Mexico Week 83: Baptisms of Jaime Santacruz and Moises Paredes

Hey There Everyone!!

Well this week was an interesting one hahaha. I have had problems with my right knee, my tendon.  I have been in my house all week because the doctor told me I need to rest my knee for 1-2 weeks. It’s been very tiring.  My knee gets tired really fast.   

We did not work alot this week. We just went to the appointments that we had. We Baptized though, hahaha, two people, Jaime Santacruz and Moises Paredes.  Hahaha, I have never thought that it’s possible to Baptize when someone doesn’t work, hahaha but we did it.  God keeps blessing us. I did alot of reading in the scriptures and Jesus the Christ in bed hahahaha, while icing my knee. I also did alot of thinking about what I want to study and the business I want to start hahaha. I had kind of a week of resting, thinking, and eating, hahaha. It was kind of frustrating cuz I wanted to work but I received alot of revelation.

Thanks for writing me! I can’t believe that Kasey is dating now, hahaha, but Camille is a great choice :)  Hope that you have fun at the dance!  I want pictures. I am glad to hear that you are all doing great!  The time is going by so fast and soon I will be back home hahaha.  It’s going to be weird for the first couple of weeks but it’s going to be fun hahaha. 

Well I gotta go. I hope that in the afternoon I can upload some pics for you guys! We ate chiles enogadas the other day with our ward mission leader and we got pics!  It’s the best food of Puebla.   

Sorry my email is short...not alot happened this week to be honest. Not alot to say for being in bed.  Hahaha, actually I found out that an Elder who goes home in November with me got sent home with Honor for some knee problems, but when I heard that I told the President in my interview that I will tough it out for 3 more months, hahaha. I love you all! 

Con Amor,
Elder Lester

Mexico Week 81: Baptims of David Andres and Miranda

Hey Family!

Well it’s been raining a lot as of late!  We are getting wet, wet, and more wet!!  It’s hard to work in the rain but we are having success. It has been fun!  I really love my companion.  He is a great missionary.  I love being with the missionaries who teach me. He has taught me and he is a great friend. Today we are in Chignahuapan, hahahaha! We asked permission from the President and he said yes, hahahaha.  It has been fun visiting places and people that I knew here. I have heard that the branch fell hard a few weeks after I left. I feel sad for that. I hope things get better.  My comp and I will be going soon.  Elder Rojas is doing good here but he just is having a hard time with his comp. He is a great missionary Elder Rojas, I love him as well.

Thanks for all writing me hahaha.  Well I only got 3 months left but I plan to work hard and finish strong.  I have plans to keep working after the Mission as well. It has been great so far. The Zone that I am in is a Blessed Zone.  We have been working hard and really we have the best Missionaries in the Mission in our Zone.  I am happy for that.   

On Saturday Elder Lopez and I Baptized 2! Hahahaha, David Andres and Miranda. It was awesome!  We pretty much stayed all day in the Church building because it was Stake conference as well. We Baptized David at 1:00 pm and Miranda at 8:00 pm. It was a great service and a ton of people came!!

We have been working hard and this week we will have another Baptism, Jaime Santacruz is his name. He is like 30 and he is a great investigator! We plan to have at least 2 on the 25th of August. The work has been flourishing in our area.  We are really happy and I love working.  We have been working well with the members as well. We have had alot of success with them. The Family Minor came back from vacation finally so we are planning to work hard with them so that we can get them to go to Church and also have a Baptism date. The Mission has been going great so far. I only hope that we will have success for the rest of my time here.

Well I gotta go. We have to get back to our area and it’s about 2 hours away. I love you all.  I want to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Braxley. I hope you are doing great Brax, I love ya!  I also want to send a late HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Brennan.  I hope you are doing just as well.  Sounds like work, school, and Church are doing great!!  I hope that you all have a great week!!  Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

 

Mexico Week 78: Transfer for Elder Nuncio & Baptism of Elvia

Hey there!!

Well just to let you know my comp, Elder Nuncio has transfers :( I was really excited to stay with him again. He has been my best comp so far in the mission. We Baptized last Friday, Hermana Elvia.  She has been listening to the Missionaries for 7 months now and she finally decided to be Baptized! I got to Baptize her and it was an awesome Baptism service. Things have just been going pretty great. 

I am glad to hear Kasey that you had a great time at EFY. I wrote to your email because I thought you were still there but then I read that you are home now hahaha. I hope that you had a great time and that you always remember that time in your life. Hopefully you will be able to go back next year :) 

I am sorry for not sending pics.  I have not had a computer that permits me to download stuff. The internets are weird here because they are business and not in the homes because not everybody has money to have a computer in their home. 

