Mexico Week 22: Closing of Haucaltzingo, The Role of the Spirit, Farming and Love

Hola everyone!!


Well things are doing great in my area! My comp has changed a ton and we are finally starting to work hard! We still need to work harder but things are going great! He will have changes though for sure in 2 weeks and he will go and I will stay with my new comp. I am really excited because there is alot of work to do! Everyone is saying that I will be senior comp and I only have 8 months hahaha but I really think I will have more time as junior. We shall see!!


So some sad news....they closed the area of Hualcaltzingo this past week. Apparently when I left the work just fell like a rock and then the missionaries were having a ton of problems so they closed the area! Kinda sad because I really thought that that branch was going to be a ward within a year but not now :(


Well in this past week alot of good things happened. We found a golden investigator!! She was a reference from a member in Hualcaltzingo imagine that!! It's cool because she comes to all the lessons with this lady. Hermana Imelda is her name and she is really really catholic but accepted Baptism when she gets an answer to her prayers. The first lesson we taught was great and was about the Restoration. In the second lesson we answered all her questions about the chapter that she read in the BOM and Baptism and things that we do in our Church. While we were talking about it I had the strongest impression to teach about how we can know that this is true. I taught about the role of the Spirit and how that is how we know. I testified that I knew everything was true and so did my comp. It was awesome!! She really is smart and is willing to change! She wants a sign but I told her that us missionaries are the sign that God wants you to change your life. The answer of your own testimony though must come from the Spirit. This Wednesday we have an appt and will check how her homework went :)


This past week I also learned how to farm hahaha! I totally learned how to plant corn and it was sweet! We did it the old fashion way with the plow and the horse! It was sweet! While I farmed with the hermano, my comp learned how to make tortillas from the hermana, hahaha :) Apparently they don't eat tortillas in Peru, only rice hahaha!!


This past week we also found an inactive member who has not been to church for 20 years!! And his wife, who is not a member, we are teaching!! The brother promised to come to Church this upcoming week so this will be excting to follow with!!


So things are really great!! We are really close with 3 people and believe that they will get baptized in 2-3 weeks! :) We are really close to other Elders which I love hahahaha :) It has been raining the past week and one night all the streets were like rivers, hahaha but this week we will have sun :(


Well this past week I have really learned alot about the importance of love and charity. I believe that success is really brought to us depending on our attitude. I have learned that there is no reason to be down and not to love people in the work of the Lord. We are striving to be more like Him and if we don't love we are nobody! We can't do anything! With developing this love for others I have really felt more of the love my Father in Heaven has for me and my family and the people that I work with. Life is to love!!

Well I love all of you and really miss you all! I thank all of you for your support and prayers! You are all in my prayers too and hope you are all receiving the blessings from heaven!!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

 

7 Months Serving and an Example of Obedience

Today is Elder Lester's 7 month Anniversary for his wonderful Service to the Lord!

What I admire about Elder Lester is that in his new area, Castillotla, his missionary companion, Elder Rojas would always do his laundry on Saturday's because a Hermana in the ward who offers her washing machine/dryer (I'm assuming she has that). She works on Mondays, which is P-day so that's why he doesn't do it on his P-day. Elder Lester explained to Elder Rojas that they would have to do their laundry elsewhere on P-day. They asked the Relief Society President last Sunday if any Hermana's in the ward would help with this - no one would. :(  So Elder's Lester and Rojas will be washing their laundry by hand in their apartment on their P-day. Elder Rojas isn't too happy about this and Elder Lester's talks about not being lazying, working, and being obedient. But I'm sure they will work it out.  I admire his example of Obedience.

I love these pictures of Elder Lester in Huacaltzingo

 Elder Lester and Elder Lumbreras in Haucaltzingo offering Service

Mexico Week 18: Cambios - Castillotla!

Hola Todos!

Well today we had transfers and I left Huacaltzingo.

