Mexcio Week 95: Final Week

Hey Everybody! 

Well I am entering into my last week in the Mission. It's gone by fast. I would like to mention some of my experiences and talk about how great of a Mission it has been and what I have learned. I hope that it might be of great worth to the boys since they all want to be going on a Mission. 

The Mission has been the best yet most difficult experience that I have had in my life. I think that because it was difficult it was great. I remember when I first came to Mexico I wanted to go home. I remember wanting to just give up but I was inspired to go on and finish. Hahaha, I remember hating the food and feeling lonely since my companion wasn't the best and the members were a little mean. I realized that it was just culture shock. Hahaha, since then I have had a lot of difficult times but I have put them behind trying to learn from them. I remember when I was a Branch President, things were really hard and I thought that I was losing faith. Afterwards I learned that my testimony grew and was strengthened from the trials that took place in Chignahuapan. I remember the members and the things that I learned from them as I tried to help them with the spiritual and temporal needs.

I learned alot in Castillotla about Missionary Work and how to really do it. Elder Escamilla and I had great times and a lot of success and I will always remember my time with him. I really enjoyed training Elder Escamilla and also learning from him. He is a great friend. I learned a lot about leadership in Loma Florida (Apizaco) when I was a DL and I had a struggling district with struggling wards. We ended up doing miracles for the Lord there in that district.

 

I remember that I learned the importance of working with members in Totolac (Tlaxcala). Wow, we did some great stuff there Elder Nuncio, Elder Lopez, and I with the members. We ended up having success for the members. They are great there.

 

Now as an AP I have learned a lot of everything. Having to run a Mission of over 100 Missionaries is not an easy task and I have so much respect for the President. He is a great man and has taught me a lot, especially about the future after the Mission and how to apply everything I have learned here, there in the real world. 

I have learned a lot in the Mission and I know that it will help me throughout my life, but I believe that the most valuable thing that I have learned here, that I will always treasure is understanding how and why to apply the Atonement in my life. I really understand that it is more than just repenting everyday. I have learned that it is essential for us to experiment it everyday. I have learned that to be able to experiment it each day we must be obedient. It's impossible to understand the Atonement or even experiment it if we are not obedient. Most people think that you must be a sinner and sin to understand it, but I believe that you must be obedient to understand it because the obedient repent....sinners might not. I have learned that the Atonement has a divine power that can set us apart from reaching our potential....yet it allows us to go beyond that if it is required, and more times than not, God needs us to go past our potential so that we may help Him establish His Kingdom and we do it through the atonement. 

I have learned that really we must understand the importance of the Atonement because it is the center of all we do. We could study the Book of Mormon and find that a lot of scriptures that maybe we don't see very well talk about the Atonement. The Bible actually only refers to the word Atonement one time were as the Book of Mormon refers to it 39 times. Besides the fact that it mentions the word more in the Book of Mormon, helps us understand at a broader view what the Atonement is through personal experiences of the Nephite and Lamanite people. 

I know that the Atonement is important. I know that it is essential for us to apply it to our lives each day. We must experiment at some point in our lives a little what He experienced. I testify as His representative that Christ lives! He loves us. He wants us to be like him and through His Atonement we can do it. 

With Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 59: Miracle of Felipe

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for your letters and kind words. That’s sweet that you guys saw Kobe Bryant! Hahaha, I hope that you are having a great time in California. I sure am jealous. I would love to be there right now, hahaha!! It’s been raining the past couple of days here in Tlaxcala.  It’s been hard too. We have lost a few investigators and we are trying to find new ones but nobody seems to want the Gospel in their lives. Dad and Mom...what were some ways that you guys found investigators in your mission?? Maybe that could help us out a bit.

Well next week we will probably have changes. I hope to get a new companion. I love Elder Estevez but I am getting a little tired of being with him. He has not changed too much but he is getting better. I wonder if I will be in Loma Florida still next week. Who knows?? I will let you all know! I would like to stay here but yet leave. I like this area but I would like to get to know more areas!

So although we have been having troubles with finding we did find a new investigator while knocking doors. His name is Felipe. He is awesome!! A golden investigator! He really loves reading from the BOM and the Bible. He says that the BOM is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. He has a Baptism date for the 24th of March and so things are looking good right now :) He also used to smoke 2 boxes a day when we first talked to him since he was 12 years old!! But after talking about the Word of Wisdom and giving him a Blessing he has not smoked a single cigarette for now 1 week!! He is so awesome! We just need to find out if he is married or not. I think he is but marriage usually is a problem here in Mexico, hahahaha.

