Happy Halloween/Day of the Dead!!

Hello all in this lovely last week of October, 

First off, happy birthday Brittany and Brandi! The murder mystery night looked like tons of fun! ha you guys sure go all out. Loved the costumes, yes Brandon was pretty hilarious. My week was pretty good, went by really fast. Cant believe October is almost over, the year is just about over as well. haha. 

This week we had divisions with the assistants, that means with Elder Rodriguez. He managed to finagle the divisions on his birthday so that was fun. haha. I really loved working with him. It makes such a difference when you get along so well with your companion. We were in his area and even his investigators noticed the difference, and said we are a really good companionship. haha. Thursday morning at 7 president called and said a new missionary had escaped so we had to run all over the city to all the big bus stations trying to find him, but we never could. He showed up in his house in Veracruz a few days later so all is good, but that was a fun experience. 

The best part of the week was Jose and Martha's baptism. Ahh it was such a process to finally dunk them. We have had lots of difficulties but we were able to overcome them all. On Wednesday they told us they didn't feel ready, and Martha hadn't been able to drop the last few cigarettes she had been smoking. But we talked about the baptismal covenant reading D&C 20:37 and the Saviors invitation in 3 Nephi 9 to come unto him NOW so that he can heal us, and they committed to be baptized on Sunday, and stop smoking from that moment. The doctors had told her that it wouldn't be good to stop smoking so abruptly but I said I don't care what the doctors say, trust in the Lord and his promises, and everything is possible. She stopped smoking, they both passed their interviews and were ready for Sunday. Then Sunday at 7 in the morning they call us and said that they didn't feel ready and good about it. Ahh I didn't know what to think. We told them to take all their things and we would talk in the church. When we were there Martha said that she was gonna be baptized, but Jose said no, not yet. We shared a message but I didn't want to pressure him. Martha was sad about it, but by the time we left sacrament meeting Jose came up to us and said ok I want to be baptized now. Who knows what happened but everything turned out good, and the service was super good. I baptized Martha and E Chacon baptized Jose. I was really happy after hearing their testimonies about how grateful they are for all that we have done for them. I love seeing those converts that I can look back from when we knocked on their door contacting til their baptism. Love it. 

I feel like that was all we really were focused on this week. haha This week our zone did really good with baptisms. We are the number 3 zone of the mission for baptisms this month. boo yah. Being the smallest zone in the mission, that hasn't really achieved anything in the past makes that feel really good. 

Well I hope you all have a super great week, and a happy halloween! So Mom and Dad will you be in Florida when I write next week? Sounds like it, have fun with that.

Peace and blessings!

Elder Elgan 

Happy 14 Months! :D

Hello Hello!

Well here I am again reporting another great week here in the mission. I am really happy right now because today was a super good day. Wednesday is Elder Rodriguez's birthday so we went out to celebrate. We wanted to do something different so we decided to go hike a mountain. I honestly didn't even know places like this existed in our mission until they told me about it. It is out on the limits, in the state of Mexico. We headed out at about 6:00 and took a bus about 45minutes to the foot of the mountain and began to hike. Most of it was road, it reminded me of the Tony's Grove road, but had some good muddy trail parts. It was raining and super misty. It felt so good to be outdoors and out of the city, I could actually breath fresh air for the first time in more than a year. We hiked to the top to a lookout tour and had kind of a Crater Lake moment because it was all cloudy and misty, usually you can see all of Mexico City from up there. But oh well it was pretty awesome. It was us, E Rodriguez and his comp E Sewell, and their zone leaders Elder Fike and Alvarez. (See the many pics I sent- only about a third of them). So that was awesome, after we came down, and went to lunch at Panda Express. Then we shopped in Walmart, came back to clean the house and to write. The whole day we were in normal clothes which was so weird for me. Normally it is very against the rules, but we had permission so don't worry. I just felt like a normal boy again. haha. Good good day. 