 District Meeting

Special Family in Huacaltzingo

 It was a great time I had there and was extremely tough, but all that I learned I know will really really help me in the future in my mission. I also hope and pray for the best there in Huacaltzingo. Today, and for the next 6 weeks at least, I am in Castillotla, hahaha. It's half city and half village. My companion, Elder Rojas, has one year in the mission and is from Peru!! Sweet eh haha?

Elder Rojas

Well I will tell you about today and my new area first and then about the week. Well this area is huge and my comp tells me it's tough and the members don't really help us out. Sounds familiar haha :)  My house, well is tiny, we don't have a working toilet, we will shower in cold water, and there are cockroaches hahaha :) Sounds fun eh hahaha!! Well I will be fine don't worry about it. I am just excited to be here. My comp seems a little lazy and President Rex told me personally to take care of him hahaha, so we will see what happens, lol. I am just ready to work and am excited :)

This is Brady's apartment in Castillotla

Well in the past week we didn't have much success. It was another tough week in Huacaltzingo, but we did have some interesting experiences. Tuesday was a good day. We were out working and stuff and I had the impression to visit a specific Hermano and Hermana to ask them for a reference. Well my comp and I went and when we arrived the Hermano told us that his wife was really really sick and couldn't move or get up. Well we ended up giving him and her blessings. The spirit really directed our words and you could feel it's presence there. Well two days later she was up and walking :) It was sweet :) Well yesterday was a very strange day in the mission for me. We got up and headed for church and nobody was there. Everyone showed up late hahaha everyone! We finally found out why...apparently at 3 in the morning two young men killed a woman of 30 years with rocks not too far from the church on a hill. She happened to be an investigator that Elder Villalba and I taught. She was loved much by the members so it shook them up too. Yesterday we only had Sacrament meeting and I gave a talk on the Atonement and how Christ suffers with us and is always there calling, we just need to accept the call and come unto Him. I really hope that it helped.


Well thats all the news for this week. Brinkley CONGRATS on your graduation :) How do you feel? :)


Well I am excited to see what is going to happen in this change. I really think we will have success :) I am excited and ready to work! I hope the Lord blesses us :) I love you all and are all in my prayers everyday!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 17: Zone Conference with Elder Rasband, Service, Hamburgers and a New Food...Goat Brains

Hey there everyone!!

Well this week was a great and a rough one. It started off bad and good hahaha. First the bad was that one of our investigators, Alejandra, wanted to get Baptized in Puebla where her cousin and friend lives so she got Baptized there by other missionaries which was sad not to see that Baptism haha but I still count it haha. Monday through Wednesday we spent in Puebla with Elder Johnson and Elder Monjaras. Monday was p-day and we just played soccer again haha.

Tuesday Elder Johnson and I worked together all day and we had a lot of success. We taught 3 lessons and found 4 new investigators. One door we contacted didn't answer for like 3 minutes so we knocked the apartment right next to it and then the other door that we were waiting at opened and the door that we at this time were just knocking (sorry my English is bad). So I contacted one and Elder Johnson the other, and it was weird testifying alone haha, but the lady that I contacted accepted our invitation and we taught her. It was cool haha. Later in the day we also contacted a naked guy who opened the door....very weird.

Wednesday was awesome!! Elder Rasband from the 70 came and he taught us about how the Twelve call missionaries. It was the same talk he gave in conference. Later he taught us that we must be balanced missionaries, and if we are here just to baptize we are here for too shallow and pathetic of a reason. We also must help the inactive return. That is a huge priority in missionary work! It was great and the influence of the Spirit was there. After we ate at a chinese buffet which made me sick hahaha. 

Thursday we returned to our area and we taught an investigator Jesus Santos and helped him cut pityas, the cactus fruit haha, and it was fun. That lesson was good too! He was making up so many excuses that an eternal life does not interest him. Well I pretty much told him, with straight up power and authority, that it's going to happen whether you like it or not. So you can choose to accept our message and ge Baptized and be happy forever or not, and not be happy. At the end of the lesson he accepted Baptism :) It was sweet!! 

