's one :P So yeah, we've just been kind of busy so I haven't been able to take all the pics that I wanted to, so next week I'll have one of me and my companion and stuff like that, so yeah...love you all."


"Cute little new born puppies."


"Pesos again (yes, this is the money we use here.)"


"Pesos"


"A random horse...I don't know why, but I thought it wa funny, haha."


"Yep, people put their dogs on top of their houses."


"A family showed us the bunnies they had."


"Yeah...we wash our clothes by hand."


"Backyard"


"Another part of our kitchen."


"Bathroom"


"Part of our kitchen area."


"Our room (oh yeah, we have one of the nicest missionary homes :)"


"Our room."


"Another picture of the chihuahua...in Chihuahua. (There are a lot of chihuahuas here.)"


"A chihua...in Chihua"


"A cool thing I saw that had Mario on it :) haha"


October 21st, 2013 - Letter


O_O That's my face of, holy cow! This week has been crazy! I don't even know where to start! I guess at this point I'm not really sure the feelings I have towards this all yet...but let me just say, never give dad crap for his driving, or for the fact that he hated it for 6 months...cuz you'd understand if you were here too! I'm surprised there are not more car accidents then there really are, because there are pretty much NO rules for the road here. But also, I feel you dad, I keep thinking, how am I going to live like this for two years! I guess, the only thing that keeps me going is that fact that I know we are missionaries, and will be kept safe and protected because of that.

Like one of the first things we saw coming into Mexico was a sign that said, Jardín de niños, which literally translated is garden of kids, but I guess it actually means kindergarten....but yeah that freaked me out a little. And yeah, I am just always watching what I eat, and what I do so as to not get sick, and not to get hurt, but yeah......it is crazy!!!

My Spanish is coming along pretty good though. But so get this, in the MTC I could understand so much more than I could talk, cuz that makes sense right, but in the field, here in Mexico, complete opposite! I feel like they are speaking a different language! The way they speak is really fast, slurred, and they say words weird, so yeah, I can't really understand everything. Like sometimes they'll ask where I'm from, and the way they say it, I just am like.....what did you say? But I'm learning to understand better! Yesterday, we taught a woman, Zoriah, who recently had a divorce, and she is so willing to change, and so I almost understood like everything, so it's coming along, but yeah! Oh, and I'm in this area for 3 months, because that is the time for new missionaries. The area we are in is actually called Camargo, it is about 2 hours from the mission home in Chihuahua, but I guess Camargo is a really poor area compared to the other areas, and I can tell, because all of the houses look like little boxes that are painted. But yeah.

So Yeah, a little bit of a breakdown

Monday: Monday was pretty crazy, and that is just because that is the day I got there, and since I had only 3 hours of sleep, I felt super sick, and I was super pale, and I thought I was gonna die at that point, but then after we got sleep, I woke up and was normal again! So yeah, very crazy day.

The rest of the days really weren't too crazy, except for the fact that I had to travel to Chihuahua mutiple times to figure stuff out, and I still have to go back to Chihuahua to finish my immigration paperwork, but yeah. We plan and study and prepare in the morning until 11-12 ish, and then we go out and work. We Always have food with a member at 2:00, and those are the best! The homemade food is the best food here! I have had stuff from this rice, milk, coconut dessert stuff, all the way to stuffed peppers, and then also those little corn things I like, a soup with those in it! But yeah, the food is amazing, no doubt about it!

So our investigators are good, but they also have a hard time staying active. There is a rule that they need to go to church 5 times before baptism, but all of them pretty much, don't have cars, and don't have money for the bus, and it's like an hour walk to the church, so that's the hardest part. We have several investigators that are at the baptism step, but can't because they won't/can't go to church! One of our investigators that is awesome, his name is Hipolito, and he always gives us churros, cuz that's what he does for his job, is sells churros everyday, but yeah, his churros are the best!!! We also have an investigator, the one I talked about earlier, she says that when she talks to us she can feel a good feeling, and so she calls us her angeles!!! So yeah, that's pretty cool!

So the last two days, Saturday and Sunday, we had stake conference, which was cool! One of the Seventy came and talked to the Stake. I don't remember his name, but of course he spoke Spanish, so that was really cool.....at least how much I could get out of it.

