Mexico Week 53: Baptisms Scheduled!

Hey everyone!! 

Well this will be a short letter because not much happened this week. Things are going alot better with my comp and I. We are getting alot of things done and he is really starting to pick it up. He is not scared anymore to talk and to teach. Things are going really well. 

This past week we found a family of 4, the Martinez family, and we invited them to be Baptized on the 12th of February and they accepted!! I can't wait for that day!! They are a good family and still need some more teaching so that they understand what they are going to do but I pray that all will go through. We have also been teaching the Fosado family and they are doing great. Hahahaha now they need to give up coffee but they keep reading and accepting us. They fed us dinner the other day and they are so sweet. We are trying to help the brother find work. He was in Arizona for 4 years working in food city! Hahahaha sometimes we talk about AZ and the weather and stuff. He is a great guy!! 

Not much else has happened this past week. Today we played basketball and it was fun! It's been forever that I have played and I am not as good as I used to be hahahahaha. I am sure the boys can kill me in basketball now!! Sounds like everything is going good!! Congrats on doing your Eagle Projects boys!! Keep doing good things and the Lord will bless you so much!! Brinkley keep working hard in your internship!! 

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!! We have a ton of appointments today in the evening so I gotta go! Thank you for your prayers and for your love!! You are the best :) 

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 52: WORK

Hello everyone!!


Well thank you for your letters and your kind words that really help me in the week. Each Monday is like the time to re-energize my spirits by reading your letters and emails. Things sound like they are going good. Are you thinking about wanting to move mom? I hope things keep going well in your lives and I know that the Lord is blessing you all. I only got like 9 1/2 months left in the mission and the time is just flying by. Before we know it I will be home and my life will have started. Meanwhile its on to WORK in the field of our Savior.


Well things have been getting better here in Loma Florida. We had a decent week this past week. It's been hard but I know that the Lord and the Mission President trust me alot when they send me to the hardest areas in the mission to get the work started (or maybe it's just punishment) hahahaha just kidding. This past week we really focused on teaching a family of 5 that we found. We had a great family night with a member family and we watched the movie of the Restoration. The dad in the family had a lot of questions about Joseph Smith and what he did so we felt it appropriate to watch the movie with them. It was a neat experience and the Spirit was very strong. This family always has alot of questions about the gospel and it really means that they are learning and wanting to know more. The other night we had a great lesson with them. They started talking about Baptism and wanted to know more about it. We started talking about the Priesthood and Baptism. It was a great lesson. We also felt impressed to talk about the Temple and we did. It was a great lesson and every time we talk with them the Spirit really guides the conversation and lesson. That night they accepted Baptism!! Now we just need to help the brother stop smoking and drinking because he does a little bit. It will be another family in the presence of God :) I cant wait!!


We have been contacting alot lately. Hey Alex, how many did you and your comp have to contact each week in Utah? Hahahaha the contacting is what has been hard for us. We will start up talks in the street and get an appointment but then we go by their house and they are not there, or it doesn't exist, and it's really hard because we have a ton of pueblos in our area!! So we are always taking buses and then they aren't home for the appointment. That is what has been hard for us right now. We keep working though. I have learned alot lately that WORK is what makes us happy. If we can learn how to do WORK we will have success in life, love our family and friends more, the Spirit will guide us, and we will feel the love of God in our lives. WORK is not fun all the time but it's what brings us satasfaction in our lives.


I have also learned a lot about Prayer. Every time we pray...we should receive revelation and guidance from the Lord. He really talks to us especially as we pray. Have you ever listened to what the Spirit has to say as you are praying?? He tells you what you need to say. Every prayer = Revelation. If we don't get it...it's because we don't know how to pray...because the Lord always answers. He loves us too much no to hahaha.


I love the mission and really the blessings of serving will come. I must be more humble to see them right now in my life, but I know that as we WORK the Lord always helps, guides, and bless us. If we give Him a crumb...He gives us the whole piece of bread!! I love you all and miss you all tons! Hope you all have a great and wonderful week!!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

I uploaded more pictures!! Take a look at them!!

Mexico Week 51: 14 Months

Hey there everyone!


Well tomorrow I will officially have14 months in the mission. I am loving the mission, even though it's really hard, but I am getting excited to go home. I will keep working hard so that the time will pass by fast, hahaha. If I don't work it will be very slow. Thank you for all your letters. Mom and Grandma, thank you. Grandma, that last sentence of your email really helped me because something that has been hard for me is seeing the blessings here in the mission for the work that I am doing. Mom, your letter really helped as well. Things have been really hard and I feel like the Lord is really giving it to me hard. I have learned alot in the mission but my faith is being tried and has been tried for 14 months. Sometimes I feel like I am not good enough to do this work. Well I am not, its the Lord's work. It's just hard to see the talents and gifts that I have to do this work of the Lord.


