Mexico Week 5: Listen and ACT on the Promptings of the Spirit

Hey there everyone!!


Well I have to be honest, I am surprised I am still alive here after 5 weeks. The traffic is crazy in the city and they don't really care about the pedestrians, haha. Also my comp and I always have to carry rocks with us since we have dogs always chasing us down the street, hahaha. It is kinda funny actually, especially when the little dogs try and chase us.


Anyways, thank you everyone for your kind words and letters!! I always enjoy your letters and hearing about normal life, haha. Brinkley, this week sounds like its going to be fun!! I hope you have fun at Morp!! Kolby, good luck with baseball tryouts this week!! I will be praying for you. Kasey and Braxley, thank you for the sports updates. Why did the Jazz trade Willams?? Kasey, I hope you have fun with your campout, and Braxley with basketball. Work everyday on defense. That is the most important. You know what they say...Defense wins championships!! Hey, keep me updated on how BYU basketball is doing in the tournament!


Well, for this week it was a little more successfull. Elder Villalba and I have been trying hard to find more people to teach, but they just are not coming. Plus the members are not helping us out at all! The other day we went knocking on doors on this one street and no one was interested, and so we had two more houses left and Elder Villalba wanted to quit because we had no success. But I told him no because I felt an impression that we should knock one of the houses. So we did and ending up getting an appointment. The other day they accepted to learn more, and now we have 4 more investigators, a nice beautiful family :) Always listen and ACT on the promptings of the Spirit!! They come softly and sometimes only once, but through the Spirit we can know all things, and why wouldn't we want to know all things?


Wednesday we had our distict meeting and we talked about how we can become a more successful Missionaries! Afterwards we had divisions again so I went with Elder Bravo in his area. We had great success. He is a great missionary and is from Cancun Mexico, haha!


Thursday we had our weekly planning session. We hope to have a Baptism this coming Sunday with Lorena. She is improving and has accepted everything she just has not prayed and is scared to change her beliefs. We have been promising her great blessings though. She is great! Daniel our other investigator wants to join but has not gotten permission from his parents, who are really catholic. We might be talking with them this week.


We had to drop an investigator this week. Erica. We found out that her husband has another wife. We have told her that she needs to marry him leagally, which means he leaves his other wife, which he won't, or break up with him. She won't because she loves him too much so we had to drop her :(  I wish the best for her.


Well some sweet things happened this week. I got my first haircut in Mexico haha! I had mole finally and it was good!!! Also on Saturday I got to kill a goat!! Yesterday we ate it with some members :) I have pictures that I will upload :) So how the goat worked out was that we hung it upside down from its legs and put a bucket under its head, then I stabbed it in the neck and all the blood came out, haha. It was fun!! And we ate it yesterday and it was way good, hahaha.

Nothing else much happened this week. Oh!! So President Rex last week sent an email to the whole mission that we must read the entire Book of Mormon by May 30th, 100 days. So I stopped my reading in Alma and started over again. Right now I am in 1 Nephi Chapter 17 when they build the ship. Something I learned this week I want to share. In 1 Nephi 13:37 we learn that those who take this Gospel will be blessed with so many blessings, this includes everyone, not Missionaries alone. This work the Lord tell us is marvelous in 1 Nephi 14:7. This work is Missionary work and Temple work. These two works are the same work!!! It is taking the Gospel to those in this life or in the next. We must do this work together and see it as ONE marvelous work and a wonder. I have pondered on how we can better this work and make it more successful. The first thing, which is the first law in Heaven of course, is to be Obedient! We can't have the Spirit if we don't exercise obedience. Second, the answer is in 1 Nephi 10:19. We must search and ponder the things of God which are the scriptures. I have learned that if you want to be inspired, read the Book of Mormon everyday and PONDER and ASK yourself how these words apply to me right now. When we do that, through the Holy Ghost, ALL of the mysteries of God will be unfolded to us. Then we must act on the things that we learn. This is how the Lord works and teaches. We work at it, He helps us understand through His spirit, and then we must Act! It's kind of like learning how to drive. You can't learn how to drive unless you study the laws, get help from your parents or an experienced driver, and then you drive! You don't learn unless you do. You don't progress unless you act.


Well I gotta go but I love and miss you all! Thank you for all your kind words and letters and the package!!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

P.S. I have transfers next week and I will tell you how they work then because I don't know now, haha.

100 Days!

Elder Lester has been serving his mission for 100 days today!

 

Mexico Week 4: Promptings from the Spirit

Hey there everyone!!

Thank you for all your loving letters!! Grandma, I heard about your illness last week. I am worried about you and hope you are getting better :) Braxley, I am impressed that you can do a smiley face now :) :) I can wink though ;) haha =) or a heart <3 haha!! Keep it up in b-ball and don't get down. Kolby, that is awesome that you won the game for your team way to go!! Brinkley, where did you go, haha? Thanks for all the sports updates Kasey.  I love them :) How's your scripture reading going? You studying Preach my Gospel?