Well things are going pretty great.  We had a sweet ward activity the other day. Our investigator family went. The Familia Minor. They are awesome! I really hope that they get Baptized.  We have been working with them alot and we hope to have alot of success with this family.  I pray each day that they can receive a testimony and know that this is the true church. They are really Catholic but that’s what I like because if they are Baptized they will always be faithful and active in the church. 

Thank you all for you letters. I hope everything continues to go well for you all.  I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!  I promise to try and send pictures soon hahaha. I have alot of pics hahaha! 

Love,
Elder Lester

 

 

Mexico Week 75: July, Peña Nieto, President Christensen‏

Hey there family!

Well things have been very delightful in the Mission. I notice how old I am now because it hurts just to walk uphill everyday to our house. I am not excited to be 21, hahaha. As you all know Peña Nieto will be the new president of Mexico in January. Hahaha, I am happy that he won, I would have voted for him. I helped out some when I was in Chignahuapan, hahaha so good thing that it was worth it.

Today I am in Puebla, the center. The sweet thing about being a Zone Leader is I get to go anywhere I want in the whole mission, hahahahahaha. My comp and I have just been visiting some places and looking at some things. I am looking at gifts that I would like to buy for the family as well just before I go home. We also ate burritos today :) They were delicious, just like home hahaha.  It’s been a great P-day so far.

There was also a march going on with all the people who didn’t want Peña to win but hahaha he won so it doesn’t matter. Peña will fight against all the drug lords except for one, Chappo, who is the famous one. He is the number 1 on the wanted list in Mexico and the US but they won’t do anything to him unless he goes to the US or Mexico. He lives in Europe I think. Peña won’t fight him, but the good thing is that he will kill all the other ones. Things have been interesting though, hahaha.  

Well I don’t know that family Mom, but I will keep my eye out for them. Hahaha, were they visiting over there in Arizona?  That’s sweet!

Ouch! I am sorry for Brink.  I guess I was lucky when they took mine out. Braces, that will be nice :) Well Kolby, that is going to be great that now you are going to high school! You are getting big hahaha.  Hahaha, sounds like the family reunion of Maggie was fun with lots of food! I need to try your pozole dad and see how good it really is or if you just talk it up. Hahahaha, well it will be the 4th of July in 2 days. I think I will celebrate by teaching 3 lessons with a member and 2 others, and buy a nice cold Coke after, hahahahaha.

Well we have been working real hard.  I love Elder Nuncio.  He is so awesome!  He is really a good friend. We have been working hard and now we are seeing blessings. We are happy because we are going to have at least 3 Baptisms this month and hopefully 2 more, but if not, the other 2 will be in August. We have been working really hard with Elvia, Andres, and Andres, hahaha. They are great investigators and they are ready for Baptism. Andres who is an adult, has been waiting for 10 years to be Baptized! Andres is a 13 year old boy and has been waiting for over a year to be Baptized, and Elvia has been listening to the Missionaries for 7 months, hahahahahaha. We are trying to harvest the seeds that have been planted! The field is white for sure! :)

Well as you all know Peña Nieto is not the only new president in Mexico. There is another who has been called by a Prophet and not the people. We had a great Zone Conference Saturday with him in Puebla.  President Christensen is from Utah and talks way good in Spanish!! His wife talks pretty good.  She is learning real quick like Sister Reeves.  In the conference we learned alot from the President about Charity and Obedience. He totally taught us a life lesson about obedience. Usually they say to us in the Mission that we need to be obedient because we are Servants of the Lord. That is true but he also taught us that we need to have a goal first. For example, Return with Honor. That would be the goal, and to achieve it, we need to be obedient. So I learned that we should place goals first and not be obedient just to be obedient. Pretty sweet haha.

This week on Friday my comp and I will be coming again to Puebla for the Zone Leader Conference so I will let you all know how that goes. I am excited. Things are going to be great with him and I am excited to have about 5 months to work with him. It’s going to be a blessing.

Well that’s about it for now. I just want to let you know that I will not be able to send pics home. I am getting very inpatient with Picasa which does not work very well for me. If there is something else we can do, awesome, but I will keep all my pics on the camera for now. I hope that you all have a great week. I love you all and pray for you each day. Love ya!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 70: Baptism of Limi

Hey there guys!