Well this past week we had a Zone Conference and it was very inspiring. Elder Tate totally planched us on going prepared to listen and learn from the Spirit, not from really good leaders who talk pretty. Hahahaha I think we all repented in that moment as Missionaries, hahaha. Then President Reeves talked about teaching with the spirit and the importance of it. He said that an Elder who teaches well but without the Spirit could Baptize 100's in his mission, and an Elder who teaches with the Spirit only 10. The difference is that there are 10 converts not just 10 baptisms. He really wants us to learn how to teach and do the work the Lord's way. He also said that my gift was teaching and talking. He said that I was one of the best teachers in the mission. That made me feel good for a moment but then I repented for feeling like that. Elder Riggin talked about sharing the gospel and being happy about it. That really hit me and I never really thought about that before. Hahahaha, he said that I was the one that gave him the advice. He was having a hard week and something that Riggin is really good at is being a hard working and OBEDIENT Missionary. He feels like he is doing good but just does not have alot of success in his Misson. I told him something that came to my heart that is so true. "If you want personal revelation about the work, don't go to presidePt or come to me as your DL, talk with your companion." He did it and said that he received very usefull revelation. I love Elder Riggin. He is the best missionary here. I talked about doing splits with the Missionaries and the importance of them. It was a short topic not to big.


Well this past week I finally ate some new food. I ate cow tongue and sheep head. It was very good actually as a taco with some salsa...it's so delicious, hahaha. Also a sister here is going to teach me how to make my favorite food, Pozole, so that I can make it when I get home. Well just to let you know I have pictures but picasa over here is really weird so I don't know how to upload pictures. Just to let you in on some things that we do here - we send our clothes to a laundry place and the sister there washes our clothes for free. We do our shopping in a place called Soriana. It's like a Mexican Walmart hahahahaha its cool.


Well that's all I got this week. It was a slow and hard week. We didn't find any new investigators and we didn't teach much. Actually we found out that an investigator, a dad, is having sexual realations with his 12 year old daughter so the President has to call the Church lawyers in Mexico and this dude might go to jail and can't get the Holy Ghost because he was Baptized a while ago but didn't get the Holy Ghost. He is pretty much screwed hahaha. Well that's it for this week. I love you all and hope that you have a great week.


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 50: Hard Week

Hey there everyone,


Thank you so much for your kind words and letters. Kolby thank you so much for your donation to Missionary Work. It is so important. Just to let you know I paid my Fast Offerings and also paid a bit to Temple construction because I really want to see a Temple here in Puebla so bad. Thank you everyone for your sweet words. Thank you Benson family for sending me some money that was sweet of you guys :)


Well there is not much to write this week. We worked really really hard but we had no success at all. We knocked doors, looked for people, less actives, and old investigatores. We walked a TON and nothing. We only taught a total of 5 lessons in the week. I have never had such little success in my Mission. It's not easy. The members don't want to help us and we are not getting any investigators. Really and honestly it is really hard right now. I feel like I am not doing something right. I got really tired on Saturday and wanted to quit, but I just repented and kept at it and we still didn't get anything. It's been hard here for me but I know things will get better. It's really hard especially after having so much success in Castillotla.


Well yesterday I gave a talk in church. The Bishop only gave me 5 minutes heads up but I gave a great talk on Missionary Work. I really layed it on the members letting them understand the importance of having them help in the cause. It was good. Yes Mom, we are studying that manual as well. It's a great book. He has some great teachings.


Well I know this is short but I hope everything goes good for you all. Dad I hope you get better and hope things go well in work. Hahaha you guys should come down to Puebla ;) It's pretty. Kids, I hope school keeps going well. Mom, I hope work is good and I love you all!! Grandma keep living the life on the beach!! Love you all and miss you tons!!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 49: Happy New Year

Hey there everyone!

Well I hope that you all had a great Happy New Year!! We are officially in the last year of the world, 2012!!! Hahahaha just kidding. If it's true that means I only have 1 month after the mission to be home and get married so that I can go to the Celestial Kingdom hahahahaha. Well I want to send a shout out to Bishop Turner and his family for the sweet package that they sent me for Christmas. Also to Grandma and Sister McAurthur for sending me money. I used that money to buy myself a jacket because it's so darn cold here!! I love you all!!

Well life has been going a bit hard here in Loma Florida. It's not easy being District Leader, especially of one of the biggest Districts in the Mission. It's also been tough with my companion. He is a little different but I love him for who he is. He loves video games so he talks about that all day hahaha, which just drives me up the wall! He also speaks English so he is really really prideful. He doesn't like to work at all but he thinks he is better than me hahaha. It's not been fun not having success these past two weeks...it's actually not so fun. It's really hard but I will be getting stuff done this week so I hope that we will be having alot of success this week.

This past week we didn't do much but the plan that I have here is to visit and reactivate a ton of less active members. I feel like we will be able to have success with that and find some Baptisms. Yesterday only 16 members showed up to Church hahaha and there are almost 300 in the ward so we have plenty of work to do!! We just have to start it up! There is no testimony here so the plan that I have is to teach the BoM to everyone so that they understand who they are and why they got Baptized in the first place. If they have a strong testimony of that book...they won't fall. It's not easy to fall with that book in our lives. In my district meeting I talked about the Book of Mormon and how we must use it in our Mission. Something that I learned is that we have to pray and ask the Lord how we must use it in our Mission. Cool huh!!

Well things are going good and I pray that they get better. I hope things are great at home!! I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Brady Lester