So to answer your questions. Our house is very nice I think especially compared to the houses we have been in. There is no heat in our house, only for the shower thank goodness!! You are right grandma about the tv thing. Alot of people dont have running water, so sometimes when we ask if we could use the restroom you see their stuff from the day in the toilet still :( Kinda gross. Everyone does have a tv though and they treasure it, lol. My area has about 600 people who live in it all spread out! We can only work in about 2 sometimes a 3rd town in our area because our area is huge and it's too expensive to take a bus to the other towns in our area. We really need bikes. I did give my tie to Elder Christofferson, but we traded so I have one of his :) I also traded a tie with Elder Ferrell and gave him another one since its his uncles business, haha. Those last pictures are of my district and zone at our last temple walk at the MTC...wow I miss that place so much right now and all the friends too! I do wear my shower sandals but I still have athletes foot. That town we did our shopping in is about an hour away from us but I dont know if it is in our area? I think I got all the questions answered right? If not let me know.

So this week was not successful at all!! Tuesday was not so great. All of our appointments fell through and so we spent the morning and afternoon trying to receive referrals from members, but no success. Same with service...no success. So we took a cumbi (small crowded van) to Dolores. A town in our area about 15 minute drive away. We have an investigator there named Lorena. Her husband Pedro is a fabulous faithful member who has served a mission. They are soooooooo poor. They live in a one room hut and have no stove, shower, or toilet. They cook over the fire like camping. Pedro spends alot of the money he makes in the week just to take a bus to church EACH Sunday. Sometimes when he can't afford it, he will walk the hour walk to get to church. I pray the Lord blesses him with whatever he needs in this life or with treasures and mansions in the next. He is a great man and he always puts a smile on my face. Anyways we taught Lorena, and how when we live the gospel our families will be blessed. She was receptive and we gave her a Book of Mormon :) That evening I taught Luis Daniel the piano. We have lessons twice a week :)

Wednesday we had our district meeting so we traveled to Puebla. After the meeting we had divisions so I went with Elder Nielson in his area, while Elder Villalba went with his comp Elder Borrego. I thought it would be fun with Elder Nielson since he is an American, but all he talked about was cars. haha. He loves his cars. Anyways after we ate with a member we switched and I was with Elder Borrego from Sorona, Mexico. Apparently he has had some bad experiences with American Elders so he doesn't like Americans. Hahaha, that was fun to walk and not talk the whole time, lol. Anyways at 6:00 Elder Villalba and I traveled back to Puebla and that night we taught the mother of Fernando. She is the only one in her family not a member. As we taught, the father who is a member, started going off about something that I didn't understand. I felt impressed by the Spirit though to share two scriptures and testify about them. Ether 12:6 and Mosiah 2:41. I don't know if they helped but I did it.

Thursday and Friday we worked with Luis Daniel, the young man I am teaching the piano. He is 18 and is wanting to serve a mission so he worked with us. Absolutely no success. We even knocked on doors which we never do because it doesn't work here all that well. That shows you how deperate we were.

Saturday morning we knocked on doors again because we had no appts set up. We got two people for appts!! One is tomorrow and the other is tonight at 6pm! The one tonight is a family, sweet family :) The dad took the lessons 10 years ago when the area was open and still has the Book of Mormon today!! He never got baptized for reasons I dont know. I hope we have success with him :) That afternoon we visited Luis Daniel and asked if he would help us out with our activity for the night. He agreed but he started crying. Elder Villalba talked to him and I tried listening but didnt really understand. I found out that his girlfirend broke up with him because he has been trying to share the gospel with her. Also he misses his dad who has lived in New York for the past 7 years for better work for his family. I couldn't do much because I didn't understand, but after Elder Villalba talked to him again the Spirit urged me to tell him to go into his room by himself and read D&C 121:1-9. He did so and came back feeling much better. That night the activity was awesome and he shared that experience with the members and testified that us missionaries are here for a reason and the members need to help us with the work! He is going to be a great missionary!! I hope the activity was a success. I felt it was. I hope the members see their value in the work. The work progresses faster with the members. More people are baptized and stay active. Our calling is to teach, teach, and teach. The members calling is to find, find, find. This is how missionary work should work!!

Sunday was great too! Bertha came and received the Holy Ghost. We had Branch Conference and that was great too :) I also taught Fernando English :)

So anyways, I hope for better success this week! Especially with the people. This week I have had to put up with alot of trash about being from the US, especially Arizona. Also for not knowing the language, including members of the Branch. The language is getting better. I can understand more but not really talk much more, hahahaha. I having been feeling alright though. I got way home sick on Friday but things are fine and I am trying to move forward. I am almost finished reading Our Search for Happiness by Elder Ballard. Great book!! I reccommend you guys read it!  Especially Grandma! :)

I love and miss you all!! I cant wait to hear from you!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester 

Mexico Week 3: Baptism of Bertha and Feed My Sheep

Hey there everyone!