Thank you for the pics and your wonderful emails!  I love reading them!  I am happy to hear that finally the trek is getting started. You boys are going to have a great time.  It really is a great experience and you will learn alot.  I hope that you can feel the Spirit even though it’s going to be hard.  Hahaha, sounds sweet Brink that you want to do that to help Elder Sean out with his points.  Make him win :)

Well the past week was a difficult one. Nobody let us in their house and we did not teach alot. 

We did Baptize a little boy.  He is the first boy who was born in the Convenant in Chignahuapan and that got Baptized here as well.  It was a very sweet spiritual service in the church.  All of his family came.  His name is Limi and his family members are not all members.  I got to Baptize him.  I really want to send pics but nothing from my camera downloads on the website.  So it might be a bit until I send pics :(

Well I might only have 2 weeks left here in Chignahuapan.  I really hope that I stay.  I would love to have another change with Elder Rojas.  He is a great missionary and I love him.  Well I don’t have much more to tell.  Sorry it’s a short one but it was a short week.

I hope that you all start off your summer time real good!  I love and miss you all :)

Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 69: Baptisms - Happy and Blessed

Hey there everyone!

Wow, I now have 18 months and the time keeps flying. Thank you for your letters. I love you all so very much! I am sorry to hear that Brother Wardrop passed away. I love him so much and I always remember his loving wife that would always give us kisses and shake our hands like a Missionary. How is she doing?

Well there is not much to say. We Baptized this week!! Hahaha it was way cool :) We did it in a river/waterfall. I have pictures but because I don't have much time today. I will send them next week. I have about 160 pics to send. They did get Confirmed too and it was a lovely service. This week we plan to have 2 more Baptisms. I am so happy and feel so blessed because it's been over a year that the branch has had alot of Baptisms like this. 

 Elder Lester Baptized the little boy

 

I love this place and it's going to be hard to leave. I also was told by the President that I will be in the North Mission. I was sad and cried pretty much all day because I love President Reeves with all my heart and it's going to be hard not to be with him, but I know that President Christensen is going to be a great President as well, and I am excited to get ready to work with him.

I gotta go but I love you all. I love that everything is going great back at home :)

Have a great week I love you all!!

Elder Lester

Mexico Week 67: BP Responsibilities and Growth, and It's Fun...

Feliz Cinco de May Familia! 

Thank you for all your great and amazing letters. I love you all so very much and I am glad to see that everything is going great back at home and that you are all busy and working. Working is what really makes us happy and I am happy to be able to work for the Lord in Puebla. It’s hard but it’s worth it. Thank you Brink for sharing that quote and it’s so very true. The food that you guys made dad sounded delicious. Sadly, because I am not in the city, I did not see nor celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I heard that it was great but in my 2 years here I have not been able to see it for being in pueblos hahahaha. Don’t worry Mom, I will go to Puebla when my package comes because I have to go get a bunch of materials for the branch that I bought. We go in bus :)  

 Well I have my new companion...just don’t freak out. It’s Elder Rojas and he is from Peru...but he is not the same Elder Rojas hahahaha. He is a little taller, way cooler, and a very hard worker. I really love him alot. The Presidente sent him here with me for 2 reasons. First, he will help me be ready to accept more responsibility very soon. I don’t know what that means because I don’t know what would be more than Branch President. Second, I am training him so that he can be ready to be the next Branch President. That is a great privilege for me and him. Hahahaha, they never trained me...just threw me in hahaha. But I am learning alot more about how I am supposed to do my job as I teach him. I believe that I only have a little time left and that I have almost done what the Lord wanted me to do. I am so happy with what is going on in the branch. I have seen so much progress. The members have said that they haven’t seen the branch like this for the 13 years that it has. Yesterday 34 people went!!! I was so happy because usually there are only like 19 but 34!! We also have 3 Baptisms for this Sunday and a little girl will be Baptized this week. She has 8 years :)

I am loving the work and it’s just fun to do what is right and live the Gospel. It’s fun to be obediente and keep the rules. It’s fun to study and learn. It’s fun to help people and teach the Gospel. I can really see what President Reeves wants each Missionary to experience as Missionaries. It’s also fun to clean the house, hahahaha. My comp and I got a start on that today and we will finish at night.