 Elder Lester and Elder Lumbreras with Jesus Santos

Friday not much happend so my companion and I returned to our house a little early and made a fire and cooked hamburgers. It was a blast haha :)

Saturday was terrible. Three of our Baptisms that we lined up for next week fell through and we won't Baptize Alan, Fernanda, and Trinidad until next change. I cried it was so sad. 

I am still great though and can't wait to get changed!!! Hahaha I also can't wait for the new president to come :) 

New foods this week: 

Rice with banana

Goat brains :) 

Pig skin 

Banana sandwich 

Well I love and miss you all!! :) Stay safe!! I added more pictures!! Check them out!

Love,

Elder Lester 

Mexico Week 16: Loving the Work even though it's hard

Dear Family,

Well this week was another hard week in Huacaltzingo. But before I get to that let me answer questions. YES, MOM I MISS YOU!! Hahaha and Kasey I am glad you did your homework in PMG :) Grandma haha Little Ceasers is like 8 dollars here so just a tad bit more expensive. For KFC I spent like 10 dollars and got a drink, shake, chicken sandwich, fries, mashed potatoes, and a chicken breast so it was a ton of food!! That's awesome that you kids had fun with dad and that is sweet a Seventy came on Sunday. This Wednesday a Seventy is coming and the whole mission is going to listen! All 150 of us!!! I am excited. For that we are staying the night tonight and tomorrow night in Puebla with our district leader. I am glad to have a little break from my area haha.

Well this week was a little depressing. We have been working so so hard and have not been seeing a success. I think total this week we taught 8 lessons and worked our tails off. The work has been really bad. We have done everything possible alone and nothing has worked. So this past Wednesday evening we had a meeting with some of the leaders of the branch to make a mission plan for the branch so we can work closer with the members. Well it was almost 2 hours listening to their excuses about how the work here is difficult and really don't know why we are there. My companion and I felt dead afterwards and really didn't want to work anymore, but we did haha and again no success. Sunday we had another meeting with ALL the leaders for an hour and nothing got done, so today I wrote President Rex in my letter that the members really don't want to help us and that it has been like that for all the time I have been here. In two weeks we have changes so we will see what happens.

This past Saturday evening was fun though!! We had a family night thing with two families in our branch with an investigator who is so close to Baptism. She's just is a little scared because she really doesn't have many friends in the church, or so she thought hahaha. Well we watched the movie the Restoration and after we all made hamburgers!!! Well I made and cooked the meat of course being American and all, and they all said that they were the best hamburgers they have ever eaten :) So dad and mom, gotta give me props for that :) It was fun and it really helped this investigator feel better at church. Her name is Trinidad.

Well this week we will be focusing on our investigators Trinidad, Alan, and Fernanda because we feel that if they accept, they are really ready fo Baptism 28th and 29th of this month! We have changes the 30th so I hope we get these three before changes, but it all depends on this week!!

Well anything else you want to know?? I am loving the work even though it is hard. Oh btw, I heard a story that about 4-5 years ago an Apostle sent almost ALL the missionaries home from this mission because they were starting like secret combinations and stuff with secrets codes and rings and stuff that I can't believe. So the mission has been recuperating since then. Scary and just crazy!!! Well tell Jacob to write me!! I hope all is good with him and that he gets back out because if only Jacob P and I return it will be sad.

Well I love and miss you all!!! Mom, I attached the pictures of my shoes on this email.

This is what Elder Lester's shoes look like after only wearing them a few months in Mexico.

A new pair has been mailed to him this month!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 15: Puebla-La Ciudad de Angeles‏

Hey there everyone!!

