Elder Fife and Elder Loveless

"Looking a little bit more Mexican Elder Loveless....Yep....it happens from being in Mexico for a year!!!!"

The 8 year old activity day girls and their leaders put together packages to send to all the missionaries in our ward. I bet you can't guess what was in the package Elder Loveless got??? BIGOTES!! Elders Palma, Cooper, Beifuss, Loveless and Zarco.

August 30th, 2014 - Weekly Letter

Family,

            I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing good!  The first few weeks of school are always fun but stressful at the same time. Luckily here the work is all year long!!!  

            So I'm sorry if my letter isn't very long today, but most of the time last week we were just in the offices finishing work since it's the end of the month and we have to make sure all of the mission's cards are in zeros and everything like that (if you know what that means).  So yeah, it wasn't a bad week, but a very busy week.

          So this last week President pretty much told us that Elder Zarco is going to be leaving the offices on this coming Monday because it's his turn to leave, so this last week I had a lot of training to get to know what I will be doing exactly for the next while.  I didn't realize it but the Financial Secretary does a ton of work. They have to make sure that every little thing is right when it comes to money, but it is super cool and I love it. It literally is almost like a game at the end of the month when we have to use math to make sure everything ends in zeros! 

           But this last week we didn't really leave the offices, but we had a visitor's center so that was fun. I love setting up the Plan of Salvation in the church and seeing how everyone reacts to seeing how the Plan of God really works!

          So yeah, and then something that was pretty funny was that President Chavez came to the offices one day and he showed us the Facebook page and he just thought it was soooo funny that the pic of me sleeping had like 4,500 (more or less) likes, and all of the other pics with baptisms and what not only had like 2,000 likes. 

         But yeah, so everything's going good! I'm a little bit anxious for this next week, but I'm excited!!

 

So I'll talk to you all next week!!! Have a good week and be good and choose the right :) 

Love you all,

Elder Loveless

CRAZY RAINSTORMS!!! Elders Loveless, Beifuss and Fife.

Just in the offices. Elder Loveless and Elder Palma.

August 23rd, 2014 - Weekly Letter

Family,

           Hey everyone?! How are we all?  I love being able to see all of the pictures to see how everybody's doing!  Sounds and looks like you all had a blast in Burley, and that school started out...super interesting, but that's good! Making memories!!!

           So this last week here in Mexico was very good!! One of my favorite things is that the weather is starting to get cooler.  But the weather is super weird, because during the day it gets hot still, like up to 90 degrees, but during the afternoon at like 5-6 it starts raining for a few hours and then it cools off in the nights.  But yeah, now that the weather is cooling off, Hermana Chavez gave us a new rule that we have to start taking Vitamin C so that we prevent getting sick in this changing period. So  yeah, let's hope I don't get any colds any time soon!

          But yeah, just like you all saw the pictures, Elder Zarco, Elder Palma, Elder Cooper and I went with President Chavez and Hermana Chavez to Parral, and Elder Zarco and I went to buy stuff for missionaries, and it was nice because we went to this peaceful little doblado stand, and they were super good. Doblados are like burritos, but only folded over one time, not rolled up.  The city Parral is super peaceful!! I like it! It would be cool to go there after I leave the offices.  But so yeah, while President Chavez and Hermana Chavez were giving the meeting, Elder Zarco and I went to Walmart and bought stuff! I saw Elder Hiskey too!!! That was cool!  And then it's true, on the way back from Parral I was just so tired so I fell asleep...didn't know that they had taken pictures!!!  But it's just super cool, because being with President and Hermana Chavez in a car like that for 2 hours is super different. They were just joking the whole time....they're soooo cool!!! I love our leaders in the mission!

          Later, on Thursday we had a meeting with President Chavez and Hermana Chavez here in Chihuahua. I loved it! President talked about Pride and the natural man. It was really interesting, because he helped us realize that everyone has some form of pride, and the challenge in life is to conquer that pride, or in other words, put off the natural man.  President helped us learn techniques to overcome the natural man, and get rid of him.  He explained to us that every time we have a temptation, or bad thoughts come in our minds, or things like that, we just have to fast, or do something that our physical body doesn't like so that eventually when the body wants to do that or has that temptation it doesn't affect us because our body doesn't want to do that thing like fasting. It's cool, and I really want to arrive at that point where my spirit controls my body.  So yeah, that was a cool meeting!!

         Also, we're preparing our investigator Mariana for baptism next week, so we're hoping that everything goes good there!  We hope she's ready, because she really hasn't come to church yet, beside when she was a little bit younger.  But yeah, we're slowly finding more and more people! 

The Lord is hastening his work, not us.  I am a strong believer that the Lord already has people ready, and as missionaries it's our job to find those people!  It's the coolest thing in the world when you find somebody that needs help and has been looking for it but hasn't been able to find it, and then realizes that that help is found in our church......God's church.  

I love this work, and I'm so glad to be here as a servant of God for 2 years of my life!!

I hope you all have a great week! enjoy school and work!!

And remember...I love you! But God loves you all more!!!

-Elder Loveless

Walmart/Sam's Club in Parral.

