Release Date and Travel Itinerary

We have received Elder Lester's Release Date Letter from the Mission President and his Travel Itinerary. I can't believe that I have this in my hands and our Missionary Boy will be home so soon.

 

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 

Last Package

Last week Brady did receive a very expensive Fed Ex package with his drivers license and a tie. Brady had his wallet stolen last year and I forgot to order him a duplicate drivers license. When he was called to be an AP he needed his license so he could drive the Mission vehicle. I paid for an expedited drivers license and on September 5th went to Fed Ex and paid to have it sent overnight to Brady. Since it was Brady's Birthday the next day, I also put a tie, a pair of contact lenses, and only had a enough weight left for one gatorade drink mix packet. I was so excited for him to get the package on his Birthday, and in less than a week from when he notified me of needing his license. But the expensive overnight delivery didn't work because the package was stuck in customs in Mexico due to the fact that I had the contact lenses and the gatorade packet in the package. So I had to email a letter to Fed Ex International in Mexico and give them permission to open up the package and to remove and abandon the contact lenses and gatorade packet. This took several days and then finally Brady was able to have his package delivered to him on September 14th. It was still quicker than using the regular US mail service but it was very expensive and apparently you can't send packages to Mexico with those items because health paperwork is required.

I'm glad to say that not one US mail package that we have sent to Brady has had an issue being delivered to him with all the goodies and such, and I'm hoping this last package has the same good results. It may take three weeks to arrive to him but it's always been in good condition and nothing has had to be removed.  

This is Elder Lester's last package:

Popcorn - I haven't sent him popcorn for the microwave before even though it's his favorite because he hasn't had a microwave, but I was hoping since he's an AP now maybe there is a microwave in the Mission Offices or Mission Home close by. Oatmeal, Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bars, Gummy Worms at the request of the Office Elders, Protein Bar, Pistachios, Peanut Butter M&M's.

Brady's favorite Lindt Chocolate Bars, a Razor, Beef Jerky, Protein Bar, Gatorade Chews and Gatorade Drink Packets, Jelly Beans, Contact Lenses and Case, two Toothbrushes and Paste, A Backpack Rain Cover which he has needed his whole mission - haha! Jolly Ranchers and his favorite Hot Fries that goes in every package.

Kolby's Note

 

 Braxley's Note

 Kasey's Note

 And here's to hoping the Virgin Mary protects this last fun package for 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 

Mission Newsletter

This is a Mission Newsletter that Brady sent. It came as a PDF so I had to take a picture of each page so it may not be very clear.  It's all in Spanish. I'm excited to get someone to help me translate it since Brady is featured in this newsletter as a new Assistant to the President and he wrote a letter to all the Missionaries.

Happy 21st Birthday!

 Happy 21st Birthday Elder Lester!

 

 

Here are 21 things I love and admire about you!

1. Being an Amazing Valiant Missionary
2. Great Leader
3. Your Example of:
4. Charity
5. Service
6. Compassion
7. Love
8. Obedience
9. Good Heart
All of these examples and Christlike attributes above you have shown throughout your mission and with examples of how you have loved and served your companions, and how you have loved even the hard ones.

10. Your Knowledge of the Scriptures
11. Friend to All
12. Love your Smile
13. Seeing you play with your ears while we were skyping on   Christmas - ahhh that's my Brady!
14.  Saying hahahaha throughout your letters
15. Love of Music - Braxley says you are good at playing the Saxaphone. Yes you are! And the Piano!
16. Funny
17. Love how you would always talk about everything and share your life
18. Determined
19. Humble
20. Wanting to make things better
21. Excitement for life
  Elder Lester, Assistant to the President, Brady, my first born son, and who I loved before I ever met you when I carried you in my belly, Happy 21st Birthday! You are so precious to me. I love being your Mom and am so proud of the young man that you are. I am grateful to be in your life everyday and look forward to the many great things you will accomplish in your life. You have grown and learned so much as a missionary and I know you will take these lessons throughout your life. 

A Celebration of Brady's Birthday in Pictures: 

Elder Friends

Baptism in Chignahuapan

  Baptism of Limi

P-day

Giving Service

Mexico City Temple for the Sealing of Lorena & Pedro whom Elder Lester Baptized in his first area Huacaltzingo

Washing clothes

Baptizing in Chignahuapan

 April Zone Meeting with President and Sister Reeves

Mexico Week 84: New Area, New Assignment, New Life

Hey Everybody!! 

Well this week has been a very interesting week. I am writing you all today because tomorrow we will not have time to even wash our clothes hahaha. As most of you know I am the new AP which is an Honor. I still don't know what are all my duties and stuff like that but I will be learning. I am actually in Puebla right now and am in the offices with the assistants and my companion. We are receiving some training from them and we are working on the transfers for the Mission. It’s a lot of work and we are trying to get a lot done. In the afternoon we will be going with President Christensen to our old area to have a training meeting with the Stake Presidency, Bishops, Ward Mission Leaders, and Missionaries. It’s going to be interesting going to all of these types of meetings with the President and his wife. When we get back we are going to have to go "Elder hunting" because there is an Elder who is doing some bad stuff with girls....I am so not ready for that hahahaha.

Tomorrow we will be receiving the new Missionaries who come from Mexico in the morning and I am going to be able to see President Reeves which will be weird hahaha. We have training meetings all day tomorrow with them. Tomorrow night we will be going to the airport to pick up the Americans that are coming and we will have to drop them off at the Mission home. On Tuesday we will be in training meetings with them all day as well, and then in the afternoon we will have the transfer meeting hahaha.

Things are beginning to look interesting and it’s going to be a different experience being an AP. Hahaha, only three missionaries here have ever had all the Mission assignments - Elder Gonzalez, Elder Bencomo, and me. I refer to Junior comp, Senior comp, Trainer, District Leader, Zone Leader, AP, and Branch President hahaha...and those two other Elders are legends so I have big shoes to fill hahahaha. The good thing about being an AP is I will get to know all the Missionaries and the whole Mission, travel a lot, learn a lot more from the President, and get my packages on time if anybody sends me some. hahaha! :)  

As of this week in our area...well there was not a lot to do. I had to go to the hospital for my knee but it’s getting better and now I can start working and stop resting my knee. The good thing is that I won’t have to have surgery or anything, but I am taking some medicine which is helping out. I will have to take it light on the soccer and basketball :(

Last night we had a huge ward activity and a ton of people came. It was a BBQ that we planned, my comp and I with the Ward Mission Leader, Luis Medel, and the Ward Missionaries. We planned to have a BBQ and an open house. We planned on having about 100 with 20 invites but it was a bigger success. We had almost 200 people and 80 invites and we had a great time. The food ran out so fast but everybody was asking me recipes for the shredded beef and BBQ sauce that I made :) It was delicious. We put in some spice into the sauce because it’s Mexico. We had mashed potatoes and corn on the cob with baked bread and butter. We did it just like in the USA. A lot of the invites wanted to listen to the Missionaries, so the new Missionaries who are going to be in Totolac Ward – Tlaxcala, are going to have a lot of work. I am going to miss that ward. It was my favorite area for sure in the Mission and I really hope to go back and visit. Hahaha, I hope to start my English school with Luis Medel actually...maybe it will work out.  

Well I don't have much more time to write...and I am sure my letters will be shorter some weeks than others because my P-days are going to be much different. If you can try to write me early Sunday or in the afternoon because I might have to write on some Sundays like today. I love you all and hope that you all have a great week! I want to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Brinkley! Love ya tons Sis!  

Con Amor,

Elder Lester