The week was pretty good, fast. We had changes, and our zone changed a little bit. We have one companionship that we are gonna have some problems with because they are both pretty dead, oh well we will get through. Should be another great cycle. 

Everything is going pretty good with our investigators, a few frustrations and obstacles but hey there always is. We should baptize 2 of our investigators next week, Jose and Martha. Gonna be super great converts, so we are working with them as much as we can. 

This week we got to have a little field trip and I went with all Elders from my generation to Polanco, aka rich Mexico City. Now that we have more than a year in Mexico we had to go renew our visas. That place is such a night and day difference from our mission. It makes me realize that I actually could live in the city. I have not enjoyed city life here in Mexico City, but over there it is completely different. We also stopped by a Dairy Queen and got a blizzard which was fun. Gotta love those American moments.  

Its crazy how fast time flies in the mission, and how far I have come. I have been reading my journal from a year ago, and I feel like I have learned SO much since then. I don't know how I made it through the first few months. haha But now I feel like a completely different missionary and person. So that's really good to see. 

Oh and I made brownies this week. Gotta take advantage that I have an oven! So they were pretty good. Love when I get to bake a little bit. Reminds me of the good ol times.

Sounds like everything is good with you guys at home, I love you tons and have a super great week!

With Lots of Love, 

Elder Elgan

Hola!

Hello Again!

Well another week has sure flown by and it was a pretty good one! Sounds like you all had a good week too! Josh and Kayla happy anniversary! I remember being all sad in Martin CarrerI a year ago all sad that day that I wasn't there. Cant believe a year has already passed. Hope you had a good one! And Britt and Trevor congrats as well on the 9 years, who da thunk you guys would make it that long. haha jkjk. Dads trip sounded interesting, and the new project sounds pretty cool. I want to see pics! Everything sounds good at home, and I like to hear that :)

This week was really good. Yesterday we had Bianca's baptism which was super great. It has been a little bit difficult with her but we finally got her dunked. Friday they got married so we accompanied them out to the state of Mexico to a super crappy government building where they signed and what not. And Sunday was her baptism. She has a really strong testimony already, and I could feel the spirit very strongly as she shared her testimony after she was baptized. Gotta love those moments. 

Last Monday I had a pretty unforgettable experience. I am going to write it exactly how I wrote it in my journal for the full effect :) 

. . " Today was just a normal pday and all but when we were finishing up before heading out I started feeling really sick. By the time we finished up a family night with a less active family, I was shaking, my head was pounding, and I had a raging fever. When we were just leaving our investigators Jose and Martha who had previously cancelled the appointment we had with them that night miraculously called and said we could come over after all. On the way over I felt so weak that if one of the many drunks we passed on the street would have come after us, I wouldn't have even been able to run. I was thinking: "why do I feel like this if I keep so faithfully the word of wisdom? Where are the blessings?" We eventually made it to their house and I waited slightly impatiently for them to come to the door. We went in, sat down, and began to talk. We talked about how they felt in the General Conference, and how they had been doing. Our investigator Martha commented that she had felt really bad and sick that day. Then she mentioned that she knew she felt weak and sick because she was a smoker. When she said that me and Elder Chacon looked at each other and without words knew that we needed to change our plan and teach the word of wisdom. We began to teach and I could feel little by little the spirit beginning to take over the lesson, our words, and their hearts. As I testified of the importance of the word of wisdom I had tears streaming down my cheeks and they did too. In that moment I received and shared the answer that the spirit put into my heart to my cries that I had expressed moments previous in the street. In that moment I knew that we will never have a perfect body in this life, this is mortality and we are meant to pass through sickness, pain, and fatigue to prepare ourselves to one day be resurrected and return to live with him. But while we are in this mortal state we will never achieve it. However, when we obey as simple of a commandment as the word of wisdom we have the Lords PROMISE that he will bless us. That we will have health in our naval and marrow in our bones, find hidden treasures of knowledge, run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and most of all be protected from the evil powers of the adversary. When Jose read those words of the Lord through the profet Joseph Smith in D&C he said: "I dont know what book this is but when I read those promises I felt like God was speaking in my place." It was an extraordinary moment that I will never forget. That's when it all came together. God prepares us in many ways that we don't even recognize. We need to rely on the Lord and our father that everything that happens is part of his grand plan. My greatest joy was not only seeing them commit their selves to not smoke and repent, but seeing that I was a true representative of Jesus Christ through which the spirit testified to 2 investigators in search for the truth, and changed their lives forever. When we left their house I felt good as new, as if I had never felt sick in the first place. . . "

