Hey Mom and Dad! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I couldn't write last week, but this week yeah! So how was your birthday? What did you do? Thanks for being a wonderful mother of all mothers!!
How are you all? I am doing well. It's really hot!!
Well really we haven't had too many investigators, and we've been contacting quite a bit and working with members and inactives. But we haven't seen the fruits of our labor quite yet. Me and Elder Lara are working and doing what we can!
The little branch I'm in is so tiny. There's about 40 people on average that assist every Sunday. But out of those 40 there are about 12 adults. It's really cool because the majority of the members are really supportive. A lot of the adults are recent converts of about 5-6 months. So the work here has been a little slow. I don't know about other missions, but here in Mexico there is so much crap that goes on. There are a lot of Elders that don't really try to reach all of the requirements before a baptism, and sometimes baptize people without going to the church at all. A lot of people are baptized into the church without having the desire at all. They just do it, because they are friends with the missionaries and because it seems like something new, but after their baptism they'll go to church about two times and then stop. It's pretty frustrating. I think there's such a pressure for numbers and so many of these elders are immature that they just baptize without the care that they should give to the investigators. It's a little discouraging sometimes.
We had two baptisms on Friday, the 29th of May. The people that were baptized are called Yareli and Yadani. Yareli is a mother of three kids, and is 31. Her husband is less than supportive but she is firm in doing what God wants and wants to be involved in the church. Her daughter, Yadani was baptized too. She is a smart little girl and really likes the young women's program.
Right now we have been trying to find good people that really have the desire to be baptized and change their lives. Mexico is so "burnt over", kind of like New York was in Joseph Smith's time. You've got the catholics, the Jehovah's witnesses, the Mormons, the Atalayas (some crazy new religion here in Mexico), and a whole bunch of others. Yesterday, we found a little guy named Santiago. He lives alone and doesn't work. We taught him the Restoration and he accepted a return visit. He seems like he wants to be closer to God, to have a firm faith. Also we found a little family about a week ago. They had accepted a return visit, but when we went back they weren't there. But, they had left a note, a very rare thing here, that said "We're sorry! We had to leave, but come back the same time Monday!" When we taught them we felt something pretty special, and they left a note telling us sorry! So in about twenty minutes we're gonna go teach them the plan of salvation. They had a little girl pass away in their family a while ago and they seem like they are looking for something.
President Gardner is getting ready to leave! It'll be weird to have a different president!
So, I'm gonna give you a list of the weird things I've eaten since I've been in Mexico.
Here it is:
-LIVE BUGS called humildes
-Chicken foot
-Pig foot
-Cow foot
-A soup called Pancita or Menudo, and the main ingredient is the STOMACH of the cow -And last but certainly not the least weird is IGUANA! I ate a good portion of some ugly lizard the other day. Strangely enough it tastes like chicken.
The really weird thing is, and mom you're probably going to gasp, is that I've liked all of it. There hasn't been a thing that I haven't liked. The cow stomach soup was actually really good.
I'm doing good. How's the Wilbur family? I wish I could be there! I love family reunions! How're Nana and Papa?
Hey Dad, I was thinking about something the other day. Just an interesting thought. God is a man. We as humans are created in the image of Man. God was once like us on an earth, and went through the same process we are going through. So the process is eternal. In 2nd Nehpi it says that the course of the Lord is one eternal round. There was no beginning and there is no end. If God is eternal, and God is man, then this image, the body of man, is eternal, and never was created. It is eternal. It made me have a new respect for the human body and form. Man never began and never will end.
Do you guys need anything from me? I am doing just fine. Just keep praying for the little branch La Mira! I love you all
Russell
Elder West
