Mexico Week 82: Rain and more Rain

Hey Everyone! 

Thanks for writing me!  Everything has been going great.  We have three Baptisms this week on Saturday so I hope everything will go good and things will continue to work out.  We have been struggling finding new investigators. We need to work a little harder to find.  It’s been hard to get people to listen to us.  Right now we are planning on doing a ward activity and we have the goal to have 50 references from the members.  I hope that we can get a good number of people so that we can teach more.  Everyone is getting Baptized, hahaha.  In the activity we are planning on having an open house and a BBQ dinner :) It’s going to be awesome! 

It’s been raining alot and raining even more. It’s hurricane season so it’s normal but I need to enjoy it because at home it doesn’t rain as much. I am getting nervous now that the time is winding down. There is so much I want to be able to do before I get home but it seems like it’s almost impossible. I hope to be able to accomplish my goals. 

This week we will have interviews with President Christensen. I hope that they go well. I really love the President. He is a great leader and has taught me alot. We will have changes in 2 weeks. Who knows if I will go, but wherever I end up I will finish there I believe. It’s crazy how fast the time flies by. I don’t know if I have done enough but I hope to continue with the work after the Mission working hard in my calling and with my future family. 

Things have been going good. I hope everything keeps going well at home. I love you all. I uploaded pics last week but the internet is slow so I still have another 260 pics to upload. I don’t know if you guys checked them out. Well I gotta go. Love ya all. Thanks for your love and prayers. 

Love,  

Elder Lester 

 

Mexico Week 77: Summer Rain

Hey there everyone! 

Well this past week was a great week! Not alot happened hahaha, but it was a great week. We worked real hard and we had alot of success. This is the last week of the transfer so we will have to see next week if I will still be with my companion.  I really hope so. He has been my best comp so far. I love him, he is a great friend. 

Thanks for all writing me haha!  Sounds like you are all having a great time back at home.  I hope that it continues to be a blessing for you all.  I pray for you each day and hope that you are all happy. I hope that you all have blessings. Just to let you know...I will leave Thanksgiving plans up to you guys. Just let me all know how it’s going to work out.  I really would love to be with everyone and have a good, fun, happy, and peaceful time with all. 

We have been working really hard.  I love the mission.  I am a little scared for what is to come in the future but I am happy.  We are teaching a new family that we found last week. The Familia Minor Hernandez.  They are really great.  They are really Catholic too, but we have been able to teach with the Spirit and it seems like they know that it’s true.  It’s amazing to see how the Spirit really works with us to help people receive testimonies. We have another lesson with them on Tuesday so we will see how that goes. 

It continues to rain real hard here. It’s crazy!  I have gotten so wet and muddy hahahahaha!  It’s part of the work! 

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week.  Thank you so much for your support and love. I hope that you all have fun. I pray for you each day and hope that the blessings come in your lives.

Love,

Elder Lester

Mexico Week 74: Rain & Clothing

Hey Everyone,

Well things are going great here and I am just loving the Mission. Hahahaha, I have not been much in my area this past week since I have been in exchanges with all of the District Leaders in the Zone, and today I am in a place called San Martin where I will be working for the next two days. Things are going great. I will be honest, I miss being a Branch President or even a District Leader. Hahahaha, it’s very different being a Zone Leader and I am not sure what I think about it yet.

That stinks that the Heat won the championship. I was routing for the Thunder, haha!
 
Well it’s raining again over here in the Mission. I am lucky to have one of those areas where the streets look live rivers, hahaha. My other pair of shoes are just thrashed and so I think I am going to be working alot more in my "Sunday" ones to finish off the Mission. While we are talking about clothes I will just let you all know how my clothing is hahaha. Like I said, I am pretty much down to one pair of shoes. I have one good belt, hahaha. I am also loving my garments, hahaha. They are grey and with holes, and sometimes it’s hard to get those stains out from behind, hahaha, it’s awesome. I think that my shirts are yellowish now. They seem white but when I am with other Missionaries who have less time in the Mission their shirts are way white, hahaha.  My pants are just different colors. My grey ones look like some ugly brown and my blue ones look like they are turning colors like if I was washing with bleach.  My socks are just...well let’s just say bad.  Thank you for the socks Mom!  Hahaha I think that is the best present a Missionary could get....and hot fries hahaha.  My blue suit is just a sad mess. I think that I am going to leave it behind when it’s time for me to go home, hahaha.  I really won’t use it after.  My ties....wow my ties. Let’s just say I need to learn how to eat better, hahahaha.  I am just looking back at all the money that we spent and it’s just going all down the drain, hahaha.  I love it.  The good thing is that I still have one good suit, that I will have to tailor again to my size. My hush puppies are still good.  And I have one good belt and a pair of good jeans that I bought here because I got paint all over my other ones, hahaha.
 