Q.A. -So send packages to the Texas address. I haven't got it yet, but should get it soon. We only have the chance to get mail a few times a month, because it goes to the mission home. But you can't send other mail to me. Send handwritten mail to this address (this is the new mission offices):

Elder Zachary Daren Loveless
Calle Huancune #1801-B
Colonia - Panoramico
Código Postal 31110
Chihuahua, Chihuahua México

-I do have a bottle with a filter. I got it from the MTC.

-So there's four of us in our house, me and Elder Whitney, and then two other elders, Elder Cooper (our district leader), and Elder Conklin, so we are all Americans, haha, it's interesting. Camargo has only white missionaries right now.

-I don't know what to do with the pictures, but I guess that's just up to you.

-And in the history of the Chihuahua Mission, none of the missionaries have every got robbed, but right now I don't have to worry about getting robbed. We are all from the US, so they're not going to worry about that.(it is safe enough that all of us even carry our cameras with us everywhere) But I had to get a little bit of money out of my account already. This week I had to travel to Chihuahua like 3 times, which was 76 pesos each time, and we get reimbursed for it, but not till in a few days, so I had no choice but to get my own money. I will be able to live in my means, but I did have to get some of my own money because of that fact that I traveled so much. It is hard for us in Camargo because we are so far away from everyone else, so we have to travel a lot, and they don't give us extra money, only reimburse us. So all in all, I have the same amount of money that all of the Mexican companions have too. But don't worry, I have prayed and prayed about figuring out the money situation, and I feel peace, so all is well.

-Also if you ever send a package, send American food.......and could you send a knee brace. From my knee injury during soccer, when I walk a lot it hurts my knee.

-Another cool fact: Elder Ellis And Elder Hiskey are in my district! They are in a place called Saucio, I think, like 30 minutes from our area, so yeah! Sweet!!!

I'm excited to be serving the Lord, and I know I'm supposed to be here for a reason so that is what keeps me going. All will be well, I know that for a fact! Trials come. It is a trial here in Mexico, and sometimes I get scared because it is so different, but it will prepare me for life! Always count your blessings for living in the US! I love you all, and I hope all is well!!! Oh, and this Sunday we are all talking in Church......haha, oh and just barely a guy that's on the computer next to me tapped me on the shoulder, and showed me a picture. I guess his son is on a mission in Mexico. You don't see very many Mormons here.....that's funny! haha, well yeah, Love you all!!!! Have a great week!!!
-Elder Sinamor

:)

Zac and Elder Hiskey in the front row waiting for the orientation devotional to start.


All the new missionaries eating dinner the night they arrived in Mexico.


All 14 missionaries at the Chihuahua, Mexico airport with President and Sister Chavez


Zac hugging his mission president, President Chavez


Monday, October 14, 2013

First Day in Mexico - October 14th, 2013

Family,

     Well it's been crazy today! The airplane that we got on to go to Mexico was teeny! It was quite awesome! So yeah, Presidente Chavez wanted us to just give a short email to our family, so yeah. Right when we got in Mexico, you could tell we weren't in Los Estados Unidos anymore. But I'm excited. When we got there President Chavez welcomed us and then brought us to a nice restaurant. Trust me when I say this......the driving is Insane here!!! Yeah....But my new companion is Elder Whitney, and we are serving in an area called Delisio, I think....but yeah, I'm excited, and I'll talk to you all in one week! Love you All.

-Elder Loveless

10-14-13 Zac left the Provo MTC for Mexico

Hi Family and Friends,

     Just wanted to update you on our awesome elder.  We were able to talk with him when he was at the Salt Lake airport this morning about 5:45 a.m.  We were expecting the phone call around 5 but Zac said that they waited about an hour in line to pass through security.  He couldn't figure out what all those people were doing at the airport at that early hour :)  He was traveling with 12 other elders and 1 sister.  He loved being at the airport because everyone came up to the missionaries and asked where they were going, etc.  We were only able to talk with him about 10 minutes before he had to board the plane.  He also said that a bus brought all the missionaries to the airport this morning.  I was a bit worried that they might have to ride the Front Runner and Trax again with all their luggage - so glad that didn't happen.