Yesterday I received some very sad news. A sister in my branch was beaten by her husband so hard that she is in a coma. When I heard that it was after hearing a few members confess to me about some things that they did that were very wrong. I went upstairs to my office and cried. I started feeling like Alma and Nephi, seeing so much wickedness. I knew that her husband had been hitting her for about 3 weeks now because we have been visiting her alot. We have been trying to help her with that but apparently it’s been a problem for 5 years. She has three sweet girls and two of them are our investigators. The dad is not a member...he is now in jail. Last night we went to the hospital to visit her and give her a blessing but the doctor would not let us see her for her condition. Today we will go again and we will visit her each day as well. I pray that everything will be better. When she wakes up, I will also have to help her, as her President, do the right thing and send in an abuse report so that this freaking guy stays in jail.

We have planned a trip to go to the Temple as a branch!!!!!! It will be the 26 of May and I really hope that we can get permission to go as Missionaries because it’s in Mexico City, but I think that we will because we are the leaders. But still I am happy that the members will have this blessing to go because they don’t get to go alot.

 

Well I gotta go!! On Sunday we can talk but it will be very short for the things that I have to do. The number that you can call is 797 100 7476. That is the normal number but I know that you will have to add numbers because it’s long distance. Mom and the kids...if you could call me at 5:00 my time, and Dad I will need you to call me at 6:00 my time. We will have about 40-60 minutes to talk. I am sorry that it will be short but I have meetings and tithing to deposit and interviews. If you want to call tomorrow night to see if it works that will be fine :) 

I love you so very much!!!



Love,
Elder Lester

Mexico Week 65: Branch and Missionary Work

Hey Family!!

Thank you for all your lovely letters of support and love. I love reading your letters each Monday. They inspire me and help me keep up with my English, hahahahaha.  Happy Birthday to Baliee...how old are you now?  Hahahaha, Grandma,  just to let you know you are allowed to send me pictures and I would love that very much!  

Things have been crazy here in Puebla...well I am far away from Puebla, but still. The volcano, Mom, is actually a volcano in Puebla.  My son, Elder Escamilla is actually working right under it hahahaha, and also Castillotla is about an hour and a half from it. It has been a little angry that volcano I have heard, but I am a good 3-4 hours away from that thing, so things here are tranquilo, hahaha.  Things are also crazy because in July Mexico will be voting for another president just like us in November.  By the way how is Mitt doing?  Is he winning?  The weather here is very nice. It’s a little warm but not too much...it’s like Utah summer, the sun just burns a lot, hahaha. Things are going great other than that. I hope that the Suns make the playoffs...we must pray for them, hahaha.


Well this past week we were able to get a lot done...well more than usual.  Elder Cano and I now have 3 Baptism dates for the 4th of May which is really awesome because it’s hard to Baptize here and usually the best Missionaries only Baptize like 1-2 in 3-4 months.  We have some great things going with some investigators. We don’t have a lot, only 10, but we are working with them and I believe that the majority of them will be Baptized.

This is the last week of the change though and I think next Tuesday I will have another companion. I love Elder Cano, but he has some time here and I think he will be going.  In this change we are going to have some weird things happening because the Mission will be splitting on the 1st of July.  The President is going to call 4 assistants next week in the changes so that they can start working and helping with the division. There are going to be 4-6 secretaries as well for the division. We still don’t know where we will be but if I stay here another 2 changes I will be in the North Mission...which means I would be with President Christensen.  Hahahahaha, if that happens, I will have 5 Mission Presidents in my Mission!! (counting the MTC).  I don’t think that happens a lot to many Missionaries.


Things are going great in the branch so far. We are really trying to get our auxiliary presidents working because we really are working to build up the assistance and strengthen the Faith of the members. We have called some Sunday school teachers and we started Mutual last Saturday :)  We have called a family history consultant (which I am really excited for) and we have called 1 leader of young single adults, and we will be calling another.  We are doing all of this to help the members understand how the Church really is and how much of a Blessing it is to be a member.  It’s also really going to help us have a plan to reactivate members who are inactive.  I am really excited for what is going on here in Chignahuapan, it’s just really hard to do, hahaha.  I have my respects for all the Bishops in the world. Their job is hard and they are really blessed for it.


One of my responsibilities is taking care of the branch budget and the tithing....basically all of the money.  If I steal or lose one peso I am done for, hahahaha.  Yesterday I had to deal with $20,000 pesos of Tithing!! It was a lot of cash, hahahaha.  I also had to make a 3 month budget for the branch. We decided to put in a lot of money in the new program of the young single adults.  Not a lot go and the program is new, but we are really expecting a lot.


Well things are going good. Hahaha, if I get a new comp the first thing we are going to do is clean our house because Elder Cano and his last comp were pigs, hahaha.  I am happy and time is just flying by.  It would be nice to get an extension on my Mission but I really doubt that will happen because they want me home for Christmas, hahaha.  I love the Mission and the things that I have learned.  It’s quite the experience.  It’s not how they say it is in Primary or the MTC, but it’s great.

