Week 18: Elder Bean's Weekly Email

Elder Saavedra and I are still getting a long great! He is an awesome companion and a great friend I will never forget.  Obviously we have had some tense moments but I have really learned to just talk things out.  I dont feel like ive ever really been an angry person or someone that has problems with a lot of people but Ive really learned how to just communicate with people.  We still make jokes a lot and its a ton of fun.  Its great to help him learn more English and I really feel like its my duty to help him learn more, I just wish I could be a better teacher because he has helped me learn so much Spanish and helps me to understand so many words.  Im not sure if I told you last week but this cycle is 7 weeks long, so that means Ill be with him for another 6 weeks from this date and possibly more which is awesome because he is a great companion!

We arent all fun and games obviously.  We have been called to serve the people here in this area and we are working hard to find as many people we can.  Its so amazing to help so many people and obviously its hard when we get rejected or yelled at but its so worth it when someone actually wants to change their life and is really prepared to hear the Gospel.  Recently we have started teaching Alberto, he is a great person and super super nice.  He talks to us a lot and is really fun to teach.  He has a lot of doubts and questions but thats good, its so much better when the people have questions so that we can help them so much more.  He has a baptismal date for Jan 19th but that might be changed if he goes on vacation.  Its so awesome to find people like him or Hna Diana who are just great people.  They are super nice and easy to get a long with and they really have a desire to know for themselves not just because someone tells them this or that.  Hna Diana is a great person too and is really strengthening her testimony and studying so much!  She asks us for so many books or different things to study or read because she loves to learn new things and really loves learning about the Gospel.

The language is coming a long great.  I have learned so much and I understand so much more.  I can really understand most of the people.  But I still have plenty to learn and improve on.  Its super hard for me to understand when there are tons of people talking all at once or we are in the metro(subway) or other place really loud.  But I know I have been super blessed and have learned really fast thanks to a lot of prayer and help from my companion.  Im so happy and excited to learn more spanish because I seriously want to speak it so fluently.  Its super fun to learn and obviously super hard too but its a great opportunity I have to learn more and im trying my best to keep learning more and more and studying more too.  Plus, Elder Saavedra and some other Elders have told me I speak Chilengo(I think thats how you spell it) but it basically means I have an accent and I sound like im more from Mexico than from the US which is awesome! :))

Elder Clason sent us an email that said he is working with his Stake President and doctors to be able to return to the mission field which is so awesome!  But Elder Clason´s companion was Elder Suazo as I said in my last email.  He is from Chile and only has about 5 weeks into his training, and he is now training Elder Shillig, a Güero from California.  (Güero is just a nickname for white people)  Elder Shillig also only has 5 weeks into his training because he was waiting his visa in utah so its pretty crazy!  But both of them really want to be good Elders and are working super hard.  Elder Shillig is having a little trouble with the Spanish since he hardly spoke it in Utah and since Elder Suazo is from Chile, he speaks different and super fast.  Sometimes so different and so fast that even the other Lation Elders cant understand him which I find a little funny haha.  But yeah its hard for Elder Shillig but he is really studying super hard and since my companion is District Leader, I have the opportunity to see the other Elders a lot and Im trying super hard to help Elder Shillig out with the language when I see him.

But I love you all a ton!

And im still being safe!

Elder Bean

Week 14

Well another week has come and gone! Christmas is that much closer, although it will be hard to be here for Christmas, but thats okay, Ill get to skype the fam!

I didnt get to do anything for Thanksgiving haha, we still work here because its not a holiday, plus we are missionaries and the work is too important to really take a break, besides the families here stuff you with more food than you can fit in your stomach everyday, so I guess everyday is a little like thanksgiving!

Dont worry about putting to much detail in letters or emails.  I have truly been blessed to not be very homesick, obviously I miss everyone a TON, but I am really busy that I cant really get distracted.  Please keep details in the letters n stuff so that I can actually reply back more accurately or answer any questions.  Thats another thing, I am really here to answer any questions too, it may be a while for me to reply but I will eventually haha.

Mom you asked me if I was staying warm enough, a better question would be to ask me if I am staying cold enough.......I stay plenty warm morning, day, and night so dont worry about that!  Also I am very happy to hear that Keaton is still being himself and doing all the same crazy stuff he normally does.

Now for stories of the week/How the week went

It was a great but tough week!  We have been trying to work hard but we had a lot of meetings this last week, since Elder Saavedra is District Leader sometimes we have more meetings than others do.  Plus this last week Elder Benjamin De Hoyos of the area seventy spoke to us in a bunch of meetings this last week about the importance of preach my gospel and about working with ward members.  Working with the members is soooooo important and its so much more effective in teaching too.

I forgot to tell you last week that Hna Diana cut our hair.  My haircut was good, and  so was Elder Saavedra´s until she cut his ear! hahahaha, but he´s okay luckily! and still has his ear :) but it definitely was a good story to add to my whole mission experience and I probably wont forget it!

So far Spanish hasnt been to hard to pick up, obviously the first few weeks were really dificult but now I can understand so much more.   I know that I have been truly blessed with the Gift of Tongues as I can speak/say pretty much anything I really need to.  Its an amazing blessing and it helps me so much to keep working because I can understand and speak so much.  I still cant understand everything/dont speak completely fluent but I know that im only going to continue improving and that is an amazing blessing, I hope i never forget Spanish as I know it will be so useful when I get home.

Yesterday was the baptism of Hna Diana! It was such an amazing experience and the Spirit was so strong there.  I had the blessing of being the one who baptized her and that was a blessing too.  The Spirit really testified to her more and more that her choice in doing so was right.  It was amazing to hear/see how happy she was to be baptized.  She really was prepared when we first taught her, and its so amazing to teach people who truly want to change and who truly are prepared even before we teach them.  I dont have pictures right now, but I will send them as soon as I do!  A few hours after her baptism we went to the Visitors Center again.  Im not sure if I told you all about the first time we went but its soooo beautiful and the Visitors Center is huge!  We went to the Visitors Center with Hna Diana and her daughter Mary, Hna Guadalupe and her son Rodrigo and daughter Sarah.  It was an amazing and fun experience.  I truly dont thing I will be able to see a better/bigger vistors center.  It was packed with people too as it just reopened in the last week of last month.  There is a huge part dedicated to the history of the church here in Mexico and its so cool to see it.  There is also a room that is like Jerusalem and we watch a movie in there about Christ and its just so peaceful and filled with the Spirit.  Also at the Temple here, they put Christmas lights all over the grounds and trees/plants, its really beautiful because the Temple really stands out from the city here and pretty much everyone knows where its at/what it is.

Every week we have the opportunity to have our weekly planning session.  Its so important, and at the end we have a companionship inventory where we talk about each others strengths, our companionship strengths, things that are difficult for us, or problems we have between us.  Its so important.  It is also hard honestly to sit there and to give a ton of compliments or to listen to your weaknesses or also things that you do really well its just a little awkward or uncomfortable because its not something that people normally do all the time.  But its such a great opportunity to really talk about how we both can be better misisonaries and how we always need to be bettering ourselves in all things.  It really helps too because we are really clearing out any problems and it helps us to focus on those things/set goals to change those things and I really like being a better person.  I feel like I have grown so much and I know sooo much more about the Gospel and how to teach it and explain it.  If anyone has any questions please ask me, I love learning more and especially helping other people. 

Please stay safe and send letters!

Love all of you very very much,

Elder Bean

Merry Christmas Elder Bean!

We all know by now how much I love my Elder Bean, but there's always room for more love! Since it's the first Christmas without him here, I wanted to do the best I could to make him have a good first mission-Christmas! 

This is a Photoshoot I did with another MG (totally stolen from Pinterest) for Elder Bean to let him know I care:) 

Another idea floating around social media is the classic "ship to__insert country name here___" and I just couldn't resist!! 

I also sent him a Christmas package full of treats and little things (although it was a whopping 60 bucks to get it sent there!) which I hope he will enjoy- if he gets them that is! 

Elder Bean's Email: Week 13

Dear friends, family, loved ones, 

Well week 15 was another tough week but we finished it.  Hermana Diana has a baptismal date for Dec 8th and we have been preparing her for that day, she just had her interview the other day and all is well :)  Also the other Elders in our area Elder Aquino and Elder Vargas have a baptismal date for Hna Mayra and her daughter Mayra JR.  Its also for Dec 8th and we helped teach them before Elder Aquino and Vargas got here in the area.  We are slowly progressing, work is difficult as the Area Binder is really out of date and more than half the list of members are in active or live somewhere else, I dont know how many times ive heard that people have moved to the United States haha.  But Hna Diana is awesome, shes really nice and really wants to change because of conviction.  Also she is super good at drawing and gave me two of her drawings that I liked most, Ill send pictures after im done typing.  Sorry that the pictures arent attached to the email, its really hard to send pictures since we can only send like 3 at a time on an empty email.  We are trying to find new investigators and its really hard.  We had one reference that ended up being someone from a different church that wanted to bible bash with us.  I dont really like bible bashing, but I do like to figure out what thigns are hard for people to believe or understand so then I can study them more to help others really understand.  But I know that the Church we belong to is the Church of Jesus Christ.  We are so blessed to know that and to know all the things we do.  We have really helped a lot of people here and we are continuing to work hard and trying to help more people.

Elder Saavedra is an awesome companion.  He is really sick right now which makes me sad but he has really taught me so much and really tells me that I need to be a way better missionary than him.  He is awesome and we get a long super well, we are always cracking jokes together and things like that.  But its awesome because we have tons of fun, but we are still really obedient to the things we need to be doing, and he really helps me to understand my purpose of being here and what im supposed to be doing.  A funny story, the other night we were going to Hna Diana´s house to teach a lesson.  There are ice cream trucks here too, but the music they play is really really creepy.  Like honestly its music you would hear before something bad happens in a scary movie.  Elder Saavedra HATES clowns, and honestly, I agree with him. (Sidenote, thank you mom and dad for never bringing a clown to my birthday parties) but the music is super scary.  So we are walking when its night time and dark, and we hear this music, so I turn to him and say The clown is coming..... and we start to walk faster until we get to the door of hna diana´s house, we press the doorbell and the music is getting louder, then Elder Saavedra turns to me and says in English, "No, no! Leave me alone McDonalds!" haha it was one of the funniest things Ive ever heard in my entire life. It was perfect and Im never going to forget it.  I have sent some letters home and to other people, let me know please if letters arive, just so then I can feel safe/happy that they actually got there.

Also, I am being safe! Although, I have come to the conclusion that I think that the sidewalks are more dangerous than the people.  I have almost broken my ankles/feet/legs a million times on the sidewalks since they are all over the place and up and down and everything, also they are littered with dog poop which sometimes im not sure if its dog or bear because well yeah i think you get the point haha.

I forgot to write down in my planner what i needed to write more about this week.  Normally I do that to help me write all that I need to.  I cant remember much more but Ill try to remember more/write more details next week.  Ill send some pictures right now too! :)

Love you all tons!

Elder Bean

A picture of how the Missionaries of Mexico eat on a daily bases-Elder Bean

Elder Bean's Email: Week 11

Well once again I dont have a lot of time.  We had to go to the temple today to get injections, I think for flu virus but im not really sure haha. But yeah I dont have much time at all to write as we have an appointment right at 6pm.  i think ive lost moore weight as i am now using the last tab on one belt and the second to last on the other and my pants are pretty big around the waist but dont worry Im eating a ton, the members literally stuff you like a turkey and they dont care if you just ate 20min ago they´ll serve you three platters of food haha.

Im not sure if ive told you about our new investigator Hermana Diana, she is awesome.  She has had some problems, including an addiction to smoking cigarettes, but she has been doing really well and has been changing her life.  She truly wants to make changes in her life but she always tells us changes by conviction, because she truly actually wants to change not just because we dont smoke or drink or things like that.  Which is awesome because its really about a true change of heart to lead to a true conversion.  She has a baptismal date for the 2nd sunday in december so thats awesome!

Tracting is hard, my shoes are great, but it doesnt matter when you walk 15 or more miles a day, literally my feet feel like they are just bones and my legs kill too, its so hard when we cant find anyone all day long and there have been plenty of days where we walk the entire area looking for more people, less actives, or other members and its so hard.  Its also hard because the new missionaries arrived this last week in the industrial 2 area so our ward is now split in half. We had to leave almost all of our investigators and other members to them because we had really only found a lot of people on their side so thats been hard to do.  But we are working hard and always have full planned schedules.  But even when we have back up plans we bring the ward lists with us because almost all the time back up plans fall through too and we cant find anyone.

Yesterday we kinda got shut down by a member who we asked if we could visit.  He basically said noo because he felt like he was active, didnt really need help and that there were better people that we needed to find to talk to and work with.  Which is okay, but we work with active members too, thats the whole point, to get to know active members so that we can have them at lessons and find more investigators.

A funny story for you guys.  There is a borracho or drunk in english, that romes the streets in our area and whenever we see him me and Elder Saavedra joke because Elder Saavedra says, "Oh su befo otra vez" like oh your Best Friend again, because everytime he sees me he says things like "bien venidos a mexico norte americano!" "Dios Bendiga" "Como es mexico para tu" or things like that, always talks to me just because im white so its funny because whenever he sees me he says funny stuff to me.

Another thing, this cycle is only four weeks long and Elder Saavedra and I feel like he will get changed to a different area which is sad because we get a long well.  He is such a great person.  Sometimes he really worries about his future and wants to learn english and its so hard for me to see him struggle sometimes because he deserves the best.

Well this is all I have time for this week,  Im sorry, Ill have more time next week hopefully but im doing well and staying safe and healthy!

Love everyone tons!

Elder Bean

Elder Bean's Email: Week 12

Well it is really hard to remember what week i am on, its all a big blur.

I was thinking it might be good to answer a bunch of questions since its been a while since ive answered things.  So it might be all over the place haha

Yes we do set our clocks back

On mondays or times when we speak english, i dont really look forward to it, its actually really hard to speak english sometimes and i forget words or phrases because i dont really use it too much.  Its kind of a habit now to speak spanish and its even hard to speak english with the other güeros(a name for the north americans).

I can use regular US stamps to send letters back to people there.  Also the best address to send things to is the mission home address, the one that I sent to you guys.  Its the safest way because the numbers on the street there are actually correct.  Its not very hard to find a big white building in a city here that has all these other nice buildings around it.  They also print off dear Elders in the office and send them out too, so thats a good way to get letters to me if you dont have time to write it or money to send it.  

Elder Saavedra is from Cuarnavaca which is about 1-2hrs away from here and also this cycle is only 2 weeks more, its 4 weeks instead of 6 for whatever reason so we are not sure whats going to happen.  Also, thank heaven its just us two in the appartment, or I might have a relapse from college with my super dirty roommates hahaha.  

I got keaton´s letter and that was great.  I laughed really hard when he used like a trillion p.s.´s It definitely reminds me of him and makes me miss him and everyone else back home a lot.  But its not distracting.  It really helps me to recieve mail to hear that things are going good or too hear supporting words.

Love you all,

Elder Bean

An Early Morning Surprise

   

"And in which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that that quickeneth your understandings." D&C 88:11

 I was walking to class early in the morning after parking at institute and was an extremely foggy and brisk start to the day (winter is going to come early this year, and be a cold one!). I was bundled up in three jackets, a scarf, and tall socks underneath my beige boots. I was chilled to the bone and quickly making my way toward my class on the other side of campus to get out of the cold. As I turned the corner toward the small forest/graveyard I had to walk through on my trek to biology, I was blinded by the rays of run trying to fight their way through the foggy air. When my eyes adjusted moments later, I saw the most breathtaking view. Rays of sun were beaming down through each gap in tree branches, where they lingered- holding on to the moisture in the air before settling in a pool of light on the ground below. 

     I immediately pictured Joseph Smith kneeling beneath the center most ray. I held my breath as I dug out my phone that was buried deep inside the pocket of my winter coat, as though the image would disappear if I were to exhale. I got a picture but it doesn't even begin to describe or show the true magnitude of the magnificent spectacle in front of me. It was still dark in the early morning and as I walked toward the light-all darkness seemed to fade. I did not see anyone else on the path, for I was too focused on these beams piercing through the tree, trying to fill the earth with light. I finally reached my destination, so that I was standing right in front of the beam, the tips of my boots barely touching the gold pool that lay on the dusty ground in front of me. 

I stepped into the light. 

     All the chill left me immediately and instead warmth overtook my heart, soul, and body. I looked down at my hands and turned them over as though they were not real. Then I looked up, drawing my hand up to cover my already squinting eyes from the immense amount of light coming from the sky. 

My incredible morning revelation

      In my mind, I was back hundreds of years to the grove of trees that young Joseph Smith knelt under to pray for answers. At that moment, I felt a small glimpse of what that young prophet must have also felt on that sacred day. I don't know by memory the quote about Joseph's experience, but I do know the part where it says "a beam of light, directly over his head" -and that quote hit my heart with such force that I knew more than ever, and in this moment I felt with more sureity than ever that Joseph Smith IS the true prophet and that he received revelation and important duties (commandments) from our Heavenly Father. I know this because standing in that beam of light; I felt love like none other, pure joy, fullness, and a feeling of wanted to share my experience. 

It reminded me of a scripture I had read just the day before. D&C 88:6-13

 specifically verse 13 which reads:

"the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things." 

I know this church is true, and although sometimes I am temped to doubt myself, I learn more about the Gospel and about myself every single day. Something Dieter Uchdorf said in his talk this past weekend was "Doubt your doubt, before you doubt your faith". This also hit my heart deeply and I know I have made a convenient, and one that I intend to keep and grow, so that I can one day I may enjoy a very strong testimony. My favorite part of the scripture I mentioned is the line "who is in the bosom of eternity". To me, this literally means, "[He] who is already living eternal life". I love the atonement for that reason, that we are able to be together forever. and I know that's true, and that you and I will have that so long as we keep doubting our doubts, and not doubting our faith.