So that was cool, right? So that was the highlight of the week, the rest of the week was pretty good. Our area is going well, we are teaching lots, and have lots of baptismal dates. There are lots of frustrations each day, and nothing ever goes as planned, but everything always seems to work out pretty well. 

I'm really trying to enjoy every second here in the mission. Sometimes we are always just wishing for the next thing in life. But when the next thing comes, we just wish we could go back. Sometimes I feel like the mission is getting harder, and I just want to give up and rest, but I gotta keep pushing forward and finish strong. Here we go. haha 

I love you all, and hope you have another super great week! 

With Lots of Love, 

Elder Elgan

Conference Week!

Hello again!

Well another week came and went, and it had its ups and downs. It was a pretty difficult week work wise for some reason. We struggled finding a lot of our investigators. We we did get a few new ones, and put some new baptimal dates so it wasn't too shabby. 

On Friday we had Leadership council. (see pic) Its all the zone leaders, assistants, and secretaries of the mission. It was super good but it lasted more than 8 hours. A little long. haha They had a part about family history and lots were pretty amazing about my family tree and how I could show several direct lines to Adam and Eve. Thanks family (whoever did all that) for doing all that work. haha. I really like the trainings from President Anaya, he is pretty powerful. He always makes me feel the spirit and want to be a better missionary. 

So our baptism this week fell through. Its Mexico's fault. All the people in the government offices thought going to a birthday party was more important than working on Friday, so Biana could get married. Tomorrow she will get married and next Sunday should be her baptism. Hopefully. haha

Loved General Conference! Its awesome. I have sure learned to love it here in the mission. I hope I always love it as much as I do here in the mission. We saw all 5 sessions and had several investigators go. Its so cool to see the prophets and apostles teach about what we teach every single day.  The language thing was a cool new addition, I liked hearing the talks in Spanish, even though I heard every single other talk in Spanish, it was just better to hear the natural voice of someone, and not through a translator. haha It was the first time I didn't get at least a couple sessions in in English, but I was happy because I understood 99% of it, so it doesn't really matter. haha. I really want to go the conference when I get back, it made me realize how lucky we are to have it so close but we hardly ever take advantage of it. So many people here would kill to be able to go to it live. 

So you want more info about my Comp? Well he is a Chihuahuan cowboy. He has 6 more weeks in the mission than I do. He has been a zone leader for a while so we know that we have one more cycle here then he will have changes. I get along with him really well. I know he speaks English really good, because he basically lives on the border, but he never speaks it. He gets embarassed. How cute. 

The weather here in Mexico continues to be pretty much the same ol. The rainy season is lasting longer that usual and I'm just about sick of it. haha. Hot days, cool nights and mornings. I could use a nice winter, but too bad that will never come. 

Sounds like everything is going good at home, Dad I wish I was there to help ya projects and yard work sounds like so much fun. Wish I could be there for the annual family murder mistery party sounds so fun, but next year I'll be there to whoop y'all. haha jk. I am losing all intellegence in Mexico. Simple math is a sturuggle sometimes. But my spiritual intellegence is growing so don't worry :) Good luck in New York Dad, don't have too much fun. 

But that should just about do it! Love you all and have a super great week!

With Lots of Love,

Elder Elgan