Repentance is a lovely thing that I have learned about in the Mission. That has been my favorite part so far. Seeing how the Atonement of Christ works in the lives of my investigators and especially in my life. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and what He did for us.  It’s something that really is beautiful. I help members every week go through the process of Repentance and although it’s hard...it’s worth it. I know from experience as well. I have made mistakes in the Mission...but I have seen how beautiful this Gospel really is.  Forgiveness really is a miracle.

I hope everything is going great.  Just to answer questions...I am in the middle of nowhere, hahaha. You guys can look this place up online...it’s famous.  We don’t shop and we have to eat a lot in the street because the members are really poor here so they don’t give us much food.  As President, I have to give them money for food and transport, and after I ask for a refund of my money.  It’s a beautiful thing to help the poor...even though I am poor as well, hahahaha.  The mountains are really pretty here. There are a lot of places to go camping and fishing and stuff.  I will send pictures very soon.  I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!

With Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 57: Baptism of the Martinez Family

Hey everyone,

Thank you for writing. I always love reading your letters. They help me out a lot and I love that you all tell me your cool experiences. Thank you mom for the money that you put in my account. Kolby, that's awesome that you are the Deacon's President. It means you have a lot of work and responsibility. As a DL in the mission I have learned that when you love and serve, your district, or in this case, your Quorum works hard and there is success. Try to be like Christ as you work with your Quorum. Braxley, congrats on your first chair in the honor band. That is awesome!!

Mom, I just wanted to resolve an issue I have. I am having a HUGE problem with my contacts!! In about 5 weeks I have gone through 3 pair and that's not good. They feel like they are cutting my eyes and I see everything really blurry. I take them out every night. I have gotten really good with that but they still bother me. I talked with the president and he told me to buy eye drops and I did that, but nothing is working. Could you talk with the doctor to see what is going on?

Well last week was a decent week. We Baptized the Martinez family which was awesome. I want to upload photos but this computer won't let me so I will play with it a little more, but if it doesn't work I will upload them next week. They are so happy this family. Hna Sonia decided to be separate from her husband because she wasn't married. We also want to teach her mom but she is not married either so that is going to be a little hard. I hope that we can help them out.

We have been working hard and the Bishop has given us some work to do. We are really wanting to work with the members a lot so that we can have a lot of success. Today for P-day we went and played bball and that was awesome!! I did some work it was awesome :) I am not so good anymore...well I was never good, hahaha but I am a lot worse hahaha.

Things are going great. This week we are going to do a lot of contacting and teaching to less active members. I have an idea for my district. I would like to print out flyers and put them around the city so that the people can see them and they can go to the church and we can teach them all at the same time and see who wants to us to pass by their house. I think it would be a good way to find new people to teach.  

Well I gotta go but I love you all so much!! Kasey and Kolby...you should do the Trek. When Brink and I did it, it was awesome. I learned a lot and really had a great feeling for the pioneers. Pray about it! I love you all!! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Lester

Mexico Week 55: 4 Scheduled Baptisms - Martinez Family

Hey there everyone!!

Well, I don't have alot of time today. I am trying to get ready today because tomorrow really early we have to go to Puebla. We will have a Mission Conference so we will see how that goes, and after I have a leadership training. So I will be in Puebla all day long hahaha. It's going to be nice to get back there :) I miss it!! Thank you all for your letters and kind words. Things are going great here. There is Valentines Day here in Mexico, just to let you guys know, but since women aren't allowed I won't be spending it with anyone, hahahaha, well with my comp :)

So this past week was very interesting. We had a lot of success teaching and working with the members. We are getting alot of stuff done and the Bishop is really happy with our work. We are really excited for this weekend because we have 4 Baptisms planned!! It's the Martinez family. Pray with us so that they will be able to make this Covenant with the Lord. This past week I got 2 two Elders in my district and one is from Gilbert. He is new in the Mission and his name is Elder Webb. He says that he knows Brinkley. I still have the Sisters and the Zone Leaders in my District. I have never had Sisters before but they are doing great work and as their leader I am very happy with what they are doing. I have been very happy with the work of my District. We have improved alot from what we were at when I first got here, hahahaha.

Well I am sorry for the short letter but I don't have much time to write anyone. I love you all! I just sent a bunch a letters for the boys, the Hansen family, and the Bishop. I will get you Mom, dad, and Brinkley here in this week!! Watch out for them!! I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 44: Baptism of Mary and Learning A Lot

Hey there everyone!!