     We were able to talk with him again when he landed in Fort Worth, Texas during his layover.  We talked with him for about a half hour.  He is doing great and was really excited to be finally going to Mexico.  He did sound a bit tired by then but they had been up since 1:30 a.m. so he had an excuse. 

     Thanks for all your support and love.  Zac is blessed to have such a great extended family and great friends.  I will post his address, etc. when we hear from him next Monday.

Much love,
Melodie

    
    

Sunday, October 13, 2013

"Our district with our maestro Hermano Rios (look how small he is)."


"Our district with our maestro Hermano Passantino."


Letter - 10/12/2013 Last letter from the MTC!


Saturday, October 12, 2013 - Last letter from the MTC

          So yeah, it's been only 3 days, but quite a bit has happened, so here's what's up: Thursday nothing actually out of the ordinary happened, but it was a good day.

          Friday was a very different day. Friday we had something called In Field Orientation. So pretty much it was a Very long day. Starting at 8:00 am we went into a meeting type thing. From 8 to 5:30 pm we were in this meeting. Yeah that's 9 and a half hours. But I guess we did get about a 30 minute break, so more like only 9 hours of meetings. For some reason though, it didn't feel as long as it could have, and I think that was because we were learning so much! During the meeting we talked about the field, and about things to do, and not to do, and just a TON of things! It was actually a Very interesting day, and it wasn't too bad. Not too much more than that on Friday. Oh, haha actually another funny story about in field orientation. So I have grown a very good relationship with one of the Elders, Elder French, and he is the type of elder Not to talk about any feelings or anything like that, like he just doesn't do that kind of stuff. So as we went throughout the day, I noticed him just keep looking over at this specific sister. After the meeting he nudged me and said,"hey look at that sister over there. She is the most Beautiful sister I have ever seen." I looked at her and I was just kinda like," you go for it kiddo." haha....end of story, but it was just cool to see that with an elder like that I was able to gain his trust, which he doesn't do very often (trust people). So I'm glad, and I hope I have touched his life :)

          Saturday, or today, was also very interesting! It was our last day today with our classes and what not. I have grown a Very strong relationship with our teachers and I'm pretty sad to be leaving them! My teachers, Hermano Rios and Hermano Passantino were the Best teachers ever! I loved them so much, and it was sad to leave them, but I am also So excited to finally go to Mexico!

          So today I also have had a very cool experience. So lately I just feel like I've needed to do more, so I have. In free time instead of talking about whatever, I grab my scriptures and read them in English And in Spanish. I do things that I wouldn't have otherwise done, and my improvement has grown SO MUCH! I was in a lesson earlier and I starting preaching. I was bearing my testimony, but it was SO powerful, and I was half in tears as I was bearing my testimony. The language is coming, and it's coming fast! I am going to continue like this as I get out in the field because I want to SO badly learn the language as fast as I can! I know the Lord has been there for me and will continue to be there for me as long as I do what he wants of me and beyond!

          So tomorrow is our last day at the MTC. I'm playing the piano for priesthood meeting and sacrament meeting and am really excited! We have a departure devotional and a fireside tomorrow, and after those we will be packing everything up (and were actually packing a little bit tonight), then we go to sleep! We will be waking up at 1:30 am on Monday, so that we can be at the MTC travel office at 2:30. So we'll only get like 3 hours of sleep, but it'll be okay, because I'm SO excited!

I love you all and am excited to talk to you on Monday!! Bright and Early ;)

-Elder Loveless

 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

10-9-13 Letter from MTC

I'm back again!!! So it has been a Very good week, especially because of conference, but also a Very busy week! Here's what has happened! I won't give exactly a whole week breakdown, just the days that certain experiences happened:
So Friday something special happened. So a few days last week I was praying every night,  just because I didn't feel like I was trying as hard as I could, but I wasn't really sure what I could do better. I just wanted to be the best missionary I could be, so yeah, I prayed for help quite a few days last week. So then on Friday, there were some new teachers, and so the trainer guy had to do kind of like an orientation thing, so he was just trying to find some missionaries last minute, and he randomly found us....me and Elder Beifuss. So we were pretty much the stars of the show. He pretty much had a lesson with us, and it literally answered all my questions. It was the answer to all my prayers. And ever since that lesson, I have been doing That much better, because I have used his advice! After the lesson, the teachers got to ask us questions which was really neat, so yeah, we have been doing a lot that most missionaries don't get to do! Also on Friday, or Thursday, I can't remember, we had some representatives from the Boy Scouts of America come and look around the MTC, and so our District got lucky enough to help with that!