Thank you for all your emails and kind words. Hahaha, that is crazy about the bunnies and I hope that they are doing good. Hahahahahaha, Brinkley that was a great way to ask Trey to Morp!! I bet he loved it. Little boys, I love your updates and sweet words...keep them coming!!

So this past week has been a better week for me feeling wise. I still get homesick every once and a while but I enjoy your letters and the time I have to see American Missionaries. Today for P-day we had our Zone activity and it was a blast!! We hiked up this big hill and played American Flag Football....finally something besides soccer hahaha. Believe it or not, but I was the QB for my team and I dominated!! We don't keep score but you know me and my competitive side, so really I kept score in my head and we totally won haha. After that we had a stick pull tournament and I beat everyone!!! I guess I am the strongest in the zone hahaha. After we went back to the church and played soccer of course, and we ate some food. We got every kind of meat in the world and cooked it together and made tacos with flour tortillas. It was yummy but I am sure we will have to pay for it later.

So this past week has been kind of not so successful. We have like 7 or 8 investigators but only one progressing investigator. We can't get anyone to come to Church, it stinks. So pretty much all this week we just went around trying to get references, service, and trying to strengthen less actives and investigators. So there is not much to write about the week. Saturday we came here to Puebla and met all the Elders in our District and helped them with an activity that they had, and also had some Baptism interviews that my companion had to do since he is the District Leader. It was fun!! My companion and another in our District acted as investigators, and the members didn't know about it. We played Pictionary about stories in the Scriptures, and after my companion and the other Elder got dressed as Missionaries and told them how they felt as investigators...bad hahaha. The point was to help the members get involved in Missionary Work. It was good as we all taught and bore Testimony of the importance of members and their work and love for the investigators.

This coming Saturday we have an activity of our own. We were trying to plan something but nothing was coming. The other night I had a dream about what we should do. So we are going to do it!! In John 21, it's after Christ is Resurrected and His Apostles don't know what to do so they go back to fishing. Well Christ made them breakfast on the beach and then when they got to the beach, Christ asked Peter three times, do you love me? Peter says yes of course, and then Christ says, then Feed My Sheep. So we are going to act that out. I will be the narrator and my companion will be Jesus Christ. Then some youth as the Apostles. After we act it out we will take a picture of Christ to each member and ask them do you love me (Him)...then Feed My Sheep. Afterwards we are going to teach them the meaning of it and then have everyone go out and invite the inactive, less active, and non member friends to come, and then we are going to play games and eat food. I cant wait!! I think it is going to be a blast.

So yesterday I had my first Baptism. Elder Villalba performed the Ordinance and it was very special. Bertha is her name and she was so ready and the Spirit was so strong!! I also had to give a talk...so I talked about Humility. I hope they understood me hahaha.

Elder Villalba, Bertha, Elder Lester

Nothing else really happened this past week. But foods I ate:

Charizo--sausage

Chicken

Tortillas

Pork and mashed potatoes :)

Dried pork

Torta--it is like a mexican sandwich so so good

Tacos

To answer your question...I really love and enjoy American food hahaha, but yes the food is pretty good here. :) Well i gotta go!! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again!!! No, I haven't gotten your package yet but I am sure I will soon. Love and miss you all!!

Love

Elder Brady Lester

Pouch Mail

A sister in our ward wrote Elder Lester using the Church's Pouch Mail service and told me that her letter was returned with instructions on how to send a proper letter using that service. So I looked up the instructions and thought I would send them along and place them on the Blog.  I was grateful for this information.

LETTERS (Pouch Mail*):
Elder Brady Scott Lester
Mexico Puebla Mission
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

LETTERS (not using the Church's Pouch Mail Service) & PACKAGES:
Elder Brady Scott Lester
Mexico Puebla Mission
Calle 25 Sur #907
Colonia La Paz
71260 Puebla, Puebla
Mexico

*Pouch Mail Instructions:
Mailing a single 8 1/2-inch x 11-inch sheet of 20-pound paper, or equivalent to paper used in copiers. Envelopes may not be used.

Instructions for making a three-fold letter:
• Lay the blank side of the single-sheet letter facing down with the writing facing you.
• Fold the top of the letter about one-third of the way down, and crease.
• Fold the bottom of the letter to the top of the first fold, and crease.
• Use two pieces of tape or two sticker tabs on the top to secure it, not more than one inch from each side, but do not seal the ends.
• Do not include any other item in the letter such as printed pictures, currency or medication, etc.
• In the top left corner, write the return address.
• Affix a stamp in the top right corner
• In the middle of the sheet, write:
Missionary's name
MTC or Mission name
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, Ut 84130-0150

Mexico Week 2: Investigators, Giving Blessings, Interesting Food, and Lunch with Mission President

Hey there everyone!!