So how are your studies in the BOM?? I would like to see what you guys are learning or read your testimonies to help me out.

Well I gotta go. I hope that things are going well for you guys. I hope that you guys see blessing in your lives. I hope that the Lord thinks that I am a good missionary. Sometimes I feel like He doesn’t because I think the President doesn’t trust me much but I know that I can be better. I will also try and get better in writing. I am just not a very good writer. I love you all and I thank you for your support. I hope that you have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 58: Apostle!

Hello everyone!

Well I have some great news!! On the 1st of July you guys already know that the mission will be splitting into two missions. We just got news today that Presidente Ralph N. Christensen will lead the Puebla North Mission and President Reeves in the Puebla South Mission. I would really love to be with Presidente Reeves but I feel that I will be in the North Mission with President Christensen. We still don't know who will be where. Because of this great thing that is happening on the 14th of April Elder David A. Bednar will be coming to talk to us!!! An Apostle!! Its going to be awesome! I cant wait. We have to prepare ourselves for this and repent so that we can learn from the Spirit.  Also some other good news is that Loma Florida is going to get a church building this year!! Which means they wont have a House of Prayer anymore!! I am so happy that the work of the Lord is growing here in Mexico.

Thank you for all writing me. I loved your letters :) Dad if you could send me your address again so that I can write you please? Mom and Brinkley I will be sending your letters this week. Thank you dad and Mom for giving me some money. That always helps so that I can eat dinner hahaha. It's just usually breakfast and lunch with the members.  I only have one package request mom....shoelaces. I have my last pair and they are about to break. My Rockport shoes broke again hahaha.  They are crappy shoes so we shouldn't buy those for Kasey when he goes on the Mission hahaha.

Well this week we worked hard. We taught a lot of lessons and we found 9 new investigators! We also invited the Fosado family to be Baptized on the 18th of March and they accepted! Things are going pretty good here. We need to help our investigators progress more towards Baptism and we must find new investigators, but I am very happy with the work right now in Loma Florida. I have almost 16 months in the mission and I feel like I am barely understanding how to do the work here, hahahaha. I pray that the Lord continues to bless us!! 

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers :) I love you all and hope you have a great week!!

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 56: Diving the Mission

Hey everyone!!

Well this past week was very hard. We did not Baptize and the members still don't help us. We are working hard, but the little success that we have, is slowing going away. I just don't know what to do. I will keep praying and working and I hope that the Lord will tell me what to do. I am also trying to help out my companion because we are great friends and we have unity, but in Missionary work we have no unity at all. I love him a lot though.

Well this past week we had a HUGE new alert that you guys will see in the Church News this week. One the 1st of July they are going to divide the Puebla Mission!! We are going to have 2 Missions and another Mission President!!! It's going to be sweet!! I can't wait. Really all the work that every Missionary has done since 1988 here in Puebla is growing. We are going to have a lot of work to do. I don't know anything else about this but it's going to be great!!

Well I love you all. I gotta cut this short for the little $ that I have, but I love you all and always am praying for you!! 

 

Love,

Elder Brady 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 54: Cambios - not for Elder Lester

Hola everyone!! 

Well thank you all for your letters!! Sounds like you all watched the Super Bowl...hahaha I am jealous. What shocks me is that you all wanted the team that I hate to win!! Hahahaha Brady is a good QB but I hate the Patriots. Hahaha Brinkley that is awesome that you are going to graduate soon. So how will you work? How does that go?  Boys, sounds good about the eagle projects. Keep working hard so that you guys get things done!! Hahahaha dad you made me hungry with all that food that you mentioned!! I would love some of that!! Hahahah I hope work will keep going good and keeping you busy. Can you find an online job for me? I would like an online job so that I can focus on my studies. Mom sorry for not giving your Riggins info. His moms email is jvalderas@juno.com and her number is 425-330-9191. He lives in Washington but after serving in AZ for three months he wants to live there. We have plans. We want to start a jazz band and play baseball for BYU hahahaha, marry mexican girls, open up a taco place in AZ and break dance at all the clubs hahaha. We will see how all that happens. He also is going to come down to AZ my first week back home. Think he could stay with us??