Thank you for writing me. I love you all and love your letters. 

Well this is going to be a short letter for time and lack of dinero hahaha. This past week we had another Baptism of the girl, Hna Mary, and it was a kind of a disappointment. The members were loud and walking in and out of the Baptism and it was hard for me to feel the Spirit. I was a little upset but the good thing is that Mary`s mom is not a member and she felt the Spirit somehow and was crying and really liked the Baptism. I hope that means that she will be willing to listen and accept Baptism too. Other than that Baptism we have just been working really hard with our investigators so that they go to Church and get Baptized. We still have not been able to start a Branch but we hope to have success here soon and we are really going to focus on reactiving more than Baptizing now so that we can get that started!

Things have been really good in the mission and I have learned a lot and keep learning tons. I really hope that the Lord is blessing you all. I love you all and can't wait to see you in one year and spend a little time with you all! You are all in my prayers and I know that I am in yours :) Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester 

Mexico Week 43: Baptism of Alicia and Mastering the Language

Dear family and friends,

Thank you very much for all your letters and sweet words :) First of all I would like to wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Grandma :) I love you tons!! I love you all! Kolby you are awesome!! Even though you didn't make the team you are staying positive and know that there is something that you need to work on. Find out what it is and work on it!! Ask your Father in Heaven to help you prepare and fix what you need to fix so that you make the team. We are taught in 2 Nephi 32:9 that we must pray before everything that we do. I think that includes basketball too :) Kasey are you going to try out for the high school team? Brinkley sounds like you are a busy bee!! Keep it up! Braxley, hahaha well you just like to read...keep reading but I hope that you are reading in the BOM too :) Mom I love you so much! You are the best Mom in the world. Thank you for sending the packages.  

Papá te felicito por cumplir con tu proceso en el arrepentimiento. Es dificil pero hay muchas bendiciones y es algo bonito. Sigue asi y haz lo bueno y acuerdate lo que el Señor hizo por ti. Él te ama y tu familia. Utiliza la expiacion en tu vida cada dia. 

Well this past week I have really understood and realized that it's not easy for me to talk or write in English hahaha. I have to really think about the words and sometimes I forget words in English so I have to look online or in the dictionary to be able to talk...and I only have 1 year!!! My goal actually is to go home speaking very little English hahaha. I really want to master this language. I really would like to learn more languages after the mission and continue studying Spanish. Hopefully Travis will help me with my Portugese hahaha. Oh just so that you know Alex Helvig is almost done with his mission!! It went by fast! He goes home on the 20th of December. His president is sending him home a little early so that he can be home for Christmas cool huh! Well just to let you all know...they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Mexico :( But on Thursday the sister told us that she was going to make us mole with turkey so I guess you could say that I will still be a little connected with the turkey and all :) 

Well in this past week we got a ton of references from the members!! It was awesome!! We got 8 and usually here we only get like 1-2 each week hahaha. We taught and got alot of new investigators which is what we were needing because they are all getting Baptized hahaha!! This past week Hna Alicia talked with a counselor of the Mission President (I love President Reeves) and she was considered repentative for what she did in her past and she got Baptized on Saturday!!!! The Bishop Baptized her and it was a sweet service. She was so happy after and is just loving being a member of the Church. On Sunday she got Confirmed. She is a great lady and has so much in store for her. Also yesterday in Church I taught the future missionaries in our ward with a former missionary and it was sweet. The Bishop wants me to teach that class and my companion to teach the class with the investigators. It's really cool. I have alot of sweet plans for the class. I want to invite members to be investigators so that they can teach. I want to go out and knock doors with them instead of being in the class. I am really excited. I love this area and ward. I really want to stay here for a long time hahahaaha. 

Well things with the Baptisms that fell through look alright. The crazy girl is never home during the week only really late at night and on the weekends so we don't have much time to meet with them. The other Baptisms will happen, it's just a matter of time. They will progress :) I know that they will.  

I would like to give my Testimony in Spanish. Se que la obra misional es la obra del Señor. Él nos ayuda a los misioneros todos los dias por medio de Su espiritu. La guia es maravillosa. Se que el Libro de Mormon es verdadero y no solo es la clave de nuestra religion pero la clave de la obra misional. Ninguna persona puede conocer a Jesucristo a menos que lea en el Libro de Mormon. Testifica de Su divinidad en cada hoja. El Libro de Mormon es el fudamento de nuestro testimonio. Se que Jesucristo murío por nosotros. Es nuestro Salvador y Redentor. Pero como representante de Él...testifico que Él vive y que nos ama. 