So then of course Saturday and Sunday.....General Conference :) Just imagine the excitement of something like the superbowl, and then that's the excitement of General Conference at the MTC. So because of the fact that I'm a missionary, I felt that like Everything applied to me...to All the missionaries around the world! I was just So into General Conference that I wasn't tired or sleepy like once!!! I think my all time favorite was either McConkie's in the Sunday afternoon session, which was like all about missionary/teacher work, or Uchtdorf's during Priesthood session about never giving up....THAT was a powerful talk! I hope you all enjoyed conference too, because it was amazing!! Just simply....amazing :)

Monday we had something pretty cool! So Monday is one of the days that Senior couple missionaries come to the MTC, and so we got the special opportunity to be Hosts for them! It was really cool! It was kind of like when I got to the MTC, but a LOT less stressful, because the older couples would just come holding hands and be ready to work! We got to show them to their rooms and lead them to a couple more places where they picked up stuff and finally ended up in a welcome devotional. That was fun! As well as that, we did our TRC on Monday, which was really unique! We taught a lesson to a mom in Florida, who was born and raised in Mexico! After about 20 minutes of the lesson, her little 11 year old girl just begged her mom to talk to us! She was SO excited to talk to the missionaries! We got to talk to her for a little bit, which was cool! The love the missionaries receive is amazing! So after we finished talking to the girl, her mom came back and we taught the rest of the lesson to her....but oh boy can I say that like seriously every lesson I teach, Spanish just keeps coming easier and easier! So yeah, twas simply amazing :)

So yeah, besides those experiences, our "investigators" have been progressing well!! Our one investigator, Luis, had a baptismal date like the second or third visit, but our other investigator, Pedro, just barely got a baptismal date after some what like 8 lessons. But it's awesome! I'm loving teaching even these investigators, but I'm ready to go out and teach people, and bring them unto Christ, and see their love grow, even though I may not know much Spanish at the beginning! I love the MTC, but ready to get to Mexico in 5 days!!! I haven't really talked about much downer time, because I make the best of the time here, but just kind of like at home, I get made fun of a lot and teased a lot.  So I love the MTC, but I am also ready to get to Mexico, because I feel like I get along better with certain people.....like Mexicans!!! haha, so you know, people make fun of you, tease you, whatever, you get on with life because there are only 2 years of service for a mission, and a whole life time to remember it! You don't want to remember you mission and have regrets, so that's what I'm doing! Elder Hiskey has been sticking it through with me though. Him and me are keeping each other somewhat sane here in the MTC, so yeah, it's all good! God loves me and has me here for a reason! So I think this Saturday, in like 3 days, I will get to do laundry one more time here, and write to you, so expect an email that day! The next day after that will probably be the pday, so yeah!!!!

El Libro De Mormon es verdarero! José Smith ere un profeta de Dios! JesuCristo sufrió por nuestros pecados, y murió por nosotros! Mediante la Expiación de JesuCristo podemos arrepentirse de nuestros pecados, y podemos ser limpio. Yo amo este Evangelio, el Evangelio de JesuCristo, y estoy Tan animado a enseñar la gente en Chihuahua Mexico! Yo amo ustedes...mi familia, y gracias por su ayuda mediante mi vida!

-Elder Loveless






Thursday, October 3, 2013

"Statue Picture (Oh, I forgot to say, I also got a haircut)."


"Another Elder that left, Elder Gardner."


"Another Elder that left, Elder Berg."


"Another Elder that left, Elder Morris."


" Me and Elder Pendleton, also an Elder that left on Monday."


"Me and Elder Bergsma, an Elder that left on Monday."


"Yeah, sometimes we like to draw on our words."


