Mexico Week 61: Work as a Missionary Branch President

Hey Everyone,

Well I want to wish a very happy birthday to my brother Kasey!! I can’t believe you are going to be 16 tomorrow, that’s crazy!!! I hope you don’t keep growing, hahaha. I would also like to congratulate Maggie and Dad on their wedding. Hahahaha, I love the cardboard Elder Lester and the letter to the President. Hahahaha, did you really send that to him?

Thank you all for writing me :) Thank you for the money Mom. You could send me a package and I could get it. I will go to Puebla more with this calling.

Well, as you all know, I am a Branch President.  I am actually the only Branch President in the entire Mission. It’s a hard calling and I have so much respect for Bishop´s now. It’s pretty much the same calling just with less members. We have 83 members on the list and about 40 come each Sunday. This week I have had to interview for giving the Priesthood, Patriarchal Blessings, callings, worthiness, needing money from the church, and helping a sister go through a divorce. IT’S ONLY MY FIRST WEEK!!! 

Hahahaha, I don’t know how long I will be here but I will be here for at least 12 weeks and maybe more. I feel like we are starting up the Branch. One of my goals is to start up the Young Women’s and Young Men’s program. There is youth but there is not any program, so I called a Young Women’s President and a Deacon’s Quorum President named Jesus Huerta. He is great. We are going to start mutual pretty soon and get them working on their Duty to God and Personal Progress. I would also love to start a Boy Scouts program.

I am also in the process of helping some brothers be worthy to receive the Higher Priesthood. One brother, Hno Hector, helps us out a ton and he is really working hard to be ready and worthy. I am going to call him to be my second counselor but Pres. Reeves needs to interview him first. I would like to be the last Missionary Branch President and I would like to have Hector be the branch president in about 12-18 weeks. That is another goal of mine. I am very excited but also I have never been so tired and stressed out. I have a lot of things in mind and we are going to start making some changes in the Branch so that the members work, and so that we can work hard in the field.

We don’t work everyday as Missionaries. There are some days that I have interviews or my comp, who is my first counselor, and days where we have to travel to a bank to manage the Tithing and Fast Offerings. Hahahaha, I have a lot on my plate.

Well today we went to a waterfall place and it was beautiful. Next week I will send you pics. I love the area. It’s really pretty. I am in the mountains, hahaha, and it’s freezing at night. I am really liking it here. My companion is Elder Cano. He is from Sinaloa. I thought I was going to get an American because I have not had one yet, but it will probably be later in the Mission. He is really cool. He kinda does the work a little different so I will have to get used to that but he is really great.

Well I gotta go. 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 10: Amazing Conferences and American Food!

Hey there everyone!

Well this week has been a decent week except most of our investigators changed their mind about Baptisms on the 9th so we are going to work for the 17th, the last day of the change. Lorena might want to get Baptized at the end of this month. We did however find a women who is interested in our message and we have an appointment with her on Wedneday. This week though I believe will be very hard to teach lessons. This week our little village is celebrating their birthday all week haha. No one will be in their house so we will be contacting alot.

Btw....there is a ton of Fanta down here including apple flavored which is amazing!! I don't know where I will be changed but I really want to leave my area. I think three months in one area is enough, haha. I really want to stay in the same zone, but in the city. I think I might mention it in my letter to President today.

Sorry it's really hard to answer all your questions, but guess what...in one month you get to call me!!! So I will be able to answer all of them then, haha.

Well today was the best P-day ever! We are here in Puebla because we stayed the weekend with our zone leaders. Yes we do sleep well :) I didn't pack a pillow but I bought a tiny one here, haha. I am fine though :)

Something I would like in the package is razor heads, if you could. They don't sell the ones I like here. The fusion gillete ones...I think they are orange. Anyways today is Elder Rios' birthday! He is one of our zone leaders and he turned 23!! So we bought him some of his favorite ice cream and a jersey of his favorite soccer team. He was so happy!! He is a great Elder and leader. After we went and bought breakfast. I treated myself to donuts since you can't find those in my area, haha, like I can find anything but cows and goats. I hear there is a Krispy Kreme in one area so I hope I serve there, hahaha. After we went and played soccer. I used my brand new Mexico jersey I just bought and I think because of that I scored two goals, hahahaha which are my first goals in Mexico!! I am slowly getting better at soccer. After we ate HAMBURGERS!!!!!!!!!! So delicious!! Then we played pool, hahaha, so great P-day today!! 

