Mexico Week 91: Busy Life Teaching and Training

Hey Family!

Well again I have been busier than ever! I actually have not been here for this week. We left Monday, my companion and I, to Tlaxcala and we have been working with various missionaries and just got back today, hahaha. We have been working hard trying to teach and train the Missionaries in the Mission. It has been a very great but also tiring experience. We have also been working on some problems with some Elders who have not been working as they should. 

The other day I was working with a couple ZL´s and we were contacting in the street and and one of the ZL´s started to contact a family of three that was walking in the street. This Elder started to ask a lot of inspired questions about the family and it was a very good contact. I watched an observed and the man was very stubborn about listening to the Missionaries and accepting an appointment. He kept saying that he had to work from 5am to 10pm everday, and that he spent his off day with his family shopping and stuff like that. I then asked him "why do you spend that only off day with your family and not somewhere else?" He told us that he does it because he loves his family and that he only has that one day to spend with them. So then I asked him "Then how about you let us come buy next week to teach you how to be with your family forever and not just one day of the week?" He then really started to think and he said..."shoot you guys are right. How about you come by next week?" Hahaha it was a great contact and the Spirit really helped us out. 

We have a lot to plan. We are starting to work now in reactivating in the Mission, and with the President we are creating a plan for the Stakes in the Mission to be able to work with the Missionaries to be able to reactivate the less active. We are also planning the changes for this transfer since my generation is going home a week early. We are planning a few training meetings that we are going to have in the Mission. We are planning who is going to take my spot, hahaha. Things are really rolling and it's getting done and the time just flies. 

Great to hear that you are all doing good. I hope that you all have a great week. Love and miss ya tons!! 

Con Amor,
Elder Lester

 

Mexico Week 86: AP Work and New Investigators

Hey Guys!!

Thanks for your letters!! It’s always great to read them and learn new things hahaha...like Brinkley having a boyfriend ;)  Sounds like everyone is doing great.  Sounds like everyone is working hard and making money hahaha! Awesome! I am glad Braxley is keeping up with the saxaphone.   

Things here are going pretty good.  We have some more work going on in our area now. Hahahaha, we have 2 investigators and actually they both want to get Baptized, we just need to keep working with them so that they are ready to make this Covenant. Their names are Juana and Linda. 

Well this week has been pretty busy.  We have been working hard trying to get some new stuff going on in the Mission like training meetings and stuff. We are really trying to work on planning here in the Mission. My comp and I will be working with the Zone Leaders the next couple of weeks to help them plan good and train their zones. This week we found out that in the whole Mission we only baptized 40.  Hahaha, we are the second smallest Mission in Mexico now and we don’t Baptize a lot.  That worries us a lot but we are working on it. It seems like this month we are going to Baptize quite a bit as a Mission but we still need to get better. 

This week we will have a lot of work to do. Tomorrow an Elder is going home for some stuff. We are getting an Elder back who went home for surgery.  On Wednesday we are going to lose another Elder who is going home for surgery too on his foot.  Hahaha, we have a lot of moving around and we need to organize it all and take some Elders to their new areas. We are also planning on dividing a zone that is really big. That means we will have 6 zones in our little Mission hahaha, and each zone will have their own Stake. A lot of good things are going on right now. 

Well there is not much else to report.  I am happy and loving life. Hahahaha, soon I will be home which will be exciting but I am getting nervous. I hope things will keep going good. I just need to trust in God and do what my heart tells me.  I hope everything is good back home.  Love you all and hope that you have a great week!!

Con Amor, 

Elder Lester 

Mexico Week 85: Assistant Agent Lester

Hey Family!!

Thank you all for your letters and for the bday wishes last week. It’s been a fast week but very tiring. Really not alot got done on the teaching side of things. We started the week off with the new Elders who got here. We were in the mission home all day Monday and Tuesday training them with the President. It was a great training. I learned alot about the importance of being a good example for the new Elders because they need it! We got 3 from Mexico, 2 from Guatemala, 1 from the Dominican Republic, and one from Ecuador. We also got 14 from the US on Tuesday. The great thing about this is that we got to eat and sleep in the Mission home for 2 days hahaha. We also said good bye to the 2 Missionaries who finished their Missions and are now home! 

This week, just to sum it up has been like an FBI kinda week. (Brady told me that his companion made Agent name badges as a joke for him and Elder Lester because of all the investigating they've had to do this week). We have been dealing with alot of disobedience and we have been working real hard to help out the Elders. We had to break into an Elders home to look for some stuff and he might be going home soon. I don’t want to write about all the details but I am sure that when it is like this I won’t be writing much because I can’t...it’s better not to know about it. We hope to start working real hard. We have no investigators so we are starting from scratch hahaha. I hope that we have alot of success. I hope to be able to have better stuff to write about next week. 

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!! Just to let you know I am getting hemorrhoids but I am watching it carefully. I have had some blood while going to the bathroom but nothing too serious. I will be fine so don’t get too scared hahaha. I love you all!! 

  

Con Amor,
Elder Lester 

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

Dear Family and Friends,


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


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

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

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


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


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


Love,
Elder Brady Lester

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

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 :)