Well that's enough of that. Things have been going great this past week. The Martinez family is progressing very well and their Baptism will be on the 18 :) The Fosado family is reading and praying but they have not come to Church yet and we are trying to help them with that. Today actually we are going to visit them with the Bishop. We are going to try to teach more with members so that our investigators go to Church! We have alot of plans. We really want to get working with the ward members and leaders. One of our plans is to teach the members lessons like if they were investigators. We feel like they will see that we want to work and have the desire if we do that. I hope that it works. 

Today there were transfers. I am still in Loma Florida (Apizaco) with my comp...but Elder Riggin is gone :( He only has 4 months left in his mission and it will be very little that I see him so it's sad, but things are still going great!! Elder Riggin really is one of my missionary heros and I love him alot. He really has helped me out alot in the Mission especially when I was with Elder Rojas. We have only been together in the Mission for like 5 months but we both agree that we have known each other before this life too.

I am getting Sisters in my District so we will see how that goes. They are opening up their area. Also I am getting another 2 new Elders in my District and they won't be here for another week because an American doesn't have his Visa yet. So I have alot of work to do to help out all these new Missionaries. It's going to be hard.

We have also been teaching another lady here named...Monica Diaz. She is a young lady with a family. We have only taught her but we really want to teach her whole family. We have had only one lesson with her about the BoM but she was great and really is interested. We hope to keep working with her. We also found a guy right next to the house of Monica. His name is Antonio Sanchez. He has accepted appointments so we are really excited to keep teaching him. He also makes sweet things out of oak wood. I think I am going to save up some money and buy myself a sweet looking statue type thing...it is the eagle and design on the Mexican Flag, and I want to have him put Mision Mexico Puebla Elder Lester on it. It's going to look sweet!!

So I hope everything at home is going great! I have not tried any new foods and I think it wil be hard for me to try new stuff now because I have 15 months in the Mission. So how is Jacob Handy? Is he going on a Mission? I would like to email him to see how he is. I hope things are great and I love you all tons!! Have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Brady Lester 

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

Mexico Week 47: District Leader in Apizaco

Hello everyone!!


Well today the great rein of Elder Escamilla and Elder Lester ended! We had changes today, everyone in the mission, and I feel a little sad to leave my kid behind but I have a lot of work ahead of me here in the mission. Today I am in a small pueblo called Apizaco. My companion is Elder Estevez from Tijuana Mexico :) He is really a good guy and missionary. It looks like he really wants to work and get things done. It seems like he did not have a good relationship with his last comp and they did not get alot done. I really know that we are going to have a lot of success here and we are going to work hard. He really wants to work so we are going to get started today with our work. I have also been called as a District Leader, hahaha. Guess who is in my district!! Elder Riggin!!!!!! He is my Zone Leader but I am his District Leader!! I am so happy to be with him again. He is an awesome friend and missionary!! He is really excited to have me in the zone.


Well not much happened in the last week with Elder Escamilla. We just contacted and everyone there just gave us the door, hahahaha. I feel like here though we will have alot more success. We have alot of plans to get the work started here. I feel like it's my calling here in the mission - go to bad areas and get the work started, hahahaha. I know that the Lord has alot of plans for me in the future here in Puebla, so I need to just keep working and hopefully everything will go alright!!


Well there are no plans here for Christmas...just work. We are going to plan how we are going to call and do all of that on Christmas so I will let you know during the week what the plans are.


I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!! May the Lord always bless you!! I am sure I will have more to write soon now that we have work to do, hahaha. Love you all!!!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

MTC Week 5: Growth

Hey everyone!!

One month in the MTC!!! It has gone by so fast! I can't believe it. Somedays feel like I have been here forever and others like I got here yesterday. Probably because we are learning so much so fast! Anyways thank you everyone for your letters this week! Getting letters is like Christmas :)

This week was really good! Elder Walker and I are getting along great and are working hard. The best part is we feel like we can work harder so we are going to be stepping it up here soon. This week Elder Walker and I have been outlining our lesson plans for lesson 1 in Spanish!! We have been teaching in Spanish this week it's crazy!! I feel like I go into a lesson so nervous then I walk out thinking "what did I just say?!" It's amazing how fast you learn by the spirit here at the MTC.  It's here all the time that it's hard to know that it is here. But the peace, happiness, and joy we feel is because of the spirit. Monday we will be teaching lesson 1 in Spanish to an investigator which will be way cool! I hope I can only learn faster and hope the spirit will remain with me so I can learn lots before I get to Mexico! Speaking of Mexico I can't wait to go! As much as I love this place I want to go teach real people and have amazing experiences. I want to put my hard work in the mission!