Elder Loveless is completely worn out from his day in Parral.

Elders Loveless, Zarco, Cooper and Palma on a two hour ride with President and Hermana Chavez to Parral.

Selfie!!

Elder Ridd from the General Young Men's Presidency and Elder Pieper from the Seventy. Zac is the 2nd elder in on the left side, 2nd row from the top.

August 16th, 2014 - Weekly Letter

Family,

           I'm sorry if this email isn't the longest email, but this last week was kind of a normal week, just in the offices for the majority of the time, but there were quite a few cool things that happened!  But how cool that you guys are all in Burley. Those were always my favorite times......swimming, driving Aunt Denise's car, the Mexican food (even though I eat it every day ;) and spending time with the fam.  I feel like just yesterday I was there, thinking about the mission like the whole time! How time flies......

         But yeah...so this last week was really good!  Even though it was a normal week, we were able to leave a few more times to work, and I enjoyed it a lot!  So we went with our investigator named Mariana (the little girl of 9 years of age) and we finally found out the necessities of the family, and why they didn't go to church, and we attacked that point and now they´re going to come to church tomorrow...but for sure.  Mariana has been wanting to be baptized for a long time, but the problem was that her mom doesn't ever take her because she never could, but now we helped them out and they´re going to go to church!!!  We have her baptismal date for the 30th of this month, so that'll be awesome!!!

         This last week we also found a man named Pablo who is just the most sincere awesome old man I have ever known, and he just wants to follow God´s path the best he can, but he told us he needs help!  What better investigator right? But that's just the beginning. He told us how he found out that we prohibit coffee, and we thought, great, he's not gonna want to hear more, but he told us that he agrees with that, because he knows from personal experience that coffee is bad.  He doesn't drink alcohol, and when we pulled out the Book of Mormon and showed him it he started to tell us that he had been looking for that book for a ton of time, but never found it!  He told us that he believes that it really is another testament of Christ.  He's just the perfect investigator!!!  And we are thinking that he's for sure going to be baptized in the first part of September! He works on Sunday, but he's going to go to church first and then work after! I already love him and we've only worked with him for like a week!  So cool!

          Oh yeah and also, I realized something a little weird.....

--------tomorrow I only have one year left on the mission------------------------------------------------------------------

                          only one year left.....I can't believe that almost a year ago I arrived as a newbie in the MTC. Time does go by so fast. But I love the mission so much, so I'm so glad that I have a year left! I'm planning on changing a lot of lives :)  More than in the first year!!!

   And than other than everything that I have said, today Elder Ridd and Elder Pieper came to the mission and talked about real intentions and helping investigators be (auto suficientes--I don't know how to say that in English)(maybe dad can translate). It was just so cool because I left with so much revelation...I'm just ready to go out there and teach everyone!!! Elder Ridd, after when we shook hands, made a joke about my last name...Loveless.....hahaha, good one Elder Ridd...super funny. First time I've heard that one :P

But yeah, so thanks for all the love and support!!  Have a great time at Burley, and good luck with school!    LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-Elder Loveless

P.S. I got my new shoes yesterday...thanks so much :)

August Transfers - Elder Loveless is 4 rows back with a big smile!!

August 9th, 2014 - Weekly Letter

Family,

             So this last week was pretty good! It was definitely not a normal week, but I guess every week as a secretary isn't normal! So since this last week was the first week of a new cycle (there are 6 weeks in every cycle), new missionaries arrived!  There were 6 natives (4 elders and 2 sisters), and 5 elders from the US. It was just funny though because it brought me back to my first day here in the mission...being new and a little scared of being in Mexico, and just feeling a little sick.  And I look at them, and I was at the same level as them when I arrived, and then I look at how I am now, and it is just super weird to see that I have changed. It's really hard to see one's personal conversion, but now I realized how far I've come....and I still lack a year! Wow!!! The mission is so amazing, and gets more and more amazing as time gets on, and I think it's because as a missionary we learn new things everyday, and as we put those things that we learn in practice, we progress, and we get closer to Christ....and God, and so the mission seems so much more fun....even in the hard times. I'm so glad that I have a little bit more than a year still, because I love it!

           But so yeah....when the newbies came, Elder Zarco and I went to buy food for the natives, because they were going to eat breakfast. We then ate breakfast with them, and then a few hours after, the ones from the US came, and we went out and ate at the same restaurant that I ate at when I arrived in the mission....I loved it...because this time I knew Spanish!!!  I then had a little training meeting with the Americans about the finances of the mission!  Two days after that we had a group of 5 missionaries that left....and one of the missionary's family came, and now they're around visiting Mexico a little bit. It was kind of weird because I have not seen an American family for like 11 months.  Elder Yates also left....I think you know his mom right mom?  So yeah...that was pretty crazy. 
          So something amazing that I've been learning is the importance of the Book of Mormon!  I've been realizing that pretty much every single verse in the Book of Mormon has some kind of principle in it....if it wasn't that way, it wouldn't be part of the Book of Mormon. With only the Book of Mormon someone can gain a perfect testimony of everything that is taught in the church! 