I gotta go but I love you all and can't wait to talk with you on Christmas Eve :) Have a great week!! 

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 39: Working Hard & Baptisms of Euloterio and Rene

Hey everyone!!

Well I want to thank Mom and the kids for writing me, hahahaha and grandma too :) I felt a little sad when I opened up my email today because I usually have like 15 emails, but today only 4 hahaha. Kids I am glad that things are going great for you guys!! Sounds like you had fun last weekend with dad. Brinkley, your life seems really exciting and busy right now with school and work!! I am glad that you are busy hahaha....that way you don't get married before I get home, hahaha jk jk jk. I hear school is good and you are doing well. Keep it up!! And save your money!! That is how the Lord will bless you. I have learned something....5 dollar income 6 dollar expense...misery. 5 dollar income 4 dollar expense...eternal happiness. Keep that in mind everyone! I know that I wasn't the great example of that, hahaha and I will pay for my mistakes after the mission :(  Mom I heard from the kids that you had a great bday! They bought you a bike!! That's awesome!! I hope all your wishes come true :)

Well this past week things went really good. First off we had 2 more Baptisms on Saturday!! Hermano Euloterio, the husband of Hermana Cony, and Hna Rene, her daughter got Baptized!!! It was a great service!! The spirit was felt and they were even crying hahaha :) I promised them that in 1 year after my mission I am going to come back and go through the Temple with them to see them get Sealed as a family :) I really can't wait for that!! They are such a great family!

This past week Elder Escamilla and I had to drop alot of investigators that just were not progressing. We are trying to find new investigators in this week and we pray that we will be able to find more chosen people. This past week we actually found a new investigator named Gabriela. We decided to knock doors for an hour in a specific street in our area. Well we knocked her door and we started talking. She told us that she was Christan and that she knew a little bit about us. She said "you Mormons do weird things." Hahaha my comp and I laughed and we started to talk about some things but she didn't have much time, so we got an appointment with her. We went back for the appointment and we started talking...outside of her house hahaha about the Restoration. The whole time I felt uncomfortable and didn't know why. As we started talking about Joseph Smith and the BoM, she just looked at us weird and said that it was a crazy story hahaha. In that moment the Spirit told me to talk about the Plan of Salvation. I had no idea why, and I rejected it!! I kept talking about the BoM and the Spirit kept telling me to do it, so finally I just put down the BoM and said, "I feel like I need to tell you something." That is how I started talking about the Plan of Salvation. It was an ugly transition of things but it worked and it was because the Spirit was with us. My comp and I explained a little bit of the lesson. She completely changed and said that she wanted all of it to be true and that she might get Baptized if it's true, but she still has problems with the BoM and Joseph Smith. We challenged her to read and to pray. Today we have another appointment with her and I am excited to talk with her. I know that the Spirit helped us a ton in that lesson and really hope that we can continue to work with her and that she can accept all of this as the truth.

This past week my comp and I also worked really hard reactivating families hahaha. We really want to split the ward and start up another ward and a branch. In this ward there are over 650 members but only about 180 go. Well after a hard working week of visiting less active families, yesterday 216 members showed up!! We were really happy! Things are going great for us and I have never felt so happy in my mission. I really pray that I stay here for a while longer and that the Lord keeps blessing us.

Thank you for all your support and I love you all!! Hope you all have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 38: 11 Months and Baptisms of Reina and Karina

Hey there everyone!!

Well first off I want to wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful Mother!! I really hope you have a great special day today ma and I love you tons!! Thank you everyone for you letters and emails :) I always love Mondays to be able to read them and write :) Well this past week was just a great week and I have been having alot of fun and the Lord really is blessing me. This past week we had a zone conference and I learned alot! I really learned how to listen to the Spirit and help our investigators feel it as well. I also saw Elder Rojas hahahaha, and he looks the same poor dude. I really hope that he gets things done! I have pictures to upload but forgot my camera to upload them so we will just have to wait till next week :(