Just to let you know Mom, I think that it would be better to save up the money to come as a family here next year instead of coming for me in November.  The Church does pay for the ticket so don’t worry about that.  They will probably buy my ticket soon. I think I am going to ask the President if they could fly me out of Mexico City instead of Puebla so that I could go to the Temple before I go home.
 
Things are just great!  I really love my companion and we are getting alot done.  We are trying to help the Zone be more obedient because we have had problems in that, so we are trying to be the best examples.  We are teaching a bit but we need to find new investigators because we are dropping some and are we are hoping to Baptize soon.  We put the goal to go eat seafood if we Baptize, hahaha.  It’s rare to eat that here. I am going to work hard so that I can buy myself some shrimp.

The other day I ordered some leather scripture cases from a brother in Castillotla.  He is going to make them and I am going to pay and get them in like a week or two when I go to Puebla. We are getting ready for our Zone Conference this Friday. The new President is going to be here so it’s going to be exciting.
 
Well I hope that all continues to go well back at home. I feel sorry for Brink and her wisdom teeth. Hope that you feel better soon. You are all in my prayers I and love you all tons!

 

Love,
Elder Brady Lester

Mexico Week 28: Listening to the Spirit and Testimony of the Temple

Hi everyone!!


Well this week really passed by fast! I almost have 9 months in the mission now hahaha and boy has it passed by. That is great news for Ethan Pike and Mark (Scanlan)!! Why does his companion remind him of me lol? Do you have his mission email, Mom? Oh and it's Aogosto in Spanish, hahaha :) That is crazy that you guys sold the Wii, but I am glad you bought the hoop :) Just dont dunk on it!! I would like to play on it when I get home.


Well in this past week I got a little lazy with my studies and working. I have been trying so hard with Elder Rojas but I am really disappointed that I have not been able to help him out. We do have transfers in 2 weeks and I really hope I stay in this area. This area has so much potential and I know that we could Baptize every week, but this area just needs 2 missionaries with the same purpose...help people come unto Christ. I really hope the President and the Lord keep me here. I really need to get back on my studies again though.


Speaking of President Reeves, he has been changing alot here in the mission. Every house now in the mission has a portable DVD player and the Preach My Gospel videos so that we can watch them as comps and study and practice. I love that he did that. I just hope Missionaries don't abuse that privilege. He has also come out and said that we must not eat with or teach a woman unless there is a man present. I have been waiting for someone to give out that rule and finally he did it! He has also given the commandment that we must contact at least 10 people a day in the street so that we can find new investigators. That will be hard for Rojas because he hates contacting. Whenever I want to contact I do it by myslef as he stands off in the distance, lol but its all good. So little by little the President is changing the Mission :)


Well this past week I had a sweet experience with Hermana Sandra. She still has not accepted a date for Baptism so we have been thinking about dropping her, but we just love her too much. The other day she brought us pancakes to our house! She also signed up on the member food list....where we go and eat for the day...and we ate with her. She is amazing and really loves listening to the lessons. She wants to get Baptized but wants to wait a little longer because she doesn't know if she is ready to make a big committment with God yet. Well anyways my experience was cool. We had splits again with some young men in the ward and I went to teach Hna Sandra and the plan was to watch the movie "The Testaments" with her, but something told me to bring the movie "The Moutain of the Lord", and so I did. Well it kept coming into my mind to watch that movie with her so we did it. After the movie she got excited and asked...When can I go into the temple? Hahahaha I told her that she has to get Baptized first and then wait a year but she got to thinking and later told us that she wants to get Baptized but she is going to pray for a date. Well we have not been there since, but tomorrow we have an appt with her and we hope that she has a date. The experience was sweet as I learned again of the importance of listening to the Spirit. I don't know what will happen because we watched that movie and it was neat as I got to bear my testimony about the Temple and the blessings that she can receive if she enters.