This week Elder Paletta went home because he needed sugery on his hand, but he will be back tomorrow we hope. He is still set apart. Elder Clarke, my best missionary in the district, almost went home for certain issues. Both him and I prayed and prayed and prayed and even fasted for him to stay. His heart is really in the right spot and he wants to be here so bad!!! When I interviewed him and was informed of his situation, I broke down and couldn't take it anymore. As district leader I have had so many challenges with Elders it surprises me! The work crew boys at Cumorah are 100 times more focused and dedicated and it makes me feel out of place. I feel sometimes people hate me because I follow all the rules and encourage them to do as well. Anyways thats the hard part about being district leader. It's frustrating to see these things and some don't care whatsoever. I have an Elder in my room who is the most disrespectful person I have ever met. He is even in the army!! He just doesn't care about anything but himself. President Lloyd, my Branch President, has even said that this Elder doesn't know his purpose yet. It is sad. In the end, Elder Clarke was found worthy to stay and I leaped for joy!

The great thing about being a leader is the opportunity to see everyone grow! Because of the responsibilities I have I get to see each elder grow. The Elder who I believe who has grown the most is Elder Walker my companion. He came from a rough background of drugs, music, and girls, but he knows why he is here and he has taught me a ton!! I am so happy for him. Although he gets upset for no reason sometimes, he still works hard and wants to do his best. He is going to be a great missionary!! :)  I probably get released on Sunday as DL though since it's been 4-5 weeks. I really want to because it is way hard. I have heard rumors that I won't because our district is so fragile and I keep them together real well...but we will see.

So about my schedule...it is different everyday. My teachers come at different times through out the day everyday but Sunday. It all depends on their school schedule at BYU. When we don't have teachers we have what is called MDT time. Which is missionary directed time. This is where we have time for our personal, companion, and language studies. It's really a great time to learn! Everyday except for P-day and Sunday we have gym. They are at different times though so it's kinda hard to lay out my schedule. I can send my planner in the mail though for you to see maybe when I have filled it up. And yes, we do have LGMs every Tuesday at 11:40 (large group meetings).

Our teachers, Hermano Cleek and Hermana Truman, get new school schedules next semester which means they won't be our teachers come January. Our whole district loves them and we are going to miss them a ton!!

A little bit about my district. It is a district of 12 which happens to be the biggest district here. Four of us, me, Elders Walker, Hammond, and Cummock are going to Puebla Mexico. They are the crazy ones and don't really obey the rules much and it's hard because I am in their room. I always have to keep an eye on them. Elders Christoffersen (my best friend here), Paletta, Nielson, and Justesen are going to Santa Cruz Bolivia. They are all awesome and I love Elder Christoffersen. He lives in Herriman Utah and we plan to write each other after the MTC :) Elders Framton and Sheffield are going to Tempe Arizona. Elders Bell and Clarke are going to Spokan Washington. All Spanish speaking of course! There is also an Elder in my zone who just got here and he is going to Mesa Spanish speaking. Elder Santos is his name.

Anyways my time is almost up! I love you all and miss you all and can't wait to hear from you this week! Keep the letters coming!!

Special Letters

Elder Lester mailed home two special letters he received. One was from the MTC President congratulating him for his call to serve as a District Leader which he received two days after entering the MTC.

And the other letter he received was from the Stake Presidency. I appreciate so much these leaders thinking of him during this time.

MTC Week 3: Obedience, Spanish, and the Spirit

Hey there fam!!

It's been another great week in the MTC :) I have enjoyed all your letters and goodies! So I got my first letters from Elder Helvig and Corrinn which was exciting to see!! :) I can't wait to write them back later today! Also I will be sending my memory card in the mail this week so look for that :)

Anyways, the week has been tough but great! Once again Elder Walker and I are doing great and working hard! We have taught at least 3 lessons everyday and try and contact and testify to people in spanish. It's way cool! We learn something new everytime :) It was a tough week as a DL though. I have a boy in my district, Elder Justensen, who has been way homesick and has alot of anxiety. He's been to urgent care twice and he is having a tough time. He really wants to go home. President Lloyd and I and the whole district have been helping him out a ton! He has a fabulous companion though and I know the Lord put them together for this reason. Unfortunately his companion leaves Dec 15th to the Peru MTC and same with another companionship, but Elder Justensen has to stay here cuz it's better for him.  I hope he gets put with Walker and I cuz I know we can encourage, love, and help him. It's also been a hard week for obedience in my district, so I felt impressed to teach a lesson on obedience. I had my lessons prepared for Faith but I felt like teaching something else. I was nervous, but once I got up there I was very bold, and just started talking and the Spirit was there. The scripture I used was John 14:21. I asked them to keep it in their minds as I was giving the lesson and at the end, I asked if we don't keep His commandments is it fair to say that we don't love Him? I think it really hit everyone and our obedience issue is gone!!