          I also heard something really cool from Hermana Chavez. She was teaching us yesterday, and she told us that in her Patriarchal Blessing it said that she was going to prepare spirits for the second coming of Christ....and she said that she always thought that it was going to be her kids, but she then told us that she realized when she got her call, she realized that the spirits were going to be us....so I thought wow....Hermana Chavez really is preparing us for the second coming....and President too.

          That was the coolest thing to hear from Hermana Chavez, and it made my spirit just boost. I felt so much better about everything, and I just feel strong with the spirit.....ready to confront anything and everything! I love this all, and I'm happy for the success that we've been having. We weren't able to leave the offices too much this last week, but we will this next week! Also, one of the new elders is staying with us for a while, Elder Fife. It'll be fun!

 

Have a good week and I love you all!!!

-Elder Loveless

 

P.S. I'm going to send a package soon to you all 

August 4th, 2014 - Only 13 more months to go!!!!! (You'll have to decide if Jon or Emma makes the better number 3!!) Zac's been out for 11 months - wow!!

Cuauhtemoc

"Parral and it's crazy hills...and it was raining."

August 3rd, 2014 - Weekly Letter

Family,

            So this last week was a little bit weird.  I actually didn't get the chance to go out of the offices to work very much, but at the same time it was really good!

            So starting on Monday it has been raining every day. Not all day like where dad served his mission, but it's been raining about every afternoon at about 6ish, and it's really weird here in Chihuahua I guess because here it never rains until like Octoberish, and then in October it only rains a little bit, so that has been super nice.  

          But on Thursday we had a meeting with President Chavez which was super awesome! We talked about faith and how with faith we can literally move mountains, so with that same faith we would be able to baptize a lot of people, right?! So then we all starting thinking, then why don't we baptize like we should be, and then that is when President starting talking about how we can increase our faith in Christ, and it was super cool!  We learned that the more obedient and diligent we are, the more our faith increases, and then that is when we can feel the spirit more and have more success, so after the meeting I went and thought about my life as a missionary, and made some goals to be more obedient and diligent. I'm not saying that I'm a sinner, but we always can improve in everything, so I'm going to see this week and see how it helps me.  But it was an amazing meeting with President. I love and treasure every meeting that we have with him.

         So on Friday we found about all of the transfers that are going to happen on Tuesday, because it's a new cycle, and so since 11 missionaries are coming and only 5 missionaries are leaving, the assistants had to open like 3 areas, so Elder Zarco and I had to go and buy some stuff.  But we went around the WHOLE mission practically.  We left at like 1ish p.m. on Friday, and we barely returned yesterday at like 9 p.m, and for that reason I wasn't able to write you guys yesterday.  But I'm not going to lie, I was exhausted, but it was awesome.  First on Friday we went to a city called Parral which is 3 hours south of Chihuahua, and when we got there it was raining...pouring....and really cold. I was so surprised.  Also, when me and Elder Zarco went to eat at this one restaurant, a member family from Lagos was there, and that was super weird to see them in Parral, but it was cool to talk to them again.  So Parral is really cool because the streets are literally hills, like it looks like a roller coaster. It also rains a lot more then the other citys, but it was super beautiful....

         After Parral we went to Delicias, where I've already been, and it was really hot in Delicias. Actually, Friday night we stayed the night with the zone leaders in Parral, and then we left early on Saturday, at like 8ish, and it was like 3 hours from Parral to Delicias.  I got to see one of the members that I had known in Delicias which was cool.  But after Delicias we went to a city called Cuauhtémoc, which was about 2ish hours from Delicias, and let me just say, Cuauhtémoc was the weirdest of all of the cities. So in Cuauhtémoc there are a people called Menonitas, which are like a group of white people, but they all speak Spanish of course, and they all wear dresses and weird clothes. They look like the people from Little House on the Prairie.  But there's a LOT of those people there. So when we went to Walmart in Cuauhtémoc, like half of the people were white, and it was just weird to me.  Also in Cuauhtémoc there are a lot of the original people called Tarahumaras, and they're like the Indian type people that you see in pictures of Mexico and what not. So in Cuauhtémoc it's a mix of Menonitas, Tarahumaras, and then the normal Mexicans from Chihuahua, but it was just interesting. But I liked it a lot. The weather is a lot cooler there, so it's cool.  It's also extremely green....I loved it!!!  Oh and we went to KFC in Cuauhtémoc, and the owner is a member, so he gave us a 25% discount.....oh yeah!!!

      So yeah, after that we returned to Chihuahua.....and that was my week. In 2 days we were in a bus for about 9 hours, but it was good because I started reading this book called Jesus the Christ, and it's extremely long, but I got to read that for a while....and it is amazing. I have learned SO much about our Savior Jesus Christ, and my testimony has grown so strong of him. 

I love Christ

I know that he suffered and died for every single one of us

I know that he pleads with God for us when we repent

And I know that everything he does is out of pure love for us

Nobody else in the world loves us so much

Thanks for all you guys do for me....I love you all so so so much!!!

Have a good week!!

-Elder Loveless