Other than that, the week was normal. We did not have much success and I got sick with diarreha again hahaha. Also the other day it rained really hard and I left my window open next to my desk so all my books got a little wet and my Preach My Gospel in Spanish, with all my notes from my studies, got destroyed and soaked! I just bought a new one from the mission but I won't see it for 2 weeks hahaha. Also, our water got clogged so it comes out really slow now. The pipe needs to be cleaned or changed. Tomorrow we have the owner coming to fix that out.

Well I hope you all have a great week! You are all in my prayers and I love you all very much! I love Missionary work!! I hope things get really good soon here! Thank you mom and kids for the package!! I loved it!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester


PS: Dad....Hace 2 semanas por escribirme una carta o correo. ¿Estas bien? ¿Que paso?

Mexico Week 25: Rain, Ward Mission Plan, Showering from a Bucket, Companion Lessons

Dear Family and other people who get this letter,


Well I officially have 8 months in the mission and wow has time passed so fast. I really feel like I am still a new Missionary and just left the MTC. Well this past week things were really interesting. For the past like 15 days it has rained which has been awesome! Thursday it was raining so so hard from like 3-9 in the afternoon and night! We got soaked!! My shoes are still wet hahaha!! My pants got covered in muddy water because some car drove by me fast and all the water in the street just drenched me hahaha! It was fun :) I love the rain!

Well in the past week we didn't get alot of lessons in. We have been working really hard on a mission plan for the ward. Tuesday evening after our meeting with our ward mission leader in the church, the Bishop called us into his office and said he had something really important for us to talk about. After he told us that he wanted us to make a mission plan for the ward because he wants us to work with the members more. I was so happy to hear that from him! So this past week we made a plan for the ward! It includes goals and plans to FIND, TEACH, and REACTIVATE. We really want to improve our numbers and feel also that we can have more success with the members working with us. I really am excited to put this plan into action.


Well also in the past week we got kicked out of the house on Thursday. The owner sold the house and said we needed to be out by today, Monday. So also last week we had to find a house really fast and there was only one that we found and its kinda gross hahaha. We moved in all of our stuff on Saturday when we found the house and cleaned out the other one, but since the toilet, sink, and shower don't work in the new house, we stayed in our other house for the past couple of nights on the floor so that we could have a place to shower and go to the bathroom. Well now we don't live there anymore and the owner of the new house is installing the new toilet, sink, and shower tomorrow and Wednesday, so I will be showering from a bucket for the next two days :) Hahahaha I am excited lol ;) In the next month when we have money we are going to buy some cheap paint to paint the place lol because the walls are ugly and gross.


Well this past Saturday Hermana Karla could not get Baptized because we still have some stuff to teach her, so it looks like this Saturday she will get Baptized :) We also have been working with a young lady, Hermana Ana, who really wants to get Baptized but wants to wait a bit. She is not religous and knows nothing about God and Jesus Christ so we had to start with the basics, but she wants to be religous and be closer to God, so she has accepted Baptism but with no date. She came to Church yesterday which was awesome!! So we are going to be helping her to get ready by the 30th of July so that she gets Baptized then :)


Well this past week Elder Rojas changed very little. He is still doing his normal things but President Reeves called us to see what he could do to help. I told President my feelings and he listened. He talked to my comp but I don't know what was said. I know we are together for this change still but I am going to be different in this change. I am going to be patient. I am going to pray for more guidance because maybe I am with him for another reason, and to help him out in another way besides just working. It's going to be hard but I feel like it's the right thing to do. One thing I will be hard on him though, and that is his money. I have taken so much out of the home account because he spends all of his money the day he gets it. He has nothing again for this month like last month and I am having to pay for things for him. I really need him to be smarter next month with his money because I have almost nothing and don't want to keep taking out tons of money from the house just to pay for him and me to live hahaha. I just need to be the example and be obedient.