It was so good to talk to everyone last night and was so good to hear all your voices!! Kolby, your voice is so so deep what happened?! Dad, sorry I think I talked to you in the usted form the one time we talked in Spanish. Hahaha, yes Mom you are right that I got a little emotional but it was all Grandma´s fault, she cried first and made me cry!! Thank you everyone for your comments and encouragement. I left you all with homework and expect you to complete it! All read in the BOM everyday, Dad in Spanish, and you kids and Mom study Chapter 2 of PMG and apply it to Gospel, school, and yes, work studies :) I have homework for Grandma :) I would like to invite you to attend Church every Sunday with the family :) Think you have time? I know it will bless your life :)

So I don't have much to write again because we talked a ton yesterday, haha but this week and for now on in the Mission, I am challenging myself to be more direct with our investigators especially with the commitments that we leave with them. I have been studying alot on the importance of them keeping their commitments. It's Eternal Life and if they don't read or pray, it's important to let them know that this is your Salvation and the only way to do it. I feel sometimes us Missionaries are too casual in all this. We need to help them because we have their Eternal Life in our hands and no one else. If they don't know the importance they won't do it so it's our responsibility to show them.

This week we will be focusing on three investigators that we have so they can accept and be Baptized in the change, the remaining three weeks that we have. We also are making a plan with the Branch and look forward to working with the members more. We need to find more people to teach because we almost have nobody, so we will also focus on that this week.

So today I am in Puebla again :) I love the city haha. We played soccer and I scored three goals haha!! We also ate at KFC and it was so good to put some familiar American food in my mouth :) I ate a ton for like nothing haha!!

Well I hope this week I will have stories for you guys. I will make some!! I have had like two weeks without stories!! I love and miss you all!! Stay safe and you are all in my prayers always!

Love,

Elder Lester

Mexico Week 14: Sick - Parasito! and a Visit to Centro

Hey there everyone,

Well this past week was a good and bad week hahahaha. We didn't have any more Baptisms and some of our investigators are not progressing, but we really feel that they are almost ready, they just need to come to Church! I have been very happy even though the little success we have had this past week. The reason it ended bad was because since Friday I have been extremely sick throwing up and a bad case of diarreha. I haven't eaten since then and have only been drinking water. Today I talked with the Mission Doctor and he gave me some advice for the next two to three days and if I am not better I have to call him again. My guess is that I have lost about 10 pounds hahaha because I am so skinny and feel so sick hahaha. I hope I feel better this week!!

So today I am in Puebla. We went to Centro which is where all the cool historic stuff is!! I saw Elder Walker finally!!!! I love that Elder so much. He really changed my life. He has gotten big from walking and working out. Remember how he was always so skinny hahaha? He is looking great and his Spanish is really good!! He has improved so much from the MTC. I hope I see him again soon. After we saw him we went to a HUGE Catholic Church haha!!! I took some pictures and will upload them next week. It was huge and beautiful but they believe in crazy things. I could not feel the Spirit there and I felt really sad for them. They had a really bloody Jesus Christ laying down and it made me sick and cry a little. I did not take a picture of that though. Something weird is there are tons of little boxes to put money in. It really is the Church of the devil and they need the Restoration!!!

Things are crazy here because apparently the Pope performed a miracle hahaha so it's really hard to teach now about Prophets. Also soon the Pope is coming here to Puebla hahaha so us Missionaries are doomed!!! Hahahaha jk jk jk, because we have the Truth and the Spirit when Obedient. It just gives me more desires to preach repentance!!! I just need to feel better!!! Stupid parasito!

So this week we hope to have more success!! I pray everyday that the Lord can teach us this lesson we need so that we can have more success. I have learned that the Lord Answers the Prayers of his Children and the Scriptures are the medicina that we need. Read the Book of Mormon every day! The Bible is the Word of God but the Book of Mormon has it all!! I don't really have a funny stories for this week, sorry. I miss you all and love you tons!!! Cant wait for Sunday!! :) Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester