Villahermosa: Week 54

Note: Even though Steven mentioned he might send us another email, he didn't. That is why I am late posting this. I was just waiting to see if he would send us another one. Sorry for the delay. Also, not sure what is up with the formatting today but I can't figure out how to fix it. Happy Thanksgiving :)

24 de Noviembre, 2014

Hey everyone. This week was a great week. Just saying.

Anyway I am going to be short because I believe I will have an opportunity to write tomorrow and I will tell you why.

Well my new companion, Elder Craven, has not arrived yet because there was an accident on the highway and they closed it down for the day. With Elder Orozco already gone, I am in Chichicapa with Elder Contreras until my companion comes in tomorrow. I am excited to be with an American again. And I have heard a lot about Elder Craven. There was a missionary here that knows him that said we are exactly alike. So we will see. 

This week Elder Orozco went home. I learned a lot from him. He was a really great teacher and he made a big impact on a lot of people here. María del Carmen was balling her eyes out at church when he said goodbye.

With Christmas coming up, we get to teach more on the line of Jesus´s birth and sing Christmas hymns and all that good stuff. of course it is almost nothing like Christmas in  the US but it is still something. And I have really great members here that are going to make Christmas awesome. Wooohooooo I am so excited. It is my last one here in Mexico!!!! And I received a card that has my homecoming date. September 15th. It is not set in stone yet but there it is. I am going to work my tail off till then. 

I love you al and hope everything back home is great! I might send something tomorrow! If not, until next week! 

Elder George

Villahermosa: Week 53

17 de novembre, 2014

My foot is fine. Don't worry. It just got super swollen and bruised so we went to the doctor and I just bruised it super bad. So he told me to take a day of rest and to take it easy. So I tried to. It is just not easy to stay in the house all day long. I cannot do it. So when we went to lunch, I told my comp that we could start working from there because I could not put up with being in the house all day. So when we left the food appointment, I stepped to go down a little set of stairs. I put pressure on my foot and it just doubled. And i fell. My companion just laughed and helped me get back to the house.... I took that as a sign that the doctor was inspired...

So anyway we had a lot of great experiences this week. One was when we visited Alfonso and María and they told us to go and visit Alfonso's sister. She is a 60 year old woman. Very nice and she looks just like Alfonso. Right off the bat, she told us she was not interested. But we kept on talking and she opened up a little bit. She talked a lot about Alfonso and how much he has changed. She told us a lot of very ugly stories about his past and how he is trying to fix his relationships with people. She actually started crying. It was very touching and it made me feel so good inside. That man has really changed a lot. He lived with another woman before and has 5 other kids with her, including a grandkid. He left them when they were just kids and it was just a bad situation. But he is fixing things now. That is why this gospel is so great. It changes lives. It makes people Want to be better. It puts righteous desires in our hearts. It gives us the guide of the Holy Ghost. It is just so great.

So yesterday, we went and visited Alfonso y María again and they had a question for us when we walked in the door. They asked if we believed in black magic and witchcraft. We were like uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Why? So he explained that the house that they live in now(which is super creepy. It is like a house from a horror movie.) was abandoned for 4 years before they had moved in. And the people that lived there were super weird and practiced witchcraft and other stuff. So he also said that there is a room in their house that they do not even enter in because when they do, they have feelings of hate and things like that. He also said he wakes up a lot at night and he hears things and sees things. So we were like oh dang. What do we do. So my companion said that we were going to come by this week and clean that room really good and then we are going to dedicate the house with a prayer. So i will tell you how that goes next week.

Also, this next week are changes. Elder Orozco goes home on Sunday. Wow. That's crazy.

 

Well that is all. I love you all and i will fill you in with my crazy mission life next week!

 

Elder George

 

Just my companion chillin.....ahhhh what is that!?

My dinner one night. Platanos fritos con un tamale. So good.

Villahermosa: Week 52 "Chiltepéc‏"

10 de novembre, 2014

Hello all you awesome people.

I had a crazy week. By Friday, I was feeling up to full strength and the cold is now gone! Mwahahaha. I hate colds. 

Tuesday, I had an awesome experience! Hermana Lily took us to a little town very far away. It is like 2 hours away in bus, but she took us in her car. We visited a lot of less active members. These members are very poor and it was a very humbling experience for me. The amount of work these people have to do to go to church is ridiculous. But they say it is worth it all and we also testified to them that it was. One sister had a large portion of land that was just beautiful and we picked a ton of oranges. It was great. I love that lady. I am pretty sure the water I made from those oranges killed my cold. What a blessing that was. We spent almost the whole afternoon there. It was such a beautiful place because there was not as much trash and pollution. I will send pictures.

 

On Wednesday, we had a surprise movie night with my converts, María del Carmen and Alfonso. We brought Soda and popcorn and the Restoration movie. They loved. it. I loved it. I love that movie. And every time we watch it, I point out that I know the Joseph Smith that prayed. They are always like NO Way! It is fun. But my favorite part of it all is at the end when the movie ends and there is just that peace and joy. That is the Spirit testifying and thats also when I like to bear my testimony because I just receive this rush like I have to say something. It was a great night.

 

On Friday, we had a Zone Conference with the President and his wife. It was great. They are great people. I left very inspired and ready to go to work. I was also able to see Elder Rios again. He is now in the offices as secretary of materials. He says that he enjoys it. Also this day my companion completed two years in the mission. That's crazy. I can not even imagine. He leaves in two weeks. He complains to me all the time that his contract is up and he should be in his house by now. I punch him in the shoulder and tell him to be quiet and to stop thinking about that and focus on the work while you're here. The Lord has given him extra time for a reason and he sees it as a punishment or something. How sad.

 

And today we played soccer as a District. I was going to clear a ball and as I went to kick it, our DL came out of nowhere and kicked the ball out from underneath, causing me to kick him straight in the knee. I kicked it so hard. You would think that I would have hurt him but no he was fine. I was the hurt one. My foot has been giving me problems all day so today we are going to the doctor. I hope it is ok. Pray for it. Please.

 

Well that is all. I love you all so much and hope you have the greatest week.

 

Con amor,

Elder George

 

In Chiltepéc with Orozquito.

Can you spot Elder George?

 

 

 

Villahermosa: Week 51 "Día de los Muertos"

[I am posting from my phone today so I apologize for any weird formatting. It may look fine but you never know. Enjoy! -Sara]

3 de novembre, 2014

Hello family.

Well this was a rough week. Still good though.

To start off the week, we had divisions with our district leader, and he came with me to our area. Elder Flake. He is a good kid. He is from Mesa, Arizona. I do not think I have met one Elder from the east out here. How sad is that. No one understands me.

That night we had to go back to his area and spend the night because the next day was zone conference. So me and my companion spent the night there. First off, there was no water in their house so I could not shower. Second off, everyone slept in the same room because in that room there was AC. But there were 8 elders in that same room and the AC didn't do anything so that whole night was just straight up hot. Third, the mattresses they gave to us to sleep on were terrible. I laid down on it and it went straight down to the floor. The cement floor. So I almost did not sleep that night and I woke up with a killer headache. So it was super hard to pay attention in the Zone Class.

I was so glad to get back to my amazing hammock the next day. You have no idea how wonderful that thing is. I am going to have a hard time sleeping on a bed when I get back.

This week they had the Day of the Dead here. It is actually two days. Saturday was for the children and Sunday for the Adults. As missionaries, every year we go and help the people who visit their loved ones who had passed away. We clean their graves and stuff like that. Also we share the Plan of Salvation. Unfortunately, this year we could not go. Because I died also. Saturday I woke up and everything was fine. We were going to go help a couple move houses and then at night we were going to the cemetery. After we helped the couple move, they invited us to tacos. So we went. The taco place was super sketchy but the tacos were so good. About an hour later, I was in the bathroom, never to leave again. Just kidding but seriously, it was bad. That whole afternoon. But I took some pills and the next day I woke up just fine. But today I woke up with a cold. I have never gotten sick like this in the mission. I have no idea what is going on with me. But I will not let this illness stop me from working.

Well that was my crazy week. There has been better. I love you all and wish you the best.

Elder George

Pictures:

A creepy doll head my companion found.

We found wild coco. Chocolate is somehow made out of this.

We made an oreo cheesecake with our neighbors.

This leaf is almost as big as me.