I have been able to learn so much so fast here! Elder Walker and I teach each other so much and each time we teach lessons we learn a tremendous amount. This week though we really focused on teaching a person, not a lesson, and using the spirit. We were able to focus on our purpose and let people know what they needed to hear, and then we really focused on baptism. It was amazing and I can't wait to get to Mexico to share my testimony for reals!

With spanish its been tough, but I am getting through it. I have memorized a ton of new vocab and now can conjugate in the present, past, imperfect, and future tenses. Now it's just learning vocab and a bit more grammer! I hope our whole district can pick up the language well!!

Yesterday in class, Hermano Cleek taught each of us how to polish our shoes. Haha it was awesome!! Now I have shiny black shoes to show off to the cute sisters, lol jk ;) Also today Elder Walker and I bought Spanish scripture cases for the other set of scriptures they gave us. They are way cool and you'll see them in a picture :)

Anyways, things are fabulous!! I am really having a blast even though its hard work! The spirit here is amazing and it helps us learn so much so fast. The things we learn are not just for those we go seek and find, but they are for our whole lives! I am just trying to focus, work hard, and soak up the spirit! I've been really learning how to be a better person by fullfilling my purpose. The Lord shapes each of His missionaries into strong, focused, diligent, obedient, loving men of God. It shows as each Elder diligently wants to learn and can't wait to help those in Mexico, Bolivia, Arizona, or wherever they are going. Its awesome!!

Anyways, I love hearing from you every week and can't wait to hear from you again! Please share what's going on and how everything is! I want to leave you with a challenge to read D&C 121 and Alma 32, and apply what's in there in your lives. I know that it will bless you. I know that you are being blessed and that the Lord loves each one of us :)

Thanks! I love you all!

MTC Week 1: Elder Lester's 1st Letter from the MTC

Hey there everyone!!


This letter is going to be short because I had trouble getting into my account so I only have 18 minutes haha! Anyways what a week I have had so far! It has been a blast! I am in a district of 12 Elders. Four of us, who are all in my room, are going to the Mexico Puebla Mission. Elder Hammond and Elder Cummeck are comps and Elder Walker is my companion. I am the senior companion for the first four weeks. We are getting along great! Elder Walker is from Pleasent Grove, UT. The other Elders in my district are Elder Christoferson, Elder Justenson, Elder Palleta, and Elder Nielson, who are going to the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission, Elder Framton and Elder Shefield, who are going to the Tempe Arizona Mission, and Elder Bell and Elder Clarke, who are going to the Spocan Washinton Mission. They are all so cool!

The other day we met with our Branch Presidency and met President Lloyd, our Branch President. They talked to us and interviewed each of us Elders. After...I got called to be the District Leader. Hahaha imagine that! I am very grateful and humbled for this calling. I am ready to serve my distict and hope to set the example for them.

My teachers are Hermana (sister) Truman and Hermano (brother) Cleek. They are wonderful! They help out so much and am looking forward to learning from them. In the first few days here I can bear my testimony, meet people, and pray...fluently in Spanish. It is so amazing!! The Lord's hand is definately in this work. We have also started to outline lesson 1 in Preach My Gospel and on Monday we get to teach it to people!! I am so excited!

So I have seen everyone here!! Elder Alston and I have the same P-day, gym, and pretty much same schedule which is awesome. I have seen Elder Dustin Johnson, Elder John Sumpter, Elder Jacob Palfreyman here too! It was way cool to see them!! :)

The food here in the MTC is pretty good but is not good for the bowels haha. It makes us smell and make funny noises in class. The past few days we have had alot of workshops on our purpose as missionaries and other great tools as missionaries. The schedule starting next week will be our normal schedule so look forward to my emails on Fridays which is my normal P-day. I am excited to serve the Lord and can't wait to get to Mexico Puebla!!

I gotta go know since my time is running out but I will write more next week! Thank you for all the letters and goodies everyone and your prayers. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you!

Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es verdad y es el otro testamento de Jesucristo. Soy Elder Lester y soy un misionero y reprensentate de La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santo de los Ultimos Dias.

Love,