Well yesterday two more daughters of God entered into His presence as they were Baptized yesterday! Hermana Reina and Hna Karina both got Baptized!! It was a wonderful day. In the morning when I woke up yesterday I had this feeling that I should give my chance to Baptize Hna Reina to someone else hahaha. Crazy I thought and I just shrugged it off. But all morning it was bugging me. Well I got to the church and I saw a young man, Jasiel, who is in our ward and again the impression came to me. Well I talked to Hna Reina and told her my feelings and asked her if it was alright that this young man Baptized her. She hesitated because really wanted me to do it but she finally said yes, so Jasiel Baptized her and my comp Baptized Hna Karina. It was a wonderful service and the Spirit was so strong. I almost cried hahaha because I really love them. I really love my investigators. They are like best friends or family.  This upcoming Saturday the husband of Cony and her daughter are going to be Baptized too!! I am so happy that finally they are going to be a united family in the church. Hermano Euloterio is his name, and all he wants to do is be sealed in the Temple with his family. He has told us that that is his goal and nobody is going to stop him!! Right now we are just working with our other investigators and we want to see some weddings here soon!! 

I am really loving the work here and we are so busy. I need to finish this letter because we have appointments but the work is great. I love missionary work. I love being here in Mexico serving the people and children of God. I know that this is the true church. The Book of Mormon is true and nobody can tell me other wise. I have such a testimony of that book. President Reeves just challenged us to read it by Christmas so if you want to join me that would be awesome! I know that we can learn so much from that book :) It is a blessing that we have it. I gotta go but I love you all. I am thankful for your support and I pray that the Lord will always bless you as long as you are obedient :) 

Love, 

Elder Brady Lester 

Mexico Week 34: Baptisms of Fidel and Jose, Service, Working Hard and Seeing the Blessings

Dear Family and Friends,


Well thank you all for your letters, love, and support!! Hahahaha I am glad everyone is doing great! Well I now officially have 10 months in the Mission which is crazy! It is going by so fast!! I still feel like a new Elder but things are going great! Elder Escamilla and I are getting things done here! We have been working really hard and the Lord is blessing us.


Yesterday we had 2 Baptsims! Hermanono Fidel and his son Jose got Baptized!! It was a crazy morning!! We went to their house in the morning and Hno Fidel was not home! He totally forgot about his Baptism and went to play soccer in the morning hahaha!! Crazy guy!! Well his son knew where he was and we had hardly any time, and our area is HUGE, so we went looking for him in a taxi hahaha. I will never do that again lol because by the time we found him and got to the church, the taxi guy charged me 120 pesos!! That's only like 10 bucks but it's a ton of money here hahaha! I was ticked!! Anyways we got to the church and there was hardly any water in the font so when I Baptized Hno Fidel he had to sit and I knelt down in the font to Baptize him hahaha! It was so ridiculous but so funny at the same time! It was a great service and I am so glad that they are members of the church now! During Sacrament meeting they got Confirmed which was awesome and Hermana Coni came too and got Confirmed!! It was a great successfull Sunday!! Hna Coni is so great and really it the strongest convert that I have Baptized! :)

Well in the past week Mexico celebrated their Independence on the 16th. Nobody wanted us in their house teaching them so we went and gave service to alot of members. One service that was fun was when we moved a bunch of sand at a members house to make some garden thing. It was a blast and I got alot of photos for you all to look at! My back is killing me now but it was a great day :) The night before on the 15th it was hard to sleep with all the noise with the guns and fireworks going off hahaha. They are really prideful about their country here. In the morning there was a ton of drunks in the street!! We invited them all to be Baptized and the alll said yes!!! Hahahahaha it was funny, but we didn't really go to their houses lol.

This past week we got some sweet references to visit and they all want to be Baptized so we are going to be working on those this week. I still don't know them very well, but next week I will have more news on that :) Hermana Sandra and her husband still have not gotten married but they are trying to get it done by next week so hopefully she gets Baptized soon. She also found a job finally!! I was so happy and cried when she told us that because I remember promising her that she would find a job if she got Baptized. Well the Lord has blessed her!!


Things are going great with Elder Escamilla and I! We are working so hard. We have had troubles studying together because we have so many appointments to get to and the area is huge!! We have plans to study though all this week. He really is a great guy and comp! He has so much energy and spirit and is learning so fast! He is going to do great things here in Puebla I just know it.


Well I gotta go now! Thank you all for everything! Shout out to Sister McArthur for the bday money!! Thank you tons! That is a fortune here in Mexico!! You are like another grandma to me :) Brother Hansen as well! Thank you for writing me every month! You are awesome! I am sorry I don't have much time to write you back, but thank you for being faithful in writing :) I love you all!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

P.S. My comp and I had to go to the mission offices this week for a training meeting for all the trainers and new missionaries, and interviews with president, and I got some cool pics. We ate subway for dinner!!