10-2-2013 P-Day Letter

Yeah!!! It has been a month now! 4 whole weeks, how crazy! Usually at the beginning of a new week, I think, yeah not much special can happen in a week, every week, and then there seems to ALWAYS be more crazy/awesome/spiritual stuff that happens, but it's a blessing and makes the CCM that much better! Week break down:
Thursday: Nothing happened Thursday, nothing special at least, just another day here at the CCM.

Friday: This day was also like Thursday, nothing special, just the normal spiritual fun here at the CCM.

Saturday: And Saturday as well, just a normal day at the CCM.

Sunday: Sunday is when things started getting a little different. So as I said last week, me and Elder Beifuss gave the prayers for the fireside for the whole CCM! That was kinda nerve wracking, just a tad. So we get there, and so you know, only like almost 1,000 missionaries in front of you, and another 2,000 around different rooms, including wyview and what not, seeing it through a broadcast. The speaker was the president of the Provo Temple and his wife. That was really cool, but yeah, so as I got up to say the prayer, I look down at the podium to bow my head and there was a mini tv, showing me as what it looks like to others, which was kinda freaky, but yeah, it was good! I just said what the spirit told me to say, and it went good! Also on Sunday, since the next day the other district left, they redid the callings and what not! Me and Elder Beifuss are the new Zone Leaders, which is the highest position for a missionary for the Branch in the CCM. Kind of weird though, because since it's only our district now in our zone, our district leader, Elder French, is kinda over us. It's kind of like bishop and stake president. It's the district leader's district, but we're over him, but also part of the district....confusing, I know. But we give lots of discussions. When something isn't going good for our zone (now only district), we are called to give about a 20-30 minute discussion on the importance of things. So it is really good, and I can definitely feel the spirit more and have more a want to teach this gospel stronger and better! Also on Sunday, since it was fast conference we had fast and testimony meeting. Wow, that was amazing. So we had to bear our testimonies in Spanish, and so I did. The Spanish literally flowed out of my mouth, it was the COOLESLT thing ever :) Ahhhh.....gift of tongues is real!!!

Monday: Monday was interesting. We had TRC again, but this time it was with a native, via skype, which was CrAzY, and super amazing :) I want to leave a separate paragraph for that though. Other then that, Monday the other district left, which was kind of sad because we had grown so close to them. So yeah....

Tuesday: Nothing too different yesterday, except for we started a new goal. During our classes we have to only speak Spanish, and so we extended that goal and just tried to speak Spanish the whole day, which was really interesting. I didn't do too bad, but it was kind of difficult at times. No I wasn't able to speak ALL in Spanish all day, but I did pretty good.

Wednesday: And then today, Pday, has been really good!!! I forgot to tell, but for the morning on Pdays, at 6:05 am we have a service project, and so our service is cleaning a church building right outside of the CCM, which is really nice, doing service!!!

TRC experience: So like I said, we got to do our TRC experience via Skype! Our lady was from Peru, and it was so cool. The lesson was good, yeah, but at the end I just had this impression to ask if she had any questions, not necessarily about the lesson, but in general. She did have a question, and it was about a friend she had that was just going through a really tough time, her friend was catholic, and wasn't sure about the spirit. Immediately I found this scripture about the spirit and told her to share it with her friend. I may never know how it goes with her friend, but it was an amazing experience :) I can't wait till this next Tuesday for another skype experience.

Q/A: So we did get our Visas, so no worries about that. Elder Beifuss just got his late, but we got them. The CCM holds on to them until we leave though, so I'm set. I will be able to call at the airport, and no worries, it is really really cheap. When we went to Vegas we were able to look at the prices, and it is only 0.50 cents, unlimited talk, for local calls, which is any number with an 801 as a zip code, as that is the same as SLC's area code. It will probably be around 7 am, BUT, I'm not sure. I'll be able to know for sure next week because that is when we get our travel plans.

So thanks for all the love and support, I sent a few handwritten letters today, so expect those in a few days, but I just want to say that this gospel is amazing. There is nothing greater then this work. I am going to miss the CCM in a week and half when I leave. The spirituality is so amazing, as the real world won't be as much. I know people are waiting in Mexico for me though, not for me, but for the gospel, through me. Keep up all the love and support, you all are in my prayers constantly :) El Evangelio de Jesucristo es verdarero.....siempre!!!


-Elder Loveless