Well I gotta go! I want reports next week on how you all have been sharing the gospel with your friends and everyone!! I love and miss you all! I can't wait for your next letters!


Love,
Elder Brady Lester


PS: Tell Eric Trott thank you for the email. It really helped me out and I will take his advice. I just don't have time to write him :(


Tell Sister McCarthur that she is awesome and that I love her so much!! I have had no time to write her but I am thankful for all of her support and know that the Lord is blessing her :) 

Mexico Week 23: Teaching Baptism, Learning Promptings of the Spirit

Hey there everyone!!

Well this week has been a pretty good one!! We worked really really hard and got alot done! In this week we lost one of our investigators, Oscar, because he didn't do good in school so he is grounded the whole summer, so he is not allowed to get Baptized now, which stinks hahaha. This past week it has rained alot because apparently there was a hurricane in Vera Cruz and also a cold front. It has gotten really cold here really fast!! I hear that the rain will just get worse starting in a couple of weeks hahaha so I cant wait :)


So this past week was an interesting one with this investigator Hermana Juana. She is the one who has listened to the lessons before but 15 years ago! She loves the lessons but does not want to get Baptized. Well my comp and I really thought it was because she had no testimony of the BOM. We really worked hard on her getting to read and pray about the BOM. Well she did it, and the last time that I went to visit her we were on divisions with other Elders, and she said that she knew it was true but she still turned down Baptism!!  Well I gave an example about how to enter into the door to heaven...we need a key. That key is Baptism. If you are Baptized without the proper authority or in the wrong form, you have a key but the wrong one. She still turned it down. I ask if she loved her husband and wanted to live with him forever, she said yes! But she turned it down again. Then I asked "If God Himself was here right now and commanded you to be Baptized, would you do it?" She said yes! Then I told her that He is here in the form of two young boys and that He called us by a Prophet to help people take upon themselves this Covenent. Well she turned it down again. It was depressing after that lesson but I feel that she will get Baptized at some point. She only wants to learn but nothing else. Well I just want her to get Baptized and nothing else, so we shall see who wins hahaha ;) JK JK! We have a lesson with her tomorrrow so we will see what happens.

Well with Hermana Imelda, well she came to church yesterday and liked it. She asks alot of questions and really understands everything and reads and prays but she still doesn't know it its true. Well we ask her if she feels different when she reads and prays, and she says that she really feels peaceful and wants to keep reading. Well we keep telling her that that is her answer. Well she wants something a little stronger and more sure before she changes. She is willing to change but only with an answer because she is really Catholic haha. We also have an appt with her tomorrow.

Well this past week I have really studied alot about how I can better understand the promptings of the Spirit so that I can follow them. I have learned that personal revelation is a process. The Lord teaches us here a little and there a little. Line upon line. He just asks that we are worthy, prayerful, and diligent in following, not trying, but following the promptings AND looking for them. This past week I have learned alot from the Spirit and look forward to feeling it more in my life so that I may help the people who need this message. Hahaha and I have been having constant dreams about me being district leader in the next change. I don't know if that is revelation, but we shall see next Monday when we have changes hahaha!

This past Friday we had a ward activity which was fun! It was a night of talents and dancing, but not for us. It was a night of teaching and contacting all the visitors who came and we got some appts so I am really excited about that!! Speaking of that I want to know how you guys are doing on your Missionary work? Do you guys talk to friends and neighbors about the gospel and then give these references to the Missionaries? If not then DO IT! It is a commandment from the Lord (D&C 18:29) Without members, Missionaries can't do a thing. I urge you to do your Missionary work. In the past month we have gotten 18 references from the members. What do you guys think about that? I think it is not sufficient in the work of the Lord. WE NEED MORE! So I hope you guys are doing better than this ward! SHARE THE GOSPEL! Christ did not just teach by example but He opened His mouth and testified! DO THE SAME! But you must talk to your friends. A reference is someone who WANTS to listen, not someone you THINK wants to listen. There is a difference in the word reference and suggestion. I would like to check on this homework every 2 weeks so let me know :) And yes, I meant to be direct in that topic :)

Well I love and miss you all!! I hope all is well! Remember the Lord loves you all and is blessing you for all that you do! :)

Love,
Elder Brady Lester