General Conference was amazing!! I got to watch it in English. I guess it is a rule that we have to watch it in our native tounge. So I got to take good notes but I can't wait until the Liahona comes out so I can study them even more. Between the first and second session on Saturday, Elder Johnson and I, he is in my generation and distict, went and bought DOMINOS PIZZA!!!!! My first pizza since the MTC!!! :) It was so good! But anyways Conference was amazing. My favorite talks in order 1) Elder Bednar and personal revelation (that talk was something I needed). 2) Elder Uchtdorfs talk in Priesthood which was amazing! 3) Elder Holland of course. 4) President Monson in Priesthood. I really enjoyed all the talks and learned so so much! I can't wait until the next one, haha, and by then I will have 11 months in the mission!! 

Oh, and our Zone Conference this past Tuesday was awesome! We all got to hear from President Rex and his wife which was awesome. We also learned alot about teaching skills and practiced, practiced and practiced some more. It left me with the spirit and I was so ready to work!!

Also this week I received my first case of diarreha...it's not bad but it's not fun either, hahaha. Once in a while I get a sick stomach but I hope all will end here soon. I keep drinking coke to kill whatever is there. I am beginning to like coke now, hahaha. 

Well not much else to say, hahaha. I just finished the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon and I love that book!! I am excited to start Alma and receive more inspiration in my life. I love all you guys and your letters!! I can't wait to hear from you again! I can't wait to call you guys!!! Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Brady Lester

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

Hey there everyone!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Food I had this week:

Spaghetti

Chicken with creamy pablano sauce

Fried ham with cheese inside

Chicken is some spicy broth

Tacos :)

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

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

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

Love,

Elder Brady Lester :)

MTC Week 8: Teaching and Learning

Hey!!

Week 8 here at the MTC!! So I got some news the other day from my Branch President and the travel office here at the MTC. Our Visa's have not come yet, but they are working on them. They said we should have them between now and two months. So we will probably stay here until the 24th or the 30th of January, then get reassigned to Boise, Vegas, Seattle, and anywhere in Utah or Arizona. Crazy!! I really want to get to Mexico but I wouldn't mind going somewhere else for a bit in the states. I think it would be good practice for spanish and teaching :) I just want to go out and get started!! I am so excited!!

This week was another good week at the MTC. Elder Walker and I keep working harder everyday! We are trying really hard to speak Spanish all day but it is difficult. We can do better, and I have Faith that this week we will do great!


This week we got to be hosts for the new Missionaries again which was fun!! :)


So this week Elder Walker and I have been teaching, teaching, teaching, and teaching some more!! We keep teaching and we are getting better each time and learning so much everytime we teach!! It's amazing how much we learn. My favorite is when we have personal and companionship study. We learn so much and it helps us a ton with our teaching. This week Elder Walker and I had some really hard investigators. We had one who was gay, one who was 60 years old, and a 15 year old who has a  chastity problem, and a evil spirit problem. They were all true stories that our teachers had on their missions and they role played for us. It was insane!! Apparently in Mexico they have word of wisdom problems, chastity problems, and evil spirit problems often. It made me nervous but I am ready to help any of those people out!!

So today I had the most amazing experience in the temple today. I learned so much more and felt the spirit so much more than I ever have in the temple. 

So let me tell you about Elder Walker, my companion. He is from Pleasent Grove, Utah. He used to be in a band and used to do drugs and had that kind of life style. But he wanted to serve a mission. So for the past two years he has fixed his life up and repented for all his sins. He has had some wonderful experiences the past two years that have helped him get here today. I am so grateful for that because he is the best example of a man who knows his Savior Jesus Christ, and how He can help him. He knows what it is like to be at the lowest of lows and get back on top. He is the best example of a man who knows and uses the atonement effectively everyday. I hope I can take his example and be like him someday. :)

So let my tell you about my p-day schedule!! Every Friday I have p-day! We wake up at 6:30 AM and have personal study from 7-8:15. Then we have breakfast until 9:00, and from 9-10:00 we have companionship study. Then at 10:00 we go to the Temple until 1:00. Then from 1-3:30 we have prep time where we write letters and do whatever we need to do for the up coming week. Then at 3:30 we do laundry until 5:15ish, and the we e-mail home :)  That's how Elder Walker and I do things :)  We then have dinner from 6-6:45, and class from 7-9:00 and that's pretty much it!!

Well I love you all and miss you!! I love hearing from you and hope I can everyday if possible :)

Love, (Amor)

Elder Lester