Thank you for all your words and support and love :) I really love hearing from you guys :) Brinkley thanks for your love :) Tell Sean to keep preparing for a mission!! He will be a great missionary. Kasey I love you and am grateful you are getting excited to serve. Start preparing now! Read and study PMG and the scriptures...especially the Book of Mormon. The Bible is great but it wont convert or help anyone. Kolby I love you and hope things continue to go well with school and sports. You too can start to prepare. Braxley you too!! haha! I hope your hang nail feels better :) I can imagine how that feels and I know that hurts. I am glad you are loving your books :) And remember, Kasey is a great brother and love him no matter what! Grandma, thank you for your email :) I will answer your questions in the email. I hope your heater is working now!! Stay warm :) Mom and Dad thank you both for your words and the scriptures and quotes you shared. It is really helping.

So let me first tell you a little about my area Huacaltzingo. So we are the only Missionaries in about a two hour radius. We are in the mountains. Actually most of the state of Puebla is. It is about a 7000 ft elevation. The weather is great! So far it has been interesting but nice. The mornings are gorgeous. It is about 60 in the mornings and will heat up to about 80 in the middle of the day. Some nights get cold. Last night was probably about 30, and what is even worse is there is no insulation in any house. It's just brick concrete haha. I stay pretty warm though.

So this week on Tuesday we talked with some members and tried to get some references. We don't knock doors or contact because throughout the day people are either working or trying to find work. They have a tough life out here. Anyways we ended up getting another investigator that day. Her name is Erica. She is the friend of a former investigator who we lost because her husband (who is a member) doesn't like the members of the branch. Kinda stinks. Anyways Erica is really receptive and has been keeping her commitments. It will be hard getting her to church though as it is with everyone. Investigators need to come to church 2 times in order to get Baptized. She is doing very well though :)

That night we went to Puebla and stayed the night with Elders Bencomo and Johnson. Elder Johnson is one of us new missionaries. The next morning we had to take this little van/bus thing for a 40 minute ride to the mission offices. They had like 15 people in it or more. They shove eveyone in there!! It was so uncomfortable!! Anyways we had training for us new missionaries and also for the leaders. My companion Elder Villalba is the District Leader. Anyways I didn't understand harldy any of the first part of the training because it was all in Spanish. But then us new missionaries went to have our own training. We just learned about the mission and things we learned in the MTC that we need to adjust here in Puebla. It was so nice to see Americans and speak English, especially with Elder Hammond. I miss that kid and Elder Walker and Cummock. We ended up leaving at 5:00 PM that day and got back around 7'ish.

We just ended up going to a members house that night and picked up a new investigator. His name is Daniel. He is 16 and is friends with these members. We taught him about the Sacrament and invited him to church on Sunday and also planned another lesson with him for Friday. Thursday we got up and went to Puebla again for our district meeting :) It was nice and Elder Villalba taught alot about the importance of prayer for investigators. We then role played.

Friday we visted Erica and taught her about the Restoration. We then visited Marta another investigator, her husband Abinadi is a member, and we taught her about the law of chastity. During both of these lessons these moms breast fed their kids...it was weird!!! Then we went and visted our other investigator Alan. His mom is an investigator but his dad is not and keeps postponing his Baptism. He is 11 and we taught him that this was a personl choice. Saturday...I don't remember what happened haha but I am sure we were with investigators and members that day. I do remember that night Elder Villalba played a dirty trick on me. He put a fake spider in my bed and I screamed. I hate spiders!! OH!! now I remember we got some new investigators that night with a member named Fernando. He is awesome!! His is 18 or 19 and really wants to serve a mission. I have been teaching him English and just got an English Book of Mormon for him :) I am sure he will love it. Sunday was just like a normal Sunday. We had church. I taught some members/youth to play the piano. Haha it was fun. After church we had a meal with a member and gave a sister a blessing. It was cool.

OH!! another thing I forgot to tell was sometime this past week we blessed a members home. It was very warming and felt so good.


Today is P-day. We are in Puebla right now. We played soccer with our zone and some other Mexicans. I suck at soccer, haahhaaha and the mexicans are way good, lol. After that Elder Villalba and I had lunch with President Rex and his wife at a really good restaurant. We had pork taco type things. So good!!

Food I had this week:

Spaghetti

Chicken with creamy pablano sauce

Fried ham with cheese inside

Chicken is some spicy broth

Tacos :)

Goat testicles with lentiles...I couldn't eat it.

Every meal is served with unlimited tortillas with rice or beans.

Anyways I have to go now! Thank you for everything and I love and miss you all all so much!!! I can't wait to hear from you next week!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester :)